Christmas Is In The Air

So I'm on my last week, and the list of things I have to do is getting longer, not shorter. I did have a fairly successful day today. Two volunteers and I went to the central Lima markets. A place I had been told about very early on, but had really only dreamed of going. I ventured out to China Town fairly early in my time here, and it was beyond anything I had imagined. Huge, lots of people, and stores selling any thing and everything at amazing prices. China town did nothing to prepare me for the sight of the central Lima markets.

We got dropped off at the beginning of the main street and were told by out cab driver to walk straight. So walk we did, and it took us less than twenty steps and we were in the middle of hundreds upon hundreds of people selling and buying. Stores lines the wide streets once used for driving, but now closed to the happenings of the markets to go down on. People walked up and down selling bags to put all your finds in. Food carts were scattered around selling icecream ,stuffed potatoes, jello, and cerviche in a bag. The buildings on wither side of the street was where all the main action took place. One had all party supplies, floors dividing up different categories. Another might be all electronics, while yet another holds housewares. But we weren't on the search for party supplies, electronics, or household items, we were looking for toys. For you see, it's about to be Christmas time here, and the babies in my room need some new toys.

So there we were, three white girls in a sea of olive skinned Peruvians, and we were walking like we were instructed. We managed to find a building that was selling toys, and ventured in. Three hours later, three huge bags later, and quite a bit of money later, we headed home. The huge bags, and when I say huge I mean you could put a good sized grown man in it, that the women all sell cam in quite handy. I don't know if we could have managed the eighty seperate black trash bags.

We got cars, toys that sing, musical instruments, trollers, babydolls, and tons of other things. I'm hopefully going to be able to give the kids the toys tomorrow, but there has been a bit drama surounding the whole situation. Another girls and I deciede just to buy the toys without Lidia's help, becasue we knew what they needed and wanted to buy. Once I got home with them, I was told that I might not be ble to give the toys to the kids. I never fully understood the reason why, but I'm going to take them to the orpahange with me tomorrow and talk ot the director if I need to. I'm just going to stay positive hope that it is going to work out! The kids are going to love the toys, all the toys they have are either broken or dolls with no head or no legs.

I'll let you know how it goes with the toys! Chau!

Ten Days Left

Well, I’m back in Lima. My grammy and Pawpaw left, and I have about ten days left.

We finished out our trip my doing Machu Picchu, flying back to Lima, doing a tour of the city, and just a little bit more Inka market shopping. I’m so glad they got to come down. I had a ton of fun, and loved getting to show them around Lima. I also got a few good laughs when they forgot and went of in an English tangent and the person they were talking to just gave them a blank stare.

Now that their gone, only ten days left, and about ten thousand things to do. Last minute Inka Market shopping, Christmas gifts to be bought for my babies at San Antonio’s, a graduation party to be planned, a curriculum for the English program at Pachacutec, and lots of goodbyes to say.

I’m really excited about going home. I can’t wait to see my family (especially Susanna and Catherine since it’s been foru months since I’ve seen them), and all my friends. Skype has made it fairly easy to be away for so long, but it will be nice to actually be able to hug everyone! And, Christmas is going to be so much fun. I’m really looking forward to all the family stuff that’s always going on. But, I’m also sad that I have to leave. I love Lima, the city is amazing. I love being able to walk everywhere and not having to drive. I love the culture, being able to buy food on the streets, speaking Spanish. It’s just all around amazing. I also love the family I’m staying with, and all the kids I’ve met. It just so happens that I’m going to be missing my 6^th grade class’s graduation and a Baptism of about 20 babies form the orphanage. We all got asked to be their god mothers. But, I know that there would always be something that I;m going to miss no matter when I leave. So, I’m just going to enjoy the time I have left here, and hopefully get my long to do list done!

Oh yeah…I’m typing this on the plane back fomr Cusco (and yes my grandparents ahvent left yet, and at this moment I have more than ten days left, but I;m not going to have time to blog once I get back) and my Pawpaw popped up with this joke (He said Eamonn would like it a lot). Thought I would share.

There’s a mamma tomatoe, a daddy tomatoe, and a baby tomatoe. Their walking along the road, but the baby can’t keep up so the daddy tomatoes goes back and squishes him saying “ketchup.” And there you go ladies and gentlemen the humor of my grandparents.

