Verano Azul

May 14th

Today was Leah's birthday! She had a couple cards from home and a virtual cake from her parents over skype. We went for a walk in the morning with Ronal to a little park and just relaxed, played cards, read, and napped (for me and Matt). We went for lunch after at Cafe Zeta, which has become a favourite of the group. Rory surprised us all with shots of Pisco, our first in Peru. It tastes kind of like tequila but with a better after taste. We walked down to the water front again and just watched the paragliders and took pictures. It hasn't been as nice of weather since that first day.

We got all ready and dressed up to go out after. We all went out to dinner at a restaurant called Mango's. We were very lucky to get a really nice table outside, with a view of the water. We had a really nice meal and then came back to the hostal. When we got back, Ronal had decorated the top of the hostal roof with streamers, balloons and lights. It was so nice! And then we brought Leah a cake with sparklers on it. We had music and drank Pisco sours, which is the Peruvian drink. Suud took Leah's video camera and did interviews with everyone, asking us to say something to Leah for 15 years from now. Also, Leah and Rory had done a chest bump when we were playing soccer at school last week and it was hilarious because he's 6'2 and a big guy and little 5'2 Leah doesn't stand a chance. We video taped her birthday chest bump and she went flying across the room! It was so funny. We also learned the Ottawa University dance to We No Speak Americano from Carley and Steph, which is really cool and we looked even cooler when we brought out at the dancefloor of the club.

We went to a really cool bar called Antiqua by the water. Leah's Peruvian friends got us on the guest list so we didn't have to wait or pay. The music was Peruvian with a few Western songs. It was a very good night.

May 15th

We all woke up at different times today from the crazy night before. I got up with Leah and we watched all the video from the night before. I went to the store with Suud to get some stuff to do some hand washing, Ghana style.

After, Leah's Peruvian friends were over and they took us to the Plaza de Armas, which is the big square in downtown Lima, about 45 minutes combie from here. It had some really beautiful churches and architecture. We went to the Monasterio de San Fransisco, an old church that has a really cool library and an amazing cathedral. It also had catacoumbs, where 25 000 Lima residents were buried back in the day. It was pretty interesting, and great to have an English speaking guide.

We came back and went out for dinner at a Lebonese type place after. Then we just hung out and went to bed early, getting ready for another week of early starts.

May 16th

Today was the coldest day by far at work. We were all bundled up all day. Our tasks of the day were finishing the supports on the walls and working on the roof. We had Miguel (someone who we also have a special nickname for) come and kind of take over the roof stuff so the other girls and I got to work on the supports. I used a hand saw for the first time! Once that was done, there wasn't a whole lot we could do to help the roofers. We tried to stay warm, took lots of pictures and played with the kids a bit. There's this little boy named Jorge and he's just about the cutest thing we've all seen. He got quite a bit of attention today. Leah was listening to her ipod and he smiled when he heard the Peruvian music on the other end. At first, he was a bit afraid of us, but most of us got a chance to hold him today.

He came home and all desperately worked on getting warm. We cooked tacos for dinner and just relaxed a bit.

A few people have been getting sick... Ryan has been sleeping a lot with a bad cough ect and missed work today. Rory was sick tonight and a few people have been complaining of sore stomachs. I haven't felt 100% but I can't tell if it's any more than my usual allergy sickness.

Ronal is coming to work with us tomorrow so it'll be nice to have someone to translate a bit. I believe we are going to finish off the roof and start on the next building. It is starting to come together very well and it's pretty exciting! We are also taking a weekend trip to Huacachina (a 5 hr bus ride) this weekend so we are all pretty pumped about that.

Hasta luego!