Good bye Peru - Hello Alaska & Tenakee

Well, as usual, I left ya hanging!  I had an awesome time in the jungle, returned to Arequipa for a few days, met a friend in Lima and spent the weekend exploring south of there, and got home to Juneau last Wednesday.  Spent the week with my folks - although it seemed to be running around and not actually with them: - and then took the ferry to Tenakee.  I am going to work part time in the Bakery - the local restaurant - and hang out for the summer.  Want to see why?:

 

This is the view from the cabin deck...often with eagles, sea lions and whales passing by. 

 

 

And here is the cute little cabin, and a couple of the fun girls who come into the Bakery.

Will keep you posted on my fun activities over here. 

Manu Jungle Tour

I am heading into the Jungle tomorrow, April 11 (happy birthday, Dad!) – the Manu Reserved Zone - with Pantiacolla tours and am quite excited and nervous. The tour is 9 days and we will travel first by 4 wheel drive for 1 full day and a few hours the next and will then travel by boat on the Alto Madre de Dios River and the Manu River, overnighting in "lodges" – which seem to be pretty basic camps.
What and where is the Manu Reserved Zone?
From http://www.pantiacolla.com/:

About Manu, Amazon rainforest Peru ... a perspective

Manu National Park, in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, was established in 1977 and in recognition of its uniqueness it was included in UNESCO´s "World Heritage Site" list ten years later. Manu is internationally acclaimed as one of the most bio diverse areas on Earth. Access to Manu is by road or air from Cusco, Peru.

Approximately half the area of Switzerland, the Manu Biosphere is a complete ecosystem with protected watershed embracing Andean montane cloud forest, tropical lowland forest and the Alto Madre de Dios and Manu river drainage systems. The biosphere itself is subdivided into national park and two adjacent zones, one for tourism and the other for cultural subsistence. It is home to over 1000 species of birds, 15,000 species of plants, over 200 species of mammals, and untold numbers of insects, and within its heart remain yet uncontacted peoples.

Manu retains healthy populations of jaguar, tapir, anteater, black caiman, giant otter, and among the 13 species of monkey we find the unique pigmy marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world, and the nocturnal night monkey. Because of Manu's low human population and their continued use of traditional hunting techniques, the animals in the park show little fear of man and are more readily approachable than in many other rainforest locations. Manu, therefore, offers unparalleled animal watching opportunities.

Wildlife aside, however, the journey into the park itself is amazingly spectacular and not to be missed. Access to Manu is normally by road from Cusco, Peru. The two day trip from Cusco to the entrance of the Manu Reserved Zone carries you over the Peruvian Andes mountains to an elevation of 4000 m, past pre-inca ruins and down through the cloud forest on the eastern side of the Andes, and finally into lush, lowland rainforest. Roads remain largely unpaved and wind their way precariously past cascading waterfalls, deep gorges, and precipices. Manu is truly a complete experience.

Here is a good page to read about some of the animals I hope to see: http://www.pbs.org/edens/manu/mammals.htm
And the birds: http://www.pbs.org/edens/manu/birds.htm
And the reptiles: http://www.pbs.org/edens/manu/reptiles.htm
Whichever of these animals I see, I hope that I am close enough for pictures, and far enough away for safety!
There is a lot more information about the Manu area on line, including on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%C3%BA_National_Park
 and more is easily found with a Google search if you are interested.
Here is my itinerary:
DAY 1: Cusco-Cloud Forest
Leaving Cusco early in the morning, we begin an 8-hour journey over the Andes by bus, stopping for a coffee at the beautiful colonial village of Paucartambo. Continuing, we climb to the highpoint of the Manu Biosphere at about 3,530 m before descending to the cloud forest. In these mysterious surroundings we take a hike to the lek of the incredible cock-of-the-rock, to see the 'performance' of the males right under our eyes. We spend our first night in the rustic lodge Posada San Pedro (appr. 1,600 m).
DAY 2: Cloud Forest-Atalaya-Manu River
At daybreak we continue by bus to tropical lowland rainforest. Here at the small village Atalaya at 650 m, we change into a motorized canoe to navigate some 5 hours down the turbulent Alto Madre de Dios River to Boca Manu. As night falls we stay in a basic lodge, or camp next to that lodge, depending on availability.
DAY 3 & 4: Lake Salvador and Lake Otorongo
On the morning of the third day we turn up the Manu River for a 6 hour ride into the heart of Manu's Reserved Zone. From this vantage point we will have great views of riverside birds, sunbathing caiman, and the enormous aquatic guinea pig, the capybara. We reach our camping huts deep inside Manu in the afternoon. This will be our base for the next two days. During this time, we will hike through virgin forest and explore one of the most beautiful lakes of the Manu basin, Lake Salvador, by catamaran. There is a chance to see a huge variety of colourful birds, numerous species of monkey and with luck, a family of giant otters. There is another hike in this habitat-rich forest, that will end in Lake Otorongo and a 20 metre-high observation platform overlooking the lake. At night we can explore the forest by torchlight or go moonlight caiman-spotting on the lake.
DAY 5: Lake Salvador - Macaw Lick
After a final walk through the forest surrounding Lake Salvador (flight schedule of 5-day travelers permitting), we return back down the Manu River. Joining the Madre de Dios River we arrive at Blanquillo, near the claylick for macaws, where we spend the night in the jungle lodge Tambo Blanquillo.
DAY 6: Macaw Lick
At first light we head to the macaw lick to watch the dazzling spectacle of hundreds of parakeets, parrots and macaws eating clay. In the afternoon we visit another beautiful oxbow lake, Cocha Blanco. Going back up the river we stay in a basic lodge, or camp next to that basic lodge, depending on availability.
DAY 7: Boca Manu - Pantiacolla Lodge
We carry on up the Alto Madre de Dios River for about 5 hours. Here we get great views of the Andes. For the next two nights we stay at the Pantiacolla lodge, right at the foot of the Pantiacolla Mountains.
DAY 8: Pantiacolla Mountains
This day we hike through a very special rainforest: this is where the Andes and the lowland tropical rainforest meet, providing the visitor with a chance to see a good selection of birds, insects and flora from both zones as well as many endemics.
DAY 9: Atalaya-Cloud forest- Cusco
Back on the boat early in the morning, we head upstream to Atalaya where our bus is waiting to take us back over the Andes to Cusco.


