bye until monday

I ended up at San Antonio's today in the afternoon, just in time to tell my little babies good bye.  From what I understand, they moved three orphanages together about two years ago to renovate the old orphanages   Today is the big day.  They went back home.  As I write this, I can only imagine how confused they must be.  They have never been anywhere except their room, the lunch room, and the playground. Their poor little brains are probably working overtime right now as they lay in their cribs in their new room.

Their old home is huge.  The kids are in about 12 rooms, I have no idea what is going to become of all of this space.  Peruvians aren't the best with details.  Every time I ask what the moving situation is, all I get a few shady details that don't match up with what the person before me said.  But, they have moved.  We don't get to see them again until Monday.  Until then, I guess I'm going to have to keep myself occupied with the older children, or maybe go visit the little ones at Semillitas, the special needs orphanage   I would like to go there once or twice to see how much they have grown.  I've gotten great reports from all the other volunteers.  I guess it's meant to be.

We ended up at San Antonio's in the afternoon, because the whole volunteer group was asked to go to a government volunteer program.  Lidia said that she thought it was going to be in English for just a few hours.  But lets just say it ended up being a really long session of Spanish practice.  I did learn a few things.  There are about 15 government run orphanages in Lima with about 920 kids.  Each orphanage has, among other things, a nutritionist, a doctor, and a social worker.  These orphanages are all like the ones I work at, with groups of about 10-20 kids of all the same age with one or two moms at a time taking care of them.

They have recently started a program that is either more of a family style orphanage or a foster cars system.  Juan asked them to clarify the new program, and they didn't clarify anything.  But, either way, I think it is way better than what they have now.

Having seen how this style of orphanage works, having the kids grouped by ages, I would have to say that I am a huge supported of family style orphanages.  The main idea of a family style orphanage is that the kid are kept in a family unit.  They have a consistant caregiver, and with that comes consistency in everything else; discipline, routine, etc.  The kids may have only a mother, or a mother and father.  They may be grouped closer to the same age,  all with special needs, all girls or boys, or a mix of all of these.  But, they live in a house, and share in family life.  What in the end may be a bit more expensive, also take away many of the negatives.  The children are never told they are not wanted, loved, or special.  They are loved by their new parents and siblings just like normal kids.  They are a part of the community, and live a normal childhood.  Kuddos to Peru for realizing this and starting to change!

FAMILY!

My mom, dad, and Eamonn got here yesterday morning, and we have been on the go since then. Yesterday, my mom and Eamonn go here at five in the morning. I met them at the airport and then we went to the hotel. They took a nap, and then they got to go with me to teach at Pachacutec. My classes loved them, they tough it was so funny that my "mamma" was in class with me. They also got to meet the class that I'm going to sponsor for graduation. After that we went to my house so they could see it, and we could pick up a few thing I forgot. We ate lunch in Mireflores at Monolos, a restaurant which supposedly has the best sandwiches in Lima! Then we went shopping in the Inka Markets. My mom got a lot of souvenirs and presents. The Inka markets are huge, and keep winding back for ages. YOu could spend heaps of time in them without even noticing. We ate at the anticuchos restaurant for dinner, and then waited for my dad to arrive.

The next day we got up and went into Central Lima to see the sights. First we went to the Plaza de Armas and saw all the buildings around there. Then we went and toured the catacombs at the Iglesia de San Francisco. We ate at Norky's for lunch, I swear it's the Peruvians favorite restaurant because there is one on almost every block. After lunch we went to the Iglesia de Santo Domingo and took a bus up to see the cross on the top of San Cristobal. We went to Mireflores to eat pizza for dinner on Pizza Street. and got Churros at Monolos afterwards.

Today, we got up at 2:30 and flew to Cuzco. We spent the day walking around the city and touring some of the churches. The churches here are beautiful. Cuzco is set in the middle of the mountains and looks like a postcard. Many of the women here dress in traditional clothing and carry animals around so you can get a picture with them. We saw some sights that were not beautiful either. There were many people begging, and one child in particular was very young and was selling food on the side of the road by himself.

If you compare Lima and Cuzco, you will find hardly anything in common. Lima is an urban city center. Cuzco is very touristy. Even in the "touristy" parts of Lima, there are never many tourists. One of the big difference I noticed was that the churches in Lima are used by the people all the time. The huge cathedrals are their churches. In Cuzco, the churches are more for show, and they do not feel lived in or as well taken care of.

My mom brought a book of letters that the 1st graders wrote me. I wrote them a letter back, but I'm going to put it on my blog so I can put pictures with it. Enjoy!