So last Sunday we went to tía Carmen's house for that birthday party. We were both shattered by the time we got to the block where she lived, Carmen wasn't answering her phone so we were pretty much loitering on the street corner-the only gringas around and getting some very strange looks. We finally got through to her only to have my credit run out and being peruvian she just didn't ring us back! I had to go and top`up my phone to ring her back, at which point I was seriously just wanting to go home...Her daughter found us though and we got there all safe and sound. By the time we got there everything was in full swing (this is like half 5ish) the party started at 3 and basically the kids were just dancing around to music being played by a clown! they were still going at 7 and they all looked shattered, when we got there the birthday girl wasn't even there she was having a nap!! Haha, only here would that happen. But overall it was pretty cool, we got introduced to all the kids by the clown which was slightly embarrassing, then they kept offering us food and drink. The birthday cake was awesome I wish I'd bought my camera! It had icing to look like grass so it had strings of coconut on it and then all these little statues and a massive strawberry placed on little sticks so it all stood up, it tasted very nice too. yuummy :)
This week in the Aldea we've updated our christmas decorations around our house, to be honest though I'm still finding it really hard to get into the christmas spirit. I think because the atmosphere here is just so different to anything I'm used to, without the cold and seeing everything dark by 4 it's just not what I associate with christmas. Maybe also because I know that I won't be spending actual christmas here, aside from that I'm still really enjoying my time here and know that I'm really going to miss being around the kids when I go.
Thursday was a bank holiday here so all the kids were off school, Alex and I organised a sort of treasure hunt around the Aldea because it's so rare that the Sagrada Familia kids (from the private school) get a day off too we thought we'd make the most of it! We hid letters spelling out Santa Monica in 5 different colours around the aldea then put them in 5 teams to get them all to find them, and the winning prize was a massive 4ltr bottle of gaseosa-Inka kola which thhey all loved and were desperate to get their hands on. It all went down pretty well apart from a some sly cheating by the older boys which tía Carmen who was on the pink team got really worked up about! We also went out for a shopping trip for our holidays which was really cool. We found this huge shop-more like a warehouse where they had literally anything you could possibly want. Apart from spending lots of money we hada really good time, found a cute dress from the market for 15sol! and we both invested in some new beach towels because after nearly 4 months of continuous use and only handwashing ours aren't reallly up to sunbathing standards. Especially Alex's fibre one!
We bought some mangos from the market and went and sat along the boulevard where we could see the river and part of the Belen shanti town-it was beautiful, with the river really really high now. Sometimes I completly forget how amazing it is here and that I'm here in Peru 6000 miles away from my family because I feel so at home here, seeing the river just made me realise all over again!
Friday was a birthday celebration for the aldea kids from September up to December, which included lots of junk food, crazy spanish music, dancing and a clown! It was a really nice afternoon, the kid had an opportunity to let off some steam and just enjoy themselves without worrying about their homework or doing their chores, even if I was ridiculously full after it all. I also got to speak to both my aunty and my mum on the same phone call which was really nice as I think I've been missing home a bit more then I realised this week, so catching up on all the family gossip was just whtat I needed!
Saturday we had to be up and out our casa by 7 because they arranged for some fumigation of all the casa's. Who does that at half 7 I have no idea! But it meant everyone was sat together on the stands around the basketball court for 2 hours whilst they did every house, I think the Aldea has got really full recently but I only noticed it looking at all the kids running around then-even the likkle baby made an appearence! I got to look after my favourite new little girl, she's called Tatiana and she's about 1. She has seriously cute, fat little chubby cheeks and she's always so good although she's got a really hyper personality once she gets going! So that made the fumigation wait go by even quicker :)
We then took 5 of the olderish girls-between 10 and 13 out for Amanda's 13th birthday. I was pretty apprehensive about it at first because of the mixed feelings I had about our last outing, but it all went great. They were all awesome and you could tell they really sincerely enjoyed just being outside the Aldea. We went for ice creams where we gave Amanda her pressies-some bright pink scrunchies which went down well. Then we just had a walk around the boulevard and treated them to some popcorn. It was a really, really enjoyable afternoon and I'm so glad we took them out I feel like we've made their month!
Our Saturday night was spent in bed with some maduro (banana) crisps and chocolate milk-which I've rediscovered with a passion here! And a well needed early night/lie in. I can't believe this time next week we'll be in Lima on our holidays!! Absolutly buzzing and cannot wait.
So the next time you hear from me will probably be from Lima! Chao :) xx
PS. I did have some pictures to upload of our decorations but all the computers today seem to have it in for me-I've changed 3 times. So I really don't have the patience, you might have to wait till next time sorry! They are up on facebook though...
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