Category: voluntourism

jobs, Nonprofit, resources, saving money, travel tips, voluntourism, writing

Summer 2016: Adventures with Girlz 4 Christ

Jessica Lippe

As both an avid traveler and the editor of a magazine for teen girls, I do have to be sensitive to the fact that teens are pretty limited when it comes to travel options. Even though I think my teen years involved more travel than most, I couldn’t do much more than family vacations, school travel, and youth group-sponsored trips. Designing my own adventures was basically impossible. However, I still want to encourage wanderlust and give a sense of adventure to the girls I write and edit for.

About two years ago, I attempted to start a travel section in the magazine called “Girlz on the Go”, which would have a feature of an interesting place and other articles containing travel tips. Unfortunately, it did not receive any positive response. Looking back, it wasn’t very realistic of me to suggest these things to teens and preteens. But I have since learned from my mistakes!

Summer 2016 Cover - real official

With the summer issue of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine that released today, I tried something a bit different. Instead of encouraging travel that probably isn’t attainable to the readers, I rounded up ways to make an adventure out of whatever they’re doing this summer. Since even those of us who are no longer teens can often feel “stuck” when it comes to travel dreams, I’d like to offer some of what is in the magazine here too.

-I’ve suggested it before, but attending church is something that can be done for free just about anywhere in the world! Even if you don’t regularly go to church, I’d encourage you to visit and get a new grasp of local culture where you travel, or even a different perspective of your hometown! Author Kristen Hogrefe explains four benefits of this practice in the issue.

-One of my favorite reasons to travel is that it helps me discover more about myself. Another way to learn more about ourselves is through counseling. Whether it’s for mental health management, planning out achievement potential, or something else, we could all benefit from adventures through counseling. The lovely Adelee Russell writes about her experience and gives tips on how to handle an adventure that can initially seem as scary as new travel!

-When I can’t travel, I still like to learn about culture! I connected with two international Girlz 4 Christ readers so that they could share their life with all the other girls around the world. One lives in Rome, and I actually attended her church when I was there last September, so it was a nice walk down memory lane for me. The other is from Australia, an area where I haven’t even come close to, but I want to go now more than ever!

-Another exciting interview I had the privilege of conducting was with John Luke and Mary Kate Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame. They share tidbits of their life between Louisiana and Virginia. And since the theme of the interview was accomplishing goals, the advice they give can definitely apply to the goal of travel!

-Emily Joy shared how she connects with people from all over the world through her social media ministry, Encourage All. Just looking at her Instagram photos was inspiring enough!

-The more I travel, the more I consider how I can help the people in need around me. While voluntourism is a controversial topic, I definitely got some at-home training by watching Poverty, Inc.

-One of the fashion articles is actually just about how I’m preparing for my upcoming trip to Maui. I share how to shop on a budget, how to effectively pack, and how to make homemade, natural beauty treatments.

-When I’m not traveling, I take mental vacations largely by reading books. Scattered throughout the current issue are eight suggestions for your next “bookation”. These include books by Duck Dynasty’s Robertson family, a book by amputee Lauren Scruggs Kennedy, and even a book giveaway from Kimberly Rae!

-And because travel isn’t always smooth sailing, (in fact, life itself is rarely problem-free) Adelee Russell wrote another article about how to deal with those awkward and embarrassing moments.

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These are just some highlights of this jam-packed issue of Girlz 4 Christ. The magazine itself is very traveler-friendly: it can be accessed on virtually any device and subscriptions are free! Click here to visit the website and get this freebie!

 

PS- If you want to see other travel writing I’ve done recently, check out this post about Letters to Juliet in Verona, Italy!

day trip, destinations, Foodie, voluntourism

Places Change

Jessica Lippe

A little over a year ago, I made a stop at the historic Butte Creek Mill. It hadn’t changed much since it opened in 1872.

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But recently, I was driving through Eagle Point, and decided to make a quick detour to go by Butte Creek Mill. Here’s what it looks like now:

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Christmas morning brought many surprises as usual, but an unexpected and unwanted surprise was hearing the news that this beautiful historic mill caught fire. It was shocking to comprehend that something that had stood the test of time had so suddenly disappeared as it literally went up in smoke.

