Yesterday night, when I was walking up the stairs, I saw a
little mouse with a super long tail. It was so cute! I was glad that it didn’t
try to attack me though so that was a good thing.
Today was another amazing day; long and tiring but amazing.
I worked at Semilleta today. When I got there, I first worked with the babies
with special needs in the physical therapy room. I massaged them, changed their
clothes, and played with them. I especially enjoyed massaging little Jose
Carlos. He was so active. He kept moving around everywhere! I had a blast. He
would occasionally laugh as if he knew his moving around made it more difficult
for me to massage him. He had the most precious little face ever. When I
tickled him, he would laugh and squirm all over the mats. His laugh is so cute.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby as he cute as he. Well, maybe my own future
child will be cuter than him :).
After that, I massaged Suemy. Suemy has a heart condition
where her heart continually beats quicker than the average person. After her
massage, I played with her. We touched barley (or what looked like barley),
which is her favorite thing to do. She was so excited to see the bowl of
barley. We touched it and she kept taking a handful of barley and throwing it
on the carpet. I thought it was hilarious even though I had to clean up all the
barley.
I later decided that I wanted to work with the older
orphans. Man, there was a lot of work to be done with the older orphans. One of
my favorite orphans today was Jonathan. I pushed him on his wheelchair around
the orphanage. We went to the little pool area where he was able to socialize
with other orphans. You can tell that he is well-loved by everyone. Although he
cannot speak, his personality just radiates love and joy. I really enjoyed
working with him. We played with legos, he took out his microphone and sang,
and he introduced me to his friends. When the Peruvian version of “Stand By Me”
came on, I started to sing and Jonathan got so excited. He was beating on the
table like they were drums while I held his microphone and sang. We were
dancing and swaying back and forth to the song. It was great!
Then it was time for everyone to go outdoors. I helped the
staff watch all the children. There were so many older orphans with special
needs compared with the baby orphans. I was glad to be able to help. I helped a
little boy practice walking but in the midst of practicing, he decided to lay
down on the ground, pick up a patch of grass, and eat it. I had to take all the
grass out of his mouth and he tried to bite me.
After outdoor time was lunchtime. I helped feed some
children. Although, I got my hair pulled during this time and food spat at me,
I still enjoyed it! :) I felt happy that I was able to work with children who
are incredible little miracles; children who have taught me something about
unconditional love and gratitude. I love them. I literally felt like I was
flying when I was working with them. I think maybe I did fly. It is with
children with special needs where I feel I grow and learn the most. I feel like
my spirit is being lifted into a realm of complete peace and serenity. When I
look at the faces of these children, I see hope and a kind of love that I always
heard of but never truly felt. They have made me experience love in a way that
I have never experienced. I am so grateful and blessed to be in their company
and be their friend.
Honestly, I don’t think I have worked this hard (or this
much) since I got here. Work at Semilleta is the most difficult and exhausting,
but for some reason, I don’t feel tired like I normally do. I did so much
today. I was continually on the move with all the orphans and, yet, when I got
home, I still felt like I had enough energy to take on the world. It’s amazing
what these orphans have done to me. They’ve truly touched my heart and they
have enabled me to be better than I was before.
When I got home, I went to the Incan Market again (goodness
gracious, I must stay away from that place!). I went with Allison and Alexis. I
got some more stuff for friends and family back home so it was worth it. I am
glad to say that I know my way around San Miguel now! We took a taxi back home
and I knew where our house was and gave the driver the appropriate directions
(kiss my brain!). Now with all the souvenirs and gifts for everyone back home,
my luggage is getting quite large. Thankfully, I did not pack that much to
begin with so now (with the use the expander on my suitcase) I am able to fit
all my belongings into one suitcase with half of my suitcase for the souvenirs
and the other half for my clothes! This just means that I am forbidden to
purchase any more things (must make a note to myself, actually a promise, to
not buy any more things).
Due to the large Chinese population here in Peru, everyone
thinks I am Chinese. When I say I am not Chinese, everyone will ask me if my
family is Chinese. Then it kind of goes on for a while until I just say, “I am
Vietnamese.”
Man, the food here is so good. I just tried ceviche today
which is a dish with fish that is cooked in lime juice. It was so delicious.
I’m actually bummed out right now thinking about how people
can be so mean to another person. It makes me especially sad when I try to be
nice and cheerful to people and some people, in return, think I am annoying and
are mean to me. Eh, oh well. I can’t make everyone happy. Only people who
actually matter to me are worth me making them happy. :)
At night, I went with some volunteers to Mira Flores to go
watch an American university play football since two of the volunteers are from
that particular university. We went to a bar and I got so tired. I am definitely
not a night person and am a total morning person and the all the volunteers
recognize that (LOL!)! I thought it wasn’t that obvious but I guess it is. I’m
so energetic during the day but once it gets dark, all that energy disappears.
At the bar, the only thing that kept me up was thinking about skyping with
someone special.
Now, here I am, super tired, but still wanting to skype with
my special friend :). I’m also looking forward to tomorrow since the volunteers
and I will be traveling very far to Huacachina. Yay! Buenas noches amigos! :D
