Shepherding in Peru

Happy Dia de Accion de Gracias (Thanksgiving)

2008-12-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

When Tasi and I decided we wanted to plan a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all our friends, we knew it would be an undertaking. Things in Cusco never work out the way you want them to and people never show up on time or just never show up. So, not only were we inviting lots of people to a dinner at 7, we were also asking them to bring something to contribute to the meal. That meant if someone didn't showup, we were out a person and part of dinner. However, in the end, we had a very happy Thanksgiving with Maruja, Herbert, Gladys, Manuel, Kevin, Rosalio, Juan Carlos, Jose Luis, Robert, Roderigo, Yeni, Marie and Anaise. The original idea was to buy chicken and then have everyone else contribute the rest; mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, bread, pie and soda. However, chicken proved to be too expensive and we had no way to cook it, so we turned to hot dogs. Then we decided to make macaroni and cheese because the cheese we had was about to expire. So for Thanksgiving we had hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, a Peruvian salad made from beets, potatoes, carrots, and peas, apple pie, soda, and champange for a toast. Also, everyone wrote down what they were thankful for on a piece of construction paper, which we put up on the wall and will keep forever. It turned so much better than we thought it might, for which we were very grateful. When the holidays come around, it can be a difficult time for me because I miss being with my family and doing all the traditional things that we always did together. So, for everyone here to come and participate in this American holiday and to give us a great Thanksgiving, really meant a lot. It just helped to remind me that I have some great friends and some great support here and a lot to be thankful for.

One Year Ago Today.....

2008-11-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

One year ago today I arrived in Cusco. It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by already. I've come a long way, but there's still a ways to go. Some days this place feels like home but there are still some days when I still feel lost. I've met so many people, made more mistakes than I can count, and have 15 girls who I can't wait to see everyday. I've cried, laughed, yelled and misunderstood my way through this year and I am excited to see what the next year brings. I have learned so much, but I also can't wait to be home to be with everyone again. As for as update, things here are going good. I spend a lot of time helping in the store and keeping everyone in line, although I only have a fifty fifty chance of being taken seriously. We moved to a new apartment and are in decorating mode. Christmas is coming and everyone is getting excited for that. It's pretty much business as usual. Thanks for all the wonderful support this past year.

A Visit From Mom

2008-09-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit the first week in August. After flight delays that got her a day later than she was supposed to arrive, we had a fabulous week together. She came with her best friend, Margot, and we toured Peru like nobody's business. We visited Incan ruins in Pisac and Ollantaytambo, the amazing Machu Picchu, and course, all the shops that we could possibly find the time for. I showed them where I worked, where everyone said we looked like sisters, and introduced them to all the girls and got to show what it is I do here everyday. They also saw my apartment, and the areas I live in. We had fun getting to know my friends, who took us all out to a yummy chicken dinner. We also toured an art museum and took a trolley tour of the city of Cusco. We had a great time catching up and spending time with each other. Everyone here loved meeting my mom, and keeps asking me when she is coming back to visit. I had a great time, as I had not seen her since last November, when I embarked on this 2-year adventure. I also really enjoyed being a tourist for a week. We stayed in really nice hotels and I got to eat all I wanted from their breakfast buffets and ate more meat in a week than I have in my entire time here. It was a really special treat, but the best part was seeing my mom and being able to spend a whole week with her.