In the following weeks, residents from my area kept up on the news of what would happen to the site where Butte Creek Mill once stood. I was filled with hope when the owner announced that just enough survived to justify rebuilding and restoring the mill. However, it would take a lot of help. I made a small donation within the month of the fire, but after seeing the burned-down mill with my own eyes, I recently made another donation. You can help rebuild Butte Creek Mill, too! I look forward to the day when Butte Creek Mill once again resembles the top photo!

Accommodations, Carry-On Toiletries, culture, Foodie, health, resources, souvenir, travel tips, voluntourism

Traveling Can Be Green, Too!

Jessica Lippe

Happy Earth Day! Most of what I write here is creative ways to travel that will save you green. But in honor of today’s holiday, I’m going to shift gears a bit and talk about another way to save the green.

Many environmentalists frown upon travel as it causes greenhouse gases and a bigger carbon footprint. True, carbon costs associated with travel can be astronomical, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be cleaned up and greened up. Since Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd, here are 22 ways you can make your travel more green!

(Bonus: In addition to saving the green for the environment, many of these will save the green in your wallet, too!)

Green Accommodation

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Share your campsite to make an even lower impact!
  1. Stay in Hostels Staying in a hostel dorm with others requires less square footage and encourages community. Hostels also often tend to buy in bulk and cut out worthless amenities, so you won’t create excess waste with miniature shampoos.
  2. Go Camping Get in touch with nature, and then be encouraged to preserve it! Any kind of camping is probably helpful for the environment, but you can take it a step futher with primitive camping, where you won’t have electricity hookups, WiFi, or possibly even flushing toilets!
  3. Stay with Friends Instead of creating a demand for a temporary place to sleep, go somewhere that’s already being lived in. Your friends will probably equip you with the same shower, dishes, and bedding they always use instead of providing disposible or temporary supplies like a hotel does.
  4. Don’t Request Sheet Changes Unless Absolutely Needed In your own home, you probably realize that washing sheets from just one bed is enough to load an entire washer and dryer. Save the water, soap, gas, and electricity by skipping sheet changes. You don’t replace your sheets at home every day, do you?

Green Packing

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Unless you need a Delorean because you’re going on a time-travel vacation, don’t pack enough to fill a truck.
  1. Bring Your Own Toiletries in Reusable Containers I’ve shared some of my favorite travel toiletry containers here before. Whether you use my recommendations or not, siphoning toiletries from bulk containers into smaller, reusable containers is much better than purchasing one-time bottles from the travel section of superstores.
  2. Lighten the Load with Carry-On Only No matter which mode you travel with, you’ll always save fuel if you take a lighter load. I backpacked the Mediterranean for 92 days with just a carry-on! I think going on a weeklong vacation with only a carry-on is a piece of cake.
  3. Borrow or Buy Used Travel Gear There are some items that may be necessary while traveling, but useless in everyday life. If you absolutely cannot go without it, ask your friends, family, and social media followers if you can borrow their tent, or ice chest, or lawn chair, or… you get the picture.
  4. Do Laundry Effectively If you need to do laundry on your trip at all, first see if there is anything you can wear more than once between washes. Bring your own eco-friendly soap instead of the single-serve packets found at the laundromat, and try to line-dry your laundry, even if you have to do so indoors.

Green Transportation

Rafting
You could travel by boat for a really fuel-efficient getaway. But if going by raft, you may get wet!
  1. Carpool If someone else is available to travel with you, going in one car instead of two will cut your emissions in half. Better yet, if you’re both licensed drivers, split the driving time to help keep alert and avoid accidents.
  2. Take the Bus or Train I love both of these options! You get to see so much more of the country, and reap the benefits of extremely low passenger miles per gallon! Trains are often a vacation in themselves, and long-distance buses make travel available to all income levels!
  3. Walk or Bike Everywhere at Your Destination Make a point to do this everywhere you go, even if it means staying closer to the city center. I can’t imagine all that I would have missed out on if I took cars or city transportation everywhere I’ve been.
  4. Don’t Fly First Class I’ve flown first class one time, and it was WAY overrated. Flying in coach means that the seating allows for more passengers to fly (and thus cuts down on emissions per person), plus lowers the waste of beverage cups and snack wrappers.

