Fiestas Patrias: Dance, baby, Dance!

On Friday we celebrated independence day at the PPA.  July 28th, Peruvian independence day, is the biggest national holiday in Peru.  Most people, besides me and Global Volunteers, have a long weekend until Wednesday to celebrate.  Lima is empty because most people have left to go away and travel.  Friday was a big celebration at PPA before most of the children leave for their 2 weeks of winter vacation.  The kids who stay are the orphans, and those who belong to the state because of various reasons such as abuse, jail, and violence in the home.  Friday, being a bittersweet day for some at the PPA, was even more special and we spent the whole morning celebrating with dances and songs by the kids at the PPA, with a special performance by the Global Volunteers, who sang the US national anthem and danced the electric slide, the macarena and cotton eyed joe for the kids.  

But the best part of the day was watching the children perform dances that they have spent so long practicing.  The kindergarteners were adorable, dancing dances from the jungle, the highland, and afroperuvian dances.  The older children were imperssive with their dancing skills and the way they move their bodies that I am convinces only Latin Americans know how to do.  Lima even celebrated the holiday, and the sun came out all day!  



It was a lot of fun and inspiring to see how proud Peruvians are of their country.  

there are photos of the day and dancing babies here:  

Fiestas Patrias at the PPA

Huaraz

Last week in my free time I took a trip to the sierra of Peru to a town called Huaraz.  Its a small town in the mountains, and it was so great to get out of the smog and fog of Lima!  The weather was beautiful, although the town is at 3,000 meters (more or less 10,000 feet) so it was cold despite the sunny skies!  I suffered from the altitude, but overall I had a really fun time with my friends.  The countryside of Peru is so beautiful, and most people never experience anything besides MacchuPichu and the other spots along the tourist trail.  Because there has been so much immigration to Lima, the towns in the mountains actually have postings for jobs, apartments, and a lot of opportunities that are scarce to non-existent in Lima.  The salaries are low, but so is the cos of living.  It was bizarre to see a board with signs reading "URGENT looking for waiter/worker/etc".  In Lima jobs are so scarce that the average travel time to a job is 2 hours.  People will take whatever they find, no matter what or where it is.  

You can see more photos of my trip to Huaraz here:

Huaraz, Peru

Peru Service Program

Part of my job here is to type the team journals of the volunteers about their work projects and the experience of volunteering in Lima.  You can read the blog if you are more interested in the volunteer experience that I oversee at http://peruteamjournal.blogspot.com

besos!

A Trip to Chile

I just got back from a vacation in Chile visiting my friends Meredith and Millie from WashU who are both studying abroad in Santiago.  The trip was a lot of fun.  I got to catch up with many friends (there were about 30 WashU kids in Chile the week I was there).  I spent alot of time with Meredith and Millie and their Chilean host-family's house, where we cuddled with 5 3-week-old puppies and the momma dog, Canita.  

Santiago was a really interesting city, especially compared to Lima.  The infrastructure is much more developed.  They have a metro system, public bus system, and taxicabs with meters!!! haha.  It was surprising for me to find this sort of transportation in South America, where usually I have found only a comglomerate of informal modes of transportation, taxis where you negotiate with the driver through the window before getting in, and no buses to be seen, let alone an underground metro system!

The climate was beautiful when I was there.  Even though they are in the middle of winter, the sun peeked out for a couple of days and feeling the sunshine was really refreshing after the greyness of Lima winter.  

Overall I had a really fun time, did a lot of sightseeing and catching up with friends!  

Now I am back hard at work in Lima with a new team of volunteers.  I promise to update soon about what has been going on back here in Lima.

For more photos of Santiago and the puppies, click here:

Santiago, Chile