Earth Week With The Red Ambiental

This past week I celebrated Earth Day with my environmental/ health club. There are 8 districts across the province, and each district has an event once a month, so there were 8 Earth Day events this week. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was only able to attend four of the events. 

To be a part of even four of these meetings was pretty great, so I'm not upset, though I am trying to prevent the schedule conflicts from happening again. This organization, the Red Ambiental, began in 2009 and is still working out a lot of fundamental organizational kinks. Fixing and improving those kinks is what I am focussing on with this group right now, so I am hoping in the future we are able to adjust the planning and programming of these events. We have a meeting next months to evaluate and discuss successes and challenges so far in this school year. I am optimistic that there are opportunities to change the things that make me want to go crazy during the planning process of these meetings, and make me want to scream while I deal with 60 kindergarten and grade school kids at an event programmed for high school students. I'm sure we can make it better, and I'm proud to be involved with it in the first place. I think the club as a whole has improved since I arrived and it is only getting better. Poco a poco.  Little by little. We'll get there. 

But in the meantime, I have to admit that even with some chaos and confusion, this is a pretty awesome thing that we have going on. Because of the Red Ambiental, kids are asked to consider and understand a lot of social issues. Plus, they get the chance to practice critical thinking, public speaking, and social skills. I'm a fan. Hell, I learned from a Peruvian teenager this week that Earth Day was created by a Wisconsin senator. Gotta love Wikipedia en Español, and the Red Ambiental for bringing me that surprising moment of State pride. All Wisconsin love aside, I love the Red Ambiental and I think it's a great organization. I'm really excited to have this group to work with am very happy with the progress we are making so far this year. 

In honor of Earth Day, this month's meetings focussed on recycling, solid waste management, and a variety of other green topics. My favorite part was playing trash basketball with them, as this was fun and gave me a way of testing their knowledge on/ showing them what you can and cannot recycle. While we're still pretty far away from the idea of efficient recycling, at the very least, 'trash burning' was not one of the options, and the kids are becoming more and more aware that trash fires are wrong. This is progress. I loved trash b-ball, even though it meant a lot of stinky milk cans and dirty old plastic bottles I had to wash, then haul around the province all week. Would have been a little easier if someone wouldn't have let her host family throw away my first bag of recyclable treasures...ahem, Kerri Maccarone, but lucky for me, there is plenty of trash to go around. In any case, it was a fun and busy week. Here are some pictures... I had a hard time choosing which ones to post, because there are so many fun ones. So you get a photo heavy post this time around. 

Meeting #1: Paijan. Friday, April 20th.

This group made a giant Christmas tree decoration from milk cans. 

Paijan: Trash basketball! 

Meeting #2: Chocope. Monday, April 23rd. 

This was in Teddy's site, so he and Kerri joined me for this one. Great to have them there. 

Chocope: These girls were adorable. 

Four years old and making presentations. Amazing. 

Chocope: The municipality donated prizes for the schools with the best presentations. 

This one got a first aid kit, and the other got a water cooler. I love those ideas :)

Meeting #3: Ascope, Wednesday April 25th.

Ascope has the best parades. 

Ascope: Our town doctor and nurse giving presentations on the health theme of the month, Dengue. 

Meeting #4: Macabi Alto, Friday April 27th.

Sixty kids. Talking trash and making plans. 

Macabi: Trash basketball. I love this game. 

Nice way to end out the week's events. 

TEA PARTY!!!

Sue Song being the awesome person she is, received TEN BOXES of Girl Scouts Cookies and wanted to share. What better way to share than have a tea party? And what's a tea party without fancy hats? Last weekend while together in Trujillo for our regional meeting, we enjoyed the nice beach weather and Sue/ her friend's generosity and had ourselves a quaint little gathering.

Gina, Me, DeeDee, and Nicole

Gotta love a good floppy hat. 

Merrill brought a fresh pomegranate. Preeettty! 

Love this picture. 

Downtime With The Host Family

Just wanted to share some photos from this week. It's been a busy week work-wise, so my favorite times have been the chill moments with the host fam between classes, Earth Day events, and meetings. We made flan Tuesday night and flew Piere's new kite this afternoon while Maggie fried up the guinea pig for lunch. Good stuff... I mean the kite, not the rodents. I don't have time/ inspiration to write anything right now. Plus I think these photos are more entertaining than anything I could babble about. 

Piere with the sticker book Bridgie sent for him. 

He has had it for 5 days and has colored all but about 2 pages. 

Loves it. 