Becoming familiar with nothing that is familiar

2008-07-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

As I am finally becoming familiar with Cusco, I realize that I really miss the things that I have always been familiar with. I know my way around Cusco, but everything that I am familiarizing myself with is all different. I miss being able to go to the supermarket and seeing foods that I recognize. I miss being able to walk down the street without anyone staring at me. I miss being able to call up friends to just hang out for a while. I miss turning on the television and watching shows in English. Sometimes, I just miss how much easier it was when everything was familiar, when I was more confident in life. I really like the people that I have met here and Cusco is a beautiful city, but it takes a lot of getting used to. I dislocated my ankle, again, so I have had a lot of time to sit and think about things. I celebrated July 4th on my couch with a fig cake that said Happy Independence Day in Spanish from my friends and mentors here Herbert and Gladys. I have been in Cusco almost nine months now and there are still days when I just have no clue what is going on. I guess there will always be those days, but they can be tough. I have a new schedule at the bakery, that does not include being at the cash register a lot, for which I am grateful. I check up on the girls to make sure everything clean and in order in their rooms (I am very lenient with this process, as my room is no picture of cleanliness either), I have organized the disaster that was the library and now everyone has to check out books through me. I also created new menus for the store for our fresh juices and hot drinks and advertising, which turns out to have been generally a waste of time. Why a waste? Four new volunteers from France have been here for a couple of weeks, doing a type of internship through their university. They are all very nice and while they are here they have to do a project. The nun in charge here asked them to do the same exact things (i.e. the menus and advertising) that she asked me to do over a month ago. The thing is she didn't tell either one of us that she had asked the other to do the same things. So I finished everything just in time to find out that they had found a company in France that was going to do them all professionally. You can imagine my frustration, but that's just the way things go here sometimes, most of the time actually. I am recently coming off my crutches, so I will be more useful once again. Everyone here can't believe that I hurt my ankle for the second time and it has earned me the nickname of "Clumsy Jersey" from one of the regular customers. All the girls here continue in their studies, most of them doing well. There have been a lot of requests for English homework help, so that keeps me busy as well. Also, all the secret boyfriends give us lots to talk about. We recently acquired 2 baby chickens who have been fondly named Meghan and Catherine, although there is now debate over whether Catherine is male or female. When things get realy hard is when I miss my more familiar life on the United States, but I always try to keep things in perspective. This is all a learning experience and is so much to learn from Cusco.

It's been a long time coming...

2008-05-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

So it's been quite some time since my last blog, but my free time has been extremely limited. All of March I spent on crutches after I tore a ligament in my ankle. In April my community member Catherine returned home to the United States and since then I have been trying to adjust to life alone in Cusco. And, all of May I have been sitting at the cash register of the bakery where I work from 8 in the morning until 9 at night, which doesn't leave much time for anything else. I will be finished with this schedule the end of this week, and I could not be happier. I have learned that accounting and cashregistering are not my calling and this area of work is much better off without me. I think everyone will be happy when the normal cash register lady, Betty, comes back, because since I started, we have been short money almost every single day. An accomplishment, but not one that I am too proud of. I hope to return to a normal schedule and to be able to have time to explore what Cusco has to offer. In other news, I have finally been approved for my resident visa, and after one more trip to Bolivia, I will officially have temporary residency in Peru. The biggest benefit of this is that I can enter all the tourist sites without having to pay because technically I am Peruvian. I hope this updates everyone a little bit and I will try to ot up more posts soon. Peace!

Bribing Bolivia

2008-02-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

So, my dear friend Maria says it is time for a new post, and she is most certaintly right, for there is much to tell about the adventure that is my life here in Peru. Catherine and I needed to renew our visas in order to stay in Peru. When we arrived in Peru, we got tourist visas that were good for 90 days. We are in the process of applying for a resident visa that is good for one year, but while were waiting for that, we needed to get another 90 days or face serious financial penalties. Since we realized this only about a week before our visas expired, we had to quickly plan a trip to Bolivia, the closest country where we could cross the border. What we really only had to do was cross the border into Bolivia, get our passport stamped, and then reurn to Peru to get a new 90 day visa. Sounds like a process that should only take about 30 minutes.....WRONG! What we thought would only be a day long trip turned out to be the worst three days of our lives. First we figured out that the shortest amount of time possible that wecould do this in was in 3 days. We left Cusco around 10 p.m. Friday night (after I realized I had forgot my passport and had to frantically take a cab back to our apartment to get it before the bus left us). After driving around Cusco for about 2 hours (for reasons we still don´t know), we were on are way to Bolivia. With only a few short stops to drop off other passengers, we arrived at the Peru-Bolivia border around 9 a.m. the next morning. There were lots of long lines and a bunch of waiting in Peru but we had no problems and soon enough we were in Bolivia waiting in line to get our visas. To make what could be a very long story short, we get into the office and see lots of sign with a list of seven requirements for American citizens to enter Bolivia, none of which we actually had brought with us. We weren´t sure what was going to happen to us, but we hoped for the best. What actually happened was the worst. We were taken into a back room where immigration officials explained to us that there really wasn´t a whole lot we could do because we had already left Peru and we couldn´t enter Bolivia without a credit card, a copy of a roundtrip ticket, a copy of our hotel reservation, $100, a copy of our yellow fever vaccination, etc. We explained that we were only coming for the day so we could get back to Peru and renew our visa, and that we weren´t touring the country, so we would never have a round trip ticket and a bunch of the other things, but didn´t seem to matter much. We were stuck, without a country to accept us. So when we asked what we could do, you can imagine what the resonse was...MONEY, they told us. How much were we willing to pay to be able to enter Bolivia for less than 24 hours. Well, we paid, and it cost us more than just money. We now have a visa to enter Bolivia that is good for 5 years, but at the cost of many of the values that we hold in high regard. I have spent a lot of time working for fairness and equality, trying to make people see that corruption and abuse of power is what is wrong with the world and is what causes the poverty and wars in so many countries and I have now become a part of that system. It was an experience I would like to forget, but it has also reminded me that there is still a lot of work to be done. We survived our trip and have sucessfully renewed our Peruvian visas, but we do have to return to Bolivia to pick up our resident visas around the end of March, that is if they don´t find out that we are actually criminals and obtained our Bolivian visas illegally. I trust this information to all of you and ask you to remember that I am actually trying to do a good thing here, so please think twice before turning me in.

