About Rosi Alvarado

I have never in my life been good at goodbyes. This situation was no different.
Thursday night Ingrid, Leah and I had a nice dinner together. It was good to just have some quality time with the girls. I definitely got some great insight into both of them and the great people that I know that they are. I am excited to keep in touch with both of them and see what amazing things that they will do in the future. THere is a part of me that feels like our paths will cross again even though our homelands are scattered [...]

I´m waiting for Ingrid and Leah and we are going to dinner in 10 mins. I am definitely sick but hoping that Im fighting it. All I had today was bread and water….no appetite whatsoever.
Not looking forward to tomorrow. Not quite sure how to say goodbye to the kids. I definitely want to come back and I´m trying to figure out how I can make that happen sooner rather than later.
Sorry to those of you who are disappointed that I didnt do more sightseeing. There definitely are some amazing things to see here that I am missing out on. BUt [...]

last night i started feeling like i had a sore throat. i am definitely getting sick. i think i can rally thru the next couple days, but im sure that once i have that plane ride, its all gonna be downhill. i assume HP isn´t reading these….so Lucy or Thamie…just let him know that I will prob be out Monday. hee hee….
ok, lots to tell…and want to tell this in order.
Yesterday I finally met Gavin! We were able to sit and talk for awhile at Maximo. I´m going to meet him again today around 5 after work. SUper nice guy [...]

so i forgot to mention a great story earlier. our cat peed on leah´s bed yesterday. they had to change everything and i think leah is still freaked out about it. too funny. i told her that´s what she gets for not being friendlier to the animals. i also told her that i think that no matter how hard you clean it, its gotta be next to impossible to get urine out of a mattress…anyway. told her she was welcome to the floor next to me. haha
went shopping for the kids this morning….bought some simple squeaky toys and blocks for [...]

had some bread with nutella this morning and a papaya smoothie. Delicious!…and of course a cup of coca tea. I´m done w-my altitude meds, but my hands still feel tingly.
OFf to work in a few. GOnna stop at teh market on the way. BOught tons of toilet paper for the center last night. I´m on my own for lunch today as I want to walk around the city some more. Then more work this afternoon. Marina is going to meet me at La Plaza de Armas in the ciudad at 6 tonight to help me shop some more for los [...]

The time is going by way too quickly. Had some of the most delicious soup for lunch today. Worked all afternoon and came over to the organization headquarters to get free internet. Paying for internet somehwere else would cost me approx 30 cents USD for an hour so that would be ridiculous. No, needed to come here to exchange some dollars. I find that places will take my USD, but then I get confused trying to make sure they are ripping me off…so its just easier to convert over. And here at Maximo its a free exchange.
The kids [...]

so i admit that i am working hard…but i have to be honest that i am sleeping like i have never before slept in my life. i guess its the altitude, but its fantastic!
so last night had a great dinner again…oh after another short nap. then i went with leah to pick up her laundry. a cab is basically 2.50 soles anywhere in the city…so yes, that´s about 90 cents USD.
fortunately, im able to walk everywhere i go anyway.
came home and leah, ingrid and i laughed for what seemed like forever. love those girls. leah is perhaps the sweetest person [...]

I lose my breath walking up the stairs. I get tired after 2 hours of work. Ugh.
Anyway, had a meeting today and went to project to work. I am working with kids 0 to 5 in extremely awful conditions. They are the cutest little people ever and they immediately showered me with hugs and kisses. WIthin minutes, they were all jumping all over me. I signed up for double and triple shifts for the week. GOnna try to do as much as I can in my limited time. I think right now I´m emotionally exhausted.
I´m going home now for a [...]

ok, lets see how fast i can type here.
went back to the house yesterday midday and had some lunch. everyone else decided to watch movies, i decided i needed a nap as i could barely walk straight and my eyes were starting to burn. also, i tripped over a step that leads from the kitchen to the dining room and almost died. then going upstairs i slid across the slick floors. you cannot walk around in socks in that house. the gorgeous wooden floors must be waxed like 3x a day or something…they are dangerous.
anyway, lunch was meat with potatoes [...]