And here are some questions I asked and the answers provided:

Is this the first trip of the year?
This isn´t the first trip of the year, but it is our first trip into the Reserved Zone this year. We offer tours from January till December. Our tours in the low season (Cultural Zone) are from January till the mid of April and our tours in the high season are from mid April till December (Cultural and Reserved Zone).

How has the wet season effected the locations we will visit, ie, will there be adjustments do to continued high water on the river, or flooded areas? Will we be the first group of the year at some of these lodges?
The wet season has effected a part of the Manu road, but this has been repaired last week. Our lodges are all undamaged. There has been and still is high water, however, not unusual for the time of the year. Some of our lodges have been in use during the rainy season as well, the others have been prepared for this first group into the Reserved Zone. So, overall, there is no need to make special changes or adjustments to our tours.

Who is the guide for this tour? And what is their experience with this tour --- have they lead this tour in the past?
The tour of April 11 will be guided by Darwin Moscoso, he is 43 years old. He himself was born in Manu, so he knows a lot about flora and fauna in Manu. He is the brother of the owner of Pantiacolla, one of 6 brothers all born in Manu, and the only one who has succeeded in learning good English, to pass the information to our visitors. He is also an expert in expeditions to find the last lost city of the Inkas, El Paititi. He has been leading this tour for the last 20 years.

How many persons are currently booked on the tour?
We currently have two inscriptions for this tour, a father and a daughter from Holland, respectively 53 and 22 years old.

What type of bus is used for the driving portions?
We own a 4-wheel drive mini van for a maximum of 4 passengers and a bus for a maximum of 18 passengers. Both vehicles have been adapted for the unpaved Manu road. For the April 11th departure we will be using the mini van, unless there will be more than 4 inscriptions.

At this time of year, have your tours had success in seeing other animals in addition to the birds?
Manu is an excellent place for monkey observations, at any time of the year. You will also see capybaras, caymans and turtles and other rarer animals, however it is hard to tell which ones. It´s also a very good time of the year to see jaguars. You never know what you will see!

 
So that's that.  All you wanted to know and more! I will be back in touch once I return to Arequipa around the 20th of April. 

Cusco to Ollantaytambo

Got a late start out of the hostal this morning, but it turned out fine as I took a mini-bus instead of a big bus to Ollantaytambo. I reconfirmed with the hostal the location of the bus terminal and the lady told me to go around the corner and there would be taxis that wait for 2-3 people and they split the cost -- and would still be cheap.  Well, as I walked down the street there was a mini-bus sitting there half full and they said the cost was 10 soles - about $3.50...more expensive than the bus, but faster and more comfortable.  It cracks me up here; the people on the mini-bus were getting impatient when there were just a few seats left, and they started yelling "vamos".  This happened on the bus to Puno a few weeks ago, too.  And then, on this bus, when the driver swerved, someone yelled, "loco" from the back!  He was driving pretty fast....

I got to Ollantaytambo a little after one and had a great afternoon exploring the ruins and taking pictures.  It's just so huge and amazing.  The same as Pisac: it's not just the ruins themselves, but where they are built and the views surrounding them. I stayed in a nice hostal, one of maybe two rooms occupied and had fantastic views out my two windows:

The first picture is of the terraces and are the primary ruins, and the second picture is of a "colca" - a food storage building.  I didn't have time, (and my knees probably couldn't have taken it), to hike up to the colcas.

For dinner I headed to a recommended cafe, Heart's Cafe, from which the proceeds support a number of local social, charity efforts.  When I arrived, I was seated with two gals from France as there were no open tables.  They had been traveling for some time and were headed to Machu Picchu also, but not via train, rather a bus and a 5 hour hike.  When they left, another 4 gals came in and were seated with me.  One of them had come to SA on some kind of a project she was doing related to community work she was doing in Nepal, and has ended up here for 8 months. The other 3 gals were volunteering and helping her with her project.  Didn't really get the whole thing, but two of them had helped plant alfalfa that day and 2 of them had helped harvest corn.  My quick dinner and early to bed (to the sound of a creek right outside the window), turned into a two-plus hour meal and interesting conversation before a much later than planned bedtime!

