Somos libres. Seámoslo siempre, Seámoslo siempre!

We are free. May we always be so, may we always be so!

iFeliz día de independencia, Perú! Happy Independence Day, Peru!

This week, Perú has been painted white and red with the flags that have been hung up on every house and car, and it has gotten me in quite the Peruvian spirit! We have been celebrating all week with delicious foods and traditional dances from the three regions of Perú. In addition to independence day, we have had multiple goodbye parties for dear friends who have moved back to their countries, the July school semester ended, and my sister's birthday was the 24th. It has been an incredibly busy week!

Saying goodbye to Martin before he went back to the States!

Saying goodbye to Brandon before he went to Argentina for a month and then back to the States.

Saying goodbye to my favorite boludo German before he went back to Argentina.

My sisters Karen (left) and Vivian (right). We're an oreo!

Many of you have been asking me what exactly I do in Perú since it looks like we just travel and party all the time. I am here to tell you that I actually stay pretty busy with school during the weeks which is why I haven't posted in a while since it's so monotonous. My days go a little something like this:

I am up every day by about 6, and I have breakfast consisting of yogurt, a banana, and some cereal at my spot at the table.

Now do you see why I've gotten fat? Look at all that bread!!

 I leave around 6:45 when it is nice and brisk on our street.

 I walk 2 and a half blocks on Avenida Larco, the main street in Trujillo, to get to school.

Then cross the crazy street to get to the Language Center, which is across from the main university.

Then, I pick up my markers and eraser for my class and head on in. It's completely open-air (that door on the right was my classroom in June), so it gets a little chilly sometimes. It's nice when things get too boring because if the sun ever comes out, we can have class on the patio at the back.

Then, I direct my lovely students from 7-11 with a 15 minute break. We have some fun times in English which usually stem from me serenading my students, teaching them football chants, etc.

Then, I head home around 11:15 and either prepare lessons, take a nap, or go to the gym (not as frequently as the first two...) before sitting down to a wonderful home cooked meal at 1:00.

From there, the evenings are always different. Sometimes I teach 4-7. Sometimes I tutor 5-8. Sometimes I have nothing to do at the school so I run errands, meet up with friends or go to church. Dinner usually consists of some kind of fresh herbal tea (chamomile, hierba luisa, hierba buena, anís, etc.) and a papa rellena, sandwich, or omlette, etc. They have very light dinners here which I have liked a lot.

This week, I have really been enjoying the spontaneity of this culture. I don't always like to plan everything out way in advance, so this has been perfect for me! As an example, I am planning to go to a city 12 hours by bus from Trujillo tomorrow, and I bought the last ticket on the bus 2 days ago. Also, it's totally acceptable if you cancel on someone at the last minute or show up an hour late to an event. I truly embraced my Latinidad this week as I showed up between 30 minutes and 2 hours late for everything. I'm not so sure my dad could survive here, as punctual as he is ;)

Thanks for your continual prayers and support! My stomach has been much better the last week or so. I will have another update after my trip north to the warmer weather in Tumbes, Perú and Guayaquil, Ecuador. Pray for my sunscreen to work well against the equator sun!