Today is the day. A month after my last post, and I am now
sitting in the hostel in Lima, waiting to leave for the airport and begin my
16-hour commute back to Chicago. What a summer. What an incredible summer. I
get goose bumps and all emotional just thinking about this summer. Where do I
start?
I returned to Chimbote to teach with Arpegio Peru, the El Sistema program, three more Saturdays. I really loved the environment there, and I enjoyed teaching my students. In every El Sistema program I have witnessed or participated in, I have noticed this inexplicable joy and friendship amongst both the students and their teachers. The kids always seem to greatly respect their directors, teachers, and one another. Their love for music is really inspiring for me, a cellist who felt burnt out and tired of the classical music world upon entering college! Teaching with El Sistema has completely rekindled my love for music and has opened my eyes to how incredibly effective music education can be to instigate social change. There is also just something so sweet about knowing that you can make a difference in a child’s life. Even if you are that dorky white girl a young student had one summer, you can still be a positive memory in his or her life. This summer, I had a student who was very shy and barely said a word to me the three lessons I had with her. And yet, she would always laugh when I made a joke, messed up my words and teased myself, or made funny faces. She and I worked on her basic set-up with her cello and with the pieces she was playing, and she made so much progress. And when we said goodbye, she hugged me so tightly and seemed genuinely devastated. I was also extremely sad to leave her because of her progress as a player but also because I saw the prospect of her opening up to me and maybe others, eventually. And after pictures were taken and multiple hugs were given, we exchanged Facebook information and said goodbye. I hope I taught her something and provided her with a little sense of ease and joy, but no matter what, I know that she and my other two students touched my heart. I have loved all my students in Peru from this year and last and won’t forget them. I am so thankful to have been able to teach this summer!
I also went to church with my host sister one more time before I left, and I also attended a handful of Bible studies and parties with people from the church. Something I have really loved about my experience this summer that is very different than last summer’s is the variety of things I was able to do this time. Going to church and Bible studies, teaching in Chimbote, going for runs, traveling, and working with Vive Peru showed me a little glimpse of what it would look like to live in Trujillo. And I’ll be honest: I liked it a lot. I am incredibly thankful for that church and for the time I spent with the people there and for everything else I did. I already miss it all. I feel like this summer has changed me. I feel like a different person. I feel like I know myself a little better and have grown a lot through a lot of hardship and change and new dreams.
Something I am so grateful for is being able to stay with my same host mamá, Elsa this year. I learned a lot more about her, and my Spanish has improved so much that I was able to tell her an entire story my last night in her house. I really loved coming home for lunch every day to be greeted with, “Hola, mi amor!” and having to deny her jokes that I had a “Peruvian love” because I kept eating dinner out with friends I had made in Trujillo. A memory in my life I will never forget is saying goodbye to Elsa last summer, as she and I sat in that taxi to the bus station, crammed in the back together. And this year, I will never, ever forget the night one of Elsa’s dear friends invited me and my four other roommates over to her place for dinner. And, of course, two of us just happen to be single…and looky there- her two sons are also single! Imagine that. So the buildup to that night was significant, as Elsa gave us the details about these “wonderful bachelors” days beforehand and also told us the specific outfits we should each wear- I was instructed to wear my “dress with the ponies”. The night came, and we finally arrived to the fancy, decked-out apartment of Elsa’s friend, all expecting something a little different than the reality of the situation. So this woman has two sons who are 25 and 30 years old. Apparently the 25 year-old was reserved for my other roommate, Chloe, and I was given…the 30 year-old? Who also happens to be an identical twin. So at least there’s that. It could have been a lovely dinner, expect for the fact that the 25 year-old decided to hide in his room the entire night, never to appear due to “not having the appropriate shoes”. The 30 year-old was polite enough to come out and utter two words, staring into the next room the entire 6 minutes he sat with us. Despite the fact that neither of her sons decided they wanted to join these 5 gringas and their Peruvian mom for dinner, the mother still insisted on making these matches work. After making conversation with only me and Chloe, we ate dinner and also the worst dessert any of us had ever encountered (an amazing roomie bonding experience!). We were then given the pleasure of gathering around their desktop computer to watch home videos and Facebook stalk her sons. I will say that this entire Peruvian matchmaking business is a new one for me, but my roommates and I all felt that maybe the Facebook stalking was a bit much! And their profiles, coupled with the knowledge that the boys were home and refused to see us, really showed us all that they are not exactly the marrying type at this point in their lives. Let’s just say I affectionately deemed them to both be a “man-child”! Haha. We all avoided one another’s stares that whole night because we knew that the moment we made eye contact, we would all burst out laughing. SUCH a funny night!!!!
