Los Turistas

My first week in Cusco is coming to a close and it's certainly been an unforgettable experience. Most of my days are spent studying Spanish as during the day I have lessons, and at night I work on my homework. I actually quite like this routine. I take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the everyday life in Peru.

My days start off with breakfast with my Peruvian family. It's incredible how much we take language for granted..I've quickly learned how frustrating it can be to not be able to express myself and precisely describe what I mean. But within this challenge lies fun as well... as at every meal my Peruvian family and I sit together and try to converse and find common grounds in foreign thoughts and languages. We come from different parts of the world, see the world through different lenses, yet manage to to laugh together every morning about some minute details. This is why travelling is so great. And why life is really very simple.

One of the highlights of my day is getting to school. Although taxis have a flat rate of around $1CAD and I could go to school by taxi every day, I instead take public transit each morning. At a cost of around $.20CAD, the public transit in Peru is something else...The main component of public transit consists of mini-buses which are basically slightly larger vans. In Peru, however, these vans fit ... simply put, incredible amounts of people. Or not even incredible amounts- uncomprehensible amounts is the better description. So here I am each morning, taller than everybody, sitting (sometimes standing bent over) with 20 other locals in a small van. It's incredible.

Cusco is a very interesting town. I try to take in everything for what it is and not pass judgement. The city is beautiful in its core center, but is also surrounded by obvious poverty, unfinished homes, and struggles. The struggle of the locals can often times be seen on their faces, but so can the passion for their friendships, children, or their love for sports and dance!

Below, enjoy some of the things that my eyes have been feasting on during my time off from school....

Plaza de Armas

Beautiful cafes in the center

There was a festival in Plaza de Armas

Traditional Peruvian wear

My teacher took me to a cemetry in Cusco. They are very different than those in Canada.

View of Cusco from above

Llamas!!!

Cristo Blanco overlooking Peru

Welcome to Cusco!

Es mi dia primero en Cusco y me encanta esta ciudad. Okay, okay...the blog isn't going to be in Spanish nor do I know enough to fully write it in Spanish, but hopefully by the end of the trip I will! (I dearly hope that sentence was grammatically correct though)

After a 24 hour epic journey to the country of Peru, I've finally arrived to Cusco yesterday (Monday, May 3rd) morning. I'm very happy that I have not experienced any altitude sickness and my host family tells me it's probably because of all the coca tea they have been giving me. I can now say that I have tried this treat as well! It's very delicious! I believe, though, that legal matters (unfortunately) prevent me from bringing it into Canada.

It has always been my dream to fluently learn Spanish, and this fellowship is a perfect match as I actually NEED to learn it in order to carry out my job better. As such, the next three weeks I will spend learning Spanish at FairPlay Peru. In total, I attend six hours of classes each day- 3 hours of grammar and 3 hours of conversational Spanish. It's been very great as I'm fully immersed into the Spanish environment. Today, I have not spoken English with a single person. That being said, it does get a little lonely as I am not fully able to express my thoughts and feelings. But, that's the only way to really learn. Following my goal of challenging myself, I am ready and excited to tackle this challenge as well.

So far, I'm really enjoying Cusco. Stepping into the city, one is immediately aware of its South American charm. Established in the midst of mountains, it's a place in which tradition still carries on. Most evident to a tourist are the woven, colorful garments typical of Peruvian culture. Toques, skirts, baby carriages- they can be seen everywhere! The city itself has a beautiful center with stunning temples, old churches, and narrow cobblestone streets filled with Peruvian art. Today after classes, I walked around those narrow streets, enjoying the history while dodging cars and the many people advertising massages to tourists!

I am situated out of the center, living with a kind family in their home. I enjoy delicious meals three times a day and get to practice Spanish with them. I have never before lived like this, so it's a very interesting experience. Overall, this trip will (and already has) present me with many new situations that will only help me grow and develop myself.

Anyways, I have to go do homework!! In the next few days I will be learning Spanish and connecting with Mosqoy volunteers that are currently in Peru. I can't wait to meet all the students I will be working with. I look forward to sharing stories regarding my volunteer experience! I'm also excited as my friend will actually be arriving to Peru soon to hike Machu Picchu! Great coincidence.

