Minkando

I'm back from my trip to Ayacucho this weekend! I had a great time!

So Thursday night we all met up at the bus station and our bus left Lima around 9:30 pm. The seats were really comfortable and they showed the movie The Ugly Truth, but I slept instead of watching the movie. The bus ride started off on a good note when one of our trip coordinators passed out besos de moza (a chocolate covered marshmellow-type thing with a cookie - so sort of like a s'more) to everyone. So I slept for most of the ride. Although I woke up about every hour. We arrived in the city of Huamanga around 8 on Friday morning. From there we got into a van to drive to Vinchos. For any of you that don't know Peru suffered from terrorism for many years and Ayacucho was one of the areas most affected and Vinchos was hit especially hard. We arrived and unloaded the vans, got our t-shirts and did some preparation for the first session. We went around to some of the schools and announced that we would be waiting for the kids at 3 in the Plaza de Armas to do some activities and play! Then we ate lunch and headed out to the plaza to wait for the kids!

our t-shirts

Beba

The kids get split into three different groups - nido (3-5), primaria (6-8), y limbo (9+). I was working with the little kiddos with my friend Yazeirys, Milagros and Rafaella. We didn't have too many kids that actually belonged in nido, but we ended up with about 10 in all. We sang some songs, did crafts and talked about friends and friendship. It was a little hard to keep everyone focused and get the point across but overall it worked out well. We were with the kids for about 2 hours or so. After finishing everything up we just played around with them for a while. Then we moved our mattresses from the closet where they are stored in one building to the place where we were sleeping. After that we had dinner and then a debrief/time of reflection about the day. Then most of the group went for a hike (at 10 pm!) but I chose to go to bed instead.

Saturday we were up around 7. We ate breakfast and quickly prepared materials for the second session. At 9:30 we started our second session with the kids. The theme for Saturday was family and roles within the family. We had all the kids draw a picture of their family and friends then we posted them all on a big piece of paper to make a mural. They really enjoyed doing that. Then we had printed out pictures of different family members and made cards to play memory with them. The older kids that were hanging around our group really liked that game. Our last project was making a card with their handprint to give to someone in their family. Many of the kids said that they were going to give it to their Mom. How sweet.

Brothers walking down to the river

After all the groups had finished we all walked down to the river with the kids. Some of them (and some of us volunteers - not including me) went swimming. It was fun to hang out with them and just have some FUN! After swimming we packed up, cleaned up, returned the mattresses and had lunch. Then we were off! We drove back to Huamanga and arrived around 4:30. We then got a chance to do some exploring! We went to an artisan market and a food market. I bought some pan wawa (typical bread from Ayacucho in the shape of a baby) to bring back to my family. Then we all ate dinner at a pizzeria. The pizza was REALLY GOOD. Still not as good as Mom's. After dinner the coordinators had a "surprise" for us. They took us to this bar type place with some live music. Some of the others and I decided to head to a little café with a view of the plaza instead. Much better choice for me. I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other people on the trip. I found out that one of the girls Irene lives like a block away from me! Small world!

Craig, Rafaella, Me, John and Yazeirys

Our bus left at 9:45ish on Saturday night and we arrived in Lima around 7 am this morning. I got home around 7:45 and had to wake up Alfredo with the door bell because the deadbolt lock was on the door and I couldn't get in! So I felt bad, but I had to do it. Then I slept for another few hours, woke up, had breakfast and took a shower. Then my family arrived (I'm not quite sure where they were) and started preparing for a parrillada (barbecue!) It took Mario a while to light the grill, but after he got it going the whole house smelled delicious!!! And it tasted delicious as well. We didn't end up eating till like 4. Now I'm in my room, updating my blog (obviously) and trying to call home to talk with my family.

So its been a good weekend. Overall I really enjoyed the trip, although there were some frustrating moments. The whole time I just felt like something was missing. And then I realized what it was: sorry to get a little cheesy, wait no, I take back that apology. I'm not going to apologize. Jesus was missing. Plain and simple. The work that Minkando does is great, but the group dynamics and sometimes the leaders were a bit frustrating. I guess I've just had such good examples of what leadership in this type of setting looks like, and I even have experience in leading and I could tell that some things just weren't being done right. If given the opportunity I think I'd go on the trip again, for the kids. And to be an example.

Another thing that I was thinking about this week is my accent in Spanish. Many people say that I speak Spanish very well, which is quite flattering but I never completely believe them. I still stumble over simple words or verb conjugations. And I still have the "gringo" accent sometimes. My friend Milagros assured me that its ok to have an accent. She was like "when I speak in English I have an accent. I can't avoid it." Which got me thinking, of course I'm going to have an accent and thats ok. Why am I so desperate to appear to be something I'm not? Or appear to not be something that I am? I think that deep down inside I'm just longing for acceptance. I want to belong, to fit in. But I'm slowly learning that I can belong and be accepted just as I am. People are teaching me that. Beautiful wonderful people who have let me into their lives. People who are praying for me, people who after knowing me for only a week or two emailed me to wish me a happy birthday, people who are patient with me when I am struggling to get my thoughts across, people who put up with my stubbornness, people who make sure that I make it home safely at night, people who send me colored pictures, people who make time to skype with me, people who laugh with me, people who help me find books in the library, and the list goes on and on. And above all is my Heavenly Father who loves me and accepts me every single day despite my lack of appreciation.

So these are some thoughts that I've come across lately. I can hardly believe that I'll be home in just three weeks! That is craziness! Also, I told my host mom today that I'm going to stay another semester and that I'd like to stay here. She was surprised, but seemed happy about it. Yay!

Happy Father's Day Poppy!

Thanks for your love, guidance and example.

I love you so very much and please know that

I'll always be your Tweety.