Oye!

Wow, I finally have a second to check my mail and send out some updates! I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this internship.  Every morning I meet the volunteers for breakfast at their hotel at 7:45 to sit down for a morning meeting and talk about the activities of the day.  from there, we get on a bus and arrive to the PPA (the orphanage) at 8:30.  The campus of the PPA is about a mile and a half long, and I spend the morning making sure that all of the volunteers know where they are going and taking them around to their different work places.  after a quick break, its almost 12:30 and I have to do the rounds again and pick everyone up again for lunch!  Luckily, Peruvian lunches and a long, relaxed affair, and I can give my feet a little rest.  Then its back to the PPA, where The afternoon shifts go pretty much the same way as the morning shifts until the volunteers go back to their hotel at 5:00 pm...All of this is interrupted by groups of children calling "Moli, Moli, visita!!!" which, let me tell you, would be impossible to resist giving hugs and kisses even if you had a heart of stone.  Im figuring that I walk for about 5 hours MINIMUM every day, not including back and forth from my apartment!  very very hectic.  I haven't had even one minute to take and photos yet, but I promise to do my best!!!

The group of volunteers is a lot of fun, and its nice to be able to talk with them in the few hours that I'm not running all over Lima trying to get and arrange things for them.  Having the role of a leader and not a volunteer is a lot different than I thought, and there are a lot of responsibilities and things I have learned about how the program runs and how much the people behind the scenes are really working to make everything work smoothly. 

My Spanish is improving every second.  I surprise even myself at times, when I have about 5 kids and PPA staff asking me questions at the same time, I shoot rapid-fire Spanish out of my mouth from who knows where! SO I'm sure that after 4 months of this I will have forgotten English entirely...:)

Well I'm off, once again, to do some coordinating, or something official sounding.  Keep in touch!

Love,

Molly (Mollicita)

I'm Here!

finally arrived in Lima!!! after a glorious month in LA, I have finally arrived to the cold, foggy, wintry, wonderful Lima! Everything has been really hectic since I arrived, one errand after another, meeting the whole staff of the orphanage, trying to buy enough water for everyone, etc etc etc, getting ready for the first group of volunteers to arrive tonight. The group has 16 people, about half of which are my age, so it seems like it will be a really fun way to start my internship.

In other news, I just moved in to my apartment in Miraflores, which is a very cute "minidepartamento" and the mini is very serious. But, i have a kitched, bathroom, washer and dryer in a really safe part of town so Im not complaining. My neighbor is an Australian english teacher and the other people in the building are young peruvians who work and universities, schools, and NGO's. It seems like it will be a really great place to live.

As for funny babies, i have no footage as of yet, but have been told about a freakishly strong 2 year old named Guadalupe who bites, hits, and has learned how to open all the doors of her toddlers area and wreaks havoc among the babies....so potentially hilarious babies on the way!

the shining beacon

until I get on the road.....

ouuch, chaahlie.

Our funniest home videos....hosted by.....

Dear friends,

This is the place to come to get updated on your traveling buddies.  First to go is yours truly, Molly, and I promise to post all sorts of hilarious peruvian orphan babies.  even if you don't speak spanish, Tom Bergeron would be proud.  For now, check out my stockpile of videos.  Starting May 22, I'll post about my peruvian travels and orphans, but in the meantime, soak up some sunshine and study hard (for you suckers who aren't done with school yet)

Besos

 

some, well, just really cute kindergarteners

my humps

marisol being marisol.