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
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
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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