mi familia.

the training center was of walking distance from retreat, and it is beautiful. someone told me today that its an old house that belonged to a wealthy italian man who passed away, and his wife has given the grounds to the peace corps. its huge and green and beautiful. we spend half of our time in classes outside, surrounded by mountains - and the other half inside with all of the windows opened!

spanish class is completely in spanish - no english is spoken at all. there are 4 people in my class (including myself). we had lunch with our facilitator and she gave us the names of our families. my new family: gladys, ivan, and their daughter galuska. before we finished our lunch, our families came through the wooden doors. and - once again - complete chaos. one lady walked up to our group with her daughter and our teacher said, “tu numbre?” after she said “gladys” i immediately started crying. it could have been the lack of sleep i had the last few days, or the way things happened so fast - but, nonetheless, i was crying. she laughed and gave me the biggest hug and introduced me to my new little sister - shes 16 years old. and just like that, we were off with my bags in a mototaxi (a crazy 3 wheeled car that frequents these peruvian streets). my family is actually the family of naomi - a current PCV (peace corps volunteer) that came to visit us when we were on our retreat... shes now at her main site, all finished with training.

my house is different. mi y mi familia live in the community of Huascaran. its insane. its even crazier than i expected. the houses are all half finished, dogs are running around the roofs of houses, and all over (I MEAN ALLLL OVER) the streets. my familys dogs name is dolly and hes a little terror. he never stops barking at me. naomi (the PCV) warned me of his awful demeanor and told me id better get used to his barks. my room consists of a twin sized bed (thanks, pops, for letting me practice sleeping in the twin back at home), no dresser, pictures of barbies on the walls, and one of jesus above my bed.

shortly after arriving to the house, my parents (gladys and ivan) said, “ashley, ashley... vamos!” and we were out to explore who-knows-where. we took an cumbi (a crazy bus that drives with no rules) to chosica (a nearby city). i had no idea what was going on.. the language barrier was/is the hardest thing. we hoped off and mi papa bought us all chocolate ice cream cones. we walked towards this park and kept walking past. soon, over the horizon, i saw cristo blanco (pictures attached) it was astounding. such a moving moment. i could see that they were pleased... even if i was freaking out in english.

after we left, we went to this weird store where you had to stand outside in a line as if you were going on a ride at disney world. we finally made it to the front, and walked in. it was just like walmart, only completely crowed with short people. i was the tallest person in there, and i stuck out like a sore thumb. when we left there, we went to the market and mi mama bought loads of delicious looking fruits while mi papa, mi hermana, and i watched the stray dogs chase cars on the corner.

when we finally got home, we had ham and bread for dinner and i showed them pictures of my family, friends, and riley. they seemed so interested in america, and i only hoped to speak to them about it someday soon. before bed, i took a shower. noooo hot water... and the shower is in the house, but open to the outside. it got down to 50 degrees tonight! needless to say, i wont be showering to much during my residence in peru.. not to surprised, eh? :)

puerta de la mágica:

my mom and our dog - and my home!