First off, originally I was supposed to stay at one home for a week, and then switch to another home for the next 3 weeks. This whole situation was very confusing and strange to me. It was hard enough getting to know my part of town and the bus routes, so what sense did it make to force me to pack up everything and move to another random part of town and have to start again from scratch? Also, I really liked my current host mother, Patricia, and the other internationals who were living with me. I received a tip that I could request to stay at the same place the entire time. I also found out that this was Patricia's preference, as she would much rather have people stay for a while, rather than just 1 to 2 weeks. So, after speaking to the housing coordinator at my school, Maximo Nivel, (which coordinates the housing and volunteer program), I was able to stay with Patricia the entire time. This made me so happy! Staying at her place has been one of the best parts of my experience here, and I haven't had a bad meal yet!
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One of my favorite meals so far. Homemade quinoa veggie burgers and papas fritas.
Another change that occurred was that my three Belgian housemates moved out over the weekend to begin living in an apartment. They have all been in Cusco for several months, and decided to live on their own for their last month. So at the moment, there are now six of us living at my home stay, and another one leaves this weekend to return home. I am sure some more people will probably be coming soon though. Also, my Brazilian roommate originally paid for a private room, so she moved to one of the rooms that one of the Belgian girls vacated.
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Noisy making herself comfortable on my bed.
When I signed up for my volunteering program, it was set up so that I would take one week of Spanish classes and then do three weeks of volunteering. I did not realize until I arrived here that my school was the main coordinator for all activities. I really enjoyed my first week of classes, and wanted to continue taking more if time allowed, especially since I found out that a week of classes only costs $70 (US dollars.) So, once I knew that my volunteering program was going to be in the afternoon, I registered to continue taking classes. I had to switch to a morning class, which meant I would have a new instructor. It was also a group class, rather than a one-on-one class.
The most frustrating part of beginning this experience was still not knowing what exactly my volunteer activity was going to be or where it would be at. When I first signed up for this "voluntourism" opportunity, through an organisation called GoEco, I chose to work at an orphanage/children's home. I was told from the very beginning that I would have to be flexible and keep an open mind because the exact type of volunteer activities available was not guaranteed. As my trip got closer, I learned that my volunteering program was being coordinated through an organization called COINED. (GoEco does not run programs themself. It is an organization that helps people find and coordinate all sorts of volunteer opportunities around the world with many different volunteer organizations.) The information I received from COINED through GoEco was very vague, and all I found out was that I most likely would be doing something that involved helping children between age 0 and 10. I am very detail-oriented and like to plan things out, so not knowing the full details was driving me crazy. When I arrived in Cusco, I received a sticky note in my information packet from the school that said that I would be contacted later by the school about my volunteering project. Ahhhhhh! I thought for sure they would give me the full details when I arrived.
It wasn't until last Thursday that I received the first bit of concrete information about my volunteering project. I was told to meet at the school on Monday at 2pm for a volunteer orientation and site visit. Yet, I still was not told what my site was going to be! On Friday I went to the office at the school to try to find out more information. Thankfully, one of the Administrative Assistants was able to look up what program I would be helping with and provide me with some information about it. I ended up being placed at an after school program for (mainly) poor children. I was happy to be working with children, but I was not happy that I wasn't placed at a children's home.
On Monday, when I met with the volunteer coordinator, I asked if there was a reason why I was not placed at a children's home. It seemed as if there was a lack of proper communication, and the school (who ultimately places volunteers) did not receive information that I chose to work at a children's home, only that I chose to work with children. I explained the reasons why I wanted to assist at a children's home: to learn what they are like, why the children end up there, how they are treated, what ends up happening to them, etc. The volunteer coordinator said that he would look into seeing if I could be moved, but I basically got the impression that I would have to suck it up and just go where they assigned me.
So, what I was originally told was true - when signing up for a volunteering project you need to have an open mind and be flexible. Things aren't going exactly as I planned, but I will try to make the most of it. I have to keep things in perspective and remember that any volunteer experience will be worthwhile, even if it wasn't the one that I had my heart set on.
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