Thanksgiving came and went and as much as I missed the time with my family, fall weather and incredible food, I HAD AN AMAZING NIGHT! I spent Thanksgiving day with 56 amazing children and my night with none other than Britney Spears! Seriously, such a crazy day that I will never forget!
I woke up this morning with a pit in my stomach knowing this was the first holiday I have ever spent alone. Another volunteer, Leah, agreed that it didn't even feel like Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is right around the corner. Our days are filled with summer weather, amazing children, petty problems and medical issues that nothing else even crosses our minds. We lose track of days, weeks and months only thinking about whose turn it is to venture into Lima hospitals. In one way, I feel so disconnected from the real world. But then thinking about the bigger picture...this is the real world. Finding your passion, being grateful for each day, making memories, appreciating the innocence of a child and dedicating your life to service is real life to me. Maybe this year, I experienced more of a Thanksgiving than I actually ever have before? :]
Before I rant about Britney, let me give a few updates about life at the Hogar! The other volunteers (Jake and Leah) and I started english classes with the kids the other night! We have two groups of kids which are sooo eager to learn english! It's incredibly adorable :] The kids come off the bus from school, greet me with a kiss and ask "Hi, how are you?" I respond "Great" and they reply "I'm happy!" SO PRECIOUS :] They all sit down at the dinner table at night ready to learn and help each other with pronunciation and grammar. Definitely one of the highlights of being here at the Hogar!
One of my favorite little girls, Lisbeth, and I have had such a great time together this past week. She needed new shoes so I took her up to the donation room with Angela to find her a new pair. Seriously, this was one of the best nights of my life. The two girls went through about 30 pairs of adorable shoes before deciding on a pair of pink nike velcro shoes. The three of us then played on the roof with American coins, played house and scared each other because it was pitch black. The girls asked me if we could play up on the roof every night because we all had such a great time! I wouldn't trade that night for anything! Lisbeth and I also shared an apple a couple of days ago, which was the most disgusting amazing time ever hahaha :] She saw I was eating an apple and curled up next to me and asked if she could have some. Of course I gave her some which turned into a game of taking turns slobbering all over my delicious apple. This germ-a-phob no longer exists!!!!!!!
All right, the Britney Concert. OMG. SO FREAKING AMAZING :] :] Yes, to answer everyone's question...I was screaming, crying and having the time of my life. Seeing her Femme Fatale tour for the second time was even better than the first. I am so happy Leah went with me to experience Britney's greatness (and to make sure I wasn't robbed for a third time lol). The stadium was packed and what I thought was going to be an American event was just another sketchy Peruvian hangout. I almost lost it when she sang "Hit me baby one more time" and "Don't let me be the last to know"! We even had the advantage of being the tallest in a sea of 5 foot Peruvians. My thanksgiving rocked!! :] And even though it wasn't spent with family, food or fall weather...being in a unified stadium with Britney Spears, Leah and the essence of my childhood was incredible!
I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving and realized how much we all have to be thankful for! I can't believe it is almost December and will be coming home for Christmas break on the 8th. I am excited to come home and see my friends and family...but I literally just want to stay here forever. Thinking about leaving John Pierre (my baby), not passing out bread in the morning, not greeting the kids off the school bus at night, missing milestones, saying goodbye to the other amazing volunteers and just being away from such happiness makes my heart melt. I DON'T WANT TO COME HOME! :[
see ya soon america! i'll be dancing till the world ends...
-teaner :]
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Por Siempre :]
Oh Goodness! Where to start? Starting last Friday...I had such a horrible week here at the Hogar :[ It was just one of those weeks where everything that can go wrong, does. I'll try and start from the beginning...
