Mid-Year Ponderings

Arequipa by night

Hi friends!
I hope you're all enjoying the summertime up in the Northern Hemisphere. I've been a little jealous lately looking at all your pictures of summer BBQ's, beach days, the 4th of July, etc, but I can't complain too much about winter in Tacna-it's definitely not nearly as bad as Worcester. Time continues to amaze me as it flies by. It's really hard for me to believe that it's already August...JVI orientation ended yesterday for all the new volunteers that will be joining us this year, most of my friends that did JVC after graduation are already finishing up their year of service and heading home in the next week or

two, and here in Tacna we just hit the halfway

mark of the 2010 school year. Being a JV in another country thousands of miles from home, living in community, being a first-time teacher, teaching in a culture, language, and educational system that are not my own, and being without my family and friends continue to challenge me in ways I'd never experienced before, but also bring me so many blessings that have absolutely enriched and changed my life for the better.

Just about 9 months into my JV experience, I can easily say that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. I've definitely struggled over the past couple months, at work and in community, but in general this experience has been so

overwhelmingly positive for me. The people I've met here at Miguel Pro, in Habitat, and throughout Tacna have brought so much joy and meaning to my life, especially as I've settled in and really cultivated those relationships over the past few months. One of the best feelings after coming back from my mid-year vacation to Arequipa last week (my first extended time away from Tacna since February) was getting off that bus in Habitat, walking into D-10 (the JV house) and feeling truly at home. I almost immediately starting making the rounds to visit all of my neighbors, call my host family and close friends so that I could see them all and catch up after my week away. It's nice to feel so comfortable here, and to be able to share in this experience with so many wonderful people.

Now, about my vacation...Seamus and I spent our week off in and around Arequipa (the 2nd biggest city in Peru, about 6 hours from Tacna). I absolutely loved it there, being in a big city surrounded by so much natural beauty. One of Arequipa's claims to fame is Misti, the 5000m volcano that towers over the whole city. It's also famous for Santa Catalina, a beautiful 400+year-old monastery for cloistered nuns, and the mummy Juanita (aka the "Ice Maiden"), an almost perfectly intact Incan princess found in the Andes in 1995. Arequipa is also known for its delicious food and chocolate, so needless to say I had a wonderful time. After a weekend exploring the city, we hopped on a tour bus to Colca Canyon, the 2nd deepest canyon in the world, about a 5 hour drive from Arequipa. Our tour took us first to the condor lookout where we watched the impressively huge birds coast above the canyon, and then to the small town of Cabanaconde where we started our 12km trek down to the bottom. The second day we hiked through the valley, where I drank chicha beer (a typical Andean corn beer fermented by people's spit-yummy) and chewed coca leaves for the first time. They're supposed to help with altitude sickness and increase your stamina, but all it did for me was make my tongue really numb. We spent the rest of that day lounging in the pool at the beautifully green and relaxing oasis, and at 5 the next morning we started the hike back up to the top. It was pretty steep, and a lot harder than I was expecting, but we made it up in under 3 hours and all before the sun got too hot which was my only saving grace. (The picture of me above is while I'm on my way up the canyon.) Once at the top we had breakfast, drove to the town of Chivay where we enjoyed the beautiful natural hot springs, then headed back to Arequipa. I had a lot of fun with our tour group, a mix of 9 people from the States, Australia, New Zealand and France, as well as our Peruvian guide Diego. Our hostel booked the all-inclusive tour for us (transportation, guide, food, and lodging for the 3 days) for only $40 usd, so I'd say it was a pretty good deal.

After that week off we went back to school for 2 days, then had the rest of last week off for Fiestas Patrias (Peru's big national holiday). I think I enjoyed that time almost as much as my vacation in Arequipa, just hanging out in Habitat with all my neighbors, visiting my host family, and catching up with people I hadn't seen in a while. Highlights of those days include starting a rendition of the Peruvian national anthem in a crowded bar at midnight the night before July 28th, visits from Cara's sister and former JV Dan Robb, learning how to make aji de gallina (my favorite Peruvian dish), and being invited to SO MANY delicious meals! I've also been working a lot with the choir lately and we've been doing some exciting stuff. I translated one of my favorite Paul Melley songs into Spanish (my choir director at Holy Cross who also composes liturgical music) and Cara and I taught it to our kids for a mass we sang at last week. It came out so beautifully, and now Carlos the music teacher is teaching it to all the music classes in primary! I have lots of videos of the kids singing but these computers are way too slow to put them on here so I'm still working on a way to get them online.

