Hello! I hope you are all doing well. This time, I'm going to tell you about my vacations in Lima, which happened after the camp and after my brother Peter pushed me down the stairs. After that, my brother and I went to Lima because my grandmother loves it when we visit her.
MY VACATIONS
ME: "Mom, I'm getting bored here, there's nothing to do. The kids on the street are already playing because it's vacation time. My violin teacher went to Ica and all I can do is watch TV; I'm bored of watching TV day, afternoon, and night." MOTHER: "Uh… what if you go to Lima to visit your grandmother?" ME: "That would be fun, but going alone... uh, not so much." MOTHER: "You won't be going alone; Peter is going with you. Besides, your grandmother is coming to visit this week and I'll ask her to take you both." ME: "Alright, then can I pack my backpack?" MOTHER: "Go ahead. I'll tell your brother."
After a few days, my grandmother came to visit our house in Chiclayo. My mom went to pick her up from the bus station and brought her home. When I saw her:
ME: "Angela! You came to see us!" GRANDMOTHER: "Yes, my cholito, I came to visit you all." MOTHER: "Ma, Angelo says he wants to go to Lima with you." GRANDMOTHER: "Oh, alright, that's fine. When the week is over, I'll head back to Lima." MOTHER: "But for the entire vacation." GRANDMOTHER: "Yes, the whole time, since he gets bored quickly here. But make sure Peter and Angelo take their violins so they can practice there." GRANDMOTHER: "That's right, boys, you'll be playing on Saturdays at church." ME: "Oh, but I don't want to play, I want to have fun." MOTHER: "Angelo, obey me. Go and put your violin away." ME: "Yes, okay."
After several days, the weekend arrived and we left by bus; specifically, on the "Titanic," a bus that goes to Lima. When we arrived, we went to the house where we used to live; my grandmother had the keys, so we went in. In the house, there was the old large garden, and in the garden, there was a pomegranate tree. We left our things and went up to my grandmother's house, which was further up the hill, about 2 minutes away.
By the way, in that area (Villamar, Ancón) to this day, it is a sandy and rural area, as there are still no paved roads, sidewalks, sewers, or running water—only electricity. Every time I go, I see that a water truck has to come to refill people's tanks, but at least the water is free. The area doesn't have a large population; most people left, bought their land, and live elsewhere because when it becomes urbanized, the cost of the houses will go up. That's why my parents haven't sold the house yet.
After visiting our house, we went to my grandmother's for breakfast since we had arrived at 6:00 AM. We found my grandfather there, said hello, and went to eat. After this, Angela told us that a neighbor (Wisa) had left her keys so she could feed the chickens and dogs she had. Among those dogs, she had two females named Pinina and Luna. Pinina was already old but very obedient; on the other hand, Luna was mischievous and very naughty.
I remember the first month we were there, we used to go to the park to play with the other kids. Among them was a boy named Ciro, but we called him "Cirito," and a few others. We used to play volleyball, soccer, and "cazaditas" (tag). I remember once, with all the kids we played with, one of them brought a special slippery fabric; we put it on a large, high sand dune in the area and started sliding down it. After that, my grandmother would bathe us with cold water at night, but since it was hot, it felt lukewarm to us; besides, since we ran all day, we felt very hot. It was then that the month passed and something not-so-fun happened.
CURSED LUNA
There is something that makes me very sad: when animals are killed. Sometimes I think it would be better if the whole world were vegetarian, because the process of eating meat is very horrible, even if there are ways to avoid animal pain; but it's still wrong. It makes me feel pity when my chickens are killed, but what happened next was the worst. (Note: by this, I don't mean that those who eat meat are doing wrong, but rather that it would be better to avoid it).
During the second month we were there, one night, after feeding the dogs WITH FOOD (rice, liver, sweet potato) and not kibble, Luna—that cursed dog—got into the chicken area and killed a hen. The worst part is that she didn't eat the whole hen, just a part of it, and when we found it, it was still alive but missing half of its body; so my grandmother killed it to end its suffering.
My brother and I started looking for the culprit because we both felt so sorry; it was the tamest hen we had. Even my grandmother, who usually kills chickens for food, felt sorry. First, we grabbed Pinina, but we wondered: if the fence is very high and Pinina is very small and old, could she have jumped the fence? Then we saw Luna hiding in the corner. To top it off, the worst part was that she had feathers and blood on her mouth. So we grabbed her and hit her with stones, sticks, and such.
(Many will say "that's animal abuse," but for starters, Luna jumped the fence. Luna had already eaten well; we had given her her food, the best there was; she was full. On top of that, after eating her plate, she had taken Pinina's food away, so it wasn't out of hunger. Many believe that animals are dumb and don't think, but there are two types of animals: the obedient one and the disobedient, naughty one. The animal does know what it's doing; the dog is intelligent, it knows; she knew that what she had done was wrong—if she was smart enough to hide in the corner, she knew we were going to hit her. You might say, "but no, poor doggy, it's just a simple chicken made for consumption," and yes, the fact that it's for consumption is fine, but to die that way and still be alive... killing animals is wrong, but it's worse to play with them, hurt them, and not kill them; that is true malice. It doesn't matter if a dog did it, she deserves her punishment. If she was already full, what was the need? She only did it for fun).
