Thursday, 29 April 2010
Monday 19th - Sunday 25th April
Mondaÿ 19th;
Had our last Spanish lesson this morning. Had a quiet afternoon and planned our first ever lesson for the kindergarten. We were all being indecisive about which placement to do, so Jess is sending us all to the kindergarten in the morning, and the disabled centre in the afternoon.
Tuesday 20th;
Jess came with us in the morning to the Kindergarten and helped us teach the first two classes of 3 and 4 year olds, and we did the 5 year olds by ourselves, we taught them all "my name is" and a song for learning the colours red, yellow, green and blue.
In the afternoon we went to the disabled home which was a lot harder than any of us remembered. We took the kids outside to play, and it was really hard work, because a lot of the kids in wheelchairs want to practise walking, but you end up taking all their weight so its really exhausting. Its hard aswell because a lot of them cant communicate with you, so you dont know whether they are enjoying whatever you are doing or not.
Wednesday 21st;
Taught at the kindergarten without any help from jess today. It was really good fun. The three year olds are hard, because theyre very shy and dont often respond to what you are teaching them. They´re all really sweet though, and there is this boy called Evert in the 4 year old class, who had a little plaster on his head and just grins all the time!
Were meant to go to chincherro this afternoon, but roxanna, who runs it, wasnt around so we had the afternoon off again.
We all sat in the Plaza de armas in the sun, and then these two guys tried to "subtly" take a photo of us, but we saw them and covered our faces and told them it would cost 1 dollar per picture.
Domenica had to buy a pot for a stool sample at the pharmacy and it was one of the funniest things i´ve ever seen. We were told the word for pot was "potty" but when we got there noone had a clue what we were saying. There were about three pharmacists trying to help us. Domenica drew a pot, they asked what for, she said "for the bathroom" and they came back with tampons. She ended up drawing a cartoon poo with steam lines and everything, next to the pot and they finally understood what she was saying.
Went to the spanish school for cooking this evening, made "causa rellena" which is a layer of mash potato, a layer of chicken, a layer of mash, a layer of guacamole a layer of mash and a layer of egg, peppers, chives and olives. We were given a massive slab of it, the first few mouth-fulls are actually alright, but thats it, it is then just potato overload, and the teachers put a tonne of salt in it too!
We had to drop in to McCoys to see Jess after, but then ended up playing card games for hours, everyone got very competetive and we were all screaming at each other by the end of it.
Thursday 22nd;
Had the kindergarten again this morning and were teaching the kids happy and sad, and sung "if your happy and you know it". They love it when you sing songs and always make you do it again and again, even though most of them dont join in.
We went to see another project this afternoon which is like an afterschool club for kids. There were quite a few other volunteers there too. It was in a really poor area of cusco but the centre was really nice. They do lots of crafts and volleyball, every tuesday they do a sports day, and the organiser runs groups for the mums because she thinks its good for them to be involved, when we were there they were making dolls, which they are constantly improving to one day sell.
I really liked it, but unfortunately they only had space for one volunteer and she wants someone who speaks good spanish to teach english to the older girls.
Friday 23rd ;
Went to the kindergarten this morning, knocked on the gate and this woman was suddenly there talking to us, we turned around and realised there was a coach full of all the kids. We got on and as we walked up the bus there were about 4 kids per every two seats and they were all jumping up and down. All the seats were taken so we just had to shove them along and sit next to them. We asked the teachers where we were going and they just said "to play".
After about a 40 minute journey we pulled up to some random fields and got out. We were each allocated a group, me and heather had the three year olds. We were walking along this dusty road and the teachers didnt seem to know where we were going and kept changing direction. At one point we were in the middle of a railway track when the teachers changed their minds, so we were all stood on the track.
Finally we found the right patch and after the kids had a snack we played on the field. One of the girls was crouched on the floor when a sheep came from no where and head butted her. I grabbed her and moved her out the way and then the sheep started chasing her, so me and the other teachers had to rugby tackle this sheep. Finally the owner came and took it back.
After lunch, i was playing football with Domenica and the year fives, one of the boys chased the ball over to a wall, and fell down a hidden ditch, all we could see was his arm and the top of his head! We pulled him out by his arm and thankfully all he said was his thumb hurt, although he did seem a bit dazed.