Green Eating

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My take-away container was already full when I bought these in Paris. But I could recycle the cardboard and bag!
  1. Pick Restaurants that Serve Local Food You’ll get a better sense of the local cuisine and prevent excess trucking and shipping of food.
  2. Become a Vacation Vegetarian I’m not saying you have to give up meat. (Not everyone can!) But try to select veg options in your travels. Besides the environmental advantages, vegetarian options often cost less, and you will be less exposed to those icky stomach bugs that travelers fear.
  3. Bring Washable Dishes or Stay Somewhere that Offers Them It’s not that time-consuming to wash your dishes after eating instead of throwing them away.
  4. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle!) Vacations tend to make me thirsty! Instead of buying drinks everyday, I’m saving my wallet, my waistline, and the Earth with a reusable bottle.

Green Entertainment

Love Locks Paris
See those love locks at practically every major attraction? Skipping this activity will reduce the waste of the lock and packaging, reduce the pollution caused when the key is tossed into the water, and reduce the repairs needed on the structures that are getting vandalized and weighed down!
  1. Recycle Ticket Stubs (or Use an eTicket) These are usually recyclable, but rarely do people think to recycle them!
  2. Visit Local Parks Fresh air, green plants, and a free place to explore the local culture. What’s not to love?
  3. Borrow Books or DVDs for Downtime Sure, you could buy a paperback for those times you need to relax. But many hostels, and now even some hotels, offer lending libraries or book/movie exchanges. Reduce the demand for new materials, and lighten the weight of that carry-on you brought!
  4. Visit Ethical Attractions What you define as “ethical” is ultimately up for you to decide, but consider how workers are treated, how animals are used, how waste is disposed of, and how guests can contribute to the community.

Green Shopping

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Arnold Schwarzenegger bought this bear statue as a souvenir of his time as governor, but then left it at the California State Capitol! I guess he couldn’t even fit it into his suitcase.
  1. Avoid It Why do you need a tacky souvenir (that’s probably not even made at your destination), when there are more effective, and more eco-friendly, ways to capture your memories? One of my favorite mementos are my travel journals. Photos are another great option, or if you absolutely want to buy something, send yourself a postcard or letter from your destination.
#ThrowbackThursday, voluntourism

Some Instadventures

Jessica Lippe

Is “instadventures” a word yet? If not, it should become one! And its definition would be

noun: an adventure as seen through Instagram

Anyway, if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve practically fallen off the face of the social media planet since my Mediterranean Trek. But as I wrote recently, I’ve promised to post a photo during every day of Lent. Have you seen what I’ve been up to over the past week?

I got an awesome new road-trip-worthy car…

…I received a letter from Juliet …

…I briefly traded my new SUV for a 15-passenger van as I spent the weekend at Wilderness Trails…

…and today, I went on a fake road trip in my driveway!

Okay, that last one only left me craving for adventure, but maybe I’ll get to take a real roadway getaway soon!

So check me out on Instagram every day through Easter, and discover more #Instadventures! (Oh wow, I should add that hashtag too!)

 

 

voluntourism, writing

What’s Your Service Style?

Jessica Lippe

In late 2008, at the beginning of my writing career, I wrote a quiz called “What’s Your Service Style?” It was one of my first published articles, and it has since made it intothree magazines (Susie, Caris, and G4C). Since G4C is the only remaining of those magazines, it’s about time that the quiz was immortalized on the internet. I turned it into an interactive online personality quiz. You can take the “What’s Your Service Style” quiz here. 

There are three possible results, and being the quiz creator, I’m a bit of all three of them. Several of the quiz questions ask about big travel, but the results only suggest local activities. (Mostly because I know travel is especially difficult for the teens that this was originally aimed at.) So here are a few suggestions from my travel and service!

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Like Helping Children?

-In Peru, I helped teach English through games and activities at a school.

-Many countries still have orphanages, which you can visit to do things such as work on construction projects or teach lessons.

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Want to Keep the Outdoors Green?

-Choose sustainable travel, such as long distance buses, or even resolve to only walk or bike within a city!

-I’ve worked and volunteered at camps across the country (and still sometimes do).

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Enjoy Helping People?

-One of my most recent volunteer experiences was Diverbo, where had conversations with Spanish natives to improve their English.

