Why I love my job and where I live!

After taking my vacation to the beach and returning to my little town in the mountains, I was reminded of several things. I was first reminded how much I love living in the mountains. I always enjoy my trips to warmer areas like the coast, but when I return home to the mountains my heart is always filled with joy and I am reminded why I love living in the mountains so much. The culture in the mountains is so rich and beautiful. It’s much more traditional and less modern than the culture on the coast and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to live in the mountains and be a part of the beautiful culture here, but that I can also visit other areas like the coast, the jungle, and the desert. Peru is so diverse and it’s something that I really appreciate!

I love living in the mountains :)

I got a traditional Peruvian skirt! When I wear it, the Peruvians LOVE it and I get a ton of comments from the locals. They love to see a gringa wearing their traditional clothing hahah. 

Upon returning to work after my vacation, I am reminded of why I love my job with the Peace Corps so much :) My job as a youth development volunteer is very varied and I do a lot of different things. But most everything that I do revolves around bettering the lives and the futures of the youth in my community and I truly feel like I have the best job in the world.

I get to spend time with my precious students whom I adore and even do things outside of class with them like nature walks:

On a nature walk :)

They are so beautiful and I just adore them :)

Something that keeps me motivated is knowing that my students are the future of Peru!

I am constantly surrounded by adorable babies! There are many babies in Huallanca and here are just a few of the precious faces that I get to see often:

Just look at that precious face!

I get to work with young moms to try to empower them:

This is a 15 year old single mom. I am working on gaining trust in the community and with young mom's to eventually  start a young mom's group. 

I love my students and I get to teach them subjects like self-esteem, health topics, and “life plans”:

I get to play with kids in a variety of settings including soccer in the street!:

A few weeks ago I taught several classes to different groups of kids on the importance of caring for your teeth and have even been able to give them free tooth brushed thanks to my dentist in the US:

Most of these students did not even have a toothbrush before I was able to give them some (thanks to my dentist in the US for giving me toothbrushes to give out!) 

So happy to have toothbrushes :)

Recently some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and I gave a little speech to teachers in the area about what the Peace Corps is and what we are here to do:

I am still working on my world map! The base and the blue for the ocean is all up and ready to go! We are ready to add the countries! I am hoping to finish it over these next few months with my students :)