Fiesta!

I haven't blogged since I got back from my visit with my family..Machu Picchu was absolutely amazing! I can't wait to go back! My family loved Cuzco a lot more that Lima. Cuzco is a lot more picturesque than Lima. The building are pretty, the setting is gorgeous, and there is a lot of Americanized food. We stayed in the nicest hotel up a very narrow road. The fact that they manages to get a car up to our door still amazes me. We spent our first day walking around Cuzco, seeing some beautiful churches. Then next day we woke up early and took a taxi to teh bus station in Poroy. The train was so nice, we saw some great scenery in the 3 hour ride up to Aguas Calientes. From there we took a bus up to Machu Picchu. This bus ride was one of the scariest so far..the only other contender for first place would be the one back from Canta. We had a few hours to explore Machu Picchu and then headed back. It ended working out perfectly. The next day, we walked around Cuzco a bit more and then headed to the airport to fly bak to Lima. I had a great time with my family, and I can't wait for my grammy and pawapw to come see me!

This past week was a really good one. On Tuesday we taught at Pachacutec. I think that almost half of them did their homework which is a HUGE improvement! Wednesday I went to th orpahange for normal children. We got to take some of the kids out to play, so the day flew by. I have been trying to teach some of the 2 year olds how to give a kiss on the cheek..and they finally understood! I was so happy. It's so cure, when you can say "dar me un beso" and they give you a little peck on the cheek. Their so pleased with themselves! On Thursday we went to Pachautec, and Miranda, one of the other volunteers, taught my classes. I had pretty much lost my voice, and she has been wanting to teach them by herself for a while. She did great, and it was nice to be able to just help and not yell over them for 3 hours.

La Punta is probably my favorite place that we go work at. On Tuesday, I was excited to go, but also kinda sad because the girl who I have gotten really close to was supposed to have gone home with her mom. Her name is Jocelyn, and she had told me the last time we were there that she didn't want to go home with her mom. She wanted to stay at the home because she was happy and loved all the girls. I didn't want to go see all the girls and have to think of how unhappy she probably was at home. When we got there though, she was there! I turns out that she couldn't go home for some reason. Yesterday, we had a party for them. We brought two big cakes, fizzy drinks, candy, marshmallows, chips, and cookies. We had told them on Tuesday that we had a surprise for them, but didn't actually tell them what it was. When we came in with the cakes sand food they were so excited! We also gave them a picture with a frame that we had decorated. We ate, danced, and they put on some dances for us. It was a great day!

Today is a holiday, but in true Peruvian style, no one can tell us what the holiday is for. Someone told me that it was made a holiday in their last government, and was kept when the government changes hands. We're going to a futbol game later..Peru vs Costa Rica. It's going to be a lot of fun.

See you all soon!