Trujillo!

Us at the Moche temple- Huaca del Luna

We only have eight days left with our kids!  I can’t believe time has gone by so quickly.  It seems like just the other day I told one of the kids I had a “primo” (cousin) for them instead of a “premio” (prize).  Oh wait, that was Tuesday.  As the end to our time here is getting closer we’ve been fitting in tons of stuff we have been wanting to do.  This past weekend we took a trip to visit other Eagle Condor interns in Trujillo!

We took a bus out late Wednesday night and arrived early Thursday (my birthday!) morning in Turjillo. We got to the bus station at about 5:00am.  When it was 7:30 and the other interns still hadn’t shown up to pick us up we decided to ask around.  It turns out there were three bus stations in Trujillo for the same company- oops!  To make a long story short they showed up to pick us up at about 8:00.  Their alarm hadn’t gone off and they had visited the other bus stations first. 

Me dancing at the birthday party!

After the rough start we had an awesome time!  Thursday we visited the aldea (orphanage) in Trujillo where the other interns work.  It was a wonderful experience to meet the kids there.  The aldea is divided into different houses with two tias who work in each house.  It is a nice set up because it gives the kids an opportunity to have familial-like relationships.  In just a day and a half we fell in love with the kids there!   We played futbal, drew pictures, and of course ate delicious food with them.  The girls were nice enough to make banana crepes for my birthday- they were delicious!

HUGE delicious birthday cake

Friday morning we went shoe shopping.  Trujillo is known throughout Peru for being the place to buy shoes.  Luckily we both made it out after only buying one pair of shoes each, something I consider a major accomplishment.  That afternoon we returned to the Aldea for a fiesta for Blanca, the director of the Aldea.  That night we went to stay with the Castillos, who host the interns there every weekend.  Sister Castillo made me a HUGE tres leches cake with whipped cream and manjar blanco frosting.  Because it was my birthday my piece was at least twice the size of everyone else’s.

So cute- us that is

Cynthia and Carrie after surfing

Saturday morning we went to Huaca De La Luna y Sol.  They are pre-Incan ruins from the Moche people.  It was especially cool because there is tons of brightly colored paint inside that is original to the temple!  After our tour of the temple we went to the Huanchaco Beach!  We had fun eating, shopping, and surfing (ok, only Cynthia went surfing…).  Saturday night we went to Karaoke night with the single adults in the ward and then to the “grown-up” fiesta for the aldea director.  Apparently white people dance really funny or something because they made all of the gringos (10 in total) get up and dance while everyone else just watched. 

Most beautiful part of Peru (Cajamarca)

Sunday morning we got up bright and early to take our bus back to Cajamarca.  As we drove in to Cajamarca I couldn’t help thinking “We definitely live in the prettiest part of Peru!”