Morning: My day started at 6.30 AM. I would take a quick shower and have an amazing breakfast with other volunteers prepared by Luisa, our cook. Then, I would walk 3-4 blocks until the bus stop and take it there. Buses in Peru, are an experience themselves.
I would arrive the school ‘Escuela Don Jose de San Martin’ where I would be jumped, hugged and kissed by 13 different kiddies. I often finished sprawled in the floor while the little ones attacked me.
Then, we would all go to class, unless it was Monday, days in which we would sing the national and Cuzquenian hymn.
Afternoon: I would leave the school around 2 in the afternoon. When I arrived to Volunteer House, Luisa would be waiting for me with a delicious lunch ready. I ate alone or with other volunteers (It varied on their timetables, trips, etc.)
Then, I would either take a nap, walk around Plaza de Armas, go all the way up to Cristo Blanco, or simply go with other volunteers to the Chocolate Museum - it became our second home!
Evening: On the evenings, after dinner, we would all go to Paddy’s, a local lay down Irish pub where we would enjoy Happy Hour, and talk about our day, relax and make new friends. If it was a weekday, we would start heading home around 10/ 11 but if it was a weekend we would all go dancing to Mythology or Mama Africa, the local discotecas.
Highlights: The highlight of my volunteering trip was the opportunity to do what I truly love and enjoy, to be able to love and help those little ones. To hug them, care, and basically see what a occupational therapist does. Becoming more aware of how much there is to be done, how poverty and prejudice affects the view of mothers over their children.
On the overall experience, I finally discovered who I was. Before leaving for Peru, a close friend told me a quoted from my favorite book ‘Tell me what you ask for and I’ll tell you what you are’. I carried that through all my trip, trying to see what I was, what I wanted, what I really asked for. And I discovered myself seeking love and the purity only those kids know how to give. In Peru, I discovered the true Daisy, and that it is okay to show my true colors.