And then there was one...

Tomorrow marks the end of our orientation period here in Lima. Early Saturday morning, the other volunteers will be leaving the city and going on long bus rides to their new homes for the year. While I have already been living with my family, this is still a big day for me too. It marks the end of my english speaking days. After tomorrow, I will be completely emersed in Spanish. Not just at night, or in the mornings, but all day long. I am still trying to get my head around that. Its not an easy thing, but it is going to be good for me. The sooner I learn, the better experience I am going to have here, being able to interact with those around me, and those that I am here to serve and learn from. And that is why I am here.

Yesterday was by far one of the best days that I have had here, not that any have been bad. There is a program here that organizes groups of Peruvians together who handmake crafts to sell in various stores here and also through partnerships in the US. We got a chance to go and visit these artisans. We went to 5 different workshops where they were making pillows, placemats, pottery, nativity sets, blankets and much more. It was awesome to see where these things were made and the people working so hard. (You can get information about the products at http://www.fairtradeperu.com) After we visited the first place, we went walking through the pueblo joven that the ladies lived in. We walked up this big mountain, lined with ¨houses¨and at the top, was the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The top of the hill overlooks miles of beaches and sand dunes. There wasn´t a person in sight. There was no real way to get down to the water from where we were because we were so high and the drop off had become the trash pile, but it was a breaktaking view. Then to turn around and see what the people who had this wonderful view lived in was heartbreaking. Houses constructed of whatever they could find and built on the side of a mountain. To see the beauty of God´s creation on one side, and to turn around and see how God´s beautiful creation of humanity is forced to live on the other side was a powerful experience and one that I will never forget.

As I try to come to grips with what is about to happen, and the many things that I have experienced over the last 2 weeks, I now have a new member to my family to help me to deal with things. Today, I bought a guitar. I now have an escape. When it seems like I can´t take anymore, I will at least have my music.

Thanks for all the comments, and even if I am not responding (so far my interent time has been pretty limited...I´m not as lucky as some people living in say...Northern Ireland) I am reading them when I can and they are helping me to cope with not being there. I´ll write again soon! I start my job on Monday!

(Oh yeah...everything on this computer is in Spanish...so I cant find the spell check! Please excuse my mistakes =) )