real peanut butter

The peanut butter at Lidia's house is real, none of the sugary Kraft business.

This week has been trying. The contrasts that rule my day are exhausting and life giving at the same time. The mornings are full of pain but still have so much laughter and happiness. Monday
Wednesday and Friday are spent at hogar. Thus far I have been working with the special needs community. There is a nineteen year old girl here who has serious growth problems and looks like a six year old. She doesn't speak and spends the vast majority of her time in a dark room with one other boy who is severely disabled. I am trying to work with her (Geraldine) as much as possible. Singing to her and taking her outside in a wheelchair because she doesn't walk. I want to get lamps and classical music and mobiles for her room and fix her wheelchair because it's broken and we have to stop like every five seconds because the wheel gets stuck. Yesterday I also played bingo with the elderly people at hogar and the lady I was helping won (I didn't want to admit it, but I was getting REALLY competitive and probably would have been super upset if we didn't win). Tuesday and Thursday we go to Pachacutec, a town about an hour bus ride away. This is a huge town entirely of shanties built on top of what seem to be sand mountains. The poverty is a constant pressure on my soul when I am there, yet the children with whom we are working make me laugh more than anyone else here. They truly believe in investing in people....I wish I was more like that. Probably my favourite part of Pachacutec is playing volleyball, we do it every time after snack and it's so fun (and also requires minimal spanish, which also is a plus).

So we volunteer in the morning and then come home for lunch and have our afternoons free. Thus far I have gone to a traditional Peruvian dance show, a futball match, the centre of Lima, and to Miraflores yesterday. And here there is no poverty, it is rare even to see people begging in these places. Miraflores is wonderful, I love it. There are so many young people and SURFING!!!! eeek, I am hoping to go today. I kind of freaked out when I saw the people surfing, I think Hector thinks I'm crazy, and I know Juan does because he told me haha.

I'm trying, right now, to just embrace and soak in the experiences I am having without placing judgment. This is not my country or my city and I still have so very much to learn about how things are. Even though it is different than I expected, I am trying my best to accept everything I am seeing and doing and love it for what it is.