I have found where my heart belongs in Peru. After a month of frustration at the clinic, I decided I had to do something to stop wasting time. Most days there were fewer then four patients, and even when there were a some more, anything that Lindsay and I did was simply taking an opportunity away from a Peruvian nursing student. Peru for Life (the orphanage for teen mother's and their babies) still needed our help, so after a little trouble with our program, we finally got the okay to volunteer there five days a week instead of at the clinic. I finally can't wait to go to the project every morning, instead of dreading sitting around at the clinic every day. It is so nice to finally feel like we are doing some work that will help people!

There are a few things that we plan to focus on in the house with the girls. Since Lindsay and I are nursing majors, we want to focus on health related topics, such as nutrition, exercise, sexual education, mental health, breastfeeding and more.

Our first project for the clinic was to create a presentation with information regarding pregnancy and labor for one of the girls, Brenda, who is due to give birth in mid October. Brenda arrived at the orphanage a little over two weeks ago. Before then, she hadn't been to the doctor at all. Lindsay, two other volunteers from Peru for Life, and I met a few times to research and translate material into Spanish. When we presented it to her, we brought cookies and hot chocolate and all sat around on the couch to make it less intimidating. She seemed to really enjoy the discusion and since then, she has been a little more talkative and open about her pregnancy.

All of the girls were gathered around Brenda talking about their babies and touching her stomach.

We have been doing 30 minutes to an hour of exercise with the girls every day. Yoga has been a personal favorite for the girls! In addition, we have started discusions about nutrition, and did a presentation about a balanced meal and iron intake.

The girls practicing savasana after some yoga.

Nutrition discusion with the girls.

A poster we have hanging in the kitchen now about iron,

Some out door exercising!

The stories of almost every single girl in the house is heartbreaking. Even when I'm not at the project, I think about the girls and their babies all the time. All but two of the girls in the house were victims of rape, and most of them by family members. These girls are children themselves, they don't know how to take care of themselves yet, let alone another person. I'll share some of their stories in later posts.

I went to a really neat painting exhibit with my host family one afternoon. I had never seen people paint such amazing works in real life before! Many paintings reflected the Incan culture. My host family very kindly invited Lindsay to their house in Urubamba for the weekend. We had a great time. Lindsay ad I biked around the smaller, quieter city. We went on drives with my host family to see the scenery around. It was a really nice weekend.

Last week was elections for Peru for Mayors. There was a ton of political propaganda leading up to the elections. I learned some interesting things about Peru. It is mandatory in Peru to vote, or you have to pay a fine. In addition, it is illegal to sell or drink alcohol the day before the election and the day of the election. The ballots are with pictures because of the high rate of illiteracy in Peru.

The elections took place on Sunday, and the Thursday before, one of the candidates held a free outdoor concert to nmark the end of his campagin. I went with Lindsay, my host dad, brother, uncle, and cousins. Before the concert, there was a lot of family over at the house and we had a great time drinking wine and eating pizza.

Being goofy with Abdon at the outdoor concert,

Some of my host cousins drew pictures of the family.

I'm the one with the huge eyes and big lips on the left.

We had a really good time and it was a nice expereience that most tourists don't get.

Last Sunday was my host cousin, Maria Ferndanda's, first communion. My host aunt and uncle had a party at the house. I love hanging out with the whole family so it was a lot of fun!

Maria Fernanda - the girl of the day!

Lindsay and Sebastian.

Maria Fernanda and Abdon goofing around.

We made literally 75 cupcakes for the party.

Last Saturday (a week ago - I know, I haven't been great with posting), we went rock climbing. I am terrified of hights, but it was actually an amazing experience. We hiked about an hour to the mountain, and climbed for a few hours. The views were amazing, and it was great to spend time with friends.

Lindsay!

Views on our hike.

Ahhhh!

Sunday we went to a very relaxing yoga class to stretch out our sore muscles. 

Healing house is a really nice yoga studio we have discovered.

It has a beatiful garden as well.

Monday we went on a wonderful Walking Tour of Cusco with some great friends!

Wednesday we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant Green Point. It was delicous and a nice way to say bye to our wonderful Dani before she left for Machupicchu and then home!

Also Wednesday, Lindsay moved into the same house as me! It's been great having a roommate and we have a lot of fun with my host family. Thursday we made homemade guacamole and salsa for the family and made nachos! It was so much fun.

Veronica, my "host aunt"

The finished product... nachos!!

Tomorrow we go ziplinging and rafting! I'm so excited!