That aftrernoon we went to Chinchero where we met the kids we would be teaching. There is one seven year old, then about 7 others ages 12 to 15. We walked into the village with them and played games like I spy, and WHats the time mr wolf, just so we could see how good their english is...Its really good, which is a bit scary.
We hailed a taxi back and its another windy mountain road and laura was on a ridiculous fold down chair so was flying all over the place on each corner. The driver tried to drop is on the outskirts of Cusco but we refused to get out so he drove us right to the centre.
In the evening we went to Chi Cha, a gourmet restaurant opened by a famous peruvian chef. (the meal was on POD). I had guinue pig ravioli, which was really good, and basically tasted like duck, and then an amazing chocolate crepe for pudding, Plus some very good cocktails.
After we went to a place that played traditional peruvian music. It was a band with a guitarist, drummer, keyboard player, bassist and then someone playing pan pipes. The audience were doing this wierd stampy dance to it.
Then we went to a club with a band playing salsa, and Jess and Rafael did some salsa dancing which was really cool, but not long after it just started playing regular club music, we stayed there a bit, went somewhere else and then went home. Rafael stroked a dog before going off in his taxi and it followed us all the way back to the hostel.
Saturday 24th.
Went to the supermarket with Jess and bought loads of food for a picnic, we met Rafael who had picked up their dog and his mums dog (Sheep and Pepino) and we got the bus to this town where a big lagoon is. In the floods, the river and the lagoon joined in the middle and completely destroyed the houses in the town because they are all made from mud brick. Loads of the houses had collapsed in the middle, so all the residents are living in tents supplied by USAid.
We walked round to the lagoon and hired pedalos, me laura and jess were in one with Sheep. In the floods, one of the floating reed beds had drifted in to the shore and was blocking the entrance into the lagoon, so all these boys in swimming trunks were trying to seperate the reeds with padals. Finally we got out, and it was really wavy, there was only one person pedalling per boat (me in ours) and it was such hard work. When we got out we realised that our steering wasnt even working! The other boat was fine and they just sailed back in to shore, but we had to get back by going round and round in circles. By the time we got back the reeds had closed in again so we had to wait for the boys to clear a path for us. We had our picnic which included grenadias, which are like passion fruit, theyre really good! Then carried on round the lagoon.
We decided to get a taxi back because it was easier than finding a bus again. Laura got in the boot with some bloke and there were four of us crushed in the middle and rafael and the dogs in the front. When the guy left i got in the boot with laura and it was actually really comfy, i nearly fell asleep lying in there.
Sunday 25th April
We went white water rafting today! It was so fun! The boats held 6 people, there were us 4 girls and all the boys were being told to split between the boats. These two guys got in the front of ours, they were really wierd and kept telling us they were drunk and were pretending to be sick, thankfully they got swapped into a different boat and we got these two normal english guys instead. We had to start paddling, and then our guide made me swap with one of the blokes so i was in the front, at first i was really scared but then it turned out to be the best spot. We all managed to avoid falling in , although when we had stopped one of the guys from the other boats pulled laura in backwards. We had to do this thing, where the guide had out boat facing some rapids and we all had to jump to the front, so the nose of the boat went under, we all got absolutely drenched and i swallowed so much water!
Had our last Spanish lesson this morning. Had a quiet afternoon and planned our first ever lesson for the kindergarten. We were all being indecisive about which placement to do, so Jess is sending us all to the kindergarten in the morning, and the disabled centre in the afternoon.
Tuesday 20th;
Jess came with us in the morning to the Kindergarten and helped us teach the first two classes of 3 and 4 year olds, and we did the 5 year olds by ourselves, we taught them all "my name is" and a song for learning the colours red, yellow, green and blue.
In the afternoon we went to the disabled home which was a lot harder than any of us remembered. We took the kids outside to play, and it was really hard work, because a lot of the kids in wheelchairs want to practise walking, but you end up taking all their weight so its really exhausting. Its hard aswell because a lot of them cant communicate with you, so you dont know whether they are enjoying whatever you are doing or not.
