Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Today was another fantastic day in the lovely Arequipa.  We woke up and did a workout altogether as a team, which was really refreshing since we usually have different event groups that practice together.  After that we started doing jobs around the orphanage again which was tiring, but a lot of fun. Some of us were painting metal frames, walls, and fences, while others were installing tile, digging up gardens, and pushing wheelbarrows of rocks.  The best part about doing this work is that many of the kids from the orphanage were helping us with our tasks.  Some of the kids were shoveling and pushing the wheelbarrows and even the little ones were getting on shoulders and rolling paint when the ladders were scarce. 

Afterwards, we were able to eat some Llomo Saltado with our different “family” groups and then partook in a family pizza-making contest.  The pizzas ranged from Angry Birds to hearts, to Peruvian flags. 

After the pizza fiesta, we had a talent show with the kids.  The kids dressed in traditional Peruvian outfits with bright beautiful colors and did some dances for us.  There were four dances total, and the Messiah group was thoroughly impressed with the dance skills of everyone.  We even did our own performance at the talent show, doing a Gospel skit and the Cha Cha slide.  We finished the night off by dancing with Peruvian brothers and sisters. 

It was an incredibly fun-filled time, and we gave the dancer of the night award to Josie. He could show off his strong and energetic moves while simultaneously balancing a little girl on his shoulders.  It has been a week filled with too many  blessings to count here in Arequipa.