Los primeros días

After being in Peru for almost two full days, it is time for my first blog post!

We arrived in Lima around 8 PM on Thursday night and took a small bus from the airport to our host family’s home, where we were welcomed by José and MariLuz. We spent the next couple days touring a few communities in Lima, the capital of Peru, which is divided up into 49 districts.

On Friday, we went to the University of Antonio Ruiz de Montoya (UARM), a Jesuit university in Lima, where we were warmly welcomed with a delicious lunch as well as a tour. Jovana, a student at UARM, gave a brief presentation and explained her background and her goals for the future. She, living outside of the city in a rural setting, grew up speaking Quechua, a native language in Peru. When she came to study at the University, she was anxious about speaking Spanish with her peers. As a learning Spanish Major and traveler, I could definitely relate to her in that aspect and I admired her dedication to leave her family and hometown to travel to a new city to better herself and work towards a bright future. She also related her personal background to colonialism and how it has affected the indigenous people in Peru and it was interesting to hear the similarities between Peruvian history and United States history.

We then toured the Jesus Maria district, where our host family lives, and visited the San José church and the local plaza. After a long, action-packed day, we returned home for dinner and visited with our host family.

Today, we visited El Agustino, another district of Lima, where we played futból (soccer) with kids ages 5-13. The game along with a few warm-up activities was coordinated by the MLK Socio Deportivo school, whose objective is to teach children how to respect one another and work together as a team as well as establish a strong, positive sense of community. We, along with the kids, split up into four teams and played 2 games. After each game, we were judged not only on how many points we scored, but also on participation, respect for one another, and how we resolved conflicts. The instructor also provided a few questions for the kids to reflect on.

Afterwards, we met with Felix, the director of SEA (servicios Educativos El Agustino), who gave us a presentation on the background of Peru, more specifically Lima and El Agustino. He discussed a few major issues that Lima faces, including caos, inseguridad, y contaminación (chaos, insecurity/safety, and contamination). Right of the bat, we thought of the traffic in and around the city that is very chaotic and doesn’t seem to have much organization. Felix also discussed the informal labor that is not regulated by the government, which contributes to the chaos of the city. While many people may feel unsafe in Lima, the crime rate is actually relatively low. However, because of Peru’s history of insecurity, many of the citizens live in fear of not knowing their future. Learning about the influences colonialism has had on the history of the country and its citizens in the past and present will also play a role on Peru’s future generations. One important concept we have kept in mind is to be sure to see the potential in each situation and to see how far the community has already come and how they will continue to grow.

The past two days in Lima have flown by, but I have learned so much already and met so many warm and welcoming people who have already made this trip incredible and memorable. I look forward to seeing more of Lima and its school systems as well as what other parts of the country are like.