The children have been so lucky with the Christmas parties people have thrown for them. The first few weeks of December there was around a party a week where people from Trujillo would bring them all presents, hot chocolate and paneton: an attempt of a cake which is just bread filled with strange fruit. As the weeks got closer to Christmas the more parties happened each weekend, and by the time it was Christmas they had 5 parties in the space of two days. Since it's the second biggest city in Peru there are a lot of people willing to offer their time and money to help the kids which is amazing. However despite this it was still difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when it was boiling outside.
We made the kids presents too, my mum and sister sent over around £40 so we went a bit crazy in the market. We bought huge bags of sweets which we shared between them all, got everyone a ball of string for making bracelets, or doing whatever they fancy with it, got all the girls nail polish, and all the boys a packet of cards. Then for the babies a different toy each, along with the sweets of course. We gave these out on Christmas Eve dressed in the Christmas tops my mum sent over, and the kids loved them, since it wasn't just a generic present that someone had been given an age and gender to buy for. It was personal as we know them.
That night we went over to casa dos and snuggled up on the sofa watching the Polar Express and Home Alone, this was adorable. At 10pm they had Christmas dinner which consisted of a chicken leg, chips and salad, very different but I must say, rather enjoyable. This was followed by a cup of peach with juice, sparklers in the house, then everyone running outside at 12 to wish each other a Merry Christmas.
Christmas morning we woke up to a Spanish Michael Buble Christmas song and opened the presents we had bought for each other, followed by the parcels some family members sent over- so grateful! The day itself we spent at Huanchacho, the beach, treating ourselves to a chocolate cafe lunch accompanied by sangria mmm. A few hours of the day were spent chatting to family before having a giant fish for tea, a few bottles of wine and heading out the the local pub. It didn't really feel like Christmas but it was such a good way to spend it.
Things at the Aldea haven't been going particularly well during this time due to circumstances out of our control. If you've read my past posts you will know about our living situation, having a tiny room with nowhere to do activities, well everyone still expects us to be the exact same as volunteers from the past years, even thought this is impossible with what we have been given. We tried everything to attempt to teach the children the skills and qualities we came here to do, but it's turned out impossible. There have been minor achievements, for example Estrella finally saying please now without always having to be told, which is amazing knowing we have taught her something that's necessary in life!! But on a grander scale we are not helping in the way we had hoped, and the Tia's and Tios have noticed the differences and very bluntly told us. After chatting to Felicity, our desk officer, about this, Project Trust decided this wasn't a suitable project to be run until the new houses were sorted out. We were lucky that they had a new project ready which was meant to start this September in Peru. It's in Huarmaca, the region on Piura, 10 hour bus journey up a mountain in a small town. The Aldea itself looks amazing but we're aware how difficult the change over is going to be from living in the second biggest city in Peru to a rural location. After much debating we saw that we could be making such a difference here in comparison to what we are doing at the moment, but the thought of leaving my babies and children makes me sick to the stomach.
Travelling:
We travelled up to Piura and the girls from Caravelli were there too- we got to watch Danny kill a duck and the blood splattered everywhere, it was interesting seeing that the kids knew how to do this and pluck all the feathers.
After a sweaty walk to the bus station we all headed to Mancora, aka Zante. I was expecting a nice beach with a bit of night life but it was far from what I thought! Since we booked the hostels so late we went to Camping Tito which involved pitching tents on the beach. This was a rather interesting way to start the year since they were three man tents, three people in each, but our bags were all the size of people. We soon got back into the lifestyle of drinking lots and it was hilarious. We welcomed the New Year in on the beach, surrounded by hundreds of people, with fireworks and music- couldn't have wished for it to be any better.
New Year's Day we spent on the beach, with nearly everyone leaving with a shitty sunburn- typical.
A few days later we headed up to Ecuador, the bus service was hilarious, we started in a combi, got moved into a bus, then stopped at the corner of the road in Ecuador and got into another bus.
The border crossing was mental, six hungover girls waiting five hours in the blazing heat could never really go too well. We went up to Cuenca which was so different to Peru, it was so built up and reminded me a lot of Europe, quite a nice change but it made me realise how much I love Peru. There was a restaurant on the corner called Blue Mondays which became a local, they served food like burgers and pizza which is so hard to find in South America usually, unless you're willing to pay an extortionate price. The food was so different, we had tapas, Italian and even a curry, that's right, a curry. Suffice to say were definitely not used to that type of food anymore, only rice.
We went to a stunning national park, it was so high up so the air was really thin, but it was so chilled walking in such a stunning place with peace.