Here's a link to my online album; unedited of course:  http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510/Ollantaytambo#

Tuesday in Cusco

I had a pretty laid-back day exploring Cusco yesterday.  I visited two art museums; the first didn't do anything for me, but the second was outstanding. It was the Museum of Popular Art and it had a wonderful collection of dioramas and figures made from various materials, including wood, plaster of paris, corn husks, old silver ware, pounded tin, terra cotta, ceramics, copper, bread dough and burlap. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed.  Apparently, there is an annual competition and many of the items displayed are the winners from these annual contests. The figures ranged in size from about an inch tall to over a foot tall and were of everything from religious scenes of the nativity, adorations, the last supper, etc., to local people and events including compositos (people from the countryside/mountains), workshops, musicians, vendors, etc.  One diorama was made froma  dresser drawer turned on it's end (the inside end), with a religious scene made out of plaster of paris in it.  The front of the drawer was only connected at the back, and was lifted upright, with a heaven scene painted and sculpted on the inside of it, above the rest of the drawer.  (Can you follow that?)  Anyway, obviously, I really enjoyed it.

Another museum I stopped at was the Inca museum in the old Admiral's Mansion.  I ended up  not going into the exhibits, as it was additional money beyond the expensive "all-in-one-card" that I bought, and I spoke to a woman who just came out who said it was ok, but not labeled very well, so a bit difficult to follow. But in the courtyard in the center were a number of women weaving and knitting with their handwork for sale. Expensive, but direct to them---but I decided to hold off -- I have bought so much lately.

I made arrangements for my trip back from Machu Picchu to Cusco and then had a fantastic salad at a place in the San Blas district.  (First veggies I've had insome time.) From there I headed up hill even higher to the plaza de San Blas and the church there.  I paid the extra to go into this church, as I had read about the alter and the pulpit.  The pulpit is an exquisitely carved work of art, beyond any of the balconies I have seen here, and the alter back piece is gold leaf from floor to ceiling - beautiful.  What was so different about this church is that it is a simple, small adobe sturcture, very unimposing from the outside.  Inside, besides these two well-known pieces, the other art was in poorer shape, but it gave the whole church a very welcoming, local feeling.  One of the crucifixes was an old piece of wood and had Jesus painted on it. One of the cross pieces of wood looked like it had broken off at some point and was reconnected, but it was on an angle.  There was another crucifix that was hung by a rope and pully system - probably to allow it to be taken down to be used for processions. 

I sat in the plaza for awhile, watching a man and a very young boy kicking around a soccer ball, and a girl with a dog (a Bodie kind) that would run and jump over a low fence. It was just a real peaceful part of town. Also in the plaza I found the workshop/museum of one of the artists who had a number of pieces of work displayed at the museum!  Cool place and I enjoyed walking through it.  Just found photos online of some of his work: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4ACAW_enUS340US340&resnum=0&q=hilario+mendivil&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=ZY28S6-IJYjy9QTNgeXsBw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQsAQwAA

That will give you an idea of all the works on display in the museum as well...

As I headed back downhill to the main plaza, walking through the alley with the famous 12-sided Inca stone used in the wall, I ran into two of the gals from GVI who are on their travel weeks between the Peru and Ecuador project.  I joined them while they had lunch and we compared our stories: they had just come back from Machu Picchu and a 4 day hike that included many obstacles, but not quite as dramatic as the other gals who tried to do it in two days.

We met up for dinner later at a cool restaurant just off the main square where I had Thai Chicken with noodles: oh, sooo good!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, talking about the projects and their anticipation of the Ecuador project. (Sure would like to see my kids there again!)

Easter Sunday - Sacred Valley

Started the day by running from one church to the other to catch the Easter Sunday mass.  Beautiful calla lilies in all the churches, one church had white cloth draped over the whole alter area, and the cathedral outdid all the others with fantastic organ music and a choir. When I left the cathedral, all the different branches of the military were parading around the plaza and hung the flags.  I ran back to the hostal to meet up with the others to go to the Sacred Valley.  As I entered the hostal, a couple was leaving, both dressed in white with flowers and native American type adornments...they were heading into the Sacred Valley to get married! 

Here is info on the Sacred Valley-including a map:  http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/destinations/cusco/sacredvalley.html

We left Cusco going to the east and stopped in Chinchero first for the market and the ruins.  I backed out on the ruins after enjoying a demonstration on the weaving, and ended up doing some shopping at the little market there.  Most of the market was produce for the locals, but around the outside there were a lot of crafts as well. 

From Chinchero we headed to Urabamba for lunch and then on to Pisac for the market and the ruins. I did a little shopping and then headed to the ruins with Janine and her Aunt Pat.  I was so totally blown-away by the beauty of the place.  So high up and dramatic peaks and valleys to look at.  We had the late afternoon sun and it was stunning - unfortuanately, the camera did not capture the colors. 

We had a crazy fast drive back in the dark on the busy winding roads so we could make it to the bus terminal in time for the evening bus back to Arequipa for some of the gals.  Kind of scary, but I also had some confidence in the driver: I was glad we were in a nice minivan and not on a public bus!

For more pics, here is my album: http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510/SacredValleyEaster#

Traveling alone

One of the things I like most about traveling alone is meeting new people.  Although I am not alone right now in Cusco, I did change hostals to the one next door to where everyone else is staying so I could have internet access.  This morning I sat at a large table by myself on the patio, and a Peruvian couple joined me.  We enjoyed each other's company  for about 15 minutes, with Ricardo and Flora speaking in broken English and me speaking in broken Spanish!  They wanted to make sure I was enjoying their country and would see many things. Flora was from Arequipa, but they now live in Lima.  They are on their way today to visit her dad in Ollyatatambo, one of the places I will be visiting today with my friends.  I would not have had this experience if I was sitting at the table with one or two other people I was traveling with.  Great way to start the day.

