En El Campo

The director of our preschool invited us all out to her house in a small small town outside if the city, called Santa Clara. Kind of like going to somebody´s house in the countryside, only the countryside is jungle. It´s the kind of place where everyone has a hammock on their porch and fruit grows from the trees in the back yard, and everyday is a barbeque. We ate some fish and bananas from the grill.

We were celebrating a few birthdays that had already passed. So we ate some cake and relaxed in the back yard.

Later we took a walk to get a better view of the land andthe river. It was so beautiful and peaceful out there.

Drama Judge

I was invited to a local high school to be the judge for a drama contest. It was at an all girls school that has a very impressive English department. They asked me to judge them on their fluency and pronunciation in English, their costumes, and their overall performance. It was hard for us judges to pick a winner in the end. Along with me there were two other judges, another English teacher and a drama professor. Among the five plays were a story about a lost ship in the Bermuda triangle, and a short version of Pride and Prejudice. In the end we chose two winners from two different age categories. In the younger age group we chose the ¨Lost Ship¨ play. Their costumes were amazing and for their set they created a huge, beautiful, hand painted, cardboard ship. I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but I was too busy judging.

The winner we chose for the older group of girls, was the play about a stranger who came to a new town. Here you can see how excited the girls were when we announced them as the winners. It was like they won the World Cup. It was great to see them so happy.

And here´s our best actress. She was so modest and sweet in accepting her award. I give those girls a lot of credit for acting in English. I was so impressed.

Bring Your Pet to School Day

Last week we had a special event at the preschool where many of the kids brought their pets from home.

One of the highlights was a little dog dressed like a princess. And her name was ¨Annie¨ .....of course.

At the end of ¨show and tell¨ the kids walked their pets through the school in a little pet parade.

I kind of wanted a puppy after that day, but I think taking care of two cats is more than enough.

A Great Movie With Scenes from Peru

I don´t know if you all have seen this movie yet, but you have to! It´s in Spanish so you´ll have to turn on the English subtitles. It´s a great film about the story of  23 year old Ernesto Guevara who later became known as ¨Che Guevara¨ the Marxist revolutionary. The Motorcycle Diaries depicts the story of when he was a young medical student driving all throughout South America with his friend. A good portion of the movie is filmed in Peru, including scenes from Machu Picchu, Lima, and the Amazon River. The scenes in the Amazon are supposedly filmed in the 1950´s, but I´ll tell you that not much has changed in those little jungle towns. They still look just like that. And we actually recongnized a few extras in the movie. Like the man who owns the Tex-Mex restaurant in Iquitos. He appears in a scene on a river boat where a group of men are playing cards. Anyways, it´s great film that showcases so many beautiful things about Peruvian land and culture.

A Look at the Neighborhood

 I feel as though I have not given you all a proper tour of our neighborhood. Coco and I took a little walk around the Villa and snapped some pictures for you all. A little background on the Villa.....it was originally built years ago by an American oil company and later donated to the Peruvian Air Force. (At least that´s what Coco says). There are actually two Villas all within the same property. We live in Villa A which houses  the families of all the officers and pilots, and Villa B houses the mechanics and technicians and their families.

This first picture is the view from our front porch as you step outside of our house.

When you turn left from our house you will see the following view of the jungle. And to the right there is a pathway to the tennis courts and and swimming pool.

Here is the little store that´s literally right around the corner. We often stop by to grab things we forgot at the store, or buy an ice cream. You can see the husband picking out his ice cream here.

They also sell the famous regional popsicles called shambo. And here´s the swimming pool where we have spent a lot of time hanging out.

Here is the playground and the big birdhouse...but I´ve never seen any birds in it. But of course I see birds around along the Villa with iguanas, huge frogs, lizards, large spiders, small snakes, rats, and stray cats.

Here´s the view as you walk to the main entrance. Beyond the wall is a street that to the left leads to a large plaza after a few blocks and to the right leads to a great view of the Itayu River.

While we were walking around we just happened to see a few parrots in one of the palm trees.

Below, on the left you see a picture of the General´s house. On the right, you see a picture of a typical house in the Villa. (Notice the difference in size...haha) Yes his house is much bigger and he also is given a car, a driver, a chef, and maids to help around the house.

Below is another house.

The following is a picture of the store in Villa B. Here again, you can see my husband ordering another ice cream.

Below is a soccer field and one the many cats in the neighborhood. In addition to this soccer field, there is another soccer field, two swimming pools, a tennis court, two volleybal courts, and a basketball court.

And here´s a picture of yet another beautiful sunset over the Villa. I just love the sunsets here. They really are the best.

And that´s about it. Home sweet home!

A Rainbow Bridge

There was a national holiday this week so we were lucky enough to have a few days off. And since we are still without a good internet connection, we spent a lot of time with friends, bbq-ing, and we took a drive out of the city to try a restaurant we haven´t tried before. It was typical food like we´ve had many times before, but the great part was the lake below the restaurant and the rainbow bridge that went accross it. I pretty much was obsessed with the bridge and took a million pictures for you all to enjoy.

Coco convinced me to pose for a few roadside pics. I´ll admit that I´m glad I took the picture on the right. I mean how often do you find a blonde Amazon woman? Her and I are quite rare around here, so I´m happy we found each other.

Now I just have to find an awesome bikini like hers.