Costa Rica and Peru .::. Summer 2005

We left Costa Rica early on Wednesday morning. We woke up at 5:30 am and had a huge plate of rice and beans with eggs, and of course cafe for breakfast. We said our goodbyes to the family and drove 45 km to the airport. Our flight left at 9:20 am and it was a smooth 4 hour ride to Lima.

As you land in Lima, you fly over the coastal waters and you get a great view of the huge city. When we got to the airport in Lima, we were met by our car driver and then we experienced lima traffic for the first time. Our driver was great but taxi drivers in Lima are notoriously crazy. They like to drive with one hand on the horn as they blindly roll into intersections.

Our driver took us to our hostal, hostal mama ponchinta. The hostal was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was phenomenol, with arched doorways, intriquite tile work, and an open air courtyard. Our room also included a hot shower! We were in paradise. After freshening up, we took a taxi to a nearby mall to purchase our bus tickets for Huancayo. Lima has some very cosmopolitan areas and the mall we went to included many of the same stores that we have in the US. We actually experienced culture shock, having come from tropical Costa Rica to such a big city.

We bought our bus tickets at a booth in the mall and then we had a sandwich and juice. We also had a great cafe con leche. In Peru, the currency is called the Nuevos Soles. 1 US dollar equals about 3.3 Nuevos Soles. We were happy to find out that our cafe was only .8 nuevos soles ... or about 25 cents.

After a long day of travelling, we were happy to just stay in our hostal for the night and watch a movie on the television.

Thursday morning, we woke up early again and took a taxi to the bus station for our 7 hour trip to Huancayo. The buses in Peru are very nice. They are doubledeckers and they serve you hot lunch, refreshments and also play movies. During our trip we watched 3 movies. The trip itself is very difficult. First, it is 7 hours long. Second, the majority of the trip is spent climbing high into the Andes mountains. We reached altitudes of 15,000 feet and Rich felt a little ill from the altitude and windy roads. The views were so dramatic and we saw many lammas and peruvians in traditional clothing along the way.

We finally reached Huancayo at about 2 pm. Tino, the director of the orphanage met us at the bus terminal and gave us huge hugs. We were driven to the house that we would be staying in and saw the city of Huancayo on the way. Huancayo is a large city with about 350,000 residents. The houses are made of brick and although many streets are paved, there are quite a few that are not paved.

We are staying in Tinos house with about 12 other volunteers, Tino´s wife, his sister, his 2 little daughters and his adorable mother. Tino´s mother has already given Rich about 50 hugs and kisses on the cheek. While we are staying here, we are given 3 amazing meals each day and we have many new friends to hang out with. Tino is also an amazing artist. He weaves traditional Peruvian blankets and does beautiful oil paintings.

This morning, we gave our box of donations to Tino and he thanked us many times for all of the great gifts. At 10 am this morning we visted a school and were lucky to visit a kindergaten class and a first grade class full of smiling faces. The children here are so cute you just want to squeeze them! As we entered the classrooms, many of the kids gave us hugs and we shook their tiny hands. Michelle taught the kids how to do the hokey pokey and we sang songs with them. It was a great first day of volunteering. Later today we will be visiting an orphanage to hand out the clothes that we brought. There is so much more to describe about our Peruvian experience so far. It is truly an amazing place.