overdue update

oooo I feel awful, committing myself to a blog then not updating it often enough. Anyway, to get you back up to speed, at the end of last month we took Junior, Rosita and Dante to Papa Johns (American Pizza chain) to celebrate their birthdays. Its always a joy to take the kids out of the orphanage as they don't often get that opportunity. After pizza we went to a games arcade, similar to Timezone, but with more ride-on rides and an indoor play gym thing as well. Oh and bumper cars. The highlight of the trip was watching Rosita on the rides which Bryson, instead of putting a token in it, decided would be just as much fun if he just shook the ride himself; "Look she loves it! And we saved a token!". Don't worry, Rosita got some real rides after Steph and I had had a good laugh about it.

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I managed to get out of Trujillo for a mini-break to Huaraz. The whole area is really beautiful; lots of mountains and incredible landscape. Its pretty high up and it was my first experience of being at high altitude, so imagine my surprise when climbing a set of stairs got me puffing. After a day of acclimatizing I went on a 5hr hike/walk to Lake Churrup. It was a very very slow and tiring walk. My great achievement was getting to the lake before the two old German ladies, who had a 15min head start. They beat us on the way down though.

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September was also bible month in Peru. The kids, staff and volunteers all had to put together skits and throughout the month and then they were all presented at a special assembly in the Capilla last week.

The Chispas (sparks), little girls house, did Daniel and the lions den. Sofia, dressed it gray, was the stone that covered the den that Daniel was put in with the lions. She created that part for herself because she didn't want to be a lion and I've never seen a happier stone in my life haha.

Rosita (crying), Brigitte, Camila, Christina Grande (behind Sofia), Sofia, Oriana y Christina Pequeña

Tesoros (treasures), the little boys house, did a skit about...umm ok I was a little distracted because they were wearing bow ties. I think it was about the sanctity of Gods word and treating the bible with respect? They sang "Jesus loves me this I know" at the end in Spanish then English. It was like being hit in the face repeatedly by a fluffy bunny stuffed with adorable and cute. 

Pedro, Jorge y Pablo (Pedro's twin)

Luces (lights), the older girls house did a skit about a tourist trying to find something valuable and all the locals were trying to help her find it. In the end someone finally pointed out that all the treasures in the world are incomparable to what God has in store for us, so she ought to be seeking out God. I could be wrong about this one - its what I could stitch together based on my interpretation of Spanish and short attention span, which are equally poor.

The Amigos (friends), older boys house did David and Goliath. The star of the show was Abel dressed as a soldier, he had the most convincing menacing face.

Abel

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Boredom got the better of us on Monday night. We played Ludo, which I lost (I had the game in the bag until  at the critical moment I lost a player and then the whole game gaaaa) and Spoons. Both games I had never played before but I faired pretty well in Spoons, until the last round. In the last round people could grab as many spoons as they could, which explains how 3 of us lost. Our dare was to walk around the laundry rooms with only two feet touching the ground - so considering there was six feet amongst the three of us we had to get creative. Of all the photos that were taken, I this was the only one with a half decent angle. And yes I drew the short draw.

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Exciting things happening this month! The 10year anniversary of the orphanage is coming up soon! This means partying, celebrating, entertaining and fundraising. Thats all for now. I have to go find athletic tape for my knees. No luck so far and I looked in at least five pharmacies.

sandboarding

whoa so my 2 months anniversary here in Trujillo has just past. I'm finding it hard to believe how fast the time flies. I've been delaying updating my blog as I had my camera nicked a few weeks ago. Good news is though, that the replacement arrived today! Two new volunteers brought it down with them from the US.

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This week the kids are on vacation, so we have activities planned for them all day instead. So this afternoon we took the older boys up to the sand dunes to do some sand boarding. I didn't join in - I was the official photographer =) The photos don't properly illustrate how steep those dunes are or how unsteady the sand is. It was a difficult climb up two steep dunes but it was worth it.

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I promise to also upload some pics of my kinder room redecorated...soon!

Group hug

I made it 2.5 weeks without getting sick! I consider that an achievement. Was hit with a cold and gastro on Thursday - such a pleasant combination. The gastro is gone but the cold is lingering.

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In happier news, an Australian missionary visited the orphanage on Thursday. It was such a pick-me-up to be speaking real English again! I don't quite remember the details, but shes from Croydon and shes been living here in Trujillo with her family for about 3 or 4 years. I'll definitely be keeping in touch with her.

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Found out this week which children are currently in the process of being adopted. I'm really pleased that they'll have all the opportunities that come with an overseas adoption but at the same time I'm already feeling  upset. That's just my selfishness talking though. 

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Its been a crazy fun week with the Tim Brooks group. They left yesterday afternoon for Lima. I knew they'd achieve a lot but the end result still blows my mind. Kinder room cleaned a reorganised, orchard weeded and fertilized, security cameras put up, wireless access in the school, parental controls in the library, an excursion for everyone at the orphanage, health education classes, lice treatments and vacation bible school each afternoon. This is all as well as all the gifts they got the kids and volunteers - the new desktop in particular was a huge blessing to the volunteers!

Museo Cao

Isabel dressed as a Bruja (witch)

Feeding the masses at Rokys

The group always had energy spare to play with the kids

Day trip to Huanchaco

The group! (most of them anyway)

Lice treatment night

Happy little lice-free girls

Farewell assembly for the group with the kids

Final farewells

Big Thankyou to the Tim Brooks group for all the time, effort and energy they spent on the orphanage! Very much appreciated.

