Peruvian resident over here.

I love getting to finally blog about this.

I am a full-time, full-blown English teacher.

I am a resident of Peru. I have a Peruvian ID. WOW.

This is Ana Lu-she handled all the paperwork to get my foreign ID card.
She deserves much more than a shout-out. But. Thanks friend! 

I have 3 wonderful classes who I love dearly. When I am having an off day I know as soon as I step into the classroom that I will immediently be brought back into the present moment. My students give me so much life it's crazy. This is the feeling I have been looking for. To be able to go to sleep knowing you made a difference, knowing you will do it all over again the next day. To be able to sleep well because of how much work you are putting into the day. 

I have an intensive class at 715am (YIKES!). It's basically a class and a half. Then have 2 regular classes. Then fill the rest of the hours doing culture classes and remedial class reviews.

I thought I would like culture classes more because it is less work but oh how I was wrong. I love my regular classes. It might be more work but it is so much more fun seeing the same students every day.

We change classes (cycles) every month so next month I will get all new students. I'll be sad to let these go because these will always be my first students here, but am eager to see all the new faces and spirits I'll get to change and be changed by. 

My hair is so dark in the picture for some reason--everyone says it's the Peruvian me. LOL

I love my co-workers. They think I am hilarious because of how much I love going to my classes. I have a different personality than anything they have ever encountered and think it's hilarious. I'm just like....yo this is my life-glad I can entertain you with no effort on my part! hahaha (in Peru its jajaja) They help me learn all the tricks of the trade for school, and have shown nothing but kindness to me since day one.

The ladies below are some of my best friends at school. We have lunch together every day (plus two more--sorry guys!) and have a BLAST! The cafeteria HAS to get a kick out of us because we are easily the loudest people in there. I dubbed us 'lunch club' and it has caught on. Lunch club meets on the right side of the cafeteria every day at 1pm. If you ever come visit me, expect to join.

If you talk to me much you'll hear about 'the girls' at school--this is them.
This is right after I got my ID. They were so happy for me.
They love me well and I love them lots.

One of my classes is all high schoolers-all around 15 years old, and boy are they my favorite. They LOVE talking and participating. I have to ask them to be quiet all the time which is a rarity for around here and I am SO thankful for it. They love asking me questions about my life in America. 

I love imparting my wisdom I have gained into the future generation. We talk about values; core values. We made a list of things we personally valued and why. I tell them about Jesus--how He is our Savior who cares deeply for them and came to save us to have a relationship with the Lord our God. I teach them about the feminist movement- how females are just as empowered as men. I want to teach the girls to stand up for themselves and know they can do anything they put their minds to. We talk about having the wisdom to make right choices for their lives. We talk about the lessons, yes (don't worry Cultural!) but I am here to teach them so much more than English. I teach them love on a daily basis-I hope; showing up for your students is of utmost importance and I hope they gather that from being in my class.

Below are some pictures from 'ice cream Friday' that lunch club (and then some) celebrates. It's a weekly holiday y'all! (Ok maybe only for lunch club but still.)

There is a little shop across from school and we always get 2 flavors in 1 scoop for 1 sole and a half. 

The Lord and I have gained so much intimacy with me being full time now. I play music in all my classes, and specifically play Christian music about 80% of the time. I worship Him on the way to school, and all day at school we commune because I have Truth being put in my ear and my students' ears all class period. I love watching them hum along to the melody of the chorus. It assures me that even when they are learning English-I can teach them about something that is more important to learn about than anything else--Jesus!

So. Life is going. It isn't perfect. I still struggle don't get me wrong. New struggles have come up as I have begun working full time. But at the end of the day I love my home being in Arequipa and don't plan on it changing anytime soon.

To all my AQP folks-love you all!! <3 p="">