April Birthdays (Nat)

So this week I mastered how to explain Go Fish to the kids. The little girls wanna play all the time they can't get enough of it. Neither can I haha it's so funny to play with them. We had a huge birthday party for the kids who had birthdays in April. We volunteers decorated the entire place...which mind you, was a chore. We had to make our own streamers out of this weird tissue paper stuff. We cut out letters of all the names of the birthday kids to put up on the wall with a big happy birthday sign. It took like two days to set up, I was proud of it! At home something like that would take like 3 hours but here, we gotta make allll the decorations from scratch. It demands creativity haha. So that was fun. The birthday kids all got presents that were sent from the States. Then every single kid got a smaller present like crayons and coloring books they were SO happy. To be completely honest, these orphans are living the high life here in Peru. I mean, it's all relative of course, but they are well taken care of at the Aldea.

Fanny & Sofia (Preston)

It's been another great week. I'm fighting a nasty cold right now, but besides that, everything is perfect. The kids are wonderful. They do a good job of keeping us busy and tired.

This week I have really gotten to know Fanny and Sofia, the twins of the aldea. Even though I have been spending so much time with them I still cant consistently tell them apart until I learn who's wearing what clothes. That being said, I don't feel too bad because they can never get my name right. They have decided that my name is Crespo and no matter how many times I remind them, they always revert back to Crespo. They really are great sisters and spend all of their time together. They love playing tag or monster and are experts at planning sneak attacks from behind.

This week I ate at Casa 5 with the teenage boys. I was a little bit apprehensive to start because Casa 5 is quite notorious among the interns for being a difficult group. I ended up really enjoying getting to know them and have some pretty decent conversations. I tried to get a little guitar class started, but it didnt happen this week, Perhaps next week.

Anyways, all is well here. I am loving Peru more and more every day. Thanks for sending me out and have a great week!

Preston

P.S. Another post about Fanny and Sofia and here and here!

Jennifer & Luis (Tanner)

So it was another amazing week at the Aldea. Here's a little update on the kids

Jennifer - Jennifer is possibly one of the most loving kids in the aldea. She was actually one of the first kids I met because we picked her up from her school on my way to the Aldea. Whenever any of the volunteers walks through the doors into the orphanage you will hear Jennifer scream at the top of her lungs and see her throw her arms up in the air. After that she comes running towards you to give you a big hug. You have to watch out though becaucse she gets a lot of momentum going and you can end up on the ground or in a lot of pain if you don't brace for impact.

Luis/Lucho - Luis is Antoina's son. He's only two years old but he's the strongest two year old i've ever met. I don't know how but he seems to know how to box already. He has a huge smile and loves to throw the ball around.

Tanner

Casa 2 Children

Hey everyone!

Before I even get started, I made a mistake. Stanley does not have a child named Luis.

Anyway, it has been another great week at the orphanage. The mornings get lonely with all the kids at school, but the afternoons are always filled with fun.

This week I ate lunch with Casa 2, which is mostly filled with younger boys. It was a blast. I helped them with their homework a lot this week, which was a lot of fun. Everyone I interviewed this week is from Casa 2.

Gian Paulo Daniel Briones Nascimento more commonly known as Daniel, is a hoot. He is incredibly active and smart. He was born in Brazil and spent the first couple years of his life speaking portuguese before he came to the aldea. Unfortunately, he was unable to pick up spanish and now he is unable to speak either language. The good news is that it doesn't hold him back from making his voice heard. He is a great communicator considering the language barrier. He loves the swings. They dont know his birthday.

Miguel Angel Laredo Ramirez is new here in the aldea. He and his brother victor arrived only a few days before I did. Because they are so new, we don't know too much information about them. He is probably about 4 years old. Miguel is one of the most lovable kids here in the aldea. He is fearless and likes to go higher in the swings than anyone else. When I asked him what he likes to do, he told me that he likes to sweep. When I asked him what he wanted to do when he was older, he told me he wanted to be a janitor. He would be a very friendly janitor.

Pedro Ediberto Carrillon Cesias is 13 years old. Like a lot of young teens, he loves sports and dreams of being a soccer player. He is a very hard worker. Every time I walk by his house he is cleaning something. He likes computers and working in sugar cane fields.

Ruben Alexander Malca Palacios was born on the 16th of July, 1999. He is the oldest of 3 brothers. He is a good older brother and always is taking care of his brothers. All of the Malca Palacios boys define boyhood. Ruben likes to play with tops and ride his bike. He wants to be a police man.

