“On Sunday, we sleep sleep sleep” is what Pochy told us, sounded good to Jessa and I who were still in bed at 1pm this morning after our first shot at the Peruvian nightlife. In my opinion, we did well. The group was a ton of fun and the club we went to was fun, but not too crazy.
Sunday when all the brothers were finally up and showered around 3:30, we went to lunch at a place that specializes in northern Peruvian cuisine. We had a few typical plates: ceviche, causa (shrimp and chicken), seco de cabrito, langostinos reventados and per usual, everything was tasty and I ate a ton! Then after a while of eating and talking we went to a little Italian café for dessert and coffee. There appear to be a lot of cafés around, and a pretty popular place for people of all ages. It was really nice to have some family time because during the week everyone (including Jessa and I) are running around doing our own thing, and I only see everyone for a few minutes here and there when we sit on Diego’s bed after he gets home from work at the hospital, or when we bug Alvaro by stealing his computer and writing on his white board. (yes, we are excellent sisters). In the evening we went over to Leah’s house and bugged her brother! It was quite the family filled day.
Monday started with another morning at the hospital. They sent me alone this time but they sent me to the same room with the chicas so I would hopefully have an easier time. Although, this time there was also a boy in the room and I didn’t have any planned activity for them (like the masks last week), only the games, books and art supplies that I brought from the volunteer room and it was definitely an overwhelming day. Let me tell you about some of the great highlights though. The 16 year old loves listening to the radio and she is constantly calling me over to ask what a song is about. Some were easy (Shania Twain-you’re still the one) and some are a little more difficult to explain (Love the way you lie-Eminem and Rihanna…seriously, that song is twisted.) But she loves asking me how to say things in English and she is always very helpful when I am struggling to understand the younger girls. Now, the younger girls are not able to grasp the concept that I can’t speak Spanish. When I ask them to repeat something, or hand them a marker when they asked for a paint brush, they think I am quizzing them or playing a game. Which is in some ways cute, but in some ways just plain embarrassing. Today, Estefani asked me “porque no hablas como nosotros?” (why don’t you talk like us) and when I told her that I was from the US, and that I spoke English, she had no clue what that meant. I asked her if she knew other countries, and I named some of the countries that border Peru, but she did not understand the concept and could not understand what it meant. She definitely warmed up to me the fastest and wanted the most attention from me while I was there. When I was packing up to leave, she hugged me so tight, I almost stayed just to keep hugging this tiny little girl with the most beautiful smile. She asked if I was coming back tomorrow. When I told her yes, she made me promise, about six times. I promised her, and that hug made the stress of trying to keep them all happy so so so worth the bit of stress.
After I got home from the hospital, I ate lunch and then a few of us took a taxi to larcomar to walk around for a few hours. Larcomar is a mostly outside mall that is basically on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The mall has shops, movie theatres, restaurants and two major discotecas. After walking around for a while we walked along the coast through various parks along the way, including Parque del Amor and a really pretty lighthouse. OH and I forgot. I was wearing sandals! Because the sun came out! And I was so excited that I just had to put on sandals! Unfortunately, the sun was only out for about 45 minutes, and by the time we got to the coast, with that cold breeze going, I was pretty darn cold. But oh well! It was exciting nonetheless.
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