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Billy, Kate & Will in Perú

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Gene and Patty

23 mosquito bites and counting…

Posted on Thursday, July 9, 2009 2 Comments

I have finally made it to the jungle – to Puerto Alegria and the city of Iquitos!

Instead of traveling between all the Girasoles homes with different work teams as I did last year, it was decided to send three site coordinators to the three  SU sites where most of the work teams will be visiting – Kusi, Cusco and Puerto Alegria. Due to differing schedules and me wanting/needing to travel with the group from Dearborn, I was delayed in making it up to Puerto Alegria until last Monday when I arrived with a team from Philadelphia.

The Puerto Alegria site is 40 minutes from the city of Iquitos down the Itaya River. Because we are so far out from the city, there is no constant electricity (the generator is turned on every night around dinner and runs until 10pm), cell phone service is pretty low and all our water comes from the river. It shall be a test in keeping myself busy and a very slow lifestyle!

There are approximately 37 boys at the home in Puerto Alegria that live with the house parents Gene and Patty, and their two children Kanny and Josue. When the boys are not in school, they entertain themselves with games, soccer, swimming in the river and playing soccer.

Since we are in the Amazon jungle, the weather is mostly hot and humid, with lots of rain. Yesterday alone it rained over 5 times throughout the day, which made for an interesting and muddy afternoon soccer game!

Not only is it hot, there are tons of mosquitos, cockroaches and every other type of bug possible. Thankfully, I only ever see the mosquitos around dusk time, and the cucarachas only at night. Despite this, I have still have plenty of mosquito bites!

Since I´ll be here in Puerto Alegria for the next 6 weeks, I´ll have plenty of time to get to know the Girasoles boys, Gene and Patty, the three educators that live at Puerto Alegria and assist Gene and Patty with the boys and a little bit of the city of Iquitos.

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Gene and Patty, Girasoles, Peru, Puerto Alegria, Scripture Union

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katebruder

When your uncle comes to visit, you wear your matc When your uncle comes to visit, you wear your matching shirts together (with a flashback to his last visit in January 2020) #littlewilliamnoah
Explored Arequipa, the white city, for the first t Explored Arequipa, the white city, for the first time all together and spent many hours outside under the blue sky. #littlewilliamnoah
The @monasteriodesantacatalina is one of my favori The @monasteriodesantacatalina is one of my favorite places in Peru. There is beauty around every corner and the colors, sillar streets and potted geraniums along the walls are just amazing. This trip we were able to visit as the sun was setting and see the former monastery in a new way. #littlewilliamnoah
Spent a few days outside under blue skies in the C Spent a few days outside under blue skies in the Colca Canyon #littlewilliamnoah
Just a small glimpse into what we did during July Just a small glimpse into what we did during July in 60 seconds #littlewilliamnoah
Celebrating Fiestas Patrias with dancing los capor Celebrating Fiestas Patrias with dancing los caporales 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
Ready to perform la danza de los caporales with hi Ready to perform la danza de los caporales with his classmates at @coloringdreamsperu to celebrate Fiestas Patrias 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
All of the people in these photos are now Peruvian All of the people in these photos are now Peruvian! When I first traveled to Peru in 2001 at 15 years old, I never expected that one day I would be a living here as a citizen. After 11 years of living in Lima, I have joined @wngreenman and @greenmanbilly with dual citizenship! 🇵🇪 🎉 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
We spent the morning with the llamas of @llamapack We spent the morning with the llamas of @llamapackproject and community partners from Cancha Cancha learning about how llamas are used for social development within local communities and to conserve and protect the environment in the Andes. #llamapackproject #littlewilliamnoah
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