Hola! This month team Alegria is 40mins outside of Truijllo, Peru in a town/area called Milagro. It is a very dusty, desolate area in the middle of the desert (but we are close to the ocean which is maybe 30mins away.) Our host family speaks English. She is from Washington State, he is from Mexico and they have two children under the age of 7. Their church is a big cement garage with a house attached. The front half of the house is where a Pre-school is held. We are living in the house and helping out with the preschool, teaching English to the community, dance lessons, music lessons, going projects around the building, Sunday children's ministry, worship and a women's ministry.
Walking out our front door is a dusty rock and dirt street. It is scattered with garbage and directly across from the church gate is a large rock and garbage pile. This is the normal view where ever you are at in the area. The garbage doesn't come very often so it gets piled up in the streets. There are so many children, everywhere! The culture down here is very promiscuous and most women start families extremely young. Other than our names and where we are from, the next most popular question is if we have children or a spouse. When they find out we are all older than 23 and single with no children they are shocked. Everywhere we go, I see so many pregnant women. We were told that many of the men have another family in another city. They will work in the city and are gone alot. Apprarently it is extremely common.
Most everything is in walking distance, most of us like trying out the different kinds of ice cream bars in each country and of course the large market that is open daily in the mornings. The most popular short distance source of transportation here are "motors" which are buggy looking things on the back of motorcycles. They are covered and look like plastic versions of Amish buggys. Some are hooked up with radios and come blasting by with their very catchy Latin music. They are pretty fun to ride and extremely bumpy! Definitely better than a ride at the fair. Frequently, you will see a five year oldish looking child run up to a store and buy flour or something needed for the kitchen.
Besides playing with the kids in the preschool, one of my favorite things to do here is play and interact with the kids in the streets. There is a 9 year old little kid down the street whose name is Roger (pronounced Ro-hare) and he always has his 2 yr old sister Natalie with him. This morning they were just laying in front of their neighbor's door which is kitty corner to us. The three of us have become friends and Roger and I have played soccer a few times in the dusty street. I ran out to them and we chatted for awhile. He then asked if he could learn English. Last week I asked if he wanted to learn and he said no, so I jumped on it. I wasn't busy so I told him to come to the house. He ran to get his notebook and then the three of sat in the church and he started to learn his alphabet and numbers in English. Barefooted Natalie sat next to us in a little small-sized chair and just watched. I finally picked her up and put her in my lap. After they left, I had to brush off my lap because the poor child is so dirty. She always has a runny nose and her hair a mess. I hope next time I can braid it. She is pretty mellow and doesn't mind me. Her little precious brown face has an empty look and she just needs love. Roger's little arm is coated in dirt and globs of them up and down his arm. I just want to bathe them and love on them. They are my new friends and are finding a place in my heart.
