So we did all the last goodbyes, went to the llama farm on Friday which was great and had a nice dinner/night out that night. On Saturday we had breakfast at Jack's and then walked around Lake Huakapay for a few hours, came back and then had a final dinner at a pasta place. Me and Heather felt so sick all that night, trying to pack in between being ill was pretty horrible but we got it done. Said final goodbyes and flew out of Cuzco on Sunday morning, and we had a one hour flight, waited in Lima for ten hours then got an 8 hour flight to Newark, I was sitting next to a horrible woman who snored and kicked me so I didn't get any sleep. To our massive surprise we made the connection after doing some epic run/shuffle/fast-walk stuff to get to the front of the immigration queue. Flight from Newark to London was incredibly luxurious and smooth and in no time at all (actually it was an 8-hour flight but whatever) we touched down in London. And then got home very late last night. (Well, to my house anyway, Heather still has a flight back to Manchester tomorrow)
I'm already missing Cuzco but it does feel nice to be home, I'm still quite jetlagged and stuff and just can't believe it's all over. What an amazing experience and it's definitely given me the travel bug! So I guess this is it- I'm not in Cuzco anymore so won't update this again. Thanks for reading it and I hope you enjoyed reading about all my awesome travels :-)
lots of love amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
The first round of goodbyes...
On Wednesday we went to Marco´s in the morning which was great, and then in the afternoon we went to El Molino market and bought some more stuff for the Chinchero kids, just little presents to say goodbye, and some lollipops for all the children at Marco´s and the Amistad as well. We went to Inkafe with Cecile for dinner and ended up having a pretty in-depth chat about life and the universe etc., and we got to bed late-ish in the end.
This morning we planned to walk to Marco´s but the weather was a bit grim so we ended up taxi-ing it, when we got to the Kindergarten we found out it was Children´s Day so they were going to have a massive party with food, drink etc., all the kids were dressed up in their best clothes and the teachers put on a play. The teacher of the four year olds left me in charge of the class when she was helping to set up the party, it started off okay when they were doing their worksheets but once they´d finished and started to get bored it quickly descended into absolute chaos, they were jumping on the tables and drawing with permenant pen on the board and fighting with each other, as soon as I solved one problem three more came up- Leo and Daniel were fighting over a particular chair even though there was another one exactly the same right by it. When I tried to explain in my best panicked Spanish that it really didn´t matter whose chair was whose, they both started to cry, and I was like, "Shit...". They were climbing on the windowsills and everything, Dannah and Yerely were cutting up lolly sticks that were meant for arts and crafts, and Diego and Jelsen were pretending to be racing car drivers/really scary animals and had created a "You shall not pass" scenario and all the girls were upset because they wanted to get stuff out of their bags.... God, it was absolute chaos. Controlling twenty hyperactive four year olds is really, really tough. But I couldn´t help finding it all really funny at the same time, I even found the time to take some photos of everything. When the teacher came back it took her a while to restore order, but she wasn´t angry with me because she could see that I was trying and the kids were just too excited about the party to listen. Eventually she gave up and we all went outside and the party started which was great. I got so many lovely photos of the kids, they´re so cute and were posing for all the pictures. After the party we had a little mini party with just us and Marco and the teachers, and they all thanked us individually in Spanish, I was quite proud I could understand them. It was really touching and I nearly cried, one of the teachers said she wished there were more people like us in the world and I could feel my eyes welling up.
Then it was pretty much straight on to the Amistad, where Heather taught them about clothes briefly and I played Bingo with them, and then we had a party because it was Kelli´s birthday and also because it was our last day. We played musical chairs, musical bumps, musical statues (we made the most of the CD player...) and sleeping lions which they absolutely LOVED, it was quite fun for us as well as it gave us a bit of peace and quiet. One girl was really good and won nearly all of the games. It was so sad to say goodbye, the kids were all hugging and kissing us and reassuring us they were going to practise their English lots, even the boys who I would´ve thought would normally hang back a bit, looked really sad and were giving us hugs. The girls wanted to take all of mine and Heather´s drawings that we´d done as examples for them home, and I said they could, they were really sweet.
Tonight we´re out to dinner at Pachapapa with Lauren, Laura, Sophie, Cecile, and a couple of friends of Laura´s from her trek, which will be really good. Tomorrow we go to the llama farm with the kids from Chinchero, which will be awesome, but then we have to say goodbye to them as well which will be really sad. Then Saturday is our last full day, our flight out is on Sunday morning. It really is the beginning of the end now and although I´m gutted, I´m starting to get pretty excited about coming home as well.
lots of love, amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This morning we planned to walk to Marco´s but the weather was a bit grim so we ended up taxi-ing it, when we got to the Kindergarten we found out it was Children´s Day so they were going to have a massive party with food, drink etc., all the kids were dressed up in their best clothes and the teachers put on a play. The teacher of the four year olds left me in charge of the class when she was helping to set up the party, it started off okay when they were doing their worksheets but once they´d finished and started to get bored it quickly descended into absolute chaos, they were jumping on the tables and drawing with permenant pen on the board and fighting with each other, as soon as I solved one problem three more came up- Leo and Daniel were fighting over a particular chair even though there was another one exactly the same right by it. When I tried to explain in my best panicked Spanish that it really didn´t matter whose chair was whose, they both started to cry, and I was like, "Shit...". They were climbing on the windowsills and everything, Dannah and Yerely were cutting up lolly sticks that were meant for arts and crafts, and Diego and Jelsen were pretending to be racing car drivers/really scary animals and had created a "You shall not pass" scenario and all the girls were upset because they wanted to get stuff out of their bags.... God, it was absolute chaos. Controlling twenty hyperactive four year olds is really, really tough. But I couldn´t help finding it all really funny at the same time, I even found the time to take some photos of everything. When the teacher came back it took her a while to restore order, but she wasn´t angry with me because she could see that I was trying and the kids were just too excited about the party to listen. Eventually she gave up and we all went outside and the party started which was great. I got so many lovely photos of the kids, they´re so cute and were posing for all the pictures. After the party we had a little mini party with just us and Marco and the teachers, and they all thanked us individually in Spanish, I was quite proud I could understand them. It was really touching and I nearly cried, one of the teachers said she wished there were more people like us in the world and I could feel my eyes welling up.
Then it was pretty much straight on to the Amistad, where Heather taught them about clothes briefly and I played Bingo with them, and then we had a party because it was Kelli´s birthday and also because it was our last day. We played musical chairs, musical bumps, musical statues (we made the most of the CD player...) and sleeping lions which they absolutely LOVED, it was quite fun for us as well as it gave us a bit of peace and quiet. One girl was really good and won nearly all of the games. It was so sad to say goodbye, the kids were all hugging and kissing us and reassuring us they were going to practise their English lots, even the boys who I would´ve thought would normally hang back a bit, looked really sad and were giving us hugs. The girls wanted to take all of mine and Heather´s drawings that we´d done as examples for them home, and I said they could, they were really sweet.
Tonight we´re out to dinner at Pachapapa with Lauren, Laura, Sophie, Cecile, and a couple of friends of Laura´s from her trek, which will be really good. Tomorrow we go to the llama farm with the kids from Chinchero, which will be awesome, but then we have to say goodbye to them as well which will be really sad. Then Saturday is our last full day, our flight out is on Sunday morning. It really is the beginning of the end now and although I´m gutted, I´m starting to get pretty excited about coming home as well.
lots of love, amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Marco´s, Amistad, etc.
So on Monday Heather was feeling ill so I went to Marco´s by myself. I stuck with the four year olds class because they´re awesome and have already become quite attached to me which is really cute. I dozed off a bit in the taxi so I went too far and had to walk back, but it was quite a nice walk. By the time I got there the kids were just about to do their special jumping song. In the morning once the bell goes, they sing a couple of songs, say a prayer and then they do this jumping song. I can never quite catch the words but it´s something along the lines of "saltar, saltar" etc., and it´s so cute, they all form lines, make little rabbit ears and jump into their classrooms. When I got into the classroom the kids immediately asked me where my sister was, I gave them a few blank looks until I realised they meant Heather, they think she´s my sister and, again, I thought it was too funny to correct them. In the morning they learnt about the vowel "o", and did some worksheets and stuff. I spent most of my time helping them out, trying to solve little disputes over whose rubber was whose etc. with my limited spanish, and cutting cartoon characters out of wrapping paper (I wasn´t really sure why at that point, I just did what I was told). Some of the girls really cling to me and its so cute, Valery always comes and sits on my knee and wants hugs, and Maria Jose and Xiomara (pronounced "Chomara") are awesome as well. Estefany told me very solemnly that I was a really nice English person today which cracked me up. Anyway, they had playtime and snacktime and stuff, then learnt a bit more (they kept getting distracted asking me what stuff was in English, like the names of cartoon characters). I took all of them to meet their parents at the gate then went back to Heather via the bakery for sandwiches.