Making flan. 

Piere fought hard to get us to put sprinkles in the flan. He lost. 

Piere learns how to fly a kite! 

Beautiful day in Ascope. 

Our kite strategy. He takes advantage of my 'height' every chance he gets. 

And yeah, those are my clothes hanging across the yard... 

Little Man was determined to show his parents/ grandparents/ brother that he knew how to do it by himself, despite their conflicting instructions. It was so fun watching him figure it out. He even used the cornfield to gauge when the breeze was coming, without anyone telling him to. So smart.  

Successful Site Visit

Pardon the delay in this post....

I had a site visit on Friday the 13th. It wasn't from a boss and I wasn't being evaluated, so the term 'successful' might be a misnomer. But I ended up with a pile of snacks as a result of this visit, so for me, it was a success. 

Onward we go... 

I received a call from one of our Peace Corps Peru doctors that Tuesday night asking if I would be available for a visit on Friday from one of the Peace Corps doctors from DC. I agreed and didn't really put a ton of thought into it, because I was busy coming off of a vacation and setting up meetings, etc. So beyond cleaning the house with my host mom Thursday night and passing her pre-visitor checklist, I really didn't think too much about my visit. And in case you're curious, Maggie's "the gringos are coming" checklist is this-

-Breett, are your feet clean?

-Is your bedspread wrinkly?

-Did you hide your dirty laundry bag full of clothes?

-Is your garbage can empty? 

I passed with flying colors- this time- and before I knew it my visitors were here. Of the visits I've had so far, this one was my favorite. Not just because I got candy, but also because the Peace Corps doctor and his wife were delightful and great to talk to. My host family being awesome and Peruvian, we ate fresh avocados straight off the tree out back and chatted for awhile in the living room. This came after my guests joined me in a meeting I was having at the school district, coincidentally with a couple of English teachers who were really excited to see some nice gringo folks to practice their English with. Win-win. I was glad they were able to see a little part of something I've been working on. 

Oh, and it wasn't until about halfway through the visit when I realized that my guest was not just a doctor but the medical director for Peace Corps. Upon learning this, I cringed at the thought of the rubber purple sandals I was wearing, for lack of having any other heat appropriate shoes at this point... see recent post on being poor and breaking sandals lately. I'm sure he didn't care, but anyone who knows how much I like shoes can understand how this killed a little piece of me. Shoes make a difference. 

Anyway, chatting with him was nice and made me miss the AIG doctors who hold a position similar to his who are just as cool and nice to talk to. Oh Travel Guard, how you always manage to stubbornly stay relevant in my life...

Here are some photos from last Friday that I wanted to share. 

Our guests with my regional coordinator and one of our Peace Corps Peru doctors. Please take note of the Christmas decor in the living room and the giant avocado snack. I love my host family :) 

TREATS!!! 

My host family loves Twix bars. That pack was in my possession for about 2 hours before it's demise ;)

Here's Piere with his lunch desert that day. A nice Friday surprise. 

Piere Quotes of the Week

I've gotten some gems outta Little Man lately. Wanted to share.

1. 

Recently, one of Piere's classmates called him fat. His response was, "Well, you're a rat with Hepatitis." 

...later on when he showed me the 'wound' from the hepatitis vaccination he got at school that day, that comment made more sense. I think my host mom didn't know whether to be proud of his creativity or ashamed of that insult. lol. 

2.

Tonight I came home from a run all sweaty/ gross and asked if there was enough water in the buckets for me to use to bathe, and Piere was all like, "I wanna go fiiiiirssstt!" (referring to taking a bath). So to try to convince him I needed to bathe first, I was like, Piere, "I'm stinky." His response was, "Why, did you fart?" 

...Mom, that one was for you :) Miss you! 

Ordinary Things 3: Five Sole Menu

Counterintuitively, the term 'menu' at a restaurant is not the paper menu itself, but rather it refers to the daily specials. Usually a menu includes two courses and a drink. If you're lucky you'll get a dessert. The great thing about menus is that they are a lot of food for very little money, with the average menu costing between 5 and 10 soles. In US dollars, 5 soles is just under $2. The 5 sole menu is pretty easy to find and something I love. The feeling of thriftiness is very fulfilling to me, and so is a huge pile of food. 

The first course, or the 'entrada' as it is called, is usually an option of soup, salad, ceviche, aji de gallina, or papa a la huancaína. The last of those options usually being what I order, because it is creamy and delicious. The entrees vary between a variety of dishes starring fried pork, goat, beef, chicken, fish or noodles. I usually take either fish or the noodles. Oh, the noodles. 