-Another thing I’ve done in the past was go to The Mission in Mexico, which is kind of like an orphanage, but for severely handicapped people of all ages.

What’s YOUR service style, in home and in travel?

Accommodations, culture, destinations, Foodie, saving money, voluntourism

No Spanish Allowed at Pueblo Inglés

Jessica Lippe

There is a place in Spain that offers a nice break from large cities like Madrid and whisks you away to forest-covered hills and mountain views. Here you can enjoy three-course meals, pool facilities, and a retreat to a villa. Best of all, you can get this for free.
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The catch? At this Spanish location, no Spanish is allowed!

This shouldn’t be much of a problem for native English speakers, but each of these people, referred to as an “Anglo”, will have to spend all day talking with native Spanish speakers who want to improve their English. The English-only rule is a bit more difficult for the Spaniards!
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In order to expose the Spaniards enrolled in the program to different accents and expressions, the program, called Pueblo Inglés, recruits Anglo volunteers from places like England, Wales, Ireland, Australia, and Canada. I was one of the volunteers representing the United States in a recent program. Volunteering does require putting in long hours of sometimes difficult conversation. Most of my day consisted of talking one-to one, having group discussions and partipating in activities that somehow helped practice English. But in return, I received transportation from Madrid to a scenic resort, three-course meals and a stay in a villa all for free!
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Of course the Spaniards do have to pay for this language learning experience, but it is an incredibly effective program as it is an intensive eight days of speaking nothing but English. I saw many people who started the program having difficulty understanding me even when I was speaking slowly, but towards the end of the week we were chatting like I would with someone from home.

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Over the course of the week, Anglos and Spaniards do everything together. At meals, each four-person table had two Spaniards and two Anglos. Group activities included discussions, icebreakers, parties, and even a tour of the nearby town La Alberca. Now THAT is an experience I must tell you about!
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Most of us chose to walk from our hotel to the town through a backroad. On the way, our master of ceremonies told us about the La Alberca black pig. This area is famous for their ham, and one way they promote it is by having the community raise a pig each year that roams around town. We were warned that the pig isn’t always in an easy-to-find area, but at that point I was praying for a special experience of finding the pig! And boy, was that prayer answered!

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After looking at few of the notable La Alberca sights, our group sat on the cathedral steps a block away from the town square while we listened to the beginning of a story of an earthquake in the town. Suddenly, someone sitting in the back began shouting. Among other choice words, he notified us that there was a pig climbing up another set of steps. Of course, the story had to be paused while we all attempted to take a selfie with the famous pig. But after a few minutes of trying to get the pig to smile, out MC convinced us to sit down again as the pig started to wander away from the excitement.
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Little did we know, once we were settled down, the pig wanted to cause some chaos. She wandered up behind us. Then, she decided to root for food right where I was sitting! I never expected to get that personal with a pig! But it only got worse. Since she couldn’t find any food underneath me, she did a taste test of me! She bit the closest part of my body she could find. Since I was trying to stay seated on the step and not interrupt the entire group, there was one particular body part right next to her face. At this point, there was no way that the group wouldn’t be disrupted as everyone was already pointing and laughing and getting out their cameras. The pig continued to make her way through the group, sampling the bags and shoes she came across. Our MC finally hollered, “Forget about the earthquake story; let’s move this way and leave the pig!” The rest of the tour finished the way a normal walking tour typically does. When we had some free time after that, I busied myself exploring the cobblestone back roads, but from a distance I spied the pig, who had found new victims to harass. To continue our time in town, we were treated to a wine, cheese, and meat sampling where we learned the secret way to cut the perfect slice of ham straight from the leg. I dont normally eat pork, but since the pig tried eating me, I sought my revenge by eating a tiny bit of pig.
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I just finished my last day of Pueblo Inglés, and it was surprisingly hard to say goodbye. I had come to teach the Spaniards English, but they taught me even more about the world and life in general. The week had a feeling akin to an adult summer camp, so along with that came the kindling of new friendships that I believe will last a long time. I hope to see many of them again, either by traveling to their home country or by inviting them into my home. And I may have to attend another program in the future!
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Spending a week volunteering (or possibly enrolling in) Pueblo Inglés may be one of the most meaningful and most fun things you can do in Spain. Just make sure to keep a safe distance from that pig’s snout!

faith, voluntourism

Prayer Sponsorship

Jessica Lippe

For awhile now, I have been collecting sponsorships for the trip to Europe. I am very grateful to the sponsors who signed up. Without them, this trip would be much more difficult!

