My Average Life

So I've recently become a little obsessed with this website called MyLifeisAverage.com thanks to my sister. It's a website where people write about the seemingly mundane and normal things in life but that have a bit of twist or are non-sequitur in everyday life. It kinda makes fun of Fmylife.com. Anyway, go check it out so you know what I'm talking about and it will totally brighten your day! And since it makes me smile I thought I would share with you all some little MLIA styled moments from my time here in Peru. So here goes...
*Today, When the other YAVs and I first got to Peru we met our site coordinator's husband, Harry. Harry works at a seminary here as a professor and when he and Debbie first moved to Peru as he was being introduced to people he would say his name, and the Peruvians would say, "Oh, like Harry Potter." I'm glad to know that the HP influence is strong here, I think I'm going to like this country. MLIA.
*Today, during my first week of work I was trying to find things to do around the office, since I am new and don't know the language very well yet I've been doing very meanial yet neccesary jobs. I was asked to help color in some giant pieces of paper, which were essentially big coloring book pages, for an educational thing for one of the departments. So I start coloring the people, who are supposed to be Peruvian, a mixture of the brown and peach colored pencil color to give them all more realistic skin tone. I was really proud of my self for being so creative, until one of my co-workers informed me that they all needed to be "mas claro" which means lighter, so I was stuck coloring everyone the boring peachy flesh color. So much for self-expression and being culturally sensitive. MLIA.
*Today, one of my co-workers was listening to music on his computer. A Whole New World from Aladdin came on and he started singing along. Keep in mind this man doesn't know much english but nevertheless he was singing and I chimed in on the Jasmine part. He came over and asked me if I knew this song and I said of course! So we started the song over and proceeded to sing the whole song for everyone else in the room. He has now printed off the words to the song in English and sings A Whole New World almost all the time. I think I have created a monster. MLIA.
*Today, I was walking home from work as I usually do and there was a lot traffic, nothing out of the ordinary until I saw a man ride by on a Moto (motorcycle/scooter, a main mode of transportation around Huanuco) wearing a Spiderman costume and holding his Spiderman mask inbetween his teeth as he weaved in and out of traffic. I have never had so many questions. MLIA.
*Today, I was helping out with a local school's English competition. I was told to ask the kids in English what each person or thing in a series of pictures was doing and they would answer me in English. In one of the pictures is a group of boys celebrating and jumping up and down. In the spanish language a "j" is pronounced like the english "h." So when I asked what the group of boys were doing almost everyone of the students I quizzed said, "They are humping. The boys are humping" It was all I could do to not laugh and make the students keep trying until they correctly pronouced jumping. MLIA. **(Disclaimer on this story: I am in no way making fun of the students that were learning English. I know and am fully aware of my own limitations with the Spanish language and as soon as I have a good story about me mispronouncing or misusing a word I will not hesitate to post it for your enjoyment.)**
*Today, I was at a futbol (soccer for you Americans) game with some new friends and man came up to us who knew one of my friends. After he left my friends said he was little crazy. I noticed he had on Harry Potter Hogwarts shirt, so now I'm wondering if he's crazy or awesome? MLIA.

Ok so those are my MLIA stories. I thought it would just be a fun way to share with you all the funny little things that have happened to me so far. I realize now that I have not shared anything else about my life in Huanuco on my blog. Well so far I really like living here. The city brags about having The Best Climate in the World and it is known as the City of Eternal Spring. And so far my experience here has not negated that. It's sunny nearly everyday, all day, and the temperature ranges from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. It gets windy in the afternoons and as a consequence dusty as well so I try and make sure I have my sunglass to protect my eyes from all the dirt. There are a ton of mosquitos out especially in the afternoons and early evenings, and I've come to the conclusion they really like Gringa blood. My legs are covered in bites, but I'm getting better at remembering to put on repellent and it's getting better. Huanuco is what I would classify a small city (pop. 80,000 ) so I find that it is much more my pace than Lima. And despite the occasional calls of "Gringa, Gringa" (white girl), many of the people I have met and come in contact with are really nice and hospitable.
And speaking of hospitable, I really like my host family! They are so nice and while we are still going through a transitional phase where I'm trying to figure out where I fit in with them and getting used to living with a family again, I feel like we're really going to get along well with each other and I'm really glad to have been placed with them. In my host family there is Pastor Abdon, and he works at Paz y Esperanza as a pastoral counselor of sorts, his wife, Elena, who not only manages and maintains the household but also holds a number of odd jobs helping out at the church and with Paz y Esperanza, and then they have a daughter, Carla, who is my age (!) and she is studying psychology at the university (!!). They also have a son, Israel, who I have never met because he lives in Lima. I'm slowly but surely settling into their home and routine. One of my first nights here, Carla and I bonded over shared interest in music and watched the MTV Video Music awards. Pastor Abdon and I sometimes ride to work together on the family's moto. And Mama Elena makes the most amazingly delicious meals. I'm opening up more and more to them as my comfort level and Spanish language skills increase.
Well since this post is so long already I'll end it here. I still have more to write and tell, epecially about my job at Paz y Esperanza, but I'll get to that in the next post. I hope everyone is doing well, I miss you all and I pray for you all constantly.