Well, I’ve missed a few weeks.  Everything has been going just fine, I’ve just been so busy!  A couple weeks ago I looked at the calendar and panicked because I realized I would be leaving soon and I still had so many things I wanted to do.  So it’s been an action packed few weeks.

I visited 2 different ruins sites.  The first was just outside of Lima called Pachacamac.  A group of volunteers and I went together.  We took combi-s the whole way- a crowded three hour trip, but it was worth it.  Pachacamac is a large site that was originally built by the Huari and then occupied by the Inca.  The site was great and in the town nearby we ate Chicarrones which is a pork dish- rico!

I’ve taught dozens of classes- English and Art- and for the most part they have been successful.  A couple Art classes were a little rough because there were so many kids, but other than that it has been great.

A couple weeks ago I took a couple days off and went up to Trujillo to get a taste of the Northern coast and to see the Moche ruins, Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna.  The city was really beautiful and clean and the food was cheap!  I received a few compliments on my Spanish and a couple ‘I can’t believe someone from the U.S. can speak another language!’ so that was fun.  The Moche ruins were so amazing.  Huaca de la Luna is the only one that has been excavated and therefore the only one I could walk around.  La Luna has several different levels and still has the original painting on the reliefs and friezes- totally beautiful.  I was so happy to be able to visit there because I had read so much about these sites.  I had hoped I would also be able to visit the nearby site of Chan Chan which is also supposed to be great but there was a transportation strike that day so I couldn’t get a bus to go there- next time!

Since then, my mother and a family friend, Jacob Cole, came to visit.  My mother is on the board of LLI so it was an important visit for everyone here and I think it went well.  Jacob is studying film in Chicago at Roosevelt and came to shoot scenes of Huaycan, LLI’s work and film interviews with all of us and participants of our programs.  We all had a lot of fun filming and entertaining our guests and we cannot wait to see the finished video!  Thanks to Jacob and my mom!

This morning we had a really big day.  Today is the birthday of Ate Vitarte (188 years) and there was a huge celebration here in Huaycan.  Senor Paz, an official from the Municipality, has been helping us with some projects in Zone Z for the last month and he invited us to join the celebration today.  So we all went down to the Plaza and there was a huge crowd of people and in the middle was the mayor of Huaycan, Dr. Dupuy.  We were able to meet the mayor and be photographed with him.  After that, things got crazy.  There was a procession up to another plaza where a monument was dedicated and somehow Lara ended up running in the procession hand-in-hand with Dr. Dupuy!  I thought I would die laughing- in fact, I’m laughing right now just thinking about it!  Then when we arrived at the monument we were all invited to sit onstage with the mayor and all the other officials for the ceremony.  We were given wine and cookies and then following the ceremony, there was dancing and of course they all wanted to dance with the gringas, so there we were dancing onstage with the government officials!  Big thanks to Sr. Paz and Dr. Dupuy!  We had an amazing day!

So, I’ll be leaving Huaycan next week and returning to Chicago.  It is bittersweet because I am looking forward to going home to my family, my friends and my dog but I will miss everyone here so much (especially my sister!) and I will miss the culture and the food too.  The Peruvians are the warmest people I have ever met and I have been so lucky here to spend so much time living and working with them.  Hopefully, I will be able to return soon! 

See everyone next week!