Happy 6 Month Anniversary to me (and the other 2010 Peru JVs)!

Last week (May 10th) was my six month anniversary of arrival in Peru. It´s crazy because November 10th seems so long ago, yet the time seems to have flown by. Here´s a little recap of what I´ve done since arriving in Peru:

• 1st couple weeks: arrival and exploration of Tacna and Habitat (where the Tacna JVs live). Getting used to the language and seeing the schools where the Tacna JVs work.
• End of November - Christmas: home stay with Sonia (host mom) and Pamela (host sister) Montenegro. They were so welcoming and patient with my Spanish. I learned a lot about Peruvian life and my Spanish improved. I also spent a lot of time at the JV worksites, especially Colegio Miguel Pro.
• Christmas – New Years: I lived in the home of Carmen, Charo and Jesus who on the local store in Habitat. They were also very welcoming and wonderful. I spent Christmas at my host cousins´ house (with Ashlen) and we spent New Years with our friend Cesar in Boca del Rio; the beach town about an hour from Tacna. Relaxed to get ready for Mes de Misión.
• January: ¡Mes de Misión! Jess, Rose, Mo, Ashlen, Seamus and I spent a month in the Andean town of Ticaco with our leader Carlos and 27 high school freshmen. We lived in community at the school, did service work (mostly clearing rocks from the paths that farmers use to walk the steep hills every day and also picked beans on the chakra), retrieved our own firewood and helped cook. It was a difficult, but a very important experience for my formation here in Peru.
• Beginning of February: Returned to Tacna to relax; visit host families and friends; celebrate my birthday with Harry Potter 7, enchiladas, cheesecake and a bottle of wine; visit Mateo, Sam and Greg on their Mes de Misión; and say goodbye to Tacna.
• February 15: Left for Andahuaylillas! Got our feet wet and learned about this amazing community I will live in for the next 1 ½ years.
• March: Started teaching. Jess left for health reasons. Began meeting community members, Jesuits and nuns…all of whom are an important part of our lives.

And now we´ve reached the six month mark. I now feel I can see what life will be like for the rest of my time in Peru; I feel like this is home. My Spanish has greatly improved and I´m feeling more comfortable in the classroom every day. Mateo and I have started co-teaching and this seems to be going really well to control the classroom. It´s also great to get to know students outside of class; although between Fe y Alegría secundaria (where I teach) and the comedor (where we eat lunch and serve about 350 kids a day), I know/recognize about 700 kids. It´s difficult to strike a balance between spending time with them and not favoring some.

This weekend Mateo and I look forward to going to Arequipa with our Jesuit, brother, friend Chema for a conference of the pastoral (campus ministry) teams of Fe y Alegría schools in southern Peru.

Trimester exams are coming up in two weeks and I am about to hand out my first-ever exam study guide to students!

So there´s my 6 month update for y´all. I would love to hear how you´re doing! Much love and un abrazo.