Sand, location and combis

Hi everyone! Sorry still no pictures- I try at least once a day to make it work, but so far, I've not been lucky! :)
I realized last night when i was talking to my dad on the phone that i haven't shared with everyone what it is like living in Peru. .. I've told you about what I do, but I haven't explained what this area is like or about any of the loco things I've seen. :)
For starters: The albergue (the orphanage) is outside of Trujillo, Peru. Trujillo is on the coast of Peru. The albergue it actually closer to this little village called Salaverry. There is a big port in Salaverry so you can see ships and things all the time. When you are standing upstairs in the Albergue you can just make out the ocean- it is only about 1/2 a mile away, but there is so much sand blowing around, that it always appears hazy. Because we are so close to the coast, there is no natural grass here- all of the grass in the compound has to be watered pretty much around the clock- other than that it is all sand. Behind the Albergue is a ridge- it is just a big mountain of sand. On top there is a small community- the people there are the very poor- no running water, little electricity, and they all live in huts. Outside of the albergue is a fountain, and all day the people from the community come down with buckets to get water and carry it back up the hill to their house. Along with the Albergue, the Miller's built a ranch here. It was orginally going to be a ranch for teenage boys, but when they tried it, there were more problems then they realized. Now, it is where Alex and his family live. When there is a big group of volunteers here, that is where they stay too. The Albergue and the Ranch are seperated by a small field- they grow some sort of crop there (I forgot what it is :) ). The money from that helps to support the Albergue. The Albergue itself has three main buildings- 2 dorms, on two floors for all of the kids (they are called casitas and are kind of like big apartments) There are two girl casitas and two boy casitas- the boys have the two downstairs, and the girls have the two upstairs;and the main building which houses the kitchen, dining hall, homeschool for the kids with special needs, the library, chapel, offices and the volunteer apartments which is where I stay.
I've been into Trujillo a few times since I got here. Most of the time I ride into town in the Albergue's van which is kind of small, but they can squeeze all of the kids in. But, if the van is not available and we need to go into Trujillo (don't worry, I won't go by myself) you have to take a combi- it is like a small bus. It is crazy how it works! I road one with Alex and his family last sunday to church and it was quite the experience! :) You walk down to the end of the driveway and stand by the road. Combi's have 2 employees that are always on the bus- one who is the driver and the other is the runner. The runner stays by the door, usually with it open, and tries to get people to ride. He shouts out the route to all of the people standing by the road and when he thinks someone is going to ride, he has the driver slow down- yes, i did not say stop, i said slow down- and the person jumps on while the bus is still moving. Before you get worried about me- i usually travel with at least one child, if there is a child they do stop completely! :) This continues until they go by your destination and it is like the same thing in reverse- they slow down and you jump off. It only costs about 30 cents. The runner works for the driver so he does errands for the drivers during their route. This is truly crazy- The driver barely even slows down!!!!! The runner (and I think this is where they get their name) jumps off the combi and runs into the store and grabs whatever the driver needs and runs out in time to jump back on. I was really scared the runner was going to get hurt the first time i saw it!
Driving in peru is also crazy- Pablo said that his friend moved from Peru to the US and said he couldn't drive there because it was too organized! People don't pay any attention to lights, people, other cars, anything- everytime i go anywhere I think i am going to see or be in half a dozen accidents, but the crazy thing is I haven't seen a single one! Everyone drives crazy, but I think they pay more attention the most people in the US do when they drive.
Okay, I just thought I would give you a little taste of Peru!!
i will write more later!
Love you all!
janie