Wednesday 21st;
Taught at the kindergarten without any help from jess today. It was really good fun. The three year olds are hard, because theyre very shy and dont often respond to what you are teaching them. They´re all really sweet though, and there is this boy called Evert in the 4 year old class, who had a little plaster on his head and just grins all the time!
Were meant to go to chincherro this afternoon, but roxanna, who runs it, wasnt around so we had the afternoon off again.
We all sat in the Plaza de armas in the sun, and then these two guys tried to "subtly" take a photo of us, but we saw them and covered our faces and told them it would cost 1 dollar per picture.
Domenica had to buy a pot for a stool sample at the pharmacy and it was one of the funniest things i´ve ever seen. We were told the word for pot was "potty" but when we got there noone had a clue what we were saying. There were about three pharmacists trying to help us. Domenica drew a pot, they asked what for, she said "for the bathroom" and they came back with tampons. She ended up drawing a cartoon poo with steam lines and everything, next to the pot and they finally understood what she was saying.
Went to the spanish school for cooking this evening, made "causa rellena" which is a layer of mash potato, a layer of chicken, a layer of mash, a layer of guacamole a layer of mash and a layer of egg, peppers, chives and olives. We were given a massive slab of it, the first few mouth-fulls are actually alright, but thats it, it is then just potato overload, and the teachers put a tonne of salt in it too!
We had to drop in to McCoys to see Jess after, but then ended up playing card games for hours, everyone got very competetive and we were all screaming at each other by the end of it.
Thursday 22nd;
Had the kindergarten again this morning and were teaching the kids happy and sad, and sung "if your happy and you know it". They love it when you sing songs and always make you do it again and again, even though most of them dont join in.
We went to see another project this afternoon which is like an afterschool club for kids. There were quite a few other volunteers there too. It was in a really poor area of cusco but the centre was really nice. They do lots of crafts and volleyball, every tuesday they do a sports day, and the organiser runs groups for the mums because she thinks its good for them to be involved, when we were there they were making dolls, which they are constantly improving to one day sell.
I really liked it, but unfortunately they only had space for one volunteer and she wants someone who speaks good spanish to teach english to the older girls.
Friday 23rd ;
Went to the kindergarten this morning, knocked on the gate and this woman was suddenly there talking to us, we turned around and realised there was a coach full of all the kids. We got on and as we walked up the bus there were about 4 kids per every two seats and they were all jumping up and down. All the seats were taken so we just had to shove them along and sit next to them. We asked the teachers where we were going and they just said "to play".
After about a 40 minute journey we pulled up to some random fields and got out. We were each allocated a group, me and heather had the three year olds. We were walking along this dusty road and the teachers didnt seem to know where we were going and kept changing direction. At one point we were in the middle of a railway track when the teachers changed their minds, so we were all stood on the track.
Finally we found the right patch and after the kids had a snack we played on the field. One of the girls was crouched on the floor when a sheep came from no where and head butted her. I grabbed her and moved her out the way and then the sheep started chasing her, so me and the other teachers had to rugby tackle this sheep. Finally the owner came and took it back.
After lunch, i was playing football with Domenica and the year fives, one of the boys chased the ball over to a wall, and fell down a hidden ditch, all we could see was his arm and the top of his head! We pulled him out by his arm and thankfully all he said was his thumb hurt, although he did seem a bit dazed.
That aftrernoon we went to Chinchero where we met the kids we would be teaching. There is one seven year old, then about 7 others ages 12 to 15. We walked into the village with them and played games like I spy, and WHats the time mr wolf, just so we could see how good their english is...Its really good, which is a bit scary.
We hailed a taxi back and its another windy mountain road and laura was on a ridiculous fold down chair so was flying all over the place on each corner. The driver tried to drop is on the outskirts of Cusco but we refused to get out so he drove us right to the centre.
In the evening we went to Chi Cha, a gourmet restaurant opened by a famous peruvian chef. (the meal was on POD). I had guinue pig ravioli, which was really good, and basically tasted like duck, and then an amazing chocolate crepe for pudding, Plus some very good cocktails.
After we went to a place that played traditional peruvian music. It was a band with a guitarist, drummer, keyboard player, bassist and then someone playing pan pipes. The audience were doing this wierd stampy dance to it.