Last Friday, I went in to to Lima with 2 children, a baby named Brenda and the staff member Graciella. If you haven't already read my post about Graciella and her antics, please read it. Anyways...Graciella ditched me for the fourth time on Friday with Brenda. Brenda is a baby who has congenital cataracts and Autism meaning she is very needy and uncooperative. I was holding Brenda in the Hospital and a woman came up to me asking me for money. I said that I didn't have any money and turned away. This went on for a few minutes until she finally grabbed my jacket in search of money and anything else valuable. She took 10 soles (the equivalent of 3 dollars) and very very important keys which I will explain in a minute. YES WHAT I AM SAYING IS TRUE. I WAS ROBBED AGAIN! hahahaha :] bad luck, I know! In this situation, the crazy woman could have taken anything from me and I wouldn't have cared because Brenda was the most important thing I was holding. After 2 months, I have learned that I live and die for any child at the Hogar and Brenda was no exception. I didn't yell, scream or fight back because Brenda was my first priority (which Graciella yelled at me later for because apparently "keys and money are way more important than a child").
The keys that were stolen are a whole other story. The Doctor returns to the United States twice a year to see his family and take Victor to Shriner's Hospital to get his prosthesis refitted. He left me in charge of the keys to the house...are you seeing why the keys getting stolen is a problem now? I returned to the Hogar not even realizing the keys were missing until later Friday night when I was supposed to lock up. I basically had a panic attack right there and then. I explained the problem to Rossana, the social worker who is in charge while the Doctor is gone, and she reassured me we would figure things out. After being yelled at by countless staff members for losing the keys...we are slowly but surely getting duplicates of keys and improvising. Oh Gosh...what a mess!
Secondly...my worst nightmare and greatest fear has happened. I HAVE LICE. omg. I can't even think about it without wanting to throw up! Lice in South America is extremely common and our children always seem to have it, so getting lice was kind of inevitable. BUT IT LITERALLY IS MY GREATEST FEAR EVER! eww. I woke up on Tuesday morning with an itchy head and knew it was finally the day. I asked another volunteer, Leah, to do a lice check on me (which has been a weekly ritual anyways because I am terrified of lice) and she found nits! So nasty! It turns out that Leah also had nits after I checked her...so we are now official nit picking buddies. I still can't believe I have lice. OMG.
Hahahahahahahaha :] :]
To add to such a great week, I finally got sick! I knew it was going to happen sometime and oh boy, this past wonderful Saturday was ruined. I became a Godmother on Saturday to a wonderful girl named Evelyn and it was such a great day. I met her family, danced, ate and remembered why I love being here so much. Later that afternoon I started to feel sick but was asked to run an errand with a few children to the next town over. I threw up multiple times with the children, but nothing beats throwing up on a rickity South American bus that weaves, speeds and flies over speed bumps! So embarrassing! Let's just end the story with...the day was ruined ;]
I don't even want to tell more details of this next incident, so one sentence will have to suffice. I was bit by a dog (I am fine...but gosh what a horrible week!!)
Even with such a horrible week, I have to remember how amazing my life really is! I am healthy, happy, have wonderful friends, a supportive family, a good head on my shoulders and have been given so many talents to share. It's days like these that make you appreciate a child's laughter, a running hug, goodnight kisses, heartfelt thank you's and smiles that will last a lifetime. It has gotten to the point where if I am having a bad day, I just want to go back home (Hogar home) and sit quietly with a child taking in all of the blessings I have been given. People have always said that some type of good always comes out of a bad situation and I can now say I agree. After being robbed with Brenda, Xiomarra saw I was upset and comforted me on the couch as I watched the other kids play after lunch. Johannes made sure to come up to my room and ask how I was feeling when he found out I was sick. It's incredible, simple moments like these that wouldn't have ever happened if I hadn't made it through my bad day. What incredible children and moments!
My Mom asked me on Skype the other night if I wanted to come home after having such a horrible week and my answer was NO! This is it. This is my home. This is my family. This is where I belong :] Honestly though, after being here for 2 months...I can't picture myself anywhere else. I have said in previous blog posts that I don't know how I am going to leave in May. But that's the truth. I want to stay here forever, or in spanish...por siempre :] Every morning I am dying to get downstairs to greet the kids, serve breakfast and kiss them goodbye for school. Today I didn't even want to shower because I would miss the amazing feeling I have when cleaning up from dinner. I just want to be here and feel this way forever!
