Camp!

I just got back from a week long camp this Friday. It was a nice change of scenery for me because it was in the middle of a forest and it was quite a bit cooler than here in Pacasmayo. The camp was built about 40 years ago by an American church but now it is completely ran by Peruvians and they do a really good job. The kids all loved it and behaved really well. I just sat back, relaxed and listened to my ipod all week making sure none of our kids ran away or hurt themselves. It was a pretty easy job because we only had 6 kids in this age group which was 12-16. It was 4 older boys and 2 girls.

Throughout the week the schedule was wake up at 7:00, church gathering at 7:30, breakfast 8:00, group bible studies from 9:30 - 1:00, lunch, fun activites, dinner, more fun activities, sleep at 10:30. Of course there were breaks and small group times scattered throughout the day. One of the activities we did was climb a freaking mountain. That was pretty intense. If you have ever been to Peru and see those gigantic hills/mini mountains then that is what we climbed, except this one was more grass and rocks and sandy. I was really exhausted after that activity, then the next day we walked to the nearest pool. They told me that the pool was close, I guess that my concept of close is a little different from theirs because I don't consider a 5k walk close. My legs were already sore from the mountain climb the day before so they were jello after the pool walk. I was just surprised all the kids handled all the walking so well.

Other activities included skits and dramas. All the kids got really into those and actually did put on some really nice presentations. There was also a bonfire and all the teams had to create costumes to show off for everyone else. My favorite was a kid who's team dressed him up like cupid.

The pool

Yhonson on top of the mountain

Climbing the mountain

Playing some outdoor games

General assembly hall of the camp

Rain again

The last couple days it has been raining. It only rains about 4 days a year but when it does so it all comes about 4 days in a row. My roof is leaking where they put the air vents in, so I've had fun toweling up all the water that didn't make it to the buckets. Some ladies from the community came over last at at about 10:00 asking for plastic sheets to put on their roofs. We had a roll of plastic in the tool shed so we let them have that.

I've been surfing a lot lately, perhaps a little too much. I suddenly started breaking out in rashes in various parts of my body so taking a combination of Antibiotics, Cortizal pill and some special cream I have managed to get them under control. But in the mean time that means I gotta take it easy on the surfing. I haven't been for 3 days now and I'm anxious to get back out.

On kid news, Nelson who has been here for 3 years got adopted this week. His parents came from Italy. I talked with the parents as much as I could, Italian is similar to Spanish but not quite. I talked to the official from the agency a lot more though. I found out a lot of interesting stuff. For example the average wait time after all the papers are cleared from both countries is 8 months. Peruvians have priority over foreigners, for example if there is a kid up for adoption and an international couple has been waiting 6 months for a kid that fits their criteria but a Peruvian couple just finished their paper work the day before they still have priority, thus the reason for longer waits for international adoptions. Also the guy that from the Italian agency said that the reason they parents are adopting from Peru is because it is so much easier than any other country. The guys said the reason it is so hard for people in the US to adopt from Peru is because of all the US paperwork and the agencies in the US.

Last night I took Danilo out to eat pizza, he really enjoyed it but I think he was a little over stimulated. By the time we made it back to the house he started crying and was overwhelmed. I was also a little perturbed because I realized my cellphone had fallen out in the moto taxi. So I lost my cellphone and some dude is making calls on it right now, but it's a good thing that I don't have the monthly plan an only use prepay. Unfortunately now I have to go get a new cellphone and a new number.

Danilo eating some pizza

Nelson's new Parents with all the kids