Sandboarding!

First of all, before sandboarding we had a really good week of volunteering. We started up teaching at teh new school in pachacutec, i taught english becasue physed wasnt on that day, but it was really fun--the kids were 5-7 years old and beyond precious. I gave a LOT of the donations I brought to the kids as prizes and gifts at recess, also to other children in the area. As much as the kids tehre arent orphans like in the other places we work, they live in what is essentially the slums of Lima. houses of for metal sheets for walls and one on top for a leaky roof line the costal community. pencils and erasers were like gold to the kids, it was really fun to be able to make them that excited. because peruvian independance day is next week, everyone is doing parades this week because they haev next week off. so the kids at teh school assembled a drumline and march and went through the streets with peruvian flags waving proudly. ...the preschoolers had play machine guns though, ive yet to figure that one out. as wrong as it is, the y were superbly adorable. I also had my last day at the special needs orphanage, i wanted to cry. Im going to miss all of my favourites SOmuch!! they are all so unique, but growing to know all of them and their personalities- what makes each one laugh. and as much as it is 10 times harder to get a smile with some of them it means so much more. I almost want to come back just to see how that group of kids is doing, and as much as it hurts my back-carry maria for a nother 12 hours. ahh im getting sentimental, must move on to happier times

After volunteering, and the grand farewell on friday Dan, Liz, Mike and myself caught a bus to Ica. its about a 5 hour bus ride, traffic dependant. I would just liketo point out that we had zero reservations going in to this trip, for those of you who know me-you should be very proud that i was able to "see how it goes" with a 10pm arrival in a foreign country with a foreign language. We arrived and took a taxi to huaccachina, about 10 minutes away but home to a gorgeous oasis of sand dunes surrounding a lucious lagoon. Litterally one road on one side of the lagoon, and one sidewalk on the other side, strictly hostels, restaurants, and shops. we found the hostel we heard was good, AND it had a quad room. first success. then we took a walk to a pub and had 2 for 5 dollar mojitos, then went back to sleep. we woke up to roosters on saturday morning followed by beaming sunlight in a cloudless blue sky. it was finally a taste of summer after a month of gloomy lima skies. we walked around the quaint lagoon, had fresh fruit juice, tried to climb the sand dunes by foot...tried implying eventual failure. its like climbing a treadmil...before you even take your next step, teh sand above your other foot is all sliding down already... a good workout none the less. we ate lunch on the lagoon, i had some lovely ceviche-a peruvian "typical" dish. then spent a few hours laying in the sun. time VERY well spent if you ask me. We had our dune buggy tour and sand boarding at 330 so taht it wouldnt be so hot (good call) and we got to watch the sun set over the dunes. it was AMAZING!!! the sandboarding was easy to get the jist of we did three easy runs first then three big steep ones. SO fun, i was scared shitless when i was st anding at the top but it was unreal. and teh dune buggies were likethe best ride ever, except i definitely consumed copious amounts of sand. ..so worth it. all you could see was sand dunes for miles ...it was unlike anything id ever seen before. and its so cool seeing it meet the blue sky, the lines of the dunes are so crisp-it actually looks like the preloaded desktop backgrounds! anyway it was amazing. I only have photos of before we went on the dunebuggy tour because we only wanted to risk one camera to the flying sand. Mike got lots of sweet photos, but eventually thecamer a did freeze. weather he fixes his camera or not--i will still find a way to steal the photos, worry not.

Plan for today is dim sum in central lima followed by shopping followed by pizza for dinner. and one week til home!