In the afternoon we were a bit bored, so we decided to go for an early dinner down Gringo Alley, one of those 10soles set menu places, we went to the jewellery shop there as well which is incredible, jewellery on every wall, amazing. I went a bit crazy and bought four necklaces and five pairs of earrings (some are presents though), and the cost only came up to 75soles, which is 15pounds, awesome. We went to The Real McCoy and chatted to Helen for a bit, then came back and started to watch "Enchanted" with Laura from the hostel. It cut out and froze halfway through- gutted- so never got to see the end. Heather told me what happens though so I don´t feel so annoyed about it.
This morning we were up early again for Marco´s. Heather went with the three year olds, and I stayed with the four year olds. I felt really useful and busy all day which was awesome, I helped the kids loads with their worksheets and the teacher even left me in charge for a bit while she went off and did something. I did okay until Corey and Leo started playing power rangers and chasing each other round the table, I was trying to get them to sit down but the girls kept clinging to me and Pierro and Daniel wanted help with their worksheets and it was all just a bit overwhelming. Fortunately she came back then and helped me sort everyone out. I played with the kids outside after the worksheets were done (the number 5), and then at snacktime I peeled an orange for the first time (for Racquel) and broke a nail- which shows me why I don´t eat oranges. I spilt a bit of yoghurt over Christina when I opened it but luckily she didn´t seem to mind. After snacktime the kids just played while the teacher and I got their homework ready, using the cartoon characters I´d cut out yesterday and sticking them in the kids´books in groups of 1, 2, 3 and 4, then the teacher circled the groups and drew a box for the kids to write in how many cartoon characters were on the page. Me and Heather left a little early and went to lunch at a new place on our street, it was really good. Then we came back to the hostel to pick up our stuff to teach at the Amistad.
It took ages to get a cab to the Amistad because the drivers kept trying to rip us off. They tried to charge us 3soles more than it should cost, it´s not much but it´s the principle really. The problem is that they see me and Heather together and think a)rich and b)stupid. And then they get annoyed when we don´t pay them 5soles for a journey that should cost 2soles.
Anyway, we got to the Amistad and taught the kids about days, months and seasons, as well as the numbers up to 100. More numbers meant more bingo (they´re a bit obsessed with it). After that Heather had drawn a balloon with her name and birthday in it and we got all the kids to draw one with their names and birthdays too. Of course I drew one, and the same thing as last time happened- I put some hearts and flowers on mine and some swirly bits in the corner, and wrote my name in bubble writing, and I ended up doing exactly the same designs 8times over for all the other kids. Argh. After that we took some photos of them and their drawings, they hijacked mine and Heather´s cameras which was a bit worrying but they took some really funny photos, my favourite, Albert, is a proper little amateur photographer, he was telling us all how to position ourselves to catch the best light and stuff. So funny.
We got a cab back with Cecile and me and Heather are going to go for dinner later, probably somewhere close around San Blas. Then we´re going to see Helen and put some photos on her laptop from the Amistad and Chinchero and to write a bit about the placements and what we´ve done and stuff for the next group of volunteers.
Hope you´re all well, see you in a week, loads of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the afternoon we were a bit bored, so we decided to go for an early dinner down Gringo Alley, one of those 10soles set menu places, we went to the jewellery shop there as well which is incredible, jewellery on every wall, amazing. I went a bit crazy and bought four necklaces and five pairs of earrings (some are presents though), and the cost only came up to 75soles, which is 15pounds, awesome. We went to The Real McCoy and chatted to Helen for a bit, then came back and started to watch "Enchanted" with Laura from the hostel. It cut out and froze halfway through- gutted- so never got to see the end. Heather told me what happens though so I don´t feel so annoyed about it.
This morning we were up early again for Marco´s. Heather went with the three year olds, and I stayed with the four year olds. I felt really useful and busy all day which was awesome, I helped the kids loads with their worksheets and the teacher even left me in charge for a bit while she went off and did something. I did okay until Corey and Leo started playing power rangers and chasing each other round the table, I was trying to get them to sit down but the girls kept clinging to me and Pierro and Daniel wanted help with their worksheets and it was all just a bit overwhelming. Fortunately she came back then and helped me sort everyone out. I played with the kids outside after the worksheets were done (the number 5), and then at snacktime I peeled an orange for the first time (for Racquel) and broke a nail- which shows me why I don´t eat oranges. I spilt a bit of yoghurt over Christina when I opened it but luckily she didn´t seem to mind. After snacktime the kids just played while the teacher and I got their homework ready, using the cartoon characters I´d cut out yesterday and sticking them in the kids´books in groups of 1, 2, 3 and 4, then the teacher circled the groups and drew a box for the kids to write in how many cartoon characters were on the page. Me and Heather left a little early and went to lunch at a new place on our street, it was really good. Then we came back to the hostel to pick up our stuff to teach at the Amistad.
It took ages to get a cab to the Amistad because the drivers kept trying to rip us off. They tried to charge us 3soles more than it should cost, it´s not much but it´s the principle really. The problem is that they see me and Heather together and think a)rich and b)stupid. And then they get annoyed when we don´t pay them 5soles for a journey that should cost 2soles.
Anyway, we got to the Amistad and taught the kids about days, months and seasons, as well as the numbers up to 100. More numbers meant more bingo (they´re a bit obsessed with it). After that Heather had drawn a balloon with her name and birthday in it and we got all the kids to draw one with their names and birthdays too. Of course I drew one, and the same thing as last time happened- I put some hearts and flowers on mine and some swirly bits in the corner, and wrote my name in bubble writing, and I ended up doing exactly the same designs 8times over for all the other kids. Argh. After that we took some photos of them and their drawings, they hijacked mine and Heather´s cameras which was a bit worrying but they took some really funny photos, my favourite, Albert, is a proper little amateur photographer, he was telling us all how to position ourselves to catch the best light and stuff. So funny.
We got a cab back with Cecile and me and Heather are going to go for dinner later, probably somewhere close around San Blas. Then we´re going to see Helen and put some photos on her laptop from the Amistad and Chinchero and to write a bit about the placements and what we´ve done and stuff for the next group of volunteers.
Hope you´re all well, see you in a week, loads of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Weekend
This weekend´s been pretty chilled out. On Friday we went to Chinchero and taught them a bit about the olympics and various flags, then held a "Chinchero Olympics" with games like memory, twister and bowling, which was really fun. I had my hair braided Peruvian style which was not as such attractive and quite painful but really fun, I looked like a snake afterwards though, and when I took the braids out my hair was all crimped which was funny. We went to Fallen Angel, the same place we went for my birthday, for dinner, where you can get an incredible steak for 8pounds- seriously, I don´t even like steak, but these ones are amazing. Then we went to Rootes bar afterwards for cocktails but I nearly fell asleep in the chair, in fact I might´ve actually fallen asleep (Lauren snapped a really funny picture of me that I didn´t notice so maybe I was), so I went home about 1am which was a bit lame but I was desperate for sleep, the week had been so busy.
On Saturday we were going to get up and walk around Lake Huakapay but we´re doing that next Saturday instead now because we were too tired and a bit sad that Sam had left. Instead me and Heather had a little wander around San Blas and went to the artisans market, and to a few other shops, and waited half an hour to get served at a bakery for a sandwich- truly we´re on Peruvian time. In the evening we went to Inkafe, a restaurant, with Lauren and Laura, one of the girls from the hostel, which was really nice, and then we got an early night.
This morning we were up early and went to Pisac market, we got a taxi there and a local bus back which was a nice way round. We wandered round the market for a couple of hours, its amazing and pretty cheap as well, I bought a few presents for everyone back home but not too much because I´m not sure how much I can fit in my suitcase! We had lunch at The Real McCoys and watched a bit of olympics, and then me and Heather came back to the hostel and chilled out, I finished the book Lilly lent me and Lauren packed for her trek, which she goes on tomorrow, but gets back on Thursday.
Tonight we´re going to go up Gringo Alley for dinner, hopefully with Helen, and then maybe come back and watch a movie, I bought "Enchanted" but it might be a dodgy copy.
Anyway, yep, not a particularly exciting weekend maybe compared to some of the others but it´s been really nice to just chill out a bit. I can´t believe I´ve had my last full weekend here now, I leave next Sunday morning so I´ve got less than a week left in Cuzco. I´ll be absolutely gutted to leave and will probably cry a lot, I think it´ll be difficult readjusting to being back home, but I´m so excited about seeing you all at home that that softens the blow a bit and it´ll be nice to be back though so sad to leave, I have really mixed feelings about it.
I´m off for dinner now but so much love to everyone, miss you all and will see you in about 9 days...
love amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Saturday we were going to get up and walk around Lake Huakapay but we´re doing that next Saturday instead now because we were too tired and a bit sad that Sam had left. Instead me and Heather had a little wander around San Blas and went to the artisans market, and to a few other shops, and waited half an hour to get served at a bakery for a sandwich- truly we´re on Peruvian time. In the evening we went to Inkafe, a restaurant, with Lauren and Laura, one of the girls from the hostel, which was really nice, and then we got an early night.