So overall life is great here. I'm missing you all a lot and thinking of you all the time, but I am very very happy here in Tacna and so grateful to have another full year ahead of me. I look forward to hearing updates from all of you and hope all is well wherever you are. Here are a few pictures from my trip too-enjoy!

Mucho amor y paz de Tacna,

Mo

At the condor lookout in Colca. It was freezing if you can't tell (-2ºC). I'm wearing every shirt that I brought under that sweatshirt.

At the hot springs in Chivay; beautiful landscapes in the canyon; our group after reaching the top of the canyon; Drew (a Santa Clara student who volunteered here for a month), Seamus and me posing with Misti in Arequipa; in Arequipa's Plaza de Armas; inside Santa Catalina Monastery

A long time coming

My sincerest apologies to all my loyal blog followers, I realize it's been an embarassingly long time since my last post. You're all either dying to know what I've been up to the past 3 months or you've given up on me completely. Well in my defense we were without Internet at school for most of March and April, and since then my only excuse is I was busy...but I'll do my best to fill you in briefly on all we've been up to lately.

Tacna Highlights March-June:
1. Right before Easter we got to do a really cool caminata (pilgrimage-type walk) from Miguel Pro up to the top of one of the sand dunes that surround Tacna. They do this every year to start off Holy Week, and I thought it was a really cool activity. So on Friday night we all met at school (5th graders up to 5th years of secondary) for a group reconciliation service that ended in a school-wide singalong of "We Are the World" (in Spanish of course). Then we spent the night at school (aka napped for 2 hours on the floor of the teachers lounge) and met up again at 3am to start the caminata. We walked in the dark for about 2 and a half hours, stopping several times for readings/reflections. We reached the sand dune just before 6 and climbed it as the sun was coming up which was pretty cool.
For Easter the following week we had a really nice brunch at our house with our Habitat family (all of our closest neighbors and friends). We don't have guests that often so it was fun to open up our home and share that day with the people who have taken such good care of us down here.

2. I don't know if I should call this a highlight, but on May 5th we experienced a small earthquake. Actually it was a 6.4 but it was short so it didn't really feel that strong. There was no damage but school was canceled for 2 days just as a precaution which meant that we watched all 13 episodes of Glee that are out on DVD and are now OBSESSED. We've downloaded all our favorite songs and have frequent singalongs in our house, and we're already anxious to get the rest of season 1 when it comes out.

3. On May 22nd one of our Mes de Misión students asked us to do a surprise dance performance at her quinceñera party. Cara choreographed a whole mix of songs and we spent weeks practicing in secret for the big performance. It turned out pretty awesome and the kids loved it. I have the whole thing on video so someday whenever I have the time and patience I'll try to post it on here. We've whipped it out at several parties since then so the JVs are becoming quite renowned for our dance moves...

4. For the first 2 weeks of June we had delegates here from USF doing a couple different projects at school. A group of dance students taught lessons in primary using movement/dance, and also organized a little performance at the end of the week for the kids to show the community what they'd learned. They also sent a group from the School of Ed (as well as a professional muralist from San Francisco) to help paint a mural on the outside wall of the school. We had all the kids draw pictures of what service means to them, then the artist helped arrange all the best images on poster paper. A small group of kids colored it all in and put the images on the wall in charcoal, then we all got to help paint it. It turned out really cool, and it was a lot of fun seeing the whole community get involved in the project. They left us with a whole bunch of materials too so hopefully we can paint another one to cover up some of the graffitti around Habitat.

5. We finished our first bimester (quarter) at the beginning of May and now we're already halfway through the 2nd. Teaching is still hard and I have lots to learn, but it definitely feels good to have one quarter under my belt. Everyday I feel a little more comfortable in the classroom and I've learned a ton about what works with different groups of kids and what doesn't. They test my patience all the time (especially my very special 2nd graders) but despite all of the stupid and annoying things they do I really am growing fond of these kids and love working at Miguel Pro.