Enjoy some of the photos below!

Until next time, I'm sending love en espanol!

Jevta

currently listening: World Citizen - I Won't Be Disappointed from the BABEL Soundtrack. A great sentimental and contemplative song. Puts me in a thoughtful mood each time. It's what I ponder to at night (as ridiculously cheesy that sounds). :))))

A school near my home

Outside of my home

Outside of my home in Cusco
My room

Cusco Bus Station

Plaza de Armas in the center of Cusco

Beautiful narrow streets of Cusco

Welcome once again!

Hi everybody! My name is Jevta and I will be traveling to Peru this summer through the Education Generation Fellowship program.

First of all, I am incredibly excited for this tip – and I hope to use this blog to share my experiences, thoughts, and learning over the course of the next couple months. It will be a completely new, meaningful, and challenging ride, and I hope that through this blog you can join in on it!

I will be leaving for Peru tomorrow and staying there until mid-July. I will be working with the incredible organization called Mosqoy (www.mosqoy.org), one of Education Generation’s first partners. Mosqoy has worked hard to provide education opportunities to Peruvian youth, as well as sustain and preserve local customs and traditions.

Through the fellowship, my role be varied, but I have summarized it in the following goals:

1. Act as a communication liaison- I will understand, document, and communicate the lives and progress of Mosqoy students.
2. Student Mentor- I will take part in leadership training, community and team building exercises, organizing community events, and holding English conversational classes.
3. Promote cultural exchange- I will strive to understand and connect North American and Peruvian cultures and promote cultural exchanges.

While those are the specifics of my role, my main underlying goal is to do my part in helping to better our world! We all have the opportunity to make a change, no matter how small or large it is, and I have decided to dedicate my summer to volunteer work and making an impact on other people’s lives.

In addition, I have set a few personal goals that I hope will guide me through this experience

1. To open my eyes, feel the fear, and challenge myself- This is a new and definitely scary experience. I hope to feel and breathe Peruvian culture, engage in the communities and with people in them, and strive to always challenge myself
2. Learn Spanish Fluently- Ambitious….but doable.
3. Have fun- Life shouldn’t be too serious, and I hope to have a great time learning, meeting new friends, and enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of Peru.

I hope you guys enjoy the blog in the coming months. I will try to update it as much as I can, but there will be at least 2-3 updates per week.

Jevta

Week 4, my final week and return to Canada

The fourth and the final week was spent finishing the student interviews and other administrative tasks, such as finalizing the fellowship details. Ashley and I have discussed and agreed on almost all aspects regarding the fellowship program, and set ourselves a deadline to complete everything so that we can start advertising the position soon. If anyone is interested in participating in a similar (but longer) adventure as Education Generation’s next fellow in Peru, check out our Education Generation website in December.

During my last few days in Peru Ashley and I decided to make a little trip and visited the coast of Peru, the Nazca lines, the sand dunes of the Huacachina oasis, checked out the wild animals and numerous birds in Paracas and Islas Ballistas. It was a well-deserved break for Ashley, and a chance for me to see other parts of the country. The places that we saw and visited were absolutely incredible!

I have since returned to Canada, and things are now busier than ever. I am currently working on translating the videos to turn them into student updates, which will be posted on Education Generation's website. We are also working on editing the footage and creating a video which will include the student interviews. Keep visiting our website regularly for the video and student updates.

I have been in touch with the students and Raul; Ivanhoe and Rolando sent me some emails sending their thanks to all the donors and supporters. Here’s what Ivanhoe wrote in his email: “hola zaya primeramemte grasias por ayudarnos a todos nosotros y a todos ellos que nos apoyan y espero que estes bien de salud…y tambien a todos los que me poyan los quiero cuidense” (“hi zaya, first of all wanted to thank you for helping us and thank everyone who has been supporting us. I hope you are in good health … would like everyone who has been supporting me to take good care of themselves”). The students are doing really well, continuing with their studies and work, and I’m hoping to continue to stay in touch with them over email and facebook.

It’s good to be back, but I definitely miss Peru and all the people, the students, the relationships that have been formed. Hopefully I will get to go back soon for a visit or just relive the experience vicariously through our next fellow!