This morning we were up early and went to Pisac market, we got a taxi there and a local bus back which was a nice way round. We wandered round the market for a couple of hours, its amazing and pretty cheap as well, I bought a few presents for everyone back home but not too much because I´m not sure how much I can fit in my suitcase! We had lunch at The Real McCoys and watched a bit of olympics, and then me and Heather came back to the hostel and chilled out, I finished the book Lilly lent me and Lauren packed for her trek, which she goes on tomorrow, but gets back on Thursday.
Tonight we´re going to go up Gringo Alley for dinner, hopefully with Helen, and then maybe come back and watch a movie, I bought "Enchanted" but it might be a dodgy copy.
Anyway, yep, not a particularly exciting weekend maybe compared to some of the others but it´s been really nice to just chill out a bit. I can´t believe I´ve had my last full weekend here now, I leave next Sunday morning so I´ve got less than a week left in Cuzco. I´ll be absolutely gutted to leave and will probably cry a lot, I think it´ll be difficult readjusting to being back home, but I´m so excited about seeing you all at home that that softens the blow a bit and it´ll be nice to be back though so sad to leave, I have really mixed feelings about it.
I´m off for dinner now but so much love to everyone, miss you all and will see you in about 9 days...
love amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Marco´s Kindergarten
So on Monday we mostly just chilled out and on Tuesday my cough and cold were still pretty foul so I didn´t go to Marco´s, although I went to the Amistad where we teach English and I sung the rainbow song so many times I´m quite sick of it by now! On Wednesday I had my first day at Marco´s Kindergarten, its official name is Kindergarten Lucerito I think but everyone calls it Marco´s because the guy that runs it, Marco, is so nice. I was put with the five year olds, I sat on a table with Maria, the orphan who introduced herself to me when I first got there, Miriam, Jean-Pierre and a couple of other boys whose name I couldn´t catch, they were the "naughty" table and it was basically my job to make them be quiet so the other kids could learn. They were incredibly cute, Maria and Miriam started stroking my hair instantly and kept asking me why I was white which I found absolutely hilarious, they also thought (and still think because I was too amused to correct them) that blue nail varnish is my natural colour because my nails are drier than theirs- amazing. Maria is especially naughty, because she´s an orphan and I guess feels validated by the attention, she kept trying to monopolise all my attention. Jean-Pierre, who´s very serious, just wanted to colour my nails in more with felt tip pens, and Miriam and the other boys kept offering me their food and clinging to my arm, wrapping my beads/scarves around themselves etc. The kids did lots of worksheets, that´s all they ever seem to do, but the teachers were really nice and obviously cared about the kids a lot. I had to sort out a couple of fights- Maria bit Josie, another orphan, on the hand and made her cry. My Spanish is still limited but I managed to assert some sort of authority and they were playing happily together on the seesaw by the end.
After Marco´s we went to El Molino market and bought masses of stuff for the Chinchero kids, stationery etc., with some of the money that you guys raised for us, it was amazing, we can´t wait to present it all on Friday, we´re going to do a mini-olympics for prizes, because the olympics and countries/flags of the world is what we´re teaching there tomorrow. Last night we went out for dinner with some swiss guys, friends of Lauren that she met on a trip, and they ended up paying for the meal which was nice, and we went to Rootes bar for drinks afterwards, me and Heather left early though.
Today at Marco´s me and Heather were both with the four year olds attempting to teach them some English at Marco´s request. We taught them thank you, good morning etc., the numbers 1 to 5, the rainbow song and heads shoulders knees and toes but we were pretty sure they´d instantly forgotten everything until the teacher started quizzing them and they actually remembered a surprising amount which was really good. After Marco´s we wandered up Gringo Alley and had a good lunch, then met Cecile, a new volunteer, and it was straight off to the Amistad to teach English there. We reprised heads shoulders knees and toes which they loved, I must have sung that song at least 20times today, exhausting. We then taught them feelings (happy, sad etc.) and the alphabet. Then we had them draw a picture of themselves and write how they were feeling. I did one myself just because I like colouring in, but when the girls saw the picture I´d drawn they gasped and said it was amazing and eight of them demanded identical pictures, so I had to reproduce the picture once in biro, once in red and six times in black (one girl wanted two copies)- I was bloody sick of that picture by the time I´d finished.
Tonight we´re out to dinner, and then off to Chinchero tomorrow to teach and try on some traditional Peruvian clothes.
missing everyone lots, loads of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After Marco´s we went to El Molino market and bought masses of stuff for the Chinchero kids, stationery etc., with some of the money that you guys raised for us, it was amazing, we can´t wait to present it all on Friday, we´re going to do a mini-olympics for prizes, because the olympics and countries/flags of the world is what we´re teaching there tomorrow. Last night we went out for dinner with some swiss guys, friends of Lauren that she met on a trip, and they ended up paying for the meal which was nice, and we went to Rootes bar for drinks afterwards, me and Heather left early though.
Today at Marco´s me and Heather were both with the four year olds attempting to teach them some English at Marco´s request. We taught them thank you, good morning etc., the numbers 1 to 5, the rainbow song and heads shoulders knees and toes but we were pretty sure they´d instantly forgotten everything until the teacher started quizzing them and they actually remembered a surprising amount which was really good. After Marco´s we wandered up Gringo Alley and had a good lunch, then met Cecile, a new volunteer, and it was straight off to the Amistad to teach English there. We reprised heads shoulders knees and toes which they loved, I must have sung that song at least 20times today, exhausting. We then taught them feelings (happy, sad etc.) and the alphabet. Then we had them draw a picture of themselves and write how they were feeling. I did one myself just because I like colouring in, but when the girls saw the picture I´d drawn they gasped and said it was amazing and eight of them demanded identical pictures, so I had to reproduce the picture once in biro, once in red and six times in black (one girl wanted two copies)- I was bloody sick of that picture by the time I´d finished.
Tonight we´re out to dinner, and then off to Chinchero tomorrow to teach and try on some traditional Peruvian clothes.
missing everyone lots, loads of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 11 August 2008
Puno, Lake Titicaca, and lack of sleep
Well we had our last day at San Juan de Dios on Friday (though we´ll probably go back and visit) which was gutting, saying goodbye to Wilson was a real wrench. We made Tarzan noises as well as truck noises, I took him to see the monstrous rabid pigs that live at the clinic (they´re the biggest pigs you´ll ever see in your life ever), I fed him and then put him to bed. We also played a variation of the throwing the truck out of the wheelchair game, which was that I gave him a pink rubber bouncy ball and he threw it out of the wheelchair and I had to run and get it, he laughed every time, he thought it was just brilliant, especially when I had to run a really long way. I was exhausted after an hour of that! Saying goodbye was really sad, he didn´t really understand though, he thinks I´m coming back today, I didn´t have the Spanish and he didn´t have the understanding to communicate that I´m not.
We had dinner, and then Heather and I caught the tourist bus to Puno. The bus was pretty luxurious, the seats went back and there were footrests, although I only slept for about half an hour of the seven hour journey. We got to Puno at 5am, it was absolutely freezing cold, and saw the sun rise, which was amazing. No one met us until 8am, we were getting a bit worried although we are running on South American time, and then we got straight on the boat for the 2 day tour of Lake Titicaca. We saw the floating islands which were incredible, I fell asleep outside on the boat and have sunburnt my left ear, which is a really good look. I felt pretty ill by then, I was warned that my immune system was weak after the typhoid fever and that I´d probably pick up anything going around, so I was expecting it. By the time we got to the island we were staying the night at, my throat was so sore and I was so badly affected by the increased altitude that I could hardly breathe. 15minutes uphill walking in the sun finished me off and I thought I was going to faint, I went straight to bed at 4pm and didn´t get up until 6.30am the following morning, the family were really sweet and brought me all my (slightly suspicious looking) meals in bed, but I was gutted that I missed out on the party they had for us in the evening. There was really nothing I could do though, I felt so ill.
The next day was a similar story, my legs felt weak even from walking downhill to the boat, so when the guide said we were going on an uphill hike round the next island, I knew it wasn´t a smart move. I stayed on the boat with a really nice Irish couple in their 20s, David and Ciara, who were both primary school teachers from Dublin. Ciara was ill as well and they sorted me out with travel sickness pills etc., which were great. They were really nice so the time passed quite quickly, and then it was three hours on the boat back to Puno.
Heather and I had dinner in a really nice restaurant, and then went to the bus station. At about 7.45pm we clocked that our bus still hadn´t arrived. We went to the office to ask them where to go and they told us that we were actually not on that bus, because it had broken down, so they had put us on another bus (without bothering to actually tell us). It was 8pm by that time so we had no time to complain, she shoved us on the bus which she promised us was going to Cuzco, showed us to the (wrong, incidentally) seats and waved us off, all before we´´d really had time to process what had just happened. It was a local bus, we were the only non-Peruvians on it, and there was no toilet or anything like that, and quite uncomfortable. I was coughing up my lungs by that time and feeling a bit sorry for myself but I had to man up and shut up because complaining wasn´t going to make the journey go any faster. Heather rang Lily at PoD to ask her whether this bus company was okay (the windscreen was cracked which made us worry) and she told us not to sleep and to hold onto our bags, but that it should be okay, which was infinitely reassuring. The bus kept stopping randomly for a really long time, which was really frustrating, I think the journey took about nine hours overall. Luckily my ipod lasted for most of that time (I hid it under my pashmina) and then I did end up sleeping for a couple of hours as well. We got to sleep finally at nearly 5am.
