November First

   For Halloween we had a party for the kids! With a piñata, balloons, masks, tons of snacks and dancing! Though they do not celebrate Halloween in northern Peru, we all still had a really great time!

    Yesterday felt like Sunday, because here it is a public holiday. Everything was quiet and most things were closed.  In the afternoon we went to the pastoral center expecting to help out with the medical mission, but instead we were surprised to find that they had put a team of physicians together for us! So we took them to the orphanage. They checked all of the kids, and got a lot of information. I guess now we are just waiting for them to process the information and then figure out how to get them the care that they need.

  Last night after mass we decided to go to the cemetery just to see the customs and traditions that they have on the eve of today, The Commemoration of All Souls. When we got into the moto taxi we didn’t know the word for cemetery so we guessed. Well it turns out that we were off by one letter and he brought us to the seminary! So we tried again and then he brought us to the monastery! Luckily, the sisters were waiting outside of the monastery for taxis as well and corrected us! They also decided to send one person from their group with us, since we had room. It was a 16 year old girl named Maddy! We instantly became friends! When we got dropped off, she showed us where to go! While we were walking through the crowded streets that were full of vendors, selling anything you could imagine, her friends met up with us! They all were a lot of fun! Once we were inside of the cemetery it was really interesting to see how different the graves were. To them it is inefficient to bury people under ground, so all of the graves are stacked on top of one another. There were people everywhere, singing, praying, lighting candles, and leaving flowers. Most of them spend the entire night there!

  Since most people spend the night there, today is kind of an unofficial holiday. School is open but no one goes, and only about half the stores are open.  We were asked to help with the medical mission this morning but they didn’t need us so this afternoon we are going to begin some more work at the Albergue. We are very excited because this week and maybe a little of next we are going to move all of the clothes into one room and organize it. The way it is right now is horribly disorganized.

Please of course as always keep us in your prayers, and also pray for our friends Sarah and Morgan, who will be travelling here tonight and tomorrow to help us with the home!

Andrea and Kelli