I am now sitting in the Houston airport terminal, waiting for my flight to Chicago. As I continue to reflect on my time in Peru, I am just astounded by what an impact living and working in a different place for two months can make in a person’s life. I not only tapped some more into my adventurous, llama-loving side, but I also learned how I work in the administrative area of an organization. I learned a lot of new skills this summer, and I am so thankful for that! When I first arrived to Trujillo, I felt incredibly overwhelmed after my initial meeting with the volunteers and the other staff. When I learned that my main responsibilities would be to take care of the volunteers, talk with their worksite bosses and host families in Spanish, resolve conflicts, update the social media, and take public transportation to the various worksites to visit the volunteers, all I could think was, “Okay. I legitimately don’t know if I can do one of those things well”. I just sat there, wondering how long it would take before people realized I wasn’t fluent in Spanish or before they realized that I am a soft-spoken music major who doesn’t know anything about the other programs or how to take care of people my age and older. But you know what? I kept going and kept learning. I definitely had my moments of freaking out (basically, every time I was alone and away from everyone), but with encouragement and prayer, I put the fear aside and stepped up to the challenge. And I am so glad I did because I now know that I may have come into the program with the possibility of being the weakest coordinator, but I fought for it, did a good job, and felt a sense of fulfillment by the end. My Spanish greatly improved, and I worked with the volunteers and observed and documented them at their worksites. I loved interacting with each volunteer and investing in how they were all doing. Being a coordinator brought out my motherly side, and I was able to exercise some of that awesome motherly concern, care, and sternness I all learned from my one and only! J So not only was it a great summer of spiritual and emotional growth, but it was also a great time for me to learn some new skills and enhance older ones. It also made me realize how much of a musician and teacher I am. That is definitely my passion, and I can’t see doing any other thing with my life!
By the end of the session, all I craved was one last adventure, one last beautiful moment I could forever hold onto in my memory box of Peru. Therefore, I am so thankful I was able to spend my last weekend in a beautiful, quiet city in the Andes called Otuzco. Spending a day there was the perfect ending to my 10 weeks in Peru. That town is what I envision when I think of Peru- nestled in the mountains, speckled with flowing landscapes and incredible views from every angle. I actually ended up going by myself, so I took advantage of the alone time and made it a spiritual retreat. I took a van for the two-hour trip to Otuzco and spent the time looking out the window and praying. It was a very pleasant trip, until the road turned extremely windy the last twenty minutes and made two of the children in the car throw up. Thankfully, this is a common occurrence on this commute, and the driver was prepared with bags and toilet paper! Oh dear! After we got off, I walked toward the town, decked in hiking gear and carrying my backpack full of my books and snacks. I walked into an electronics store and asked the man if there was a mountain I could hike and a place I could see llamas. He said there were llamas in the town square just beyond the store and then asked what I wanted to see in the mountains. I just said, “Algo bonito.” Something beautiful. He looked a little confused by this vague answer, but he pointed me to the direction I should go, and I marched on. I walked through the square and saw the adorable llamas, went inside a famous cathedral and sat for a moment during their Mass, and I then turned in the direction I was directed to go and kept walking until I ended up at the top of a mountain. After walking through the cobblestone streets and climbing a hill, I found a rocky staircase that led up to the bottom valley area of a mountain. I pondered just sitting in the valley once I climbed to it, having already hiked for 30 minutes, but I decided that I wanted to take on this last challenge and hike another hour to the top of that mountain. Because Otuzco is in the Andes, the altitude is higher than I am used to, and it is also much hotter near in the mountains. So I was out of breath every step up I took up those stairs and up that mountain, but I cranked the worship music and kept going! Once I made it to the top, I found a very tall cement slab that had another cement slab sitting on top of it, so I climbed on it and used it as a little natural chair. I sat up on that mountain for two and a half hours and didn’t see a soul until I got back to the town. I absolutely love hiking and spending time in mountains, but I had never done it alone. Every time in the past when I had hiked a mountain, I had always wanted to just sit there and praise God for such a hard, beautiful world. But being shy and feeling weird about it, I could never fully express that when other people were with me. So I took advantage of this alone time with God and let it all out. I talked with Him for a good half an hour, just saying everything I needed to. I listened to the wind, I felt His Spirit speak