Peruvian eating contests

So part of the field day today was planned by the other teachers at Generation of Leaders and part planned by Kevin and I. After getting a ride down to the beach with our 70 odd water balloons, we joined the chaos that was waiting for us at the beach. There were 60 kids on the beach singing with Alex (the computer teacher, that knows English!!) and Jose (the principal). Tony and Alex's relay included a potato sack race, jumping rope and a wheelbarrow races, which was so cute to watch. I love how kids play the same games pretty much all over the world. Out of my games we ended up ended up playing fire and ice, musical hula hoops (like musical chairs), which Kevin named locura hula hula, which would mean crazy hula hoops in Spanish, tug of war, and had a water balloon toss. Thankfully Alex played his guitar during locura hula hula and the game seemed to be a hit. After tug of war and a little snack we pulled out the water balloons and madness ensued. They absolutely loved the globos as they call balloons and it was kind a strain on Kevin's voice trying to tell at them to get into a line. The twins won!!! Yonell and Leni are some of the coolest kids down here. I think I am even starting to be able to tell them apart. Leni is definitely the more hyperactive of the two and Yonell is usually trying to get in back in line, but then gets easily distracted into whatever mischief Leni is getting into.

The teachers also came up with an eating contest for the kids.. which somehow I got roped into. I had to eat 2 rolls, a very large banana, about 8 saltine crackers and some really strange jello looking stuff. I got second.. it was a tough contest, but everyone was yelling MISS ABBY, MISS ABBY, MISS ABBY!!! and some other stuff in Spanish, which was really cute. I guess I've already got a little fan club of kiddos down here. I really thought that it was only people from the United States that really liked to waste food with eating contests.

There is something that frustrates me about being "American". We think we are the only Americans. Canadians are Americans, Mexicans are Americans, Peruvians are Americas. I guess we just need a better name for our country.. So technically we are United States Citizens...but I never know what to put for my nationality on the customs form. Am I United Statesian? Confusing!!

Angelica, who made me a card in class the other day to help me learn Spanish was basically stuck to my hip all day. She wrote down in Spanish all of the directions and geographical terms that they were leaning in English that day and made me a card. The girls had been trying to teach me some Spanish words before class started and she was giving me some homework I guess. It was very cute. She has a really good grasp at English and really hope that I can spark her interest in it a lot more.

In the afternoon the kids had a fiesta at school, which Alex had talked me into participating in. They were naming their Spring Queen for the school and they came up with a teachers skit that I was kind of involved in. I learned the chorus to Que Canten Los Ninos and sang with some of the teachers who came dressed in baby clothes( I didn't get the memo about the baby clothes of if I didn't I couldn't understand it. I guess it is a song that little kids usually sing. I danced around like the true dork that I am trying to get all of those girls that think they are too cool for school to actually enjoy themselves. Middle schoolers don't change either. I think that is something huge that i realized when I went to England as well. People are pretty much the same where ever you go. The weather, the food, and the music might be a little bit different but we are all pretty much the same.

Assimilating

My taste buds absolutely love the food down here, it's just my stomach however seemed to have a problem with it. I am going to blame on something that I got while traveling and thank the lord that it has taken care of itself and very quickly might I add. Apparently a lot of others were sick for weeks. I have my renta moms' Cherry and Jan to take care of me when I really need it, but still act as a much needed friend in our very isolated community.

I definitely don't feel all cosy in my bed just yet and still have some adjusting to this new life down here, but (pero in Spanish, sounds like perro to me, which is dog... I was very confused why people kept talking about their dogs.. I now understand :-) ) I can definitely see myself falling in love with it here, dispite all of its downfalls.

The good
1. The kids are fantastic!! Yhonson, who seems really hesitant to befriend me and even told me that I needed to learn spanish miracously fixed my broken flipflop for me. No idea how and I tried to ask him.. but I think hes just a genius. Hes the oldest boy in the orphanage and has really become attached to Kevin. It's probably really good for him to have a good male role model. Danielo... who probably drives everyone crazy reminds me of my Camp Happy Day kids.. on the more severe spectum and I just adore him. Hes a lot more intelligent than he lets on and has lots of love to give. All of the kiddos have a story and hopefully I will be able to be around them more often to get to know them. I have really only seen most of the kids in English class, because I'm still unsure of my place in the orphanage, if any. As of right now, I'm just living on the compound and walking to school everyday I don't see much of them. I've also been sleeping a lot due to my stomach ailments so now that I am feeling better I might get to interact with them more.

2. I already have responisbilities and someone to share them with. Kevin, my new BFF for three months, whether we like it or not, and I have planned a field day for the kids tomorrow. I came up with most of the games and he is going to translate. Today was the first day of Sping in Peru and tomorrow we are going to celebrate with a day at the beach. Hopefully we can pull this off. I'm just a little nervous. :-)

3. I can see the sea if I walk about 4 minutes and actually be on the beach in about 15 or 20.
If they cleaned up the beach just a little bit it would be absolutely amazing. It is beautiful up here, we all just need to take care of the land a lot more.