Some pictures from the last week:

Ashley and I during our travels on the coast of Peru

Jonathan Guevarra

Ivanhoe

Dina Alvarez and I

Jonathan Medina

Week 3

This week I´ve completed interviewing almost all of the Mosqoy students. On Thursday we went back to Ollantaytambo to conduct the selection process of the next batch of students.

Our day started by going to the Ollantay collegio (high school), where Ashley, Raul and several of the Mosqoy 1 students distributed the applications. The students had about 30-45 mins to complete the applications. We received about 70 applications that day. The team then went to a coffee shop in Ollantaytambo to review the applications. The reviewers consisted of Ashley, Raul, and five Mosqoy 1 students (Ebhert, Erlinda, Elvira, Rolando and Adrian). Gerry and I participated as the observers.

They had a four-star system going on, where each reviewer would rate each application from one star being the worst to four stars being the best application. In total each application was reviewed seven times. The ratings were based on the students´ responses, with the focus on whether they had any specific plans for when they graduate, whether those plans included ways to help their respective communities, and whether they´ve included any examples of how they´ve demonstrated their leadership abilities in the past. Generally, a person would get shut down if they put that they want to leave the country once they graduate or if they had incomplete one-sentence responses. I read a few of the applications and was startled to see how many times under the ¨family situation¨ question the students would talk about their fathers being drunks, or that they didn´t have parents at all.

It took almost an entire day to review all of the applications. In the end almost 40 applications were eliminated based on the preliminary application review and ratings. About 25 applications received 3- to 4 star ratings, which were placed in the pre-selected batch. Another 6-7 were placed in the ¨maybe¨ batch pending reviews of their grades and discussions with their teachers.
The next morning we went back to the high school to review the selected students ´grades. About 4 students from the ¨maybe¨ batch were eliminated due to low grades.

Three more students from Mosqoy 2, Dina Alvarez, Gisela Vilches, and Maberic (who are also all featured on the Education Generation website) joined us the second day.

In the end there were about 30 students that were pre-selected. Ashley and Raul then announced their names and held a meeting with the pre-selected students. During the meeting Raul invited a doctor and a dentist from Ollantaytambo to talk about different careers that exist in medicine. Mosqoy is now trying to promote other disciplines of study as almost 85% of students choose to study tourism or hotel management since it is the only thing that the students are exposed to in Cuzco and in their communities. Dina Alvarez, who is studying nursing, talked about opportunities that exist in the nursing career and why she likes studying nursing. Maberic talked about why she chose to study Gastronomy and Gisela talked about her chosen career of tourism and hotel management.

After the short presentation there was some time for Q&As. We then took pictures of every pre-selected student. The next step of the selection process is to meet with the students and their parents and/or their legal guardians to ensure that they are supportive of their kids participating in Mosqoy. This meeting is scheduled for Sept 26, after I leave Peru. Ashley, Raul and the Mosqoy 1 students are also planning to visit each of the pre-selected students’ houses to ensure that there is indeed financial need. One of the Mosqoy´s criteria is to support only those deserving students that don´t have other means of paying for their education. So for example if their family is well-off enough (relatively) to support their kid at an institute, they will be eliminated at this stage.

The next step will also involve discussing the pre-selected students with the teachers and other people from the community focusing on their past behaviors and their family situations to again ensure that there is indeed financial need and to ensure that there are no red flags about the pre-selected students. After these final steps, Mosqoy will make a final selection of 12-14 students, which will all be featured on the Education Generation´s website.

Friday afternoon we went back to Cuzco, just in time to visit a cooking class of the three of the Mosqoy 2 students (who are all also Education Generation´s students): Guillermina Duran, Fiorela Zegarra, and Maberic Vazquez.

The class was two hours long, and our students made a wonton soup, part of their Cocina Internacional course. At the end of the class we all got to taste their creations.

Later on that day we went to Raul´s house for some dinner and drinks.









