Gastronomy, Peru I: Dessert

The crown jewel of South American dessert: Cremolada! It´s finely crushed ice with fresh fruit juice, pulp and syrup. This is the flavor of guanábana, a typical fruit in the coastal area.

Maracuyá Sundae @ McDonald´s Peru!

The most delicious fruit of all, Chirimoya! We have a version of this fruit in Hong Kong, called ¨Fan Gui Lychee¨, but this is much bigger version and meatier!

Churro with dulce de leche filling. I have already had countless of these!

Tres Leches...for hardcore dairy fans like me, sponge cake soaked with milk, condensed milk layered the bottom and whipped cream on top!

7-5-2010

Samanta pretending to put the baby to sleep.

Julio and Alondra playing on the swing set.

Smiley Julio.


Isn´t it cute of Jenny and Claudio?!

While I was having breakfast, I heard a l0ud voice saying, ¨Tio Ryryan!¨ I looked outside, and it was Jhonatan waving at me! So I waved back and gave me a big blow kiss from afar.

After school, I had therapy with him, his twin brother José Luis and Lemar´t. They were so sweet and always did many cute little things that melt my heart. Since there are more materials now, thanks to all the donations that I received, I can teach them so many more things now. And it´s so much more fun too! They looked really intrigued and excited everything time when I did something new and creative, like making food from playdoh or pretending to spill the water at a tea party play. There are certainly lots of things they should learn yet although their progress has been amazing, but their positive attitude and eagerness to learn really help with the process a lot.

Lemar´t has been coughing, as a lot of the kids have too, due to change of weather. We are reaching the fall and it´s a bit cold in the morning and evening. His spirit was high though during therapy, and was very eager to play all the new toys / materials. So after therapy, I gave him some cough syrup and drops, and rubbed his back to make him feel better. I think he thought they were candies, and had a big grin on his face when he took them. After that, the toddlers, Claudio, Alondra and Julio all screamed and called my name, and posed their classic pose of wanting a hug! Since I couldn´t hold them all at once, we did a huge group hug and tons of kisses. There is really no better way than ending a day of work like this!

1-5-2010

The kids were dancing during Claudia´s birthday party. Above was a thing called ´piñata´, which is a traditional Peruvian celebration for children, who would break it open with a stick and there are tons of treats in it!

Carlos Abel wearing his school string and badge during the Mother´s Day celebration.

Renzo at school on Mother´s Day´s celebration. He´s one of the boys I have therapy with

The most authentic taco!

Tia Catalina and Tio Alfredo (left) demostrated how to eat taco the Mexican way and served the food for us respectively.

When I passed the baby's room this morning, I heard a loud voice saying "Tio!", and it was Julio who said it! Then he did his classic pose by putting his arms up which meant that he wanted me to carry him. So I did, and Alondra came to greet me as well. They were so sweet, and I took them to play in the swing area for a little bit. First they hopped on the see-saw, and they giggled so much! Then they played on the swing set and I was really busy pushing both of them at the same time! But we had so much fun together. It was a really good time to get them talking more too, which is very important to their development.

After lunch, we celebrated Claudia's birthday, and I went to play with the kids for a bit before a therapy session with the boys. We began with dancing, and all the kids were very happy with all the fun things like dancing, candies, pops and cakes. A handful of kids came to hug me and tried to hold my hands. Lemar't naturally was the first and most insistent one, and he even tried to push away the other kids with an annoyed face! Jhonatan, Jenny, Alondra and Julio either wanted me to hug or carry them, or hold their hands to dance! Since I couldn't carry them all at the same time, I suggested that we held each other's hands in a circle and danced that way. They had done many cute little things and every single one melt my heart!

Today I started therapy with the 6-9 year-old boys, and there were six of them. They were so eager that they waited for me outside the party! Awwwwww. Anyway, the therapy itself was quite chaotic, as if they were released from prison and were so hyper and jumpy! There are a whole lot of good values and behaviors they have yet to learn. And their level of cognition is still very low, so there are lots of room for improvement!

At dinner, the kids told me that the tios will eat in the library later, and I thought they were joking. But soon I realized that it's true because today's Labor Day, and we had a special meal together. In Hong Kong, we never really celebrate it, so I had no idea. But it's cool as it's the first time in my life to celebrate Labor Day for real! Just before the meal started, I was chatting with Tia Sonia outside, and suddenly we heard Lemar't crying, so we went in to see what's going on. He fell off the bed, and his body was all wet! I figured he had a bad dream or something, and so we comforted him and helped him change his clothes. After changing, he finally calmed down and showed his beautiful smile again. We put him to bed again and gave him kisses, and he looked so sleepy but innocently happy! It was the most beautiful and precious moment ever! Soon he fell asleep again. When we were about to leave the room, Franklin fell off the bed too when he was moving around! But Tia Sonia put him back to bed and he was fine.

Dinner was served around 9pm, and it was traditional Mexican food prepared by Tia Catalina and helped by Tio Alfredo, both native Mexicans. We had a soup made with corn and pork, and then served with avocado, lettuce, onion and lemon juice. And of course, a Mexican meal wouldn't be completed without Taco. It was very delicious, and we all left with a very full stomach!

