My Time In Peru - Josh

Hi!  This is Josh.  After 2 plane rides being delayed, we finally landed in Peru and were greeted by about 10 people from Flores de Villa (at 2am!!).  Walter and Waltercito were there which was fun to see them!

                                     

                                     

Josh, Lance Walther, and Walther, Jr.

The first day we went to Flores de Villa and passed out flyers to people to invite them to the school.  We also got to see what the area would be like where we would be teaching.  We then went to Martha and Walter’s house and it was really cool to meet them for the first time even though we’d been writing them for 6 years.  We talked and got to know each other.  Their house was pretty nice for this area.  It had 3 stories but all 6 are still in the first floor in 2 bedrooms until they finish the other 2 floors.  Once they’re finished, Walter’s brother and his family will live on the 3rd floor.  They also had 2 dogs and a cat.  

                                               

Josh and Walther, Jr.

Teaching during the week was good.  I got to know the kids in our class (11 and 12 year olds).  Our theme was the Super Hero class.  There were 2 classes - about 25-30 kids in each so it was hard to get to know all of their names.  Many of them spoke English pretty well.  It was great doing Jeff’s games and teaching them English.

 

Josh and his new friends at school.

Josh and Walter

My favorite part was staying at the San Juan house.  The San Juan house is a place for college aged boys in Flores de Villa to stay that was started by David and Gina.  It’s like a dorm where they eat, sleep, play soccer together.  They’re like one big family (11 boys live there).  While they’re there they go to school, sometimes really long days.  A few of them have jobs - one is a cook at a nice hotel.  He is studying to be a chef - he cooked for us and it was delicious!!  I spent the night there with 2 other American kids on our trip.  We played soccer in the street - there’s not a lot of traffic because there’s a gate on each side of the street for protection.  Cars can’t go fast in Flores de Villa anyway because the streets are unpaved and there’s lots of garbage and dogs in the street.

                                    

San Juan Boys

We also played Pictionary which was difficult because some of them didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak much Spanish.  They had 2 translators named Berchi and Jimmy.  We talked and one of the American kids had brought some American food like pop tarts, chips and twizzlers.  They loved the food.  I hung out with Walter (a different Walter).  He’s studying computer science in college.  We had dinner at 10:30 at night - we had to wait that long for most of the guys to get home - some didn’t get home until midnight.  Once they were all home we got ready for bed.  I slept in a bunk bed in a room with Walter and his brother.

This was my favorite part because I got to connect with the San Juan boys and I liked them because they practiced their English and I practiced my Spanish.  We naturally connected even though they were 5-10 years older than me.  

Peru overall was a great experience and I loved meeting all the Peruvians because they put others first.  It helped me realize that even though you might have money and think you’re doing great, you might not have as much love as the Peruvians have.  They don’t take things for granted, they appreciate what they get - even if it’s small.  

Josh : )  (Josué)