Although I am still accepting sponsors, I don’t want to talk about that kind of sponsorship today. Instead, I am looking for a kind of sponsorship that anyone can do. I’m looking for Prayer Sponsors.

I strongly believe in the power of prayer. I believe in God more than I believe in travel, or anything else, for that matter. And I was not on board with this trip opportunity until I confirmed it was what God wanted me to do through lots or prayer. And I’m still praying for it! Now, I invite you to pray too.

If you’re not a Christian or don’t believe in God, that’s okay! While I’m guessing it will be mostly people of faith who take this up, it is open to anybody. Even if prayer is not part of your normal belief system, I welcome you to try praying anyways. Who knows? It just might make a difference, both in my life and in yours.

What to pray for? You can pray for the normal things that go along with any trip, like safety and understanding and wisdom and an open heart. Since this is a long trip, you can pray for things specific to the extended time as well. I would also appreciate prayers for opportunities, both for the ones I currently know of as well as any other ones that may pop up. So far I am teaching English, visiting missionaries, promoting ethical businesses, and visiting many historic Christian sites. One of the motivators behind this trip is so I can minister to other traveling hearts, who are often missed by normal church outreaches. I’m not sure exactly how this will work (I’m not a “preachy” person), but you can pray for a way to be shown. Some of my fondest travel memories involved working with orphans or children in crisis situations. I haven’t found any opportunities yet that would allow me to do this in Europe, but I would be very grateful if one (or more) was found!

I am looking for anyone willing to become a Prayer Sponsor to make a commitment today in regards to this three-month journey. You don’t have to pray for it every day. There is no magic number of prayers. If you pray once a month, once a week, or even just once ever, I thank you.

If you can commit to praying for my Mediterranean Europe trip, please leave a comment so I know that I have your support! You can tell me the specifics that you’ll pray for, or simply post “I’m praying”. Thank you, thank you!

war room movie screening
If you’re interested in an entertaining way to be inspired by prayer, I recommend the movie War Room. It comes to theaters next month, but here’s a pic of me attending an advanced press screening.
Foodie, Nonprofit, voluntourism

Angel Banquet

Jessica Lippe

This post consists of Part II of my Saturday events. Click here for what I did prior. 

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The place setting on my banquet table, complete with pictures of children to pull at the heartstrings!

I may get some flak for this, but here it goes: I’m a pro-lifer. I believe that every human life is precious, regardless of race, religion, class, disability…or size. I believe induced abortion is harmful, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as it can lead to years of regret. But I don’t believe that believing these things truly makes you “pro-life”. The British dictionary defines pro-life as ” …supporting the right to life of the unborn…” It’s not just about your personal beliefs; it’s about support. If you commit to carry a pregnancy to its natural ending in situations or conditions that are less than ideal, you’re supporting life. If you adopt or provide foster care, or do what you can to allow others to provide these special gifts to children, you’re supporting life. My current way of supporting life is to serve as an on-call housemother for the Magdalene Home, which is a house that provides a safe place and life skills for pregnant and parenting teen girls from Southern Oregon who may otherwise lose their child, drop out of high school, be homeless, or worse. Because Magdalene Home is not state-funded, I’ve been impressed with the executive director’s work ever since I met her. She requests donations, applies for grants, and, most notably, prepares the annual Angel Banquet and Auction, which I was thrilled to attend this past Saturday. 

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The program with the evening’s events

The evening began with appetizers and silent auction bids. Many of the silent auction items looked intriguing, but I’m on a budget, and the ones I was interested in had astronomical bids. (Which I suppose is a good thing, because that means more financial support for the home!) I about filled up on the hors d’oeuvres, which consisted of a multitude of fruit, dips, spreads, and veggies. But the evening hadn’t even officially begun yet, and I soon had to sit down for the dinner to begin!

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Some of the silent auction bids. (I took this picture later in the evening after some of them were already claimed, so just imagine twice as much on the tables!)