POR SIEMPRE :]
-teaner (aka lice, dog bite, mugged, sick girl) hahahahahaha
Last Friday, I went in to to Lima with 2 children, a baby named Brenda and the staff member Graciella. If you haven't already read my post about Graciella and her antics, please read it. Anyways...Graciella ditched me for the fourth time on Friday with Brenda. Brenda is a baby who has congenital cataracts and Autism meaning she is very needy and uncooperative. I was holding Brenda in the Hospital and a woman came up to me asking me for money. I said that I didn't have any money and turned away. This went on for a few minutes until she finally grabbed my jacket in search of money and anything else valuable. She took 10 soles (the equivalent of 3 dollars) and very very important keys which I will explain in a minute. YES WHAT I AM SAYING IS TRUE. I WAS ROBBED AGAIN! hahahaha :] bad luck, I know! In this situation, the crazy woman could have taken anything from me and I wouldn't have cared because Brenda was the most important thing I was holding. After 2 months, I have learned that I live and die for any child at the Hogar and Brenda was no exception. I didn't yell, scream or fight back because Brenda was my first priority (which Graciella yelled at me later for because apparently "keys and money are way more important than a child").
The keys that were stolen are a whole other story. The Doctor returns to the United States twice a year to see his family and take Victor to Shriner's Hospital to get his prosthesis refitted. He left me in charge of the keys to the house...are you seeing why the keys getting stolen is a problem now? I returned to the Hogar not even realizing the keys were missing until later Friday night when I was supposed to lock up. I basically had a panic attack right there and then. I explained the problem to Rossana, the social worker who is in charge while the Doctor is gone, and she reassured me we would figure things out. After being yelled at by countless staff members for losing the keys...we are slowly but surely getting duplicates of keys and improvising. Oh Gosh...what a mess!
Secondly...my worst nightmare and greatest fear has happened. I HAVE LICE. omg. I can't even think about it without wanting to throw up! Lice in South America is extremely common and our children always seem to have it, so getting lice was kind of inevitable. BUT IT LITERALLY IS MY GREATEST FEAR EVER! eww. I woke up on Tuesday morning with an itchy head and knew it was finally the day. I asked another volunteer, Leah, to do a lice check on me (which has been a weekly ritual anyways because I am terrified of lice) and she found nits! So nasty! It turns out that Leah also had nits after I checked her...so we are now official nit picking buddies. I still can't believe I have lice. OMG.
Hahahahahahahaha :] :]
To add to such a great week, I finally got sick! I knew it was going to happen sometime and oh boy, this past wonderful Saturday was ruined. I became a Godmother on Saturday to a wonderful girl named Evelyn and it was such a great day. I met her family, danced, ate and remembered why I love being here so much. Later that afternoon I started to feel sick but was asked to run an errand with a few children to the next town over. I threw up multiple times with the children, but nothing beats throwing up on a rickity South American bus that weaves, speeds and flies over speed bumps! So embarrassing! Let's just end the story with...the day was ruined ;]
I don't even want to tell more details of this next incident, so one sentence will have to suffice. I was bit by a dog (I am fine...but gosh what a horrible week!!)
Even with such a horrible week, I have to remember how amazing my life really is! I am healthy, happy, have wonderful friends, a supportive family, a good head on my shoulders and have been given so many talents to share. It's days like these that make you appreciate a child's laughter, a running hug, goodnight kisses, heartfelt thank you's and smiles that will last a lifetime. It has gotten to the point where if I am having a bad day, I just want to go back home (Hogar home) and sit quietly with a child taking in all of the blessings I have been given. People have always said that some type of good always comes out of a bad situation and I can now say I agree. After being robbed with Brenda, Xiomarra saw I was upset and comforted me on the couch as I watched the other kids play after lunch. Johannes made sure to come up to my room and ask how I was feeling when he found out I was sick. It's incredible, simple moments like these that wouldn't have ever happened if I hadn't made it through my bad day. What incredible children and moments!
