Estamos aqui

Well, we made it safe and sound all the way to Chincha! But, I am typing this from the internet cafe located in the plaza (town square), and this is the third computer I have tried (wiggly screen, sticky keys...) so here´s hoping it works!

Our first night was spent in Lima at the aptly named Casa Bella. We enjoyed a good night´s sleep, hot showers, and breakfast of pan (bread), frutas (fruit), and cafe con leche (coffee with milk). Several of us were able to use the computers, so hopefully you have received communication from your family/kids/friends. We left around 9 am on Thursday to visit Pachacama en route to Chincha. The ruins were our first taste of Inca culture and we were amazed at the depth of knowledge of our guide (as well as her excellent English - she was able to answer all of our questions and we learned so much about the Inca as well as four previous empires).

We arrived in Chincha and enjoyed lunch at Pedro´s parents´ house. After a bowl of delicious soup (sopa de pollo) we had our first taste of sopa seca (noodles with seasonings) and papas huacainas (potatoes with a cheese sauce), as well as a boiled egg and an olive (garnish?). We got settled in to our three houses - 10 are staying at la casa de los padres de Pedro, 11 at Pedro´s brother-in-law´s, and 3 at a neighbor´s house. We are all adjusting to our accomodations and are so thankful that these families took us in - the sacrifices they have made are hard to wrap our heads around, and we are still processing the emotions of receiving such hospitality from people whose situations are so dire compared to ours. Some of us practiced our dancing and we practiced our teaching skills on Pedro´s mother, Nelly. She is such a sweet, kind woman, but she did give us some crazy looks (and laughed at us a bit) as we taught her to square dance! Ha!

After a light dinner of bread and tea we headed to our respective casas and tried to get some sleep. Most of us slept well after the long day of travel and practicing Spanish (I know my brain was TIRED!).

This morning we had breakfast at Pedro´s parents´ house - tamal y pan (with instant coffee or tea). At 8 we headed to la escuela (the school) to meet our amigos! We were not expecting such a welcome - they had the entire day planned with presentations, a trip to a farm, lunch, and dancing. The ceremony at the beginning of the day left most of us (adults, at least) misty-eyed. There were signs all over the school welcoming us, the entire school was there to applaud as we unloaded from the bus into their courtyard. The principal of their school gave a speech and invited Norma to speak - she gave a beautiful speech that communicated just how grateful we are to know these kids and be a part of this school. After the speeches we enjoyed a groupo Afro-Peruviano - they played music and had three awesome dancers. At a few points in their presentation they grabbed our kids/teachers/adults and we danced right along with them! Out of the comfort zone of some of us, but so much fun! I think a lot of us are experiencing things we never dreamed of, including overwhelming emotion at finally meeting the kids from our letter-writing. Un gran, gran dia. A great day.

The trip to the farm was interesting and we got to see the sun (it has been cloudy and misty the whole time so far, not much different from home). The farm was more of an organic research center with mostly citrus fruits. The man who runs the farm is a Peruvian-born German man, Klaus, who gave us the tour in English (much-needed rest for our minds). We sampled mandarins, grapefruit, and pecans. This farm was a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert - it took us an hour to get there from the school, and the entire drive was dirt and then sand roads.

After returning to the school we had lunch - caldo de gallina, sopa seca, carapulcra (a kind of stew), and pork. We were given a sweet, hot drink called chicha (very close to the name of the town, Chincha - it tastes like Christmas with cloves, cinnamon, lemon, and purple corn juice) and later we had an amazing dessert of arroz con leche (rice with milk, a hot rice pudding with cloves, cinnamon, prunes and raisins) topped with masamorra morada (a purple, very thick syrup made from purple corn and spices). After lunch our amigos taught us a dance and performed a few for us. There was a lot of laughing going on as we tried to move our hips and bodies like they do - for most of us it just wasn´t happening. Next, we moved into a classroom to divide up the goodies - each of our 5th graders was able to take a book home for the weekend, and the teachers divided all of the classroom supplies and toys between their three classes. We all felt like celebrities when the kids asked us to autograph their books! Again, what an emotional, moving experience that made today so, so special.

As we loaded the bus to go home, the kids waved and hollered and were sad to see us go. We assured them we would be back again Monday!

Tonight we will all get a few minutes at this internet cafe (hopefully) and then get to bed early - we have an early morning tomorrow, leaving at 5:30 am to head to the Ballestras Islands.

Unfortunately, we have no way right now to upload pictures or videos, but rest assured we have plenty of both (including videos of the dancing!). We will get those up as soon as we can.

Please understand that where we are is very remote - the internet cafe is accessible, but we have a lot planned with our host families, site seeing, and visiting the school. We will update as often as possible. If you have time to leave a comment, I´ll try to pass those along the next time I log on to post an update!

We miss our family (and our beds, and showers, and bathrooms...) but we are having an amazing, fulfilling time here in Peru. What stories we will have to tell upon our return (I´ve had to leave out so many details as the clock is ticking on my internet time)!

Much, much love - and we wish you a very happy 4th of July! We will try to celebrate here (along with the few birthdays we have, starting tomorrow with Carly).

P.S. - Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors...I may be an English teacher, but I´m under pressure to get this down and free up the computer! :-)