Unsurprisingly, we didn´t start at Marco´s today. Me, Heather and Lauren are going tomorrow instead. We had a gentle morning, slept until midday and then some internet/phone time, just off to meet Helen now to get some money to buy some stationary for the kids. Going to try and pick up something to boost my immune system as well because I´m feeling really run down and want to have a great last two weeks here.
lots of love to everyone, hope you´re all well xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We had dinner, and then Heather and I caught the tourist bus to Puno. The bus was pretty luxurious, the seats went back and there were footrests, although I only slept for about half an hour of the seven hour journey. We got to Puno at 5am, it was absolutely freezing cold, and saw the sun rise, which was amazing. No one met us until 8am, we were getting a bit worried although we are running on South American time, and then we got straight on the boat for the 2 day tour of Lake Titicaca. We saw the floating islands which were incredible, I fell asleep outside on the boat and have sunburnt my left ear, which is a really good look. I felt pretty ill by then, I was warned that my immune system was weak after the typhoid fever and that I´d probably pick up anything going around, so I was expecting it. By the time we got to the island we were staying the night at, my throat was so sore and I was so badly affected by the increased altitude that I could hardly breathe. 15minutes uphill walking in the sun finished me off and I thought I was going to faint, I went straight to bed at 4pm and didn´t get up until 6.30am the following morning, the family were really sweet and brought me all my (slightly suspicious looking) meals in bed, but I was gutted that I missed out on the party they had for us in the evening. There was really nothing I could do though, I felt so ill.
The next day was a similar story, my legs felt weak even from walking downhill to the boat, so when the guide said we were going on an uphill hike round the next island, I knew it wasn´t a smart move. I stayed on the boat with a really nice Irish couple in their 20s, David and Ciara, who were both primary school teachers from Dublin. Ciara was ill as well and they sorted me out with travel sickness pills etc., which were great. They were really nice so the time passed quite quickly, and then it was three hours on the boat back to Puno.
Heather and I had dinner in a really nice restaurant, and then went to the bus station. At about 7.45pm we clocked that our bus still hadn´t arrived. We went to the office to ask them where to go and they told us that we were actually not on that bus, because it had broken down, so they had put us on another bus (without bothering to actually tell us). It was 8pm by that time so we had no time to complain, she shoved us on the bus which she promised us was going to Cuzco, showed us to the (wrong, incidentally) seats and waved us off, all before we´´d really had time to process what had just happened. It was a local bus, we were the only non-Peruvians on it, and there was no toilet or anything like that, and quite uncomfortable. I was coughing up my lungs by that time and feeling a bit sorry for myself but I had to man up and shut up because complaining wasn´t going to make the journey go any faster. Heather rang Lily at PoD to ask her whether this bus company was okay (the windscreen was cracked which made us worry) and she told us not to sleep and to hold onto our bags, but that it should be okay, which was infinitely reassuring. The bus kept stopping randomly for a really long time, which was really frustrating, I think the journey took about nine hours overall. Luckily my ipod lasted for most of that time (I hid it under my pashmina) and then I did end up sleeping for a couple of hours as well. We got to sleep finally at nearly 5am.
Unsurprisingly, we didn´t start at Marco´s today. Me, Heather and Lauren are going tomorrow instead. We had a gentle morning, slept until midday and then some internet/phone time, just off to meet Helen now to get some money to buy some stationary for the kids. Going to try and pick up something to boost my immune system as well because I´m feeling really run down and want to have a great last two weeks here.
lots of love to everyone, hope you´re all well xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Friday, 8 August 2008
Not much time...
Because I´m totally hogging the hostel internet, bad times. But just a really quick update to let everyone know that all is well, birthday was fantastic, raised lots of money so far from the paraglide which is brilliant :D I had so much fun on my actual birthday as well, it was awesome. I´ve been so so busy recently which has been great, time just slips by and I can´t believe I only have another two and a bit weeks! It´s really sad although of course I miss everyone at home.
I´ll reply to all emails probably early next week, I´m really sorry but I promise I´ll reply asap. Tonight me and Heather are taking the night bus to Puno to see Lake Titicaca, last night we learnt (well... "learnt" is not exactly the appropriate term) salsa, just said goodbye to Becca which was really sad, can´t believe she´s not going to be here anymore! :(( But a new volunteer is coming today, meeting them for lunch, going to San Juan de Dios in the afternoon, having a last dinner with Sophie in the evening at Jack´s Cafe and then getting on the bus for Puno. It´s a long journey but hopefully worth it. We´re back from Puno very very early on Monday morning, so not sure if I´m starting at Marco´s on Monday or Tuesday yet.
lots of love to everyone, miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I´ll reply to all emails probably early next week, I´m really sorry but I promise I´ll reply asap. Tonight me and Heather are taking the night bus to Puno to see Lake Titicaca, last night we learnt (well... "learnt" is not exactly the appropriate term) salsa, just said goodbye to Becca which was really sad, can´t believe she´s not going to be here anymore! :(( But a new volunteer is coming today, meeting them for lunch, going to San Juan de Dios in the afternoon, having a last dinner with Sophie in the evening at Jack´s Cafe and then getting on the bus for Puno. It´s a long journey but hopefully worth it. We´re back from Puno very very early on Monday morning, so not sure if I´m starting at Marco´s on Monday or Tuesday yet.
lots of love to everyone, miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Post-Fever Update
The worst of the typhoid fever is well and truly over, the antibiotics are really working their magic. I had a couple of days where I just lay in bed, totally lethargic, unable to even get downstairs to get a cup of tea. But after that I started to feel a little better- I ate some chicken and pasta on Sunday. I haven´t eaten much but toast before or since but it´s quite tricky to get typhoid-fever-friendly food here. I´m doing fine though, and am really pleased to be over the worst. Apparently it´s a very, very common disease out here especially for travellers and even people who´ve had the immunisation (like me) can still get a moderate dose which is bad enough to be honest, I wouldn´t want a full one. But yeah, I´m well on the mend and have much more energy than I did.
Yesterday I started at work at San Juan de Dios, the disabled clinic (Marco´s kindergarten is on holiday for two weeks because of National Peru Day, so we start there on August 11th and are working a variety of different placements in between), and I continued there today. It´s really, really difficult. I can´t stress that enough. There were times when I felt so weak (partially becauase of recovering from the illness as well, I suppose) and like I was rubbish with the kids and they hated me and just cried, and I just wanted to sit in the bathroom and cry for a bit. Luckily I couldn´t remember which bathroom I was supposed to use, so I had to get back out there, and the rewards for perseverance are infinite. The kids all have incredibly unique personalities- some are unpleasant, really bossy and fussy, and won´t share. But for every irritation there´s a moment where a kid smiles because of something you did (I usually resort to pulling horrible faces at them which they seem to like) which, and I know how cheesy it sounds, makes up for every hard bit. Normally when there´s nothing else to do we end up resorting to wheelchair races which the kids absolutely love, they go crazy for it, real little adrenaline junkies.
Yesterday I had to improvise a bit, because we had to stay indoors because of the rain and the cold. I stayed with Wilson most of the day because I was still feeling pretty unsure and he sort of acts as my anchor at the clinic, and makes me feel better when I feel like I´ve screwed up. He has this amazing toy truck and he started throwing it out of his wheelchair, and I thought he didn´t want it anymore so I moved to take it away and he started shaking his head at me, so I gave it back to him and he threw it back out, and the process continued. Eventually I figured out we were playing how-many-ways-can-Wilson-throw-a-truck-out-of-his-chair, which he thought was a brilliant game. When he got tired of that, I made a little paper aeroplane out of a scrap piece of paper and he loved it, that kept him busy and happy for the rest of the afternoon- it was brilliant, I really felt like if I hadn´t been there his day wouldn´t have been as good.
Today I branched out a bit, we took lots of kids up to visit the animals at the Clinic- I made about six round trips with different kids and they loved it. Wilson (of course I took him, I think I´m becoming a bit emotionally attached...) went crazy over the horse but I couldn´t figure out how to manoeuvre his wheelchair so he could stroke it which was a shame. I´ve taught him my name and I think he knows it, either that or he makes indiscriminate sounds which are a bit like my name just by coincidence, I prefer to believe the former. The rest of the time I spent playing with various kids, I spent a lot of time with a kid called Elias who is very, very cute. I sang him a lullaby and he fell straight asleep- unfortunately just in time for dinner so he had a bit of a rude awakening courtesy of one of the nurses who splashed some cold water over his face. He was not happy and made it really, really difficult for me to feed him, eventually one of the nurses had to take over. I brushed his teeth and helped out with Wilson, said goodnight to everyone and left. We were only there four hours but it´s so exhausting it really feels like a full day. Tonight, me, Heather, Becca and Sam (a new volunteer) are going out to dinner, and then we´ll probably get an early night because we have to get up about 8am tomorrow to go and visit a new orphanage that we have the option of working in instead of San Juan de Dios a bit this week and next.