I had a table in the back, and thus some people kept on trying to move me up closer where there were some empty seats. But I actually preferred it in the back where I was opposite the stage and could observe the 200 people who came to support a great cause. (Plus, this way I wasn’t awkwardly in front of everyone when the director called out each housemother by name and the ones that were there had to stand up so people could applaud.) The events of the evening consisted of some short speeches from the executive directors and board members, a promotional video about the Magdalene Home that I had never seen before, a keynote speech from a former resident of the home with her healthy, happy family, and a live auction. Oh yes, and food, too!

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The transformed banquet hall with hundreds of supporters.

A local restaurant by the name of Rosario’s catered the main course. I selected a lasagna with yummy fillings that I had never tried in a lasagna before to go with my salad and bread. Dessert was served during the keynote speech, and the young volunteers served each table plates with a variety of finger desserts, such as cream puffs, lemon bars, and raspberry brownies! Since the local Catholic church was really involved in this fundraiser, the least of which was letting us use their building to hold the event, I’m assuming a lot of the attendees were Catholic. My dad was raised Catholic and had told me before that drinking is more acceptable in Catholic denominations than it is in most Protestant denominations, but it was still kind of surprising to go to an event at a church where wine, champagne, and beer were served and alcohol was a sought-after prize in the bidding! Speaking of bidding, I stayed for the live auction even though I knew the prices would quickly go out of my league. I just love listening to the fast-spoken auctioneer and seeing people get excited over each and every prize. Maybe someday I’ll actually hold my number up in an auction I attend!

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Although water and sparkling cider were my beverages of choice, I still somehow ended up with half a dozen glasses in front of me!

Overall, it was a fun night, and quite classier than events that I’m accustomed to attending. To honor the occasion, I wore my favorite dress. I seem to only save this dress for super-special events, as the only other time I wore it was to another fundraising dinner. I got it from Dainty Jewell’s, which is an online boutique started by an inspirational young woman. I love that all her dresses (and skirts and tops too!) can be worn to elegant events without having to worry about any wardrobe malfunctions, because your chest, back, and thighs are all adequately covered! It’s conservative without any hint of frump, and I really love how my black-and-white polka-dotted dress looks! It was also the first opportunity I had to wear a fancy shawl I got for Christmas. My outfit was just one of the many reasons that contributed to making the Angel Banquet a great new experience for me. I was proud to be among hundreds of other contributors dedicated to supporting life!

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I didn’t realize I hadn’t taken any pictures of myself until I returned home.

I would like to thank Magdalene Home for making the Angel Banquet possible and also Dainty Jewell’s for providing me with a super-cute dress!

Travel Journal Tuesdays, voluntourism

Travel Journal Tuesday: August 5th, 2009: Cieneguilla, Peru

Jessica Lippe

Note: This is the third entry in the Travel Journal Tuesday series. Click here for part one, and click here for part two. 

Grace and I playing with the “Rayito” girls

Okay, so I thought that I was going to fall asleep after the last diary entry, but Nicole and I were forced to move to the other girls’ room due to a roommate’s snoring.

This morning, nothing interesting happened until breakfast. While sipping coca tea along with the normal breakfast, I learned about interesting Peruvian laws.

We started sanding when we came to the orphanage. Soon, Dale informed me, Grace, and Jeff that the Bible study turned into a full-blown VBS. We had to choose crafts (hats) and get John to sing worship along with our skit. Then, we had some time before lunch, so I played with the kids and made them balloon animals, tried to get a girl out of a locked room, and ate cereal.

Lunch involved chicken, rice, potatoes (big surprise), pineapple cake and sitting with the little girls. They took my camera and went wild. That continued until after lunch when Grace and I played games with the little girls. These included Pato, Pato, Ganso, Cola, Sharks and Guppies (but with a wolf instead of sea creatures), and other games I couldn’t understand. We sanded for about 10 minutes, and then played games with other kids at the school. We played randomly until it was time to go.

The bus we caught on the way home already had all its seats filled, so we all stood. It was EXTREMELY comical! At the hotel, I shared the verses I found about orphans as a sort of room devo. Then we looked at our pictures. Dinner, reduced to only two courses, started with rice, filet, and potatoes, and ended with chocolate cake. And I had about five cups of mandarin-ade.

