Weekly Update

So, it's been 5 days since I've returned from Ayaviri and I have to say I'm a little depressed. I really enjoyed that place. There was something almost mystical about being there. I guess, I would describe it like being in a time machine and going back several hundred years.

You're in a small down, with a plaza and constant music. All the woman are dressed in traditional clothing and there are only a very few cars in the town. Most people ride bikes and a few have motorcycles. There's an open air market on Wednesday where people bring their lamb and cattle meat to be sold. Sunday is the day to do your shopping for other supplies, and there's constant huslte and bustle in the plaza.

Sunday also is the day where they parade in with several hundred people, organized by different groups (ie. schools, bands, organziations that care for the poor, and semi-professional organziations). The band plays the national anthem and they raise the Peruvian and Ayarviri flags.

The children of the town attend school, but have very little as far as supplies. Luckily, I was able to travel with Father Miguel and bring new backpacks filled with school supplies to 4 different schools. At the school that the community runs, I stopped into their English class and gave an im-promp-tu English lesson. Very few of them had ever met a Northern American, so it was quite exciting for them to see and hear my native English. At the conclusion of the lesson, I asked who wanted to come with me to the U.S. and they all raised their hands and a few of them ran up to me and hugged me not wanting to let go. It was a cute moment, but also one that made me thing about the differences in opportunity that we have just because of the place we were born and the family that we were born into. Which made me really think about the responsibility as Christians that we have to the entire human race to promote the dignity and worth of all human beings regardless of class or ethnicity.

Now I'm back in Lima, and I'm starting to look forward to going back home in 2 weeks. I haven't thought about home too much because everyday has been somethig new, but now that the time is approaching, I've started to get a little homesick...