Then we went to a club with a band playing salsa, and Jess and Rafael did some salsa dancing which was really cool, but not long after it just started playing regular club music, we stayed there a bit, went somewhere else and then went home. Rafael stroked a dog before going off in his taxi and it followed us all the way back to the hostel.
Saturday 24th.
Went to the supermarket with Jess and bought loads of food for a picnic, we met Rafael who had picked up their dog and his mums dog (Sheep and Pepino) and we got the bus to this town where a big lagoon is. In the floods, the river and the lagoon joined in the middle and completely destroyed the houses in the town because they are all made from mud brick. Loads of the houses had collapsed in the middle, so all the residents are living in tents supplied by USAid.
We walked round to the lagoon and hired pedalos, me laura and jess were in one with Sheep. In the floods, one of the floating reed beds had drifted in to the shore and was blocking the entrance into the lagoon, so all these boys in swimming trunks were trying to seperate the reeds with padals. Finally we got out, and it was really wavy, there was only one person pedalling per boat (me in ours) and it was such hard work. When we got out we realised that our steering wasnt even working! The other boat was fine and they just sailed back in to shore, but we had to get back by going round and round in circles. By the time we got back the reeds had closed in again so we had to wait for the boys to clear a path for us. We had our picnic which included grenadias, which are like passion fruit, theyre really good! Then carried on round the lagoon.
We decided to get a taxi back because it was easier than finding a bus again. Laura got in the boot with some bloke and there were four of us crushed in the middle and rafael and the dogs in the front. When the guy left i got in the boot with laura and it was actually really comfy, i nearly fell asleep lying in there.
Sunday 25th April
We went white water rafting today! It was so fun! The boats held 6 people, there were us 4 girls and all the boys were being told to split between the boats. These two guys got in the front of ours, they were really wierd and kept telling us they were drunk and were pretending to be sick, thankfully they got swapped into a different boat and we got these two normal english guys instead. We had to start paddling, and then our guide made me swap with one of the blokes so i was in the front, at first i was really scared but then it turned out to be the best spot. We all managed to avoid falling in , although when we had stopped one of the guys from the other boats pulled laura in backwards. We had to do this thing, where the guide had out boat facing some rapids and we all had to jump to the front, so the nose of the boat went under, we all got absolutely drenched and i swallowed so much water!
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Tuesday 13th - Sunday 18th April
Have been having our four hour spanish lessons every morning and have finally reached the weekend so got to have a lie in this morning! On wednesday in spanish my teacher took me to a big indoor market where my teacher bought me "tamal" which is sweetcorn, mushed up and sweetened with a raisin in the middle and shaped back into its husk. It´s really nice and tasted like cake!
In the afternoon we went to a kindergarten with three classes of three, four and five year olds. At this place the children only ever get taught english by volunteers and havent had any for a while. I dont know how easy it will be to teach kids that young, but i might give it a go!
Then we went to an orphanage which is run in a family home. The older kids are around in the morning while the little ones are at school, then they go in the afternoons. If we worked here it would be in the afternoon with the younger ones because apparently the older ones just get on with it really. We would have to play with the kids and help with homework. It was really nice and homely, and the kids are taught to clean up after themselves and wash their own clothes so they are quite well disciplined. The woman who runs the home has two of her own children there. I was holding the cutest baby there called Yessica. She would cry a bit then suddenly fall asleep, she was so cute!
On Wednesday evening we went to our first cooking class where we made Lomo Saltado, which is basically peppers onions tomato and beef cooked together then mixed with chips, with rice, and bread sauce...so a lot of carbs! It was really nice though! That night Domenica´s cousin was in Cusco so we met up with him and his friends and went to a bar called "Mushrooms". Me and Laura got mojitos, then remembering all the advice not to have drinks with ice, decided we´d drink them really quickly before it could melt. That, mixed with the altitude meant it went straight to our heads! It turns out that place uses boiled water anyway so the ice is perfectly safe!
Thursday: Had spanish again, me and my grammar teacher couldn´t stop laughing because she was spelling out words for me to write and I kept getting them wrong because when she says, P, B, V, and D they all sound the same so i kept writing it wrong!