Newsletter Article

2008-02-10T12:50:00.001-08:00

Here is an article I recently wrote for the Good Shepherd Newsletter.

“Excuse me, do you know where I can buy masking tape?”
My whole volunteer experience here in Cusco, Peru can be summed up in the implications of this simple question. My time in Cusco has brought on many feelings of insecurity, unfamiliarity with my surroundings and a general feeling of being lost that can be represented by this question.

My community member Catherine and I wanted tape to hang things on the wall. Now at home, all I would have to do is go to my kitchen and get some. If it wasn’t there, I knew probably at least 10 places where I could go and buy some, very easily. Here in Cusco, however, things are a little different. We had no clue where we could go to find it. So, first we tried to call people to see if they could tell us where to buy tape, but no one answered. Then our landlady said that she would show us to a place where we could get some. However, we got there and they didn’t sell it. So we were left standing in the rain, with no idea where to go to find tape.

This is a common feeling, having no idea where to find the simplest things, no idea where to go. Not even a clue if I should turn left or right because nothing is familiar. Frozen in the street, trying to remember the reasons why I wanted to come here.

When I am fed up with not being able to find a store that sells the tape, or hangers, or a cooking pot, when I am asking myself why I am here if all I do is continue to make mistakes and not understand what is being said to me, when I feel like all I want to do is hop on the next flight home to my mom, I remember the reasons I don’t just throw in the towel and return to my easy, privileged life in United States where there is a store that sells tape on every corner.

They are Florencia, Lourdes, Wilfredo, Manuela, Urbana, Tina, Magdalena, Ana, Oswaldo, Maruja, Laura, Lucila, Sergio, Madeleyne, Yanet, Eliza, Efrain, Isabel, Fredy, and Cintia.

These are the people I am privileged to work with everyday. They have opened their lives to me. They are patient with my constant questioning, always help me to correct the mistakes I make in Spanish and have made me their friend. If all they need me to do is sit and talk with them, to joke around, to offer advice, or to just listen, ok. I can do that.

I know that Maruja always waits to the last minute to do her homework, so I know that Sunday nights, she will need help. Urbana doesn’t like cucumbers, so when Sister Janet isn’t looking, I put hers on my plate at lunch. If I’m ever bored, I know that Florencia will always have something to talk about and she’ll make me my favorite juice, a banana smoothie.

We have only known each other for about three months, but we have created strong relationships. They trust me with their pasts, their troubles, their secrets. I am honored to have been given that kind of trust and I know that I can trust them in the same way.

I still haven’t figured out where to buy tape, but I have a lot more people in my life now that I can ask, and I know that they will always point me in the right direction.

When does it get easier?

