On our second day of classes, we had divided into 3 small groups to play simple rhythms with percussion instruments. As Kent says, my groups can easily get me distracted by bringing up most any topic! This group of girls, ages 10-12 was particularly talkative, and after Kent explained what each group was to be working on, these girls wanted to figure out why Kent talks differently. Where is he from? They began guessing....Argentina? Brazil? Then one in the group, Diana, explained that he's probably from a country where they don't speak Spanish very much. I affirmed that indeed, we are all from the U.S. Before I could say more, they were on to discussing what language he speaks, if it's not Spanish. After a bit, I explained that our main language in English, which surprised them, but also helped them understand why our Spanish is "different"! Diana, who is good at explaining, then took the chance to inform me that everyone in Peru speaks Spanish as their main language. I appreciated their curiosity and affirmed that we are eager to learn more of their language. Lots of good learning, even when we're far off topic!!
Luisa and I have both been sick already in La Merced. It seems that in our first week in each new location we all experience some level of stomach sickness. In Mexico, they say it's "Montezuma's Revenge" on European descendants. Luisa timed her sickness just right....she was vomitting through the evening....but then was better through the night so she didn't miss any classes. I got sicker through the night, so stayed in bed, and close to the bathroom through the next day. Rosa made us special tea to settle our stomachs and a chicken noodle soup (a universal remedy!) to eat until our systems returned to normal(ish). It all passed quickly, for which we are always grateful.
Our hosts have a washing machine that we can use, and have lots of clothes lines on the top, open level of the house, which is the typical place to hang clothes. The main challenge is that since it's the rainy season, it's always part science and part game to figure out a good time to wash and hang clothes. I like this game, and often play it at home, so I'm up for it; I'm very glad to be able to hang out laundry again! Often there is rain in the night and into the morning, but then clears to some degree by noon. The question is what time the rain will return, and it returns very quickly. Rosa advises "as soon as you see the sun, quick wash a load and hang it out...if there's full sun it will dry in an hour." This has worked for me a couple of times now, as we have a "siesta" break from 12-4pm to go home for dinner and a rest (and laundry) before returning to teach more classes. But, some days it never clears up, so then we wait to see what happens the next day. Today our family is desperate for some clean clothes, so when the sun came out full at 11am, I left my family to finish class and I dashed home to put clothes in the washer. Fun game, and we will enjoy sun-dried clothes tomorrow :)
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