Went to Chincerro this afternoon where we were taken to a traditional weaving centre which has been built specifically for tourists. Chincherro is known for having a big market but because everyone sells the same thing it is hard for anyone to make a sale. The weaving place is set up for tourists to go in and experience the whole process, and to buy genuine alpaca products, rather than the fake ones sold on the market. There is a potential project for us in Chinchero to teach english to, i think, the children of the woman weavers. Later on in the project we can live with a family here too! Out the back of the centre there were loads of Llamas which they are going to use for thier demonstrations. We were scared they were going to spit so kept running away when we were trying to get a picture, then a woman came out and just grabbed it by the neck and was like "they dont spit." The building was nearly complete and they put terocotta bulls on the roof when they finish building it for luck.
On the journey home we jumped on a bus, which was like a coach and had to stand on the aisle and cling on. The route was all down the side of the mountain so was very windy, and we kept hitting speed bumps. A guy wanted to squeeze past so we had to lean right over the other people sat down, i looked up and Laura´s bum was about a centimeter away from this guys face, she only realised when i put my hand there to stop her hitting him, then i was crying with laughter and couldnt stop, and it made it even harder to cling on to the bus and keep my balance.
Friday:
In my practical lesson this morning i was sat with my teacher Nayut by the fountain in the Plaza de armas when this guy in hideous red trousers and a multi coloured ¨hello Kitty¨ shirt, came a long with a camera crew, he lay down on the steps infront of us and started filming an introduction over and over. A massive crowd started to gather and this was all going on right infront of us, he started talking to members of the audience then suddenly was sat next to me asking me questions! i was asking my teacher for help and she just kept laughing so i just sat there going "No entiendo espanol" then he asked where i was from so i told him, then he was asking if my eyes were natural or contact lenses and pulled up my eyebrow to open my eye really wide! It was so embaressing i just sat laughing the whole time. It turns out he is a presenter on morning time tv in Peru. When they stopped filming and i saw the director pointing in our direction i was like "Nayut, Vamos!" and grabbed our stuff and ran off.
Went to the Real Mccoys that night for Rafael´s birthday. It was really wierd, everyone just sits in a circle, then when more people join, they join the circle. We were meant to be going salsa dancing afterwards but the party was meant to start at 8, and peruvians always turn up at least 2 hours after the start time, and noone wanted to go dancing afterwards so we just headed back. We are determined to go one night this week!
Saturday:
Finally got to have a lie in and had my first warm shower! Went for a late breakfast of a massive pancake filled with fruit and ice cream! it was so good, then went for a wander round the big under cover market, where i bought a (fake) alpaca hoody.
Sundaÿ:
Another early start to go on the Sacred Valley tour, we thought it would be a few hours but took from 8 in the morning till 6:30 pm! We visited Ccorao where there was a little market and loads more llamas. Then we went to pisac and were given a tour round the Inka ruins and looked at another market. We then went to Ollantaytambo to see more ruins and finally Chinchero. We had a tour guide so its quite interesting, but we kept laughing cause he would leave massive pauses for dramatic effect and we were all just stood there like...what do we do, then he´d start talking again. In chincherro we saw a different weaving place where they gave us a demonstration and showed us the different plants they used to make different colours. To make red they use this grey beetle which they literally crush and it comes out bright red, and she put it on as lipstick and said it lasts "24 hours and is kiss proof"
We also saw the Urubamba river which is the main river in Cusco, and i think is the one we are due to go white water rafting down next weekend.
We went to a restaurant last night where we got two starters a main and a drink all for 15 soles! thats about 4 pounds!
In the afternoon we went to a kindergarten with three classes of three, four and five year olds. At this place the children only ever get taught english by volunteers and havent had any for a while. I dont know how easy it will be to teach kids that young, but i might give it a go!
Then we went to an orphanage which is run in a family home. The older kids are around in the morning while the little ones are at school, then they go in the afternoons. If we worked here it would be in the afternoon with the younger ones because apparently the older ones just get on with it really. We would have to play with the kids and help with homework. It was really nice and homely, and the kids are taught to clean up after themselves and wash their own clothes so they are quite well disciplined. The woman who runs the home has two of her own children there. I was holding the cutest baby there called Yessica. She would cry a bit then suddenly fall asleep, she was so cute!
