Miraflores 2

Today, along with William, Kate, and Becky (other interns), I went back to Miraflores to visit and go shopping for some last minute supplies before departing tomorrow. It was so cool to be back in the part of Lima where i spent last year´s summer taking spanish courses. just to back track a little bit. i actually came to miraflores the day of my arrival in lima. i decided to venture back and try to visit the lady with whom i stayed during my time in peru last summer. after negotiating a fair price with a taxi driver i hopped in and ended up getting out at the parque kennedy. this park sits just one block away from the building where i had stayed. after taking it all in i walked over to the building´s front gate only to be greeted by the same doorman who had held the post last year. after finding out Elma was not at home but in the park selling her hand made jewelry, i ventured over to the park. before continuing on to the mini market where i assumed i would find her i was stopped by the scene of some older couples dancing in a circular concrete depression in the park. this is the place where Elma met the man with whom she now lives. i stopped for a couple of minutes and just watched as these couples took pleasure in the simple things in life. i had a overwhelming sense of joy and tranquility come over me as i often do when i travel and just soaked up all of the scenery. one lady stole the show when she used her suave salsa moves to bring the crowd to an abounding round of applause. soon thereafter, i headed toward the market and suprised elma and carlos as they had no idea of my plans to be in peru this summer. it was an extraordinary feeling to be back in miraflores speaking with her seeing as when i left last summer i had no idea i would be back so soon. we caught up on recent happenings in our lives and then i left but not before promising to come back and visit them upon my return to lima in early august.

So today the four of us ate at San Antonio in miraflores, an overwhelming favorite for all of the students in the program last year. the food was just as good as i remembered it being. we were all quite satisfied with what we had ordered and ate until we were content. we then made our way down to larco mar which is a fairly new and quite posh shopping center that was built into the side of the rocks overlooking the coast of peru. the ever present fog in lima obstructed our view of the shorelines however the cool temperatures made for a pleasant walk. we then made our way through miraflores to wong´s (a walmartesque store) where we loaded up on presents for the children such as soccer balls, colored pencils, and markers.

our next stop was a lowes type store called maestro where we picked up some multiplug extension cords to help outfit the schools where we are going. the xo laptops are an excellent tool but making sure they are all charged and capable of being used during classtime is an issue we came across in our trial run on thursday. most classrooms only have a few plugs and the adapter on the xo sometimes limits the amount of xos you can charge at one time. hence the reason for our supply run.

we finally made it back to the hotel around six only to be greeted by a red carpet leading the way into our hotel. come to find out the hotel bolivar is hosting a red bull party tonight. perfect news as tonight will be the last time all of us are together until late july.

This week has been incredible and has really made me eager for the next six weeks during which we will have a chance to make a real impact on the lives of the children of peru. i dont know what the internet situation will be like where we are going so im not sure how often i will be able to update my blog. i will soon know and pass the news along.

que te vaya bien!

Ryan