Once the Caravelli girls headed back home we decided to take a cheeky trip to the hospital as I had been coughing up blood. I've been ill pretty much since we got here and nothing seems to be budging it but this was a new extreme. After a consultation in Spanish, with the help of a very fluent Laura, I was sent for a chest X-ray which thankfully turned out clear, so I got told to go for another consultation with a doctor the next day. There was a two hour wait in the queue but I was prioritised so didn't have to wait to long. After testing my breathing his advice was "wait another four months and if you're still ill then go see another doctor!", oh and don't drink cold drinks. How lovely. So as any sensible people would, we found a private doctor who could speak fluent English and went to see him the next day. The conclusion was that I had a chest infection and parasites, which go through your intestine and cause an infection in your lungs. Four days later things had only got worse so he sent me for more chest X-rays and a CT scan of my head- after ring ripped off by a local X-ray service pretending to be a place they weren't. The doctor looked them over and said it might be severe sinusitis. So I'm currently being treated for that but nothing seems to be changing. Since we don't have a home in Trujillo anymore, and the one we did have was on a building site, it means that I can't stay there till I get better.
However after chatting to the doctor it's obvious I can't move to the new project at Huarmaca till my health is sorted due to the altitude up there and my asthma. So after days, weeks even, of being tormented not knowing what to do, we were given our options. For Amber it was go to Huarmaca or wait to see if it's possible to join another project, this potentially could take a month or so, and for me living in a hostel paying for accommodation and food till I potentially get better, or coming home temporarily to an amazing health service to get better before heading back out to join Amber- crazy right! This has by far been the biggest and hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I'm coming home for just over 5 weeks and flying back out with my family when they come to visit, with the hope that I'll be on top form and can go join Amber, who is being brave and going to this new project alone till I join her, and then I should be able to spend the next five months helping these kids the way I thought I would be. The thought of this petrifies me, I mean it'll be lovely to see my family and friends again, but I'm now used to, and loving, a very very different culture, lifestyle and climate. Things are going to be so different and I know fine well I've changed a lot since I left, so people will have different views of me to. It's going to be a hell of a lot harder than leaving England was and I still don't think I've fully thought of what's going to happen on my return. But in the bigger picture I came out here to help and make a difference, and by staying in a hostel paying for a health service which is good, but a very long way from ours in the UK, it would probably lead to me getting very lonely and taking a much longer time to find out what the hell is wrong with me, and then maybe not being able to finish this year off as I planned. Whereas by coming home, I can hopefully talk to an experienced doctor and get this behind me as quickly as possible so I can go back to my favourite place and be on top form to help these children. I haven't even gone home yet but I already miss so much about this place and the people here which will only become a stronger emotion whilst away, but hopefully this will make me make the most of everything when I come back in a way I may not have been doing. I don't know really but this is 100% not what I expected from this year, but shitty things like this happen and can't be helped, I'm extremely lucky my family are willing to support me money wise in getting home, even though I was thrilled that I've not had to scrounge a penny off them yet this year. I'm hoping in the long run my insurance will cover it, but immediately without their help I would be waiting this illness out alone in Peru. I think if I was on my deathbed this wouldn't even be questioned, but the fact that I'm just constantly coughing up disgusting stuff which is a vile concept, turns painful and very inconvenient, means I can get on with daily life, just with this looming over me, something causing me to rip the back of my throat from coughing so much- this was the blood, thankfully nothing internal.
My emotions are everywhere, leaving my Trujillo family behind, going to join my family back home, then coming back and making a totally new family in Huarmaca. Things have just happened so quickly but once I manage to man up a little bit I'll realise that it's only temporary and things will be normal again. Oddly, really sadly, I'll end up spending my birthday at home, now this will be lovely but we had it all planned, the girls from Piura and Lima were coming up for the weekend to celebrate, but hopefully we will do this when I come back instead! So yeah see you all on Sunday, can't believe I'm saying that hahaaa...
So back to travelling, the rest of the trip with before the Piura girls left was all doctor related and eating. We went out for drinks one night and they shut the bar and made everyone leave but we got to stay and abuse the bar making ourselves drinks. That's one if the great thing about being gringas in a foreign country!
Once the girls left it was just me and Amber waiting for another doctor trip. We decided to do what tourists are meant to and head on a bus tour. We found this hysterical but it actually turned out really good. We went up to this beautiful church at the top of the city so for an amazing view of it all, with the mountains in the background. It was stunning. The next day we went to thermal baths but ended up choosing the luxury option and it was basically a spa day. There was an outdoor thermal pool, saunas and a mud bath which was very strange, the scenery in the city is just mental!
After we headed across to Guayaquil which is the biggest city on Ecuador which was sooo built up. We went on a proper motorway for the first time since being in Peru, which may sound like nothing but I didn't know what to do with myself. It definitely felt like a bit of mild culture shock being in a place which reminded me of the UK, nothing like Peru at all. It is bloody boiling here, like it's above the equator line so it's to be expected. Because of this we did do stuff but we're always desperate for our airconed hostel. Despite the heat we went to Los Penos which is 500 steps up, but the whole way up there are houses, shops and restaurants which were so lively and lovely. At the top you got an amazing view of the city and the hill opposite filled with colourful houses- I've not done a great job of explaining but it was phenomenal, it was so hard leaving haha.
There was also an iguana park where you were walking around and there was just shit loads of iguanas everywhere, some the size of 5 year old children. Here I learnt that iguanas don't have teeth, when you look at them they can seem like such scary things but in reality they so chilled.