Side note: I think the word 'noodle' is fun in English and in Spanish. In Spanish, we call them tallarines or fideos. Both of those words are super fun :) I want to learn how to say noodle in all languages, because I bet it will always be fun. 

Anyway, I'm a big fan of menu. Authentic, local, cheap, plentiful. The only thing you sacrifice is the customer service. But hey, it's Peru. The idea of service with a smile around these parts hasn't quite caught on just yet. 

Here are some shots that I snapped last week during a nice lunch hour in Trujillo. Enjoy :) 

How it starts: that glorious sign on the sidewalk. 

Fresh fruit juice: it's a good thing. 

Course 1: Papa a la Huancaina, shadowed by my lunch buddy's ceviche. 

Course 2: Tallarines verdes con pollo. Chicken with green noodles, literally. 

And no, I didn't eat the chicken ;)

My compañero's second course: Goat and beans. 

Notice that it's already been tucked into. I can never get complete food pictures with volunteers around. 

All for just 5 solcitos :)

Piere Quote of the Year

I know it might be a little much to claim that this is his quote of the year. But so far this year, it is. This one tops them all. 

The word around Ascope last week was that there was a UFO visiting every night. In response to this, my host brothers had the following conversation-

Farid: Piere, the extraterrestrials are going to abduct you. 

Piere: No they won't, they'll abduct Britt. She's tall and easier to reach and her neck is really long and easy for them to grab. 

Smart kid. I love it. 

March Recap

March was easily my busiest month so far this year, which is good. I get busier all the time and I love it. It started out with a training in Huaraz, Ancash with some of my fellow Youth 17 volunteers and our community partners. Then the day after I returned from that event, I held a 2-day afternoon training workshop for the English teachers of my province. I had 26 of 29 schools represented and 11 fellow volunteers there to help me out. The one-on-one personal attention and opportunity for the teachers to practice with native speakers was very well received by the teachers and pretty fun for the volunteers. That event is far and away my favorite thing so far that I've done work-wise in Peru and I am looking forward to doing it again in May. Following that busy week, I went to the beach with my host family for a relaxing Sunday. And since I love the beach so much, I made 3 more beach visits last month: 2 in Magdalena de Cao for beach clean-ups with school district staff and students, and one to relax with volunteers during a really busy and slightly stressful month. I was also able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with my friends and World Water Day with probably close to 200 kids throughout the week. Overall, March was a busy, productive, and really fun month. Here are some random notes from the month. 

>March started in Ancash, which I love. I think it gets prettier every time I am there. You should put the Cordillera Blanca on your list of things to see if you're into mountains. 

>Seeing fellow volunteers is always a treat. Everyone is doing pretty well and I'm proud of their projects and successes so far. Peru 17, I love you. 

>I have fallen in love with choclo con queso. Corn on the cob served with fresh cheese. More common in the sierra, but delicious no matter where you are. 

>My running took a hit this month. The heat and my hectic schedule are combining forces to ruin my training progress. 

>March brought the most heat I have ever experienced. Which makes sense, because it was historically one of the hottest months ever, in terms of being over it's average temperature, or so NPR tells me. I survived, but between the sunburns and heat rashes, my skin is not happy with me. It was nice being in Ancash for a little break from the heat, but I thought it would be better when I came back, and it very much was not. Everyone here tells me this is the hottest it has ever been for March, so it wasn't just the Midwest, my friends. Strange weather patterns... the end of the world? Dun dun dun. 

>I found a Beatles crossword puzzle listening exercise online to use with my English teachers. I love the internet. The Beatles used more article phrases than I thought. Super fun for me, a nice listening challenge for the teachers. 

>During the middle of my English workshop, I found myself next to the two fellow Wisconsinites who live in my region. Naturally, we were asked to pronounce the word 'tag,' then publicly ridiculed for our 'accent.' Pssht. Accent. I don't see it. 

>When you ask native Spanish speakers to sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb," the line "whose fleece was white as snow" will sound a lot like "whose fleece was white ass now" and send a room of 30+ people into a fit of giggles. 

>Further to that, it seems as though the average male Peace Corps Volunteer doesn't know the lyrics to the song, "Rain, Rain Go Away," and will therefore teach a group of Peruvian adults, "Rain rain, go away. Come again another day. If you don't, I don't care. I'll pull down your underwear." And again, laughter will ensue, and some explaining will need to be done. Boys. 