2008-01-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

Some days, I feel like the world is just pointing its finger at me and laughing. Every time I take a step forward, something happens and I fall back three steps and have to start all over. I try and make plans with a friend and then they don't show up. I think I know what I'm doing when in reality, someone is following behind and fixing everything that I have just done. Most days I find myself searching for something that I can do that is actually useful. A lot of days I feel like I am fighting with Cusco, and usually Cusco wins. The taxi drivers try to charge us a higher fare, we get called all kinds of names in the street, and we have to accept the fact that we will never fit it, we will always stand out, no matter how much time we spend here. We go out for chicken and sit down at a table and no one bothers to tell us that we have to order at the counter first and it takes us 15 minutes to figure it out. Both Catherine and I are desperately trying to make friends, but things just never seem to go our way. If it can go wrong, it usually does, and when you think it can't get worse, it does. When I need to call someone, our cell phone doesn't work, our landlady isn't home, so we can't borrow her phone, and the public telephone up the street isn't out and I don't have any change. I lost our cell phone on New Years and the next day I was supposed to go to a concert with a friend from work. I went to the spot we agreed to meet and waited for over an hour , but he never came. The next day he explained that there weren't any buses running so he couldn't get there and that he had tried to call me but of course I didn't get his calls because I had lost the phone. I was working at the cash register and forgot to mark down that a customer had already paid. He went to leave and we made him come back because we thought he hadn't paid and he got mad and yelled at me and said that a foreigner shouldn't be doing this kind of work and he only wanted to deal with Peruvians. The tough realization is that my help is not really needed here. There are already enough people who know what they are doing that work here everyday. I help out, but things would continue on just fine, sometimes even better, without my help. There is one thing that I can offer that nobody else here can do and I started that this week. My first week of English classes went surprisingly well, but it is going to be hard work. The pronunciations of everything is really difficult, but everyone if very eager to learn. I still wonder if this is even a useful thing, but it's what they want, and it makes me feel like I am contributing a little. I love talking and hanging out with everyone, but some days that just isn't enough and I get frustrated because I feel like I should be doing something more. I have a lot of time left to figure it all out and I know that eventually, hopefully, things will get easier. For now, however, I'm still looking for ways to make up with Cusco, because we really are going to have to get along.

Ringing in the New Year

2008-01-02T07:19:00.000-08:00

The New Year celebration here was crazy. Catherine and I made plans to go out with friends but, of course, they didn't work out so we ended up going out on our own to experience New Year's Eve in Peru. The big celebration is in the Plaza de Armas, the main square in the middle of the city. We got there around 10:30 and ran into someone we knew, so we were not alone to celebrate. Around 11 p.m. everyone starts setting off these fireworks and the plaza is filled with smoke and noise. There had to be around a thousand people there. We bought some beer and toasted the New Year on the steps of the main cathedral in the square as what seemed like millions of fireworks went off all around us at midnight. The we joined everyone in running around the square so that we would have good luck in the New Year. There were people running with there luggage because they hope to travel in the coming year and almost everyone was wearing something yellow, which apparently is good luck too. The entire day vendors were out in the street selling all kinds of yellow things, but the most popular is yellow underwear which you are supposed to wear on the outside of your clothes. It turned out to be a fun night and Catherine and I both enjoyed ourselves. I wish everyone a very blessed New Year full of Peace and Happiness!

My First Christmas in Peru

2007-12-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

My first Christmas abroad has come and gone, and I must say it was a lot better than I had expected. I of course missed the usual traditions and spending the day with my family, but I was able to start new traditions. In traditional Peruvian fashion, nothing went exactly as to plan, but it was a wonderful day nonetheless. Christmas Eve we spent all over, going to mass at the hogar and in the central plaza. Then we went to the bakery to await midnight with all the girls. At midnight, everyone wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, fireworks are going off everywhere, and we shared a huge dinner of duck and pasta, followed by the traditional hot chocolate and panneton (a sweet bread with raisins). For Christmas day, in the morning we met with a friend who works with me at the bakery to go to mass. We were supposed to meet two of them, but only one showed up, a half hour late. Time here is so relative, you just have to accept that or it will drive you crazy. We went to mass in the national cathedral and then went back to our apartment where Catherine cooked a Christmas breakfast for the three if us. It was great food and great covnersation and we hope that we have made a friend as well. After that Catherine and I headed to the sister´s community for a lunch of duck and vegetables, which was delicious as well. Then we went back to wait for Mario, the nice boy who cleans our apartment, to come and get us so we could go to his house. He arrived an hour and a half late, so late that we figured that he just wasn´t coming. But we went and spent the evening with him and his family looking at pictures, talking politics, and drinking chicha, a fermented fruit drink. While everythign was a new tradition, I truly enjoyed celebrating the holiday with my new community here. I hope everyone passed a peaceful Christmas and I wish you all blessings in the New Year.