To be fair travelling itself was like a holiday, rather than cramming every day in doing stuff and tiring us out, we did little bits but just loved having English banter with more than one person; it's stupid how much I took for granted being with a group of people with the same mother tongue before I came away! It was such an amazing feeling coming back into Peru, like going back to our house after a holiday that was just a bit too long.
At the Aldea we spoke to the Director to tell her what was happening and it was really sad, she was so apologetic and devastated that we were leaving, as we are too. Now telling the kids was another thing, we told Jose first who has turned into one of our closest friends, he was gutted. He's the only older boy left in the Aldea so he only has us to talk to, plus he's hilarious, going to miss his abnormally large smile. Next it was Mirium and Janeth, I'm so close to both these girls don't quite know what I'll do without them around me all the time. Zarahi would have either gone mental, or laughed, thankfully she laughed and then asked for chocolate, not too sure she quite took in what we were saying. And the next big person to tell was MarieLou, she's 11 and we lived with her for a long time and have eaten every meal with her since we for here- this was like having your heart strings pulled on seeing her face, knowing I felt the exact same way.
It was all just a bit too much for us so we headed to Huanchaco to say our goodbyes there. Danny, the volunteer in Piura, came down to be with us which was so lovely, gutting that Laura had to work. We showed her around and decided, even though I knew it would make me a lot worse, to just have a night of drinking away everything. It was definitely needed! We got to show her round the city whilst constantly blabbing about how much we're going to miss it. Yesterday me and Amber got the bus back to the Aldea to finish packing and say our goodbyes. The packing wasn't fun, the room was like a sauna and just we just couldn't be bothered. We had lunch at casa dos, everyone had a group lunch outside but we just missed it:( - after I took Jandy outside and she just sat on my knee on the swing. I had missed her soooooooo much whilst travelling, every day it got to me how much I wanted to see her. I'm so happy that we went outside, she giggled so much and I got a video so the memories don't fade! Blanca, the director, wanted to chat to us and turns out it was a set up, they gathered everyone outside to say farewells. There was a speech about us and it really made me want to never leave the place, we were then given a ring each as a memory, admittedly I shed a few years under my sunglasses but we both held it together pretty well. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tia's Margarita and Ester crying, these two women are hilarious, they're so short and some of the things they say amaze me, it was a really strange feeling knowing how much we meant to them to reduce them to tears! Even though we're visiting for 4 days in six weeks time it was still a huge thing, everyone was so lovely and the children, I can't even put it into words. I love them all so much, this is something that will get easier to live with but I'll never get over how much I miss them.
Our goodbyes with the casa dos kids were emotional, Janeth wouldn't stop hugging me and admitted she loved me and would miss me which is a big thing coming from her, she's grown so much as a person since we got here and she wouldn't talk to us- so proud of her. MarieLou cried her little eyes out, along with me at the same time, it's like saying bye to your siblings but knowing it's forever...
The two casa dos Tia's were both there when their shifts overlapped just before we left. We all had a chat in the house and we were all just in floods of tears. These women have done so much for me, they've been my second mothers while were been here, I didn't think I'd ever care about the Tia's that much but without them this experience would not have been the same. I cannot cannot cannot wait to see them again in six weeks! After crying we went and picked Jandy up and she just stared at us like so confused, Ricardo left while we were away to be with his family, I went to see Estrella and she was beautifully asleep in her cot, and Fatima didn't understand at all- my babies are my world, miss them an unbelievable amount already.
I'm going to stop boring you all with detail but when leaving the Aldea in the taxi I wasn't really thinking about what had just happened. The first time I've thought about it is now and that's from a very distant view point, my mind has been like a giant black void, something I've mastered very well when being here. I'm currently sat in Lima airport waiting for my flight even though I'm five hours early, having said my goodbyes to Ceci, who owns the hostel we always stay at- she's also been a mother figure to us whilst we've been away, she told me she loved and would miss me, the feelings very mutual. Plus the goodbyes to Danny and Amber at the airport. My black void was on top form and nothing feels real, but I'm going to miss these girls like mad. Even though we would only see Danny and Laura occasionally I think it's just knowing how much distance is between us that makes it more surreal! Then Amber, obviously we have spent every day together for the past 5 months, you tend to get close to a person. I can already tell that as soon as I get home I'm going to miss her shit loads, so proud she's going up to the hills alone, excited to join her in 6 weeks time.
I haven't thought about it yet but I know I'm exited to see everyone back home, I'm also excited to watch loads of new films on the flight! Even though this wasn't how I expected my year to turn out it's just a hurdle, I will get over this and it's something I'll be able to look back on and yeah. I know this post is everywhere, just like my head, and some of the stuff I have written I'll probably look back on and think shut the hell up being a soppy bugger Tory, but just my thoughts at the time. If you managed to make it this far then thanks for reading hahaaa!
Te quiero trujillo y todo la ninos mucho.
Homeward bound x
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