>Piere didn't know how to make sand castles. I didn't know how to catch sand crabs. Our family beach day was a success. We each left Puerto with new skills. A good day. 

>Between my aunts Annah and Patti, plus my friends Eva and Sara, I continue to be spoiled with love through the mail. Thanks guys! Patti, your green beads were a big hit. And Sara thanks again for the Girl Scout Cookies! 

>Volunteers get crafty when it comes to celebrating here the way we do at home. I don't know where or how they found that food coloring, but I had green beer on the 17th :)

>There is an eighties cover band in Trujillo. They are good and seem even more impressive when you find out the lead singer doesn't speak a word of English outside of his songs. So bizarre, yet so wonderful. Dancing around to Queen, Journey, AC/DC covers, etc. on St. Patricks Day, I felt like I was in America. Awesome night with great friends. 

>School started on March 1st. Piere is in first grade now! Woohoo! 

>Speaking of Piere, he has evened the UNO gap and finally caught up to me. So he doesn't get bored, I am enforcing an English-only rule and he's kept to it better than anticipated. We're almost to the point where he doesn't need to use his fingers to count in English! 

>I have been really busy with the Red Ambiental and am making lots of teen friends in the process. It's fun hanging out with them and their teachers. And it's inspiring to see how much the teachers care and watch the amount of time and work that some of them put into it. 

>I love beach clean-ups. It means that I get to find beautiful hidden beaches all over the region, even if it also means I pick up dirty decomposing diapers without rubber gloves. You win some, you lose some. I do these things for mother earth. 

>There are dead baby jelly fish littered all over the beach in Puerto Malabrigo. Strangely pretty, but a running hazard. I slipped on at least 2 of them. 

>Running on the beach is one of my favorite things to do in Peru. An amazing feeling of tranquility and energy all at once. For me, it's one of those moments that the world gives you to make you feel so small in the best kind of way. 

>When you ask Ascope for a parade, damn do they deliver. The biggest parade I have ever seen happened on the 23rd for World Water Day and Tuberculosis Awareness Day. Huge success. Great morning. 

>The kids from my summer school classes and some of my neighbors are turning out to be huge assets to my successes within the schools. I mean, I was told that would happen. But it still makes me happy. 

That's enough about March. Onto April where it doesn't get any less hot or busy... stay tuned it's a good one :)

Our training group in Ancash with our community partners.

Choclo con queso. 

So good. It looks fancy here, but usually I buy it in the street and eat it from a plastic bag. 

English Workshop: Day 2

Host mom and Piere at the beach. 

Fun Facts: World Water Day. 

Ascope loves parades. That girl in green and the kid ahead of her are my neighbors, aka the gateways to the grade schools. lol. 

...and I just might be a real volunteer

This weekend I feel like I might actually be a real Peace Corps volunteer. 

Here is why- 

A. I am poor as hell. 

B. I killed a cockroach Saturday night.

C. I ran 8 miles without an iPod yesterday. 

I am the first to admit that I am a very spoiled volunteer. I think Peace Corps involves a lot of luck, and as far as I'm concerned I won the Peace Corps lottery. Awesome country, awesome site, awesome family. Boom. Doesn't get much better. I have a great host family and an excellent community to work with. I have internet, water, electricity, and a cell phone with service 100% of the time. I live in a big room with a full length mirror, a double bed, and a floor covered in tiles- not dirt or cement. I don't know any other volunteer who can say that, which is something that kicks my Catholic guilt up so high that I'm surprised I'm sharing that detail on the blog. Sorry guys, I just got lucky there. I have close friends in my immediate region and I receive more packages than any one person needs. I have NOTHING to complain about. And sure, for the most part, I have pretty much the same challenges, inconveniences, frustrations, and struggles that most of my fellow volunteers have--- the struggles we were all warned about. So it's not like I'm not the real deal, I feel like a volunteer and I know I experience the typical volunteer life in Peru. But at least from my point of view, when it comes to amenities and creature comforts, things are just a little cushier in my Peace Corps world. I am neither proud nor ashamed of that, just grateful. 

And my Posh Corps/ self-declared spoiled volunteer status is what gives me such a satisfying sense of fulfillment this weekend. As I said, I'm an insect killer void of technology and money. Everything a Peace Corps volunteer should be, right? 

