Casa Hogar San Jose - Day One

Our day began with breakfast in the café downstairs, featuring a drinkable peach yogurt, scrambled eggs, and more of those yummy potatoes, onions, and red bell pepper, garnished with parsley.  Maria and Raul picked us up at 8:50 for our morning appointment at SNA.  It was a brief meet-and-greet, including a rundown of the days ahead.  We are blessed to be working with such a talented group of professionals eager to unite families.  Afterwards, Maria and Raul returned us to our hotel while they headed back to wait for their ride to the airport, as Manuel was our ride.  We went separately due to amount of luggage between us.  Taxis are adorned with crucifixes, holy cards, and air fresheners.  Manuel is no exception.  He is wonderfully sweet and helpful.  He was also very protective of us.  After meeting up with Maria and Raul at the airport, Manuel kissed and hugged us good-bye.  (Well, he just kissed me.)  We checked our bags, had a bite for lunch, paid our flight tariff and went through security, all in an hour.  We then boarded LAN Peru for our one-hour flight to Arequipa.  Flying into Arequipa was beautiful!  Mountains surrounded us, while the desert reflected a sunny day despite the cool breeze.  The plane had two exits, both going down stairs.  The airport is tiny, having only four gates.  As we were approaching the entrance to baggage claim, we looked up to see our missionary friends on the balcony, greeting us with waves, signs, and flowers!  Our luggage arrived and we were able to greet our friends on the other side, dividing up, again due to the luggage issue.  Our missionary friends, Sandy, Gloria, and Kym took our luggage to the house where we’re staying and agreed to meet us at Casa Hogar San Jose, the orphanage.  We drove with Maria and Raul to their hotel since we were meeting the social worker working our case in Arequipa.  After her arrival, we went to the orphanage arriving at the same time.  Kym had agreed earlier to videotape our meeting the children, but there was so much more to be videotaped… ALL the children had prepared a special program for us.  They all sang, Xavier played the Peruvian flutes (zampoñas), Angela and some other girls played recorders, and then as the others were dismissed, our children stayed with us.  Xavier, Angela, and Lizet wrote us letters.  Raul translated each line as they read us their letters.  They gave us chocolate.  They gave us hugs… many hugs, and kisses.  Everyone was crying.  After a little conversation with our children, we were then invited to a more private area with the children, Raul, Maria, and some social workers.  Xavier is thrilled we are giving him a middle name – David.  The children couldn’t stop touching us, sitting in our laps, playing with my hair.  Raul was able to explain to the children all the legality of what we need to do and how long we will be here before returning to the States.  They are ready to go home, but they were very attentive and understood the process.  I loved every minute of it.  This was clearly the best day of my life!  Of course our wedding was special, but there’s just something about including children in the mix.  Departing took awhile, as the children repeatedly hugged and kissed us, then, started over.  They followed us out to the gates, and Lizet kissed me through the bars of the orphanage.  All the adults went to dinner at La Italiano and enjoyed the best Italian food I think I’ve ever eaten.  Live music, including Peruvian flutes, serenaded us as we enjoyed raviolis, lasagnas, and spaghetti dishes.  This was a very high-end restaurant in a very poor area.  After dinner, we visited with Sandy and Gloria at their apartment.  They supplied us with a two-gallon jug of bottled water, toilet paper, and blankets.  Sandy escorted us to our house where we’ll be staying.  They’re lending us their help, Naty, who will be doing our cooking, grocery shopping, laundry, and living on the third floor of the house.  It is late…  tomorrow we have a fun-filled day with our children.