Spring Break 2019: Perú

Happy Spring Break!
It has been a loooooong winter, so it's time to fly south!  This Spring Break we are taking a break from our normal tours and heading down to Perú to volunteer at Voices4Perú.  I have 7 students and 1 other adult coming with us this year.  We have been prepping and planning for the last 6 months to go.  Sunday we packed up a bunch of suitcases filled with donations and we are ready to go!
Our flight is out of Chicago at 8am, so we're meeting the shuttle at the HS at 2:15am....yes, it's early.  It's about an 11 hour travel day day from wheels up to wheels down, but no jet lag.  Weather in Lima is supposed to be mid-80s, so that will be a different feel being there in their 'summer' as normally we are there in their 'winter.'  It's a quick trip down - we will get some sight-seeing in around Lima as well as run our after-school activities during the week. Only 1 girl is a repeat, so will be fun for the newbies to experience our friends & family at V4P.
Stay tuned for more updates as the week goes along!
~Señorita :)

Day 11-12: LIM-PTY-ORD

Travel is never dull, that's for sure.

Made a pit stop in the beach town of Paracas to see the pelican man, had lunch, and continued on our way to Lima.  Had some van issues about 10 miles from Lima, resulting in Victor only being able to drive in 2nd gear....so that added to some fun stories of strange motorcycles & potty breaks....  But, thankfully we made it back safe & sound, with enough time to pack, and get ready for the airport.  Had our last meal in Peru - pizza, and headed to the airport around 1030pm.  As the flight was at 230am, check in started at 1130pm.  Girls got all checked in, easy peasy, and came up to find us in Starbucks.  Had a surprise for them....just as they were semi-calmed from crying, we surprised them with a couple of the boys from Las Lomas....and here came the water works.  :) 
We then had to sadly say our good-byes, but really not a good-bye but more of a "See you soon!"... and off they went. 

First flight to Panama went smoothly, 2nd flight was delayed as they had to change the tires on the plane.  Tires are important!!!  Found the shuttle and off they went.  Made it home safe & sound!

Thank you to Group #3 for being such a blessing to the community of Las Lomas.  I know you fell in love with them as much as they fell in love with you.  Thank you for your time & energy this summer of spending quality time with a community very different from your own.  Thank you to Voices4Peru & Daniel Klopp for welcoming us with open arms.  It was definitely a summer we won't forget!!

Day 9-10: Huacachina

Friday we did a quick tour of the Miraflores district of Lima.  The kids did some shopping at the Inca Market, got La Lucha for lunch (yummmmmm), and made a quick stop at Love Park before hitting the road.  We headed south 4+ hours to the province of Ica, to the city/oasis of Huacachina.  It's basically an oasis in the desert.  We stayed at Las Bananas hostel, which is always a new experience for my gringos.  Ordered some pizza for dinner and just relaxed and hung out after our long day in the car.  It's a bit warmer down here, so hoping to see some sun tomorrow for our buggy ride!

Saturday we got up for breakfast and then did some exploring of the town of Huacachina, which sits around a lake/lagoon.  It was pretty quiet in the town....and we soon found out why.  Friday afternoon a buggy flipped over and a German tourist died, the driver lost both his legs, and 9 other tourists were injured.  Terrible.  Hasn't happened for years....and definitely not the company we use - at all.  The owner of the company we use is super safe and has even let drivers go for being too reckless out in the dunes. He is constantly doing safety checks on his drivers and on the buggies.  Sadly, the police shut down the national park and no buggies could enter....we find out later that, as of Wed, no buggies have run yet.  So, we ended up with a chill day, and after the tears of Thursday, I think it was okay.  Girls just relaxed, wandered, sat in the hammocks, just chilled.  Had a nice BBQ dinner, played some games - spoons, twister, war....and enjoyed the beautiful sun that came out - what a nice surprise!

Tomorrow we get up and head home- long day of travel back to Lima and back to the States

Day 8: Thursday: Last Day = Tears

Well, we all knew today was going to be hard, but it was sure harder than we expected.  Just goes to show what amazing hearts these kids have.  Amongst the tears at dinner, one commented about the hole in her heart....to which I said, it's not a hole that makes your heart hurt, it's that you have so much love in your heart, that your heart has grown and that's why it hurts.

Our last day of camp was so much fun!  Lots of kids - the old stand-bys and some new ones.  Played volleyball, dodgeball, Sharks/Minnows, we danced, we did the limbo, did musical chairs - so great to watch this community come together and play with complete strangers!  We gifted out about 60 gift bags and took a group pic at the end of the day...and then came the good-byes.  Needless to say, the girls bawled the whole way to dinner and pretty much all through dinner.  Ice cream helped, but it was a quiet ride home.  Back to the house we came to pack up for our sand dune adventure this weekend, but it's pretty quiet in the house tonight.  Lots of full hearts and happy/sad faces.  Just shows me what amazing kids are on this trip!!!!