2007-12-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little crazy here in the past couple of weeks, and I´m sorry I haven´t kept everyone updated. We have been getting ready for Christmas, decorating and celebrating. I got to elp pick out the (fake) tree for the dining room at the bakery and decorated. I was glad that I was able to help and to still be able to do the traditional Christmas things that I love. I continue to learn all the ins and outs of making breads and pastries. You will all be proud to know that I have successfully mastered the art of putting dried coconut on the edges of all the pies. There are even some things that I am allowed to do on my own, like dip the donuts and crossaints in chocolate. However, the more complicated procedures, like decorating the cakes and actually making something still require heavy supervision and several start-overs. The parties have started too. A couple of weeks ago, Catherine and I went with the whole group from the bakery to Urubamba for a day of fun and relaxation. We played soccer, volleyball, lots of fun games, and grilled trout. Also, on Saturday we had our first of three work parties where we have secret friends who we have to get gifts for. It has been interesting, to say the least, trying to figure out not only what to get, but where we can get it from. Our next one is tomorrow with the people from the Hogar and the final one is on sunday with everyone from the bakery. I have to say that secret friends is extremly intense at the bakery. This week you can leave cards and littel notes for your friend, but you can´t reveal your identity. Everyone is trying to figure out who has who and it is the topic of conversation at every lunch. Everyone has specifically stated what they want to receive from their friend, and it is a very big deal. They don´t go an hour without talking about it and trying to get out of me who I have. So far I have been able to keep it a secret, but we´ll see what happens. I have slowly been making some friends, in extremely random ways. Catherine and I have both meet people in the street, usually when they are trying to sell us something, then started up a conversation with us. We even met one guy who took us out for a night of dancing after I showed him where he could change his dollars into soles. We are currently working on making the guy who cleans our apartment our new friend, so I will keep you updated on how that goes. We have also been learning lots about the people that we work with. Everyone has story and they are slowly opening up to us and telling it to us. Most of the girls and guys have come from backgrounds of poverty. Their parents are dead, don´t want them, or can´t afford to take care of them. It is when I am listening to these stories that I see the reason why I am here. I can´t change what has happened in the past, but I can contribute to the things that will make their future better. Soon I will start giving English and computer classes. It will be interesting to see how that all works out. Thanks to everyone for their constant support. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas full of peace and love and a Happy New Year!

A little Thanksgiving, a lot of learning

2007-11-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving came and went with little attention here in Peru, but Catherine and I managed a mini celebration. We cooked for the first time in our apartment and I am pretty proud of our Peruvian Thanksgiving Dinner. We cooked chicken, carrots and peas, and made mashed potatoes. We also each had a roll and split a mini apple pie from the bakery where we work. We were most thankful to have each other, even though we missed celebrating with our families. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and for the mail. I am putting all the mail I receive on a wall in our apartment as a reminder of the great support we have. Catherine and I are both still exploring and learning about both work sites. We had found that she is most comfortable at the hogar and I really enjoy the atmosphere at the bakery. We spend four days a week at our respective sites and one day at the other to keep up the relationships that we are building. I am learning, little by little, how the make all the breads and pastries at the bakery. The guys are extremely patient with me and they tell me that by the end I'm going to be an expert baker (this has yet to be seen). I also spend a lot of time in the store, helping the tourists who don't speak Spanish. My favorite things to do, though, is to just sit and talk with everyone. I give English lessons in flour in the kitchen, talk about life in the United States to the girls, and answer lots of questions, some easy, how many siblings do I have, others more difficult, what has motivated me to come here, and, of course, the most popular question of them all, am I single. Everyone says I look much older than I really am and think that I am already married with kids. I am affectionately known to some as Mega, which is what my name can sound like with a Spanish accent. It is interesting because the supermarkets here are all called Megas so people think that we share the same name. I have to explain, many, many, times, that no, my name is Meghan, but yes is it funny how they both sound the same. Christmas celebrations are about to start up and my first event is a Christmas party with all the other lay workers from the three sites. We have secret friends and everything even though I don't have a clue what to get mine. Pretty soon it will be time to start decorating the bakery and the Christmas season will be in full swing, which I love. Catherine and I have already put up our Christmas tree, a wonderful 3D masterpiece made entirely of green construction paper. I will put up pictures soon of our decorations, they are fabulous! Hope everyone is doing well and I appreciate all the e-mails and mail, it's keeps me going on those not so easy days. Lots of love!

