Welcome to Peru!

Welcome!

Today has been 48 hours since I have been in Lima, Peru and there aren’t enough words to explain how wonderful this experience has been so far. Many of you might not be aware, but Lima consists of 49 districts. We currently are living in the district Jesus de Maria. Our host family is super awesome and sweet! Our host mom, Mariluz, has welcomed us into her home so nicely. Our host brother, Jose, has been our tour guide and has been great! First thing first, if anyone is curious to know how the drivers are in Lima, let me just say...Cross at your own risk! The drivers in Lima are very aggressive and no, I’m not exaggerating. Although its aggressive it amazes me how alert people are while crossing the streets. They know when to cross, they know when not to cross and they know how the system works and honesty it’s something very unique.

Day 1:

We arrived at our home stay at about 8pm and everybody was anxious to get to sleep. Room Juanita had somewhat of a small breakdown. We were all overwhelmed and missing home. We then laughed it off and came to realize that we are in PERU. We should live in the moment and enjoy the opportunity of being in this beautiful country.

Day 2:

We got the wonderful opportunity to tour the school, Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montonya (UARM), where we were introduced to many people. We met Lauren and she was simply amazing! She gave us a tour of the school and she introduced us to Lenin, our student leader. We were given a presentation by Lauren that included information Peru and the school. This was followed by a panel of education majors. I was amazed at the drive that these students had. I noticed that these students are super concentrated on completing their desired career and that is something that stands out to me. I feel like not many people carry the same drive that these students do. After touring the school and engaging with current students from UARM, Jose and Lenin led a tour of Jesus de Maria. There we visited many places and the best part was the ice cream! After walking through different streets, we decided to call it a day.

Day 3:

Woke up at 5:30am!! Can you say tiring? We ate breakfast together and then headed off to MLK Socio Deportivo School which is the district, El Agustino. We got the opportunity to play soccer with children ages 5-12, except it wasn’t your traditional soccer game. It was called “Futbol Calle” which is translated to “street soccer” and this game concentrated on respect, resolving conflict and good sportsmanship. I noticed that these are values that seem to be forgotten in the United States. It seems to me that in the United States, a game is more about who is the winner and who is the loser. MLK not only focuses on those specific values, but also on forming a community that is both positive and engaging. After finishing the game, we headed back to Encuentros and were given a presentation about the history of Encuentros and of MLK Socio Deportivo School. Following this insightful presentation, we went to another presentation given by Felix, director of Servicio Educativos Augstin (SEA). Although I came to Peru assuming that it was going to be like Mexico, I walked out this presentation with a lot more insight of El Agustino. Felix mentioned the chaos in El Augstino. He talked about the informal jobs that people have, the informal vehicles, such as moto taxi’s, pollution (air and noise) and animal feces. It’s obvious that these problems are crucial however, I never really put much thought into how severe these affect the community, individually and together. Following his presentation, we went to at Chelita. I tried Ceviche and Fried Fish for the first time ever. I would have never imagined trying these dishes but I’m glad I did!

Something that I have taken note of these past two days is the issue of inequality. The inequality of education should not be pushed aside. It’s something that needs change and from what I have seen here in Lima, there are many organizations that are acting and assuring that these children become educated such as providing free public school. I have observed that there are many organizations that are focused on bettering not only the community but also assuring that these children don’t get involved in crime, violence, etc. such as MLK Socio Deportivo School. Like the United States, there are still evident problems of the lack of resources between schools. I wonder how much time it takes for change to happen.

Overall, these past two days have been filled with excitement and knowledge. Throughout these many presentations, I have learned so much about the history of Peru. I came to realize that there is so much history that plays into the formation of communities in present day.

Smiles,

Liz