On Wednesday evening we went to our first cooking class where we made Lomo Saltado, which is basically peppers onions tomato and beef cooked together then mixed with chips, with rice, and bread sauce...so a lot of carbs! It was really nice though! That night Domenica´s cousin was in Cusco so we met up with him and his friends and went to a bar called "Mushrooms". Me and Laura got mojitos, then remembering all the advice not to have drinks with ice, decided we´d drink them really quickly before it could melt. That, mixed with the altitude meant it went straight to our heads! It turns out that place uses boiled water anyway so the ice is perfectly safe!
Thursday: Had spanish again, me and my grammar teacher couldn´t stop laughing because she was spelling out words for me to write and I kept getting them wrong because when she says, P, B, V, and D they all sound the same so i kept writing it wrong!
Went to Chincerro this afternoon where we were taken to a traditional weaving centre which has been built specifically for tourists. Chincherro is known for having a big market but because everyone sells the same thing it is hard for anyone to make a sale. The weaving place is set up for tourists to go in and experience the whole process, and to buy genuine alpaca products, rather than the fake ones sold on the market. There is a potential project for us in Chinchero to teach english to, i think, the children of the woman weavers. Later on in the project we can live with a family here too! Out the back of the centre there were loads of Llamas which they are going to use for thier demonstrations. We were scared they were going to spit so kept running away when we were trying to get a picture, then a woman came out and just grabbed it by the neck and was like "they dont spit." The building was nearly complete and they put terocotta bulls on the roof when they finish building it for luck.
On the journey home we jumped on a bus, which was like a coach and had to stand on the aisle and cling on. The route was all down the side of the mountain so was very windy, and we kept hitting speed bumps. A guy wanted to squeeze past so we had to lean right over the other people sat down, i looked up and Laura´s bum was about a centimeter away from this guys face, she only realised when i put my hand there to stop her hitting him, then i was crying with laughter and couldnt stop, and it made it even harder to cling on to the bus and keep my balance.
Friday:
In my practical lesson this morning i was sat with my teacher Nayut by the fountain in the Plaza de armas when this guy in hideous red trousers and a multi coloured ¨hello Kitty¨ shirt, came a long with a camera crew, he lay down on the steps infront of us and started filming an introduction over and over. A massive crowd started to gather and this was all going on right infront of us, he started talking to members of the audience then suddenly was sat next to me asking me questions! i was asking my teacher for help and she just kept laughing so i just sat there going "No entiendo espanol" then he asked where i was from so i told him, then he was asking if my eyes were natural or contact lenses and pulled up my eyebrow to open my eye really wide! It was so embaressing i just sat laughing the whole time. It turns out he is a presenter on morning time tv in Peru. When they stopped filming and i saw the director pointing in our direction i was like "Nayut, Vamos!" and grabbed our stuff and ran off.
Went to the Real Mccoys that night for Rafael´s birthday. It was really wierd, everyone just sits in a circle, then when more people join, they join the circle. We were meant to be going salsa dancing afterwards but the party was meant to start at 8, and peruvians always turn up at least 2 hours after the start time, and noone wanted to go dancing afterwards so we just headed back. We are determined to go one night this week!
Saturday:
Finally got to have a lie in and had my first warm shower! Went for a late breakfast of a massive pancake filled with fruit and ice cream! it was so good, then went for a wander round the big under cover market, where i bought a (fake) alpaca hoody.
Sundaÿ:
Another early start to go on the Sacred Valley tour, we thought it would be a few hours but took from 8 in the morning till 6:30 pm! We visited Ccorao where there was a little market and loads more llamas. Then we went to pisac and were given a tour round the Inka ruins and looked at another market. We then went to Ollantaytambo to see more ruins and finally Chinchero. We had a tour guide so its quite interesting, but we kept laughing cause he would leave massive pauses for dramatic effect and we were all just stood there like...what do we do, then he´d start talking again. In chincherro we saw a different weaving place where they gave us a demonstration and showed us the different plants they used to make different colours. To make red they use this grey beetle which they literally crush and it comes out bright red, and she put it on as lipstick and said it lasts "24 hours and is kiss proof"
We also saw the Urubamba river which is the main river in Cusco, and i think is the one we are due to go white water rafting down next weekend.