Jose Antonio Malca Palacios is 9 years old. He was born on the 6th of March, 2001. He is the funny guy here at the aldea. He is quick to make a joke. He is very athletic. I have a hard time chasing him down when we play games. He likes to play tops just like his older brother. He also likes marbles. He told me that when he grows up he wants to be a soldier.

Walter Benjamin Malca Palacios is 8 years old. Benjamin is more relaxed than his brothers, but he still plays all day long, every day. His favorite game is Kiwi. He likes to dance and dreams of being a soldier with Jose Antonio.

Jhonatan Jair Portilla Espinoza has got his head on straight. He loves studying, having a clean house and being abnormally friendly. He loves the tias (the caretakers) and is a big help around the house. He is 10 years old and is an aspiring soccer star.

Prisila Rosario Mori Vega is 16 years old and was born on valentines day, 1994. She is the oldest in the house and does a great job keeping the boys in line. She loves going to school and hopes to do something with computers in her future. She doesn't have a favorite sport because she loves them all. She loves love songs.

Piero Cordova Limay is 5 years old, but we don't know exactly what day he was born. He is quite the character. Curiosity is his defining characteristic. He always has his hands in something. He doesn't talk much, but you know he is there. He loves the swings.

Well, I think that between all of us we have covered just about all the kids in the aldea. I love spending time with them.

Have a great week!

Preston

Life in Peru (Dan at Aldea)

Hello everyone!

Life is great here in the great land of Peru. I got a little sick this week, but maybe it's just a painful way to lose weight. At the Aldea they serve a lot of food every meal, and it's tough to turn it down. That means that just maintaining my weight will be difficult here and my dream to lose a few pounds for real will be especially difficult. I have been running however, and we found this great trail above the houses that is on the side of the mountains. Except for the ever vicious dogs, its a great run that gives a really good view of the valley. I'm really glad I have Natalie and occasionally Preston and Tanner to run with. Even in this beautiful country, it's still easier to have someone running at your side.

I'm not sure if I told that I carved a baseball bat, but I made a rudimentary bat that is still slightly curved so we can play baseball with the kids of the Aldea. It is awesome! (If I do say so my self) We have also been playing some volleyball, which is a favorite of many of the girls here. Another great game is tree tag. There are some great mango trees in the center of the aldea that have great branches for climbing and 'monkeying around.' We play tag while staying in the trees, it's tough to get the little ones because even the small high branches will hold them just fine.

We are working right now on our travel stuff to Machu Picchu and then Iquitos. We now have tickets from Lima to Cuzco for the first week of July. It's about 100 dollars round trip for the plane, and about 25 bucks for the bus down to Lima. I am really excited to go the Sacred Valley and see all that stuff. After that, we are planning to go to iquitos which is a town in the Peruvian amazon. I'm pumped, getting the tickets has been a challenge. I'll have to get some malaria pills those few days, but it'll be well worth it. I've just heard so many great things about Machu Picchu and Cuzco that I'm just pumped to see everything.

I also picked up a panflute this past week, it's not great, but I got it for only 18 soles, so that's okay. I really do want to get and play a churrango. It's a 10 string oversized ukulele that is just awesome. You play 2 strings at a time so every note has harmony. Right now we (the band we created 'Lost in Aldea') is practicing the Hawaiian guy's version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow." Tanner has a uke, and I have a panflute solo at the end of the amazing song. I'm pumped to play it.

We had a great Saturday night talk where we wrote down 100 goals that we want to do in our lives. It was tough to get things down, and I only have 75 written right now, but it really made me think about the important and the not so important things I want to do.

Anyway, I think we're going to Chan Chan in the morning, which is a world heritage site near Trujillo of pre-inca ruins. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for all the support stateside, and hope all is well with you!
-Dan

Meet Renso (Lacey)

We have started taking the toddlers and babies in the mornings. This way, the tias have more time to cook and clean and we get to help the babies! This has become some of my favorite parts of the day! We played with Renso this week. He is the only baby in the casa 5 (about 8 months old). Casa 5 are all older boys and they really dote on Renso.( I just heard he is being moved to casa 2). He does not really have a lot of strength in his legs and we have been trying to improve that. He is just the sweetest kid. The biggest brown eyes you have ever seen! I wish I could take him home! I wish I knew more of his story. But I hope we can continue to help him. He is definitely my favorite.