And that wasn't the only thing; something else happened too. That month was one of the most unpleasant. I remember they had a gathering for a party (those of my religion don't usually go to that kind of party; it's not the most appropriate place, so we didn't go) and the neighbor Wisa had been left with the leftover plates of food. They had made cabrito (goat) with beans and rice that was left over. The neighbor entrusted it to us because she had an emergency and had to leave; so we put away the pots and all the plastic plates with food—about 30 plates of food.
When night came, we gave Luna and Pinina their food and locked Luna in a cage. Then the cursed animal went and, with her paws, managed to move the bolt and opened the door. When she got out, she headed for the kitchen. Note: to enter the kitchen, there was another latch that she shouldn't have been able to open because it was high up. The animal did this: she grabbed and pushed a plastic chair and climbed up to open the latch.
So we went in the morning and saw that there was a chair blocking the door, and when we entered the kitchen, we saw that the cursed animal was inside and had eaten a piece of every single plate and left it there. The worst part: most of the plates had been licked and the rest were thrown on the kitchen floor. Then we saw her try to flee, and when I grabbed her, she bit me. I let her go, and then my brother, out of anger—since she bit me and had made my grandmother cry because food shouldn't be wasted and they had thrown 30 plates of food and three large pots of rice, beans, and cabrito all over the floor—grabbed the animal.
We took her outside the kitchen, put salt in her mouth, then sand, and started hitting her all over. After that, we told the neighbor, and when we went out, we heard the neighbor also started hitting the animal because she had forgiven her the first time since she was still young; then she threw her out somewhere. We never heard from Luna again. (For those who say "oh, poor thing," she deserved it, because for one, she had already eaten, and for another, Luna could have just eaten one plate and left; what was the need to throw away all the food? That leftover food was going to be donated, but since it was ruined, it was thrown out, along with the pots). But anyway, let's stop thinking about that and move on to the next thing.
SINCHI ROCA PARK
In the third month, after what happened with Luna, some neighbors, to cheer us up, invited us on a short trip to Lima to go to Sinchi Roca Park and the pools. So we went; the trip to Lima took 3 to 4 hours, mainly because of traffic. We left at 6:00 AM and arrived at 9:00 AM. First, we went to the park; when we were done, we went to lunch. After lunch, we went to a place where there was an electric train (or so they told me) and we got on to go to the pools. We were there for several hours, then we had dinner and went home again.
Other things that happened: we went to the market but I didn't get lost. We went to church; we played in church until an anniversary came up.
THE ANNIVERSARY
In the place where my grandmother lives, there was a boy named José. My brother called him "Gordo" (Fatty)—you can guess why, he said it as a joke; José called him "Palo Seco" (Dry Stick), and that's how they got along. So, one day we were invited to a church anniversary, and I decided to take José along because he said he would be bored without us, and the neighbor agreed to let us take him.
When we arrived at the church at 9:00 AM (by the way, it was another church in the area, not the one my grandmother attends), we went to the children's class. In the class, everything was fine: I went to my class, my brother to his, and José to mine, since we are the same age. I started talking to the others and, when the class ended, we went to the service. José started walking all over the place, standing up, and making a mess. The members called out Angela's attention, and "Gordo" was asking over and over: "Are we leaving yet?", "I'm hungry," "What time is it?".
ME (pinching him): "Listen to me: behave yourself right now, sit down, and don't make a mess." GORDO: "Yes, okay," he answered me fearfully.
The rest of the members were surprised since, at my age, kids usually go off and play together, but if I knew one thing, it's that making a mess in the house of God is wrong, and even worse if they scold my grandmother, who isn't to blame. After that, they gave us lunch. "Gordo" didn't eat because he didn't like the vegetables. Then we went to Angela's house and dropped him off; I saw that when he went, he asked his mom if there was food and she said no, and she didn't give him anything to eat.
After that, we went back to church in the afternoon and played the violin, specifically the song:
THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD
B – A – F# – F# - E – D – E - D – A – D – E – F# – A – E – F# - D D - E – F# – A – F# – E – D – E – F# – G – B – A – F# – E – B - A - F# – F# – E - D - F# - E – D - A – D – E – F# – A – E – F# - D
(And it repeats 3 times, so you can see that the protagonist really knows how to play the violin).
But anyway, after that, we stayed one more week and then left because school was starting. I remember during the last week my dad came, and we went out to eat pizza. After that, we returned to Chiclayo.
Thank you very much for reading, I took a little while.
NEXT CHAPTER: NOT SCHOOL AGAIN, AND NOW SHE'S LOOKING FOR ME