Also, in case anyone´s missed it on facebook, please visit this address http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19769539757&ref=ts and sponsor us for our paraglide. It is a seriously worthwhile cause and there will be amusing photographic evidence of us hopefully not seriously injuring ourselves.
lots of love to everyone, hope you´re all well and living typhoid-fever-free lives xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yesterday I started at work at San Juan de Dios, the disabled clinic (Marco´s kindergarten is on holiday for two weeks because of National Peru Day, so we start there on August 11th and are working a variety of different placements in between), and I continued there today. It´s really, really difficult. I can´t stress that enough. There were times when I felt so weak (partially becauase of recovering from the illness as well, I suppose) and like I was rubbish with the kids and they hated me and just cried, and I just wanted to sit in the bathroom and cry for a bit. Luckily I couldn´t remember which bathroom I was supposed to use, so I had to get back out there, and the rewards for perseverance are infinite. The kids all have incredibly unique personalities- some are unpleasant, really bossy and fussy, and won´t share. But for every irritation there´s a moment where a kid smiles because of something you did (I usually resort to pulling horrible faces at them which they seem to like) which, and I know how cheesy it sounds, makes up for every hard bit. Normally when there´s nothing else to do we end up resorting to wheelchair races which the kids absolutely love, they go crazy for it, real little adrenaline junkies.
Yesterday I had to improvise a bit, because we had to stay indoors because of the rain and the cold. I stayed with Wilson most of the day because I was still feeling pretty unsure and he sort of acts as my anchor at the clinic, and makes me feel better when I feel like I´ve screwed up. He has this amazing toy truck and he started throwing it out of his wheelchair, and I thought he didn´t want it anymore so I moved to take it away and he started shaking his head at me, so I gave it back to him and he threw it back out, and the process continued. Eventually I figured out we were playing how-many-ways-can-Wilson-throw-a-truck-out-of-his-chair, which he thought was a brilliant game. When he got tired of that, I made a little paper aeroplane out of a scrap piece of paper and he loved it, that kept him busy and happy for the rest of the afternoon- it was brilliant, I really felt like if I hadn´t been there his day wouldn´t have been as good.
Today I branched out a bit, we took lots of kids up to visit the animals at the Clinic- I made about six round trips with different kids and they loved it. Wilson (of course I took him, I think I´m becoming a bit emotionally attached...) went crazy over the horse but I couldn´t figure out how to manoeuvre his wheelchair so he could stroke it which was a shame. I´ve taught him my name and I think he knows it, either that or he makes indiscriminate sounds which are a bit like my name just by coincidence, I prefer to believe the former. The rest of the time I spent playing with various kids, I spent a lot of time with a kid called Elias who is very, very cute. I sang him a lullaby and he fell straight asleep- unfortunately just in time for dinner so he had a bit of a rude awakening courtesy of one of the nurses who splashed some cold water over his face. He was not happy and made it really, really difficult for me to feed him, eventually one of the nurses had to take over. I brushed his teeth and helped out with Wilson, said goodnight to everyone and left. We were only there four hours but it´s so exhausting it really feels like a full day. Tonight, me, Heather, Becca and Sam (a new volunteer) are going out to dinner, and then we´ll probably get an early night because we have to get up about 8am tomorrow to go and visit a new orphanage that we have the option of working in instead of San Juan de Dios a bit this week and next.
Also, in case anyone´s missed it on facebook, please visit this address http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19769539757&ref=ts and sponsor us for our paraglide. It is a seriously worthwhile cause and there will be amusing photographic evidence of us hopefully not seriously injuring ourselves.
lots of love to everyone, hope you´re all well and living typhoid-fever-free lives xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, 27 July 2008
...
I have typhoid fever :(( Please cheer me up.
(It´s just a moderate case though, so no need to worry)
(It´s just a moderate case though, so no need to worry)
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Machu Picchu, hot springs etc.
This weekend´s been a bit mental. Went to teach the children in Cincinaro (not sure if I spelt that right) on Saturday, then had cocktails at Helen´s restaurant which were awesome, although apparently one drink out here equals three at a lower altitude, and those cocktails were quite alcoholic! But it was all fine. Heather, Becca and I got up ridiculously early on Sunday and did a tour of the Sacred Valley which involved about three hours of hiking uphill and around Inca ruins. It was intense but the views were absolutely amazing and definitely worth it, the guide told some really interesting stories about the various places as well. I took so many photos I had to pick up an emergency memory card in Ollatambo (I really can´t remember how to spell these place names)!
We got a train that night to Aguas Calientes, it was the comfiest train ever, there was masses of leg room. It´s basically a tourist train that takes tourists to Machu Picchu. We got to the hostel at about 9pm, didn´t really get a chance to look round the town because it was so dark and we were so tired after the Sacred Valley tour. It was really warm though, not like Cuzco, but I think that´s because it´s at a lot lower altitude. We spent the night at the hostel and got up ridiculously early (again) to go up to visit Machu Picchu. We got a bus at about 5.45am and we were inside to watch the sun rise. It´s such a beautiful place, it´s pretty difficult to describe it. I took about 200 pictures, I´ve had to cull them a little bit, but they´re all so amazing it´s difficult to know which ones to cut! Machu Picchu is incredible, Heather and I sunbathed on the edge of a cliff after we finished our 2hr15minute tour while Becca went to get some water and chocolate (I came prepared with water and cereal bars, so I was alright), a tiny bottle of water costs 10soles, which is about 2 pounds, not too expensive for a touristy English place but normally you can get a bottle of water for 2soles so in comparison the price is ridiculous.
We stayed at Machu Picchu for about 6 hours, walking around looking at stuff, sunbathing and walking up to the guard tower to get the classic Machu Picchu postcard photo. We left at about 12.30, had lunch and then went back to the hostel. Me and Heather then went to the natural hot springs while Becca slept, we were in there for about an hour, the water was lovely and warm. We met a strange Venezualan couple that we thought invited us for dinner but we weren´t really sure, in fact Becca, Heather and I had a pretty horrible dinner at a quite expensive restaurant but apparently that´s normal in Aguas Calientes because it´s so touristy, it made us a bit homesick for Cuzco though!
We got back to Cuzco ridiculously early (again...) this morning on the 5.35am train from Aguas Calientes. Got back to the hostel at about 9.30am, and almost immediately I got into the hostel I felt really ill and had to go straight to bed with a hot water bottle, slept for about 40minutes and read for an hour but still felt awful after taking two 500 mg painkillers, so Becca got Helen to call the doctor out for me. But after a couple more hours I felt much better, so I decided I didn´t need the doctor anymore. Heather has a bit of a cold as well so we´re not exactly Healthy Central over here in South America. But I think all the early mornings have been catching up with us, we´re having a rest day today which is really nice, just going to stay in tonight with a dvd and chill out.
I have now added to my attractive white fluffy hat and alpaca socks with "tourist trousers", black and white stripy linen trousers that everyone wears out round here (in various colours). They are truly for the fashion-conscious and should definitely be adopted as a "new look" for British wintertime. It´s SO cold here still, we´re considering renting a heater for the room which will be nice!
Tomorrow there´s more spanish school, but we get a lie in in the morning, and on Thursday I start my placement, me and Heather are both working at Marco´s, I´m so excited! I want to go back and visit Wilson soon as well.
much love to everyone
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We got a train that night to Aguas Calientes, it was the comfiest train ever, there was masses of leg room. It´s basically a tourist train that takes tourists to Machu Picchu. We got to the hostel at about 9pm, didn´t really get a chance to look round the town because it was so dark and we were so tired after the Sacred Valley tour. It was really warm though, not like Cuzco, but I think that´s because it´s at a lot lower altitude. We spent the night at the hostel and got up ridiculously early (again) to go up to visit Machu Picchu. We got a bus at about 5.45am and we were inside to watch the sun rise. It´s such a beautiful place, it´s pretty difficult to describe it. I took about 200 pictures, I´ve had to cull them a little bit, but they´re all so amazing it´s difficult to know which ones to cut! Machu Picchu is incredible, Heather and I sunbathed on the edge of a cliff after we finished our 2hr15minute tour while Becca went to get some water and chocolate (I came prepared with water and cereal bars, so I was alright), a tiny bottle of water costs 10soles, which is about 2 pounds, not too expensive for a touristy English place but normally you can get a bottle of water for 2soles so in comparison the price is ridiculous.