Colca Canyon weekend

Last weekend I went to the Colca Canyon with a group of other volunteers.  This trip is included in everyone's GVI program, so there were 13 of us total.  But 7 people chose the trek and 6 of us chose the "lazy ladies" weekend.  It was absolutely fantastic - the scenery, the activities, the group and our guide.

Chivay is the jumping off point for everything Colca, and is a small town of 2000, but is bustling with tourists passing through.  Chivay is a 3 hour bus ride from Arequipa, and GVI had a project there last year, but was unable to continue it this school year.  We left Arequipa at 3:30am - yes, a.m. and arrived for a breakfast buffet early, after which we split from the trekking group.  After we checked into our hostal and had a bit of a rest, we were off for an hour walk to Inca ruins close by.  It was a beautiful sunny day with fantastic views and it wasn't long before the guide, Jessica, was joining in our fun of teasing each other and a lot of laughs. 

After our "strenuous" hike and a lunch, we were off to the hot springs located about 3km from town.  It was great to soak here, and the weather clouded over a bit, so it wasn't too hot to stay in the water for a long time.  I had the strangest "relaxing" massage here:  I'm glad I said not to be too hard, cause I can't imagine what it would have been like if she had continued the way she started!  This "massage" included very rapid hands going over my back, followed by slapping!  Yes, slapping!  It was anything but relaxing!

That night for dinner we went to a place that had traditional music and a dance show.  It was great to see the costumes and hear the stories behind the dances.  The women continue to wear their traditional dress on a daily basis, and if not the whole outfit, at least their hats.  There are two different indigenous groups from this region and their hats are quite different, indicating which group they are from.  Their outfits are beautiful skirts with a lot of embroirdery and ribbons, a blouse with an overvest, again highly embroirdered, and sometimes a shawl that is used to keep warm, carry things or carry kids. 

After dinner, we were off to the Irish pub!  That didn't last for more than a single nightcap, as we were exhausted from the early wake-up and activities of the day. 

Day 2 we were up fairly early and I was of course awake earlier than others.  So, I went wandering around town, and took a chance and ate from a street vendor.  My breakfast was alpaca meat with potatoes.  I sat and ate across from her and visited with her and her daughter who was also having breakfast.

After breakfast we headed out for another hike across the river and up on the hillside to some Incan Ruins.  Although most of this was uphill, we took our time and really enjoyed the walk up.  We played around at the ruins for some time, and came back down to a road and continued around in a loop back to the village.  This part of the walk seemed to drag on forever, ending with a 20 minute hike back up from river.  On the way we passed a very fancy resort and then the hotsprings we were to return to after lunch.  The hostal prepared lunch for us, and after a short rest, we were off to the hotsprings.  These hotsprings were right ont he river, and the pools were made from river stones -- nothing like the developed springs we had visited the day before.  This time, Jessica, our guide joined us in the water, and we had a great time singing different sounds in various languages.  Mariko, from Australia and of Japanese heritage, taught us a childrens song with hand movements (ok, so we were able to repeat after her -- I certainly don't remember the words now!), and then we sang "Brother John" in English, French and Spanish, and then sang two more Spanish songs to the same tune!  An Austrian couple joined us for a time, and we heard it in German too!

That night's dinner was at the hostal, and we started with kareoke!  What fun!  And the words to the songs were pretty funny, as even though they were in English, they obviously had not been written by an native English speaker.  We had a fun night of playing "spoons" and drinking wine.  This was a great group to be with and really made the weekend. 

On our last day we then headed up further along the canyon's edge to view the condors.  Some flew overhead and they were awesome looking, but, at their distance, it was hard to see that they were that much larger than eagles.  We met up with the other group who had hike back out of the canyon, and together we headed back to Cusco.

And the link to all the Colca Canyon photos:  http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510/ColcaWeekend#

My neighborhood

Two posts in one day...but I just feel like it!

I took some pics out my bedroom window the other day.  I am on the third floor of the house, facing the street.  My family's bedroom is on the same floor, with a window out the back.  Our house is one house from a corner.  The cross street gets a bit of traffic, which I can hear clearly from my room.  And, although this is a residential neighborhood, there are a couple of businesses on the street level of several of the homes. 

Across the street is a little tiendo, where my "mom" and many of the other neighbors go every morning to get bread.  Most of them go in their pajamas and bathrobes and slippers.  The people with this store also have two german shepards and another dog that live on their rooftop terrace and bark at every person, cat and dog that goes by. 

On the corner is an internet cafe which is open until 10 or so.  Also, on that corner, for some reason it seems to attract partiers and they sit around on the stoops and sidewalk drinking, talking, and laughing until the wee hours of the  morning. 

Someone regularly leaves their house in the middle of the night by taxi -- I often hear a taxi radio going off in the middle of the night.  The house next door is a small hostel, and this weekend, I noticed a sign up for lunch!  So now they are a restaurant too. All of this in a middle-class neighborhood. 

The best part of my window/neighborhood, is being able to see a volcano out my window each morning and colorful sunsets every evening.  Lately, the volcano has had snow on it.  By the afternoon, clouds are usually covering the top of the mountain.

Supposedly first week of school.

Another week gone by...it's going fast!  This past week was supposed to be the first week of school, and it was in some schools, but not in the one that I am working at!  Apparently, the registration period was extended a week, and many families took that to mean that school would be postponed a week as well.  So, we had very few students each day --- one day only five students!  There are 4 teachers at the school - one is also the director.  Two women and two men.  The women were there every day, the director there only one day, and the other man was there three of the four days we were there.  We did activities with the kids and helped clean the classrooms and wash down the furniture, etc.  We ended up only going until noon the first two days and then until 10:30-11 the other two days and did not have school on Friday.  There are 6 of us volunteers assigned to the school, so we are really hoping for a full turnout this coming week.  Apparently, many of the students we had over summer school are choosing to go to a different school nearby that is a better school.  We'll see who and how many show up on Monday!

