Jueves - Cuatro Semanas en Huancayo

Today marks four week in Huancayo...

This morning I was happy that Mabel made hot chocolate.  They make it differently here with rice and porridge, which makes it so much better.  I graded homework papers after breakfast and then taught ballet to Pilar and Angela for about an hour.  They are doing so well.  Their form obviously isn't perfect, but they are getting the steps pretty well.  After some bar work, I taught them a simple combination of chasse, pas du bourree.  I also showed them how to curtsey before we did our end of class adagio.  Angela was so cute because one of her teeth is loose and if we had a bit of downtime she would start yanking at it.  After class she continued to yank on it.

I was listening to some of the ballet music after class and Tino came by to give me a CD of Peruvian music.  He wants the children at the mountain school to be able to sing Condor Pasa.  I told him I liked singing, so he asked me if I would be able to teach them.  It's interesting because there is a version in Spanish and there is also a version in English that Simon and Garfunkel sang in the 70s.  I'm not sure which I'll be teaching the kids.  Mabel is also taking a singing class.  The other day Mari asked me if I played the organ or the piano.  I told her that's one thing that I'm not good at.

I read Como Agua Para Chocolate after I finished listening to the CD that Tino gave me.  When the others got back, we had lunch and then Lauren and I went out to go to the post office.  On the street right outside of our house there was a man urinating against the building.  He had been looking in our direction, so I had unfortunately looked over there.  He whistled as we walked by.  Lauren said, "I'm going to pretend he didn't just whistle at us while he was peeing."  

When we got to the post office, I sent off some of my postcards and then Lauren and I looked into some more nearby stores.  She ended up walking home and I went to the grocery store to get a few things.  I also browsed through some of the stores before heading home.  When I got home, there were three cows along the street where the man had been urinating earlier.  Funny things were just continuously popping up along that street today.

I reluctantly started to work on the website when I got home since I had been hitting brick walls yesterday.  I made some breakthroughs reading the help manual despite the fact that it's in Spanish.  I ended my website work on a good note when the other volunteers came back home.

Now James and Fiona and I are listening to Fleetwood Mac and relaxing in the common area before dinner.  I think we're expecting a new volunteer soon, maybe even tonight.  They cleaned out another room...