Peru, it's been amazing and a tough goodbye....

What can I say? This has been the most amazing experience of my life... Should I list the things I am coming home with? Okay well for one a huge new awareness of how lucky we are in Canada, that materials can not truly make happiness, how important family is, that a community that can depend on each other is one that will survive through anything, I leave with a total new family of the amazing people I went down with, and I leave with a really nice pair of shoes ;)  No but seriously, words can not describe how amazing this experience has been, nothing I have ever done could compare to it.  I've gone through so many years of school back in Canada, and all those years can not compare to the things I have learned in these two weeks.  These things I learned are things I hope to bring home and put into my own life, things like not taking what I have for granted, and truly valuing my family, as they are the people who can always be there for you.  The things I have learned will and already have changed my life, and I am so grateful for the chance to go on this incredible trip.  Love the whole group I went down with, will miss Peru with all my heart. See you soon Canada, we're coming home.

GOODBYE PIURA :'(

Well today was goodbye to all the kids... Got in the last day of tree planting before we went off to teach, and just coming in to the school was an emotional experience.  We were told not to take the letters from the kids until they official goodbye was being said, and they all rushed up to show us their letters.  Seeing how these kids who don't have very much took the time to make cards for somebody who has been in their life for less than two weeks was incredible.  So we finally got everyone into the class and finished up the last few student profiles.  When it was finally time to go out for the goodbye we started taking the letters.  I have not counted mine but I know I have a letter from at least half the class, and to get so many from all these smiling children was too much. I cried. Yes I admit to crying.  It was sparked by one girl who I liked so much through the whole week coming up and giving me a letter which on the cover said "I love you Even"  They didn't even spell my name right and I did not care at all.  Just reading that hit something within me and I cried right there and then.  I can't really express why it touched me so much but I know that day is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.  The goodbye was emotional for many people, and as we finally left the village for the last time I can't help but feel that a part of me will always be wanting to go back....

Many of my ideas on Peru changed, mostly about the environment and sustainability.  The thing that surprised me a lot with regards to the environment was the garbage all over the sides of the road.  Seeing that there is no real landfill was a bit of a shock, but one I realized I should have know about before seeing it, since the government would not fund such a program.  Living in conditions like that is so different from Canada, it changed my outlook on how they live quite greatly.  Sustainability was another shocker, seeing the rice farms that they tend each and every day outside the village to simply survive was another huge shock.  If a harvest did not go well, a family would be in pretty big trouble.  Similarly, seeing how the micro credit loans could help a family, I learned there is a lot of things a person can do to help with sustainability of a place in poverty.

Play Day in the School

So today was the basically carnival we put on for the kids at the school, setting up a bunch of stations and all that for them to go around and just have fun at.  The trampoline and bouncy castle like thing was obviously the huge attention getter and the most popular attraction by far. I took half the class of the grade 6's, equalling out to about 25 kids.  It was pretty chaotic most of the time, they were all so hyper and excited, but I managed to keep pretty good control of them for the most part.  A few times during the day I almost sent one kid back to the class to just sit, but he came around finally by the end of the day.  Was nice to see how much the kids enjoyed the day, really shows how little it can take to actually make these kids happy.  Made me think a lot about Canada and what is normally used to make kids happy here.  I've decided there is a lot wrong with our society if a kid who has so many things is still unhappy while a child here has next to nothing but is more happy than I have ever been in my life just to have a day of fun.  Its really eye opening to the fact that possessions are not everything, and I know people will say that was obvious, yet even if it is obvious we still buy into the entire consumer culture, so I think getting away was a very good thing for me.

The tree planting was really interesting when we talk about indigenous spirituality and beliefs, since obviously if you plant a new tree you must take care of it and they do an excellent job most times of caring for these trees.  Much like my own thoughts about the environment and taking care of it, there have been several cases where they have intertwined with thoughts and ideals I see within the village.

Week 2, here we go again

Back to the village today, woke up feeling really tired after the party that the weekend was... Loved every minute of it though, except now time to focus back on the community we are working in.  Went out on the water walk today which means we walked about a kilometre to get somewhat clean water from a river.  We brought several buckets with us to carry the water back, two of which were very large and VERY heavy once filled.  I made a little bet with Ms. Orsi that I could carry the buckets around the corner and down the street, a distance of about 250 metres, so 1/4 of our journey.  She took the bet of 10 solais and off we went.  Let me just say it was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.  The water sloshing around made balance hard, the buckets weighed down a ton on your shoulders. However, being as stubborn as I am I decided there was no way I was losing that bet. Mustering my amazingly jacked arm muscles, I walked the distance that we set and was victorious of course.  The rest of the walk was mostly Kyle and I carrying the large buckets, taking turns to rest and carry.  I actually got the name Hercules from one of the Peruvian men walking with us, who apparently just noticed how jacked I really am....

