If there was ever going to be a wake up call on this trip- it was today. It has been a long one. I traveled to Ayacucho through the night and arrived here somewhere around 8 this morning. Enter the world of Ayacucho, and volunteering. Neither are glamorous. The house that we stay at is small, dirty, and packed with people. (see below)
And as luck has it, I end up in a room with two people who have been hooking up all trip...great. Its no surprise the rest of the volunteers have crammed themselves into the other rooms. All in all, I count 12 of us, living in a 3 bedroom apartment not bigger than mine at home, all sharing one bathroom. This is like the frat house, but dirtier, with girls, and you can´t communicate with anyone. Only one other volunteer is American. There are also 3 from France, 2 from Italy, 4 from Korea, one from Isreal, and one Chinese. Spanish is the only way to communicate. Even the europeans wont speak english to me, because they say I speak Ämerican English¨. I think they just can´t keep up. :) The house has running water about 80% of the time, and when it goes out, we (or I) manually switch the source to our private stash. Non of the above is ever heated. Unless of course its sunny, in which case you may choose to fill botels in the morning and leave them in the sun until you get home!
I also had my first introduction to the children and teachers I will be working with. Its sad. They call it an orphanage, but its not really the same as what we consider an orphanage. These kids might have parents, but they were drug addicts, or were violent with the children, or in some cases just dropped off babies on the front step of this place. Only to come back years later and reclaim their child. The ages vary greatly- from about 5-15, and they are all boys, which I am happy about. I always connect better with boys than girls. The daily schedule seems to be a 3 hour shift in the am from 9:30-12:30 and afternoon from 3-6. All meals are eaten back at the volunteer house and everyone takes turns cooking and cleaning. Given that most of the volunteers are about 22-25, no one really knows how to cook. Nevertheless, I plan on finding some beef if I can and making some mean american cheesburgers!
I start private Spanish lessons next week, and it is for certain that I will learn. The only question is how long it will take me and how hard it will be for me. As of now I am in the listening stage as they call it- I feel like a mute. Everytime I understand something and want to pitch in, I can´t think of how to say what I want. It is difficult, and I feel like everyone thinks I´m dumb.
It also appears that I´m going to have some real responsiblity on this trip. Apparntly the fee that we all paid upon entry is used through out the program for food ect, and at will of the leader. So, I´m already thinking of some cool weekend trips. Also, since I am the leader I am down here for longer than everyone else. Most of them are in this for 2 weeks. I will be overseeing two of these programs, and the first one starts 12/17. Before then I need to polish up on my Español and get to know the logistics of the city from the people who are here now.
I also had my first introduction to the children and teachers I will be working with. Its sad. They call it an orphanage, but its not really the same as what we consider an orphanage. These kids might have parents, but they were drug addicts, or were violent with the children, or in some cases just dropped off babies on the front step of this place. Only to come back years later and reclaim their child. The ages vary greatly- from about 5-15, and they are all boys, which I am happy about. I always connect better with boys than girls. The daily schedule seems to be a 3 hour shift in the am from 9:30-12:30 and afternoon from 3-6. All meals are eaten back at the volunteer house and everyone takes turns cooking and cleaning. Given that most of the volunteers are about 22-25, no one really knows how to cook. Nevertheless, I plan on finding some beef if I can and making some mean american cheesburgers!
I start private Spanish lessons next week, and it is for certain that I will learn. The only question is how long it will take me and how hard it will be for me. As of now I am in the listening stage as they call it- I feel like a mute. Everytime I understand something and want to pitch in, I can´t think of how to say what I want. It is difficult, and I feel like everyone thinks I´m dumb.
It also appears that I´m going to have some real responsiblity on this trip. Apparntly the fee that we all paid upon entry is used through out the program for food ect, and at will of the leader. So, I´m already thinking of some cool weekend trips. Also, since I am the leader I am down here for longer than everyone else. Most of them are in this for 2 weeks. I will be overseeing two of these programs, and the first one starts 12/17. Before then I need to polish up on my Español and get to know the logistics of the city from the people who are here now.
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