This is a photo of me and Renso. :)

More Aldea Children (Preston)

(Victor and Miguel - see their bio below - they are new to the Aldea...)

Hey everyone!
This week has been a lot of fun. I'm getting the hang of their names and getting to know them on a more personal level which has been very rewarding. We have had a few good activities this week like painting one of the walls with a tree and then using the kids hand prints as the leaves. There was a group from the local Baptist church that put on a presentation for the kids and brought them lots of gifts. Some of the kids have troubles saying my name so they call me "Fresco" which translates to fresh. I kind of like it. All the interns here aldea have been collecting information on some of the kids that are here. Here is the information that I managed to gather from the kids.

Victor Manuel Mun~oz Ramirez is new to the Aldea and arrived a few days before I did. That doesn't stop him from being the most outgoing child in the Aldea. We still don't know much about him like when he was born, but he claims to be 8 years old. He loves piggy back rides and any form of play. He has a younger brother that came with him named Miguel.

Evelin Edith Arenas Llaro was born on April 8th, 1996 and is 14 years old. She is always kind and a great help around the house where she is staying. She likes to jump rope, play volleyball and run. She also really likes to play computer games.

Dina Cruz Garcia was born December 1st, 2003 and is 6 years old. She is a little reserved, but often times her 6 year old mind gets the best of her and she is just as loud as the rest of the kids. She is always ready for creative activities like painting or drawing. She is an aspiring singer. She is one of 4 sisters here at the aldea.

Elvia Marleny Sanchez Garcia was born on November 4th, 1995 and is 14 years old. Music is her passion. She loves to sing and her favorite music is reggaeton. She has 3 sisters here in the aldea: Dina, Israeli and Daniela. She's a good sister figure for them and also does a good job of taking care of the younger kids that are in her house.

Stanley Enwin Mora Sevillano is 14 years old and was born on the 23 of October, 1995. She must have a little conquistador blood in her because her dream is to explore the world. She loves music, but is rather picky with her selection because she only likes romantic "ballads". She has an adorable son named Luis.

Eliza Elizabet Carranza Reyes was born on the 13th of July, 1993 and is 16 years old, making her the oldest one in her house. She has a younger sister living with her named Antonina. She likes to play volleyball and listen to romantic music.

Next week I will send you more information. Thanks for everything!
Preston

The Children of the Aldea (Natalie)

Hello! Here are a few bios of the children in Aldea:

Sara Maribell is a 16 year old girl who is incredibly smart. Her birthday is August 14th. She's working hard at school learning English and is surprising good at it. Her favorite subject in school is English as well. However, she wants to be a nurse when she gets older. She is sort of a tom boy and fits in well with the boys because of how athletic she is. While at the same time, her down to earth personality makes it really easy to talk to her. She is a beautiful girl with dimples in her cheeks when she smiles.

Mercelith Sanches Saucedo is another 16 year old girl at the Aldea. Her birthday is June 5th. Her favorite color is purple. When asked what she likes the best about the Aldea she said she loves having lots of friends. She is very social and is always smiling about something. She is a great dancer and enjoys that as well. She is not afraid to perform as proven in a big concert we put on for the kids last week. I was impressed! She also loves any kind of music. She enjoys soccer and volleyball as well. We she is older, she wants to be a hairdresser.

Leticia is a 17 year old girl. Her birthday is the 26th of November. She enjoys tennis and volleyball. Her favorite colors are black and white and she absolutely loves reading books. Currently, she attends the cosmetology school in Trujillo. As much as she enjoys doing that, she says that she'd rather be a teacher for children one day. After she told me that, I've been able to observe how cute and patient she is with the younger children in her casa. I couldn't believe how patient she was even with me as I spoke to her in broken Spanish. She has been really helpful and probably one of the first kids I go to when I need help with my Spanish.

Antonina is a 5 year old girl at the Aldea. She is the most adorable girl I have ever seen. Her dark eyes squint so much when she smiles and she is such a tease. She is ALWAYS smiling. Not once have I seen her throw a fit, or pout, She's got the cutest little haircut and wears little dresses almost everyday. Her favorite color is red and she loves noodles with chicken. She is loves to paint, play with her dolls, and when asked what she wants to do when she gets older: homework. So cute! Her older sister Elisa lives at the orphanage as well.