to me and give me peace and promises of love, and I felt so cared for. Not only did He show me that He is in control of my life, even when it seems to be different than what I wanted, but He gave me mountains. He gave us this earth, and that just baffled me. I sat there staring at that landscape and felt a peace and clarity I hadn’t felt in a long time. Actually, before that day I was not sure I would had ever felt that feeling again. I read my Bible, journaled, and sang songs at the top of my lungs. No shame, no attempts to look socially appropriate. It was just me and my Savior. No person, no thought, no sadness or fear could win and intrude that. It was incredible. And I just knew that no matter what happens this year, no matter what happened last year or the years before, He would give me strength. He will get me through and provide me with unexpected blessings. And then I knew that I was ready to go back to Chicago, back to the stress, the pain of the past, the hardships of constantly trying to keep up with my music, social life, other classes, faith, jobs, and obligations. I heard Him say to me, “My grace is sufficient,” and, “If you wait for me, I will renew your strength and mount you up with wings like eagles”. After being fully present in that time, I realized how hungry and sunburned I was and hiked back down the mountain (which basically meant half-running, half-falling the entire time). I made it back to the main plaza without getting lost at all, ate some chocolate cake, and I boarded a van back to Trujillo. That random mountain in Peru will be one of those precious places that will always remind me of God’s sanctity and love, and I will try to hold onto all those truths.
It feels extremely strange to be back in America. Everyone is speaking English around me, people are much taller, there is cell phone reception, wifi, toilets that you can throw toilet paper into, and water you can drink without getting parasitosis. I miss the Peruvian culture. I miss hearing and speaking Spanish. I miss the amazing friends I made, both Peruvian and American. And I miss the mountains. But after an incredible, amazing opportunity of a lifetime to spend the summer in South America, I feel ready to begin a year full of big decisions. And after it all, I could see myself living in Trujillo. I could also see myself in Chicago, maybe LA, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta. It will all become clear, and I’m not afraid. My heart has healed a lot this summer, and I have seen new sides of myself. Another wonderful summer in Peru has come to a close, but I hope and pray I will be back to my home soon.
I returned to Chimbote to teach with Arpegio Peru, the El Sistema program, three more Saturdays. I really loved the environment there, and I enjoyed teaching my students. In every El Sistema program I have witnessed or participated in, I have noticed this inexplicable joy and friendship amongst both the students and their teachers. The kids always seem to greatly respect their directors, teachers, and one another. Their love for music is really inspiring for me, a cellist who felt burnt out and tired of the classical music world upon entering college! Teaching with El Sistema has completely rekindled my love for music and has opened my eyes to how incredibly effective music education can be to instigate social change. There is also just something so sweet about knowing that you can make a difference in a child’s life. Even if you are that dorky white girl a young student had one summer, you can still be a positive memory in his or her life. This summer, I had a student who was very shy and barely said a word to me the three lessons I had with her. And yet, she would always laugh when I made a joke, messed up my words and teased myself, or made funny faces. She and I worked on her basic set-up with her cello and with the pieces she was playing, and she made so much progress. And when we said goodbye, she hugged me so tightly and seemed genuinely devastated. I was also extremely sad to leave her because of her progress as a player but also because I saw the prospect of her opening up to me and maybe others, eventually. And after pictures were taken and multiple hugs were given, we exchanged Facebook information and said goodbye. I hope I taught her something and provided her with a little sense of ease and joy, but no matter what, I know that she and my other two students touched my heart. I have loved all my students in Peru from this year and last and won’t forget them. I am so thankful to have been able to teach this summer!
I also went to church with my host sister one more time before I left, and I also attended a handful of Bible studies and parties with people from the church. Something I have really loved about my experience this summer that is very different than last summer’s is the variety of things I was able to do this time. Going to church and Bible studies, teaching in Chimbote, going for runs, traveling, and working with Vive Peru showed me a little glimpse of what it would look like to live in Trujillo. And I’ll be honest: I liked it a lot. I am incredibly thankful for that church and for the time I spent with the people there and for everything else I did. I already miss it all. I feel like this summer has changed me. I feel like a different person. I feel like I know myself a little better and have grown a lot through a lot of hardship and change and new dreams.
