Monday, August 24, 2009

Hogar Esperanza

Hogar Esperanza is an orphanage that was started a few years ago just outside of Trujillo. It's a wonderful place that provides a home for kids who's parents are either unable to take care of them or have just abandoned them.
For the past few weeks I have been going out there on Saturdays to hang out with the kids. It is so much fun, and I'm learning lots of Spanish from them too.

Enjoy a few pics of the cute kids.


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Hola!

Well friends, I've been in Trujillo for almost three weeks now. It feels like longer. Moving to a foreign country is often like that. Life is so different here, and it makes life back home feel like a distant memory. But, I'm loving it here.

Living here has been an adventure so far. I live in a tall white apartment building with 4 other girls on the busiest corner in Trujillo. (Our apartment is lovingly nicknames Casa Blanca.) There is traffic noise in the back ground constantly. Outside our front door I can catch a cab, micro-bus, or collectivo (public transportation like none other. six people crammed into one small car) to any part of the city. I can walk across the street to a wonderful little bakery and buy empanadas and sweet breads for breakfast and pick up fresh squeezed fruit juice of any kind imaginable from an old man with a bicycle cart on the corner. Not too far away is the Plaza de Armas where all the locals gather in the evenings to mingle and enjoy the night air. They often have music groups playing. It's a wonderful place to people watch. Today we had a scheduled power outage. So the whole city center was without electricity for most of the day. It's just one more thing to adjust to. So, Trujillo is a busy, developing city full of life and excitement. It has taken some getting used to living here in Trujillo, but I am enjoying it.

This week we (the interns) are beginning our specific jobs. Meaning: we will be serving in various ways in each of the three churches that are supported by Peru Mission. We will be teaching English classes, helping in a small library, assisting in sewing classes, working with the micro-financing organization, teaching music lessons, and working in the medical clinic. I will be teaching English at one of the churches. Today we are going to the community to spread the word and promote the classes, and tomorrow I will start teaching. I'm super excited about it. I'm looking forward to helping anyone who wants to learn English and gain a useful job skill, and I am very excited to help connect people in the community to the church. God is at work in Trujillo. There is a lot happening here, and I am blessed to get to be a part of it all.

On a side note: I am taking Spanish lessons. It's so fun to learn a new language, and hard, but mostly fun. I am very glad to be getting formal language instruction. It's frustrating to not be able to communicate with people. Pray that I will learn Spanish quickly.

For all my friends reading this blog: I miss you terribly. I think of you often. If anyone would like to send me letters (which I would love to receive and would cherish forever) my address is
Av. EspaƱa 121 3 piso
Trujillo, Peru, South America