Beginning of Second Week in Paucartambo

Thursday was a pretty regular day at school. I cannot remember which days I did what for recess anymore. After school on Thursday we had another meeting with the teachers and then we played a game of soccer against them. It was the volunteers verse the teachers and school staff. I scored the first two goals and had a hat trick for the game. Team XO won 6 to 2. It was really fun and lots of the kids were watching and cheering for our team. The teachers want a rematch. I feel kind of bad because I schooled the vice principal by playing it through his legs. The kids were giving him a hard time after that.

Thank goodness it is Friday! Friday was a good day. I was in the fourth grade and worked with a good teacher. In the evening we met with the teachers and taught them how to use the internet and google to search for things. They do not have internet in the schools but there are internet cafes around. After that we returned to the camp, ate dinner, and took a nap until Max and Alli returned from their parents meeting. When they returned we hung out and played ping pong and then walked into the small town of Huallamayo to get away from the light to see the southern stars. While we were there the boys made a sketch beer purchase from Cesar at his house. We then returned and hung out with Paulo the head of the food at the camp. Friday night I had a stomach bug and was up for a good amount of the night in pain or in the bathroom but by Saturday at noon I felt a lot better. By the time our whole group woke up and had lunch it was probably 2:00. We rallied the troops and hiked down the river to the hydro-electric plant. Before we got to the damn we saw the bottom of a waterfall and decided to explore. We climbed up almost to the top and it was so beautiful. We then continued to the damn which was also really cool and we just explored the mountains. There were herds of sheep and pigs and all sorts of animals just chilling on or near the road. We returned to the camp and I did my circuit workout and then we had dinner and called it an early night.

Sunday was Father's Day and there was a big fiesta planned at the camp. Lunch was prepared on the grill and after lunch there was a big tournament of soccer and volleyball. The volunteers made a team, the sodexo staff (food workers) had a team (with matching jackets), the guards made a team, and the people staying/working at the camp made a team. The food was great and our first game was volleyball. It was best 2 our of 3 games and we played them close in the first game but they had us in the second game so we lost in volleyball. We then had to play the winners of the first soccer game which was rough. We lost pretty bad but the locals were very impressed that a girl could play. It was a fun day and we wrapped it up watching The Girl Next Door in our cabin.

Today it was hard to get up but my day at school was great. My teacher was really prepared and very excited to use the computers. The 5th graders were old enough to be good with the computer but still young enough to be kids and listen to me. We used the wikipedia application to research the Incas and the discovering of the Americas. Then I showed them how to do cube, fourth, fifth, etc. roots with the calculator application. After lunch we explored with Scratch (a basic programming application) and the kids loved it. At recess I played with the fifth graders and they all wanted to play soccer but there were lots of people on both courts (their version of a field) and no organization so we went to a grassy spot and I taught them how to play head-catch, a favorite game of little kids at soccer camps in the states. The kids loved the game and you could see them thinking and trying so hard to head it or catch it when it was their turn. We were done at 2 but then had to wait around in the town for a parent meeting at 6:30. The meeting started at 6:30 Peruvian time, in other words 7. Sonia did most of the talking since she is fluent in Spanish but I gave my ideas either in Spanish or in English to her and she translated. It is much easier to understand than to speak Spanish (except some people have crazy Andes accents). We finally got back to the camp at 9 and I wanted to run but it was very dark outside and slightly drizzling.

Tomorrow we will be done no later than 5 and I am going to run no matter what. I have been working out and playing some soccer but I really feel like I need to do something aerobic right now! Tomorrow I will be with the sixth graders (students in both 6A ad 6B have been begging me to go to their class but I can only go to one). Wednesday is a festival so there is no class but I will be marching in the parade with my school. They have toprobably a 20ish person band at the school (drums and brass) that was practicing today for the march so I might see if I can play a drum or something cool instead of just march. This weekend we are planning on road tripping to Huancayo to meet up with the other volunteers in Junin. It is supposedly a 6 hour trip but there is no school on Monday so we have a 3 day weekend. Also Huancayo is a bigger city so there will be an ATM (crucial) and other items possibly available such as peanut butter.