Upon arrival at the SKIP house, Fran gave me a tour and sheets and a towel. I took a shower and fell fast asleep. It's quite cold here, especially when the sun is not out. So I was a bit chilly under the blankets but I have found that as long as I wear long pants, socks, shirt and sweater to bed, I'm usually bien. I guess usually in Winter there is sort of a gray haze that blankets the sky, but the past two days it has actually been sunny with blue skies. I told people I brought the sun from home, but I'm not sure they bought it. I can't wait for it to warm up just a bit. I think I forgot how cold the 50s can be (at night) what with all the hot weather we have had this summer at home. It's generally in the low 60s during the day.
When I woke up from my nap I met the other volunteers. They are all very nice and seem to be in their mid to late 20s. I was worried I may be with all younger people but that doesn't seem to be the case thus far. There are 9 volunteers currently living in the volunteer house, apparently it has capacity for about 20 people. I think more should be arriving in the coming weeks. SKIP has been on break for the past 3 weeks so things are just beginning up again. The classes don't begin for 2 more weeks and the offices don't open up for another week. I would like to get started, but at the same time I am greatful for some time to adjust. I will explain more about the SKIP organization in another post.
On Monday (my first day here)several of us we went to Huanchaco. Huanchaco is about a 20 minute taxi ride from Trujillo. It is a beach town where surfing seems to be quite popular. It seems a bit nicer than our barrio of Trujillo with perhaps more gringos, mostly in the warmer months though. I had my first taste of Peruvian cuisine out at dinner that night. I had a massive bowl of soup with what seemed to be cabbage and rice in a chicken broth. It was delicious. For my main course I had pollo saltado. It is essentially chicken stirfried in sauce with some vegetables. Served with rice and french fries. I think everything must be served with rice here. It was pretty good. After dinner we went to a very unique coffee shop. It had a room with a huge round cushion type thing and flat screen TV where we watched a movie. Boys Don't Cry was what we ended up with. Good film but really tragic and depressing. Maybe not the best choice for a Monday night!! I was so tired by the end that I was very happy to return to the house and hit the hay.
I told Sam, one of the other volunteers, that I never sleep late. That if I sleep til 9:30 it is a very good morning. So when I slept til noon the next day I surprised both him and myself! I guess I really needed that sleep. I got up and we covered donated books for the SKIP library in plastic. A few hours later we went to the SKIP offices and tidied up the library there a bit and organized some of the classrooms. I have yet to get my specific assignment but I think it will be in the guarderia or nursery. That night, five of us went and saw Hitchcock's Vertigo in a theater in the city center. I liked the film okay, not sure why it's such a classic though. I thought there were too many plot holes. But I'm no film critic.
Off to try my first ceviche! mas luego
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