Anyway besides that, we went into the class a little while after, we were just doing student profiles today so all the kids were very well behaved trying to fill this sheet out in English.  After a great deal of translating we got through most of them, though we do have a few left to do on Wednesday.

The blending of the cultures in the village I think was most obvious just by looking at the church.  Since the church would have been built for Catholics, it is clear some amount of blending has happened within the village.  Likewise, the church we went to on Sunday that was absolutely packed, showing that the Catholic culture has indeed blended with traditional indigenous culture.

Blisters Hurt.

So yeah as you can tell by the title... Blisters hurt, which should have meant to you that I got one... At least that's what I was going for so if you didn't get that well, maybe you should read another blog... No don't do that we all know mine is the best one any ways right? Exactly. Where was I? Blister right. Well I was playing some basketball with a few of the boyz, and well I played barefoot for a while, long story short the ball of my foot is pretty much all open, it hurts, and that's about it.  Besides that! Another great day. Resort was amazing after a few hours of working in the village.  Church afterwards was interesting to say the least, I didnt understand a word of it but it was still a good experience.  The beauty of these churches is not something easily found at your local parish in Canada either, so that was another part of it that I really enjoyed.

Speaking of prayers and spirituality, I actually haven't really encountered any Native sort of things in the time I have been here.  I guess maybe the funeral procession within the village could have been considered as part of that, but other than the one instance I really can't say I have seen anything sadly.....  I think encountering it would be a really cool experience, one I hope I do get to encounter during the rest of the time on the trip.  Tired right now so goodnight from Peru!!!

LETS GO TO THE BEACH BEACH

WHOOOOO NO TEACHINGGGGG! I mean uhh.... WHOOOOO BEACH...!  Okay well both were thoughts in my mind I'll be honest....  What a great day, ton of beach volleyball, lots of swimming, wave surfing, pictures and an amazing sunset!  One of the best days of my life for sure, for more than a few reasons ;)  Was great, the food was amazing, people are awesome, was beautiful and the water was just lovely.  Perfect day of rest for us and I know everyone enjoyed it, except maybe that almost everyone got a little burned at least, except us smart people who wore sunscreen :D

I actually was thinking a lot about ways to help in a community such as this while we were in Peru, and my mind did come back to Marco Arana a few times, thinking of how he tried to help within this sort of community.  Honestly I think the largest issue I have encountered so far, or well I have two actually.  One is the lack of running water all day. Sure they get water for 3 hours a day, water that they have to put in to bins to attempt to have enough for the whole day.  That and the lack of teachers for the school, both these issues put together are pretty hard to solve, but are issues I know people like Marco would want to try to fix immediately.

Friday, One more day till time off!

Back into the village early again today!  Last day of teaching before we get a more restful day. We planned to get our last topic out in teaching today and it went pretty well, kids were well behaved all day, wasnt too hot or anything, was actually a really great day!  Did some more tree planting today, didnt count how many we did as a group today but I know it was at least 30.  Love getting down into it and just digging the holes is nice, but then again I guess I did always like working in the sun.... And getting dirty for that matter, since I always seem to come back to the hostel with my legs and arms covered in dirt or sand or something...

Back to our rooms again, did I ever mention I love showers? Gosh they are amazing things. Feels just so awesome to climb in to a nice cool shower after a really hot day in the sun.  We get a lot of our bro talk done in our room too between Kyle, Shane and I.  Makes for a pretty good combo every time we come back.  Looking around in Peru though its pretty easy to say that the economic distribution is probably not very equal.  We dont get to see a lot of the rich or posh life around in Puira, but just from a few of the buildings I have seen you can tell it's there.  Comparing this to the hundreds of moto drivers you see, it shows that there is a pretty big difference in the wealth classes.  Clearly the economic situation is not very optimal, but is not as bad as it could be I suppose.  Little help sure would go a long way in this place though, much like how the micro credit loans go a long way in the village.  Still finding new things to be amazed at every day, and new surprises with experiences to dive in to! Loving every second still!!!