Meeting People, Making Friends, and Finding My Way

After getting some rest on Sunday I was able to meet the other volunteers who are staying in the house as well as get better aquainted with the family I was placed with. The couple's names are Ivan and Liz and they have two sons: Patrick, who is the same age as my brother and almost 15, and Gabo who is 12. They also have a Scottish terrier named Roni. The other volunteers at the house are Melissa, Johanna (from New York), Johanna (from Australia), and Ruby.

On Monday morning Melissa walked with me from the house to the Maximo Nivel headquarters and showed me the landmarks to look for along the way so that I don't get lost. Once there, I had my orientation along with some other volunteers who arrived this weekend. Two other girls, Ariella and Neja, were placed in the same Spanish class as me and we will be attending it every day for this first week.

After the orientation I had some time before I was set to go visit my project site so Neja and I briefly walked around the famous central courtyard Plaza del Armas. Once I returned to the office one of the staff escorted me to the clinic San Juan de Dios where I will be volunteering in the mornings. I met with the director, Señora Alicia, and she briefly showed me where I will be working. I didn't have much time to look around because I had to return to Maximo Nivel for my afternoon Spanish class with my teacher Dante.

By the time my class was over it was already dark and I was tired from my long day so I decided to catch a taxi back to the house. I hailed a cab and read off the address but I noticed that once we got to one of the landmarks Melissa had pointed out to me, the statue of Pachacutec, the driver started going in a different direction. I kept trying to read off the address and when he finally stopped I realized that he had taken me to the correct address, but I had it written down incorrectly. I quickly asked him to take me back to Maximo Nivel and at the office they realized their mistake in giving me the wrong address in my package. I was then given the right address and caught another taxi back to the house. Even though I ended up paying triple the cab fare it only came out to 10 soles which is equivalent to $3.85.

Even though I was tired when I got home I still went out that night with the other volunteers from the house. It was fun to recount my taxi story and get to know them a little better. Tomorrow we plan on going out to watch the soccer game: Peru vs. Paraguay for the Copa America 2011 games.