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Published: August 3rd 2005
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OK, so I am on such a high right now. I don´t think I have been this full of energy since I´ve been here! Jackie, Kira, and I went to the Old Folks Home today because our schools are just too messed up with their schedules. I thought it would be cool to see something different, but I had no idea how amazing it would be. And I probably won´t even be able to express why it was so amazing in words.
This place was the cleanest, most beautiful place I have seen in Peru. It is set right off a main, busy, dirty street. But inside it is quiet, peaceful, and clean. It is ran by some of the nicest nuns you could ever meet. For the most part it is segregated by sex. Men on one side, women on the other. The one exception was a man who was in there with his wife.
Just our presence made these people light up! It was so nice to be able to make somebody´s day by just saying hi, or holding their hand, or taking their picture.
This one lady, Blanca, just loved us. All she wanted to do was Tango.
So I spent a good part of my day dancing with her.
Jackie plays guitar and has the most amazing voice (she really reminds me of you Sarena). She writes her own songs and music and the old people just ate it up. Some would dance, some would hum along, and some would let her serenade them to sleep. Listening to her play and sing was an added bonus to an incredible day.
On the men´s side, we sat around in a circle and passed a little Nerf football around. One guy was amazingly quick and would throw fake passes and everything.
We seriously spent 4 hours laughing with old people today. Then when we got back to the house, we found ourselves gushing about all our experiences. People were looking at us like we were nuts; taking a step back, I guess we sounded kinda crazy. But oh well, these old folks have given me what the children in Africa gave me...a purpose. No matter what happened earlier in this trip, or what is to come...today made it all worth it. I´m just glad I didn´t spend all three weeks at that home, because there would have been no
way I could´ve said goodbye.
As for my personal well-being...I am feeling really good. My rib still hurts, but it´s not too bad, more of an irritation than anything. I actually had a little bit of a panic attack last night, I think it was just exhaustion (and some major changes that might be taking place at home), so I took a Zanax (you can just buy them in the store here), watched a movie, and then slept for 9 hours. I think that´s why I woke up so alive this morning!
Anyway, miss you all, talk to you all soon,
Kevin
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