When the shower does`t work, you can`t find the tape, and laundry becomes exercise.

2007-11-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

There are times when things happen and you can just see the irony in them, see how it is a metaphor for your life. My time in Cusco has brought on many feelings of insecurity, an unfamiliarity with my surroundings and a general feeling of being lost that can be summed up in one or two experiences. We wanted tape to hang things on the wall. Now at home, all I would have to do is go to my kitchen an get some. If it wasnt there, I knew probably at least 10 places where I could go and buy some, very easily. In Cusco, Peru, however, things are a little different. First we tried to call people to see if they could tell us where to buy tape, however, no one answered. Then our landlady came back, and said that she would show us to a place where we could get some. However, we get there and they dont sell it. So Catherine and I are standing there, in the rain, with no idea where to go to find tape. That is the story of my life right now...no idea where to find the simplest things, no idea where to go. Not even a clue if I should turn left or right because nothing is familiar. The other night Catherine went to take a shower, and the water wouldnt turn on. Further investigation showed that we had no running water at all. The thing is that these things are going to happen, more often then we might expect, and its a shock at first. We did our laundry for the first time and I think I burned all the calories I consumed during that day scrubbing each individual sock. That is going to be a daily event. Everything I am learning starts from the very beginning. Learning how to take orders in the bakery, how to help make the bread in the kitchen, where to walk the girls to school begins with a blank slate. So right now you can find me in Cusco, Peru, constantly searching for tape.

What is going on with me!

2007-11-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

I have been writing a lot about what I have learned, so I thought I do a little about what I have been doing and how I have been feeling. I have learned how to take the bus to the Hogar, but I havent managed to get get off the bus gracefully once. I always bump my head and hit someone with my backpack. These are mini buses and they cram as many seats into them as they can so its difficult to move without bumping into someone. We have also learned where the supermarket it, where we can go to change our money, where to buy phone cards, and where to send mail. We live very close to the central plaza in Cusco that is surrounded by churches on two sides and restaurants and stores on the other. It is very pretty at night with all the lights. When we arrived in our apartment, it hit me that this was going to be my home for the next two years and that was scary. It is difficult to adjust to a new place and its daunting because you think you will never get and will be lost forever. I know little by little we will both learn our way around the city and even make a couple of friends. Catherine and I get along very well and it is nice to have soemone to share your experience with and who is also going through similiar things. The city is so beautiful and the people are extremely nice, so we know we can always turn to someone when we need something, which happens a lot. I am excited to get to know the programs better and to be able to participate in everything that goes on. We are getting Spanish classes, which are very helpful. Being around the girls also helps me to put perspective on things, because I konw they have been through so much in their short lives. Knowing that I can help to take some of that pain away, even for a little while, is motivating. They are always willing to play and talk, so I know I will have a friend in them.

The Girls Home

2007-11-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

The other site placement that we have is a girls home about a 20 minute bus ride from our apartment. It is called the Hogar del Buen Pastor, so I will refer to it as the Hogar from now on. They have over 50 girls betwen the ages of 6 and 19. There are 3 what they call pavillions that have dormitories where the girsl sleep. It is usually about 6 girls in a room. In the morning the girls wake up and makes their beds and make sure there rooms are clean. After that they have a knitting/crocheting workshop followed by a sewing workshop. Then they get washed up and ready for school and eat lunch together. After that they go to school from 1-6. Then they return and eat dinner and do nighttime activities. They also have weekly meetings with a psychologist and receive help with their homework. There are also lots of other activities that go on like trips on the weekends. Also on the grounds are two buildings for the ceramics workshop that is for people form a surrounding who come on Saturdays to make things like plates and cups to sell. The sisters also live on the grounds in another pavillion with a chapel. There is also a playground, a basketball court, and a large field where they are growing potatoes. The sisters also have a snack bar about 10 minutes away from the Hogar that sells juice and coffee in the morning and drinks and salchipapas (french fries with fried hot dog on top) during the week and other foods on Saturday. The older girls work there everyday. They also work in the kitchen at the Hogar helping to prepare lunch and dinner. There are also social workers and educators on staff everyday to help the girls with whatever they might need. Catherine and I will have the chance to participate in all the activities here as well. We are both excited to see what we will be able to do in the years to come.