Day 7: Wednesday: DayCare, Camp & Soccer

We left a bit early today and headed up to Ventanilla, but instead of heading up the Hill to Las Lomas, we went to visit another community, Pachacutec and a day care in Wawawasi.  It's a community mainly made up of people from the mountains, hard working, humble people.  There s a day care we try to visit with donations as they have no Voices4Peru to support them.  We stayed about 15 min as it was lunch time, and brought some simple toys and clothes for them.
Day 3 brought the kids a hike up to the top of the antenna and the hills of Las Lomas.  With some great Peruvians guides, off for an hour long hike they went.  Kate stayed behind and helped me sort clothes.  After they returned, we got going on games, dancing, and fun.  We played Sharks & Minnows - huge fan favorite, but they all cheat and cry, so i'm not real sure why they want to play it so much lol.  We did a relay game with a very small spoon and a fuseball.  Our big final game was volleyball with a beach ball.
After another delicious dinner, we headed to our last soccer practice only to find the electricity to that block was out, so they were playing in the semi-dark. lol  We gifted out vitamins to the kids and they were much appreciative!!  The lights came back on for the 1st division practice, so we stayed til the end and gifted out vitamins to them too...and sadly said out good-byes to those kids.  They have all made us feel so welcome, tomorrow is going to be hard......

Day 6: Tuesday: Camp Day 2

Another great day up the hill!!  After our morning Starbucks & Metro run, we headed up the Hill for Day 2 of camp.  Most of our days start with some dancing, but today we started with some bubbles.  HUGE hit!  Watching the kids do bubbles with the little ones and watching them try to pop them... priceless!!  We did get some dancing in again today - crowd favorite!!  Did some Duck Duck Goose too...and they play that real well.  Did some balloon pop where they run down to a chair & sit on a balloon to pop it. Hilarious to watch the little kids try to pop their balloon.  We did some pass the Hula Hoops.Out last relay was to put a ball between 2 people on their backs and have them watch down and back.  A fun new one to add to our toolbox!  We ended the day with some good old fashioned dodgeball.  After another delicious dinner, I made good on the bet and bought the girls ice cream!  Way to go clean plate club!!!
Our early night home allowed us to sort out vitamins and gift bags.  We sorted all the donated vitamins into baggies of 50 to be able to gift to the soccer boys Wednesday. The kitchen looked like a bad scene out of Breaking Bad! lol  We also decided to gift out bags to the kids on our last day.  We filled them with candy, suckers, toys, socks and a stuffed animal.  We made 42, so hopefully that will be enough....but cool if we have more kids show!!

Day 5: Monday: Camp & Soccer

Today was the first day of our sports camp of games with the kids!  What a blast!
We left around 11 and made a Starbucks run (of course), and then headed up to Ventanilla.  Takes about an hour to get there with all the crazy traffic.  First stop was lunch:  chicken, potato & rice in a delicious green sauce!  Yum!!  Potty break & shopping fun at Metro and then up the hill we went.  A few kid were already there, so we blew up some balloons to prep for a game and got the tunes playing.  Did some dancing to the ever popular Macarena, YMCA, chicken dance, Hokey Pokey, Cupid Shuffle, etc.... Played a round of musical chairs as well as Sharks & Minnows (Tiburones).  Next up was MataGente (Dodgeball).  Afterwards, we split the kids (and the gringos) into 4 teams and did an obstacle course with them.  We then did Dress like a Gringo, which always brings laughter to moms maybe more than the gringos!  Last up was Tug of War.  We played the 4 teams against each other and then did Peruvians vs. Gringos  What a gran battle it was!!  It was great to see many old and some new faces there - probably had 40+ kids play with us today!!
We went down the hill for dinner (chicken saltado), and then headed to soccer practice.  There are 2 practice times:  6-8pm is the Juniors (12-16 yr olds).  The gringos were divided up onto teams and played with the boys, and then we ended with a Peruvians vs. the Gringos....sadly tonight we lost :(  From 8-10pm are the older boys (18-25 y/o). Many of them have a sponsor who pays for their college ($150/month) and there are many still looking for a sponsor so they can study to be accountants, truck drivers, hotel & management, veterinarians, etc....
All in all, a great day....a bit chilly, but it's winter here so it's to be expected.
Another day of games coming our way tomorrow - cannot wait!!!