1/4 of the way through...

So the week after I posted my last blog we attempted to do activities with the babies under the red tent which they put up for us. We took out loads of art stuff thinking it would be really successful; turns out they enjoy throwing or eating crayons rather than using them. Plus once the kids got bored it turned into a game of running around the casas so we couldn’t catch them, amusing to start with but in the blazing sun it’s not so great. After a couple of attempts we gave in and decided to take them into our very small room to watch TV, we got a couple of films in with them, but now they’re obsessed with Micky Mouse which is great because we really enjoy it too! When they get agitated we take them outside to the park which has finally been cemented into the ground after numerous injuries, this involving them shouting “Passear Me” meaning we have to push them on the around on the round about again and again. Finally we stop and they just kind of occupy themselves in the swings and slide and we watch and laugh at them, toddlers are hilarious. This has to be by far my favourite time of the day.

Jandy is such a gem, like she gets away with anything because she is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever come across, plus she thinks everyone is called Amber so all you ever hear is her shouting it around the aldea, some of the tias are seriously beginning to get annoyed by it...

I wish Ricardo was my own child he is that amazing, he was so naughty when we got here but now he’s got to the cheeky stage but in such a cute way, he could spit at us and we would still find the funny side. He is being potty trained at the moment, there’s been some occasions when you pick him up and he’s soaked through, one time when he weed on our floor, however now he just wees outside on the park as he can’t be bothered to go to the toilet, he reminds me of my brother from the stories I’ve heard from him being a child.

Fatima is adorable, her laugh is just perfect, like it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, and even though she always runs away and you find her chilling somewhere random, she’s just such a happy toddler.

Then Estrella, I remember mentioning her in my first blog saying that she hates us and would scream for the first half hour every time she was left with us, well now it’s the opposite. Even thought she still doesn’t know my name so calls me Amber or simply volunteer, she’s hilarious, especially when she is throwing a fit. She still refuses to say please to be pushed on the roundabout but hopefully after a few more weeks she’ll realise she won’t get anywhere with us if she doesn’t, however since her mum lives at the aldea she’s a bit spoiled. However yeah she’s just hilarious and can be so cute when she wants to be, plus she’s obsessed with food so we get on with her very well. So yeah, that’s a brief summary of who I get to spend every morning with, I really am one of the luckiest people to have that opportunity.

We also tried to do activities outside with the other children outside once they were back from school however this was sheer madness. We had a specific age group of around 7 children and we were going to make paper airplanes with them, however since it was outside everyone decided they wanted to join in. This was cute at the start but out of nowhere people just started going crazy and I ended up having a chair thrown at the back of my head. It really is a shame that we can’t teach them proper skills as they’re all just too hyper when in such a big group, but at least we tried. Lets just say it won’t be happening again anytime soon!

Since so many people had run away which I mentioned last time they’ve ended up changing the houses around. Casa dos now has the two older boys in there too, this was so strange to start with however it’s amazing having people around a similar age, even though they’re 15, to talk to. They have proper banter and we’ve gotten really close to them. One night they took it a step too far though and Jose for a carving knife out and held it to Jeanpierre’s neck, this then escalated to them having a play fight however Jose still had a knife in his hand, thankfully the Tia saw and they got sent to their room before anything happened; but yes I’m happy with the change now we’re used to it.

Speaking of knifes, there was also another 14 year old boy, Junior, who was living in casa dos. He was so cute and hilarious, he just really didn’t care what the Tias said to him, which is so rare to see. However the other day something happened and he came to me and Amber with the same knife Jose was using, made for cutting meat, and said he was going to slit Jeanpierre’s throat and he was being deadly serious. We planned it so I could sneak away without being obvious and tell Tia Candy, however he saw me which stressed me out since he was outside with a huge ass knife in his pocket. Sadly they couldn’t take anymore chances with him and he’s now living in an all boys aldea somewhere in Trujillo, we will miss him a lot but obviously they have to think about the safety of the other 49 kids over him. As much as at the start I felt responsible and really bad for him not being there, I couldn’t imagine if he had done something to someone and we hadn’t put a stop to it, but yeah bit of goss for you all.

