Day 8: Thursday: Lima & Las Lomas

Today we took a city tour of Lima.  We headed downtown to the Historic center of Lima. We took the kids to the Catacombs, which was a new experience for them all.  We visited the Cathedral as well - it is quite ornate and colorful.  We grabbed some delicious churros and headed to the main square to see the Presidential Palace.  We caught the tail end of the changing of the guard. It's so cool to see the colonial structures around the city. Such a difference from Ventanilla & Las Lomas.
We then headed up the Hill for our last day at the Voices4Peru school.  We took up a bunch of fleece that we had cut strips to make tie-blankets.  We had 25 kids show up and many of them remembered how to tie the knots.  What a fun activity to do with the kids!  They were so sweet about it and so excited to show off their blankets when they got done.  We then spent out last few hours playing games with the kids, dancing, playing musical chairs, Sharks & Minnows, and Duck Duck Goose.  We then sadly had to say good-bye to all our new friends.  Amongst the tears, were happy tears from all the sweet memories we made over the week.  Beautiful to watch the friendships made and to listen to all the spoken Spanish.  Such memories & friendships we will treasure for a lifetime!!

Day 7: Wednesday

Slept in a bit - tired from the workshop the night before.  Made a Starbucks run and up to Ventanilla we went.  Made a pit stop at the market to buy Hula-Hoops & dodgeballs.    Started with music again - that seems to draw them in.  Lots of little kids today, so we did some Duck Duck Goose (Pato Pato Ganso), Musical Chairs, Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance and some awesome YMCA led by Sydney & Ava.  We got the Hula Hoops out and passed those down the line, did an Over/Under with the balls, but they really wanted to play Sharks & Minnows, but man, they don't like to lose.  Last 2 games were Dodgeball (Matagente) and then Tug of War!  It was a great group of kids today, just not a lot of sun.
Dinner & then off to watch soccer practice.  Wasn't super cold tonight....well, it wasn't as cold as Monday.  We still needed blankets to keep warm!!
We have enjoyed our time up in Las Lomas and tomorrow is our last day....saaaadness will reign in the kingdom tomorrow......

Day 6: Tuesday

We got up a bit earlier to make a stop at Wawawasi, a day care in a very, very poor part of Ventanilla.  The mom's pay $1/day to leave their kids in the care of these sweet ladies so that they can go work.  We startled them as a few kids started crying as the gringos showed up lol.  We quickly got the Play-Doh out and they were eager to play with us.  We brought 2 suitcases full of donations of baby clothes, shoes, wipes, toys, blankets, etc....  We didn't stay too long as it was lunch time, so we said our good-byes and off we went.
Another great day of games up in Las Lomas.  We started with dancing, musical chairs, relay games, and ended with beach-ball volleyball as well as regular ball volleyball as well as some soccer.  Lots of laughs & smiles from the Gringos as well as the Peruvians.
No evening activities for us, but we came back to the apartment as got to work to prep for Thursday's activities.  We are going to make tie fleece blankets with the kids, so we need to cut the fleece.  So, for the next 5+ hours, we cut and we cut and we cut....tired fingers in Santa's workshop.  But it will all be worth it to get a blanket to a kid!!!

Day 5: Monday: Let the Games Begin!!

Slept in a bit today....lots of sun yesterday from the boat!  Made a Starbucks run and then up to Ventanilla we went.  Another delicious lunch & potty stop at Metro before making the climb.
Today we start our after-school activities.  Most of the kids in Las Lomas attend school in the morning and then have nothing to do in the afternoon except find trouble.  Students in Peru only attend for a 1/2 a day:  either morning or afternoon, due to space & resources. So, some kids go from 8-12 and others go from 2-6.  The V4P pre-school goes in the morning only.  As the kids have nothing to do in the afternoon, we offer activities for them to come to & participate.  We did some musical chairs first, trying to draw the kids down to the court.  We then divided up with a PV kid as a captain and they had to pick their team names.
We then did a bunch of relay games.  First up:  Dress Like a Gringo.  We found shoes, shorts, shirt & a sweater for an adult & the kids had to put all of that on and run down around a cone & back, and then take it all off so the next kid could go - hilarious watching them run in clothes that are WAAAAY to big for them!!!  Lots of giggles & laughs!  Then we grabbed some balls and practiced their dribbling skills around chairs.  We did multiple versions of that and then ended in Tug-of-War!  The different teams played against each other and then we combined them, and then we did a Peruanos vs. Gringos!  The Peruanos won and boy was there quite the celebration!!!!
We had the kids sit with their teams while we calculated the scores & awarded candy for the top 2 teams and invited everyone back tomorrow!!!  A very successful 1st day!!
Said our good-byes and down the hill we went - dinner time - and then off to soccer.  There are 3 different divisions of soccer:  Juniors, 2nd Division & 1st division.  They practice on a smaller, turf field so we went to watch practice.  Ava & Sydney even participated in the drills as well as the scrimmage!  Way to represent, chicas!!
As the sun was out earlier in the day, it was quite warm, but as the sun sets, it gets quite chilly, so luckily we came to practice prepared with sweatshirts, blankets, etc...  We stayed for part of the big kids' practice and then home we went.
A very busy, but fun &productive 1st day of camp!!!

Day 4: Sunday: Sea Lions & Love park

Today we headed down to the port to board our boat and go out swimming with sea lions!!!  The waves were a little choppy on the way out, but we took some dramamine and all was well!  The weather wasn't terrible - and with their wet suits, they were well protected.  All of the kids chose to go in and off the went.  They said it was one of their most favorite activities, something they would never ever be able to do back home.  The rock was full of sea lions, barking away, some swimming in the water, some just keeping watch over their huge rock.  The sun came out - was a beautiful day!!  But with the sun coming out on the way back, we all got some sun on our faces....just a bit lol

Back to the house we went for a quick lunch & shower, and then we headed back down to the coast to the Parque del Amor (Love Park) to see the mosaic tile designs and watch sunset...but the clouds were back in Lima, so not much of a sunset.  Dinner tonight was at Papacho's, a great hamburger place.  Awesome food - kids loved it.  Got some gelato for dessert and back to the house to put some aloe on the sunned faces.

Tomorrow starts our games & activities!!!

Day 3: Saturday: Soccer & Youth Group

Our original plan today was to tour Lima City, to make comparisons between the capital and Las Lomas, but we had van issues, so we walked to Starbucks, and then also checked out the market, bought supplies for our games this week, and then headed up the hill.  Another delicious lunch.  We also got to watch a soccer game.  Along with the preschool, V4P has a soccer club, which also provides education to the young men of the team.  We were able to watch the first half of the 2nd Division's game.  Was neat to see a game, and not just watch practice.
Saturday's are a big day in Las Lomas, as the kids have Awansa, or Awana.  They always start with games, and we arrived just in time for my Gringos to participate.  Games they've never played, but the kids were helpful to explain how the games worked.  Next the kids go inside for Bible study, sing songs, listen to a short sermon (Noah's ark was today's theme), find out who won the games, and then have a snack & a drink.  What a great thing to see such a beautiful community come together!
After dinner started the Youth Group.  The players in the soccer club are required to attend Youth Group so many times a month to be eligible to play.  I think my students understood some of the message as the Pastor speaks very clearly and has a power point for us to follow.  Pastor even welcomed us here to their community, which was very sweet.  We are feeling very welcomed and very loved....and it's only the 3rd day!!