tie dye bathing suit

I have arrived! I am safe and sound in Lima, Peru...although I have yet to experience much of it. My flights were uneventful and long. From Houston to Lima I met a beautiful older woman who had grown up in Lima and now lives in Oregon, so she was so excited to tell me all about her city and country and kept suggesting places I go and things to see. I also sat beside an elderly man who was ultra worried about me being in Lima 'alone'.

When I stepped off the plane the first thing I noticed was the humidity. You can even feel it inside the airport. The air here is thick and wet, but I love it. After getting through customs you must walk through this super intense arrival area where people waiting for you are restricted from coming to meet you directly...I think they're afraid all the people offering a 'taxi?' would trample the people who have just arrived. At this point I began scanning signs, hoping desperately that my name would be on one of them because I REALLY didn't want to have to find a phone and call Lidia and get peskered by even more taxi drivers. Luckily, I soon spotted a cute Peruvian boy holding my name (HELLO Peru). Somehow we managed to meet each other outside of the walkway and the boys (Hector was joined by Juan, who was probably there the whole time, I just didn't see him) grabbed my bag for me, soonafter remarking that I must be a very strong woman to have been carrying this. They said it looked like it didn't weigh very much the way I was carrying it. We walked to Hector's car at which point I realized that pretty much my entire life depended on these two boys who I had just met because they could pretty much be taking me anywhere. Luckily for me, Juan speaks English very well and we chatted a bit on the way home. He was surprised I could feel the humidity, he said he had never noticed it. As soon as Hector started the car, loud music began playing from the speakers. Thank the LORD! I had been feeling music deprived seeing as all Mom and Dad do while driving is talk about teaching, I had tried to sing to myself, but it just wasn't the same.

After a short drive, we arrived at a house that has bars with a lock on the front and a lady who I recognized from photos to be Ana Lidia. She gave me a hug and welcomed me into my home. Nearly everyone had stayed up to meet me and so there was a lot of kissing and 'mucho gustos'. Almost everyone then promptly went to bed seeing as they went to church this morning and are fasting all day. Lidia stayed up a while and talked to me for a bit and then I went to hang out with the other three volunteers, Colleen, Celia, and Justin. Two more girls will be arriving today and I'll be sharing a room with them.

Lidia's house is beautiful. The dining room opens onto the patio and a small enclosed yard with a hammock and a table that currently holds pastels and markers for art. Off the yard are two other rooms as well as stairs to get to the roof where I anticipate to spend some time tanning and reading and hanging laundry to dry. The smells and, even more than that, the sounds here are already so wonderful. Neighbours squabbling in Spanish, airplanes flying overhead, horns honking, birds singing and lots and lots of music.

I'm so excited to explore more of this city and country......

I couldn't upload that so now I have seen the first place where I will be volunteering, Hogar de Christo. It is so hard for me, seeing the things that I saw today. I find myself removing myself from the situation and trying to block some of the love that wants to come out of me as a defence mechanism so I do not lose my mind. I want to help them all, to speak to them and hug them and kiss them. The people with whom I will be working are so human, yet the conditions in which they live are incredibly inhumane. There are many problems with this facility, but there seems to be much love and hope and beauty within the souls of most of the people living there. When we arrived three little boys kept screaming and chasing after us, bashfully hiding on the stairs until Lidia introduced us to them (always with a kiss on the cheek and sometimes a hug). A young man who has severe developmental problems will come kiss one of us on the cheek and run away grinning and shy, biting his hand. I feel somewhat hopeless, but at the same time I think I will learn to feel empowered and strong through this experience.

Time to go, I'm using Marie's (a fellow volunteer) computer.

I love you all.