I feel like its way later in the day than it is…probably b/c I am going on 2 hours of sleep. I am staying at Srta Marina’s home and from the moment I met her, I felt at home. I’m thinking of telling her she can call me Roro, but I figure I will give it another day. She is so friendly and was so excited to see me and gave me a huge welcome hug. She immediately offered to make me tea or food or whatever I wanted. I have since found out that she is a chef so [...]

I feel like I’ve been travelling for weeks–pardon my dramatic tone, but its the middle of the night. I have one last flight….to Cusco. Finally!
No good stories from the 2nd leg of my flight. I couldn’t sleep. I think tonight I’ve gotten a total of MAYBE 2 hours….so its gonna be an interesting day.
I know this is gonna be a small plane so my back is facing the outside so that the reality doesn’t set in too soon.
In case anyone’s keeping track, I just helped someone else using my stellar Spanish skills. I thought she called me a monkey a [...]

So I made it to Miami. The weather is bad right now so it was a rough first leg of my trip. Thanks again to Jen for the ride to the airport!
I got to Ohare with plenty of time. My brother was able to get me through security within seconds….then he handed me the book Spanish for Dummies and said I was gonna need it. I guess he’s probably right. (He also gave me a last minute donation for the orphanage, so thanks to him for that!) THEN-I get to my gate and within seconds this lady decides to start talking to [...]

All ready to go…just waiting for Jen to come and get me and drop me off at the airport. I’m worried about my luggage being too heavy. I think the vitamins that T and I bought on Thursday may have taken me over the edge. We bought 1000 vitamins for me to take to the kids. They have a program out there ‘Peruvian Hearts’ which helps fight malnutrition. Many of the children I will be working with have to walk several miles a day just to get to and from school. A good meal and daily multivitamin makes a big different. [...]

I am completely overwhelmed by the people in my life that have shown such support for this trip. I need to send out thank you’s to the following group: my mom and dad, Peggy (someone else I don’t even know and who wanted to help!), RL Blume, Harry, Roger, Lucy and my best friend Kristen. There are more thank you’s in previous blogs if you haven’t already seen them. As I’m learning more and more of the needs of these kids, I’m so grateful that because of all of you…I’m going to be able to give them more than just [...]

I leave Saturday! I have more lists made than I know what to do with at this point. I’m a little spoiled because I have my new friend Gavin from the UK that is already there and he is giving me valuable information. On the other hand, he is making me very very nervous. Anyway, I am so so excited to get there and have this opportunity.
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Today I bought my plane ticket…really not looking forward to two stops along the way, but it seems the only way to make it there. I’m ready. I would honestly leave tomorrow if I could. Yesterday I went to the Dr. and got my final vaccination so I really am all set at this point. I am assuming that packing will be a cinch since I want to be as simple as possible. After talking to Libby, my Volunteer coordinator, it seems like it will make the most sense to purchase things for the kids once I’m in Cuzco. Its [...]

This week I am buying my flight to Peru. Finally. I will have to make stops in Miami and Lima on my way to Cuzco. For anyone that knows me and knows how much I dislike flying…this ought to be interesting. I am definitely feeling a healthy mixture of nerves and excitement. I do want to thank everyone who has been so encouraging and supportive over the last few weeks. Special thanks to Becky, Hollis and Chrisp.
I had a long conversation with a friend about this trip last night and what it means. He went on and on about how great [...]

Before I know it, September 19th will be here and it will be time for me to go. I’m really looking forward to my trip to Peru. I wish I could go for a longer period of time. My plan is to do this and then hopefully plan better for next year and be able to commit to a longer term. I got my second round of shots this week. So far I’ve gotten vaccinations for Tetanus, Typhoid, and Hep A/B. One more round and I will be good to go. Yesterday, I made sure that my passport information was [...]