Sandy is Jeff's 18 year old sister who recently left Huaylas, Ancash (a sierra town of 3,000) to go to college in Lima (a coastal city of 8 million). She is living with extended family; however, the adjustment period has been rough and Jeff says that she calls home daily, often crying.
To help support her, and hopefully encourage her to stick with it, Cate, Jeff, and I took her surfing and to lunch in Lima (HUGE shout out to Cate for driving across town, picking her up, and teaching her to surf). It was fun, and interesting to see Sandy open up a little throughout the day; however, she never stopped using the usted form (a very formal way of saying 'you') with me (probably due to my age).
She shared that she works cleaning the house during the day, studies at night, calls her mom daily, and only leaves the house to once a week to visit her brother on Saturdays. Cate did a great job of have a girl to girl talk with her, and helping her see the value of staying with her education and not returning to Huaylas prematurely. Jeff reports that the family was proud of Sandy for going into the ocean, and very thankful to Cate (whose attendance at the Huaylas town fiesta on July 6th-9th, is now obligatory). It a great way to spend a day in Lima.
Here's the photo evidence:
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| Who'd ever say this was her first time surfing? She looks like a pro. |
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| Sensei Cate and the young surf apprentice. |
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| The warm-ups. |
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| Cate takes Sandy on a little surf tour. |
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| Starting to ride giants. |
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| Beach shot 1 |
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| Kinda cloudy and cold, but still a great day. |