We stayed at Machu Picchu for about 6 hours, walking around looking at stuff, sunbathing and walking up to the guard tower to get the classic Machu Picchu postcard photo. We left at about 12.30, had lunch and then went back to the hostel. Me and Heather then went to the natural hot springs while Becca slept, we were in there for about an hour, the water was lovely and warm. We met a strange Venezualan couple that we thought invited us for dinner but we weren´t really sure, in fact Becca, Heather and I had a pretty horrible dinner at a quite expensive restaurant but apparently that´s normal in Aguas Calientes because it´s so touristy, it made us a bit homesick for Cuzco though!
We got back to Cuzco ridiculously early (again...) this morning on the 5.35am train from Aguas Calientes. Got back to the hostel at about 9.30am, and almost immediately I got into the hostel I felt really ill and had to go straight to bed with a hot water bottle, slept for about 40minutes and read for an hour but still felt awful after taking two 500 mg painkillers, so Becca got Helen to call the doctor out for me. But after a couple more hours I felt much better, so I decided I didn´t need the doctor anymore. Heather has a bit of a cold as well so we´re not exactly Healthy Central over here in South America. But I think all the early mornings have been catching up with us, we´re having a rest day today which is really nice, just going to stay in tonight with a dvd and chill out.
I have now added to my attractive white fluffy hat and alpaca socks with "tourist trousers", black and white stripy linen trousers that everyone wears out round here (in various colours). They are truly for the fashion-conscious and should definitely be adopted as a "new look" for British wintertime. It´s SO cold here still, we´re considering renting a heater for the room which will be nice!
Tomorrow there´s more spanish school, but we get a lie in in the morning, and on Thursday I start my placement, me and Heather are both working at Marco´s, I´m so excited! I want to go back and visit Wilson soon as well.
much love to everyone
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday, 19 July 2008
More Cuzco-y Stuff
Wow, everything has been crazy. I´ve literally got five minutes to update this before we head up into the mountains to teach english at a school run by a family Helen is really friendly with.
Yesterday I went to a disabled clinic and home for kids, which was so moving. I absolutely fell head over heels in love with this 2 year old called Wilson, I held him for about 25minutes and I didn´t want to let him go, he was SO gorgeous. I want to take him home! I couldn´t tell whether I was making him cry or laugh but it was all just so moving, I cried when I had to leave him- the other kids were great as well, and it´s really given me a new appreciation and understanding of disability, but there was just something about Wilson which made me never want to leave. When I gave him a big hug and kiss goodbye, I said "Ciao Wilson, ciao! Hasta luego!" and he gave me a big smile and said, "Hola! Hola!" and I was in bits, I was like, "No, Wilson, ciao!". It was soo sad. I had to turn away really quickly so he didn´t see me cry. I couldn´t work in that placement, it´s too emotionally demanding and I´d be in pieces every day, but I really want to go back and visit a bit.
Trekked up a mountain to an after school club for disadvantaged kids after Spanish school, which was amazing as well but I didn´t feel the same connection that I did to the disabled home and to Marco´s.
Anyway, I have to sign off now, because we have to go. This weekend we´re off to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley via some hot springs and a market town, and I´ll be out of contact til Tuesday morning.
Hope you´re all well and lots of love to everyone,
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yesterday I went to a disabled clinic and home for kids, which was so moving. I absolutely fell head over heels in love with this 2 year old called Wilson, I held him for about 25minutes and I didn´t want to let him go, he was SO gorgeous. I want to take him home! I couldn´t tell whether I was making him cry or laugh but it was all just so moving, I cried when I had to leave him- the other kids were great as well, and it´s really given me a new appreciation and understanding of disability, but there was just something about Wilson which made me never want to leave. When I gave him a big hug and kiss goodbye, I said "Ciao Wilson, ciao! Hasta luego!" and he gave me a big smile and said, "Hola! Hola!" and I was in bits, I was like, "No, Wilson, ciao!". It was soo sad. I had to turn away really quickly so he didn´t see me cry. I couldn´t work in that placement, it´s too emotionally demanding and I´d be in pieces every day, but I really want to go back and visit a bit.
Trekked up a mountain to an after school club for disadvantaged kids after Spanish school, which was amazing as well but I didn´t feel the same connection that I did to the disabled home and to Marco´s.
Anyway, I have to sign off now, because we have to go. This weekend we´re off to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley via some hot springs and a market town, and I´ll be out of contact til Tuesday morning.
Hope you´re all well and lots of love to everyone,
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 17 July 2008
First impressions of Cuzco...
Well, here I am- finally! And the long journey is definitely 100000% worth it. This is the most beautiful, incredible place I´ve ever been, and maybe will ever go. The views even just out of my bedroom window are immense, especially at night, just this valley with twinkly lights and a massive expanse of unpolluted sky. The town is still very much an Inca town, there´s even a famous stone in one of the alleys with an authentic Inca stone that´s stood up all this time.
Time seems to have passed really quickly and yet kind of slowly as well, I feel like I´ve been here absolutely forever and already know my way to most places, cabs are pretty cheap as well, about 40p, and me, Heather and Becca had an awesome meal last night for about 50p each, really filling- we signed up for a traditional Peruvian cooking class (we met loads of nice other travellers as well, mostly American and Canadian) and learnt to make a beef, potato and vegetable stir fry, can´t remember the exact name but it was really good. Tonight we´re going to a Peruvian food and drink tasting session at the South American Explorers Club which should be really fun, we have such a busy weekend planned as well- Macchu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, a random market town, and white water rafting, and a cocktail party on Saturday night at Helen´s restaurant (called The Real McCoy). We´re also looking at paragliding and horse riding, visiting Lake Titicaca, going to hot springs and going to a traditional Peruvian festival at some point in the future- they really don´t do things by halfs here, there´s always something to do. The internet is free at my hostel but I haven´t had a moment to get on it before now!
Heather and I arrived, a bit tired, on Tuesday afternoon, feeling a bit light-headed because 0f the altitude. Lilly (who works for PoD) met us at the airport, and we went to the hostel, met Becca (another volunteer) who was already there after having been in the jungle for two months, and dumped our bags. The hostel is beautiful, really quirky and colourful and the showers are hot (extremely rare in Peru, as we discovered in Lima...). We have a TV room with DVD player and comfy chairs although I haven´t had a chance to even get into it yet, I´ve been so busy! Two bathrooms between about eight rooms. Me and Heather are sharing a lovely room, with an amazing view over the city and we have a little balcony just outside with comfy chairs to sit on and admire the view, we were sitting out there with Becca doing our Spanish homework last night. Cuzco is bug-free as well which is awesome, apparently the altitude is too high for mosquitos, so no worries about being bitten. I can see why they wouldn´t like it though- the nights are SO cold, absolutely freezing, I have three blankets but am still wearing shorts, pyjama bottoms, long socks, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a hoodie in bed, we´re taking a trip to the local market soon to get a much-needed hot water bottle, alpaca socks, gloves etc. and a proper Peruvian hat, which is what I´m most excited about- I´ve seen loads but am waiting for the perfect one. The days are lovely and warm though and I´ll definitely get a tan! (At least on my face, because you have to mostly cover up if you don´t want to be yelled or looked at in the street). The food is pretty awesome as well, and since it´s so cheap to eat out we´ll probably do that quite a lot in the evening, we got some food from the local shop in case we felt like cooking though (we have a kitchen in the hostel). The hostel serves cacao tea free as well to help with altitude, I have a ritual cup in the morning and am starting to really quite like it. I didn´t have too many problems with altitude, a bit of breathlessness climbing stairs and headaches but they seem to have gone now which is good. Although we all get a bit breathless climbing Heart-Attack Hill up to the Plaza San Blas where the hostel is. The plaza itself is really pretty, very artsy and quiet, artists stay there all day making sculptures and they´re quite relaxed about you watching them. The main plaza is beautiful but a bit more frantic, and filled with tourists, but everything is incredibly well-preserved, including the cathedral which is really impressive.
The first night, after dumping our bags straight away we went to Helen´s restaurant to meet her (she and Lilly are both lovely, incredibly helpful and full of advice about how not to be scammed by taxi drivers etc.- "DOS soles, no tres, DOS", and so on). PoD paid for our dinner at a local restaurant, and then we got back to the hostel, unpacked and fell asleep- I was a bit scared about sleeping because I heard that some people stop breathing because of altitude, but I woke up the next morning, so I guess ít´s okay.
The next morning, Lilly took us to visit the Hugar, a safe house for girls that have been abused or threatened by their families or other people. It´s opposite a prison which I found a little weird. It was an incredibly humbling experience, the girls can´t even go outside because it´s not safe, just into a tiny stone courtyard, and they all had to share one disgusting bathroom. One 15-year-old had a baby, and Lilly told us it was because she´d either been raped or was a prostitute. And yet they were all so happy and positive, as soon as I came in one girl gave me a massive hug (I´m ashamed I didn´t ask her name, but I was overwhelmed) and led me into the kitchen, where three girls were cooking. Apparently they have a strict rota, they all have chores to do to keep the house looking clean, one girl was waxing the stairs! They make jewellery to sell, and learn to knit and weave, so that they can make their own living when the courts decide they have to go back to their abusive families. They make the best of what they have, they find things to do and are friendly towards each other- although apparently some of them steal. They live in dormitories, and when there aren´t enough beds they sleep on mattresses on the floor- bearing in mind they can´t even go outside, it looks pretty grim, the house itself is surrounded by barbed wire. But there is a positiveness and resilience about every girl I saw that I envy, but if I had to acquire that through being in their situation... well, I feel pretty lucky, put it that way.
