Livin’ It Up In Leymebamba – Weeks 1 and 2

It’s been two weeks since I arrived here and the initial fear of arriving in an unknown place has subsided, allowing me to really enjoy this experience. Living in a small community in the mountains has been an humbling experience so far. Everyone seems to acknowledge you as you walk by, and the pace of is very much on the back foot here compared to the bigger cities.

One of the things I really love about this place is the contrast to not only back at home, but also to all the other places I’ve traveled to so far. Even though I’m from a small town back at home, this is completely different. No one really has cars here, the selections of transport are horse, walking, motorbike, or a taxi if you really feel you need one, (you can walk nearly everywhere within the initial town in a space of 10 – 15 minutes.)

As I walk down the streets, I feel like I’ve been thrown back in time. Most of the streets are paved with cobblestone with narrow concrete footpaths. From the street most of the houses look the same, all they reveal is a couple of windows and an old wooden door which is so low that you have to duck under to get in. Old country folk seem to hang out on every corner, and every street you go down you see young kids running around kicking ball about, or singing songs whilst playing together with a skipping rope.

I only have to walk for ten minutes in any direction before I’m surrounded by rolling green hills, with no sound but the distant daily life of the small town. This really is the perfect place to come to escape the frantic energy on the city. But I’ve also found it to be very challenging at times. With once again being nearly surrounded by Spanish, developing strong relationships with people has been difficult. For me spending long periods of time alone though is something that I enjoy, so over the last couple of weeks I’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to spend some time with me, myself, and I.

The volunteer project that I came here to do has turned out to be very different to what I was expecting. As I was arriving here, I was mentally preparing myself for a very challenging project with a high workload. Originally there was an American guy who was meant to be staying here during the same time as me and helping me out with the work, but two days before arriving here I found that he would no longer me here during my time, and that I’d be taking on the project by myself.

I did however talk to him when I was in Chachapoyas, and he was able to give me some great advice as to what I should be expecting. I even took the same schedule that he worked by so I didn’t have to change much around when I arrived here. As I met the kids for the first time, I was reassured by their friendly & respectful nature, I knew that no matter what happened, this was going to be a lot smoother running that my Amazon teaching experience. My schedule was as follows:

Monday: 2.30 – 3.30pm: Sports

              3.30 – 5pm: Teach English (11-13 years)

              9 – 10.30: Teach English (local tour guides)


Tuesday: 2.30 – 3.30pm: Sports

               7.30 – 9pm: Teach English (11 – 13 years)

               9 – 10:30pm: Teach English (local tour guides)


Wednesday: 2.30 – 3.30pm: Sports

                    7.30 – 9pm: Teach English (14 – 16 years)

                    9 – 10:30pm: Teach English (local tour guides)


Thursday: 2.30 – 3.30pm: Sports

                7.30 – 9pm: Teach English (11 – 14 years)

                9 – 10:30pm: Teach English (local tour guides)


Friday: 2.30 – 3.30pm: Sports

           7 – 8pm: Music class (teach them all a song in English)

           8 – 9:30pm: Watch a movie


This seemed like the perfect schedule for me. It had enough to be a good challenge, I was now teaching an easier age group, and it contained a bit of creativity and fun. But what I didn’t realize before I came here was that the time I’d chosen to be here was also the time when they have their huge community annual fiesta. This is a celebration that goes over eleven days, celebrated through fireworks, a singing competition, religious rituals, exhibition days, and much more (We’re still only halfway through so I’m still yet to know exactly what else.) The result of this has been that many of my classes have been changed or cancelled.

It’s also meant that I’ve had a couple of unexpected surprises. One of the days off they had here was celebrated as “The Day of The Teacher” (they seem to have the day of everything in these countries.) For this I was asked if I wanted to join all the kids on a walk. I gladly accepted the offer, and the following day I was off in the morning with all the kids. Being completely unaware as to where we were actually going, I asked one of the children how long we would be walking for, and he replied, “ahhh not long, only an hour.” About three and a half hours later we arrived at a grass clearing next to a river, just in time for lunch. I didn’t even know we were going to be walking for this long so I never prepared any lunch, but they must of read my mind earlier, because as I thought that, a girl came up to me my lunch that they’d packed for me earlier.

After lunch we went for a swim, kicked a ball around for a while, then it was time to return back. I found it very interesting to note that these guys had come on this trip all by themselves; I was the only “grown up” there. The independence of these kids was something that struck me straight away. Even the twelve year olds here have a sense of maturity to them that I’ve never seen before. I’m sure this has something to do with the amount of responsibility they’re given at such a young age. Every single child is expected to be responsible for themselves. They live in an environment very similar to a boarding school, their food is provided for them, but they’re responsible for doing all their own washing (by hand,) and keeping the whole place tidy & clean.

After that day my schedule became very broken up, and all of a sudden it started to become a day to day thing as to what I’m actually going to be doing, and also when I’ll be doing it. I’m yet to take a class with the guides, and most of my evening classes are now off because the kids are always participating in some sort of celebration in the evening. This has been both a good thing and a bad thing for me. The good thing is that I’ve had a very unique opportunity to see how passionately a small town celebrates its culture & heritage, and I’m having a full on rural fiesta experience. But on the other side of that, I feel a wee bit like I’m not doing what I came here to do. I’ve come here to offer my services as a volunteer but so far actually done very little volunteering.

As my third week has kicked into gear, I sit here unsure as to how I’ll really be participating this week. Whether I participate as a volunteer to their community, or a guest to their celebrations, I think it will still be equally rewarding so either way I’m sure I won’t regret being here.