Maberic Vazquez, one of Education Generation´s students, during her cooking class

Maberic and Fiorela cooking













Fiorela Zegarra, one of Education Generation´s students, during her cooking class

















Guillermina Duran, another one of Education Generation´s students




















From left to right: Fiorela, I, Guillermina and Maberic
















Maberic talking during the selection process











Dina Alvarez, another one of Education Generation´s students, talking about a career in nursing during the selection process















Gisela Vilches, Education Generation´s student, talking about her career in tourism during the selection process.





























From left to right: Gisela Vilches, Maberic Vazquez, and Dina Alvarez





























Reviewing the applications










Students completing the applications at the high school

Week 2

My second week: this week I’m taking Spanish classes and living at a homestay organized by the school. Everyone in my homestay family is very nice and I get to eat home cooked meals, which is good especially when travelling. Spanish is quite necessary here as almost no one speaks English even in Cuzco and the students’ English is very beginners’. Most have expressed their desire to improve their English though, and a lot of them want to also learn Japanese and French. There is a funny story during one of the interviews a student told me that he wants to study Japanese, and when I asked him why, he said because most of the technology comes from China these days and that he wants to be up to date with the technology. When I told him that Japanese and Chinese are not the same he seemed very surprised, and we had a good laugh about it.
The rest of the time Ashley and I were conducting and videotaping individual student interviews. I don’t have many pictures from this week as I was just videotaping the interviews. I can’t upload the interviews here as the internet is painfully slow in Peru and takes hours to upload just the pictures. However I hope that I will be able to upload them once I’m back in Canada.

So this week has been really busy, with Spanish classes all morning and interviews with the students all afternoons.

The interviews went really well, some of the stories were really heartbreaking though.
The students were very comfortable in front of the camera and were willing to discuss a lot of things. For example, one student named Adrian told us a story of his family, where his mother had to escape to the jungle for 5 years because his dad was an alcoholic and was beating her badly. Adrian and his two younger brothers were left alone with their dad, who continued to beat them. Adrian was saying that he was very grateful to escape the violence by participating in Mosqoy, but was worried about his two younger siblings who are still in Ollantaytambo with his dad. Another student, Marleni, started crying during the interview (and I had to stop videotaping) because her mother was very sick and she was very concerned about her mother. Another student told us that she’s been living alone since she was 10 years old as both of her parents died and she’s been living with random foster parents since then and working as a maid in their houses. She too was very grateful for the opportunity to study and become a professional. Another students´ parents abandoned him when he was very little and he was raised by his grandparents, and does not have any contact with his parents.

The students shared their dreams and hopes, likes and dislikes, and I’m hoping to translate the interviews and upload them once I get to Canada with subtitles as all of the stories are absolutely amazing. The students were so sincere and open, each one with a unique story. So far I have 14 interviews completed, some of which are the Education Generation students, and I think I should be able to complete most of them before I go back.

There were some funny interviews as well. Jonathan Guerrera, when asked whether he had a girlfriend, said that he thought that girls can be annoying sometimes, constantly asking, ¨where are you, what are you doing, why didn’t you call me (this is a direct translation of what he said) and he added that he didn’t want to deal with it now. There’s a student named Alex who, in addition to studying computer science, reads philosophy books of Plato and Aristotle and currently his favourite book is ¨Rich Dad Poor Dad¨. A few of the male students, when asked what they didn’t like about living in a house with everyone, told us how the girls in the second group don’t always get along with each other and fight from time to time, which was really funny, because they were describing these typical cat fights among girls.

Some of the students had pretty impressive plans for the future. For example, Jonathan Medina and Ivanhoe (both Education Generation students) want to start up an eco-tourism company and had a detailed description on how they wanted to go about it. Dora too wants to work for a couple of years and save up some money to open up her own travel agency.

On Tuesday this week we went to visit the Americano Institute, where most of the Mosqoy students are studying at. We attended a class on administration and sat for the first 2 hours of it. The Institute is pretty small, with small class sizes of about 20 students and small classrooms like in a high school. There’s a library and a computer room, but the computer room can only be used during a computer class. The students have exams next week and some this week. I ran into one student Elvira who seemed very upset and when I asked her why she told me that she had an English exam that evening and was worried about it.

This weekend I’m going to check out Lake Titicaca and the floating islands, so more updates to come next week!

The students' schedule

The computer room

One of Mosqoy's students in a classroom