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.