We went to a restaurant last night where we got two starters a main and a drink all for 15 soles! thats about 4 pounds!
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Tuesday 13th (again)
We just had a look around three possible placements. The first was a home for disabled children, young ones aged about 3 to 12. Some are orphans ,some have parents who cant cope. I thought id find it completely daunting and upsetting but i loved it. A lot of the children are in wheel chairs or have downsyndrome and other mental disabilities, but one of the boys wheeled over and reached for my hand and pointed outside, so we took him out to play, then lots of the others joined. I really think i´ll choose that one for the mornings.
Then we went to a home which has tiny kids who get looked after while their mothers sell things on the street, unfortunately we dont get to work with them because they are adorable, we just played with them till the owner was ready to show us round. Upstairs were three different classes with different age groups roughly years 3, 5 and 6. The older ones gasped when we walked in they were that excited! We would teach them english and serve the dinner. It is based in a very poor part of cusco and a lot of them sleep over there and sometimes, if for example one of their fathers is ill, the mother is allowed to sleep their with the kids. This one was also very tempting!
The last place was an orphanage for older disabled children aged about 12 and up, unfortunately they had just sat down for a meal time (they have 5 a day) so we couldnt really interact with them, but this place was a bit more unnerving, i think because there are so many of them and there much bigger. There are a lot of staff here and it would be more a case of helping the adults than playing with the kids. The young ones seem to appreciate the attention more aswell. In this one its got a strict routine, 5 meals a day, brush their teeth after every meal, bath and in their pyjamas after the fourth meal then dinner and bed. They sleep early because they´re up at 5!!
We have three more places to look round tomorrow and then another one the next day, so lots of decisions to be made!
Also had my first bus experience, that was exciting, they literally pile you in, they have people standing in the middle holding the bar like a tube. One boy sits sliding the door open at any potential customer, and the driver shouts the stops as you approach them and you have to respond if you want him to pull over!
I promise i haven´t actually spent that much time on the computer, i just thought id make the most of my free hour, and the free, free hotel computer!
Then we went to a home which has tiny kids who get looked after while their mothers sell things on the street, unfortunately we dont get to work with them because they are adorable, we just played with them till the owner was ready to show us round. Upstairs were three different classes with different age groups roughly years 3, 5 and 6. The older ones gasped when we walked in they were that excited! We would teach them english and serve the dinner. It is based in a very poor part of cusco and a lot of them sleep over there and sometimes, if for example one of their fathers is ill, the mother is allowed to sleep their with the kids. This one was also very tempting!
The last place was an orphanage for older disabled children aged about 12 and up, unfortunately they had just sat down for a meal time (they have 5 a day) so we couldnt really interact with them, but this place was a bit more unnerving, i think because there are so many of them and there much bigger. There are a lot of staff here and it would be more a case of helping the adults than playing with the kids. The young ones seem to appreciate the attention more aswell. In this one its got a strict routine, 5 meals a day, brush their teeth after every meal, bath and in their pyjamas after the fourth meal then dinner and bed. They sleep early because they´re up at 5!!
We have three more places to look round tomorrow and then another one the next day, so lots of decisions to be made!
Also had my first bus experience, that was exciting, they literally pile you in, they have people standing in the middle holding the bar like a tube. One boy sits sliding the door open at any potential customer, and the driver shouts the stops as you approach them and you have to respond if you want him to pull over!
I promise i haven´t actually spent that much time on the computer, i just thought id make the most of my free hour, and the free, free hotel computer!
Tuesday 13th April
We all went to bed on sunday at 8 oclock, were hoping for a lie in but all woke up at 6 and couldnt get back to sleep because of the time difference! We got up and walked around Cuzco to see what was about and then were taken to the spanish school. It is called fair play and all the teachers are single women who used to live in poverty but have been trained to teach english.