One day after school last week, we went to a mineral bath swimming pool.  We thought it would be hot - a hot springs - but it wasn't!  I just sat on the edge and put my feet in, which was refreshing and the three guys all went swimming though.  Might return there another time as it is just down from the school and the water is supposed to be good for arthritis among other ailments.

Since there were so few kids, we didn't do school on Friday, but all the volunteers from my school got togethr for a french toast breakfast at the Casa (that we made) and then we went shopping for school supplies.  Spent quite a bit of money, but we feel we are set for basic school supplies and art activities and won't have to run to the market everyday to get basic supplies if we want to do an art project.  It was fun shopping as two of the volunteers hadn't been to this market before and they were just as thrilled by it as I was the first time I saw it.  Guess I should bring my camera next time to show what it is like!

This was my weekend for cooking!  After the breakfast, I made a potato salad for our weekly bbq.  It was interesting, as the volunteers from the US were happy to have it and the volunteers from Australia and England were suprised that a potato salad had eggs, pickles and onions in it!  It took me a long time to find the pickles at the store and then there was only one type; glad it was dill!  Quite a bit different from last year in Hungary where everything was pickled!  Yesterday then, I made a "typical American" dinner for my family.  I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and a salad.  I found worshtershire sauce for the meatloaf, and Wishbone Italian dressing at the store.  Unfortunatley, no ranch or 1000 island dressing which would have been more "typical".  I used the dressing on the beans when I cooked them and on the salad, and it was a big hit.  Think they will easily use the rest of the bottle!

Last weekend my family made a special breakfast for me, so this was my pay back.  The breakfast was pork adobo soup with bread, followed by tea with anise liquor in it.   Apparently since the pork adobo is so rich, it's traditional to have the anise in the tea to help the digestive system!   LOVED the pork adobo. Isabelle's mother got about around 4am to make it!  Here is my host "dad", Cesar, with little Diego who is about 18-19 months old.

Diego is a lot of fun to have around.  One day this week when I got home, he toddled into the bedroom after me and started playing with my exercise mat.  So, I got him down on the floor with me and had him do some leg lifts. The next day when I got home, he started doing exercises as soon as he saw me!  What a hoot!  So, we have been playing around on the mat and trying to do some yoga poses as well. 

Another evening, my family needed diapers, so off we went to a market.  There is a supermarket close by, but we didn't go there, rather to another huge market with individual stalls.  There was everything that you could think of at this market: electronics, shoes and clothing, household items, school supplies and stationary, etc.  Think of a wal-mart, but rows and rows of booths, with a whole aisle of the same type of items.  Again, will have to get there again and take photos.  Cesar said it was the Peruvian answer to the American mall!

I had spanish classes three times this week and am really tryping to improve.  My focus is on conjugating my verbs for the past tense correctly.  It's good to talk with Isabelle, as she really doesn't know much English, and we have to work hard to communicate, which means I really have to focus on using the correct tense.  It was partially due to my not using the right tense that we had the mix-up about what I already had for lunch and what I wanted for dinner a few weeks ago. 

Think that's it for this week!

Rental car day trip

I had a three day weekend this weekend, due to summer school ending and regular school scheduled to start this Monday.  So, I asked all the other volunteers if they wanted to go view the petraglyphs at Toro Muerto, about 2-3 hours from here. (Here's a tour website explaining about them: http://www.peruadventurestours.com/en/arequipa/toro_muerto.html )
 Ben and Megan wanted to go, so we decided to rent a car so we could do it on our own time.  The cost of the rental car was only $45 for the day, much cheaper than renting a taxi for the day.  Ben agreed to drive out of the city, and I agreed to drive the rest of the time.  Ben is from England, so besides the city driving, he had to deal with driving on the right side of the road and sitting on the left side of the car and shifting with his right hand.

We got the car around 9am and headed out of the city.  Ben did quite well with the traffic, knowing where we were, etc.  The car gas tank was on empty, so we filled it up - 80 soles or around $28.  We got about a half hour away when there was a fork in the road, with the sign showing the pan americana highway to the right, so of course we took it....well, it ended at a tunnel construction site!  So, back down to the fork and up the left side...until we came to some kind of a toll-booth that wasn't a toll booth, but a security check point for a mining company, Cerra Verde! - yes, they confirmed we were in the wrong place and needed to have taken the right hand fork. (Here's a link to info about the mine: http://www.mindat.org/loc-55597.html ) So off we went, back there...only to pass a truck which was stopped, so we talked to them.  The highway was closed as they were painting the tunnel!  Mind you, this is the main road from Arequipa to the coast, and there were NO SIGNS saying the highway was closed!  We back-tracked to a little pueblo and asked around.  A police officer explained there was another route and pointed and explained.  We didn't have a good map though, so decided it was best we not try to find this other way.  The landscape in this area was quite dry and deserty and although we saw signs for vicuna, (a smaller wild alpaca), we didn't see any in this area. 

Since it was only around 11am and we had a full tank of gas, we didn't want to return the car and totally give up.  So, we decided to head out of the city in the other direction towards Colca Canyon and the town of Chivay, where Megan had volunteered for a month.  Ben knew the way from where we were, back through the one side of the city and out again. So, away we went.  The landscape was quite different again: very dry and deserty, but as we gained altitude, there were a few more plants.  We were just enjoying the scenery and being in our own car.  This time we did see the vicunas.

