“We have started to get into more of a routine the last 4 days. We wake up around 7:30, and we have breakfast and coffee with our families. After we say goodbye to our host parents we make our way up a seemingly endless set of stairs to arrive at the school we teach at. We get to the school around 8:45 and we go to our separate classrooms to teach. All of the kids at the school are cheery and excited to see us everyday. We teach from 9 to 10 and then we go back to our host houses to help prepare lunch or to talk with our host parents about our lives back in the US. At 2:00 we have Spanish classes for 3 hours. After this we go back to our host families to be with our host siblings and eat dinner.
We eat lots and lots of food. Our families are more than generous with portions and they love to cook for all of us. They have very specific ways of eating food. What goes with what and what time we will be eating. It is all very specific.
Teaching has been a great experience for all of us. It makes us all step outside of our comfort zones and stand into the of a class. We have all enjoyed the connection teaching gives us with all of the kids and there culture. All the kids are amazingly sweet and endearing and have big eyes and a love for learning.
Our host families have been amazingly welcoming. They love to converse with us and ask us about our lives in America. They ask us about our food and our everyday lives.
We are all full of happiness…. and food.” Estrella Gwen
-Typical meals: rice, choclo (corn), potatoes, fresh fruit/veggies, eggs, animal protein (chicken, cuy/guinea pig, trout, pork, beef), paintain, Nescafé, soup, aguita (hot water/herbal tea) – photos from Elena’s plates.
-Typical break for the kids at school: soccer, volleyball, and lots of active games on the school’s central court (la cancha). Children, adults, teachers, parents, men, women, alike all play LOTS of sports here…all weekend long.
-Prepping for teaching / our walk to school every morning.