30-4-2010

Big Franklin was playing with a foreign visitor, a bird with a sharp mouth.

The wonderful perfect Alonso with one of the most beautiful smiles in the world!

After therapy with Lemar't today, I took him back to his room. The kids were already playing the Lego set, so we joined in and tried to build things from bridges to shoes and trucks. It's so nice to see them play proper toys, and it proves once again that proper play skill is the solution to disruptive behaviors and chaos! It took some time to teach them share and wait, but it worths the efforts as they are improving with that.

While they were playing, it was time to bathe them, so one by one they went bathing. One funny thing was when Jose Luis took his clothes off, Jhonatan suddenly screamed in his cute squeaky voice, "Jose Luis ha hecho kaka!". I was like, "no he wasn't", but soon we found out that he really pooped a little in his underwear. It was hilarious! Lemar't went on last, because he couldn't let go of his new toy. Finally I managed to get him undress and be ready for bathing. While he was waiting, Yomi came to me and asked me to play with her, and so we played a game that I pretended to be a ghost and hid behind the curtain, and went to 'eat' (kiss and tickle) them. They laughed so hard, and soon Alonso wanted to join in too, and they had so much fun as they asked to do it over and over again! I want to start giving Alonso a bit more affection because he tends to be reluctant with it, and obviously he lacked it in his early years. It's so important for a child's development in confidence and self-image. At first he was not used to it, but soon I felt that he started to like it. Hopefully he'll change over time.

When it came to Lemar't's turn to bathe, Tia Sonia asked me to do it. I was a little reluctant as I've never done it before, but it's Lemar't and I should try so. Earlier today, John laughed at me because when Lemar't was drinking water, I looked at him with a big grin on my face, as if I was smitten with someone! Anyway, i helped him bathe, and it wasn't so hard, but it's just tough work as he likes (well, they all do) to play with water, but at the same time he was afraid of putting his head under the shower and soap dripping into his eyes. Fortunately it went quite well, and I think I managed quite well with it. After helping him change into his pajamas, I headed to the dining room for dinner.

29-4-2010

Lemar´t shared his new toy with other kids.

Lemar´t opened his present from me.

We shared a bottle of coke together.


Go!

Ready, steady......

Today was Lemar't's third birthday, and he was so excited about it as we greeted him with wishes. In the morning I gave him a lollipop as I did for the twins. Since there had been too many birthdays around the same time and it's a Thursday, Cristina and I didn't want to overflow with sweets and cakes everyday, so we will do a celebration party on Saturday along with Claudia. But I felt that I should celebrate with my baby on his birthday, so during my normal therapy with him, I made a minature 'cake' with layers of chocolate cookies and oreos and put a candle labeled '3' on top for him, and he was so excited and gave me big hugs and kisses. We also shared a bottle of coke together. After therapy, we went back to their room and opened the present I bought for him, which was a Lego set. He was so delighted, and I was incredibly happy when I saw him unwrap the present with a big innocent smile on his face. Just imagine if he weren't here, he might never have this kind of experience! Other kids were curious and wanted to play with the Lego too. At first, Lemar't didn't want them touch it, but I told him it'd be nice if he can share with other kids and he complied very well. After played for a while, it's time for them to have dinner. He had me make sure that the Lego set was put away properly!

27-4-2010

Claudio enjoying the cake!

Jose Luis tambien!

Happy 1st birthday to Cristian!

When I went to pick up Jhonatan for therapy, he was so excited and said in his cute and cheeky voice, "Terapia conmigo?". It was so super cute I wish I had a camera to record it!

The next day, 28th of April, we celebrated Cristian first birthday. We were overflowed with snacks, cake and happy faces.

26-4-2010

The brothers, Luigi feeding Marcos the ice-cream that Father Phil bought for us.

The cutest of Jose Luis!

On Sunday I returned home early in the morning because there's a family lunch with Father Felipe. I arrived around 1:30pm and they had already started. Immediately I went to the field where everyone was for picnic and barbeque. Little Jhonatan ran to me and gave me a big hug, and I picked him up and gave him some kisses.

I met and greeted Father Felipe, who is actually American and seemed to be very nice and down-to-earth. Later in the afternoon he bought ice-cream for everyone! It was so nice of him, and all the kids and adults were very happy and grateful. I helped Lemar't with his, because it melted faster than he eats it, and it was messy! Despite the mess, he enjoyed the treat, and honestly I enjoyed taking care of him.

In the evening, we had family dinner after the kids performed dancing and singing for Father Felipe. Lemar't and Jhonathan stuck with me the whole time, and we sat side by side for dinner. Although at times they could be a handful, I really enjoyed having dinner with them, and looking them eating was something really satisfying. Afterwards, I took them to their rooms and got ready for bed.

In the mornings these couple of days, I spent time with them before their breakfast, and we played a couple games and sang songs. Their favorite is Ring Around the Rosies, as they loved the falling down part, and we did it over and over again, even though they didn't understand the lyrics except the last phrase which I made a translation. We also played some symbolic games, in which one person pretended to be food and the rest chased that person and pretended to eat 'it'. It's another game they adored and asked to play over and over again.