6. Next week we're going to a big English teacher conference at one of the private language institutes in Tacna and the US embassador is going to be there! We've been invited to a fancy dinner in his honor so hopefully we'll get to talk to him. I'm looking forward to meeting some other English teachers in the area and learning some useful teaching strategies and activities.

So I think that's about it for now. The only other big news around here is World Cup fever. Everybody's talking about the Mundial and the kids try everyday to get us to turn on the TV at school so they can watch (which we did yesterday when the US played). We're using it as an opportunity to teach them our national anthem which Cara and I are hoping to sing at lunes cívico on July 5th (that's the all school assembly we have every Monday morning where we always sing Peru's national anthem). We've got vacation coming up at the end of July after the 2nd bimester ends so I'm hoping to do some traveling, and there will be lots more gringos passing through (family and friends of my 2nd year community mates as well as some former JVs coming back to visit) so that should be fun to keep sharing our lives here with more people from home. Unfortunately for them summer vacation in the US means winter in Tacna and it is getting cold here! I mean it's no Worcester winter but definitely lots chillier than I was expecting, plus our houses don't have heat here so we really have to bundle up at night. I had a nice surprise this morning when I got back from a very chilly run and jumped into the shower only to find the gas tank was empty which meant frigid water-I'm still cold and that was almost 5 hours ago!
Alright I'll leave you with that, and promise I'll try to be better about writing in the coming weeks. Hope all is well wherever you are and I look forward to hearing from you soon! Muchos saludos from Tacna,
Mo

Back to School, Back to School...

I’ve always loved “back to school” season. As sad as it is to see summer vacation come to an end, there’s something so refreshing and energizing about starting a new school year, seeing all of your friends again, showing off new outfits, haircuts, and summer tans, and who doesn’t love shopping for new school supplies? That was always such an exciting day for me when I grabbed my school supply list and hit up Office Depot to pick out all my notebooks, binders, and pretty new markers. And remember what a big deal it was in grade school to see the class lists posted a few days before classes started, or in high school getting our schedules in the mail, and then promptly calling EVERYONE to figure out who was in each of our classes?

And then there were the college back to school days. Showing up at Logan Airport with my neon green luggage and waiting for some kind friend to pick me up then chatting the whole way back to Worcester, moving into new dorm rooms in the August heat and humidity, shopping sprees at Target to decorate, trying to figure out which books you don’t really need to buy in an effort to save a few hundred dollars at the bookstore, and frantically running around campus to find all the people you haven’t seen for 3 months. Those were the days....

Well here I am going back to school again, confused because it’s March and not September, and because for the first time in my life I am not returning as an eager and excited student, but as a nervous and inexperienced teacher. These past couple weeks have definitely been a little weird for me, trying to get used to my new role in academia and figure out what the heck I’m doing, but overall I think it’s safe to say I’m off to a decent start. At the very least I didn’t show up on the first day to kids sitting on their desks and throwing paper airplanes at my head...luckily that kind of behavior would never fly here. I'll be teaching English to preschoolers (3-5 year olds), 2nd and 3rd grades in primary, and the advanced group of 3rd years in secondary. I'm also "co-tutora" (kind of like homeroom teacher/counselor/overall go-to person) for the first years in secondary. I'll be working with Carlos, the same teacher who led Mes de Mision and who's also in charge of the choir/all things music and campus ministry related around here so I already know him well and will be working with him a lot over the next 2 years.

To give you a snapshot of what life is like here at Colegio Miguel Pro, I’ve come up with a few major differences (some good, some slightly frustrating) between our school and the school system I’m used to in the States.

Top 10 choques (culture clashes) I've experienced at our school so far:

10. When I walk into a classroom, all the kids stand up to one side of their desks and greet me with, “Buenos días Señorita Maureen” like little robots. All the formality seems a little unnecessary to me but it’s kind of cute and can definitely give you a power trip.