Eagle turned Mother Hen - Day 7

My first week here has been pretty busy. It feels like it has been a lot more than just 7 days. I've been a bit confused about what my role would be here. So to clarify, I will be the Kindergarten teacher for the whole 6.5 months. (Note to Ange and Cowboy - little fingers!)
I spent most yesterday reading the Super Nanny website which is like a crash course on correct discipline for kids. Fingers crossed it works on the pinching and hitting problem I'm having. By that I mean the kids pinching and hitting each other - I had to sign a contract saying I wouldn't be violent with the children.

And these are mis niños...

José Luís - always smiling, independent and cheeky.

Jhon - very serious for a 3yr old, very intelligent, the leader of the group.

Alejandro (and Ashley) - pinches the other boys but is very affectionate with adults.  

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A church group from America is coming on Thursday and staying for a week. This is really exciting because groups do a lot of work at the orphanage in a short amount of time, spoil the kids silly and take the volunteers out for a few dinners. Can't wait! I'm worried that my accent may change because all the non-Peruvian people I meet are American. I've already caught myself thinking with an American accent (you know how you talk to yourself in your head? That voice.)

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We went to a Peruvian church this morning (and experienced public transport for the first time - not too shabby). Everything was in Spanish but I understood enough words in the sermon to piece together the message. It was about how members of the family all have responsibilities and that each of us need to respect and act on those responsibilities in order to build a strong family unit. Thinking about that and the kids at the orphanage bothered me. I hate being reminded of the past that the kids have had. They are all too young to have gone through even half of what they have. They come from families broken by poverty, crime and abuse.  But looking around here you wouldn't know it. They are all just like normal kids. They spend as much time as possible playing and having fun. It really feels so full of energy, joy and life here.

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So, in summary, its been a good week - even the dull moments weren't very dull. I already have some "wow that would never happen in Australia" stories but I'll collect them and pick the best ones to share  later in a special "That's so Peru!" post.

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p.s you can feed the fish if you like, its very therapeutic (click the water)

the eagle has landed

safe and sound in my little room in Hogar de Esperanza, Trujillo, Peru.
Phew! Craziness! Where to start...

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ok, its 11:33pm Sunday - which reminds me, I need to fix that clock so it shows Trujillo time. Sitting in bed with a towel wrapped around my head - fresh from a cold shower. It was cold because, even though I did turn on the water heater and gave it time to warm up, I failed to check that it was plugged in *sigh. Cold is refreshing though. I was very efficiently picked up from the airport at about 10pm I think (?) by Ashley, Bryson and Kelly. Bob was also on my flight. So in total, the 5 of us, crammed into the 3 seat cab of a pick up truck - the van they usually pick up volunteers in, was at the mechanics and no one had noticed till they came to pick us up hahaha. It was definitely a bonding experience. Someone did take a photo, I'll post it - as soon as my luggage appears with all my cables.
We were pulled over by a policeman before we were able to leave the airport carpark. Not because we were piled on top of each other, but because the driver, Bryson, hadn't brought his license. Which was fine, Bob became the driver. We repacked the clown car and drove for about 20mins to the orphanage. Luckily I was on the top of the stack, which meant I didn't get crushed by body weight - rather, by lack of head room. Half the journey was spent curled up, almost kissing my knees and the other half with my head and arm out the window.
I preferred the second option, now I know why dogs do that.

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Tomorrow is my recover from jet lag day. And locate my luggage and wash my jeans and t shirt. I'll also drop by kinder, to meet my new students =D I'll take heaps of photos and post them as soon as I can.

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I think I might just be an optimist after all.
Buenas noches!

T minus 1 day

eep, last blog till the long, long, long flight to Trujillo
  - 16 hrs to Santiago, Chile (with stop over in Auckland)
  - 4 hrs to Lima, Peru
  - 1.5 hrs to Trujillo, Peru
If you would like further details of the flights and aircrafts (i.e. flight times, plane type, plane registration, most comfortable seats, etc) - please contact Kieran a.k.a fountain of knowledge for all aircraft and flight path related knowledge (he is royalty in plane spotter circles).

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In other news, I and other local Solomon Islanders, celebrated Solomon Islands' 33rd Independence Day today - although the official Independence day is the 7th July.
In case you aren't sure how to celebrate, don't worry, sit back and enjoy the video below. It features dancers from the Isabel province - and a comedian in the front :)
NB: ignore the 'zulu dancers' thing - very sure they aren't zulu

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Tomorrow will be incredibly exciting and exhausting, so I'd better finish my Guiness and hop off to bed.
Hasta luego!

counting down (T minus 10 days)

*gasp* June is flying by...

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Tomorrow is my last day at work ='(   I'm not sure why I'm sad really, I'll be back in February - only 7 months. I'm more concerned about how Coco Pop and Shmeidi will cope without me.

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I had my final ESL lesson yesterday. I spent the last two lessons trying to explain to my class that I won't be back next term...I think only half of the students understood what I was saying. I'm sure they'll figure it out.

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Still haven't arranged travel insurance - will do that straight after work tomorrow. Kevin - my amazing travel agent - won me over with his Polar bear story...which goes a little something like this...back when Kevin was a newbie to the travel industry, one of his young female clients booked and paid for a holiday but refused to get travel insurance. A decision that would come back to bite her in the rear - literally. Long story short - while trying to make friends with the cuddly white beast, it bit her - where? Right on the butt! boo-yaH! ~Polar Bear FTW~
Moral of the story - get travel insurance before offering yourself as a human sacrifice to zoo animals - just in case you survive.

same story maybe? http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmazingAnimals/story?id=7320751&page=1

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Anyway, back to doing Spanish homework. I don't want my tutor mauling me for not doing my homework again...*sigh* Colombians are vicious.

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¡Buenas noches!