Hello everyone. I miss you guys lots! I was so excited to see a message on my guestbook from Janice and Aunt Isabelle. Theres so much to tell and so little time. My time is ending here and so youīll get bits and pieces over the next few daysīand before you know it I will be home.
Life at the orphanage has been cool. Thye are excited about learning English, of course they already know the bad words and itīs a challenge trying to keep them from saying them. They feel as if they arenīt really cursing because its another language. They have gotten over the initial shock that iīm black and my hair is different. It is still and will always be a joke with some of the kids that iīm really an Africana o Chinchana. Chincha is a province in Peru were there is a large population of Afro-Peruvians. It{s tough getting them to play anything but futbol (Our Soccer), but once you get them to, they enjoy it. We made kites the other day, unfortunately they wouldnīt fly, but the process was fun nonetheless.
The volunteer house is cool. There are 4 volunteers - 2 from Canada and 1 from France. Our coordinator told us there have been as many as 20 volunteers at one time. I couldnīt imagine living with 20 people, we already face the minor everyday challenges of living with so many girls. We have a budget of $40 soles per day for food (Less than $15 usd) for the 5 of us. Surprisingly it has been going well. We take turns cooking. Lorena (our coordinator) taught me how to make Lomo Saltado. Another night I made a Chicken Soup and French toast some other day. We all get a kick out of the things that have French in the name, but arenīt really French - French Fries, French Toast, French Kissing, French Braids, etc. Then we all exchanged the stereotypes that we have of the other countries. French supposedly donīt wash and use perfume instead of deoderant - we all get a kick out of it because there is always an opportunity to poke fun at Dorothee, the French girl. When it rains, we joke that sheīs taking her first shower in weeks. Apparently Americans are fat and loud. Ironically iīm the biggest, tallest girl and I sing all the time.
Itīs been challenging getting used to depending on a group of people to decide what you are going to eat from day to day. Every now and then we will go out to a restaurant and have some Peruvian food, thatīs always good. They always make fun of me for being so picky. Iīm coming around trying new foods and actually liking them. If nothing else, we always have stocked in the house Peruvian bread, Avocados, Mangos, Tea, and Papaya - none of which I was particularly fond of or used to, but they have grown on me.
Ayacucho has the biggest celebration in Peru and probably in the world for Easter. Will tell more later, but itīs a weeklong celebration - Semana Santa. Its been a fun and exciting week. We met a lot of people and had a lot of fun.
Gotta run, but will write more asap. Love you guys lots!
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