Siempre que me muevo es en Ti...

Again, today started off for Annie and I as we both had to be woken up so that we wouldn't miss breakfast. (I heard rumors of Pastor Dale being awake at 7:00. No thanks!). It was rainy and cold today, but it was manageable. It is supposed to get warmer and stop raining starting tomorrow. Today was our last day of afternoon workshops, therefore our last day that we had the morning open for rehearsing and planning. We had to get the most out of the morning. With some new people checked into the hotel, I am sure they thought we were insane as the sounds of recorders, voices, and other instruments floated from our practice room that has a window into the lobby for all to hear our glorious noises. We decided that it was time to step up our game with the kids this afternoon and introduce more songs, and more motions! Annie and I worked on translating a Normandale Youth favorite into Spanish, while everyone else decided on some more Spanish songs for the afternoon. We taught the motions and words to Lorna, Deb, and Dale. We then exhausted the morning practicing and decided to go grab another quick lunch at guess where? Yup, our favorite restaurant downstairs from our hotel. It was once again delicious, although Annie had a little run in with some ham in her pasta (you would think that fettuchini Alfredo wouldn't come with shaved ham). 

We finished lunch and once again made the trek to Huch 'uy Runa for the afternoon. This time due to the rain our welcome sign had been moved inside. We arrived a little bit early, so we were ushered to the instrument room to wait. Lorna reminded us that it was "time to work!"

She was right, we needed that extra time so that we could write out the words to the new song Annie and I were going to teach them. With it already nearing time for class to start, we gathered our things and headed to the first workshop.

Today we taught some old songs from yesterday:

-Alleluia

-Viva la Musica

-Jesus Loves Me (in Spanish!)

We added some actions to Jesus loves me to spice it up a little for the kids and they loved them!

We also taught some new songs today:

-Gracias, Gracias Señor

-Cantad al Señor (In your hymnal #822 if you want to follow along at home!)

Both with clapping and motions. The real crowd favorite today was the song Annie and I had picked up from Camp Wapo and other church camps and found the Spanish version. The youth favorite "Every Move I Make" or "Siempre que me muevo es en Ti" absolutely wowed the kids with the motions and especially the catchy "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na's". The kids loved learning it and loved singing it even more.

Annie was a natural teacher!

However with power comes responsibility, and once it became time to go to our next classroom up the treacherous stairway to "Machu Picchu" we all had to carry a couple things up and down.

Our next workshops went just as fantastically as the first! The kids loved the new motions, and when it came time for Annie and I to teach our new song they all lit right up! Here is a video Lorna posted: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4173889441001&id=1697250680 of the kids singing.

I actually cannot tell who was filled with more joy, us or the kids! It was so great to see them all on their feet waving their arms and singing along. We had a Spanish recording of the finished song so that the kids could hear an example, and they also loved listening to that. We even sang along with it to provide the kids with the chance to hear the background music.

During one of the workshops, it was a tight space so I went to the middle of the classroom to play the song for the kids. They all gathered around real close to hear and sing along. I was mobbed!

After the workshops were done for the day, we were due for another long walk down the slippery steps.

Some children waved goodbye on the way down.

Again, we were invited to stay for tea and debriefing with Edgar. Lucky us, the kids in the bakery had just made a fresh batch of Alfajores! We talked about how the day went, and asked questions regarding our plans tomorrow. We were all ready to leave, but Pastor Dale had not finished his tea yet. We all groaned a little, but sat back down. Well, Pastor Dale's hunch about staying for a couple more minutes paid off, because Clara walked in and instantly wanted to hear about our day. She had an unlimited enormous smile on her face as we told her of the songs and motions that the kids had learned.

Again, we had a long discussion with Clara about Huch 'uy Runa and learned more about the kids. We also talked in great depth about the children's lives after they leave Huch 'uy Runa. She told a wonderful story about how a newly graduated child was working as a taxi driver in Lima, but got arrested for an infraction. He was put in jail and was in deep despair because he had no family or friends in Lima to help him. The guards saw how desperate he was, and said that they would get him a lawyer. The next day, when the lawyer showed up it was a man who was in shiny shoes, pleated pants, and a tightly tied tie. The driver wondered why the prestogious man was there to help his small case. The lawyer looked at him and said "Don't you remember me?" The driver shook his head, 'no'. The lawyer looked him in the face and said, "We shared a room at Huch 'uy Runa and your bed was right next to mine. I will help you out of this mess". Clara concluded the story by saying that she has successful children all over the world who come back up to 14 years later to thank her and that it's so special, because to her if one child's life is changed, all of her work is worth it.

She spoke to how grateful she was once again that we were there teaching music. She noted that we live in a world without borders, and we are helping to break the barriers that are left down. We concluded our meeting with Clara and went on our way back to the hotel.

On our way back, we meandered into a shop or two... And this is what happens when five happy-go-lucky Americans and one happy-go-lucky Peruvian (shoutout to Ofelia) walk into a shop in Cusco, Peru.

Since today was our last day to practice in the morning before our workshops, we decided to have another practice session before dinner. Again, our notes drifting into the lobby only disturbed some people (I think they said something in French against us). 

We then decided to go out to dinner. We ventured to a restaurant that Lorna and Dale had eaten at previously on New Year's Eve, but to our dismay it was closed. Now at the direction of Ofelia we walked to the main square and ate a restaurant on an enclosed balcony overlooking the main square. We could see all of the cathedrals, street vendors, and the lights on the surrounding hills. It was a beautiful view. We noticed about 100 people all sitting in front of the church with candles. Ofelia explained that they were demonstrating against the privatization of the universities. A whole other matter on its own, the universities in Peru still have inequal rights for some students versus others. These students were demonstrating for equal treatment for all students by the education system.

Dinner was amazing, and the live entertainment of Peruvian singers and dancers kept us content. We walked back from dinner too full to go up another flight of stairs to our hotel. By some miracle we made it to our hotel and once again, this brings us up to speed currently sitting on the couch, blogging.

Thus, the average Thursday of Ben Beyond the Bubble