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
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