In the afternoon we went on a city tour which we thought would be about an hour on the bus, but we were gone for about 6 hours and visited the "golden cathedral" the cathedral in the main square, saqsaywaman (yes it sounds a lot like sexy woman) which are some inka sacrafice spots, and q´enco. a cave where the incas used to make mummies!
Its horrible cause it gets dark here at about 6, so we came home in the dark, but we went to the Real MÇcoy for dinner and a pub quiz! It was full of english and american people.
Started our spanish lessons this morning at 8! four hours in one go! 2 hours doing grammar, then we swap teachers and wonder round the streets for 2 hours doing more talking stuff. My grammar teacher speaks literally no english which is hard work, but good. and my other teacher took me to a little peruvian cafe where i tried my first traditional dish...im just hoping its going to stay down.
We´re going to meet jess in a bit to be shown round the first few placements!
Oh and my luggage safely arrived at the hostal yesterday, such a relief!
In the afternoon we went on a city tour which we thought would be about an hour on the bus, but we were gone for about 6 hours and visited the "golden cathedral" the cathedral in the main square, saqsaywaman (yes it sounds a lot like sexy woman) which are some inka sacrafice spots, and q´enco. a cave where the incas used to make mummies!
Its horrible cause it gets dark here at about 6, so we came home in the dark, but we went to the Real MÇcoy for dinner and a pub quiz! It was full of english and american people.
Started our spanish lessons this morning at 8! four hours in one go! 2 hours doing grammar, then we swap teachers and wonder round the streets for 2 hours doing more talking stuff. My grammar teacher speaks literally no english which is hard work, but good. and my other teacher took me to a little peruvian cafe where i tried my first traditional dish...im just hoping its going to stay down.
We´re going to meet jess in a bit to be shown round the first few placements!
Oh and my luggage safely arrived at the hostal yesterday, such a relief!
Sunday, 11 April 2010
1st day in Peru
I arrived in Lima at 5.30 this morning, only to find that my luggage had been left at Heathrow...Not a great start to the trip! I met the other girls at Lima airport and for the final leg of the flight i got upgraded to Business class which was nice! they must have been making it up to me for leaving my luggage behind! The view flying over Peru was amazing and Cusco is much bigger than i imagined, and so spread out.
We got picked up from the airport at about 11.30 and taken to our hotel by Jess, who is the coordinator for the company out here. We went for lunch in "Jack´s cafe" which is run by an australian couple, and afterwards walked out in to a massive parade! It was amazing, a big band playing music, which i can still hear now and lots of adults and children dressed in amazing costumes, colourful dresses that twirl out when they spin. And for some reason lots of the boys are dressed as gorilla like things with scary faces.
There are these scary white knitted masks called "ukuku" which people are wearing and selling on the street.
I´ve been offered soo many massages and pedicures on the street that its already getting annoying!!
When we first arrived it was raining, then during the parade and still now is bright sunshine!
We are just going to relax for the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow we are booked on to a tour of the city in the morning. Then we are going to find out about starting spanish classes etc. and talk about what different projects are available to work on.
Jess showed us the bars where there are free salsa classes every night! We´re excited about that!
Hopefully my luggage will be delivered to the hostel tomorrow, i can´t wait for a change of clothes!
We got picked up from the airport at about 11.30 and taken to our hotel by Jess, who is the coordinator for the company out here. We went for lunch in "Jack´s cafe" which is run by an australian couple, and afterwards walked out in to a massive parade! It was amazing, a big band playing music, which i can still hear now and lots of adults and children dressed in amazing costumes, colourful dresses that twirl out when they spin. And for some reason lots of the boys are dressed as gorilla like things with scary faces.
There are these scary white knitted masks called "ukuku" which people are wearing and selling on the street.
I´ve been offered soo many massages and pedicures on the street that its already getting annoying!!
When we first arrived it was raining, then during the parade and still now is bright sunshine!
We are just going to relax for the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow we are booked on to a tour of the city in the morning. Then we are going to find out about starting spanish classes etc. and talk about what different projects are available to work on.
Jess showed us the bars where there are free salsa classes every night! We´re excited about that!
Hopefully my luggage will be delivered to the hostel tomorrow, i can´t wait for a change of clothes!
Friday, 2 April 2010
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