The explanation- 

A. Pobre

I have been thrifty and just fiscally fine for the past 10 months. I budget, I borrow, I prioritize, I save, I spend, I sacrifice. Things have been going alright money wise. And then Holy Week happened and I went on vacation. Which means I went to Lima- the biggest money suck I have to deal with in Peru. It is no one's fault but my own that I'm poor. I need no sympathy. My decisions brought me here. And I'm not upset about that. The decisions I speak of involve registration for a half marathon and an all you can eat sushi splurge. Necessary costs, I must say. Come one. Would you be able to pass up all you can eat sushi in Lima for $13? Didn't think so. Anyway, I've made my bed. Until I get my next living allowance, I have 17 soles jangling around in my coin pig. And yeah, it's literally a pig purse. A gift from Piere, don't judge ;). To put that in perspective, with today's exchange rate, 17 soles is just shy of $6.50. Just enough and just the way it should be... but they can drop that living allowance deposit in my account whenever they want to :) 

B. La Cucaracha 

I stayed at a friend's house Saturday night and slept on a mattress on the floor, which gave the intruding cockroach easier access to my face. Not cool. I'd like to say I'm a badass and killed him like a seasoned volunteer without thinking twice about it, but you wouldn't believe that. I bounced around in a headlamp with shoes on my hands squealing and jumping until I achieved a classic Disney kill and woke up all the cats in the house with my antics (bug dance, anyone? lol). In case you weren't born or gave birth to a child in the eighties or nineties, a Disney kill is what I like to call death by 'accidental fall.' Simba didn't kill Scar, he fell. The Beast didn't throw Gaston off the roof of that castle, he slipped. Heroes aren't homicidal, they just facilitate accidents waiting to happen. Same with our friend the cockroach. He didn't want to be upstairs. I was just helping him down a little faster... then made sure he got there and didn't suffer from the long trip. This was my first cockroach kill, and yeah, I bragged about it when I got home. Piere was impressed. We won't give him the details.  

C. No Hay Tecnología

I have gadgets. More than I need and I know that. So I shouldn't whine about not having an iPod for a run. However, I'm not one of those impressive runners I know who can run without music. Running without music is tough for me and nothing I ever elect to do. But with my current financial situation and my recently broken headphones, I had no choice. Eight miles with nothing but the sound of my own motion. I survived. Sort of ironic, though, that they would break right now. Kind of like the fact that I'm out of body wash and mouth wash, aaannnd the 2 pairs of sandals I own have broken within the past month. Oh, timing. Bar soap works just as good, that prescription toothpaste is just going to have to work harder, and shower flip flops can be worn out of the house... desperate times, desperate measures, you know. 

We shall see what this week brings. But at least for now, I'm hardcore... and maybe, just maybe, a real volunteer. 

Ordinary Things 2: Jugo!

Jugo= Juice. And who doesn't love juice? 

Fresh juice tops my list of favorite street treats in Peru. Yes, I get fresh fruit juices from my host mom, in the market, at restaurants, and more, but it's best when procured on the street while struggling through one of those sweltering days in the North. In other words, I beat the heat with orange juice. 

Setting me back about a sol, I prefer orange juice over the other varieties (like pineapple or papaya, por ejemplo) for it's Vitamin C and tangy personality. Juice stands spring up all over throughout the mornings, and you can usually pick them out by the orange peelings that often hang from the side of the stand, or the glass box full of citrusy balls of joy that sit under the juicers.  

Not only is the product worth the purchase, but street juice usually comes with some friendly conversation... especially if it's the lady outside the post office in Trujillo. We're pals. Because it is served in a real glass and not a disposable waste of plastic, the juice connoisseur has the chance to chat with the juice vendor. Bonus! 

And yes, I snapped photos during a juice break. Call me a gringa, a tourist, even a nerd. You wouldn't be the first. No shame :) 

Classic juice stand in Trujillo. I think I do a little skip when I see these. 

Salud! 

Beautiful color. 

A Saturday morning treat. 

Ordinary Things 1: The Market

As mentioned in my last post, I got the idea to blog about the little things that are ordinary to me, but might not be normal for you guys, from a comment my mom made on a picture of the market. So it only seems appropriate to begin with the market in my first of many posts about regular stuff in my Peruvian life. 

The market. Sure, it might seem totally ordinary. I know you guys have them and it's not something crazy different, but being in a Peruvian market is a bit different than being in an American one. First of all, they are often outside and are covered in tarps that give Peruvians plenty of room to walk around. For me, however, and pretty much anyone else of average American height, walking through the market means ducking and squatting, or getting hit in the face with tarps and the ropes that hold them up. Not all of them are like that and many are indoors, but they are all set up pretty much the same with stands and tables strewn about in a maze-like fashion.