4. I've really needed some time to relax and collect my thoughts. I have to think a lot about what I am doing with my life next year and this is definitely giving me the time and space to do it in.


Tbe Bad
My shower
Some of the housing here really depresses me.
The huge bugs
the circus that wont leave and playes the same songs every night.
The trash. I really want to start a city wide clean up day..


Bed..

Lions in Pacasmayo

Well before I start school tomorrow, which I sure will top the excitement of the Lions.. I thought I would tell you about the Brazilian/ Mexican/ African Circus that is rolling through Pacasmayo. I can still hear the music and the loud speaker even from my apartment up in the compound. Cherry, Jan, Kevin, Jorge and I went to Cafe Cafe, the local Chinese place in town for dinner before heading to the circus at around 7 30.

(SN/Side note) Everything is pushed back here. Most Peruvians don't get off of work until 7 or so pushing all of the restaurants to open later in the evening. We have already had to knock on the gate of a restaurant asking them to open early for us.

The Circus tent is directly down the hill from the orphanage so it was hard not to grab our interest. 10 soles( Peruvian dollars) was a great price to pay for this once in a life time chance to go to an authentic Peruvian circus... little did we know we definitely got our money's worth... o the exchange rate makes that about 3 dollars.


Everything was just how a small tent circus should be. Silly clowns, a grumpy ring master, scantily clad women and even a midget just for effect. One of the clowns was even wearing a KC Chiefs shirt, a unexpected treat for Kevin who is from KC. Kevin is the only other person my age that is living at the orphanage and is pretty much amazing for at least three reasons so far. He booked my much needed first class ticket on the bus ride up to Lima, he translates everything for me, and he has guitar hero... just kidding he’s pretty cool even without all of that extra stuff.

o... circus stuff.. so we were all sitting there watching the clowns do their thing, a ridiculously strong couple and their athleticism, and the Michael Jackson look alike lion tamer introduce the 5 HUGMONGOUS lions from the right hand side of the circus tent. After watching the lions jump across platforms in the middle of their cage i notice this man walking over to our group and saying something to us in Spanish.. the next thing I know I am being escorted onto the stage and I am handing my little camera over to one of the clowns. MJ takes me into the cage and asked me what my name is. "Soy Abby" I hesitantly say as he takes a death grip onto my wrist and brings me to each of the lions. The first three didn't even flinch when I came over to pet them but the 4th(Africa) ended up wrapping her paw around my forearm. I think it was more of a playful touch than a "I want to eat you " grab. The fifth lion. Mya had been extremely defiant throughout MJ's entire act so when we came up to her MJ just messed with her a little bit and then dragged me to the middle of the cage. I was to stand under the open platform to have the lions jump over me... My irrational fear at this point was that I am ridiculously tall for Peru and that the lions wouldn’t be able to make it over me. I think that by the second time the lion jumped over me this thought had set in because I completely flinched and ducked down.

MJ made me do the catholic cross thing on my chest.. ,which I’m pretty sure I screwed up. I took a bow, said gracias to MJ, bent down to give him a hug, and ran as fast as I could off the stage.

The show was not even halfway over by this point... MJ, doubling as one of the trapeze artists, and a very scantily clad woman flipped around a swing in the air as I was catching my breath from all of the excitement. One of the chubby clowns even got up there losing his pants in midair. The show finale commences with 3 burlesque looking dancers come out choosing 3 men from the audience and performing what someone called the hoochie coochie dance. Jorge and another man from our church were actually picked to go up there to be props during this part of the act. Seriously.. we definitely got our money's worth with this circus. CRAZY TIMES in Peru already!!!

Exhaustion

I never knew how much being able to sleep in moving vehicles was beneficial to ones health. After not being able to sleep on either on of my flights I arrived to Lima at 4:30 am absolutely exhausted. My voice was completely shot since I hadn't really spoken to anyone since the 2 Jersey brothers in the Mimi Airport about 6 hours before. Waiting for my luggage/ bolso/equipaje felt like the longest experience of the entire trip most likely because the exhaustion had set in by that point. I then had to go through the corrals of people to customs and press a big red button that decided whether or not I got to put my suitcases through the xray machines again. I guess it was all luck whether or not you got to go through this extra hoop to get into the country. I was a little worried about the cheese that I was bringing Cherry because i was supposed to claim any agricultural goods.. no idea if that actually count or not but I was just going to play stupid and just give up my cheese if they really wanted it. I kind of lucked out though because they were more focused on the man in front of me with a 100 lb suitcase. So sat in the Lima airport with way too much luggage and standing out like a sore thumb as the tall gringa wearing red, I waited for Kevin's friend Richard who was coming to take me to the bus station.