We came to a toll booth right before a Y in the road and we stopped and got snacks and walked around.  Again. so nice to be in our own car and not having someone else drive us. I finally took over the driving at this point, and the weather started to deteriorate as well.  First a bit of fog, then rain.  Then the fun began.  I drove over a railroad track, a bit too fast apparently, and there was a huge pothole...AND...I hit it with the left tires....yep, both went flat! 

The rain was pouring and we weren't sure what to do.  We had a spare, but only one.  Should we change the one and take the flat tire back to the toll booth area to see if we could get the tire fixed, or should we call the rental company for help.  Ben had his cell phone, but there was no reception where we were. Our delima was resolved when a police vehicle came by.  Ben and Megan went with the police officers back to the toll booth area to call the rental car company, and I was to stay with the car.  They left at 2:10pm.  By 5:30pm, I knew I couldn't sit there any longer.  I needed to get off the highway before it got dark.  So, I wrote a note, collected Ben's wallet and Megans Ipod and my miscellaneous things, took a deep breath and got out of the car.  Along came a bus, followed by a company double-cabbed truck.  I flagged down the truck, explained in broken spanish that my 2 friends had gone for help 3 hours ago, but had not returned, and I needed to go to the police station at the toll booth area.  The two guys were very nice and offered me a ride all the way back to Arequipa but since I had written the note saying I would be at the police station, I didn't think I had better go. 

At the police station, they knew exactly who I was, and why I was there.  I found out that Ben and Megan had tried to call the rental car company from there, and the police tried also, but they couldn't get through.  So, the police flagged down a car and sent Ben and Megan back into Arequipa to the rental car company.  I called into the Casa de Avila and talked to Alton (GVI Project manager) and found out that Ben had just left the rental car company with the mechanic and two tires coming my way.  By this time it was 6:30ish at night and pitch black and raining.  I left the keys for the car with the police officer and caught a bus back into Arequipa.  I got to the GVI Friday night bbq around 8:30 and was immediately offered a glass of wine and found out they had been worried about me!  I had done fine sitting in the car, reading the history of Peru in my Lonely Planet guide book!   

Around 10pm, Megan and I walked up to the rental car office and found out that they had made it to the car just fine, changed both tires, and then drove about 5 km when the car died!  They were towing the car in and would be back in a few hours.  Ben ended up getting back to the casa around 1:30 in the morning!  I went to the car rental company the next morning, and got off what I considered pretty easy.  For the rental, two tires, the towing and all their hours, I paid a total of $215 for the day!  They even deducted the 1/2 tank of gas that we left in the car!

We were just so lucky in many ways.  Ben didn't mean to leave his wallet in the car, and they both realized after the left that they had no money on them. I just happened to see it in the pocket in the driver's side door.  I was dressed for the desert we had been going to, but luckily I had brought my clothes with me for the evening: long pants, socks, a fleece pullover and my raincoat!  I had spent almost all of my cash on the gas and the snacks and then on coffee and a phone card at the police station.  And when I got on the bus, I didn't ask how much it would be.  I worried I was going to have to make a run for it when I got off the bus, but it turned out to cost 4.50 soles and I had 6 soles on me. 

To see all the photos of our trip, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510/DayTrip#

This and that

I woke up early the other morning, like I always do when I don't have to, and stood looking out my bedroom window for awhile.  The window slides open, so I can hang out my second story window and watch the world go by.  This morning there was a guy walking along this residential sidewalk and it looked like he was rolling a cigarette.  Then I realized he wasn't rolling a cigarette, but snorting cocoaine!  Just walking along, snorting....!

The other night I asked Cesar what the whistle is that I am always hearing in the evening.  Appraently the neighborhood pays for private security and the watchman blows the whistle to let the people know he is on patrol!

It seems that female constuction workers are pretty common here.  At least on the drive up to the school and at the school.  There is a crew of women working hauling rocks from one part of the school yard to another to build a wall behind it.  They use a piece of cloth loaded with rocks and two women grab the ends and carry it between them!  Apparently they are municipal workers and there are a lot of them!  At the school grounds there are at least 20 women working. 

For a couple of miles before the school, the construction is on retaining walls, sidewalks, and the park-like meridian.  Most of the workers are women, but I noticed that most of the workers putting in  the cement forms and pouring the cement are men.  The women do the picking and shovelng of dirt, laying the cobblestone sidewalks, etc.  It's such a disportionate number of women to men, that it made me wonder where all the men are.  I asked Patrick, the intern who has been here twice before, and he said he has noticed this before but isn't sure what is going on; whether the men have adandoned their families, or are working away, or what.  He did say he saw a sign on a bus that said, "Remember, you have a family at home"!

I saw a sign posted on a number of walls, advertising for a "senorita" to work in a shop.  Wonder what they would do if a "senor" applied.

Out my bedroom window, I can see Mt Chachani  (6075 meters, about 3650 meters (or over 11,000 feet  -  higher than the city), which I look to each morning to check out the weather.  Yesterday morning, after we had a cloudy  afternoon the day before, there was fresh snow on the top.  I can't get a good picture from my window due to power lines, and by the time we head to school, there are usually clouds sitting atop it.  Volcano Misti is to the right of Mt. Chachani, and is a perfectly conical shaped volcano of 5822 meters.  We head to the right of Misti to get to our school.

