Hola, Callao!

May 25, 2012

We pulled into port at about 8am, while we were eating breakfast. It was really fun and interesting to watch, but not as fun as walking down the gangway!!! I was so excited, I hopped onto land and announced, “I’m in Peru!!!” while the crew and my classmates laughed at me.

It was the day for my required field lab—the one assigned for my class—and we were headed for a Peruvian school in the slums of Lima, the capital. Two representatives from the school joined us on our bus ride and explained a bit about the school, and how they found experts in all fields and asked them to teach for a year or two at Santa María. Wilma couldn’t speak much English, so I had the chance to practice asking questions and interpreting the Spanish answers. I was very surprised to learn that once I got back into it, it was fairly easy to make myself understood, and only slightly more difficult to understand.

The school, Santa María, was in a shanty town, where the houses were basically lean-tos and walls with tin roofs. This was the first I saw of Lima, and I couldn’t believe how dangerous the conditions were. They basically lived on a hill of sand. We were shown the community center, which had just gotten floors and a roof, something they were very proud of. Even in the school, which was very open by comparison to our schools, was something they were grateful for.

A shanty town in Lima

Being in the school was an amazing experience. For whatever reason, I didn’t think we’d be received well as Americans, but I was completely wrong. The kids and teachers alike were very excited for us to be there. In the classrooms, the kids kept trying their hardest to get us to sit with them. “Aqui, aqui!” (“Here, here!”). It was very touching.

Also, there were stray dogs everywhere

And they’re all so eager! They wanted to show what they knew, even though for the most part we couldn’t understand each other. The kids knew more English than the adults though, which I found interesting. When we talked to the parents earlier, we found that the majority of them were single mothers who wanted better for their children.

I got to talk to two girls in person as well, and they did a great job of speaking slowly and enunciating so I could understand. Sort of. I asked how they liked school and what their favorite subjects were—the answers were that they loved it, and they loved math. One girl I didn’t talk to wanted to be an engineer. It breaks your heart to hear the dreams of these kids—what American girl says she wants to be an engineer when she grows up?—and know that they might not even get the opportunity to continue their education because of the conditions they are living in. It really opened my eyes to how much I have, because it’s one thing to know peripherally and completely another to experience it in person.

The girls I talked to. Left to right: Me, Lucy, Estephanie

After we left the school there was a view I wanted to take a picture of, but when I snapped the shot I didn’t realize there was a mom and her three kids in my picture. I went to ask if that was okay when I saw the picture preview, and they were all very excited. The mom was totally okay with us taking more pictures—in fact, she thought it was awesome and did her best to get us to take more, even letting some of our group hold her youngest daughter. I couldn’t believe it. Her house was so fenced in, but she was so open and willing to let her daughter be held by complete strangers, something that would never happen at home.

My first accidental picture

The woman’s youngest daughter

UN Developmental Goal 2: providing universal primary education

Later that evening, after we finished talking about the field lab, I went to Miraflores with my friends Jacqui, Favian, Eric, Julie, and a new girl named Nicolette. Miraflores is a district of Peru, and the disparity between the classes from here to the slums was colossal. I couldn’t even believe it. Miraflores was prospering and beautiful, fun and colorful and had tons of cool fountains and art and parks. Compared to the slums, it was paradise.

Fountain in Miraflores

We went out to a couple of discotecas to try pisco sours and dances. A pisco sour is the “national drink of Peru” or something (pisco is an alcohol like vodka or rum found in Peru), and it’s made  with egg whites, lime, and pisco. Possibly sugar, since it was kind of sweet too, but I’m not sure. It was really tasty, despite the egg whites! I didn’t know about them at first, but later I did and I didn’t even mind.

  

We also had tons of fun dancing that night! A couple of local girls taught us some dances to their songs (we think they were Brazilian, but not positive) and we had an absolute blast. I don’t even really have words to describe how much fun it was (plus, it was two days ago), but they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here they are!