After surviving the infamous 10 hour night bus from Ayacucho on Thursday night, we finally made it to Lima! What an awesome city. We stayed at a hostel called Kokopelli, and it was the perfect place to be. The hostel was in Miraflores, a great neighborhood that not only is near the beach, but has a park, a grocery store, and a Starbucks(!)—a bit different from Ayacucho, to say the least. Our first day there (Friday), Laura, Natalie and I went to the Lima CCS house to ask about the possibility of transferring to Lima if the strike in Ayacucho continued. Their house was beautiful, and we apparently hit it just right because there was home-made Thai food served for lunch, as well as pear pie and ice cream to celebrate one of the Cooks’ birthday. So delicious! They were very receptive to the idea of us transferring there, but the CCS HQ in New York wasn't so keen on the idea... It was worth a try, though!
After lunch we headed to the beach. It turned out to be a great surf spot, and although I didn’t surf myself, it was fun to watch.
What a view.
In the "Parque de los Amantes" (Lover's Park)
Parque de los Amantes
At the beach!
Sunday we headed to the historic center of Lima—the Plaza de las Armas—and spent a couple of hours walking around. The buildings are all huge, colonial, and gorgeous.
Plaza de las Armas
For our last night in Lima, we treated ourselves to dinner at a restaurant called Mangos in the Lorcomar mall. Since Lima essentially sits on a gigantic cliff with the ocean below, the mall was built into the side of the cliff, allowing all the restaurants an amazing view of the ocean. I ate my risotto, sipped a Pisco sour, and watched the sunset. So even though we had to say goodbye to both Lindsay and Amelia, overall it was a great weekend.
Dinner at Mangos
(Left to Right: Heather, Lindsay, Natalie, Mike, Laura, Kaitlan)
A night on the town.
(Left to Right: Heather, Me, Natalie, Laura)
Although exhausted from the night bus back to Ayacucho, we did go to placement on Monday. It was International Women’s Day (which we are turning into International Women's Week), and all of us went to the Prison to celebrate with the ladies. Marisol and the prison management have organized a different activity for every day this week, starting with a "women's empowerment seminar" of sorts on Monday, and a talent show on tuesday. The prison ladies LOVED it. It is great for them not only to have fun, but also to feel important--in even the smallest of ways--as their life in prison is very monotonous and depressing.
At the women's empowerment seminar
The first dancing act of the talent show.
Half of the women dressed up as men for the dance, it was hilarious!
Another dancing act
Oshin, one of our favorites, did a solo dance with some really fancy footwork!
This lady's whole act consisted of dressing up in a silly costume and grabbing the only "gringito" in the prison to dance with... Poor Mike! Laura was very proud.
Niños dressed up to dance with their mothers, so adorable!!
On a very different note, three exciting things have happened in the past few days: 1) We got six new volunteers, 2) I got my MCAT scores back, and I’m very satisfied with them, and 3) Preston was accepted into UW Law School!!!!! I’m so happy for him! CONGRATS, PRES!!!
Although I told some of you that the strike was finally over, no surprise, it actually isn't. Since it's looking like we won't EVER get to work in clinics, we are starting a "hygiene project" in which we're planning on going to schools, wawa wasis (daycares), and the prison to give basic health lessons. It should be fun!
Although I told some of you that the strike was finally over, no surprise, it actually isn't. Since it's looking like we won't EVER get to work in clinics, we are starting a "hygiene project" in which we're planning on going to schools, wawa wasis (daycares), and the prison to give basic health lessons. It should be fun!
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