Events of the Casa

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So while I am writing my travel experiences, there will be a couple of entries that backtrack, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.


A bunch of events connected with the Casa Hogar that were quite neat 😊


* A few weeks ago, Walter, an American Christian missionary, and his wife organized a Comida Mexicana to benefit the Casa. Many Peruvians, as well as many volunteers, showed up and we ate yummy tacos. My personal highlight was the brownies that the wife made with real walnuts. They were exquisite.

* On the week of her birthday, I decided to take one of the older girls, Sonia, to the center, since they are not allowed to go out alone much. So we walked around the city for a while and had ice-cream and she had a piece of cake that she really liked. It turned out that the same day was her friend’s baptism so we went to the church to assist it. Afterwards, we were both invited to go to the celebration at her friend’s house. After getting permission from the Casa we went. It was a small celebration with less than 20 people. Although I was the only gringa the hosts were very amable to me and very generous. I felt a little out of place but it was a nice to experience how ‘normal’ people in Ayacucho live. Very educational anthropologically. The tradition in Peru is for adults to throw candy after the baptism in front of the church and later at the celebration and the kids scuttle around to grab them. I quite like that tradition 😊 We also did some dancing and just before Sonia and I had to leave to go to the Casa, the food came so we had something resembling a schnitzel and, of course, rice! Sonia seemed to enjoy herself very much so it turned out to be quite a good birthday for her.

* A week later was Sonia’s Primera Comunión and afterwards the Casa organized a little celebration for her and she had a proper cake. It was a nice affair. Her older brother came from another orphanage for adolescents so I think she really enjoyed that, although her father could not be there. The Casa’s psychologist was her godmother. One of the volunteers made waffles for all the kids in view of Sonia’s celebration. They were yummy.

* The same night, as part of her going-away party, another volunteer organized Noche de Discoteca for the kids of the Casa. It was held in the volunteer house and lasted for 2 hours. She rented colored lights so it really seemed like a club. She had done this once before and it was such a success with the children that she wanted to do it again for them before she left. The kids danced the evening away. The second part of the night was karaoke and we all sang songs by the hottest group in Peru - Kaliente (de Iquitos Peru). I wanted to post one of their songs here but it only allows videos. I'm going to try to figure it out. El Embrujo is currently Kaliente’s most famous song. It’s on the radio all the time. I dare to say it is Peru’s equivalent of this summer’s ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna. It is everywhere and everyone knows the lyrics, including all the volunteers, some of who do not speak much Spanish. So you can give it a listen to know what kind of music I am exposed to here. It is quite catchy. (Kaliente are so big that they will be the main band playing right here in Ayacucho on the 9th of December for the anniversary of Peru’s Battle of Ayacucho at a free concert for the Ayacucho area.)

* Generally, there is at least one birthday celebration a month at the Casa, always on a Sunday, and many times there is more than one a month, as was the case in November. Here are some more pictures of the Casa for those interested.

The rest of the photos are the insides of the Casa for those of you who were wondering.

Ta-ta.


Spanish word of the day: Comida = food

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Photos

Sonia and her friend Nicole
At Nicole's christening.

Brownies! Yum!
(at the bottom of the photo)

Sonia and her brothers and sisters
At the Casa Hogar Los Gorriones, celebrating Sonia's first holy communion.

The kitchen
The kitchen runs on wood, not gas or electricity. Before wood was cheaper now it's the same price as the gas.

Cuarto de los Lupes
Room of the little kids with disabilities.

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