What a long, sleep-less weekend it has been! It began with an early start on Saturday morning with a trip to Lima. And by early, I mean us trainees haven't quite adapted to the Peruvian time schedule - 7:00am means about 8:00am. So, early as in earlier than it needed to be. After a bus ride to Lima full of laughter, we started our 10 hour long AIESEC "Youth Leading the Change" conference at El Museo de Nación.
From what I could pick up, there were some very interesting people that spoke who had neat stories and backgrounds. My favorite presentations probably had to be the clown and a lady from Google. The clown seminar was full of jokes, but also explained the foundation and purpose of an organization named Bola Roja. The Google lecture described more in depth what Google strives to be as well as other features that are in the process of development. These include Google ebooks, the Google Art Project, and Google Drive. I highly suggest looking into them if you have not heard of them. But, with an hour long chaufa (Peruvian-Chinese chicken fried rice) lunch break that turned into a two hour long lunch break, my brain was fried by the end of the conference.
So, after a quick reuniting with my buddy, Susy, and some other friends, we headed to our friend Tatí's house for a while for "English lesson" and of course some goofing off. Then, we went to an AIESECer's birthday party. And well, it was kind of the equivalent of some GA Tech parties. If you are from Tech and are reading this, I'm not hating on you. There were 3 Tech kids at this party with me, and they all agreed.
So, after a short 4 hour nights sleep, Donovan, Binita and I headed to church. It was very small, held basically in somebody's house. There is also a mission trip being led to this church from a group of students from Harding University in Arkansas. Though it was small, you could still see how devoted the people are to God and the overwhelming amount of love that comes with Him. It's definitely pretty cool.
So, after church, we headed to El Museo de Nación (where the Youth Leading the Change Conference was). Basically, we danced roll calls (AIESEC dances) for an hour. Woo! The museum seems like a really cool place, so I hope to be able to see the actual exhibits one day if I have time before I leave. Then, we left to meet some other Trainees and Dante for lunch. But, there were a lot of us, and we decided to fit in one cab. So, I got to ride in the trunk with Mathilde, another trainee. Sitting on a tire, nbd. Maybe the scariest thing I've done since I got here? Either that or the first time I rode a "combi" (bus) by myself. But anyways, I survived! The driver was also pretty cool. When Adele came on the radio and we started belting the lyrics as loud as we could, we turned up the radio. Also, another random side note about Perú. Most of them know more about American pop culture than I do. I mean pop culture only in the sense of celebrities and Top 40 songs.
So, after a long wait for lunch and a quick coffee break, we ate the best Cheviche I have ever had at "Punto Azul." We basically got one of all the best dishes, and everything was so good. My favorite dish was sliced fish (cured with the best lemon sauce, of course)covered in Parmesan cheese. Mmmm. Then, it was back the mall for an ice cream trip, which was also delicious. Here, the ice cream is more like gelato (my absolute favorite), so I was a big fan of the mint chocolate chip ice cream we had.
Then we all traveled back to Chosica and went right to our host homes and right to bed. Very fun, but very tiring.
Then, this morning was our first class! We taught English to Primary 5th graders, and it was awesome. They were very hyper, but also very excited to learn from us. It was a little intimidating at first walking into a classroom full of loud kids right before snack time. But, after introductions, we split up into groups of advanced, intermediate, and beginners, and Binita and I worked with the advanced group. Since it was "get to know you" day, we just did basic English stuff with a few games of Simon Says and a few rounds of Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (In English and Español). Overall, it went pretty well. So, after our daily trip to Plaza Vea (the supermarket), we went our separate was to our families for lunch. And that, my friends, brings me to now.
Though I'm missing a lot back in the States this summer, I'm so thankful for this opportunity in Perú. I've only been here a week, and there are so many memories and new experiences already! I can't wait to see how the rest of the summer is going to play out.