9. Maybe this would happen in the States too but I was pleasantly surprised at how entertained my third graders were by simply singing “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” over and over again at varying speeds.

8. Showing up five minutes early on the first day of school with one pen, one notebook (covered in Marvel comic book characters I might add-it used to belong to a student), and no schedule and getting here before the principal.

7. Being handed my schedule for the first day at 8:40am and then walking into class at 8:45.

6. Having all the teacher meetings begin after the first day of classes to talk about things like schedules, goals for the year, mission of the school, etc...why waste vacation days to plan those things in advance right?

5. Not having any sort of supervisor or department head telling me what I need to teach, nor following up to make sure I’m actually teaching English in my classes. Our “supervisor” if you will doesn’t really speak English, she just checks in with us once a week to make sure we’re still sane and talk about whatever problems we’re having.

4. Kids nearly in tears when they realize the notebooks they bought are lined and not graph paper (everyone uses graph paper notebooks here). That happened in Cara’s class, not mine, but I thought it was pretty funny.

3. Shopping for school supplies in the old cabinets in the teacher's lounge instead of at the local librería. I could easily spend my entire stipend on new materials if I wanted to, but since we're trying to live simply I'm just going to borrow indefinitely from the JVs and former students of yesteryear who have left things behind.

2. Two + weeks into classes and still no set schedule...they finally gave us a working schedule last Friday but a lot of us are still double-booked certain hours, missing classes, or both in my case. They try too hard to make all the teachers happy with their schedules which makes this process impossibly complicated, but hopefully they'll figure out a way to fix it this week so I can actually go to all of my classes.

1. And my favorite thing about working here so far...walking to school everyday and being bombarded by hugs, kisses, and shouts of Profesora, Miss Maureen, Señorita, or Tía Tía! by hoards of little children. No better way to start the day. :)

As soon as I figure out a more efficient way to upload photos I'll try to post a visual summary of our February travels which were wonderful. But in the meantime Happy St Patrick's Day tomorrow (I'm going on a hunt for green food dye today since I'm on dinner duty tomorrow...), and happy almost spring to all of you in the northern hemisphere! I guess it's fall here but our seasons would be better described as hot and less hot, always dry and usually sunny. We're still in hot and sunny season. Oh and 2 exciting sidenotes: after many days of waiting around in Lima and hassling the migrations office Seamus and I are finally legal residents of Peru!! We got fancy little DNI's (ID cards) with fingerprints and everything. This is excellent news for several reasons: 1. we can no longer get kicked out of the country, 2. the police can't fine us for not having ID when they randomly pull over the city busses and ask for it, and 3. we can finally cross the border into Arica, Chile where my housemates tell me the ice cream is to die for. Second piece of news: we don't do daylight savings time here so that means I'm one hour closer to everyone in America (unless you're on the east coast in which case you're now an hour ahead of me). Keep this in mind if you ever want to make my day with a surprise phone call.

That's all for now friends! Hope all is well wherever you are and I'll do my best to keep you posted on my adventures in the classroom. There are sure to be many...

Mucho amor y paz,

Profesora Señorita Miss Maureen

Hogar, Dulce Hogar

We're back!! I'm happy to say I made it back to Tacna last Sunday happy, healthy, and very grateful for my first Mes de Mision experience. This will probably be a long post because I have lots to tell, but if you're interested and have time read on! (this first pic is me with my small group and our favorite baby goats at one of the farms where we worked)

We spent the last month living and working in Ite, a beautiful coastal town about an hour and a half from Tacna. We were surrounded by farmland and Ite also has these really cool marshes (called humedales) so it was a really nice change to see ocean and green everyday. We stayed at a school up at the top of a huge hill, so we had a beautiful view of the ocean and incredible sunsets every night.
Ite has been given a lot of money in recent years as compensation from the mining companies for all the contamination they caused, so fortunately for us the municipality was able to take really good care of us. We had a wonderful woman named Sra Olga who cooked all 3 meals for us everyday, and we ate so well! I had heard many a horror story from JVs past about getting sick and losing tons of weight from the horrible/scarce food on MdM, but that was absolutely not the case for us. Her food was delicious and served in huge portions, and we almost always had enough for seconds. We also always had plenty of water, which was not the case last year.

