Peru: Tues, July 9 - Wed July 10

Up a bit early today as we have a long trek back to Lima.  Sad to leave our sand oasis, but all good things must come to an end.  Made a quick stop at the mall for Starbucks and last minute Metro shopping.  Lunch stop along the way at the Deli/Bakery place.  Arrived in Lima about 5:30.  Girls had to pack up all their souvenirs and Metro purchases.  Sending them home each with a suitcase to reuse next year to bring down donations.
For the next few hours they packed, repacked, cleaned, showered, & looked at photos.  We ordered dinner from La Lucha - best sandwich place in town!!!  Sat around and reminisced - looked at pics and videos from such a beautiful week in Las Lomas with some amazing people.
Headed to the airport around 11pm for their 3am flight.  Same flight route home: Lima - Panama - Chicago.  Checked in pretty quickly - all their suitcases....well, except Breanna's 2nd one.  We gave gifts to the boys for all that they have done this week, and sadly make the trek towards security.  Last few photos, last few words of thanks, lots of tears and desires to shred their passports so they'd have to stay.  It's amazing how you can fall in love so fast.  Through the tears I told them that tears are good as it means it meant something to you - and that's a good thing!  Voices4Peru team thanked them for everything they've done this week.....and then we sent them through security.

Flights went smoothly - made their connection in Panama - made it to Chicago - all the luggage made it and off on the shuttle they went.  Sad, but knowing they made a difference, not only in a Peruvian kid's life, but more importantly in their own.

Great job, Team Violet:  Kate, Breanna, Maleigha, Alana & Emma!  Thank you for sharing part of your summer with the Peruvians!
If you want to make a change, you have to be the change - Great job making a difference!
Os amo!

Peru: Mon, July 8

Today we woke up to the most gorgeous blue skies, bright sun, and warm temps!  So much that the girls had to get in the pool.  Most were pushed....but that's just details :)  The weather is just amazing down here!  Crazy how we have blue skies while Lima is gray gray gray!  No complaints here!
Had a nice, relaxing morning - of course some more shopping.  Delicious lunch and then it was dune time!
New this year is that the dune buggies are not allowed into the city, so after a little bit of a hike to the buggies, off they went!  It's amazing how you literally feel like you're in the Sahara - sand as far as you can see!  A couple were adventurous enough to try their hand at surfing the dunes on their stomachs!  Lots of laughter...and sand everywhere!
Back to Las Bananas for showers and a BBQ dinner!  We had some heated games during game night as well - nice to unplug for a while.  But as the sun disappears, so do the warm temps!  It sure gets cold at night!!
Tomorrow is the day we are all dreading.... driving back to Lima to pack and leave.....

Peru: Sun, July 7

Today we headed out of Lima early to avoid traffic and to make it to Huacachina in time for the game.  It was an uneventful drive, as we like it, heading south about 5 hours to arrive at our desert oasis.  Literally the town of Huacachina is in the middle of a desert - such a different climate than Lima and Las Lomas.  We got checked into our hostel, Las Bananas, and grabbed lunch.  The boys settled in just time time for the Peru vs. Brasil game in the South American World Cup final.  The girls went off exploring and shopping.  Peru ended up losing 2-1, but still impressive to be in the finals - first time in 44 years!!
The atmosphere at Las Bananas is pretty chill - some took naps in the hammocks, others just relaxed - a nice change of pace.  As we ate a late lunch, we didn't get much for dinner, and the girls settled themselves in the TV room for some scary movies.
Tomorrow is dune day!!!

Peru: Saturday, July 6

Originally today we were going to swim with sea lions and then head up to Youth Group. Well, as Peru is in the South Ameriacn Soccer World Cup final on Sunday, our plan to tour the city tomorrow got moved to today as Lima will be crazy. We headed downtown to the old part of the city, got some churros, and took a tour of the catacombs & cathedral. We then headed to the main square and saw the changing of the guard.
Afterwards, we headed across town to the ritzy Miraflores district to go do some shopping at the Inca market. The girls did some good shopping!!
Lunch on the coast at Papachos, and then up to Las Lomas.
Every Saturday is Oansa (Awana) and Youth Group. We arrived in time for the games, Bible study, songs, and winners. Many of the kids in Oansa we played with all week, so was sad to say good-bye.  As we ate a late lunch, we just grabbed ice cream at McDonald's and went back for Youth Group. As it was all in Spanish, the girls were proud they could understand most everything.
Tears were shed as we got into the Jeep and Van and drove away for the last time. What an unforgettable week it has been!!

Peru: Friday, July 5

Today was our last day up in Las Lomas for our games. We headed up a little earlier to try and get in as much time as possible with the kids. Another great lunch and up the hill we went! 
Being greeted with smiles & hugs is going to hard to leave, that's for sure!! There were more kids than normal, whether that was due to the fact that it's our last day or that Srta finally showed up, or that there were no classes today as its Teacher's Day, but I would guess we had 50 kids and a whole bunch of moms today. 
We started with some basic soccer fun & music while kids slowly filtered in. Did some dancing....Macarena, YMCA, Hokey Pokey, etc.... We had a couple crazy games of Sharks & Minnows followed by Dodgeball, which they call Matagente (People Killer), and finished with some Tug of War. Phew!! Exhausted but hearts full of love and smiles all around!
We said lots of good byes and headed to soccer practice.  Dinner was a fan fave....Spaghetti.... lots of members in that clean Plate club! Back to soccer for the end of Girls practice and to finally watch the 1st Division.
What a day! Hard to believe tomorrow is the last day up the hill....

Peru #9: June 2019

Peru trip #9 is off and running!  As my Europe trip was pushed back due to Polar Vortex fun, the Peru & Europe trips ended up overlapping.  So, I had 2 amazing ladies, Dinah & Bonnie, offer to fly down with the students as they were doing a tour of Peru/Machu Picchu/Cuzco.
So, on Sunday, June 30, at 3am, they packed up the ACT II shuttle and headed to Chicago for their 9am flight.  Flying on Copa, they connected via Panama City, and arrived into Lima around 730pm.  Daniel and the clan from Voices4Peru met the girls at the airport and whisked them away to the townhouse to get settled in.
Monday, they headed the hour plus north to Ventanilla, and did a tour of the area as well as Mi Peru, a beach stop, and some lunch.  After lunch they headed up the Hill for a tour of the area where Daniel and V4P work.  A very marginalized, ignored area with no running water or sewer, Las Lomas is where V4P has their private pre-school for 3,4,5 yr olds.  After meeting some of the kids, and getting a lay of the land, the girls headed down for dinner and soccer practice.  V4P has a variety of soccer teams to try and involve more kids to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

Tuesday started games.  After lunch, the girls played some games with the kids who showed up.  As it's "winter" in Peru, it's pretty dreary weather - very gray and cloudy, a bit misty.  But they got some good tug-of-war.and a fan-favorite of Bubbles!  What kid doesn't love bubbles!

Wednesday was basically the same - camp & soccer.  Today they played a huge fan-fave of "Dress like a gringo."  They divide the kids into 4 teams, and they have to put on our donation clothes, which are too big for the little kids who come out to play.  They have to put on a shirt, shorts, and shoes and had to try and run - one of the funniest games we've every played!!
As I'm not there to document it all, the girls and the V4P team are good about sending me pics and keeping me updated!
Here are some pics I have received - enjoy!!!