Day 17 - Sad day

Wow, I guess 2weeks is the breaking point. Homesickness has suddenly hit me last night and stayed with me for the entire day. I dnt know if its just PMS or what not, but probably because Siew jin and I have been talking about all the places and good food in Singapore. One of our groups are also leaving for Cuzco, Machu Picchu tom, which added to the sadness. Peru has been absolutely amazing so far, but its hard to be so far away from home!!! It´s weird, I didnt get homesick much back in UM and hardly called my family. But now tat its summer and I am in S. America (which is a little further from home I guess), living in a foreign country with homestays, I am amazed by how some people can devote themselves to volunteering for over 3months!

Working with the boys at INABIF has been so much fun. We did mosaic art today, drawing outlines of trees, casa (house) etc and tearing color papers into small pieces then pasting them on. The boys were distracted today because there was a dance class happening simultaneously. I bought 3friendship bracelet-like bracelets from Marlon for s./1.00 (1sol = USD0.30), and he was so happy with the 1 sol!! With that money, he can buy a bar of ice cream, candy, pastries, fruits etc. The children are so easily amused and satisfied. I feel that I´ve learnt so much on this trip, a lot more than most of my other volunteering experiene before. Living in the country so closely with the local people, working with the children everyday, learning Español and using it... Huancayo grows on you. I feel that if I did speak better Spanish, I can totally imagine myself living here. The town is laid back and chill, with ¨Peruvian lunch times¨ that lasts for 3hours (12noon-3pm). People leave work to go back home for lunch, take a nap, then get ready for work again. El centro plaza is filled with activity all day, may it be the old folks strolling in the morning, students sitting around the plaza chatting and blowing bubbles, couples nestling in the late evening.... the town is submerged in tranquility and well, life goes on with or without us here.

Everyday, I appreciate the city and its people more and more. Even though we travelled over 2000miles to Peru to volunteer, bringing with us all that money to ¨help¨those who needs it, ultimately we are just passerbys in the children´s life. We come in to play and help them with homework everyday, both growing more and more attached to each other, but at the end of the month we are still going to leave. The children will be sad for a while, but new volunteers will enter their lives and take over the empty space. These children are so used to having people come into and then leave their lives that they have learnt to live in the moment, enjoy it and not be too upset by it. On our way home from INABIF today, I wondered how Amanda and Walter felt (they are leaving tom for Cuzco). Walking across the bridge one last time, looking at the Huancayo sunset, the cows and sheeps freely roaming the grass fields, the bus honking at travelers urging them to get onboard.... all of these events for one last time.

I dunno if I will cry by Thursday next week, when I leave INABIF knowing I will never see Joel, Jimy, Luis Fernand, Marlon, Jose ever again. Knowing that I will never find out who they become, if they ever leave INABIF and got a decent job, started a family... most importantly, not knowing if my presence in their lives has changed anything. It´s going to be heart-breaking and I am going to be torn between wanting to go home/not wanting to leave Peru. I guess I should begin to live in the moment.