What a difference a few days can make! There are no mosquitoes, it's 50 degrees cooler outside, and my neighbors are Domino's Pizza and El Toro, rather than InkaFert, the coal plant, and the donkey slaughterhouse, but for the sake of my desire for completeness, I must finish blogging about the trip.
On Sunday morning, Kelly and I went to church at Esperanza, the church most of the kids attend. The Sunday before I had gone to Centro Biblico, where the little boys go with their house parents. Alex went to a different church with the adolescents.
We had a long drive because we went by the adolescents' church first to drop them off. It was interesting to see more of Trujillo. Jorge Grande sat next to me and narrated the whole trip. He pointed out all the things he saw out the window. It was like, "Bird, bicycle, chicken shack, farm, car," but in Spanish of course. I don't know if he was just enjoying being out of the orphanage or thought he was teaching me some Spanish or what, but I enjoyed it, and I joined in the game some.
At first the kids went to Sunday school, and we attended a communion service. Then the kids came down and sat with us for the actual church service. Jorge Grande sat next to me and spent a lot of time looking through my Bible. It was nice to go to church with the kids and see where they attend, but as a church, I liked Centro Biblico better. I feel more comfortable there, and I find the service easier to understand. Centro Biblico projects all the words on a screen, which really helps me. Esperanza did not do that, nor did they have hymnals. Apparently, you have to have your own. Thankfully, an older man seated at the end of our row took pity on the gringas and children and loaned us his hymnal, so that did help. I find it really hard to catch onto the words in Spanish songs if I don't have a written copy. All that to say that in the future I will probably attend Centro Biblico. Also, I must admit that you leave for Centro Biblico at 10:15 and Esperanza at 8:00. Another point for Centro Biblico.
When we returned from church, I spent some time in the little boys' house because I knew the three littlest ones would be down for their naps after lunch when it was time for us to leave. Alejandro (age 3) wanted to play with my watch, so I let him. He wandered off after a minute, but I thought he was just around the corner, so I wasn't too worried. Well, he ended up hiding my watch and then forgetting where he'd hid it. He kept insisting it was on the bunk above his bed, but it wasn't. Oh well. It's a cheap watch that I only wear when I go to Peru because I don't want to take my nice watch down there. I told Sam that if she finds it, she should just save it for me until I come back in January.
Lunch was fried eggs and some other stuff. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure there was rice involved. After lunch, I went back down to the little boys' house to tell them good-bye. Alejo again tried to tell me my watch was on the bunk above his. Telling them good-bye was the hardest part. I don't think it was hard for them, though, because I don't think they understood at all.
After that, I finished packing up. Our departure time got bumped up 20 minutes, but nobody told me for a while, so I ended up rushed at the end. The older girls were in that vinyl pool in the front yard, so I got some wet hugs and kisses from them, and some of the other kids and all the volunteers came out to see us off. One of the older boys walked out with two of the little boys, and I was like, "Man, I already said good-bye to them once. Don't make me do it again." I kind of wish I'd been able to go find absolutely everyone and say bye, but there just wasn't time for that. Leaving was a lot easier this time. That's probably partly because I know I'm coming back and when and partly because I've done it before.
Our trip home was fine. A big thanks to my buddy Sarah Bales for picking us up at the airport in Chicago. I don't know if there will be any more blog posts or not. I might post some thoughts and reflections about the trip as I process everything, or I might not. I don't know. Right now, I'm still trying to get settled back in at home and school and work and get rested up from that overnight flight. The emotional aspect is getting shelved until I get some more sleep and feel like I'm on top of some other stuff.
I love you, and I think you're pretty.
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