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