My Mom asked me on Skype the other night if I wanted to come home after having such a horrible week and my answer was NO! This is it. This is my home. This is my family. This is where I belong :] Honestly though, after being here for 2 months...I can't picture myself anywhere else. I have said in previous blog posts that I don't know how I am going to leave in May. But that's the truth. I want to stay here forever, or in spanish...por siempre :] Every morning I am dying to get downstairs to greet the kids, serve breakfast and kiss them goodbye for school. Today I didn't even want to shower because I would miss the amazing feeling I have when cleaning up from dinner. I just want to be here and feel this way forever!
POR SIEMPRE :]
-teaner (aka lice, dog bite, mugged, sick girl) hahahahahaha
Saturday, November 12, 2011
To My Mom :] Happy Birthday!!!
Alrighty Mom. First of all, Happy birthday! I am so bummed I can't be there to celebrate it with you...but hopefully this post will suffice! And Second, sorry for the delay of new posts! I am really busy! LOVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!
Defining Moment: reading a tribute to my mom at Mother Daughter Senior Brunch. So here's another one!
Dear Mom,
I hope you know how much I love you, so we can get that out of the way first. I love you more than 10,000 bags of cheetos, crabcakes, senior year of high school, Mrs. Mill's chicken salad, my stuffed animal Sammy, the movie the sixth sense, the caribbean, Santa Barbara, the Britney Spears concert, Tom Petty songs, skydiving and anything in the entire world. What I am trying to say is that there is nothing in the entire world that comes close to how much I love you. Cool? Cool.
You taught me when I was very young to follow my dreams. Whether it was a test grade I worked for, a volleyball team I wanted to play on or following my passion...you have always been my biggest supporter. You showed your ability to support every thing I dreamed for this past year. I remember one day vividly. I had enough of Dad's antics and I called you crying on the floor of my dorm hall. You were driving home from an open house and talked to me for 2 straight hours never questioning my thoughts or feelings. You just listened. You have always been such an amazing listener and I now regret making fun of you for that stupid "uhuh" noise you make when someone is telling you a story. I miss that now. You told me that you couldn't make a decision for me and I needed to follow my heart. I told you about my "year in Peru" and you immediately wanted to know more. You were there when I verbally committed, called me minutes after I bought my ticket with Lizzy, every errand, our final dinner together, the airport sendoff and every minute after. You have always been there. Thank you for that.
Not only have you always been there for me, supporting every decision...you want to make sure I am happy. Obviously I inherited my obsession with happiness from you, but most people don't understand how amazing it was growing up with a Mom like you. Whatever obstacle our family encountered, you approached each one with the same attitude. "The universe takes care of us", is what you would constantly say. Now more than ever, I truly believe that the universe does indeed take care of me and all of humanity. What once was a mission trip to volunteer in Peru is now the greatest adventure of love I have ever experienced. I have felt it all here, especially intense happiness. Every problem I have ever had, you have gotten to the root of by asking, "Well, are you happy?" And this trip is just like every other moment. You constantly ask me on skype...are you happy? And of course, I answer with 1,000% YES!
After these last couple of months, I have realized you were right all along. You have always known that it's the smallest things in life that generate the most happiness, laughter really does improve any mood, it's okay to cry (especially during happy moments), to be grateful for how healthy I am, to follow my passion even if it means deviating from the norm, to follow my heart, to be full of life and never let anyone make decisions for me. You have always know that life is a gift and should be celebrated. So, I am not only volunteering, learning or experiencing...BUT CELEBRATING :]
I've had the time of my life
No I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
'Til I found the truth
And I owe it all to you
No I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
'Til I found the truth
And I owe it all to you
No other lyrics could describe the way I feel about you and my adventure more perfectly than those. I am truly having the time of my life here. I have never ever felt so much love, happiness and passion. AND I OWE IT ALL TO YOU! Seriously Mom. Thank you so much for helping me open every door last year and allowing me to follow my passion.