In terms of the kids, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by how respectful and well behaved they were. Sure they whined a lot (especially to me since I was team nurse), and we dealt with all kinds of teenage drama (including a Mean Girls-esque intervention that Cara and I staged with all the girls to talk about their feelings and how they were treating each other) but never anything too serious and overall this was a really good group of kids. I shared a lot of laughs, songs, a few tears, and really good conversations with a lot of them, especially those in my small group, and that was really important to me. The best part about Mes de Mision for us as teachers is that it allows us to really get to know these kids on personal levels, interact with them outside the classroom, and gain a better understanding of why they are the way they are so that we can serve them even better once we get back to school. I was not expecting to build up so much confianza (trust) with these kids as a newbie volunteer, but within days I had lovesick teenage boys pouring out their hearts to me, girls reflecting on changing friendships, and found myself willingly sharing my life with curious 15 year olds I had just met. It was pretty cool, and I have to admit I kind of miss working and chatting with them everyday. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be teaching any of these kids next year, but I hope to remain in their lives at least as a mentor and friend through the upcoming year.

Besides all the talking and playing we were actually there to work, so I'll try to sum up what we did all month. None of the projects we thought we'd be working on at the beginning ever ended up materializing, but we did help out at a number of different farms and I think the kids learned a lot about all the different kinds of labor involved in maintaining those chacras. Jobs ranged from pulling weeds to planting or harvesting corn, picking up garbage at the beach, catequesis sessions with local kids, to everyone's favorite site...the muni. That's short for municipalidad, a project of the municipality that raises goats and cows, and also grows corn and onions. Basically they run different experiments involving what the animals eat, mixing different types of corn, etc. We sent groups there everyday and got into a nice rhythm feeding the animals, cleaning their corrals, working in the greenhouse, and helping out with different projects. We got to know Alejandrina, the woman in charge of the goats, really well which was important for the kids because we didn't have a lot of contact with the people of Ite otherwise. She was a very sweet lady and always made us really delicious cheese! My favorite part of the muni though was playing with the baby goats. 3 were born during our 2nd week there (all named after our students) and they were pretty darn cute.















Girls watching Alejandrina make cheese









So that's Mes de Mision 2010 in a nutshell. The work was pretty light which disappointed some kids, but I think they still learned a lot, got to try out different jobs, and at the very least grew from the experience of living in community with their peers, away from home/parents/Internet/familiar comforts, and sharing in responsibilities they often don't have at home (kind of like a month of JVC!). Once a week the kids exchanged letters with their families (we delivered letters home on Thursdays then brought responses/packages back on Fridays) which was always exciting for them, and I think they all learned to value their parents and homes a little bit more. Overall a huge success, for both students and profes alike.

Well that's it for now friends. The Tacna JVs will be home until Sunday, at which point we'll be heading to Arequipa for a 5 day silent retreat with the Cristo Rey teachers. After that the 5 of us are going to aprovechar the rest of our month off to do some traveling in the north of Peru! Possible destinations include Trujillo, Cajamarca, Piura, Lima...wherever the wind takes us. I'm excited to see more of the country and also spend some time all together as a community, since Nate was on a different Mes de Mision all month with the Cristo Rey boys (the other school Fred started, where Nate teaches) I'll keep you updated the best I can, but for now I'm signing off until classes start up again in March. Cuidense mucho and enjoy the fotos!














