Pijamada!

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Pijamada, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

In an effort to do something different and have a little fun on my last night in Kusi, Katy (another translator who is here from England) invited Rosa, the house mother at Girasoles Kusi, and her 13-year old daughter, Alexia, to spend the night in our bungalow and have a pijamada!

So, after returning from having a delicious pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) dinner in Yungay with the work team and all 40 boys plus staff, we returned to Kusi, spread out the mattresses, grabbed our blankets and got comfortable! Pretty soon, our bungalow was full with Katy, Rosa, Alexia, Carmen (another translator with us in Kusi), and the three ladies from the work team.

We started the evening with a short devotional by Rosa and then had a time of prayer, where we were able to specifically pray for the needs of the group. We ended the night watching “Una Noche Fuera de Serie” (Date Night).

It was nice to take an evening “for the girls.” Alexia, who lives in Kusi with her brother, parents and 40 boys, is usually the only girl at events and rarely has the opportunity to spend time with friends, or have friends come visit. It was nice to be 12-13 again and spend the night just watching movies and having fun.

I couldn’t have asked for a better last night in Kusi.


Pijamada, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Of course, there were some silly moments throughout the night. 🙂

Llanganuco

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Llanganuco, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Today I went up to Llanganuco and the Huascarán National Park for the last time this year with work teams. This beautifully blue-green lake, which is 30 meters deep, is located in the valley between Peru’s tallest mountain, Huascarán, and others in the Cordillera Blanca.

Thankfully, we had beautiful weather for spending the morning at the lake and then walking through the park.

Since Billy was with me this time, we took a photo together – something that has become sort of a tradition over the past few years (in 2008 and again in 2009).

Haircut in Yungay

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Salon, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

The last few times I have been in Kusi, Rosa, the house mother that takes care of the 40 boys living at the abandoned boys home, has always asked me to have a “girls day” with her in Yungay when we had some free time between teams. Her idea is to go into the town and spend a part of the day together, doing things like shopping, going to a café, and getting our haircut. In previous years, we have done everything but get our hair cut.

Last night, I floated the idea of going to get our haircut to Rosa (who I knew was going to love it). Of course, within 10 minutes she was on the phone asking about an appointment for the next day.

Katy (a fellow SU translator who is here from England) decided to join us and we spent the morning at Yungay’s nicest salon. We all got our hair wash and cut, and all for an amazing price of S/.5. That is just $1.73. After leaving a tip, the entire morning did not cost anything more than $3.

More photos from our morning in Yungay are on Flickr.

(In the above photo, Katy, Rosa (in the middle) and I are with the two ladies that work at the salon after getting our hair cut.)

Hello Kusi!

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The Small Ones, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

After a few months of the jungle in Puerto Alegria/Iquitos, a couple weeks in the desert Ica, and some random days in the city of Lima, I have finally made it to the Andes – in Kusi!

I first visited Kusi in 2006 with the group from my home church, First Presbyterian. At the time, there was not much on the property. We stayed in a nearby city – Caraz – and spent all of our time making hundreds, if not thousands of adobe bricks that would be used to build the city of Kusi.

It was not until 2008 that I was able to return to Kusi. I was fortunate to spend a month at the home. At this time, more buildings had been completed and there were approximately 35 Girasoles boys living in Kusi, along with the house family. The city had begun to grow and now included a functioning elementary school, bungalows, and foundations for future buildings. During the month I was in Kusi leading and translating for work teams, I was able to get to know the house family and Girasoles boys – something that has made Kusi one of my favorite places.

Thankfully, I have been able to spend more time in Kusi over the past year and a half – both with work teams and simply vacation.

This year, I have returned to Kusi with a team from Virginia. They will be here for about 10 days before returning to Lima. I will be able to stay here for a few days after the group to meet the next (and final) summer work team.

The photo, which is one of my favorites, was taken in 2008 when I took some of the youngest boys with one of my teams to Llanganuco, a national park near Kusi. I am happy to say that all 6 of these boys are still living in Kusi – they are just much taller and a few years older!

Elections

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It’s a big election year in Peru and things are just a little bit different than how it goes in the States. You can tell when it is campaign time because every available wall is painted with political propaganda, every street light has a sign hung on it, and people start wearing the free t-shirts they are given with a candidate’s name. Every seat from local, regional to national is up for grabs and the campaigners are out in full force sharing their platform and ideas for the country.

Since there is a large population of people that can’t read, and a large number of political parties in Peru, every sign usually includes some sort of logo and “marca así” (vote like this). When the people go to vote, the symbols are included on the ballot to help those that can’t read, or simply can’t remember the name of their candidate!

I found out today that a friend from Iquitos just entered in the upcoming political elections on October 3rd. He’s running for mayor of Punchana in the party Restauración Nacional, which according to my friend, out of 20+ political parties, it is the only evangelical Christian party that exists in Peru.

In this particular election, he is competing against 14 others for the title “mayor of Punchana.” Since elections are in just a few months and he is running against a large number of people, I asked his strategy for campaigning. He replied, it is three fold – traditional, churches and, finally, 12 by 12.

Like every other candidate, he now has signs hanging around the city, posters on the back of mototaxis, walls painted with his name, and television and radio ads. The next part of his plan is to visit every church in the city of Punchana, whether it be during Sunday services, small groups or fellowship meetings. Since he is part of the only evangelical Christian party, they are the only ones that have easy access to this form of campaigning. And finally, his last method of campaigning is 12 by 12. Like how Christianity was spread throughout the world through the 12 apostles proclaiming the Good News to those they met, he will be using this method in his campaign. If he can convince 12 people to vote for him and have those same 12 to get 12 more people, and they another 12, and so on and so on, he can gain supporters and share his mission.

I’m excited to see what the outcome is of the elections on October 3rd!