I love you times 20 billion and thank you so much for everything! HAVE AN AMAZING BIRTHDAY!!! And I will see you soon :]
-Teaner :]
(and don't worry...I have a legitimate blog post in the works! So quit freaking out)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH :] LOVE YOU!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
IQUITOS. the jungle. the best 4 days of my life :]
In the jungle, the mighty jungle...
You're probably going to get sick of me saying this, but I legitimately had the best time of my life this past week in the Amazon jungle! I can't even describe how much fun I had and what an eye opening experience it was! :] This trip to Iquitos was filled with everything...amazing food, being on a boat all day, sunburn, eating fried alligator, playing with monkeys, getting robbed, meeting new people, seeing tons of wild animals, swimming in the Amazon river, napping on the beach, watching an Amazon rainstorm, meeting jungle children, finding my new favorite food, YES THIS TRIP WAS AMAZING!
Let me just start from the beginning! Well, I took the trek up North to the jungle town of Iquitos with 2 other volunteers, Leah and Amber. We arrived early Monday morning and the minute we stepped out of the airport, at least 15 moto-taxi drivers were harassing us to get in their moto. Stop trying to imagine what this was like because you will never be able to...it was the craziest thing ever!! We went straight to our hostel (which was supposed to be floating and beautiful, but the amazon river was really low) and had our first jungle drink! Cuma Cuma is the name of the fruit and the drink looks just like pink lemonade...but obviously tastes 1,000 times better. I would move to the jungle just for the amazing, exotic fruit you can find there!
We then headed to this place called Iquista Cocha, which is a white sand beach among the jungle and botanical gardens. We ate great food and took a long nap on the beach. Honestly, couldn't ask for a more perfect day! We saw many animals...parrots, monkeys, jaguars, crocodiles, turtles and anacondas! Of course, Christine Columbia fashion, I lied to all the locals and said my name was Sarah from Dallas Texas. That made for fun conversation.
My favorite part of the entire trip had to have been sitting on the edge of the boat, feet in the water, eating my new favorite fruit, listening to good music and just lovin' life! No joke, I sat on the front of the boat for at least 6 hours one day! I know that I am extremely cheesy, so hopefully saying this isn't a surprise to any of you. Sitting on the edge of the boat gliding down the Amazon River made me feel so alive. It was like the entire world was at peace and that I could overcome anything. And yes, just like high school graduation...I cried as we drifted down the river. Such an amazing moment!
We saw thousands of interesting items at the Belen Market (see pictures below for what I mean by interesting), saw more wild animals, went tubing on the Amazon River, saw pink dolphins and I got to play with monkeys! The monkeys were so fun...I don't even know how to describe the experience! One monkey who was laying in my lap just wouldn't leave no matter how many times I picked him up and put him back on the ground. But I definitely didn't expect having missing chucks of hair after saying goodbye to those wild monkeys :]
Hiring a sketchy man to take you down the river is a lot easier than you would think. There is something here called "Peruvian time" where Peruvians have no concept of time and live their life by what ever feels right. Crazy. We hired a man named Jonathon for the whole day to take us down the Amazon river and he gave us a lot of wonderful information. We stumbled upon a small town hidden among the palm trees that looked like it was out of a book. 50 steep white steps, led to a "pueblo" that was deep within the jungle. Monkeys ran wild, exotic fruit was abundant and we were the white people the children have only ever seen in books. This was definitely one of the best parts of my entire trip because we encountered the poverty stricken, simple living and indigenous peoples you dream about. It really made me think how I live my life compared to these children who swim all day, eat fruit as complete meals and live life to the fullest everyday.
Along with having a spiritual revelation, best experience ever and loving life...I want to just let everyone know that I found my new favorite food. It's a fruit called Mamei and it is literally the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. Bright red skin with juicy white center makes this delicacy sound like an apple, but the inside is nothing like an ordinary red delicious. Shut the front door kiddo...my life is complete after eating 14 Mamei's in less than 2 hours. But, the Mamei is actually what led me to getting robbed...
