I don’t know where my love for old buildings came from or at what age it started. I can’t help but fall in love with buildings that are pure works of art.
This week, I fell in love a lot.
We took our first field trip during training to the town of San Jeronimo de Surco. It’s a small town in the foothills of the sierras, known as a tourist destination (at least to Peruvians) because of its waterfalls. While the buildings weren’t “that old,” I found myself admiring them from the plaza.
I also was able to explore with another volunteer a bit and we discovered a very pretty stream (granted, it could have benefited from a trash cleanup day).
While in Surco, we met with the youth at the school for a bit and toured the municipality. Both of which were very beneficial experiences. In classic Brittany style, I also managed to make a fool of myself while playing “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Concrete never tasted so good.
Saturday, most of the volunteers from my neighborhood went into Lima with one of the volunteer’s host sisters. We were on a mission to shop, but stumbled into a very interesting event. My understanding of it was that it was celebrating youth and education across Peru.
Since it was obvious that we were not native to Lima, a group of students came up to us to practice their English. We must’ve talked to 15 students for their assignment.
As we were in a tourist area, we also took advantage of the “comfort foods” from back home—McDonald’s and Papa John’s. I have to say, I’ve never enjoyed a Big Mac more. It’s the little things.
As we walked back to the Combi, I found a very old church. For whatever reason, churches are the Achilles’ heel of my love for old buildings. We of course had to stop (and might’ve interrupted a mass).
We’ll be back in Lima next Saturday with our Spanish classes, and all week I will probably be like a little kid the week before Christmas.
Brittany McGee 