Magical Moments

Teaching at San Vicente: Wednesday, June 20th, the youth development volunteers were split into groups of 3 and asked to facilitate two activities (one about self-esteem and the other about sexual health) at a local high school. Emily, Connor and myself did a fantastic job! Word on the playground was that students were supposed to have a test but instead some Americans came to do activities, so that might have something to do with their angelic behavior–but who cares. I’ll take it!

Heat Win It All!: As I mentioned before, I have ESPN! I made sure to mention this to my fellow trainees. Often. For Game 5, several trainees in my neighborhood came over to watch. All of them hate the Heat but had a good time watching me get excited when it was obvious we’d be winning the championship. It was funny watching the game from another continent, when I’m usually about 20 minutes from the arena. Anyway, Go HEAT!!

Lima: That Saturday the whole group headed to Lima in two buses. It was so nice to walk around and see some of the historical areas of Peru, including Ollanta Humaya’s house (hey prezz!) It was exceptionally wonderful to have a little “Gator Nation really IS everywhere” moment. We were heading towards Larco Mar (a little slice of American-style shopping/dining overlooking the ocean) when I spotted a tall white guy wearing a GATOR RUGBY shirt walking towards me. Could it be?! I let out an excited “go gators!!” and he replied “go gators”. You can just imagine how magical it was.

The Big 2-5: I never thought I’d be spending my golden birthday as a PC trainee in Peru, but that was the case! On Sunday, the day before my birthday, I set time aside do my nails while listening to music in my room. I dont care if I’m in Miami, Peru or outer space…my nails will look good on June 25.

gotta stay flyyyyy

Sunday afternoon my host family and I went to two different food festivals, one right above my house and the other about 45 minutes away. At night I spoke to my mom and dad and went to bed early because — well, I’m 25 and tire easily. Isabel, our language facilitator, gave us Monday morning off and I took it as her special way of saying “happy birthday, go ahead and sleep in.” Afterwards, I went for a quick jog around Yanacoto. I showered (the water pipes didnt give a damn it was my birthday, water was still cold as hell) and headed to the training center for our afternoon sessions. My fellow 19-ers were, of course, wonderful and wishing me a great day as soon as I arrived. The best part came during a presentation we were having that afternoon. I was focused on taking notes on the material so I didnt notice Isabel walking in with a slice of chocolate cake, candles and a giant birthday card. They dimmed the lights and the whole room sang ‘Happy Birthday’. I was pleasantly shocked and grateful to everyone for planning such a cute surprise!!

thanks, friends!

The fun didn’t stop there. My host family made a special Peruvian feast called “Pachamanca” which was delicious. Last but not least, we had a yummy cake that was topped with strawberries, chocolate and caramel. Need I say more? It was amazing, thanks to friends and family, new and old, who emailed, text (I can still get texts from the states but cant respond), wrote on my FB wall and tweeted me. Every message made my day. 🙂

Also, we have a trainee e-board type of group that presides over weekly general assembly meetings and I was elected secretary. Im really excited for the 4th of July bbq/picnic we’re planning at the training center. Burgers!