Our last day in Iquitos was supposed to be relaxing and filled with 2 last events, getting more Mamei at the Belen Market and feeding rehabilitated manatees (although we never did make it to the manatees because of the market "incident"). I obviously would never carry my bank card, phone and money in my purse in poverty stricken, South American, jungle territory...but it happened. The whole situation was just bad luck to put it nicely. The three of us thought that we were checking out of the hostel in the morning before our last 2 events and then heading straight to the airport. I had my purse gripped tightly across my body at the market the whole entire time with Leah about 20 feet ahead and Amber 10 feet ahead. A man came up behind me, put his hand across my mouth and touched my private parts to make me let go of my bag. The man scared me half to death because this wasn't just "I want to steal your bag" but "I want to kidnap you" so I used my leg to kick him with the sole of my shoe right in his shins. He removed his hand from my mouth and I screamed bloody murder for a good 30 seconds. He ripped my hand-woven bag from my body and ran away as fast as he could. Thank goodness for Amber and Leah being able to get me out of the situation as fast as they did, because I may have had a panic attack without them. My mom canceled my phone and bank card right away and I was laughing a terrifying moment off 45 minutes later. The girls wanted to kill me when I said on the way to the airport, "Well, hopefully he uses my money to buy food for his family. He probably really needed that money anyways." It always helps being an optimist and trying to find the best in people...even if that slimy man attempted to violate my chastity belt. WHAT A WEASEL. Hahahahahaha :]
All in all, the trip was the best trip of my entire life! I experienced so many new things with 2 new friends that put up with a great amount of inspirational sayings and life lessons. I did miss the kids so much though and probably thought about them every hour reminding myself how much they would love being here with us. Coming home from a vacation to volunteering with 57 of the greatest children I have ever met in my life was amazing. The nurses probably wanted to kill me because the night we returned I
ran in to the girls room (waking all of them up) to say hi and tell them about my trip! Once again, I think about how I am ever going to be able to leave in May....
IQUITOS 2011. AMAZING. CRAZY. NEW. FUN. ADVENTURE. COOL.
"Just livin' life."
-Teaner :]
You're probably going to get sick of me saying this, but I legitimately had the best time of my life this past week in the Amazon jungle! I can't even describe how much fun I had and what an eye opening experience it was! :] This trip to Iquitos was filled with everything...amazing food, being on a boat all day, sunburn, eating fried alligator, playing with monkeys, getting robbed, meeting new people, seeing tons of wild animals, swimming in the Amazon river, napping on the beach, watching an Amazon rainstorm, meeting jungle children, finding my new favorite food, YES THIS TRIP WAS AMAZING!
Let me just start from the beginning! Well, I took the trek up North to the jungle town of Iquitos with 2 other volunteers, Leah and Amber. We arrived early Monday morning and the minute we stepped out of the airport, at least 15 moto-taxi drivers were harassing us to get in their moto. Stop trying to imagine what this was like because you will never be able to...it was the craziest thing ever!! We went straight to our hostel (which was supposed to be floating and beautiful, but the amazon river was really low) and had our first jungle drink! Cuma Cuma is the name of the fruit and the drink looks just like pink lemonade...but obviously tastes 1,000 times better. I would move to the jungle just for the amazing, exotic fruit you can find there!
We then headed to this place called Iquista Cocha, which is a white sand beach among the jungle and botanical gardens. We ate great food and took a long nap on the beach. Honestly, couldn't ask for a more perfect day! We saw many animals...parrots, monkeys, jaguars, crocodiles, turtles and anacondas! Of course, Christine Columbia fashion, I lied to all the locals and said my name was Sarah from Dallas Texas. That made for fun conversation.