Something I am so grateful for is being able to stay with my same host mamá, Elsa this year. I learned a lot more about her, and my Spanish has improved so much that I was able to tell her an entire story my last night in her house. I really loved coming home for lunch every day to be greeted with, “Hola, mi amor!” and having to deny her jokes that I had a “Peruvian love” because I kept eating dinner out with friends I had made in Trujillo. A memory in my life I will never forget is saying goodbye to Elsa last summer, as she and I sat in that taxi to the bus station, crammed in the back together. And this year, I will never, ever forget the night one of Elsa’s dear friends invited me and my four other roommates over to her place for dinner. And, of course, two of us just happen to be single…and looky there- her two sons are also single! Imagine that. So the buildup to that night was significant, as Elsa gave us the details about these “wonderful bachelors” days beforehand and also told us the specific outfits we should each wear- I was instructed to wear my “dress with the ponies”. The night came, and we finally arrived to the fancy, decked-out apartment of Elsa’s friend, all expecting something a little different than the reality of the situation. So this woman has two sons who are 25 and 30 years old. Apparently the 25 year-old was reserved for my other roommate, Chloe, and I was given…the 30 year-old? Who also happens to be an identical twin. So at least there’s that. It could have been a lovely dinner, expect for the fact that the 25 year-old decided to hide in his room the entire night, never to appear due to “not having the appropriate shoes”. The 30 year-old was polite enough to come out and utter two words, staring into the next room the entire 6 minutes he sat with us. Despite the fact that neither of her sons decided they wanted to join these 5 gringas and their Peruvian mom for dinner, the mother still insisted on making these matches work. After making conversation with only me and Chloe, we ate dinner and also the worst dessert any of us had ever encountered (an amazing roomie bonding experience!). We were then given the pleasure of gathering around their desktop computer to watch home videos and Facebook stalk her sons. I will say that this entire Peruvian matchmaking business is a new one for me, but my roommates and I all felt that maybe the Facebook stalking was a bit much! And their profiles, coupled with the knowledge that the boys were home and refused to see us, really showed us all that they are not exactly the marrying type at this point in their lives. Let’s just say I affectionately deemed them to both be a “man-child”! Haha. We all avoided one another’s stares that whole night because we knew that the moment we made eye contact, we would all burst out laughing. SUCH a funny night!!!!
I am now sitting in the Houston airport terminal, waiting for my flight to Chicago. As I continue to reflect on my time in Peru, I am just astounded by what an impact living and working in a different place for two months can make in a person’s life. I not only tapped some more into my adventurous, llama-loving side, but I also learned how I work in the administrative area of an organization. I learned a lot of new skills this summer, and I am so thankful for that! When I first arrived to Trujillo, I felt incredibly overwhelmed after my initial meeting with the volunteers and the other staff. When I learned that my main responsibilities would be to take care of the volunteers, talk with their worksite bosses and host families in Spanish, resolve conflicts, update the social media, and take public transportation to the various worksites to visit the volunteers, all I could think was, “Okay. I legitimately don’t know if I can do one of those things well”. I just sat there, wondering how long it would take before people realized I wasn’t fluent in Spanish or before they realized that I am a soft-spoken music major who doesn’t know anything about the other programs or how to take care of people my age and older. But you know what? I kept going and kept learning. I definitely had my moments of freaking out (basically, every time I was alone and away from everyone), but with encouragement and prayer, I put the fear aside and stepped up to the challenge. And I am so glad I did because I now know that I may have come into the program with the possibility of being the weakest coordinator, but I fought for it, did a good job, and felt a sense of fulfillment by the end. My Spanish greatly improved, and I worked with the volunteers and observed and documented them at their worksites. I loved interacting with each volunteer and investing in how they were all doing. Being a coordinator brought out my motherly side, and I was able to exercise some of that awesome motherly concern, care, and sternness I all learned from my one and only! J So not only was it a great summer of spiritual and emotional growth, but it was also a great time for me to learn some new skills and enhance older ones. It also made me realize how much of a musician and teacher I am. That is definitely my passion, and I can’t see doing any other thing with my life!
