Adios Estados Unidos!

After receiving my visa, getting shots for every disease known to mankind, packing, going to my little sister's graduation, and taking my dad on a quick trip to the ER for a sliced finger, I'm finally ready for my next adventure. It's been a very busy past few weeks, but I'm ready and very excited for my summer in Peru. I'll be spending the summer working on an internship with the non-profit organization One Laptop per Child. Basically, I'll be distributing XO laptops to schoolchildren, teaching them how to use them, fixing any technical problems that arise, and helping them design projects using the laptops. The XO's are pretty cool little computers- they are little and green and look like toys for kids. They have a camera built in, music making software, wireless internet connection, and educational games. Thanks to MIT sponsoring this program, the computers have remained very cheap and are being distributed all over South America and Africa. 

I'll spend the first week in Lima getting trained by the Ministry of Education and then I'll be sent to a rural village in the Pasco region with 7 other interns for the remainder of the time. As of now, I think I'll be in the town of Paucartambo, but deployment sites have been changing a little bit. Originally, some of the interns were going to be sent to the jungle/rainforest regions, but with the recent political unrest, the government has decided to send us elsewhere. The jungle tribes are protesting because the government wants to develop their land. They are blocking roads and causing food and electricity shortages in those regions, causing the police to step in and some of the areas of conflict to become violent. So, probably a good move on the part of Peru's government not to send us there.

I'm excited about the the town I'm going to- it's high up in the Andes and sounds beautiful. There is a national fiesta in the town in July, so it will be fun to be there for that, and there are many interesting sites nearby the town as well. I'm not really sure what the internet situation will be there, but hopefully I'll be able to keep this blog going! And hopefully I'll remember enough Spanish to get myself to the hotel and not end up stranded on some random street in Lima. Until then, adios!