One of the girls, Zarahi who I mentioned in my last blog, however I probably spelt her name wrong, always says “OOO CHICA” so we are now in the habit of shouting it to every kid at the aldea. Loads of them have joined in and it’s sort of an ongoing game with them. To spice up our weekends we decided to start shouting it at people on the streets, seeing as they all stare anyway we really do have nothing to lose. We found it hilarious and started a tally which is ongoing every weekend. You get some very mixed responses but most people seem to love the banter. Where we live is very rural however they’re two shops and a small village of houses over the road. On one of our trips to the shops we decided to wait as there was a big group of builders waiting for the bus who would shout stuff at us, but yeah I decided I was in the mood to play the game, hence people were all triple glancing. First seeing two girls stood on the side of the road, secondly realising they’re gringas and thirdly hearing us shout ooo chica at them. That’s one of the most amazing things about this country, since everyone does stare we’re so care free with how we act as you’re just used to people thinking you’re different. Really don’t miss the judgemental side of the UK at all!

I’ve been quiet ill since my last blog, which started just after I wrote it and has only just passed. Since we’re living in a work site as they are currently building the other aldea we are living amongst the ‘polbo’, aka the dust. We put a carpet down in our room which I mentioned last time and it’s basically just being accumulating dust since we moved, us being stupid and not realising for all this time- I was asking to be ill. So yeah after trying three different types of antibiotics which cost me my monthly wages as I stupidly shopped in an expensive pharmacy, I am finally better which is amazing! However every time I drank whilst sick my chest went all horrible, this meant that one time I was sick on a Peruvian Bus. Not my proudest moment, definitely partner bonding, but bloody hilarious looking back. Plus we had got the wrong bloody bus back so ended up getting off at a random place then getting a taxi to McDonald’s where we changed, how lovely. It’s so amazing to be feeling myself again and knowing I’m not making myself sick, sometimes I surprise myself with my own lack of intelligence in these situations.

There’s been quite a few events over the last month which is so exciting, even thought we only ever find out about them on the morning, or occasionally on the afternoon so always look and feel rank. One morning every house brought the tables and chairs outside and put them in one massive row and all had tuna mayonnaise sandwiches with some important woman who then gave all of the kids toy cars or dolls. Everyone was dressed in matching Peru tops apart from us, but it’s so cute how much they all love their country.

Another afternoon around 20-30 people showed up with baskets full of food, this consisted of them giving all the children, tias and us shit loads of food and snacks randomly, then singing a traditional Peruvian song to us all. It’s so lovely how generous people are to those less fortunate here, something like this happens every two weeks or so and apparently happens every week at peak times such as Christmas!

Since my last post there’s been Halloween and Bonfire night where strangely enough we haven’t had any electricity for either. There’s been so many days without power where we have had candle lit dinners, and even some days where we haven’t had water so cooking and showering has been a bit of a difficulty. On Halloween we did the opposite of trick or treating and took bags of sweets round all the casas for the kids since they couldn’t really go outside with no power. Then we  dressed in stupid layers of clothing as Peru gets bloody cold at night and went and sat in the dark on the roundabout with snacks. This was such a different way to spend the night but wow, it was so surreal in all darkness surrounded by mountains singing along to Demi Lovato... We were then joined my Tia Candy, her two daughters and four of the children where they all told ghost stories about each house then tried to scare the two of us. It was adorable snuggling up next to Junior and Dena for a few hours, sort of an unexplainable feeling but one I shall not forget! Bonfire night we again wrapped up and went outside with blankets and snacks again, and sat staring at more mountains and the full moon which was bloody mental. To add a bit of drama all the “younger older” boys, so around 7 x 11-13 year olds had managed to escape from their houses and were just running riot outside. This was hilarious but a little spooky with no power and everything. Again another very strange way to celebrate but a once in a life time thing which was so peaceful compared to the usual celebration of fireworks.