Tourist

Grammy and Pawpaw are in Peru, and we're busy! Here's a short day by day of what we've done so far…pictures to come later since I left my camera cord at home.

November 19, 2010: They arrived at 11:35pm. I met them at the airport and we got a cab to our hotel, The Gran Hotel Bolivar. It is gorgeous, very old fashioned. The elevator is a bit frightening, we thought we were stuck inside at hone point. I opt for the stairs if I'm going up or down by myself, I think I better not test my luck too much.

November 20, 2010: Lima. We got up and walked to Plaza de Armas. We got lunch on the river (it's really just a dried up river bed) bank, went inka market shopping, and got a tour to San Cristobal. Grammy and Pawpaw thought the ride up to the cross was a bit dodgy, but it was worth it once we got to the top. It was my 3rd time up, but my 1st actually seeing the view. The ever present gray skies over Lima are finally clearing up. After resting in the room for a few hours, we went to mireflores for guess what…MORE INKA SHOPPING! We also got dinner at a Swiss restaurant. It was amazing! I've been trying to make them try all the Peruvian foods, so after dinner we dot picarones and churros! Delicioso

November 21, 2010. We got up bright and early and got a cab to he airport. We arrived in Cusco with no mishaps, booked a Machu Picchu tour for tomorrow, and then headed to our hotel in Cusco. This one is ever better that the last. The rooms are absolutely amazing. When we got here, we got coco tea (the first of many times I'm sure). After a short break, we decided to find lunch. We walked down to the main plaza, once again within easy walking distance, stopping on the way for a lot of pictures and yet some more inka market shopping. This time we were a bit more successful. My mom sent a huge list of things she wanted from the markets, and we managed to find all but one of them in the same place! We went to a restaurant that I went to with my parents and Pawpaw got cebiche, the national dish! Now, were chilling in the room, we may be adventurous tonight and get cuy!

November 22, 2010: Machu Picchu didn't lose any of its amazingness the second time! We had an amazing guide, and I learned a ton about the place. Last time, we abandoned our guide along with half our group to go explore the ruins ourself. I learned why they built everything slanted and trapezoidal, and what all those random rooms were for. Didd you know that no families lived in Machu Picchu? After our tour, we headed back on the train (4 very long hours). Back at the hotel, we ordered dinner and settled down to sleep early. You would think that sitting on a train for 8 hours wouldn't make you so tired but I slept like a baby.

November 23, 2010: We got up and had breakfast at our hotel (very good, fruit, yogurt, granola, breads, eggs, and cheese…), packed, and then went out for a bit of Inka market shopping. Our flight back to Lima was quick, and the landing was smooth. We got back to the hotel unpacked and headed out to dinner. We went to Norky's, the Peruvian favorite. The food never fails to be amazing at Norky's, and it was only 60 soles too!

November 24, 2010: A slight bump in the plan happened today, we were supposed to go on a city tour, when the bus never arrived, we realize we were supposed to go on it yesterday. So, were going to Miraflores today and the tour tomorrow! No worries! Off to the Metro to buy coco tea!

Back To Volunteering!

So, I've had a full week of volunteering. The first day after I got back from Colombia, I got to help finish a project they had been working on the whole time I was gone. We finished building a house for a woman who runs a wawa wasi (a government sponsored program, where single moms can drop off their children to be watched while they work). This woman had a house, but it was horribly run down, and the area where the kids stayed was really dirty and dangerous. She had a piece of land beside her house, but didn't have money to build anything. While I was gone, they got the concrete floor laid. The day after I got back, we got to the house and they had put up the walls, and we watched as they put up the tin roof. The woman who we were building the house for was so gracious, and invited us into her house for lunch. She made us chicken and rice, and very traditional Peruvian dish.

Before After

That Friday, we got to take a group of seven students from the school we teach at in Pachacutec out on the town for a day. It was one of my favorite days so far, because we really got to know the children. They came to our house with Soleded at about ten in the morning. Once we all got introduced, we set out for the zoo. It's about a 30 minute walk form the house, so we decided to walk it. We spent a few hours looking at all the animals. Once the kids were practically being dragged around by us because they were so tired (even the one who hadn't taken a breath all day was sitting on the ground every chance he got), we left the zoo and took them to get lunch. We gave them a choice between pizza and chicken. Guess what they chose..chicken. Never in America would kids choose to eat chicken over pizza. Lidia suggested we take them to Mireflores, the really nice area of Lima. So, we got a bus to Mireflores to go eat lunch at Norky's. Norky's is a middle of the road chicken and chips restaurant. When we got to the restaurant, I realized that most of them had never been to Mireflores, and none of them had been to Norky's. They were so cute all sitting around the huge table. When the food came, they ate and ate and ate. They were even amazed by the hand dryers in the bathrooms (which were enough to awe them by themselves). After lunch we took the to Larcomar, a park on the coast that overlooks the beach. The kids literally ran to the railing, and it was so precious. After that, we took them to Tottus, a Walmart like store and let them pick out clothes or shoes. One of the girls came out of the dressing room with her shirts on, and her face had the biggest smile I have even seen. It is things like these, their reactions to the bathroom and the view of the beach that make me appreciate my life and all the blessings God has given me.

The kids at Norky's Group picture

Looking out at the coast Fountain fun

Last weekend was a slow one, I got caught up on sleep and unpacking. We also went to a Japanese Peruvian festival where I tried some really disgusting Japanese desserts. On Sunday, we went shopping in the afternoon, and I went to mass at 8:00pm. Don't worry though, I managed to mkae it home between shopping and mass for pizza!

Japanese desserts..yum:)

I went back to my normal schedule once the new week started. Monday Semillitos, Tuesday Pachacutec and La Punta, Wednesday San Antonio's, and Thursday Pachacutec and La Punta again, and today back to San Antonio's.

I had a ton of fun Wednesday at San Antonio's. I'm still trying to convince my parents to adopt one little boy. I'd be happy if there are any other takers… His name is Joni, and he is amazing. Out of all the kids, I think he is the only one who really remembered me from my time there before my trip to Colombia. When he came in the room his face lit up and he ran over and gave me the biggest hug. He knows my name now, and gives me kisses on the cheek all the time. I wish I had a picture to show you all, because you would fall in love with him too. One of the downs babies in that room is also adorable. He is so aware and wants to play with the other kids so bad. He can finally walk really well on his own, and moves around the room quite a bit. He tries to play with them sometimes, but the kid like to pick on him. One kids in particulare likes to lay his whole body on him and bite his ear. I noticed this happening Wednesday, and I looked at the mom and she was just sitting there watching. She didn't care and it made me so mad. When I went over to pick him up, he was crying. When he cries and gets made he dosen't make any noise, but tears flow from his little eyes, and he clenches up his whole body. He ended up letting me hold him for almost 45 minutes. I would take him home with me too If I could.

Pachacutec and La Punta were a ton of fun. Tuesday we gave the girls at La Punta hair wraps, they LOVED them. Thursday when we went back, they had all cut them out. Supposedly, from what I could undertand, they weren't allowed to keep them in. But, when we asked where they went they all pulled them out from their pockets. It was so cute. There are only 7 girls there right now, and Jessica has left.

Jessica is one of the girls I got rather close to. She was put in the house by her parents becasue she kept sneaking out to go to parties. She told me that they were harmless parties, but I think they must not have been so innocent or she wouldn't have been there. Jessica really wanted to go home. One day she asked me to call her dad for her and ask him to call her at the home. They weren't allowed to come visit her, so she had no way to communicate with them. I said maybe, and came home to talk to Lidia about it. Lidia said I could, but I should make sure it was actually her dad. When I wrote her a note asking if it really was him, she never wrote back (I was in Colombia at this point) so I'm assuming she either got to go home soon after I left for Colombia or it wasn't really her dad. All I can do now is hope and pray that she is happy and safe. Jocelyn is still there, and as full of life as ever. Her best friend has left, and I think she might be a bit sad. But, sadly, their used to having people they grow close to leave them.

I LOVE Peru. Especially when it involves going to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte as it says in our movie theaters. Because being in Peru means I got to see it a DAY BEFORE everyone in the US! Yes, you heard that right, Harry Potter came out on the 18th here. We were lucky enough to be able to find a theater that was showing the movie in English too! So, as the hour approached we got our robes, hats, and wands (really black clothes, construction paper hats, and sticks off a tree) ready to go. We glittered our hats, colored in our Gryffindor badges with crayons, and put string on our hats to keep them on. We got to the movie theater 2 hours ahead, and there was almost no one there, nothing compared to the US. There were maybe two lines of people. No one else was dressed up, and our costumes got applauded when we walked past everyone. But, out mindset was that we already get stared at enough so whats wrong with standing out just a bit more? Minus well give them something worthwhile to look at:) Once they finally let us in, I went and got my survival kit: popcorn, skittles, and a coke. By the time they actually started the movie (they dimmed the lights and turned them BACK on twice after midnight when the movie was supposed to start) most of my supplies were gone, but I was just ready to see the movie. So the lights dimmed, and the famous music came on, and the rest is history…

Amazing costumes right? We really wore them..look at the first picture. That's us playing cards in the middle of our line. We did have people take pictures of us.

I'm going to meet my grandparents tonight at the airport! We're going to be in Lima tomorrow and then fly to Cuzco Sunday to see Machu Picchu. Pictures coming soon! I can't wait to see them!

A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

I was going to give you a very short day by day update of what I did, but I had the whole post written and it didn't save. It just wasn't meant to be. So now I'm just going to pick my favorite pictures and give you a short explanation..here it goes:)

We went to a theme park, which had some pretty cool rides. This is the view form the boat ride.

The park had a log ride. Jade told me I would get pretty wet, but I was just expecting your normal wetness from a ride like this.

I was not expecting to look like I had just showered. Needles to say, we went and laid out on the concrete to dry a bit before moving on to other rides.

In order to get to Parque Norte, the theme park, we had to take the Metro. Carlos, one of the sons of the family we were staying with said the Metro would be too hard for us to do on our won, but we managed!

Oh the faces you make on a ride that takes you upside down. This picture is thanks to my wonderful photography skills.

Fresh strawberry juice from the fruit bar near our house.

A grotto that is alongside a busy road. We passed the place many times, and there were always cars lined up from people who were visiting. We decided to stop in one day when walking past.

Jade and I decided to take a tour of the city one day, so we could see all parts of it. On one of our stops, we stopped in a park that had a collection of statues like this one.

It was raining on our tour, so they gave us a huge Colombian colored umbrella which screamed TOURIST. Jade's photography skills in this one are pretty good though…Colombian umbrella and the Colombian flag.

We also stopped at a University Park. It had a bunch of cool things like a reflections pool, sundials, and this thing. There were two of them a bit apart, and you could stand both of them and talk to the person at the opposite on.

A fountain at one of our stops.

Our tour group.

Fruit salad. Good, but weird. It had all different kinds of fruit, granola, yogurt, creamy milky sauce, and cheese just to name a few.

The gorgeous views we drove by the whole way there.

The dad, Juan Carlos, and Carlos took Jade and I to the family finca, or vacation house for the weekend. We traveled through some cute town on the way. One town had really cute taxis.

We stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road to see this rock, the second largest in South America.

For all my lovely St. Cecilia girls out there, I made Jade do it with me in this one.

My FAVORITE food we tried, sweet corn arrepas with butter and cheese!

The view from our back balcony.

Alejandra, Me, and Jade. Alejandra is the little sister of the family, she is 13.

On the way to Saboneta (an area of Medellin), we say the beginnings of their Christmas decorations being put up. Medellin is going to be so cool at Christmas time, picture things like this, but all up and down the street. And then lit up! They were already putting up lights everywhere when I left. All the parks had things hanging form the trees, and the malls had lights all over them too.

The fountain in the main park of Saboneta. It was so pretty with everything hanging in the trees, and the fountain, and birds.

Jade's awesome photography skills.

One of my favorite Colombian foods after the arrepas. It is a wafer sandwich with arequipa and jam in the middle.

So, I may have gained the freshmen 15 here even though I'm not in college. But, can you blame me? I'm faced with bakeries like this with so many delicious things on almost every street corner. How can I not try everything?

And yet another food we tried. Although we though it looked disgusting, it ended up being pretty dang good.

A church in Saboneta. They were having mass around noon, and it was so packed that people were standing outside.

They have religious stores all over the place. If there's a church near, there is going to be tons of stores selling religious items.

One of the malls close to our house.

We stayed home and watched a movie with Carlos one night, and decided to get into full Gringo attire. Carlos is not a huge fan of looking like a tourist, and told Jade she couldn't wear her gringo jumper anymore.

I got to be there for Jade's birthday!! We went and had lunch with the family (Where we got to eat cow's blood mixed with rice stuffed into cow intestine), she skyped her family, and we went and got our nails done.

The dog form hell, she managed to pee, poop, and barf in our room all within 24 hours.

Candida, the wonderful woman who cooked our meals and took great care of me while I was in Medellin.

Last picture:( This was right before we lost it and started bawling.

A Continuation Of

FRIENDS

Just kidding...while I have become obsessed with Friends, I won't bore you by writing about it. I'm guessing you want to know about what else happened in Cartagena.

After the Mud Volcanoes, Jade and I decided to go to the Islas del Rosario and Playa Blanca. We ended up taking a tour that took us around the islands, snorkeling, and then dropped us off at Playa Blanca. We had decided the night before that we were just going to skip the tour and go straight to the beach. But when we got to the dock that takes you straight there we turned around left. It was possibly the shadiest place I have seen the whole time I've been in South America. There were a few boats that looked like they would sink if we even placed a toe in them. We decided for a more expensive but safer route!

When we got to the other boat dock, we were bombarded by people trying to sell us tours. All of the tours were around 50 mill. We took forever to decide if we were going to go because we weren't sure if we wanted to spend that much money. When we finally decided just to do it, because it was our last option to get to the beach, all the people who worked there clapped for the people who had convinced us. You gotta love being a gringo.

The actual beach was amazing. We ate the typical beach food: coconut rice, a whole fried fish, fried bananas, and a salad. As gross as the fish looked, it tasted amazing! We slept on hammocks right on the beach for just 5 mill per night (which is about $2.75). The beach was great, we relaxed and soaked up the sun. We also met some cool people who are traveling around selling the stuff they make to finance their travels.

My hammock…surprisingly very comfy!

The woman who serve us very good fruit salad for breakfast on the beach.

One of the many women who walk the beach selling fruit, baked goods, and massages.

Playa Blanca… gorgeous eh?

A stand selling food on the beach.

The man making pine coladas in coconuts.

Enjoying beach life.

After Playa Blanca, we went back to Cartagena for a night and then headed back out for Parque Tayrona, a National park located close to Santa Marta. And this is where our plan faltered a bit. There are a few ways you can get to the park. The way Jade and I picked consisted of our getting a bus form Cartagena to Santa Marta (4 hours), a bus from Santa Marta to the Park (about an hour), and then hiking for a little over 45 minutes to Cabo San Juan Del Guia. Our bus ride ended up taking a full day, so we decided to stay in Santa Marta for a night. The next day we got up bright and early to go to the park. The bus ride went as planned, but the 45 minute hike ended up taking 4 hours. By the time we made it tot eh beach, out two night stay there had turned into one night with pretty much just the morning at the beach.

Our muddy feet after the long hike.

The hike was long, but with views like this it was worth it.

Leaving our mark…

Never ending.

Our bus.

But, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining! The hike gave way to many gorgeous views, and the beach was the most beautiful thing I have seen in my life. There is no way I can describe the views that we saw. Hopefully the pictures will give you some idea!

I slept like a baby that night, I don't know if it was because I was tired or just because I have become an expert at hammock sleeping, but either way I needed the sleep because the next morning we got up, enjoyed the beach for a little while, and then started the trek back to the bus to get back to out hostel.

A tuna a man on the street was selling, he was more than happy to let us pose with them even though we weren't looking to buy. We did master cooking in a hostel, but I think a whole fish this size might be a bit above our skill level?

The poorest area I saw in Colombia. They had gotten a lot more rain than normal, and their houses were all flooded.

Santa Marta at night.

Leaving our home in Cartagena.