The system

So I went and had a couple chats with the Judges on Thursday. First we spoke with the head president judge over the matter of them wanting to move some of the kids here at Casa de Paz to another orphanage in Chenpen. He was less than helpful. He said he had nothing to do with it, and was actually pretty pissed that we knew anything about the ordeal. So we left his office and went upstairs to talk to the family judge.

The family judge then gave us all his reasons and excuses why he wanted to move the kids. Mainly it came down to this other orphanage didn't have any kids and so he wanted to give them some of ours and some kids from 2 or 3 other orphanages. We explained to him again why it was tramatic for kids to just be moved all over the place from one location to the next. So he finally said fine, I won't move these kids. However, we still have to move 3 kids from our orphanage over to the other one. There are three kids in our orphanage that have all their paperwork in the Chenpen court system, and also have family in Chenpen, so they are the ones that have to go.

Other than all that crappy news, I had a relativiely good weekend. The sams from Blue Springs came and I had a lot of fun with them. Matt brought be some guitar hero games that I'm teaching the kids right now. They treated me to all my favorite restuarants here in Pacasmayo, and then in Lima they treated me to the best food I've eaten in Peru. I also got to take a great shower in their hotel room, so it was a nice little get a way for me.

While I was there I also got my residency card. So I now have some more rights here in Peru. I can buy property, a car, and open a bank account, and stay here for up to 5 years without getting my visa renewed as long as I pay my fees. I also get to take the local buses in tourist locations saving me hundreds of dollars. I'll try and post some more pictures later.