Sophia and Fanny are 5 year old twins at the Aldea. We volunteers sure get a kick out of them. They are two of the toughest little girls here. Just like all sisters, they pull hair and kid around with each other, but unlike most sisters, they rarely cry about it! They love to tease each other, and are always laughing. They technically are not identical twins, but they sure look a lot a like. It took a few days for me to tell them apart. Both of them share the favorite food of sweet potatoes and bananas. Eating dinner with them is so funny because if one gets up from the table, the other will grab food from her plate and just laugh while she's eating it. They each love the attention of teasing. I love it. It brings lots of laughter to this place. Both are responsible as well. Whenever the Tia asks something of them whether it's to drink their milk or shine their shoes, they do it without complaints. Sophia's favorite color is yellow and Fanny's favorite color is red.

More will be coming!!--Natalie

P.S. Pictures attached are as follows: 1) Alfredo with bowl 2) Miguel sitting 3) 2 year old Lewis and I

Meet Kevin (Chris and Kimball at El Bichito)

We have had a crazy 1st week! At first it took some time for the kids to warm up to us, but now we think they are getting used to the program. The first activity we did only 7 kids stayed but by the end of the week 30 participated. The first day we went around telling them why we had come and how long we were staying. One of the first kids that warmed up to us was Kevin. Kevin is a great kid. He has a great spirit about him. He's 12 years old and he is in 6th grade. He is really bright and takes a lot of initiative in the activities. We found out from Feliciana that his father abandoned him and his mother works far away. He lives with his grandparents and comes to center every day after school. For one of the activities we had the kids draw what they wanted to be when they grew up and Kevin drew himself as the Presidente de la Republica, or the President of the Republic of Peru. It was so awesome to see the kids imagining what they wanted to be. Some wanted to be singers, other policemen. I know that Kevin has great potential and we are excited to help many more like him.

Homework with the kids (Chris and Kimball at El Bichito)

Hello Team,

I just wanted to email letting you know we are alive and well. Thanks for helping us get all set up. Obispo Rebasas is awesome! He is one of the nicest men I've ever met. He helped us get set up with la hermana Ruby in Banos he also helped us get our bags that TACA had lost and he also took us to the supermarket el Quinde to get some things.

Today we went to el Bichito and met Feliciana and her sister. We helped with lunch and also introduced ourselves to the kids. We let them know why we are here and asked if any would like to stay after to get homework help. I wasn't expecting much the first day but 7 kids stayed afterwards for help. There were so many, we couldn't help them each individually but Kimball with her awesome tutor math SAT skills combined with my Spanish, we were able to figure it out. Also I helped four kids, Kevin, Rocio, Rosemary, and Mavali with reading. Hermano Rebasas says we should focus a lot more on reading with the kids.

Tomorrow we plan to get with some of the same kids to do a drawing game (and continue with homework). Also, the best experience we had so far was with Feliciana's son, Alvieri, who is only 6. He is soooo motivated to study. We helped him for like an hour and half doing all his homework after the other kids left. By the end he was really understanding his math homework. He loves to draw and is little bit of a perfectionist, he would erase any crayon pencil outside the lines! It was really great to feel we helped him in so little time. We have pics but we´ll send you a more detailed email next week for the blog.

Thanks so much,

Chris and Kimball

This Week (Dan at Aldea)

Hello all!

I wrote this sweet long email that just got completely deleted... AHHHH!

This is probably going to be a quicker version of it. Right now I am in Huanchaco, a smaller beach town just outside Trujillo. (The Aldea where I live is about 30 minutes into the mountains from Trujillo) We stayed last night in a small cheap little hostel with some other gringos, some from the US, Holland and Canada. There are so many more gringos in this town than in Trujillo or near the Aldea. Monday and part of Tuesdays are going to be our weekends normally, where we can go to town and get on the internet. Mondays and Tuesdays are the days when the kids at the Aldea are too busy with homework and school is longer, so we don't have as much time with them. Saturday and Sunday are the days that we have the most time with kids.

Yesterday I ate ceviche for the first time which is mostly raw fish with lemon sauce and other seafood. It's a favorite of many of the kids in the Aldea, and they have it everywhere here in Huanchaco. It is tasty! Probably my favorite thing so far. But then again I love all the seafood.

We had a fiesta on Friday done by a local christian church where they did a bunch of songs and dances and a puppet show. It was great, and the kids, especially the younger ones had a blast. It is still really difficult to manage so many young kids and they do go nuts easily. They're great, just rambunctious. This past week I ate in casa 10, which is full of girls, except little Alfredo. He's 4 years old and his sisters are in the house. The Tia in the house, Gloria is amazing with the kids, and helps me with my Spanish.

