guadalupe | perusing peru...

we spent two days in guadalupe visiting a volunteer, whose site had about 30,000 people.

the municipality at the plaza de armas.

taxidermy at a local lunch spot.

it was about a 30 minute combi ride from pacasmayo. the first day i sat on the back bench of the combi and quickly learned that was the worst possible place to sit. i found myself sitting on the engine and, quite literally, had the exhaust smoke blowing out beneath my legs. my nostrils and my lungs stung. needless to say, the next morning i grabbed a seat in the front.

my morning combi ride.

i taught at a more rural primary school, just out of town. it was a two room school house and between the two days, i taught four classes: hand washing, teeth brushing, friendship and virtues. the municipality was nice to give us a lift out to the school, but we all had to fit in one truck, which meant we had to ride in the back…which i love to do anyhow.

carlhey, me, evan (our pcvc) and brian (the la libertad pcvl) riding in the back of the police truck.

pretending we live a hard-knock life.

the youngest of the primary classes.

showing off the glitter on their hands and ready to learn to wash their hands.

saw this in the older class. an anatomically correct lion. details. details.

two of the students ready to bike home with a rice field behind them.

at the end of our first day, we went to a special needs school that the volunteer works at as well. we worked with young adults with special needs, showing them how to make a picture frame and also painting a map of peru on the school walls. it was a blast.

the whole crew (volunteers + students) with our finished map.

our last afternoon in guadalupe, the municipality set up a nice lunch for us at the house of a local artist. we had lunch in his garden which was quite beautiful.

where we dined.

he concluded lunch by sharing some of his original poetry. it was beautiful. he also showed us some of his paintings as well. to top it off, he had six-week-old kittens. needless to saw our hearts were overjoyed that afternoon.