Casas 2 & 5 (Tanner)

So this week in Trujillo was the first time that I went to the hospital. Two of the other volunteers and myself accompanied Senora Marta to the hospital to help keep an eye on the kids. One of the kids that came with us, Piero, was quite a handful. He is only around five years old, but he is one of the most agile five year olds that I know. I almost got lost in the hospital once while I was trying to catch up with him.

One thing that has happened in the aldea recently that I am very happy about is that the older boys, the ones who live in casa 5, are beginning to open up to us. At first they would keep their distance from us, but now I feel that they have opened up to us. They now come over to our house and just want to hang out with us, which to me is a huge step forward.

I'm eating casa 2 this week which is my favorite house to eat in, because of all the boys seem like brothers to me. It;s my favorite house to eat in because it seems like there is never a moment of peace in the house. Someone is always either screaming about something or getting beat up, and things like that...basically there is never a dull moment which I love. I was talking to the tia in that house, Tia Carla, and I was explaing to her why I loved to be in that house so much and she expressed her similar feelings and said that it was her calling in life to be taking care of these boys.

We've been playing a whole lot of volleyball with the kids. They are amazing volleyball players! Crystell and Marina are particularly good, they hit balls that I don't even consider hitting because they are coming so fast, but then again I'm kind of a whimp :)

This week the U.S. played England in the world cup and we got to watch on TV in casa 5. Preston, Dan, Kenny, and myself were all cheering for the U.S. to win while Miguel and Beth were cheering for England. We had bought soda for everyone while we watched the game and told Miguel that if he switched teams we would give him more coke so he switched sides leaving Beth all on her own!

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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.

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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.

Quick First Note from Tanner (Aldea)

(note: we have a new round of interns both at the Aldea and El Bichito...their stories are great...stay tuned!)

i´m having the most amazing summer ever!

I was very nervous at first coming to the aldea but the kids made all of my fears go away. On the car ride to the orphanage we picked up Jennifer and the first thing she did when i got in the car was give me a hug. That is the general feeling in all the kids, they are just so loving. My first few hours in the aldea i was pushing some of the kids on the swings in the playground and was really thirsty and i asked one of the kids, maunuel, where to get drinks and he took my hand and took me to one of the casas to get water. Manuel is definetly one of my favorites.
sorry there is not a lot in this email, i´lll do better next week
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