This and That!

Izzy (to Jhonathan, a boy at the Aldea): stop playing with that bug how would you feel if a giant came and started playing with you?

Jhonathan: But how would you feel if a giant came up to you and started screaming and running away? That’s what you guys do.

*Moral: I’m pretty sure it’s quite clear, don’t run away from bugs you will hurt their feelings and make them feel fat.

 Hello from the sun! Especially to all you currently stuck in blizzards, I’ll try to send some warmth your way! I know I’m like a week behind…I always save my blog until late and then it ends up feeling like homework which of course I then procrastinate. But hey I’ll tell you about my life now..ok?

So last weekend when we went to get on the combi, we were bamboozled by 4 or 5 cameras which proceeded to take random pictures of us. I don’t think we’ll ever get really accustomed to feeling like celebrities/zoo animals but hey it kinda makes you feel important. Last weekend was a party! Not that every weekend isn’t a party but still. We went to a random party for a 13 year old, listened to our friend’s band play, went to a Peruvian equivalent of a waterpark, and piled 9 people in a 5 person taxi!

 I love Love LOVE Peruvian music. It’s so pretty and even better when you can understand what they are actually singing about! Also, I’ve come to appreciate how beautiful church hymns can be in Spanish too which I didn’t fully see before because I could only focus on how hard it was to sing them.

Ok, Mirador..The waterpark was perfect! 3 pools, a horse track, a 4-wheeler track, volleyball courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, a dancing gazebo, a mini zoo, a lookout point, and a restaurant what more could you ask for! We were all really excited for the zoo because we thought it would have something big and specific to Peru which I mean Alpacas are from Peru but the other big exhibits were: a squirrel, a peacock, and these chickens that looked like wooly mammoths! It did say Mini though haha.

Woolly Mammoth chicken!

In other news, we recently acquired 3 of the Harry Potter movies on loan to us from a Peace Core volunteer in a village nearby, we are becoming somewhat obsessed! And for those of you who were wondering snogging is really used in London, I thought it was just a term from Harry Potter but Allie ( our Londoninian helped me clear that up).

Week one, done! Now on to this past week!

Daniel, the happiest little boy ever!

This was the last week of summer for the kids at the Aldea. They start school on Tuesday which will mean more changes to our role at the Aldea! And because it was the last week the kids didn’t have any classes to go to or big activities so we got to play with them all day! A couple big things we did; played soccer Casa 3(all the volunteers) vs. Casa 5(all the older boys) they creamed us. My days of being a goalie are long past and it was obvious. We also did a self esteem activity with the kids where we stuck pieces of paper on everyone’s backs and then wrote nice things on them. It was really cute to see the kids writing nice things to each other! And you have to love compliments from them, they just seem so much more sincere. Accompanying our self esteem activity was a big game of ultimate Frisbee which began with kids present and ended way later with only volunteers. The finale of the week’s events was a big round of carnival games. Where we were attacked by hoses and water balloons!

Best moment of the weekend: my camera is fixed!!! Ok it wasn’t the best moment but it was up there seeing as I haven’t been able to take my own pictures for a really long time! This weekend was actually beyond wonderful in its entirety! Saturday we went shopping and then had a bonfire on the beach! Yes..A BONFIRE ON THE BEACH! I am going to miss Hunchaco so much when I’m gone, the sunsets are picture perfect and there’s so much to do and try there. I so want to take a ride in one of the old island canoes the Incans used, maybe one of these days I’ll do it. And to go with tradition, we had picarones on the beach. They’re these things that look like doughnuts but they taste a little bit like honey too and they are served with molasses syrup on them, so good! The bonfire was pretty similar to the ones we have in the U.S I mean marshmallows and hotdogs were both present but the marshmallows were colorful! If you ask me they were way better than any marshmallows I’ve ever had in the U.S J  Today, I had American food! We made dinner for the Castillos and so we tried to make something typical of the U.S. Any one have any guesses as to what we made?

Yep Pizza! And a pasta salad with orange juice to drink. Desert…are you ready for it, crepes! Not just your regular crepes either but crepes with butter, sugar, bananas, and ice cream on them. My stomach might explode from all the sugar but it was so worth it! Ok so one more random story. I’ve been working on planning my trip for my last week here in Peru and I was thinking I’d like to go to the jungle. One of tours includes a canoe trip through an black alligator, anaconda, and piranha filled lake; what do you guys think? I’m thinking yea it would be cool to say I’ve done it but I really like my limbs. Mom don’t worry I’ll be sure to tell you what I actually decide to do when I’m safely at home again! Which reminds me WELCOME HOME mom and Lindsey! I hope you had a fantastic trip. I love you all. Remember to smile J

Love always,

Carrie Ann