Hola! This is going to be a quick note because I only have a few minutes at the internet cafe, but here it goes.... I am back in Lima after an amazing weekend in Cuzco to see Machu Pichu. Machu Pichu was completely mind blowing and none of my pictures do it any justice. The flights there and back were pretty uneventul (which was a good thing). I was the only one o the three o us who went who didnt have any side effects from the altitude. I think it was because I drank so much coca tea. The only thing I did come back with was lots of mosquito bites (they were a lot in Aguas Calientes). The walk about the ruins was surprisingly more difficult than I thought it would be. We also ... read more

Hola Family and Friends, So I definitely spoke too soon about the camera. It completely crapped out yesterday and I bought a new one today. I did two things without a camera and it was driving me crazy to watch other people take pictures while I couldn´t. Everyone told me they would send me there photos but it´s just not the same. Besides, I don´t know if the people in Peru have a ¨special¨relationship with the people in Korea but my camera was pretty cheap. Hopefully it lasts to take photos of the mountains. This morning the time at Mother Theresa´s FLEW by. The sisters had us working hard at folding what was probably 20 loads of laundry. Twice a week we strip all the beds, wash all the matresses/floors/etc. Everything was going well until we ... read more

Hola! So although not much as changed since yesterday, I suppose that I do have a few things that I can report on (basically I got the opportunity to go to the internet cafe because other people were going and I wouldn´t be able to go alone). Yesterday afternoon we went to the travel agent and officially booked our trip to Machu Pichu, Aguas Caliente/Cuzco. We are leaving friday morning at 5 am (yup we´ll be at the airport at 3 am). I am so incredibly excited to be going. Especially since rumour has it among the locals that they´ll be shutting it down in January of 2009 for a mass restoration project. After booking our trip we bought some cereal and PB to get us through breakfast over the next couple of weeks. As I ... read more

So I officially got my placement: The name of the organization where I will be is called Mother Theresa's Home for the Dying and the Destitute (Nuestra Señora de la Paz) in the La Victoria district in Lima. Hogar Nuestra Señora de la Paz is a center for physically and mentally challenged individuals who are the poorest among the poor and have been abandoned by everyone, including their families. This hospice is part of Mother Theresa’s opus around the world, and has been active in Lima since 1973 in an inner-city area of Lima. There are 52 infants and children in the second floor of the building (the children's ward) and over a hundred adult males in the first level, all of them severely disabled, who depend of the nuns and volunteers for food, hygiene, care ... read more