The Bakery

2007-11-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

Catherine and I are in what we like to call the orientation phase. We are exploring both work sites until the end of December before we decided where we want to be permanently. We set up a schedule that started yesterday. I will go to the bakery alone on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we will go together on Tuesdays. She will go to the girls home alone on Mondays and Wednesdays and we will go together on Thursdays. Then she goes to the bakery alone on Friday and I got to the girls home. So far we have learned a lot about what goes on in each bakery. In the bakery there are girls ages 16 to 21 who live adjacent to the bakery. It is all one big complex. There are also guys who some every morning to help to the baking. The head chef is named Willy and he recently won an award in Argentina in a baking competition. The gisl who live there have been placed there by Peru`s child services. They all go to school and most of them are in university. When they are not working in the bakery, they are studying or at school. They also have specific jobs around the complex. Girls are in charge of the inventory of all the ingrdients, going to the market every Saturday, the tool closet, cleaning, etc. The money that the bakery makes helps to pay for their education. All they keep asking for are English classes, so that will be one of the things we will do once we get settled. Also they would like classes in computers. They have their vacation from january to March, so during that time there is a lot of opputunity to do workshops, go on trips, and other activities. We will be involved in almost every aspect of the bakery form baking to selling to cleaning. We will also probably be spending free time with them as well. As much as I don`t really like to bake, I am fascinated by people who can. They make really delicious pies, sweet bread, regular bread, and other tasty treats and it is amazing just to watch. Hopefully they will have the patience to deal with my ineptness in the kitchen.

Cusco - The Beginning

2007-11-12T13:11:00.001-08:00

I have been in Cusco for almost two days now and it's a little crazy to think that this is going to be my home for the next two years. Catherine and I received very warms welcomes from everyone. The altitude here has made me a litle quesy and lightheaded but it will pass soon. On our first day here we rested for a little while and then went to both the bakery and the girls home where we will be working. The had a mass at the bakery and we met a lot fo the girls who live there. Then we went to the girls home where they had a celebration prepared for us. All the girls did dances and sang songs and we sat at a table of honor under a sign that said welcome Meghan and Catherine. It was a lot of fun and we even did a little dancing with girls after it was over. We are trying to learn the bus system and where the grocery store is, but it's going to take a while. Our apartment is really nice and is perfect for our time here. It has all mini furniture though, which makes for some comical moments. We also visited some Incan ruins that were very interesting. Things here are a little overwhelming right now and I know it's going to take some time to adjust. Two years seems like a really long time but I am excited for all the new experiences that are going to come. Tomorrow we start Spanish classes, so that will be helpful. Hope everyone is doing well and I miss you tons!

Adventures in Lima

2007-11-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well...I've finally made it after months of waiting! Peru is a beautiful country and I am very excited to get to know more about it. We got into Cusco yesterday after spending a couple of days in Lima. Lima is a very busy city with lots os cars, buses, and pollution. We had a whirlwind couple of days. We stayed at a volunteer house in a really nice part of the city and spent most of our time seeing the different programs that the sisters have in Lima. We visited Pino, a very poor town built into the side of a mountain. There the sisters have what seemed like a hundred different things going on. They have a center up on the hill that has a library, a place for the kids to stufy, computers, a game room with a t.v., a foosball table, and a card making workshop where the kids make cards from recycled material. They also have a office at the bas eof the hill where they have a t-shirt making workshop, sewing materials, and also support groups for women, homosexuals and transexuals, and youth. I was really amazed by the card-making operation. The sisters provide the blank cards and then the kids cut out scenes and paste them on. Right now they are in Christmas mode making cards with candles, the nativity scene and gifts bags with snowmen. They turn out really beautiful. We also visted a home the sisters have for young mothers and their children call Reina de la Paz. There must have been over 30 babies and toddlers there all with mothers between the ages of 11-17. They also have a girls home for girls who have been removed from there homes due to abuse or neglect. I was really impressed with all the programs because they provided educational support and also a way for the residents to make money and be able to support themselves. That is an important philosophy of the sisters, to help the populations they serve be able to support themselves. We also got to do a little site-seeing in downtown Lima, which was nice . We saw the central plaza with the national cathedral and the president's house. Lima was a nice little stop, but Cusco is really where I wanted to get to. In Lima I felt like a tourist but Cusco will be much different.