Minnesota Vikings...what the hay???

So every morning I am fortunate enough to go for a run. A guardsman, named Manini always comes with (not only for protection from human dangers....but MOST importantly, DOG dangers)! Anyway, hes a good sport about it...especially since we can barely communicate and prior to me coming he had not run in a LONG time! This morning he had on a Minnesota Vikings T'shirt. I spent the whole run trying to tell him why that was an ugly shirt. Unfortunately I didnt succeed...but now thats my goal for the rest of this trip!

Yesterday, I had a "poor me" moment where I was feeling a little homesick and sorry for myself about the things that have been hard here and the things I am missing. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in that kind of attitude. Fortunately this one didnt last too long...the Mac truck with the guilt trip showed up pretty quickly. I get to go home in 5 weeks, but this is normal life for the people here. Plus, I have it pretty good right now. Volunteers are basically treated like celebrities. The people have been so kind and always offer whatever they can to show their gratitude.

My spanish is starting to come around. Usually I can understand what I hear (although, Peruvians talk fast, so often I dont HEAR what they say), but finding the words to answer still is a challenge. Luckily, there are a few people around that speak English and Spanish very well which helps a lot. A funny side story...yesterday I was helping Fr. Jack with some letters and one of the guys there is trying to learn English. I sneezed and he told me "cheers". Thats because here when someone sneezes or you have a toast, they say Salud. Which basically translates to cheers, but it has a little different context in answer to a sneeze. I thought it was pretty funny. I wonder how many times I have gotten something like that wrong! Fr. Jack says that if I get teased about my spanish pronunciations, just ask one of them to pronounce a word like "enough" or "though". Then I can have a good laugh too!

I kind of feel like I am rambling, so I shall stop! Good night!!!

Who let the dogs out???

Ok...before I rant about the dogs let me tell you about my laundry. I'm sure all you readers are on edge out there, wondering "how did the laundry turn out?" Well...I wont keep ya in suspense any longer. I have clean clothes. Although, someone wasn't thinking (ME) when they decided to bring white T shirts to a place where there is so much dust, dirt, and wind. And when you hang your clothes out to dry in the same conditions...well I'm sure you get the picture. So now I don't have anymore WHITE tshirts. Oh well...

Now...onto the dogs. Ive mentioned them before. There are at least 324 here (that is my rough estimate) and none of them actually live in a home. Most of the time they dont bother me and Ive been instructed in picking up and throwing rocks at them if needed. Yesterday I was walking home for lunch and 5 dogs were in the middle of my street fighting. I think it was a 4 on 1 situation. The 1 ran away so then the dogs turned to me. So I picked up a rock. Didnt matter. I threw the rock at the dogs. Didnt phase em at all. So what was I left to do? Panic, run up against a wall, and plead with the dogs to leave me alone until a nice lady came out of her house and shooed the dogs away. And since then I dont think my heart has stopped racing yet. Really wishing I wouldve forked out the 500 plus dollars for the Rabies shots. Geesh!

So, baring I don't have anymore run ins with the dogs, it should be a good week. Gotta say though, I am a little homesick this morning!

Fiesta pics!

Here are some pictures from the party on Friday night. A good time!

 A little Ice Ice Baby back at the Parish...

 One of Kyles sweet break dancing moves!

 Me doing the worm...

 Conga line with Peruvians and the Board of Directors

 A truly good night is TIRING!

The girl on the left, Maggie, is one of the long term volunteers.

Clean enough...

Today I got my laundry done! It was all smooth sailing until I accidentally knocked the basket with my clean, wet clothes on the dirt floor. Oh well, I hung em up anyway...CLEAN ENOUGH :)

It sure was a fun weekend. Friday was the "fiesta". And with that, the worm was brought to Chimbote. Im sure things will never be the same now :) Kyle, the 19 year old break dancer is AMAZING! He gave me some pointers to perfect my worm skills. Maybe if I do 107 pushups everyday I will actually be able to do it right haha.

This last week Fr. Jack also returned. He had been in ND since I arrived as his sister died a couple weeks ago. He is AWESOME! From just spending a short time with him and Sr. Peggy, it is pretty easy to tell why the mission is so successful. He is a pretty funny story teller too!

This week it should be pretty quiet around here. Tomorrow I get to help set up a wheelchair more appropriately for a child. I am also working on a generalized exercise and stretching program for back pain as that is a pretty common complaint around here. It is stressing me out a little bit, because I not only have to write it in Spanish but I also have to draw the pictures myself. Say a prayer about that!!!

