"I've gone this far...and it's more than I hoped for"

Alright everyone, it's been quite the past four days with all of our traveling and becoming a part of the family here in Lima, Peru! Here are a few of our adventures:

Day 1 - Travel Day:

Maeve and I arrived at O'Hare, somehow found our gate, and made it on the delayed flight to Miami. However, when we got to Miami, we only had 40 minutes to catch our connection. You would think that would be enough, but at Miami, we needed exit and go BACK THROUGH security again.... We asked a security guard where gate J was and he said it was about a 20 minute walk. We then became nervous because we told him that our flight was going to leave in 30 minutes. His advice? "You'd better RUN." So, Maeve and I, in our glory, ran across the Miami airport, went through security, and made it on our flight with a few minutes to spare. You could say we were ready to sleep on our 6 hour overnight flight into Lima (I've never slept so well on a plane).

Day 2 - First Day in Lima:

We arrived around 5am at the airport in Lima and looked for our host family to come and pick us up. We talked to them in Spanish on our way to our host family's house and got immersed immediately in the language. It was difficult at first to use the language because we felt like we needed more practice, but as the day went on it got easier and easier. We showered and ate breakfast, which was bread and tuna. It was at that moment in which I realized I was going to love it here because I LOVE seafood. While tuna isn't exactly gourmet, it was still "up my alley."

We then went to the school, met the teachers and some students, and participated in a conference that our host dad spoke at. The school we are teaching in, EIGER, includes primario (elementary/middle), secondario (high school), and profesional (college level). It gives opportunities for students who might not be able to afford a four year university to get a degree and begin to work. We will be working at the "primario" y "secondario" levels.

After the conference and our host dad's speech, many people came to take photos with us because we were from the United States and St. Norbert. EIGER has an exchange program with St. Norbert, so people had heard of the school and Wisconsin before! After smiling for numerous photos with my wet hair put up in a bun (sorry, Mom), we went and had lunch. For the second meal, we had "Ceviche":

Ceviche is a common Peruvian food that is made with raw fish and a little bit of spice - and we LOVED it! Shoutout to Nate for the recommendation - it only took me 2 meals to go ahead and try it! This particular version also had some sweet potatoes with it as well and these potatoes added so much good flavoring. We also had a snack called "Cancha" which is similar to popcorn and I've fallen in love with that too - it's definitely coming back to the states with me.

*I'm just going to apologize upfront - there's probably going to be a lot of me sharing information about food...what can I say?

After lunch, we went to the supermarket to shop for a bit, then came back and slept. Over the course of 36 hours, Maeve and I had only slept about 4 hours, so we were in need of a little siesta.

Later, we had dinner at a place near my host family's house that serves chicken and we tried some Inca Kola, which is the popular soft drink of Peru. If you have not had it, it tastes a lot like bubble gum (weird, but really good) and I highly recommend it! After this day, we settled down for some much needed rest.

Day 3 - Second Day in Lima:

Our host family let us sleep in until 9am to have desayuno or breakfast which this time was eggs! It was a nice comfortable meal with the family.

This Sunday was a census for the country of Peru. Every 10 years, the government shuts every shop, event, attraction, etc. down for the day and people needed to stay inside their houses from 8am to 5pm in order to count the amount of people in the country. Of course it was our second day here in which this event took place...just our luck! Hahaha.

So, we played with our host brother who is 4 years old, watched the packer game, and ate lunch with our host family on Sunday. It was very relaxed and well needed after a busy day before and we got to know our family even better! Maeve and I were also so happy to watch the packer game here in Lima as it is broadcasted on Fox Sports! Our host dad also offered us the fruit, Chirimoya, which was green on the outside and white on the inside. It was so sweet and a wonderful snack - much healthier than the typical cheese curds I normally eat while watching the Packers. However, we did not catch all of the game and missed the upsetting loss because we ate lunch around 2:30pm...which honestly was okay with me because we did not miss much.... :(

On the bright side, for lunch, we had potatoes and tuna as an appetizer, followed by beef and rice. It was so filling and delicious!

At 5pm, right as the census ended, we headed back to the school to visit for a bit, then our hosts dad's daughter and her husband took Maeve and I to Larcomar. Larcomar is a mall in Lima that is on a cliff that overlooks the ocean. It. Was. Beautiful.

My photo absolutely does NOT do it justice, so I'll get some better ones later. But it was so amazing to shop and eat on a cliff right by the ocean. We also had the opportunity to try some Peruvian chocolates, which I would highly recommend. The night ended around 9:30pm and we headed off to bed to prepare for the first day of school in the morning!

Day 4 - First Day at EIGER (our school)

Above is us on our first day of school! In the picture you can see how we are going to wear these blazers everyday as our uniforms, even though it is pretty hot in the city. Shoutout to the man who took our picture, your thumb really makes it memorable!

The teachers at the school are so unbelievably nice and the kids are so excited we are there! Today was a day of observation and figuring out our schedules. We are going to be teaching a bunch of english classes and then helping with the classes in Spanish. We are so excited to strengthen our language skills as well as help the kids with their English. It truly is a win-win on both sides here!

Today, we both had the opportunity to be in classes for a short period of time, and I was able to make connections to the kids. They were learning a dance for the celebration of the school that is happening on Saturday and they were so enthusiastic about this dance. I also was able to share information about myself and we compared favorite songs, subjects, and stories about life. To the 8th grade students back in Wisconsin, most of the kids I talked to LOVE math, but I don't think they use algebra tiles...I will let y'all know!

I cannot wait to continue to make these connections everyday of our time here.

That's all for now - stay tuned for how the rest of the first week goes and how our teaching experiences will grow!

Hasta luego,

Lauren