“Como te llamas?!” Alejandra yelled up to my top bunk. My bunk was situated above Caleigh, also newly awakened by the sound of the little three-year-old´s high-pitched question. I looked up from my book to see her smiling up at us, and despite the early hour and the noise of 14 girs getting ready for school that had permeated the house since 5 AM, it was impossible to be mad at such an adorable face. I smiled back at her, responding, “Me llamo Keely.” She laughed and asked Caleigh the same question, getting her name as a response, and then asked me again.
“Tu sabes!” I responded, laughing. ´Como te llamas´ was Anjelina´s favorite question, and I was asked my name at least ten times every day. She grinned up at me, and sounded out my name: “Keeee–leeee.”
“Si, muy bien!” At that point, Alejandra was whisked away for a bath by Rosa, the child caretaker of the home, and Caleigh and I got dressed, met for breakfast with the four girls living across the street from us, and split up into our projects for the week. But before I go any further, let me begin at the beginning of our time in this new country: Peru!
One week ago, we left our beautiful hostal in Otavalo, Ecuador, to catch a flight to Lima, Peru, then took another flight to Arequipa, Peru, where we have been staying for one week. It was sad to say good-bye to Otavalo´s artisan market, the biggest market in the country of Ecuador; the streets-long fresh fruit market and Panaderia bread and pastries we had become accustomed to each day; the homemade meals our hostel allowed us to cook–omelets, pasta alfredo, and Philly Cheese Steaks (which, I learned, are sandwiches?!); and I was especially sad to leave the vibrant culture and mountainous geography of Ecuador. After having spent an entire month there, I felt as though I had gotten to know parts the country well, but there was still so much to see and learn that I felt I was leaving in the middle of my experience, that I wasn´t ready for it to end there yet. However, Peru was the next adventure, and as conflicted as I was about leaving Ecuador, I was looking forward to Peru immensely, and being able to see how different and similar it was from Ecuador.
Once we landed, we were taken by bus to our respective homestays via the organization Llama Education, through which we´d be volunteering and taking Spanish classes for the next two weeks. Spanish classes were at Maria´s house, an amazing woman who is the founder and director of Llama Education spanish classes, and who is a ferociously driven, intelligent, actually-really-intimidating-if-you-didn´t-know-her woman. Example: When a taxi driver told her his price of 15 soles, she responded (translation), “15! That´s impossible! I would pay eight, ten maximum, fifteen is out of the question. There´s no way I´m paying more than ten.” She went on this way for a full two minutes. The cabbie agreed on ten, I was sufficiently impressed.
The other week–my first week–would be spent helping to build an additional bedroom and hang out and play with the girls at El Alberghe, a girl´s home for girls who come from abusive, impoverished households. The home currently houses 14 girls, from age 3 (Anjelina) to Ruth (whose 17th birthday we got to celebrate this past Thursday!). They give the girls a place to live, three meals a day, and and education fully paid for even through university, if the girl shows the desire and motivation to go, but more than that, the house acts not as an orphanage, but as a family. The children call the female caretakers Mama, including Sandra, the wonderful house coordinator, and Diana, her assistant. They even call Caleigh and I Mama sometimes, though more often, hermana–sister–which they call each other. The Papa of the household is the founder of the home, an evangelical pastor named Rick, who told us of the calling he felt from God to travel to Peru and help out in any way he could, eventually founding the home because of the high need for alternative housing for disadvantaged girls in the community. The organization is truly amazing, and I was excited to get to volunteer there for a week–but I didn´t know I´d actually get to stay there until a little later.
The twelve Carpe Students´ homestays became a bit frazzled when families were unable to accomodate at the last minute, and though many received their original placements, Caleigh and I were in the group that was still up in the air. We got to take a nap, and then we met Rick, who brought us to the girls´ home for dinner. He then asked us if we would like to stay in the home, since there were two empty beds, and Caleigh and I agreed that we definitely wanted to! So the next night, we moved into our new home.
While Caleigh took Spanish classes with five other Carpe students, Sarah, Yael, Claire, Connor, Madelieine, Ryan, and I began the construction of the new bedroom, which would be added onto the back of the home. The home came with the walls already nailed together, and so we put up the walls and began the process of fitting, cutting, and nailing in drywall for insulation and more security. This was a long process, interlaced with many trips to Maestro, the hardware store, and the fruit stand, where we would get food for breaks. Some days, we just played with the little kids for the whole time, Jeffrey, Anna Paula, and Anjelina. By the end of the week, we had finished the drywalling, had mudded the cracks within and between the pieces, and had solidified and attached the roof pieces to waterproof the inside. It was bittersweet to have to leave in the middle of the project and let the next group take over when it felt like we´d just gotten into the swing of things, but it was time for us to learn some more Spanish!
Another different aspect of Peru is the public transportation system, the combi. They are buses that run up and down streets, dropping people off and picking them up for around 70 sentavos, and most of the time, it´s little cramped but doable. A few times–especially around 9 AM and 6 PM–the combis get so full the people are squished in with no wiggle room, some even hanging out the sides! Suffice to say, it´s been an adventure. I certainly have enjoyed it!
Earlier in the week, we took a combi to go see the Plaza de Armas, the beautiful city center of Arequipa, which holds a huge Catholic church and many other churches of various denominations that we got to tour today. There was a wedding happening in one of them that we got to sit in on! We also visited Alpaca Mundo, where we petted alpacas and learned more about the art of shearing, processing, and weaving with alpaca hair. To end the day, we ate amazing cebiche at a really fancy restaurant. It was a bit of a difficult time rest-wise, since we had gotten back very late the previous night from a concert of Pedro Suarez Vertiz, a famous Peruvian singer! All in all, it´s been an action-packed time thus far in Arequipa, and between combi rides, ice cream runs, and playing with small children, there´s also been time to take in this new place, which is really so different from Ecuador, and so wonderful because of it.
