Hello from Huancayo

I've only been away for a couple days, and I already feel like I have too many stories to write. I met the director of the program - Aldo - late Saturday night at the airport in Lima. I stayed in a hotel that night, and he met me the next morning to take the bus to Huancayo. While I was waiting for him to get the tickets, I saw this younger guy who looked like he was arguing with some other people. They left and he sat down. A few minutes later, an older guy came over and slapped him so hard I jumped. He picked him up by the back of the back of his pants and dragged him away. Disturbing - I was feeling pretty comfortable up until this point. When Aldo returned, he said there was a problem because they didn´t have any tickets left. He told me he would wait until the evening and that I should take a car. So I joined an already crowded car, and he gave the directions to the driver. I assumed we were going to a bus station or something, but instead, the others got off at a randon street in Huancayo. I have no idea how Natalia - another woman from the volunteer organization - found me, but I'm very glad she did. I didn't have the address or phone number of my host family and didn't understand a word the driver was saying.

My host family is great, and their house is nicer than I expected given the outward appearance of Huancayo. I am sharing my room with another volunteer from Sweden. She speaks relatively good English, which has been really helpful. I can't really figure out who lives here and who doesn't. There are a couple people in the family who do all the cooking - from what I can tell it's one of the older daughters and one of the sons - they don't let us help with anything. It's feels strange to let someone wait on us. The family doesn't speak much English, but they are great about trying to help us learn Spanish. One of the daughters, who is 11, is really sweet. The first night she put in the movie Anaconda for us - it was in English with Spanish subtitles. Later, she followed me up to room and asked me if she could help me unpack. After we unpacked, she went to work making a paper shade to block the light. We're in bunk beds and I´m on the top - so she taped a piece of paper in front of it.

I got locked in my room the first night. My roommate was sleeping downstairs the first night because she had been sick. I decided to go to the bathroom one last time after writing in my journal but couldn't open the door. I tried for at least a half hour and finally gave up. It was already late, so I didn't want wake everyone, nor did I think they would hear me. So I had to wait until the next morning when my roommate came up to get her things. She said the same thing happened to her. There is a little plastic thing on the side of the door that looks like a kid's toy and you have to pull it to open the door. Who would have guessed?

Yesterday I met with the organization to talk about my work. I'm still waiting to find out exactly what I'm doing. But they had me give a test to a middle-aged man taking English lessons. I was a little uncomfortable given that I have no idea how much he should know for his level. I am going to teach him for a couple of hours today after my Spanish lessons. Speaking of which, I need to run for now because my Spanish lessons start in a 1/2 hour. I'll post more later about the organization I am working for.

I hope everyone is well! I miss all of you!