When guys get together and drink beer, they don't all have their own beer, rather there is one beer and one small glass.  The beer bottle gets passed, the person pours out what they want in the glass, passes on the bottle to the next person who holds the bottle until the first person finishes with the glass, and on and on.

Last weekend after being attacked with water balloons for carnival, my cold seemed to come back.  I spent my time taking it pretty easy.  Now, this weekend, I've got the runs and was unable to go to the beach with my host family!  I'm going to take it really easy, and end all of this sickness!  Next weekend will be a three day weekend, and I plan on doing something, just don't know what yet.

Spanish language frustrations

I feel like I have come a long way with my Spanish, and it's improving every day.  I speak with my host family in spanish, and Cesar will clarify in English if necessary.  I like my spanish teacher here, and we also spend a lot of time just talking, and especially me listening, as I can know a word when it is written, but not always recognize it when someone else says it.  But, I am still having major misunderstandings.

Last night Isabelle asked me about my lunch - she used both the english and spanish words for lunch.  I told her that I had had 2 ham & cheese sandwiches - they are on very small rolls - and grapes and then when I returned to the GVI casa, I had a small salad with lettuce and tomato.  Well, when she called me down to dinner - cena - there was a salad of lettuce and tomato, ham and cheese on the table, and bread!  I was quite surprised and realized that Isabelle thought I was asking for those things for dinner!  Dinner is usually either a bit of left over lunch, which is the largest meal of the day, or just bread and tea.  Cesar was not there, but the neighbor girl was.  It took a bit, but I explained that I had had that for lunch, and was not asking for it for dinner! I felt terrible, because she had had Cesar stop at the store on the way home to get the lettuce and tomato!

I have a cold AGAIN, playing "carnival" with water balloons.  On Saturday, I stopped at a pharmacy and asked if they had a decongestant.  I didn't know the spanish word, but used the english word and pointed to my sinuses.  I bought the pills, asked a 2nd time about how many to take and when, and I thought her answer was a bit strange that I should take them before each meal.  But, off I went, took one and went to bed, and woke hours later still totally congested.  Isabelle came to check on me, and I told her I had bought and taken a decongestant.  She asked to see them, and then started laughing...they were for diarhea!  The medicine name for both of these ailments is quite similar!  They  got me some decongestant and I was doing better (but this morning, I am totally congested again and need more meds I think to clear it up).

The other day I was telling Isabelle that I like to have time to write as I am writing a blog.  A few nights later Cesar commented that Isabelle told him that I was writting a book and he was quite impressed!  Unfortunately, I had to tell him it was a blog and not a book. 

In spanish class yesterday, I found out that words that I have been using to tell the kids what to do - that I was taught by someone (probably not a spanish teacher) - are wrong.  I need to conjugate them first before adding the suffixes.  Argh... now I have to relearn them! 

Someday.......

I have the BEST host family!

I love my host family!  After Ecuador, I deserve this!   Yesterday when I came home in the afternoon to change, I opened my bedroom door and found my bedroom decorated and "Feliz Cumpleanos" written on the wall!!!  I had not told my family it was my birthday on Monday, because it was my first day here in their house.  But yesterday morning I had left the birthday card Janine left me sitting out on my nightstand and the cleaning woman saw it when she came into the room to clean!  Not only was my room decorated, but Cesar and Isabelle came in with a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday!

Last night we went to Isabelle's Aunt and Uncle's home for a family get together for their new home to be blessed and to celebrate their new home. It was awesome to be included and to meet the relatives who were so welcoming.  They danced in the living room and a family friend stood up and sang a couple of songs as well!  The kids were upstairs most of the time, which just goes to show that people are the same everywhere!

Very few of the people spoke Enlgish, although two of her cousins spoke a little.  I made it through the evening not too bad. I understood most of what was going on, but only about 50% of the words.  It's interesting to hear all the different accents and how rapidly some people speak!

On Tuesday when I got home, there were two of Isabelle's neices here.  The whole family is here from Lima (for the house blessing).  The older one, Claudia, about 11 or 12, helped me to prepare for school by listening to me read a book and helping me to understand it and pronounce the words correctly.  The other neice is 5 or 6 , named Nicole, and she reminded me of Nicki because of her long, curly hair!  Both of them were "delightful". (I know I sound like an old lady when I use that word, but it is the perfect way to describe them.

The other really good thing about this family is the food!  The woman who comes to clean, also does the cooking!  And, it's good!  The other night we had little peppers stuffed with chopped meat and veggies, a mushroom soup, and dessert - it contained rice of course since there was no rice in the main course. But it was good - rice with milk and a plum sauce. Another night we had scalloped potatoes, and another night something like a beef stir-fry.  So different than the lousy food I got in Ecuador.

Must run to school, but I wanted to make sure I wrote about yesterday before it blurs with the other days of the week!

Awesome weekend and first day of school

The last couple of days have been awesome. On Saturday I explored the food market and miscellaneous markets –love the enterprising folks selling little of this and a little of that out of tiny spaces. Even found an olive guy in a small hallway! Found a couple of movies and watched “Gran Torino” with Clint Eastwood. It’s been awhile since I’ve just sat back and watched a movie! As we were walking down the street, a parade went by!  It is the start of carnival celebrations even though Ash Wednesday is more than a week away.  The dancers looked like they were dying from the heat and dancing for so long, but they looked good.  We saw the parade two times - the second time all the men had beers in their hands and the women had bottles of water! 

