So here are a few fun stories from the last two weeks…
1. The Bonfire. I totally got to sleep on the beach by the Pacific Ocean my first week here. It was really fun… and cold, but definitely something I will never forget.
2. Being Robbed. So I wasn’t actually robbed and it wasn’t a fun experience, but still warrants a story on the blog. We were sitting at dinner. I had just been given a Very Yummy looking pizza. I was looking down at it in much anticipation of eating it. All of the sudden, everybody started yelling. For some reason, in my mind, I thought that my teammate had dropped her salad on the floor and that was what they were yelling about. I looked up and saw the salad sitting perfectly safe on the table and got very confused. Then I realized everyone was looking out the window as a guy was jumping in a taxi. Then I saw my teammate faces and realized what had just happened (that all took about 5 seconds.) We think they had been following us since my teammates had exchanged their money about 15 minutes before (but we’re not sure about that). The purse was sitting on the table and one guy hailed a taxi while the other stepped in the restaurant and grabbed the purse. I missed it all starring at my pizza.
3. The Art Show. I got to meet one of my teammate’s friends, Cristian. He is an awesome artist, and we went to his art show. I really enjoyed it.4. The Grocery Store. First of all, it is awesome. It is pretty much like a mini target, and we all know how much I love target. Second, it has always been my theory that a place isn’t home until you run in to people you know in the grocery store. Tonight I ran into Cristian in the grocery store. Trujillo is now officially home.
5। Dead Chickens। I can now cut apart and gut a chicken। I took a whole chicken and cut it into usable pieces। It was awesome… and kind of disgusting, but I did it. (and I am very proud of it.)
6. The Dunes. So the kids didn’t have school this Tuesday because of a transportation strike 
(kind of like a snow day… only instead of the presence of snow there was an absence of taxis and megros). It was a super fun day. We (4 of the volunteers) decided it would be a fun idea to take the kids up the sand dunes. We all rolled down the hills. We all had a blast. We were all covered from head to toe in sand. Then the sun came out, and in a very short amount of time the sand went from soothingly warm to blisteringly hot. We had all left our shoes inside the wall so we didn’t lose them in the dunes. Yeah. Bad decision. I carried one of the little ones and ran from piece of trash to piece of trash hoping I wasn’t going to have blisters (I don’t). I have never been so grateful for litter. 
7. The Dog. Tracy is our guard dog. She is awesome. She walks with me in the morning when I take the kids to school. She takes her job very seriously. Sometimes she tries to scare away the little ladies carrying bundles of sticks up the dunes. Sometime she barks all night because the birds are trying to fly in the air around the buildings of the orphanage. She is still awesome.
8. The Megro. I love taking the megro (the buses that run to and from town). People stare at you like you are an alien. It is fantastic. Sometimes people bring dogs on the megro and they throw up on my teammates. People always watch as we talk to each other in English like we are doing something completely amazing. One time we heard “I Will Survive” on the radio on the way into town, and all four of us started singing and dancing. The Peruvians really enjoyed that.
9. The Town. I love walking around and getting lost in downtown Trujillo. Saturday I spent a couple hours just enjoying the sites. I saw the sunset over the Plaza de Armas, a man covered in gold paint robot dancing to a soundtrack of war sounds, a group of girls doing a traditional style dance in beautiful costumes in the courtyard of a beautiful Catholic church, and one other American – walking barefoot down the street in a Bob Marley shirt sporting a large blond afro / poof.
(kind of like a snow day… only instead of the presence of snow there was an absence of taxis and megros). It was a super fun day. We (4 of the volunteers) decided it would be a fun idea to take the kids up the sand dunes. We all rolled down the hills. We all had a blast. We were all covered from head to toe in sand. Then the sun came out, and in a very short amount of time the sand went from soothingly warm to blisteringly hot. We had all left our shoes inside the wall so we didn’t lose them in the dunes. Yeah. Bad decision. I carried one of the little ones and ran from piece of trash to piece of trash hoping I wasn’t going to have blisters (I don’t). I have never been so grateful for litter. 7. The Dog. Tracy is our guard dog. She is awesome. She walks with me in the morning when I take the kids to school. She takes her job very seriously. Sometimes she tries to scare away the little ladies carrying bundles of sticks up the dunes. Sometime she barks all night because the birds are trying to fly in the air around the buildings of the orphanage. She is still awesome.8. The Megro. I love taking the megro (the buses that run to and from town). People stare at you like you are an alien. It is fantastic. Sometimes people bring dogs on the megro and they throw up on my teammates. People always watch as we talk to each other in English like we are doing something completely amazing. One time we heard “I Will Survive” on the radio on the way into town, and all four of us started singing and dancing. The Peruvians really enjoyed that.
9. The Town. I love walking around and getting lost in downtown Trujillo. Saturday I spent a couple hours just enjoying the sites. I saw the sunset over the Plaza de Armas, a man covered in gold paint robot dancing to a soundtrack of war sounds, a group of girls doing a traditional style dance in beautiful costumes in the courtyard of a beautiful Catholic church, and one other American – walking barefoot down the street in a Bob Marley shirt sporting a large blond afro / poof.
10. The Movies। On Friday night we have movie night। Robyn and Joel started it, and the kids love it। They get so excited about it. They start asking if we are going to watch a movie Friday on Monday. I also watched a movie with all the girls over 12. I really enjoyed the time with them. I am hoping to watch movies with smaller groups of kids who are closer in age. 11. The Garden. Today I harvested 4 cucumbers, 1 head of lettuce and like 25 radishes. It was awesome. Next week we'll get to plant some more stuff.
12। The Word Tia। This is my FAVORITE thing in the world, so far. All the kids call all the adults Tia – aunt (or Tio – uncle). When they say it because they are excited to see me and run to give me a hug, my heart practically explodes with love and joy and excitement and contentment. It is wonderful. When they say it a 1000 times in a row while I am talking to someone else because they want my attention, I love it. When they say it long and drawn out, dripping with whiny tones, because they think if they just pout a little they will get what they want, I love it. When they say short and with and angry face because their whining didn’t work and I still said no, I love it. When they say it, I love it.
12। The Word Tia। This is my FAVORITE thing in the world, so far. All the kids call all the adults Tia – aunt (or Tio – uncle). When they say it because they are excited to see me and run to give me a hug, my heart practically explodes with love and joy and excitement and contentment. It is wonderful. When they say it a 1000 times in a row while I am talking to someone else because they want my attention, I love it. When they say it long and drawn out, dripping with whiny tones, because they think if they just pout a little they will get what they want, I love it. When they say short and with and angry face because their whining didn’t work and I still said no, I love it. When they say it, I love it.
