Day 1 March 7th, 2010

Quote of Day: Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our gooddeeds. Buddha

We start our first day in Peru as a team coming as individuals to fulfill our promise to be "servant-learners". Not quite a team yet we meet with Myrian Bellido our group leader. She is an engaging, well-educated and intelligent young woman with many skills. First she leads us in introducing ourselves. Our most seasoned Global Volunteer is Jane, a refined traveler from California. She has served 7-8 times before with Global Volunteers and wants to continue until her 80's. Ah wisdom of experience. June comes from a log cabin in the beautiful woods of Vermont. She has a busy schedule of volunteering in the VA hospital, for AIDS sufferers and other groups as well as her church. She was an IT manager and we plan to use her skills immediately. Already we are coast to coast. Next our youngest member Jessica who is from Minnesota but is now in Wisconsin and works as a Banquet/Restaurant Manager and Event Planner. She is wise beyond her years and we see her talents that night at dinner manifested in brief. Sara a Child Psychologist from Texas but Virginian for 40 years is also a volunteer servant in several organizations such as her church and working with abused women. Her infectious laugh lightens our gathering. Barbara is the fifth member, born in Baltimore,but widely traveled as a result of her Air Force Nurse experience and interests in retirement (semi). She is a Nurse Practitioner and has some experience in volunteering with abused women as well. She is the scribe today.

Our first task was to identify the characteristics of a team, then we learn about our host organization the "Ciudad (city) of de los Ninos", alive-in program for at risk boys 3 to 18 years of age. There are various homes made up of about 30 boys each and are divided by ages. We learn that we will be assisting the tutors who live there with the boys after they return from school for lunch and homework. We defined our team goals, thusly armed with that information and our expectations.

Team Goals:

1. To work cooperatively and supportively to meet the needs of our hosts as they request

2. To learn about and grow with each other in this process

3. To share and celebrate the cultural exchange

4. To enjoy the whole experience

After we have exhausted Myrian with questions especially about Espanol and pronunciations and meanings we break for lunch. Myrian has a wonderful suggestion - a walk along the cliffs beside the Pacific Ocean. Our destination is a lunch place overlooking a picturesque Peruvian beach and coast line. Lovely Lima at her best. Along the way we see life and people about in parks and busy highways.We have a tasty lunch and sample chica and Inca Cola, two popular drinks in Peru and get our first lesson in the unknown Peru gastronomy at Pollo Pardo's. We catch a cab back to the hotel and spend our afternoon either on a city tour or meeting Peruvian friends.

Sara and Barbara tour the Museum of Anthropology for 1 1/2 hours (a must see collection of well preserved pottery etc through long history of Peru from the Chavin to the Colonialtimes.)

June and Jessica enjoy hearing the history of Peru and seeing local sites of interest. Jane enjoys a cool ocean breeze as she reads her book on the Plaza in front of hotel by the fountain. Aah, life is good!

The group meets for dinner at the great Italian restaurant Donnatella where we manifest one of the team characteristics we identified -"Comraderie" - yes ladies I can spell it. Those who arrived at midnight the day before, are now as ready as the rest of us to retire from a long day of preparation, fun and anticipation. Thanks to Myrian (our sister) and Frank, our Hotel manager, who keeps a brotherly helpful eye on us, for this day - our beginning.

- Barbara