Family Problems
Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z spent 7 months, in 2005, in Peru doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Hello All
Sorry I have not been messaging you all much in the last few weeks. They have been a bit difficult for me. This will surprise lots of you but I am changing families. My host parents are separated and they do not talk to each other and I cannot easily learn two sets of rules and fit into the family unit or rather two fractured ones. However, I am going to remain friends with the family. It´s just that I cannot live with them because I feel the situation is unhealthy. Sometimes it gets to my host sister and she strikes out at me…. not nice. I am probably moving to Sunampe which is right out in the sticks, prime grape growing property.
But I am not unhappy (I was for a while) because it is hard to stay unhappy when you are working in a place where the kids think that you resemble Kate Winslet. I have been to Nazca and seen the lines with friends who cheered me up no end. For those who don´t know about the lines, they are basically shapes in the desolate pampa that surrounds Nazca. They resemble many animals and one resembles a spaceperson. No one knows how they got there. Some think that it was the Nazca culture, others are sure that aliens put them there (maybe one line is a picture of aunt Mildred or something). I took an overflight… it was just amazing. I even got a few good photos.
My work continues to be wonderful. I am getting close to the kids. There are 2 new girls. both of whom were scared of me at first (don´t blame them, gringos do pretty scary things….). But now they both call me mami and the younger one cries every time I go home.
I still help with English but have stopped calling it English…. I now call it Chinglish because most of the time it does not resemble my native tongue. I hate helping with translations that I do not understand in English…. which make them hard to translate into Spanish….
I am going to the jungle at the end of the month…. cannot wait. I am also off to Lima next weekend to catch up with my host family there. I just had to write a paper about development in South America for a global ed. workshop that will be held in Lima in 3 weeks. It should be so much fun. There is a concert at the museo de la nacion… I get to sing a solo….!
Basically, I have been having a great time here, despite the problems with my family. i have made so many friends. I am going to practice Spanish conversation plenty over msn when i get home, I just know it!
Chau all
Love
Mariana