Kids and profes goofing off in the kitchen















Profe Gabe and 2 boys from my group at the muni















JVI Tacna 2010, visiting Nate at his Mes de Mision in Sama















Much love,
Miss Maureen

Mes de Misión

Hello family and friends and Feliz Año Nuevo from hot and sunny Tacna! I just wanted to post a quick greeting to let you all know that starting tomorrow I'll be gone on Mes de Misión with 3 of my community mates, one other Miguel Pro teacher, 2 Jesuits, 2 former students, and 33 rising 4th years (they'd be rising 10th graders in the states). Mes de Misión is one of the cornerstones of a Miguel Pro education, a mandatory month-long labor intensive service trip for the 4th years every January. This year we're going to a coastal town nearby called Ite, where we´ll be planting olive trees on a farm and doing some shepherding!
This month is going to be a definite challenge with the intense work, desert heat, and spending an entire month with 33 15 year olds who for the most part have never left home before, but I'm sure it will be a learning experience too. It's usually very formative for the kids so that part will be cool to witness as well. In the evenings we'll do lots of reflections and community building activities, plus once a week we get a day off to go to the beach so there will be some fun parts too.
So if you don't hear from me for several weeks (which you probably won't) don't worry, and I'll be sure to get in touch as soon as I can after we get back on the 31st. Please keep my community mates and me (and our sanity!) and all of our students in your prayers as we embark on this adventure, as well as our beloved Padre Fred who traveled back to the States yesterday for cancer treatment. All of Tacna is hoping he will hurry back in good health!
Best wishes for the new year, and be sure to check back in a month for all my Mes de Misión stories!

Feliz Navidad!!

Just sending a little holiday greeting to all of you on my first Christmas morning in Tacna! I hope all of you are enjoying this time with family and friends and holiday cheer. It's been a busy time around here lately with the school year ending this week, outgoing volunteers going home, family and friends of 2nd year volunteers visiting for Christmas, and new volunteers (that's me!) moving into the JV house last Sunday. Lots of transitions, lots of excitement, but always surrounded by lots of great people so I'm still feeling very grateful to be here.
My housemates' families have been so wonderful about inviting me to all of their dinners and celebrations this past week. It's been great getting to know them, and it reminds me a lot of all the times parents came to visit Holy Cross and adopted me into their families because I was far away from home. The other night we all shared a really special meal with one of our neighbors, Mary, a longtime friend and 2nd mother to the JVs. She prepared probably the best empanadas I've ever tasted first of all, but throughout the entire meal was explaining to all the families how much she loves their children, how wonderful she thinks they are, and that they are always welcome in her house, like another member of the family. She said all of this in Spanish that we then translated for the parents, but she spoke so expressively and with so much emotion that it almost didn't seem necessary to translate. It was really beautiful to see them communicating through the language barrier, using just their hands and facial expressions. Mary also talked about the succession of volunteers that she's been close with over the years (especially the women) and how that chain will never be broken because new JVs come and overlap with old ones, right away being invited into all the friendships that already exist. That's a pretty special feeling for me to know that even though she and I just met, there's already a strong foundation of confianza (trust) and friendship between us just based on the relationships she's had with my compañeras who have come before me.
That was just one of many moments this past week that made me so excited to have my own family here a year from now, sharing with them this amazing community and the people that have welcomed me into it.

As far as my first Peruvian Christmas goes...yesterday was a pretty low-key day, but we did some holiday baking and then I got to visit this house that sets up 8 or 9 ridiculously elaborate nacimientos (Nativity scenes) that each represent a different region of Peru. They must have had thousands of little figurines set up, ranging from traditional Peruvian dancers to enormously oversized (and white) baby Jesuses to stuffed monkeys in the jungle nacimiento. They were cool to see though, and an interesting portrayal of Peru's diverse people and traditions.

Last night we all went to Christmas Eve mass at our chapel in Habitat. Cara and I were on choir duty again so we sang Ave Maria for probably the 5th or 6th time since I've been here, as well as a Spanish version of the Silent Night/Night of Silence arrangement that both of us sang in college. That was always one of my favorite songs we sang at Holy Cross, so it was really cool to teach it to our kids here and see such a beautiful result last night. Cara's dad was nice enough to record it for me so I'll try to put that video on here soon. After mass we participated in a really nice tradition of delivering Christmas food baskets to 4 of the poorest families in Habitat. Fr Fred led the way in his car, followed by Carlos and his guitar, all of us and our families, and any other neighbors/students who wanted to come. We sang villancicos (Christmas carols) at each door as we delivered the baskets (Feliz Navidad made several appearances) and all the families were very grateful for the gesture.