We went to Spanish school after that, which was pretty overwhelming, I learnt loads though. And then we had the cookery class that night. This morning we saw two kindergartens, both were lovely, but I knew instantly that I wanted to work in the first one we saw. I can´t explain it but I just identified with it immediately. The guy who runs it does loads for charity and they are desperate for volunteers, and are really open to people coming in and doing their own thing, like arts and crafts sessions. It was such a friendly atmosphere, so colourful and loving- as Marco (the guy who runs it) explained to us in really good english, it´s important that the children feel love here because they come from disadvantaged families and some are orphans so they don´t really get it at home. One of the children came straight up to me, gave me a big hug and kiss and said, "Me llamo Maria, Ma-RI-a, ¿como te llamas?". She was one of the orphans (you can tell them apart because they have a different uniform- I don´t know why) and really cute. There´s one class for three year olds, about 15 of them, one class for four year olds, about 15 of them too, and a class for five year olds which has about 20 children, they all have a separate playtime so they don´t all have to compete for toys. They work from worksheets, they are colouring-inn ones but the teaching is all so worksheet-based, I really want to change that. My first idea is to get hold of loads of empty cardboard toilet rolls from the hostel, buy some cotton wool and glue, and get the kids to make alpacas which they can name and decorate and put in the classroom. Me and Heather (we both loved the placement so will probably both go there though we´ll work with different classes, it´s only 15minutes walk from the hostel as well, and you go via an amazing fruit market) have loads of other ideas as well, including teaching the kids english through songs like "Twinkle twinkle little star". We could barely get out of the door, the kids didn´t want us to go, they were tugging at my skirt!
Went to spanish school again as well which was cool, learnt loads. It´s individual one-to-one tuition, two hours of grammar followed by an hour´s speaking. It´s intense but I´m learning masses. For our practical, me and Elena (my practical teacher) went to the zoo, and talked about animals, colours, verbs etc. We saw all sorts- loads of birds, monkies, an alpaca, pumas (which were gorgeous), a tiger cub, bears, foxes... everything. The animals were lovely, really really cute. Tonight we have the food tasting thing, tomorrow we´re going to visit a couple more placements, Spanish school again and I´m sure there was something in the evening but I can´t remember-- off ridiculously early white water rafting on Saturday so should get a good night´s sleep.
Now I only have about 45minutes before Helen (she´s about 26 and Lilly is about 19) comes to meet us and we all go out, and I really need to get my Spanish homework done, otherwise I´ll be doing it at midnight like last night.
Lots of love to everyone, I hope you´re all well and update me on all your news!!
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Time seems to have passed really quickly and yet kind of slowly as well, I feel like I´ve been here absolutely forever and already know my way to most places, cabs are pretty cheap as well, about 40p, and me, Heather and Becca had an awesome meal last night for about 50p each, really filling- we signed up for a traditional Peruvian cooking class (we met loads of nice other travellers as well, mostly American and Canadian) and learnt to make a beef, potato and vegetable stir fry, can´t remember the exact name but it was really good. Tonight we´re going to a Peruvian food and drink tasting session at the South American Explorers Club which should be really fun, we have such a busy weekend planned as well- Macchu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, a random market town, and white water rafting, and a cocktail party on Saturday night at Helen´s restaurant (called The Real McCoy). We´re also looking at paragliding and horse riding, visiting Lake Titicaca, going to hot springs and going to a traditional Peruvian festival at some point in the future- they really don´t do things by halfs here, there´s always something to do. The internet is free at my hostel but I haven´t had a moment to get on it before now!
Heather and I arrived, a bit tired, on Tuesday afternoon, feeling a bit light-headed because 0f the altitude. Lilly (who works for PoD) met us at the airport, and we went to the hostel, met Becca (another volunteer) who was already there after having been in the jungle for two months, and dumped our bags. The hostel is beautiful, really quirky and colourful and the showers are hot (extremely rare in Peru, as we discovered in Lima...). We have a TV room with DVD player and comfy chairs although I haven´t had a chance to even get into it yet, I´ve been so busy! Two bathrooms between about eight rooms. Me and Heather are sharing a lovely room, with an amazing view over the city and we have a little balcony just outside with comfy chairs to sit on and admire the view, we were sitting out there with Becca doing our Spanish homework last night. Cuzco is bug-free as well which is awesome, apparently the altitude is too high for mosquitos, so no worries about being bitten. I can see why they wouldn´t like it though- the nights are SO cold, absolutely freezing, I have three blankets but am still wearing shorts, pyjama bottoms, long socks, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a hoodie in bed, we´re taking a trip to the local market soon to get a much-needed hot water bottle, alpaca socks, gloves etc. and a proper Peruvian hat, which is what I´m most excited about- I´ve seen loads but am waiting for the perfect one. The days are lovely and warm though and I´ll definitely get a tan! (At least on my face, because you have to mostly cover up if you don´t want to be yelled or looked at in the street). The food is pretty awesome as well, and since it´s so cheap to eat out we´ll probably do that quite a lot in the evening, we got some food from the local shop in case we felt like cooking though (we have a kitchen in the hostel). The hostel serves cacao tea free as well to help with altitude, I have a ritual cup in the morning and am starting to really quite like it. I didn´t have too many problems with altitude, a bit of breathlessness climbing stairs and headaches but they seem to have gone now which is good. Although we all get a bit breathless climbing Heart-Attack Hill up to the Plaza San Blas where the hostel is. The plaza itself is really pretty, very artsy and quiet, artists stay there all day making sculptures and they´re quite relaxed about you watching them. The main plaza is beautiful but a bit more frantic, and filled with tourists, but everything is incredibly well-preserved, including the cathedral which is really impressive.
The first night, after dumping our bags straight away we went to Helen´s restaurant to meet her (she and Lilly are both lovely, incredibly helpful and full of advice about how not to be scammed by taxi drivers etc.- "DOS soles, no tres, DOS", and so on). PoD paid for our dinner at a local restaurant, and then we got back to the hostel, unpacked and fell asleep- I was a bit scared about sleeping because I heard that some people stop breathing because of altitude, but I woke up the next morning, so I guess ít´s okay.
The next morning, Lilly took us to visit the Hugar, a safe house for girls that have been abused or threatened by their families or other people. It´s opposite a prison which I found a little weird. It was an incredibly humbling experience, the girls can´t even go outside because it´s not safe, just into a tiny stone courtyard, and they all had to share one disgusting bathroom. One 15-year-old had a baby, and Lilly told us it was because she´d either been raped or was a prostitute. And yet they were all so happy and positive, as soon as I came in one girl gave me a massive hug (I´m ashamed I didn´t ask her name, but I was overwhelmed) and led me into the kitchen, where three girls were cooking. Apparently they have a strict rota, they all have chores to do to keep the house looking clean, one girl was waxing the stairs! They make jewellery to sell, and learn to knit and weave, so that they can make their own living when the courts decide they have to go back to their abusive families. They make the best of what they have, they find things to do and are friendly towards each other- although apparently some of them steal. They live in dormitories, and when there aren´t enough beds they sleep on mattresses on the floor- bearing in mind they can´t even go outside, it looks pretty grim, the house itself is surrounded by barbed wire. But there is a positiveness and resilience about every girl I saw that I envy, but if I had to acquire that through being in their situation... well, I feel pretty lucky, put it that way.
We went to Spanish school after that, which was pretty overwhelming, I learnt loads though. And then we had the cookery class that night. This morning we saw two kindergartens, both were lovely, but I knew instantly that I wanted to work in the first one we saw. I can´t explain it but I just identified with it immediately. The guy who runs it does loads for charity and they are desperate for volunteers, and are really open to people coming in and doing their own thing, like arts and crafts sessions. It was such a friendly atmosphere, so colourful and loving- as Marco (the guy who runs it) explained to us in really good english, it´s important that the children feel love here because they come from disadvantaged families and some are orphans so they don´t really get it at home. One of the children came straight up to me, gave me a big hug and kiss and said, "Me llamo Maria, Ma-RI-a, ¿como te llamas?". She was one of the orphans (you can tell them apart because they have a different uniform- I don´t know why) and really cute. There´s one class for three year olds, about 15 of them, one class for four year olds, about 15 of them too, and a class for five year olds which has about 20 children, they all have a separate playtime so they don´t all have to compete for toys. They work from worksheets, they are colouring-inn ones but the teaching is all so worksheet-based, I really want to change that. My first idea is to get hold of loads of empty cardboard toilet rolls from the hostel, buy some cotton wool and glue, and get the kids to make alpacas which they can name and decorate and put in the classroom. Me and Heather (we both loved the placement so will probably both go there though we´ll work with different classes, it´s only 15minutes walk from the hostel as well, and you go via an amazing fruit market) have loads of other ideas as well, including teaching the kids english through songs like "Twinkle twinkle little star". We could barely get out of the door, the kids didn´t want us to go, they were tugging at my skirt!
