Hey everyone!

Sorry for the late update, but it has been very busy down here in Lima as we are working towards the construction of a new school. As said before, things often move slower in Latin America, and finally last night we had a chance to meet with a majority of the fathers and mothers in the community along with a contractor to discuss the final preparations before starting construction. We have had a few different meetings with the community where we have talked for hours about who will do the work, when the work will be done, how much we are willing to pay, and how long it will take to finish once we start. It has been a little frustrating for Gabe and me because we want to make sure everyone is comfortable with what is being done in their community but we also understand that we only have a month and a half left in Peru and know that we are the driving force behind this project. But last night we answered many of these questions and have decided that the new school will be built out of brick. It will be bigger than the current school with the potential to add on another classroom in the future. We have also decided to build a permanent bathroom to replace the current outhouse. We will be paying a few workers to build the school with the fathers helping out when they have the time, mostly on weekends. It was very cool to finally see men from the community doing their share to help their children.

We spent the entire day in the community and were invited to eat lunch with a family. Some of the other mothers heard that we were eating with one of the families and decided to bring part of their own food for us to share (maybe a little competition?), and by the end of lunch we had eaten a mountain of very delicious Peruvian food. All in all it was a really great day. Gabe and I are feeling very welcomed in this community and we are becoming more attached to its people.

We have also managed to find some moments to do sight seeing here in Peru, and last week, we took a two day trip to a desert oasis where we sandboarded the dunes that towered around the city where we were staying. For me the highlight of this trip was meeting a group of foreign volunteers who are teaching in a very similar situation than the one in which we are working. We shared ideas, a hostel, and a buggie ride with this group where we flew over sand dunes in a jacked up go-cart. It was a great time to relax but it felt good to get back to our home in Lima.