2 weeks of work at the Hogar San Pedro

Time really flies here in Peru, as we have just completed our second week of volunteer work, here at the Hogar San Pedro. All week long we were fairly busy with our usual tasks, once again rotating amongst ourselves between the kitchen, the pediatrics wing, the "tópicos" (patient´s quarters), the laundry room, the pharmacy and general cleanliness. Some of us also helped out with painting the walls of the administration building or translating documents from French to Spanish.

On Tuesday night, we went out to our favourite restaurant in Chosica: Mama Elsa´s. We invited two of the nurses who work with us at the Hogar´s pharmacy to come with us. It was a great night with lots of laughter. We are starting to know our way pretty well around the Hogar now. We often go play soccer or basketball at one of Ricardo Palma´s outdoor sports complexes or hang out in Chosica. Chosica is only a 15 minute bus ride away from were we are in Ricardo Palma and we go there almost every other day to buy food and supplies. It is a cute little town with tons of little shops, restaurants and market, always buzzing with activity (starting 6 am!). On Wednesday, Jess, Nayima and Claire prepared the most fabulous supper for our group at our house. It was a great night!

Also, this week, we had the chance to visit and spend some time at another of the Fathers´ villas, the Villa La Paz. Only 20 minutes away by foot, this humongous villa (which looks more like a resort than anything else...) has swimming pools, amazing gardens, a soccer field, a basket-ball court and resonates peace and quietness. We plan on spending the day there on Sunday, taking advantage of the warm Peruvian sun. Speaking of which, we haven´t had even a single day of rain or clouds since we´ve arrived. The weather is always sunny with a nice breaze and the temperature goes up to approximately 25 degrees during the day and down to around 10 degrees at night.

Today, we will be organizing a special bingo-fiesta-pancake night for the patients at the Hogar. They are all pretty excited and we can´t wait to learn a few Peruvian dance steps on the Hogar´s "dance floor". Next week will already be the last week of work at the Hogar for some of us, as we will be heading off to Lima once again on Saturday the 25th to celebrate the Peruvian national holiday, and will only be back at the Hogar on the 29th. We can´t wait to get a taste of Peruvian fiestas and will try to do a bit of sand boarding and paragliding as well...