Went to spanish school again as well which was cool, learnt loads. It´s individual one-to-one tuition, two hours of grammar followed by an hour´s speaking. It´s intense but I´m learning masses. For our practical, me and Elena (my practical teacher) went to the zoo, and talked about animals, colours, verbs etc. We saw all sorts- loads of birds, monkies, an alpaca, pumas (which were gorgeous), a tiger cub, bears, foxes... everything. The animals were lovely, really really cute. Tonight we have the food tasting thing, tomorrow we´re going to visit a couple more placements, Spanish school again and I´m sure there was something in the evening but I can´t remember-- off ridiculously early white water rafting on Saturday so should get a good night´s sleep.
Now I only have about 45minutes before Helen (she´s about 26 and Lilly is about 19) comes to meet us and we all go out, and I really need to get my Spanish homework done, otherwise I´ll be doing it at midnight like last night.
Lots of love to everyone, I hope you´re all well and update me on all your news!!
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 14 July 2008
South America-- FINALLY
Well... here Heather and I are, sitting at the free-internet desk at a hotel in Lima, only two days behind schedule. By tomorrow, I will have spent 5 consecutive days in different airports around the world, I´m beginning to think I should rename this blog "Amy in Airports, Summer 2008". It all started when we were checking in at Heathrow Terminal 4, officially the Most Unhelpful Place Ever. I didn´t have a seat number on my boarding pass for the connecting flight to Newark, we saw about 5 different people who, with varying degrees of rudeness, told us that basically they couldn´t give a toss. We took off for Lima, I had a bit of a sad moment on the plane but felt much better after watching the three back-to-back episodes of House provided as part of the in-flight entertainment.
Ironically, I never needed that boarding pass, cos our flight was delayed by an hour so that we missed our connecting Newark flight "by two minutes" (as a kindly old American porter told us with a wince). Actually, we met a random guy at the payphones who had also missed the flight, and he told us he´d been there half an hour earlier than us (queue for security was looong) and they´d said the same to him, so we didn´t feel so bad. Continental Airlines, officially the Most Helpful People Ever ´(that´s in a non sarcastic way, they really were amazing) put us up in a hotel, paid for our food and arranged transfers to the airport, before booking us on the next flight they could to Lima. Unfortunately, this meant we were a day late and so we would miss our Cuzco flight, but thanks to some quick organising from Heather´s dad back in Manchester, STAR Peru agreed to put us on a flight on Tuesday, because there were none left for Monday, for a $50 fee, which we´d pay when we got to Lima airport and which would confirm our place on the flight. He also sorted us a hotel which would meet us at the airport.
Via room service, Nickleodeon TV, amazingly comfy beds and the friendliest people in the world ever at the Holiday Inn, New Jersey (plus blueberry pancakes for breakfast of course-- when in Rome...), we got to the Airport. We were chosen by our airline for "additional security checks"-- we didn´t quite get the full American security experience, but our bags definitely did-- and managed to board the plane to Lima. No in-flight entertainment on this flight really, so it was quite long, but we made it to Lima, got through immigration (although there was a minor disaster when Heather´s passport wasn´t recognised), found our bags (Heather´s strap was missing from hers) and got out into Lima Airport. We were offered about 17million taxis immediately, but headed for the STAR Peru desk to confirm our flight. Yeah, that didn´t happen. After a long, mixed-language argument where none of us really understood anything the others said, and after being offered the choice of either not being on the flight or coming back at 5am to pay for it and confirm, because the correct personnel were "not currently available", we managed to convince the woman to let us come back at 5pm instead. So another airport visit is ahead-- joy of joys-- and we´re just hoping we´re still on the flight. We were at that desk for 40mins, and when we got back, the taxi driver wasn´t there, apparently "stuck in traffic", so two 18 year old girls alone in Lima airport waited around outside for a bit until the taxi driver finally got there, looking a little sheepish and like he hadn´t really been stuck in traffic at all. I tried out some of my limited spanish on the way back, which was funny, although we weren´t really in the mood to laugh at that point.
Hotel is very basic but ok and everyone is very friendly, we went into Miraflores this morning with our new friend Juan the 21-year-old taxi driver (he´s not really called Juan, but I called him that in my head), I´ve got lots of photos of crazy Lima stuff. There are no road dividing lines as such and we feared for our lives several times, as hooting seems to be a method of general communication, but it´s all good. The woman at the front desk serenaded us with "She Loves You" by The Beatles as well when she found out we were from London-- amazing.
So we are headed to the airport now, and then again tomorrow, and hopefully this time we´ll actually get to Cuzco! Will update more then.
Lots of love
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ironically, I never needed that boarding pass, cos our flight was delayed by an hour so that we missed our connecting Newark flight "by two minutes" (as a kindly old American porter told us with a wince). Actually, we met a random guy at the payphones who had also missed the flight, and he told us he´d been there half an hour earlier than us (queue for security was looong) and they´d said the same to him, so we didn´t feel so bad. Continental Airlines, officially the Most Helpful People Ever ´(that´s in a non sarcastic way, they really were amazing) put us up in a hotel, paid for our food and arranged transfers to the airport, before booking us on the next flight they could to Lima. Unfortunately, this meant we were a day late and so we would miss our Cuzco flight, but thanks to some quick organising from Heather´s dad back in Manchester, STAR Peru agreed to put us on a flight on Tuesday, because there were none left for Monday, for a $50 fee, which we´d pay when we got to Lima airport and which would confirm our place on the flight. He also sorted us a hotel which would meet us at the airport.
Via room service, Nickleodeon TV, amazingly comfy beds and the friendliest people in the world ever at the Holiday Inn, New Jersey (plus blueberry pancakes for breakfast of course-- when in Rome...), we got to the Airport. We were chosen by our airline for "additional security checks"-- we didn´t quite get the full American security experience, but our bags definitely did-- and managed to board the plane to Lima. No in-flight entertainment on this flight really, so it was quite long, but we made it to Lima, got through immigration (although there was a minor disaster when Heather´s passport wasn´t recognised), found our bags (Heather´s strap was missing from hers) and got out into Lima Airport. We were offered about 17million taxis immediately, but headed for the STAR Peru desk to confirm our flight. Yeah, that didn´t happen. After a long, mixed-language argument where none of us really understood anything the others said, and after being offered the choice of either not being on the flight or coming back at 5am to pay for it and confirm, because the correct personnel were "not currently available", we managed to convince the woman to let us come back at 5pm instead. So another airport visit is ahead-- joy of joys-- and we´re just hoping we´re still on the flight. We were at that desk for 40mins, and when we got back, the taxi driver wasn´t there, apparently "stuck in traffic", so two 18 year old girls alone in Lima airport waited around outside for a bit until the taxi driver finally got there, looking a little sheepish and like he hadn´t really been stuck in traffic at all. I tried out some of my limited spanish on the way back, which was funny, although we weren´t really in the mood to laugh at that point.
Hotel is very basic but ok and everyone is very friendly, we went into Miraflores this morning with our new friend Juan the 21-year-old taxi driver (he´s not really called Juan, but I called him that in my head), I´ve got lots of photos of crazy Lima stuff. There are no road dividing lines as such and we feared for our lives several times, as hooting seems to be a method of general communication, but it´s all good. The woman at the front desk serenaded us with "She Loves You" by The Beatles as well when she found out we were from London-- amazing.
So we are headed to the airport now, and then again tomorrow, and hopefully this time we´ll actually get to Cuzco! Will update more then.
Lots of love
amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Friday, 11 July 2008
here we go...
So, me and mum went to Heathrow tonight to meet Heather, and our journey is finally beginning... I've packed a suitcase (had to abandon the rucksack, I had too many clothes, I would have filled it 3 times over) although I'm pretty sure it'll be over the weight limit, and I reeeally want to add my gold gladiator sandals. Sad times. Still, somehow I'll survive, especially cos of all the excitement to come. My flight leaves Heathrow tomorrow at 10.25am, and I have to go via Newark (New Jersey) and Lima to get to Cuzco, so I don't get there til Sunday morning. It's a long flight, about 16 or 17 hours in all and that's without all the waiting around. I'm pretty excited, a bit nervous as well though, and I'm not really sure what to expect-- just can't wait to get there! I'm prepared to be pretty homesick at first, but I reckon it's going to be an amazing experience. I'm going to keep a journal religiously (in theory).
I'll write more either from an airport (where I hopefully haven't been delayed) or from Cuzco :D
love amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'll write more either from an airport (where I hopefully haven't been delayed) or from Cuzco :D
love amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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