Hello! I added a post, but it seems to have failed itself. There have been numerous complications with communication, as in I don´t know how to use my cell phone yet, I don´t have a calling card, the phone in our apartment is broken, and as a result, so is the internet. The stove was even on the fritz, and last night there was no water coming out of the faucet when you turned on the hot...they are replacing the solar hot water heaters I guess. The apartment is just a half hour walk from La Plaza de Armas, a small but beautifully lush park surrounded by historical buildings and is bustling no matter what time of day.

My arrival into Arequipa was breathtaking-the view from the plane was absolutely stunning, vast desert cayons, ocean, islands, mountains and villages that fill in the crevaces of the lowlands...when I got off the plane, the sun was setting, we talked on to the tar mac into the tiny airport which was surrounded by some of the biggest mountains I have ever seen, snow capped Picchu Picchu, El Misti and Chachani, which is 6075meters, or nearly 20,000 ft. I was told that up until a week ago, the mountains were fully cloud covered, and you couldn´t see them at all. I arrived at just the right time. The weather is perfect, warm all day and cooler at night. I went to Tarea, or Homework help, from 3-5pm yesterday, my first visit to the Center (Intiwawa´s Community Center). The building is bare bones, simply brick, mortar, cement with a thin aluminum roof complete with the tap tap tap of pigeon feet at all times above you. The children are adorable...all different ages, many personalities, and they all greet and depart with a kiss on the cheek to ever elder in the room. They are patient with our language, I am not the worst, but I am not the best. We will see how I feel in a few days, and perhaps I will take language lessons. A teacher comes to our apartment to work with three different people, so I might join in, or have a private lesson. Most of the people I know speak German to each other, and English and Spanish are at about the same level of understanding...I do have the relief of speaking with my room mate who is an Australian dietician. People are constantly rotating out of the apartment I live in, on the floor, and I may move into a private room for a little more so we don´t anger the land lords. The set up is in an apartment building, with families all around, and apparently they complained about constantly seeing new faces and not knowing who to trust. We are trying to work it out. So much has happened in the few days I have been here...I managed a few minutes at an internet cafe in a random mall in the city where there is a dentist giving free checkups for the children...I left the house at 615am, took the bus to the Center to retrieve 2 kids and meet another volunteer, and then another hour back to the city. The first appointment took over an hour and a half...we think it is a check up with some education as well, but there is no telling. I think they are doing fillings so, which the kids probably need, because they drink more soda than they do water. Water has to be trucked into the villages from what I understand. There is a massive river bed that is dry...and a 9 year old girl told me that she remembers it having water...I will find out more. Maybe it was dammed for power or irrigation upstream, or maybe it is a natural occurence. I better get back to the waiting room. There is a lot of waiting to be done.

Brazos