Fiesta, Monasterio Santa Catalina

On Friday we had the party for the kids and it was a great success. Lots of volunteers helped out (even those from the school) which was great. We had tons of food, decorations, games, presents, party bags, and dancing. Despite a few minor issues (they arrived quite late, Peruvian time, and one of the cabs of children got quite lost), everyone had a great time, we were all very happy. At some point I will be able to share pictures. At the beginning of our meal I was made to give a speech in Spanish, which was a little embarressing. I hate giving speeches in front of people in English, let alone in my second language which I definitely don't speak as confidently. I couldn't really tell you what I said, but apparently it made sense. I am really excited for the beach this weekend, it's just really nice spending time with the kids out of the orphanage because they are able to be more free which is great for them.

Yesterday I decided to be a tourist with two of my friends to the house and we went to visit Arequipa's biggest attraction, the Monasterio Santa Catalina, which is this massive convent which is essentially a city within itself that was built in the 1500s. We decided to spring for a tour, and it was totally worth it because it was really very interesting. Normally I'm not that interested in tours, but this one kept my attention. I won't bore you with too many facts, but here is a brief history. Basically when it was built, it was essentially a sign of prestige to be able to send your daughter there, and it was always the second daughter who was sent there without a choice, obviously. The girls entered when they were about12 and were never permitted to leave for any reason for the rest of their lives. Doctors came to visit, and they were even buried there. The father had to pay 20 gold coins for his daughter to join the convent, which is about the equivelent of 12,000 US dollars today, imagine how much that would have been back in the 1500s, very expensive. They also paid more for the "houses" where the girls lived, some were nicer than others. So it was definitely a sign of class. Some even had servents. It was mostly European women who lived there, back in that day Arequipa was known as the "white city" because it was settled by Europeans, not Incas like most of the rest of Peru. It's interesting because the nuns used their own hair to decorate all of the figures of Jesus and Mary that decorate the convent, so you can see brown, blond, and even red human hair on these statues. They also made the robes worn by the figures by hand from silk and gold thread. It was pretty cool to see that still intact after all these years. So basically, in the 1800s the Pope at the time was very upset by the goings on at the convent so he sent a nun to be in charge and change, so they opened it up to all people, making it free to enter, changing the rules and dynamics. Anyways, that's probaby enough facts, but it was incredibly interesting. If you ever find yourself in Arequipa, I would definitely reccomend paying the convent a visit.

We were planning on doing some more touristy things today, but as of right now we can't get out of our house, the lock on the huge gate outside is broken, so we can't open it. Hopefully that issue will be solved soon, at least before it rains. But as usual, it's looking pretty cloudy.