¡Qué lindo los niños!

When I walk away from Perú at then end of my six weeks, I will walk away knowing that I have a lot fans back there in San Jose de Moro. See, today was a special type of day. We quit working around 12:30 cause it was the last day for the volunteers from the Maya Research Project. Aside from this reason to celebrate, we were also going to dedicate the new bathroom for the children's school (out here, a new bathroom, one that is indoors and clean, is something to truly appreciate, and after having to go in the bush everytime I had to pee at the site, I can totally understand). We went to a local restaurant in Moro and after watching the little kids perform some traditional dances, we ate a delicious lunch and were treated to the beautiful sounds of Peruvian music. Since I love Andean flutes, I couldnt help myself and bought a cd.
And since the music was good I wanted to dance, but felt to shy to do so. Well, at some point the band moved to the open floor space and las profesoras de los niños shouted "baile baile" (dance dance), and I thought, why the hell not...and got up and danced with my wrap that I got in México. The princple of the school got up and danced with me, and we hopped and jumped around twirling our scarves and the whole thing was so much fun (I also got a lot of compliments afterwards). I became tired after that and wanted to go home, but my jefe wouldnt let me cause he didnt want me to go alone. And while I personally disagree with that, I am glad he made me stay cause I ended up having an awesome time.
First we hung out on the lawn of the restaurant, talking and drinking cerveza. Then we went to go dedicate the new bathroom: two of the folks from the Maya Research Project broke a bottle of wine. We watched some more performances from the local kids and then ate these sweet fried corn things that were really good. I then preceeded to entertain the kids as I am wont to do, making faces and showing them tricks with my arms and coins. I loved it cause they were so amused.
Well, one thing to remark. I asked these girls if they were going to the internet cafe on the way home. They said yes, but that they would have to go to the bathroom first. Since I didnt want to wait I told them that I would go call A first. They then were like "oh no, dont go alone its not safe a girl got robbed yesterday". The whole story turned out to be that she beat the crap out of the guy trying to rob her. So I asked, "Are they allowed to carry guns here" to which they replied no, to which I said "Well, as long as they dont have guns I am fun". They didnt take me seriously, but frankly I am not afraid to walk two blocks from the house to the internet cafe. First of all, the citizens of Chepén, including the women, dont seem to have a problem. Second of all, I was by myself a lot of time in México, which in many ways is a more dangerous place. And third, I grew up in Chicago and have walked through the ghettos at night and made it out alive, and if I can survive in a place where people have guns, then I can survive anywhere. Plus, as everyone knows, you will most likely be a victim if you look like an easy target, and I know where men hurt the most.

Eve