Week one

Ok so I am going to give blogging a try...maybe it will be easier than journaling. Although something tells me they are the same thing.

I have officially been here in Trujillo for ten days. I was really disorriented at first and it was frustrating. I had a hard time understanding anyone who spoke spanish and everything about the culture and country of Peru is different from home, but after the first days were over I started to settle in and feel more at home.

There are about fourty kids here at the alburgue, ranging in ages from 2 - 15 years. There are four different houses for the kids; two boys (Amigos y Tesoros) and two girls (Luces y Chizpas). They each have a house mother who is there 24/7. Props to them because I couldn't do that! The kids have chores and help out around the alburgue to keep it looking nice. When they aren't in school or doing other activities they just run around and play like kids do. It is nice to hear the sounds of laughter and singing and all of the noises that children make.

Today they went to Pizza Hut in town so it is nice and quiet here! I did my first load of laundry and wow does it make me appreciate what I have at home in the US. The washer trickles water in so we have to pour buckets of water into it so that it won't take hours. Then we go onto the roof and hang our clothes on the line. But be sure to wipe it down or you will get black sand on your clothes! It is very much a different world than I am used to but I do love it here.

The kids were on vacation this week so we had activities for them in the morning. I was incharge of art and crafts. They were nuts, but we had fun! I am beginning to uderstand more spanish and they are helping me learn more.

Thursday at lunch I was able to have a decent conversation with some of the boys at my table and their house mother! It was actually a funny story. So I was sitting next to Arnold and Kevin and we were almost done eating lunch. I took a small bite of my salad which consisted of cucumbers and beets. I made a funny face and didn't eat anymore. The boys asked me if I liked it and I said no. They told me if I didn't eat my salad I wouldn't grow to be strong and well. They told me to eat 2 more small bites and that wouls suffice. So with horrible faces I ate my two bites. By then most of the other boys had gone to wash their dishes so Milagros (the house mother) came over to finish lunch with us. She told me to eat all of my salad so I could be strong. I was about to fall out laughing. She said she doesn't like some of the food but she makes the kids eat it so she must eat it also, and so must I! I tried not to think about the beety taste and finished my salad. After I did they clapped for me and told me that now I will be strong. It was really funny.

I miss you all and think of you often! Write more later :)