After that we all parted ways and spent the rest of Christmas Eve with our host families. The tradition in Peru is to gather with family late at night and countdown to midnight (New Years Eve style) at which time everyone toasts to baby Jesus with champagne, fireworks go off like crazy, and baby Jesus is finally placed in the nacimiento. We did all of this at my host mom's sister's house, followed by a quick amigo secreto (secret santa) gift exchange, then hurried back to their house so we could finally eat. By the time we got back, reheated the turkey, and set the table it was well after 1am...even my year in Spain did not prepare me for a full on turkey dinner that late at night! But it was fun and delicious all the same, and they kindly excused me from the table around 2:30 as I was falling asleep in my chair.
Now it's Christmas morning and I am the first one awake, just like when I was little. I'll probably have breakfast here with my host family and then head back to my new home in Habitat to relax for the rest of the day. Mom's Christmas package included a box of candy canes, Christmas cookie cutters, and our old Muppet Family Christmas video (I specifically requested the vhs that we taped from tv probably 15 years ago, complete with awesome early 90s commercials) so I think candy, baking, and muppets are all in my future for today and I am very happy about that.

I'm wishing all of you the very best today and for the new year, and know that I'll be thinking of you all day and sending lots of holiday cheer from Tacna to wherever you are. Feliz Navidad a todos...a very Merry Christmas to all!!

Fotos, Por Fin!

Here is some photo evidence of my life thus far in Tacna. This first one is of my community mates and me after our dance at Dia Familiar last Sunday (which came out very well by the way). I was the only JV who danced as a woman because we were lacking hombres (the 2 girls not in the picture also did the guy part), and yes those braids are fake. Many more to come of course, so stay tuned!

We just returned from a 3 day beach adventure which was lovely. Saturday was a field trip with the first year students from secondary so we spent all day playing games and swimming with them then camped on the beach. It was fun, but camping with 28 13 year olds equals not a lot of sleep. Then Sunday was paseo a la playa for all Miguel Pro teachers and families so the beach was full of our students and coworkers. After that the 5 of us JVs went to a beach house nearby to have our first retreat as a community. It was just one day but it was really nice to spend that time together just the 5 of us and start to talk about some of the issues we'll be facing together this year. We're all a little tired and sunburned now but it was definitely nice to see the ocean and do some reflecting on our time here so far and the year ahead.

Last week we had a really nice mass in the cathedral to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Jesuits in Tacna. All the local Jesuits came, plus the bishop of Tacna and the cardinal, who also happens to be a Jesuit. I've been helping out with the choir at Miguel Pro and our kids sang at the mass so I had a lot of fun working with them that night. AND my community mate Cara and I got to sing Ave Maria in front of a cathedral full of people, cardinal and all! The music director asked us if we knew it in Latin about a week before the mass because the kids were singing it in Spanish, and we kinda said yeah, I mean most Catholics can at least hum it. So I looked up all the words online, listened to Pavarotti sing it about 12 times on youtube, then we sang it, without having practiced even once! It came out really well and we got tons of compliments on the music that night, but I just couldn't help laughing at how last minute the whole thing was, especially for such a big mass like that. No rehearsal, no sheet music, no problem! Only in Peru...

Tomorrow I'm making my teaching debut as I take over Chelsea's 2nd grade class in primary and Cara's 2nd/3rd year advanced English class in secondary (the equivalent of our 8th/9th grades). We just have 2 weeks of school left before Christmas/summer vacation so this is our chance to get some test runs in before we have to do it for real and by ourselves in March. It looks like I'll be teaching both of those groups of kids next year, along with preschool (3, 4, and 5 year olds!!) and either a first year or 4th/5th year mixed class in secondary. I've observed almost every teacher in the school by now, interacted with lots of students, and helped out in both of these classes last week so I'm feeling ready to go and am really excited to see how I do in front of a classroom. And of course Chelsea and Cara will still be there if I need an assist. So wish me luck, and let me know if you can think of a way to make prepositions of movement any less boring than they sound. Enjoy the photos!

Profesora Maureen

Carlos (the choir director and my dance partner), Cara and me on Dia Familiar.

The view from my bedroom window at my host family's house. Hello desert!

Seamus, Cara and me at our welcome to Tacna lunch

The primary building at Miguel Pro

The sign with which Seamus and I were welcomed upon our arrival at the Tacna airport.