My favorite part of the entire trip had to have been sitting on the edge of the boat, feet in the water, eating my new favorite fruit, listening to good music and just lovin' life! No joke, I sat on the front of the boat for at least 6 hours one day! I know that I am extremely cheesy, so hopefully saying this isn't a surprise to any of you. Sitting on the edge of the boat gliding down the Amazon River made me feel so alive. It was like the entire world was at peace and that I could overcome anything. And yes, just like high school graduation...I cried as we drifted down the river. Such an amazing moment!
We saw thousands of interesting items at the Belen Market (see pictures below for what I mean by interesting), saw more wild animals, went tubing on the Amazon River, saw pink dolphins and I got to play with monkeys! The monkeys were so fun...I don't even know how to describe the experience! One monkey who was laying in my lap just wouldn't leave no matter how many times I picked him up and put him back on the ground. But I definitely didn't expect having missing chucks of hair after saying goodbye to those wild monkeys :]
Hiring a sketchy man to take you down the river is a lot easier than you would think. There is something here called "Peruvian time" where Peruvians have no concept of time and live their life by what ever feels right. Crazy. We hired a man named Jonathon for the whole day to take us down the Amazon river and he gave us a lot of wonderful information. We stumbled upon a small town hidden among the palm trees that looked like it was out of a book. 50 steep white steps, led to a "pueblo" that was deep within the jungle. Monkeys ran wild, exotic fruit was abundant and we were the white people the children have only ever seen in books. This was definitely one of the best parts of my entire trip because we encountered the poverty stricken, simple living and indigenous peoples you dream about. It really made me think how I live my life compared to these children who swim all day, eat fruit as complete meals and live life to the fullest everyday.
Along with having a spiritual revelation, best experience ever and loving life...I want to just let everyone know that I found my new favorite food. It's a fruit called Mamei and it is literally the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. Bright red skin with juicy white center makes this delicacy sound like an apple, but the inside is nothing like an ordinary red delicious. Shut the front door kiddo...my life is complete after eating 14 Mamei's in less than 2 hours. But, the Mamei is actually what led me to getting robbed...
Our last day in Iquitos was supposed to be relaxing and filled with 2 last events, getting more Mamei at the Belen Market and feeding rehabilitated manatees (although we never did make it to the manatees because of the market "incident"). I obviously would never carry my bank card, phone and money in my purse in poverty stricken, South American, jungle territory...but it happened. The whole situation was just bad luck to put it nicely. The three of us thought that we were checking out of the hostel in the morning before our last 2 events and then heading straight to the airport. I had my purse gripped tightly across my body at the market the whole entire time with Leah about 20 feet ahead and Amber 10 feet ahead. A man came up behind me, put his hand across my mouth and touched my private parts to make me let go of my bag. The man scared me half to death because this wasn't just "I want to steal your bag" but "I want to kidnap you" so I used my leg to kick him with the sole of my shoe right in his shins. He removed his hand from my mouth and I screamed bloody murder for a good 30 seconds. He ripped my hand-woven bag from my body and ran away as fast as he could. Thank goodness for Amber and Leah being able to get me out of the situation as fast as they did, because I may have had a panic attack without them. My mom canceled my phone and bank card right away and I was laughing a terrifying moment off 45 minutes later. The girls wanted to kill me when I said on the way to the airport, "Well, hopefully he uses my money to buy food for his family. He probably really needed that money anyways." It always helps being an optimist and trying to find the best in people...even if that slimy man attempted to violate my chastity belt. WHAT A WEASEL. Hahahahahaha :]
All in all, the trip was the best trip of my entire life! I experienced so many new things with 2 new friends that put up with a great amount of inspirational sayings and life lessons. I did miss the kids so much though and probably thought about them every hour reminding myself how much they would love being here with us. Coming home from a vacation to volunteering with 57 of the greatest children I have ever met in my life was amazing. The nurses probably wanted to kill me because the night we returned I
ran in to the girls room (waking all of them up) to say hi and tell them about my trip! Once again, I think about how I am ever going to be able to leave in May....
IQUITOS 2011. AMAZING. CRAZY. NEW. FUN. ADVENTURE. COOL.
"Just livin' life."
-Teaner :]
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