Entry #3, Day 1/2 at Prison!!

Placement Day!!
awake by 6:30 to do yoga on our deck with the sun and the mountains was an amazing way to start our day! Kerry, from SD, was the leader of the session, then the bells rings for breakfast at 7:30. Breakfast is the same every day: yogurt, fruit, pita/englishmuffins butter and jam. already by day to we're all sick of the uniform breakfast. but whatever, today is placement day! Everyone is really nervous, but I'm looking forward to going to the prison.

Alejandro drives us to our placement, it rained a little yesterday but the streets are still full of mud so the cars have to drive on crazy streets just to get us to the prison. We arrive, and the prison is so far away from everything - clearly it's a prison - but we have 3 separate checkin areas where we need to bring our passports and they hold on to them. then we're searched for any type of weapons and padded down. We get a total of three stamps, two on one arms and one on the other! we look like we've been out all night clubbing or something. Then we're lead by Mariscol - our 'house mom' she is our intern coordinator and is super cool. her husband and son live in New York right now, but she isn't a citizen yet which is why she's still in Ayacucho. But then we have to wait for the prison guard to unlock the first sets of doors to the women's section, once inside it is a huge open courtyard with women lining the walls to be protected by the super strong sun! It's about 70 - 75 during the day and sunny! But today we brought music for the women to do some dancing! ALL of the women are knitting or making a rug, everything they make is amazing! they can literally make anything you want. There are some kids running around but most of all they're attached to the mothers legs.

After about an hour of talking to the women and being given a tour by Emma, an inmate (we saw her cell that she shares with about 8-12 other women, it was horrible. I can't believe that these women who are so lovely and nice live in such horrible conditions) three other volunteers and myself got up and turned on the music that we brought them for the day. It was awesome, one of the volunteers is Indian and she taught us this whole intricate dance and then some of the women joined in as well. We were in the middle of the courtyard so everyone was basically watching us and it kept everyone entertained because we were clearly horrible at this intricate Bailliwood dance but it was fun none the less.

Then we got back to our placement, had lunch, walked around the town, had a speaker come talk to us about the Shinning Path, because what I was unaware of was that it basically started in Ayacucho, the town where I am! But the Shinning Path isn't a problem anymore after a huge civil war in the 80s.

Today is Wednesday, I couldn't finish my blog yesterday bc of the computer situation, but today we don't go to the prison because it's visiting day every Wednesday so Mimi and I are going to the orphanage then we have a tour of the Inca ruins set up which should be super cool!

peace out

ps this weekend we're going to the coast to see the Nasca Lines from an airplane!!! so freaking cool!