I am going to get a star chart for the southern hemisphere because the stars are great but unknown. There is so little light pollution when the skies are clear. We're also going to get a hotplate to cook eggs and stuff on in our own house from time to time. Our stove has no gas to it, and it would be great to have. I am also getting a panflute or a charrango (a peruvian guitar) so that I can play in our newly formed band, "Lost in Aldea." We have already sung a cover of "Hey Ya" by Outkast and a version of "Let it Be" that I changed the words to as a going away for our two English roommates Beth and Georgia who are leaving the Aldea after almost a full year.

more bios (Tanner at Aldea)

Kristell - Kristell is another very energetic 10 year old girl who is always smiling. She said that she loves living in the aldea because of the houses they live in. She said she loves the tias and the other kids in the aldea. Kristell loves to dance and whenever the aldea has a talent show or anything like that she is always in it at least twice doing some sort of dance. She also said that she loved the library because it was a place where she could go to learn. Her favorite subject in school is religion and when she grows up she said that she wants to be a doctor so that she can help the sick and deliver babies.

Luz Marina - At 12 years old, Luz marina is one of the older kids in casa 8 and acts like a mom to the rest of the kids. She is always helping to clean the house and getting the other kids ready for school. She loves all of her classes at school, especially her reliegion class. When she grows up she said that she really wants to have a family. She loves volleyball, music (she is always singing), dancing, and art.

Monica - Monica is 14 years old. She was born in Peru in a city called Huamchaco. She said that she loved to listen to music and sing(she had two solos in the mothers day concert). She said she loved staying in the aldea because of its natural beauty and because the Tias are so kind. Ana Yureca - Ana is 11 years old. She said that she loves all her subjects in school especially communication. She loves to be around the other kids in the aldea. She said that when she grows up she wants to be a teacher because she loves to teach.

more about the kids - Tanner at Aldea

Hi laura!

Manuel - Manuel, a 6 year old boy, is the youngest child staying in a house full of girls. He loves playing with his toy cars which he uses to help teach the volunteers spanish. He'll point to a car and say, "que color es?" and you'll have to tell him what color the car is in spanish. His favorite food to eat is seviche(raw fish). At school his favortie subject is math and his favorite part about school are the swing sets. His favorite part about living in the Aldea is how clean the houses always are.

Lus Mila - Lus Mila is an 11 year old girl. She is always the first one to greet the new volunteers by running up to them and giving them big hugs. Some of her favorite things to do are to play with her toys and to watch the television. She is another one of the kids that is always teaching me/the other volunteers spanish. During mealtimes she will point to objects all over the room say them in spanish and tell you to repeat them.

Brayelyn - Brayelyn is the 11 years old and is the older sister of manuel. She enjoys playing volleyball, listening to music, drawing, painting, and watching scary movies. She loves just about everything about her school but her favorite subject is math. She loves everything about the aldea and said that when she grows up that she wants to be a doctor because she loves to help other people. She can always be found helping the tia around the house by cleaning and taking care of her brother Brayelyn.

Katherine- Katherine is 9 years old. She is one of the most energetic and outgoing kids in the Aldea. While I was asking the kids questions and writing down their answers she said that my handwriting wasn't pretty and she took my notebook and started wrtiting everything down for me. Her favortie subject in school is religion, her favorite color is blue and she loves to climb trees and dance. She said that when she grows up that she wants to be a police officer so that she catch criminals and drug dealers and put them in jail.

a few short bios (Dan from Aldea)

Here's a few little bios of some kids for the blog.

Alfredo Hoshua is 4 years old and loves to cuddle. He smiles and gives great hugs. Papas fritas or french fries are his favorite food. He loves to play a game called Kiwi with the other children, a game of tag with some unique variations. His other favorite activities are to play on the swing and watch his favorite show Ben 10. One his secret talents is to draw, but he doesn't care to share his awesome drawings too much.

Estefani Araujo SaaVedra is a seven year old chica who loves to climb and jump on people's shoulders. She has an older sister at the Aldea whose name is Jenifer. Her favorite food is Seviche, a raw fish dish that is absolutely delicious. Kiwi is her favorite game (as it is for many of the children) and she loves to play with dogs. She loves Dora the Explorar and many other cartoons. She is always smiling and is very friendly.