Another thing they all seem to have in common is a community. What I love about the market is that everyone seems to know everyone and when I go with my host family, they have specific vendors they go to every time and there is a sense of appreciation from both sides. That's something you can't usually find in US supermarkets. For example, I have a fruit guy, and a guy I buy water from, and a lady I buy flowers from... and then there's the chicken lady, but I don't go near her stand, I just know her from school. She's sweet as pie, but I hate the smell of dead chickens, so I usually just wave and saludar (greet) her from across the market. She understands. There's a fish guy too who likes to show me how crabs change color when you boil them. I'd like to tell him that I saw one too many crabs getting boiled when I saw "The Little Mermaid" about 20 years ago, but that would leave him thinking I'm crazier than he already thinks I am for not wanting to eat crab to begin with. 

These are all friends in the market in Ascope, which I frequently visit for no other reason than it's proximity to where I live. I like walking through the market on my way home from the high school or school district, just to see everyone and say hello. More often than not, I don't buy anything. But if I do, it's fruit. Ah, the fruit. Nom. 

The markets in our neighboring town of Casa Grande or the regional capital of Trujillo have much bigger markets with more choices and loads more people. I can only handle the big markets when I need something specific. They are too much for me otherwise. Sensory overload. Dead animals, raw meat, blood on the floor, flies, vendors yelling at me, pig feet, cow heads, small alleys, old ladies cutting in front of me, etc. I get a little bit of "market anxiety." Lame, I know, but I can't help it. It's something I'm working on. 

I do like eating lunch at the markets, though. In the midst of the produce and other products are market restaurants with cheap daily specials. Some of my favorite meals in the past 10 months have been eaten in the markets. Piles of delicious food for about $1.50 USD. 

Can't beat that. Fresh food. Camaraderie. Lunch. All in one place. 

Minus the meat stuffs, I'm a fan. But hey, it's not the market's fault I'm a wimp when it comes to animal parts. Overall, the market = a good thing. 

A few shots taken during some recent mercado visits-

Kerri checking out the fruta. 

Fresh cheese in Ayacucho :)

Slack attack! 

New To The Blog: Ordinary Things

Confession: I'm in a blog slump. Not a real-life Peace Corps slump (yeah- those happen), but a blog slump. Things aren't as new and fascinating to me anymore. Less frequently, I am inspired to babble on and on about things to you fine folks at home. This is a concept that I love. My life has settled into normal. Well, as normal as the Peace Corps lifestyle can be anyway, which is a whole different topic for a whole different post. But for all practical and contextual purposes, I live a pretty normal, chill, happy life. And that is awesome. It wasn't until recently when I realized that even though things feel normal to me, they are far from what my normal used to be and are probably still pretty new and maybe even fascinating to people at home. 

When my mom told me that a picture of me in a local market was amazing, it got me thinking about how things that are ordinary to me are unusual and potentially interesting to you guys who aren't surrounded by the things that I am. This inspired me to back up a bit and share the little things with you, instead of continuing with my blog the way I have been, by sharing events and getting lost in explaining little details that I have failed to tell you about to begin with. 

With the new volunteer groups, Peru 19 and 20, getting ready to leave for their service this summer, and presumably scanning the Peru volunteer blogs like I did last spring, I figured that now is the best time to start a series of blog posts about the little things in my every day life. Everyone wins, I have something to write about and hopefully you guys will have something worth reading. 

So here you have something new to the blog- a series on ordinary things in my Peruvian life. Hope you like it. 

Little Man Gets His Stripes

In Peruvian classrooms, the students who have the best grades and who show themselves to be leaders among their peers are selected to be the brigadeers for their classrooms, which are kind of like peer police- for lack of a better term. Being the brigadeer is an honor for students and they have a few different responsibilities, the most prominent one being the flag bearing/ marching they do during morning formation when the national anthem is sung. Each classroom usually has one or two brigadeer(s) for the school year, and because this school year just begun a month ago, this year's brigadeers have just been selected. Yesterday, Friday April 13th, was the swear-in ceremony for the brigadeers of Piere's school. When I came back from a week-long vacation this week, his first words were, "Breett! Good news! I got two perfect scores last week so they asked me to be the brigadeer! I get my chord on Friday!" So of course I went to watch him get outfitted. I was proud as a peach. Here you have my Friday morning fun :) 

Maggie pinning the chord on. 

Little man and me. Thanks, Annah, for my new shirt! :)

First grade brigadeer.