Here are a few pictures of the mission.

 This is the view from the rooftop of the Parish.

 One of the small churches in the Parish. I love how simple it is.

 Mmmm...chicken....not sure if salmonella is a worry here. This is at one of the soup kitchens.

 The music here is AMAZING. This is one of the church choirs.

 This and the next picture is my walk to the Parish everyday.

The Parish grounds.

More pictures!

Here are some more pictures from my trip so far. I need to remember to use my camera more often!

 The PT clinic the day we toured it.

 Visiting one of the schools. Once you take you camera out, all the kids want you to take their picture!

 A peacock!

 These next few pics are shots of the clinic at the end of the morning. This is where I spend my mornings working.

 An infrared lamp. The only kind of modality they have at the clinic. In my 2 weeks here, Id say Ive seen it used 4 or 5 times.

 Some of the equipment.

 Lunch time at one of the schools

 My first protest! Fr. Jack called a press conference to protest truck traffic through the Parish mainstreet. It has not been a safe area...the trucks drive really fast and stop for nothing. 3 of the missions schools are along this route as well.

 Guinea pig! In case you cannot tell...they are served with their heads on and everything. I tried it (not the head!) and it wasnt too bad.

 Visited Matinerdad de Maria, an orphanage. They can take up to 25 children. Currently there are about 12. They stay there until they are about 4 or 5 and then if they have not been adopted yet, they get sent to a bigger facility.

 The kids are adorable!!!

The PT in me had to do a quick gross motor development check...AND correct the W sitting :)

Break it down!

Tonight is the last night the Friends of Chimbote board members are here so there is a party tonight! Or at least I think it is for them... Anyway, one of the volunteers here is a 19 year old boy who wants to be a youth minister. His way of reaching out to the youth is through break dancing. Woo hoo!!! You know what that means...time to bring the WORM to Chimbote! I told him I could do the worm and he asked backwards or forwards. Well...duh...I can do it both ways! No worries for any readers out there thinking I am going to embarrass myself...I already warned him that it looks way better in my head than it actually is. Maybe he can give me some tips so I can perfect it :)

I think I figured out how to upload pictures here. SO here are a few from my first 2 weeks in Chimbote. Enjoy!

 First picture is my host sister Julia. She is 3 years old. So fun! Every night when I get home she asks me to color with her.
Next is a picture of the daycare at the mission. I love the playplen made out of straw!
And here is the Pacific Ocean. Although, in this part of Chimbote it is a harbor. Not sure what the difference is...
Our PT clinic has an armbike!

Gringos come here skinny and leave fat

Guess that's a common saying around here. And I believe it. My mom emailed me the other day to see if there was anything she needed to send down here. I almost thought to ask for bigger pants! The food here is not very nutritious, but there is a lot of eat. The first week here I bet I was eating 6 cups of white rice a day PLUS whatever else my family served me . Usually a couple eggs, chicken (or at least something that tastes like chicken), and fried onions. LUckily, I learned how to say "I really like the food, but could I have less" in Spanish, so it's not as bad now. The bad thing about carbs though, is that they don't leave you full for very long. Oh well...enough complaining. At least I have food!

Got into a regular schedule to go running at 6am each morning. We have to bring one of the guardsmen with us, but he's a good sport about it. He likes to sprint at the end of the runs to make sure he beats us. I try to make sure he doesn't. Pretty sure one of us is going to sprain our ankles one of these mornings as we race down the uneven, pot-hole-ridden, dirt road! Dang competitiveness :)

The longer I stay here, the less worried I get about eating something that will make me ill. Yesterday I had strawberries (the forbidden fruit because it's so hard to clean well) and today I had lunch at a foodstand without getting a recommendation from the mission first (but I was with the PT I work with, so I assume it was safe...). AND I brush my teeth with tap water. Such a rebel haha!

Next big task that's coming up...LAUNDRY! It is so windy and dusty here that my clothes get so dirty. My family does not have a washing machine, but my host mom said she'd show me how to do it by hand.  "Clean enough" is kind of my motto while I'm down here anyway! I've worked it out to where I can be all showered using 2 buckets of water only. Luckily it is warm here, but it still doesn't make dumping a bucket of cold water over my head any easier sometimes!

Today, I think I am going to take advantage of part of the siesta time (1-3 everyday!) and take a little nap :)