The Friday before last we had the Olympiadas which happens once a year in the aldea. Basically it’s a competition between the houses, every person gets a top and each house is a different colour. They all practised their dances for weeks in advance which paid off so well for them. We danced with Direction which was hilarious; we learnt the dance then two weeks later only one of them could remember it along with me and Amber so we ended up teaching them it again. After numerous sweltering practises we finally managed to pull it off almost perfectly on the day, along with our silver pompoms to add the finishing touch. They had an Olympic style torch for four of the sibling who have lived here their whole lives, and are leaving in December. This was such a lovely way for them to celebrate their last Olympiads – this was then followed by a parade of all the houses around the football pitch which was hilarious as nothing ever goes as you would expect in Peru. After all the dancing everyone tried to play football but since it wasn’t in the usual aldea it was different for them, such a shame for us that it wasn’t the same as every other year but it will have its perks! It was such a lovely afternoon with the dancing, and us face painting, it really helped us bond with all the Tios and Tias who we never really got the chance to properly talk to beforehand, they’re all so loving to the children, such an inspiration.

This last week has been so crazy for us, on Saturday we had to stay in the aldea and help stamping folders as they were having some big inspection and had so much to do! Turns out we had to do this all of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday too which got rather boring, however we had Jose to keep us company which was hilarious. I got attacked by him and Amber and sandwiched into a mattress for a good five minutes, once again a lot more funny than it sounds. This also involved us helping on Thursday night where we didn’t finish work till 3am, then we abused the access to internet and stayed up for another hour. This seemed like a fine idea until we were awoken having to help at 8 in the morning, thankfully only Amber had to go, in her PJ’s, classy! It was so nice being so useful to them all but I really do miss spending time with the kids, especially the babies. Due to some of the tias not knowing we were helping the big boss man, thinking we have just pied off the kids, they have taken a disliking to us. One of them openly stated we were late and because of that wouldn’t let us take them to the park, stupid as this meant more work for her. Such a shame that some of them are like that but not everyone is going to like you I guess.

Friday afternoon we were exhausted doing the last bits of paperwork in our room. I can’t explain this in detail but Zarahi basically had a nervous breakdown, it was like a scene from girl interrupted but x10 worse, plus you love the person who is struggling. This may not sound too bad to many of you, but it was the worst experience of my life so far. It’s still that day and she is in hospital but the thought of it all makes me feel sick. At training we were prepared for a lot of things, but I have to say I didn’t have any clue what to do with myself other than stand and cry which is a rarity. I guess this is what this years all about, experiencing new things out of your comfort zone but I’m not too sure how I’m going to come to terms with witnessing that.

Our desk officer Felicity came to visit along with Elouise for the day which was amazing! They were very shocked to see how different the project was during the construction but it was so nice to hear how well we are doing. Plus spending the day having English conversation was just fabulous! Looking forward to Debrifing to catch up again :)

So much more has happened but I think most of you will be bored of reading this crap by now. I’m loving Peru still and the children are just phenomal, even though they all have their moments. I now like the vast majority of food, can understand the majority of a new language, have gained so much patience as we really have no other choice, and have made so many memories that I’m so scared I’ll forget. My family have booked to come and visit at the start of March and I’m beyond excited to see them and show them this amazing country which I have the pleasure of living in. We have booked busses for Piura, six hours North, where two other volunteers are for next week, can’t wait to see their project and speak in English with sarcasm, something Peruvians just don’t seem to understand the concept of. I got my first bit of post and wow it’s so lovely getting things that were obviously sent when I first left but seeing how much I was missed, I really do have the best family. Life is amazing and I can’t believe I’m ¼ of the way through my time here. Hope everyone is healthy and happy!

Also I got a woodlouse stuck in my eye...