After dinner, a group of us went to the store and I bought a glass liter of Inca Kola (no, I DON’T have an addiction!). While purchasing, I knew the guy was implying that buying glass was different from plastic, but I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. I called Krista over, and by the time I understood exactly how much more I needed to pay if I wanted to keep the glass bottle, Krista re-questioned him about six more times.

Upon returning, Scott and Dylan told us to be quiet because they were making Alex sit in their closet and made him think they were sleeping. It sounded funny, but it turned out the be a stupid prank. Then we had devos.

Not much has happened since devos except for a few conversations. I need a shower, and I need the guys next door to act human, and I need the ginger pill I took an hour ago to work, and I need my deep hand wounds to heal. But most important, I need to serve!

Highlight of the Day: Instead of telling about a special event or story that took place at Posada today, I’ll dedicate this section to how I felt. My heart goes out to the ones who suffer mental and emotional problems due to their tragic childhoods. However, I’m really mostly thankful that they found an awesome forever family at this home, and that they have cool extended family living in Oregon! I’m proud to be part of this family!

culture, Travel Journal Tuesdays, voluntourism, writing

Travel Journal Tuesday: Peru, August 4th, 2009

Jessica Lippe
Giving the first of 5,000 shoulder rides in during this week. I never did learn this girls name.

After we landed for the night, we waited forEVER in the immigration line. Then it was on to grabbing luggage, customs, and finding Gary and Estabon so we could take the bus to Loma Linda. There were some really cool lighted buildings, like a Vegas-style “Hello Hollywood”, a bank tower that had lights shooting across it, and a cadaver art exhibit. Most people fell asleep, but I stayed awake, listening to Dale and Gary talk about Peru stuff and watching the slum buildings go by outside. When we got to the hotel, I was put in room 20 with Nicole, Callie, and Patty. We even had a TV! We also got other luxuries like a closet, extra soap, and a toilet seat. We pretty much went to bed.

Around 8:30, I woke up and took a shower. After getting ready, Nicole and I went exploring. We went up the hill trail and over to the water tower. Soon, it was breakfast time. Bun buns and eggs- with ham- and papaya juice. We then had time off, so a bunch of us went to the store for Inca Kola, and walked to the suburbs, which was very interesting to see real Peruvian homes up close. We came back just in time to go to the orphanage… finally!

We took public transportation, which was definitely a learning experience! It’s one thing to cram on a bus with the team, but another to cram on a bus with people you don’t know! We had to walk a few blocks from the dropoff to get to the orphanage, but once we got there, it was great. The orientation included the kids singing songs in Spanish and Quechua, dancing, and asking us to join for some jumping song, Every Move I Make, and Happy All the Time. Introductions were made, lunch was served (rice, meat, fries, and Pecan cake- and the beverage selection included Inca Kola), and then we just hung out. I talked with the older girls after lunch, but after that, I spent most of my time playing with a little girl. After getting tired of playing volleyball, I went off to talk with a girl on the play set (speaking of which, a play set, volleyball court, and new building were built on the school side since we left). I still don’t know her name, but she had a blast chasing me, throwing pebbles at me, having me chase her, and riding on my shoulders. She barely spoke, just laughed. In the midst of this, I also hung out with the 2-year-old twins (which is a rare thing to take in kids younger than 3, because of diaper costs and stuff. The twins must have had a really devastating situation), as well as some of the older girls and Melany. Melany didn’t forget how I gave her shoulder rides from last time, because as soon as she was on my shoulders, she covered my eyes. Aw, good times. Soon, we left for hotel. Before dinner, I was insane enough to go with Nicole for another hiking trip- to the padded room and the far side of the hotel. That got us ready for dinner, starting with my favorite soup, which made it hard to eat the rice, fries, chicken chops, and caramel crepes, along with my favorite warm drink. Then came ad-libbing Spanish Disney, devos, and finally winding down for the night. Good night!

Highlight of the Day: While hiking this morning, Nicole encouraged me to take a shortcut downhill. I followed her but I slid down… hard. Dale was in frong of his room when I walked by, with my hand bleeding in two places. Apparently, it took awhile to get ointment and band-aids because the medical stuff hadn’t been gotten into yet (they weren’t anticipating an accident so soon). Krista had to take me in her room, clean my wounds, cut off my skin, and so forth. Dale made fun of me all day.