I had no idea what was ahead of me at this point. I was just happy to have all of my luggage and really excited that my phone actually worked down here so that if I needed to I could call Richard. I ended up sitting down next to a taxi driver that spoke zero English and kept giving me the strangest looks when we tried to talk to each other. I REALLY NEED TO LEARN SOME SPANISH!! or well I really want to learn some spanish. After Richard shows up a sigh of relief comes over me and I feel so much better about being in this strange country where I am the outsider with a huge language barrier. Richard takes me to the bus station and waits with me for 2 and a half hours, which was more than he was supposed to do. We exchange parts of our life stories while we are waiting and I say goodbye to Richard as my new amigo and make my way to the door of the bus 10 minutes before we are supposed to set off.

As I'm making my way down to the door a man from the balcony starts yelling at me in Spanish telling me that I need to check my other bag because it is too big to go on the bus with me. Oooo I have such great luck with buses. As Richard is trying to sort out my bag and exchanging money so that I could pay for the extra bag, the woman at the front starts calling my name as the last call to load the bus. I try to explain that the guy that took my bag has my ticket and that I don't speak any Spanish. Luckily one of the men spoke English and they were going to wait for me.

FIRST CLASS!!!!!!!! I absolutely at this point love Kevin for booking me a first class ticket on the Cruz Del Sur. There are huge leather seats that almost completely fold down and have a foot rest that comes down to make a bed. I have never done anything first class in my life, but I have never been so thankful for having to pay extra money for the nice accommodations in life. I finally get to sleep!! I slept through Spanish Madagascar 2.. the voice overs for that movie were hilarious btw. Slept through part of some movie about a Greek Travel guide that finds her fun self on her supposed last tour... the girl from My Big Fat Greek Wedding was in it. Slept through some of The Pursuit of Happiness... Slept through part of What happens in Vegas. OOOO my gosh the voice overs for Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz were hilarious!!! It was kind of hard to watch without laughing..

I think God woke me up about 2 hours north of Lima to see the coast of Peru at its finest. To the left of me crashing waves, gorgeous blue seas, and the cliffs that could battle the Californian coast. To the right of me there were miles of sand dunes that came right up to the side of the highway. Overall, the bus ride was ridiculously long but it was a good experience as far as 10 hour bus rides go. Lots of movies, an amazingly comfortable seat, a fun steward that knew English, a game of Bingo, and a man and his mother that lived in San Jose, CA but were from Chiclayo and going back to visit. They started asking me why in the world I was coming to Pacasmayo, but then told me that is was a nice place and even wished me good luck as I left the bus.

At about 6:30 I kind of started worrying that I had missed my stop though. Santiago hadn't been in to check on us in a while and I saw a building with Pacasmayo written on it about a half in hour back. The signage is very confusing and lacking on the highways so I was just on the mercy of Santiago to come get me when I was supposed to get off the bus. He did.. :-) I probably shouldn't have worried.

To greet me in Pacasmayo was Cherry, Fred, and Kevin waiting with a big hug and plans to go to the pastors new Mexican restaurant for dinner. We drove down some back ally roads and ended in a somewhat secluded street where this restaurant was going to be... Unknown to me was that most restaurants don't even open until 8 or 9 so the streets weren’t really busy yet for a reason. Exhaustion at this point was being taken over by adrenaline and food but still very apparent that I wasn't really feeling myself. We finally called it a night and drove back to the orphanage for my very brief tour and a cup of tea at Cherry and Jan's as they told me about some of the happenings here. I make it back to my fabulous apartment.. that right now looks like somewhat like how I imagine a convent dorm. Barren walls, barren floors, little furniture, and very outdated bed covers. At some point I will try and make it look more like home but for now it’s just fine.

Minimalistic might be just what I need right now. I have been on the go for the past year and need to take some time to relax...I am definitely an easy going person but I definitely need to be active and thriving. .. more about the circus and the Lions tomorrow... Still exhausted!

Bittersweet

2 am the morning of my flight...

Well this has been one adventure of a summer.. Very Long Story.. very short is that my friend Amy came over to live with me this summer and work at Camp Happy Day with me. After becoming socialites in stl we continued on to the west coast!! 5 weeks, 6000 miles on my little Honda Accord, 2,772 pictures, 9.3 Gb of Video, 7 couchsurfer hosts, 11 States, 19 cities, millions of memories, too many nights out, tens of new friends and loves, 2 attempts at surfing, -$25 in Vegas, and after all of that somehow the 2 of us made it back home safely and in time for one of my best friends to tie the knot. It has been a summer of new experiences, self awareness, and an experiment with trust in complete strangers. So here I am in the middle of my bitter sweet ending to a summer that I will never forget. I leave for Pacasmayo, Peru at 4:40 this afternoon ready to start this new adventure in life. If you would have told me last year at this time that I would be getting on another international flight this year i would have been jumping for joy and in utter disbelief. I have found something that I really love: traveling. Good or bad I take every experience that I have as part of the experience. Living in England last year really taught me that. You can't expect everything to be picture perfect during your travels and definitely not in life. There is always going to be some struggle and some discontent with your surroundings especially if you really assimilate yourself to where ever you are.

"Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be. Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally." - Eckhart Tolle