There is a sweet little shy girl in the orphanage named Blanca Tamani Briceno. She is a tiny six year old who smiles a lot once she is comfortable with you. She is the has 3 other siblings at the Aldea including her younger brother Alfredo. She absolutely loves spaghetti with meatballs and with ceviche being a close second. She likes volleyball and singing and dancing, but when she grows up she really wants to be a painter. She loves to have a pencil in her tiny hand. Her favorite movies are princess movies, preferably Barbie princess movies, and the song she loves to dance to is "Chulale." She is a great kid.More will be coming.-Dan

First Update from Dan (Aldea)

Hello everyone!

Just my first update from Peru. It´s for my family mainly, but if you wanted some more information then here it is.

I´m in Trujillo right now at an internet cafe. Trujillo is about a 30-40 minute bus ride from the Aldea Infantil, (we just call it the Aldea).

It has been amazing! I arrived last monday night in Lima and went with Zara Lopez to her home. I spent the next day Tuesday going around Lima a little and spending time with her young son Joshua. That night I spent on a bus to Trujillo where I met up with Carlos´ family and another intern Natalie. Then we went to the Aldea crammed in a small pick up truck. The Aldea has been awesome. There are two other volunteers here from before, from England! They´ve been here for almost a year, Bethany and Georgia who is from Sheffield. They´ve been showing us the ropes and it´s great.

We live in Casa 3 and there are 10 casas in the Aldea. Only some are used, but one of the us gringos eat in each casa for meals. I was in casa 9 last week and now I´m in casa 10. The Tias do the cooking in the casas and organize the kids in their casas. I room with Tanner from Chicago and Preston from Canada/Texas/...

My normal day is waking up around 7, then going for a 30 minute run with Natalie on the main road. Then we spend some time with the few kids who are new to the aldea and don´t go to school yet. We push them on the swing (colombio) and play games, and do lots of arts and crafts stuff in our casa. ¿Quieren pintar ahora? The kids always ask us to push them on the swing. They also like to dance a lot, and Bethany and Georgia have been working for a long time on a big show that we did yesterday, Monday. We sang some songs and danced as well. Beth and Georgia are going home soon so this was a big hurrah for them. I got a lot of video of it.

Back to the day. The niños come back from school around 1 pm and we eat lunch. Then we help with homework or play futbol or an awesome game called kiwi, or learn spanish and teach english. Those books have been great that your sent Mom. It´s tough to keep track of everything because the kids like to snatch anything they can get their hands on. I really to love the kids though. I´m beginning to get all the kids names down, probably at 80% right now. In the evening at 6 or 7, we have dinner and talk more. After that its time for us to chill in our own casa. We all get along really well, and it´s been great. Church on Sunday was great. It costs between 2.50 and 3 soles which is about 1 dollar to take the combio (bus) into Trujillo.

Anyway, it´s been great! There are a ton of bugs, and my legs are covered with mosca bites. We boil our water for drinking and we wash our own clothes by hand. Also, there are no toilet seats, so I only use our toilet because I know it´s clean. Thanks for the adapter, it´s been used a lot by everyone here. I like the sugar cane, and the normal rice and chicken is great. I´m really trying to eat carefully because it´s very easy to gain weight here. (Another reason to run every morning) Breath How is everyone stateside? Mom and Dad, thanks for pushing/nudging me towards this. It is so amazing! Love you all! and please share this with others!

Daniel el travieso(they call me that here as well)

My First Week (Preston at Aldea)

Hey everyone!

My first week here in Peru has been amazing. The kids are so much fun. I'm still working on learning all of their names. It's tough because there are so many kids and I'm terrible with names, but I'm making progress.

This week we put on a little show with all of the kids in the aldea. Pretty much everyone was involved so it was a lot of fun. I'm glad I brought my guitar because we used it a lot in the show.

The children that I have gotten to know the best are Victor, Miriam and Daniel. Victor is extremely active and always ready to play. I can't sit down without him trying to climb on my shoulders for a piggy back ride. Daniel is a lot like Victor in the sense that he is always ready to play. He is very friendly with the interns. I got to know Miriam because she sat next to me at the dinner table in Casa 10. She is a little shy, but has a little spark in her that comes out from time to time.

Anyways, I'm really enjoying my time here. I'm extremely tired at the end of every day, but that's exactly what I wanted.

Have a good week!
Preston