Welcome to Huancayo

Hola chicos! We are in Huancayo and enjoying the local life. We easily found our volunteer coordinator Plinio. However, he thought Lauren was a boy´s name. :) We have quickly been immersed in the local culture. We shop in the central market, live in a typical courtyard style house in the city and take local taxi´s and small vans (combi´s) to the village we are working in named Iscos.
We´ve fallen in love with the rural community of Iscos. In the morning we helped out at the school teaching an art class and a P.E. class. There are four other volunteers here and we´ve really enjoyed spending time with them. Melanie and Melissa are from New York, David is from Canada and Juliea is from France. We have been spending time with Plinio´s parents in their rustic and traditional home in Iscos. Today we helped build a shower (Lauren was a pro) and I helped sort the corn. There are lots of animals- guinea pigs, cows, a rabbit, sheep a pig and a cute kitten at the house.

Plinio´s mom cooked us wonderful meals. Lunch was rice and vegetables and tonight we had chicken soup. This afternoon we hiked up to the top of the hill and watched the sun set over the village. Tomorrow we will help teach computer classes in the morning. Then,we hope to be able to build a stove for a family. This weekend, all of us plan to travel to the jungle.

Lauren and I are adjusting to the altitude better than expected. We ascended 8,000 ft. in one day, so we should probably be feeling worse. However our only symptoms have been Lauren throwing up on the bus on the way here and I get winded climbing a set of small stairs. We occassionally feel a little dizzy. Thankfully, we have been able to sleep and eat well.

We are absolutely loving every minute here! We don´t want to leave next week. It is pretty cold though. Plinio´s mom gave me her woolen sweater to wear today because the temperature dropped quickly when the sun set. We are working on our Spanish. The kids, other volunteers, and Plinio are constantly teaching us new words. Hopefully, it will all come together and we will be able to communicate better before we leave.

We have felt so welcomed, safe and comfortable here. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! We will keep in touch! Much love, Emily :)