By the end of the session, all I craved was one last adventure, one last beautiful moment I could forever hold onto in my memory box of Peru. Therefore, I am so thankful I was able to spend my last weekend in a beautiful, quiet city in the Andes called Otuzco. Spending a day there was the perfect ending to my 10 weeks in Peru. That town is what I envision when I think of Peru- nestled in the mountains, speckled with flowing landscapes and incredible views from every angle. I actually ended up going by myself, so I took advantage of the alone time and made it a spiritual retreat. I took a van for the two-hour trip to Otuzco and spent the time looking out the window and praying. It was a very pleasant trip, until the road turned extremely windy the last twenty minutes and made two of the children in the car throw up. Thankfully, this is a common occurrence on this commute, and the driver was prepared with bags and toilet paper! Oh dear! After we got off, I walked toward the town, decked in hiking gear and carrying my backpack full of my books and snacks. I walked into an electronics store and asked the man if there was a mountain I could hike and a place I could see llamas. He said there were llamas in the town square just beyond the store and then asked what I wanted to see in the mountains. I just said, “Algo bonito.” Something beautiful. He looked a little confused by this vague answer, but he pointed me to the direction I should go, and I marched on. I walked through the square and saw the adorable llamas, went inside a famous cathedral and sat for a moment during their Mass, and I then turned in the direction I was directed to go and kept walking until I ended up at the top of a mountain. After walking through the cobblestone streets and climbing a hill, I found a rocky staircase that led up to the bottom valley area of a mountain. I pondered just sitting in the valley once I climbed to it, having already hiked for 30 minutes, but I decided that I wanted to take on this last challenge and hike another hour to the top of that mountain. Because Otuzco is in the Andes, the altitude is higher than I am used to, and it is also much hotter near in the mountains. So I was out of breath every step up I took up those stairs and up that mountain, but I cranked the worship music and kept going! Once I made it to the top, I found a very tall cement slab that had another cement slab sitting on top of it, so I climbed on it and used it as a little natural chair. I sat up on that mountain for two and a half hours and didn’t see a soul until I got back to the town. I absolutely love hiking and spending time in mountains, but I had never done it alone. Every time in the past when I had hiked a mountain, I had always wanted to just sit there and praise God for such a hard, beautiful world. But being shy and feeling weird about it, I could never fully express that when other people were with me. So I took advantage of this alone time with God and let it all out. I talked with Him for a good half an hour, just saying everything I needed to. I listened to the wind, I felt His Spirit speak to me and give me peace and promises of love, and I felt so cared for. Not only did He show me that He is in control of my life, even when it seems to be different than what I wanted, but He gave me mountains. He gave us this earth, and that just baffled me. I sat there staring at that landscape and felt a peace and clarity I hadn’t felt in a long time. Actually, before that day I was not sure I would had ever felt that feeling again. I read my Bible, journaled, and sang songs at the top of my lungs. No shame, no attempts to look socially appropriate. It was just me and my Savior. No person, no thought, no sadness or fear could win and intrude that. It was incredible. And I just knew that no matter what happens this year, no matter what happened last year or the years before, He would give me strength. He will get me through and provide me with unexpected blessings. And then I knew that I was ready to go back to Chicago, back to the stress, the pain of the past, the hardships of constantly trying to keep up with my music, social life, other classes, faith, jobs, and obligations. I heard Him say to me, “My grace is sufficient,” and, “If you wait for me, I will renew your strength and mount you up with wings like eagles”. After being fully present in that time, I realized how hungry and sunburned I was and hiked back down the mountain (which basically meant half-running, half-falling the entire time). I made it back to the main plaza without getting lost at all, ate some chocolate cake, and I boarded a van back to Trujillo. That random mountain in Peru will be one of those precious places that will always remind me of God’s sanctity and love, and I will try to hold onto all those truths.
It feels extremely strange to be back in America. Everyone is speaking English around me, people are much taller, there is cell phone reception, wifi, toilets that you can throw toilet paper into, and water you can drink without getting parasitosis. I miss the Peruvian culture. I miss hearing and speaking Spanish. I miss the amazing friends I made, both Peruvian and American. And I miss the mountains. But after an incredible, amazing opportunity of a lifetime to spend the summer in South America, I feel ready to begin a year full of big decisions. And after it all, I could see myself living in Trujillo. I could also see myself in Chicago, maybe LA, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta. It will all become clear, and I’m not afraid. My heart has healed a lot this summer, and I have seen new sides of myself. Another wonderful summer in Peru has come to a close, but I hope and pray I will be back to my home soon.
