It's the little things

Some fun moments from the last few days:

1. Played some sunset soccer (a.k.a. passed the ball around) with the sitemates - maybe if we hang out around the field enough the hombres will invite us to play actual games with them.
2. On our way home from said soccer excursion, we spotted three little girls on the edge of the road a ways ahead of us, who appeared to be watching us approach. This in itself is par for the course, as small children are always staring at us gringas. However, when we got within a few steps, these girls scampered ahead of us and walked along, stealing glances back at us every few seconds. Side note: Peruvians walking together are a precious sight, because they almost always lock arms/hold hands (girls/women), or throw their arm around the other's shoulder (boys) - these three niñas were no exception. Anyway, for a bit Linnea, Jess and I weren't totally sure whether the girls were purposefully walking with us, or if it was just a funny coincidence. Then, in some traffic confusion, we three gringas ended up in front of our accompaniers, and within seconds they had run up to be ahead of us once again. The rest of our walk was spent with each threesome discussing the other in English (us) or in whispered undertones with investigative glances backwards (them). I wish I'd had a camera, because I'm sure we made quite the amusing walking party :)
3. Today an entire class of my high school boys were in awe over the existence of the post-it note: "paper that sticks?!" They didn't really believe me when I passed them out, but when it came time to stick their ideas on the board, they were all abuzz with the miracle of sticky paper. They sell post-its in several of Cajabamba's office supply shops, but apparently they're not a common purchase!
4. Walking down the street, I was greeted with a smiling and waving "Profesora Meghan!!" from one of our elementary students from the past summer's (Jan-Feb) world map project. I can't even remember her name, but that big smile made my day.
5. At lunch, my host mom told the story of the time she brought our family dog to the local dog show (held every year during the town fiesta, alongside the pig show, cow show, sheep show, etc.). For those of you who need a refresher on Vlady, see below - this is no best-in-show canine, even when he's had a bath. Apparently the competition judges agreed, since Vlady was promptly disallowed from participating due to his utter lack of purebred-ness - despite Lourdes having sheared off his normal long hair to try and pass him off as a schnauzer! Only Lourdes would even think of bringing such a scruffy critter to a dog show :) But she said that they ended up using him as an example of a what-not-to-do dog, and he was awarded the same treat as the purebreds for his helpful participation, ha!