I'll include our travels from Portland to Huanchaco in Day 1. The trip down was almost uneventful, but all worked out well so I almost don't want to dwell on the minor events. Instead, I'll tell you the most fascinating part of the flight (and the saddest) and that was being able to see the fires burning on the Gulf of Mexico - fire burning oil on water. From where we were, they didn't really look like fires, but instead looked more like the flares people put down on the road after a car accident. The pilot alerted us to what they were. It was grim.
But, this blog is not dedicated to the travels down. Instead, it's dedicated to the Perros Project, and today was my first day down there. I plan on trying to blog in the mornings about the day before, but because you all know I just got down here, I feel that I want to do some tonight. I'm tired, having slept only about 4 hours in the last 40-odd hours, and that sleep was on an overnight flight. We got to the hostel this morning around 8am and left for the shelter at 9am. We were greeted at the shelter by about 45 dogs, all of whom were so so so excited to see us. Yesterday, the Perros Project had dug a few holes for fences posts. Today, we dug 9 or 10 more, then dug trenches along the future fence line, then picked up about 250 bricks from the town of Trujillo and delivered them to the shelter (imagine a line of 13 people handing bricks down the line to move them - it was cool and efficient). We then set the fence posts and put concrete in the holes. We even put our initials in the concrete, knowing the concrete will be covered up by dirt.
We worked straight from 9am until the sun set and darkness moved in at 6:30pm. Our only real break (I do not include driving in the back of a pickup truck to pick up bricks as a break!) was to eat our jelly sandwich over lunch.
It is AMAZING being down here. Watching us work together on a project and accomplish so much. I am already in love with 3 dogs and would love to bring them to the US and find them the homes they deserve - I might (Geoff got a text to this effect, but I have yet to hear back from him on that topic!). The dogs are not aggressive and are friendly and eager to grab any second of affection they can get.
I'll write more in the morning, but now I need to get some real food and a good night's sleep! Please stay tuned. This is an adventure of a lifetime.
I'm having trouble figuring out how to add photos to this - so if you're my Facebook friend, check them out there!!! I'll figure it out after I get some food and sleep.
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Don't be terrified, but you have a D.A. watching you. Quietly, and off the clock, but before I was a D.A. I worked for MercyCorps doing ADR stuff in Guatemala and this is completely up my alley. I hope you don't mind if I watch your adventures and I promise not to use any of it against you except to come up with terrible Latin derivations of "shinglesman", a name you might actually deserve after Peru.
ReplyDeleteVery neat, what you're doing.
(Aaron)
PS: If it bugs you to have a DA watching yr extracurricular activities, let me know and I'll bugger off.