A Trip Up North!

         Who would have thought that a trip to Ecuador would be so eventful?  It was one of the funnest, most random trips of my life and I learned a lot about Peru. Here are the first fifteen things I can think of that I learned on this trip. First, public bathrooms are very different here. They don’t have toilet paper, unless you want to pay, or toilet seats or soap. Second, you can wait in bus stations for hours and still find ways to entertain yourself. Third, granadillas look like alien eggs.

         Fourth unofficial buses have cockroaches and people sleeping in your seat. Fifth, Moncora has really cool hotels where you feel like you’re in a bungalow! 

         Sixth, they eat ceviche, raw fish, for breakfast and as a side for every other meal and they think it’s weird when you don’t like fish. Seventh, banana French fries are amazing! Eighth, we’re a lot closer to the sun so it’s entirely possible to burn every part of your body so you feel like every movement causes pain. Sunscreen lesson learned…I will always carry spf 50 with me from now on. Ninth, there is no border patrol between Ecuador and Peru you can just walk from the sign saying “thanks for visiting Peru” to “welcome to Ecuador” without anyone checking your passport. 

         Tenth, you can buy mini monkeys, puppies, goats, birds, or squirrels in the markets near the border. 

         Eleventh, when you say “welcome to the island” in Spanish for a commercial on a sinking island you get paid in free banana fries and Pepsi! Twelfth, Punta Sal is the prettiest beach I’ve ever been too even though waves unexpectedly came up and attacked us when we were eating lunch on the beach and carried our salad away.

          Thirteenth, Peruvian movies on cheap buses have really bad acting and are a little too dramatic. Fourteenth, this country was not made for tall people which is really unlucky for me. My legs seem to find the back of bus seats easily and my head likes to hit the roof of every combi or taxi I get in. 

          And finally, moto taxis are really as fun as they look! Thanks to the Castillos, we had an amazing trip and we got to see a whole different side of Peru!

Peace and Blessings…Peace and Blessings!- (high five for the first person to guess what that’s from)

Love always,

Carrie Ann

These are a few of my favorite things!

Yo quieres Jugamos- Katie : translation for those who don’t speak Spanish ( I you want we play).

This past week at the Aldea was really long and really short at the same time. We only spent three days at the Aldea because today we are leaving to travel up north to some beaches and also, cross your fingers, to Ecuador!!! Here are the best parts of this week in pictures: 

Maria Luisa wishing she was the one going to school

Jose: the boy that I'm stealing

Renzo on a good day

Natalie and Katie's birthday cake made by house 1. They got multiple eggs smashed on their heads and 2 cakes shoved in their faces.

Jenny's last day :(

I whip my hair back and forth P.S Julia my favorite intern cut my hair

Pocahontas and John Smith aka Carrie and Alfredo

Us with our blue princes!

Dina the Diva

"I'm flying!"-Antonina

*subtitles by Julia and Katie

Love always,

Carrie

Mi Corazon se encuentra en Peru

There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear - 1 John 4:18

Peru Peru Peru, oh how I will miss you when I leave. Seriously I come home in like 3 and a half weeks…that’s CRAZY! I feel like I’ve learned so much in this country about myself and about how blessed I am with the life I have back in the states. I definitely won’t take some things for granted..especially: internet, toilet seats, hot water, being able to drink water out of the faucet, being able to make my own food, my family, my schooling, and the lack of cock roaches.  I feel like this experience has taught me a lot about patience I mean you have to have patience to go anywhere new really but especially with children and a country that runs an hour behind from when you say you’re going to leave or arrive to when you actually do. And even though it stinks still not knowing everything in Spanish, it’s been a good experience in teaching me patience and boy is it humbling. Let’s tack on that list learning how to stomach fish and other things I’d never eat in the states…like chicken gizzard, we are still mystified as to the purpose of this organ but maybe I’ll just wait until I get home to find out, when I’m safely away from having to eat it again. I find that’s how I am here I’ll try whatever and ask later, it’s better not to know sometimes. But in all seriousness I feel like the most important thing I’ve learned here is how to better love. I seriously love those children at the Aldea and they’ve made me realize how lucky I am to have a family who loves me and does so much for me. So family, I LOVE YOU and thanks for everything you have done for me and continue to do for me!

                This past week we started working in the office as secretaries, we basically just sort papers in the kid’s folders and sometimes you have to draw 180 pages worth of red lines a specific distance apart but that might have just been my experience. We’ve been able to learn a lot about the kids this way. Before I feel like we were almost naive in our view of why most of these kids were at the Aldea. We the thought that because a lot of the kids had visits that they were here simply because their families could no longer take care of them and so they had families that still wanted them but that had to save up money first. 

                 This however isn’t the case for most of the kids. A lot of the kids were abused and not by strangers but by their own families or neglected and left starving to take care of themselves. Others had to take over for their parents and act way older than their age to try to take care of younger siblings. Some had parents who left them in hospitals, some get taken away from their siblings, some had to work to make money at only 10 years old and some end up at the Aldea with no knowledge of their last name, their age, what year or month it is, or why those things are even important. Most of them wouldn’t ever tell you but they struggle each and every day with the idea that they are worth something more than what they’ve been through. 

               And most surprising to me is how much they want to return to those same situations, to parents who hit them or left them to starve when they’re the ones who are supposed to protect you from pain and sorrow and fear.  How many of the kids have tried to run away back to those situations or who talk about their parents coming to get them again like it’s the most important thing to them. I guess unconditional love is stronger than I thought and that’s what I think gives me some hope, the fact that those kids can go through so much and still love those who harmed them. If we had more people like them in this world maybe we’d all be a lot better off and maybe just maybe those people in the world who caused the harm would realize who they’re really hurting. I am so grateful for the hope you see in these kids and for how much they make me want to change to become better.

Love always,

Carrie

Estoy en Cajamarca!

So...we're in Cajamarca this weekend! After a six hour bus ride, living off candy for dinner, we made it to Cajamarca where we met up with the other volunteers from Southern Cross that are living at El Bichito. It's so pretty here! There are more mountains and green grass then I've seen so far in Peru and I love it. Also, the women here wear the traditional peruvian clothing with the skirts and the big hats and they walk their cows around on the streets. It's basically amazing and the other volunteers are lovely! I can't wait to travel up north more next week. Sorry but my blogs won't be very long if at all for the next little bit because I won't really have a computer to use, I'll be exploring! Here are some photos for you..

Love