Goodbye South, Hello North!

In case you haven’t heard the news, I moved! I moved because I was looking for more work and more than a little bored in my lovely, picturesque town of 800 people. I am really glad that everything worked out as it did. My experience in Arequipa was so unique and really intense. It felt like I was back in time 500 years ago at times, manual farm work, cooking over cow pies, no heat, no internet, you eat what you grow, etc. It was amazing to see an environment that still exists like that. It was just beautiful. But, there comes a time where maybe the novelty of just the experience wears off and I got bored with the lack of work and really wanted to be busy and productive!


So I moved towns about three months ago. I am now in the department of La Libertad, near the city of Trujillo. My new town is much larger, about 10,000 people. There are many small businesses and also many people eager to work hard. It is a breath of fresh air of work wise. Life is much easier and modern. Overall it has been a very positive change. I am much happier on a daily basis because I feel like I am able to plan and execute projects and see results. I think volunteers are motivated for different reasons and I am not just here for a cool cultural experience (although I want that too). I want to make a change. I want to help in some way and see effects from my efforts.

In my new town, it is currently summer here so it is hot! In the upper 80s and lower 90s usually (and of course there is no air conditioning). Upon arriving here, I taught summer school. I taught three classes of English to elementary school kids and I taught business classes to the high school kids. I also have two radio programs- one where I play English music and talk about the culture from the US and the other where I teach business topics. THAT is a challenge! A half an hour on the air is a long time in Spanish I’ve learned. The other project is a business class for adults which I enjoy quite a bit too. Next up will probably be a more business classes, possibly in schools, and hopefully setting up some community banks. I don’t have a lot of time to start and finish big projects so it is kind of a challenge to squeeze everything in. We’ll see what actually gets up and running in the next four months.

Can you believe I only have four months left? You, dear reader, might but I can hardly. It has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. I guess I thought it would never end and I have my plane tickets home already. Hopefully I will catch you there! Hope all is well on the home front too!
THE OLD AND BEAUTIFUL:

 THE NEW AND LIVELY: