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!

I've Been Busy in Peru

It's been nonstop since I last blogged. We have been busy doing our normal projects: the orphanages, Pachacutec, and La Punta. On top of this, we have had some opportunities to do some really cool things!

Sunday was Canadian Thanksgiving. Since our house has been overrun by Canadians recently, we decided to celebrate. We had the traditional foods with a bit of a Peruvian twist in some cases. Turkey with amazing stuffing, beets, carrots, RICE!, and macaroni and cheese (that the boys cooked all by themselves). For dessert we had pumpkin pie (Saludad being the amazing woman that she is, managed to track down a pumpkin!) and bread pudding. I can easily say that the bread pudding is one of the top ten foods I have ever tasted.

I started the week off on Monday at Semillitos. I had a great day working with the older group of kids. I took a boy, named Isaías, outside to play. I love to see how the kids react to being outside. They don't get to go out very often, because there needs to be someone watching them all the time. Many of them are in wheelchairs, so they have to be pushed everywhere. Isaías can walk, he is probably about 6 or 7 years old. First, we went on the trampoline. He loved being bounced while he was sitting in my lap. He also loved to lay on his back or stomach and be bounced. Then, he wanted to swing. This was by far his favorite activity. I must have pushed him for an hour. He never grew tired of it.

Tuesday started off as a normal day. We began by teaching English up at Pachacutec. On Tuesdays I have the 6th grade. The lesson I had planned was a review of the last three lessons I have taught them; classroom objects, the concept of inside and outside, and the words this/that/these/those. Then after we reviewed these three things, we put them all together and learned how to make a sentence saying something like: "This workbook is inside." All in all, the lesson went very well, and they caught on quickly. After Pachacutec, we went up to on of the Wawa Wasis and helped put a concrete floor in. The floor that the kids had been playing in before was sand, and was always damp and moldy. The concrete will keep them healthier, cleaner, and safer. Mixing the concrete and watching the floor come together was a ton of fun. We got to meet the babies before we left. They were just as cute as the ones at the orphanage, little Peruvian kids are just so precious.

After Pachacutec, Miranda and I went to see the girls at La Punta. That has easily become my favorite place we volunteer. The girls seem like little sisters, they call us their sisters too. It's hard to imagine that at home they would be freshmen, sophomores, and sometime juniors in high school. They have all been through so much, but still have such a positive outlook on life. It's my favorite place, but it's also the hardest place to go. There are three girls who I have grown really close to, and two of them could leave any day (they were already supposed to have left). I never know if it's my last goodbye, or if they will be there when I walk in the door the next time. A lot of the girls really miss their home. We get to deal with a lot of tears and sad faces, it is especially hard to comfort them when you can't speak their language very well.

On Wednesday, I went to San Antonio and had a normal day. I played with all the kids, and gave lots of hugs and kisses. A few of the boys will give kisses on the cheek now when you ask them for one. One of the girls in my room graduated up to the next age group and we got a girl from the younger group. Her name is Melina, and she has the cutest head fully of curly hair. She is still in that stage where she totters around and falls down quite often. The bright spot of Wednesday was in the morning. We got there a bit earlier than usual, so I was in the room as the kids came in one by one from the bathroom where they were being washed up from breakfast (no sticky hands). Ss each one came in and saw me their little eyes lit up and they ran over and gave me a big hug. It made my day! Jonie is my favorite (shhhh), and he always gives the best hugs in the morning with his huge smile. I want to bring him home with me!

Thursday, we didn't go to Pachacutec because there was a march at Semillitos. Saturday is national special needs day, so they had a march to get ready. We got there at our normal time…just in time to see the moms start getting the kids ready. They probably spent 2 hours changing every kid into a costume, painting their faces, and decorating their wheelchairs with balloons. I got to push around a cheerleader named Maria. Once they were all ready we got lined up for the big march! In lines of four we set off. We thought that we would be marching at least for thirty minutes, but it turned that we were just going around the block. All the volunteers got a good laugh out of this. We prepared for 2 hours and walked for ten minutes. Either way though, it was fun and the kids had a blast. After we were done walking we got to go to the cafeteria for music, dancing, and food! We were also allowed to take pictures since it was a special day! That night a few of us went to see a water show (fountains with lights and music)…it was pretty cool. But, the pictures we got out of it ended up being the best part.

Friday was a normal one again, I went to San Antonio and played with all my little babies! After we got home we went to the Inca Markets and Plaza San Miguel, the mall near our house. I also went running! Yay for working off all those carbs!

I almost forgot last Saturday was the 75th Anniversary of Inca Kola, the lime yellow bubble gum flavored fizzy drink that Peruvians are obsessed with. One packed taxi ride later and we were at the park to join the festivities like a true Peruvian would. To celebrate, they had a HUGE Inca Kola bottle filled with balloons that they released on 10/10/10 at 10:00. It was pretty cool, there were fireworks, dancers, announcers in flashy dresses, and live music. So Peruvian! They also managed to lock all the gates but one to the park. So, everyone that had come into the park though multiple entrances had to squish through one or climb the fence to get out. Both seemed to viable options, I saw many people I thought would never make it over a fence hop it. Also very typical Peru.

Dear First Grade...

Dear 1^st graders,

Thank you so much for your letters. Reading them made me so happy. I also loved your pictures. I can’t wait to show them to all the other volunteers!

My family at the airport with me right before I left Nashville.

I have been in Lima, Peru for 2 months now, and I will be here for 2 more. I will be here for 4 months at all. I got here by traveling on three different planes. The first one went from Nashville to Chicago. The second one went from Chicago to San Salvador, and the third one went from San Salvador to Lima. I have had so much fun here so far! I get to work in four different places here so far. I work in an orphanage for children with special needs on Mondays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I teach the 5^th and 6^th graders in a school in Pachacutec. I also go work with teenage girls on Thursday and Friday afternoons. On Wednesdays and Fridays I work in an orphanage for normal children.

Two girls who go to school in Pachacutec.

This is Pachacutec. The blue building are their school rooms, they do not have any glass in their windows. The pavement is their playground, they do not have any swings or slides to play on.

Some more students.

This type of top is a very popular toy in Peru, all the boys can do tricks with their tops.

I have been lucky enough to be able to travel around Lima on the weekends. One weekend, I went on a boat to see sea lions, went to a farm to milk cows, and flew over the Nazca lines. The Nazca lines are huge pictures drawn in the desert by people thousand of years ago. The only way you can see the pictures are to fly over them! I also went to a city called Canta and went horseback riding to the top of a mountain to see ruins. Ruins are buildings that were built thousands of years ago, and are now falling down because no one lives there now. I have also gone to some really cool museums in Lima.

Horseback riding in Canta.

Learning to milk a cow!

The sea lions.

One of the Nazca lines called the waving man. Look closely…

The weather was very cold when I first got here, but it’s starting to get warm now! The seasons here are opposite than ours at home. When it is summer for you all in Nashville, it is winter here. During Christmas time, when it is very cold for us, it is their summer time so it is hot. Isn’t that cool? They don’t get snow on Christmas, but they can wear shorts outside!

I’m staying in Peruvian family’s house. Their family has a mom, dad, grandmother, aunt, 2 brothers, and a sister. There are also 14 volunteers that are staying in the house. They work in the orphanages with me. All of the volunteers are very nice. Since I have been living in the house, we have had volunteers from Germany, Australia, England, America, Canada, Scotland, and New Zealand! I’ve gotten to meet people form all over the world! I share a room with one other girl. Her name is Katryna. She has the top bunk, and I sleep on the bottom.

This is the view if you look outside my window. The houses are all connected, and people hang the clean laundry on the roof because no one had a dryer.

This is my bedroom. The bottom bunk is mine!

Our house is very nice. We are very lucky to have running hot water. Many people in Peru live in shacks and don’t have running or hot water. All of the kids who are in my 5^th and 6^th grade classes live in shacks without running hot water. They have to buy their water from big trucks.

This is what the houses that my students live in look like.

Our food is very good. In Peru we usually eat potatoes, rice, and meat for lunch and dinner. We have bread, cereal, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast. One of the traditional dishes of Peru is cuy. Cuy is guinea pig. They cook the whole guinea pig, and then bring it out to you to eat with the head still on. It looks really gross, but taste pretty good! They also eat anticuchos, which are traditionally made from cow heart. I really loved these when I tried it!

Anticuchos

My family does not have any pets. But, there are a lot of dogs in peru. Many families have dogs as pets. There are also a ton of stray dogs.

I wear normal clothes here. Most Peruvians dress just like you and me, in jeans and a shirt. There are some Peruvians who dress in traditional dress which is very colorful.

Girls in Cuzco wearing traditional Peruvian clothing.

Thanks you all again for all of your letters. They were so much fun to read! I hope you all enjoyed reading my letter and looking at the pictures! I would love to come talk to your class when I get back and share some of the cool souvenirs I got with you!

Heaps of love from Peru,

Maemie

Money Makes The World Go Round

I thought it would be interesting for everyone back home to know about the financial end of volunteering. It can vary alot from agency to agency, and the process is different with all of them. I researched about the many different organizations and ended up applying to four different ones. There are websites that rate the organizations by participant so that you can get a feel for what their trip was like, and these helped me a lot in my decision process. One of the organizations I chose, sounded really good on the website but all the volunteers had fairly bad experiences so I crossed this one off my list. All of the organizations require fees to be paid. This usually covers room and board. After all my research and getting accepted, I decided to go with International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ). I decided to go with them because they were one of the only organizations that let you choose a starting and ending date. None of the other organizations that had good ratings were flexible. THey are also one of the cheapest organizations to go thought. One of the things they pride themselves on is that they don't charge anymore money than is necessary to cover living costs for the volunteer. Many people don't understand why you should have to pay to volunteer. The reasoning behind paying is so that the organization your woking for doesn't lose money paying for the volunteers housing and food. I wouldn't want to go work at an orphanage and make them lose money because they are feeding me too.

The actual cost of volunteering for me was about $2,400.00. My plane ticket was about $900.00 and the agency fee was about $1520.00.

Everyday costs include bus fairs, some food, and money for copying worksheets for my classes. I'm also trying to buy things for the orphanages and classrooms I'm in as I see needs.

With all the money you al sent me I raised about $2000.00. This money helped me get here and is paying for all the stuff I'm doing for the kids. We've found a new opportunity to help at a government funded baby house, a family who we can build a house fore, and we're going to have a birthday party for all the girls at La Punta! All the travel I've been doing has been paid for with my own money from graduation presents and working all summer (and the money i saved working in past years). The good news is that travel in peru is not costly if you don't fly. Because of this i have been able to see a lot of really cool places, without spending hardly anything!