Weddings in Peru

A week and a half ago I was able to attend the wedding of one of the missionaries from my church, Alleen and her fiancee Hermes. Alleen is from the States and Hermes is from here in Peru. It was a beautiful wedding and they both looked so happy. Here is the best pic I have of the happy newly weds:

I was interested in seeing if there would be any combination of the American wedding style and the Peruvian. I have already attended a Peruvian wedding in November with Nestor. The main differences I found from the American wedding and the Peruvian wedding is that the party goes all night long. For example, the wedding ceremony started at 7 and finished at 9 pm. We arrived at the reception around 9:30 and had to wait an hour for the bride and groom to arrive. Once they arrived we gave a toast to the bride and groom and they danced. Dinner was served soon afterwards, and then the dancing began. The bride did throw the bouquet just like in the States. Nestor and I ended up leaving that party at 2 am, because we were both tired. But the party was just beginning. Because as we were leaving we could see the clowns and men on stilts with long balloons getting ready to go out. Nestor told me the reception probably wouldn't end until 6 in the morning! How crazy! What a long day for the bride and groom. Another thing different is that there are no bridesmaids or groomsmen. 

In the wedding I went to on Saturday, there were bridesmaids and groomsmen. The rest of the ceremony was similar to wedding ceremonies in the States. After that we headed to the reception. The wedding was during the day so we had lunch at the reception. The reception was in a place where you would have never thought there was a beautiful garden! It was gorgeous. The reception was similar to that of the States except a majority of the music was salsa and cumbia. It was a good and pretty ceremony.

Here's a picture of Nestor and I. Nestor doesn't really like taking too many photos sadly. But he's a good sport for me. :) 

We had a good time, and I know that Alleen and Hermes did too. Congrats to the happy newleyweds!

Puerto Chicama

Today being Nestor's only day off from work, we decided that this weekend we would visit a local beach called Chicama as a day trip. Yes, there is a local beach nearby called Huanchaco, but that beach is filled with rocks, so it makes it difficult to walk in the water or even on the beach. We had heard this beach had no rocks and was amazing. So we get on the bus at 9 am this morning for the two hour bus ride where we only have to pay 5.50 soles ($2.11) for one way. Very cheap!

My main purpose for coming to Chicama was to teach Nestor how to swim in the ocean. He knows how to swim. Don't worry about that. He just wasn't sure about the ocean, especially since the water moves. I ultimately want to get him to try surfing once, while I'm here. So I thought Chicama, with it's rockless beaches, would be the perfect place to start to learn how to swim in the ocean.

Upon arrival, this is our first view of the beach:

Very promising. It looks nice. The water is calm, the sand looks super soft, and there aren't many people, especially considering that today is Sunday, most people's day off. We immediately walk to the water to test it and see how cold it is. And for me, it's cold. I can't handle cold water very well, so I immediately am a bit disappointed. After this, we find a spot to lay down. Not one minute after getting comfortable, the wind blows (as it usually does at the beach). Remember how I said that the sand is super soft, meaning that it is fine? Well, this presents a problem. Every time the wind blows, sand comes with it. So I was trying to talk to Nestor once, and sand was blown in my mouth. Not what I was expecting. We tried to build a little wall to protect us from the sand, but that didn't help at all. After laying there for an hour, we decide to get in the water to rinse off and try swimming. Nestor jumps right in, but me, I struggle to overcome the coldness of the water. Every time it splashed me I would give out a little scream of surprise. After a few minutes, I got used to it more or less (although my skin was covered in goose bumps). We got out of the water and left the beach to find a bathroom to rinse off.

This is what we found upon exiting:

Seems nice right? Well, see that man sitting in the door? He charges you money as you enter. 30 centimos (12 cents) to use the bathroom without toilet paper, 50 centimos with toilet paper (19 cents), and 1 sol to take a shower (38 cents). It's not much money, I know, but still, to charge to use the bathroom? I've never heard of it.

Overall, it was a good day, and it  was nice to get out of Trujillo, even if it was just for a few hours. It was nice to explore somewhere new where neither one of us had been. We both didn't know what to expect. We were disappointed that the beach wasn't as nice as we thought with all of the sand, but it was nice to be able to spend the day together.

Growth

Coming to Peru has definitely been a learning and growing experience. Before arriving, I thought I would have a hard time being away from home, my family, and my friends. But this hasn't been the case. Although I do miss home and my family and friends, this hasn't been the hardest thing about being here at all. I arrived here as volunteer of this organization and will leave the organziation as Director. Whoa. So how did I go from volunteer to Director?? I'm not sure to be honest.

The first four months I was here (August to December), I was a volunteer. Nothing more. Although in the beginning of December, Luz and Manual approached me with the idea of being the program coordinator. I knew I didn't fit some of the qualifications that they were looking for, but they preferred that I be the program coordinator since I knew the area really well, how things work here in the organization and in Peru, and that my  spanish was improving so I would be able to communicate with the community. So I accepted although I was a little wary about if I was the right fit. I tried my best, although looking back there were plenty of things I could have done better. But that's always the case. Plus, I don't have experience in this and I am learning. Taking on this job has caused me to stop teaching. I do miss it, and I realize that maybe I would like to continue with it. But that's a whole different kind of post. I was program coordinator from January to February.

Now beginning in March, I have the prestigious title of Director. Haha. Now, we have a new program coordinator who is more fit for this role of program coordinator than I was. She has great experience, and although she's only been here a full week and a half, she's done an amazing job. Better than what I could have ever done. I'm learning a lot from her. We're working together to help improve the organizatoin and prevent any more problems from arising. This title comes with a lot more responsibilities, and I'm going to try to do my best. Although I still don't feel like I'm the perfect person for the job, I'm going to try my best. I want things to get better. I should be director from March until August, the date that I am to leave the organization. After August, the new program coordinator will assume the role of director and they will hire a new program coordinator.

This job has been tough for me as it has put me far out of my comfort zone than I think I would have originally thought to go. I'm still learning so much about myself, about this job, about Peru, about what God has to show me, etc. I'm learning more about my capabilities as a person and my weaknesses. Things that I thought I knew about myself have been reaffirmed. Just in general it's a learning and growing process. I hope to improve myself and help improve an organization while helping others.

Here's a picture of some the kids that we teach:

This was taken around Christmas time. We had one of our volunteers dress up as Santa Claus and we went to a local colegio of special needs children and sang a Christmas song in English. The kids loved it.

More posts to come!

(P.S.- I have another blog at http://www.erinmcgill.tumblr.com/ that I have kept for two years, but lately I have had trouble uploading pictures, so I decided to switch blogs so I can post pictures again.)