February 5 Excursion to Cahuid Park

For once I am going to talk about what I have been doing at my internship. There isn't much photoworthy at work, and confidentiality would hinder posting photos, anyway. But I do want you all to know that I am not just here on a sight-seeing expedition for three months. I work M-Th, and then Nexos Voluntarios takes the volunteers to various places of interest on Fridays.

Since school is still on summer break here, Encuentros arranges excursions for some of their adolescent clients on Thursdays. These little trips serve many purposes: getting the kids out of El Agustiono once in a while, getting some exposure to nature and culture, spending time together in a group, and allowing for some informal social learning. Today's trip was to a large park in another districe of Lima, called San Luis. I was impressed with the size and nature of the park. Not only did it have a swimming pool, kiddie rides and sport fields, but it also offered horseback riding up into the mountains.

Not many of the teens owned swimming suits, a fact that did not deter them from diving into the water in their underwear. This is one of the differences in our cultures. Even though these kids are street tough, have been in gangs and doing all sorts of drugs, they are still innocent enough to go swimming in their underwear in a public pool. I can't imagine 16 year old boys from the US doing that!