I must say that I am pretty proud of myself in regards to my Spanish speaking skills. Since last month, I feel like I have been able to piece a lot of words together when people speak to me, enough to understand what there are saying and comprise a response from the little words I now know. But, there are still some words Peruvians think are the equivalent to English words, but really mean something entirely different….like…camping…
We were told we would get to go camping on Tuesday with Juan and Julian and a bunch of people from Alto Trujillo and Pourvenir. At first, we though we would finally get to use our tents and make food around a campfire and all that stuff that comes along with camping. Then, as the week progressed, we figured out it was more of a large picnic-esque type event. Then, on our drive to the “camp” we passed gigantic mountains covered in sand, probably three times the size of the mountain we climbed the day before. In between the mountains, there was sand, sand and more sand. I think I might have seen two plants in our entire two hour bus ride.
When we turned down a road (and I use that term loosely) which was more like a separate sand dent for cars, I thought for a moment “camping” meant get lost in a desert without food or water for the day. When our bus was too large to fit through some brush blocking half of the sandy road, a couple leaders got out and I thought for sure that all 60 some of us were about to spend the day sitting on the side of the road. But, we actually made it to the camp safely.
When we actually arrived at our campsite, I was pleasantly surprised…it was even better than most of the campsites I’ve been to. There was a pool, (which I was uninformed about or else I would have brought my bathing suit) a couple fields to play soccer (well football) a volleyball court (which I was most excited about) and lots of space for picnics and whatever else you would want to do. I was a little bummed that I could not participate in most things since my butt was in horrible shape. But, I did manage to kick a soccer ball around a little during one game and play three games of volleyball. It was nice to get out for the day. Actually, it was nice to have two days out of house.
