We stopped at an overlook in the town of Mi Peru, and had a hard time taking in the mass of humanity that live in such a small area. We toured where Daniel used to live, and then headed up the coast a bit more to Pachacutec, an impoverished area with mainly families from the mountain region of Peru. They are a very blue collar community, with one main paved road that runs thru the town and the rest is dirt. We stopped at a cemetery - yes, odd place to visit, but interesting to see how a community came together to bury their dead as they couldn't afford to bury their loved ones in the town cemetery, and how the mafia come in and dig up graves for organs.
We then headed down to the Bahia Blanca beach and learned how Ventanilla got it's name. Make a pit stop at Metro (think of Super Wal-mart, but smaller) and then headed for lunch. All our meals while we're in Ventanilla are prepared by Victor's sister. She used to cook for a Canadian family so is well aware of how to prepare food for the gringos, and easily makes accommodations for dietary/allergy restrictions.
Finally, we headed up to Las Lomas. It's a small community nestled in the hills. Las Lomas actually means 'the hills.' Voices4Peru has been working in this area for quite sometime, so we were greeted with open arms, and some familiar faces upon our arrival. Most of the families maybe make $300-500/month and have at least 4 people in their family if not more. They have electricity, but no running water and no sewage. It is an underserved community that has been in existence for 20+ years but the government/town does nothing. The houses are made of plywood and cement floors.
We met some of the kids. Our PV kids then hiked up the hill to the antenna...and some slide a bit on the way down. We played a bit with the kids - nothing super organized, just meet and greet.
Around 5pm, we said our good-byes and headed down the hill to soccer practice. V4P supports 4 different aged soccer teams. We were able to watch the 12 yr olds practice...and got to join in and scrimmage them. What a blast! The gringos were the first to score...but sadly not the last! We watched a bit of the newly formed girls team and then we headed to dinner. We returned later for the 15+ age group - like a JV team. The 1st division team does not have practice this week as their tournament run is over (they lost in pool play), so they have the week off.
Back to the house we went - what a great 1st day in Las Lomas!
Games start tomorrow - we are excited!!!
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