On Saturday night I went with 6 other volunteers to dinner at a really nice restaurant called Zig Zag. There specialty is Peruvian meats and Andean foods. Janine and I started with their Pisco Sour sampler. Pisco Sours are made from pisco grape brandy among other things.

The three that I got were fruits, blueberry and coca and they were served on a tray with the sprinkles of dried fruits, blueberries and coca leaves. For dinner I had the 3 meats served sizzling on a hot stone. Not sure if I want to tell you what two of the meats were, but one was beef. Ok, the other two were alpaca and ostrich and I liked the ostrich better of the two! We had bibs put on us since the meat was still sizzling on the hot stone and after you could see the grease splatters, so I was real happy they put those on us. Since this was not only my birthday dinner, but also another volunteer’s, we splurged on dessert. We both had a dessert with vanilla ice cream, fresh raspberry sauce – flambéed with gran marnier – delicious of course, and everyone else tried other things!

Sunday then was my first day officially back with GVI. In the morning we had an orientation to the project here in Peru. It ended up taking 3 hours! I quit asking questions early on when I realized how long it was going to take to get through all the material! There were three of us for the orientation: myself, Janine, and another gal who will be here 3 or 4 weeks, and was here last summer as well. After the orientation we went out to lunch with the interns and other intern trainees. We then headed back to the market for supplies for the lunch at my school.

After a bit of lesson planning, our host families picked us up at 5pm. I was pretty nervous about this; all I was told was that it was maybe a 5 minute walk from my homestay to Casa de Avilla – the GVI headquarters. My family is Cesar and Isabelle and their almost two year old, Diego (or Diegito for a nickname). Cesar speaks English and Isabelle is learning. Cesar is a closer in age to me, while Isabelle I would guess to be in her late 20’s or early 30’s. He is an “economist” (I think this means accountant or comptroller) for a health clinic and Isabelle is a full-time mom. My room is plenty large and I am supposed to have wi-fi right here! Oh, I hope so! It is such a great deal to have it right in my room and be able to do lesson planning or lesson exploring and skype at whatever time I would like! Diegito seems to be a pretty tranquil little boy, so I am not too worried about him screaming and carrying on! There is something about limited hours of hot water, but I didn’t fully understand it, so will try to figure that out tonight.

Ok, so, about my school. First, it is about a 20 minute ride from Casa de Avilla. It is summer here, so we are putting on a summer school. Last week was the first week GVI was at the school, so the program is brand new and is being adjusted. Regular school will start at the beginning of March. There is no kitchen there, so we bring up fruit for a morning snack and then give out jam sandwiches at the end of the day. The name of the place is Chiguata and is on the mountain side, to the east I think, of Arequipa. The land here is definitely desert. It’s all just plain grey. The buildings are made of cement blocks, the rocks have been gathered and built into walls and it’s all the same color. The only thing with color is the school which is painted the regulation blue!

I worked with the “initials” – kindergartens, first, second and third grades with two other volunteers. Between these four levels we had close to 30 students! It’s quite a spread in age and ability, so we are working on splitting them out, but we are still not sure how to split them. They have a pretty good routine going: the volunteers start the day by reading aloud - each one reading one book. Then free reading time for the kids – or picture-looking as the case may be. On to one more activity before fruit break and then an hour and a half for the 2nd half of the day. We finish by about 12:45 and clean up and then the van comes to pick us up. We are going to change it up just a little this week, with an art activity following the story time – and hopefully the art activity will be related to one of the books! This is really nice to have other people to work with – definitely different than Ecuador. Also, the kids here are more advanced – their ability is more closely aligned to their grade level. I fell in love today with “Freddie”. He is one of the youngest kids, probably 3, cute as a button, and very independent.

Following school today, a number of us went to celebrate at a cake shop. I can’t believe how many there are here! It was the first day of school for 4 of us, so we had a lot of notes to compare. I'm looking forward to the  new challenge here and seeing the differences between the schools and the kids.

Oh, and a huge THANK YOU to all for the wonderful birthday wishes.

Juanita the Ice Maiden

The last few days in Arequipa have been great. The temperature has dropped a little (it was in the 80’s, not the 70’s like I thought, earlier in the week), and I have moved hotels to the one used by GVI.

On Wednesday I took a two and a half hour bus tour around Arequipa on a double decker, open top bus. I got a better idea of the layout of the city beyond the historical center that I had been focused on. The city is divided by the Rio Chile, flowing towards the Pacific Ocean. There is old pre-Incan terracing at places along the river which is still actively used. I got a couple of good pictures of the river, the terracing and Misti Volcano in the background. The tour guide was a young woman who did the whole tour in both Spanish and English. At one of the stops she came up to me and said she had been looking for me and had a tray with a few things on it. She explained each of the items: two different fruits that are popular here, the coca tea and a couple of other things. I thought it was really nice of her to find me to explain it all in English!

On Thursday I moved over to the Casa de Avila which is the headquarters for GVI here in Arequipa. This means that the Program Coordinator, Alton Germain (cousin?), and the interns and intern trainees all live here, the rest of the volunteers meet here for their pick-up to schools, and there is a classroom and a prep room for lesson planning. This is also a Spanish school, so all the Spanish classes are held out on the beautiful lawn. The owner of the hotel is a partner in the project and handles the Spanish classes (obviously), arranges the home stays, the transportation to the schools, and the weekend tour activities. Check out the photos on their website of the beautiful garden: http://www.casadeavila.com/ There are about 20 volunteers here right now! Again, most are from Europe, but there are still quite a few from the US. And again, I am the oldest, and there are also quite a few people under 20! There are about 7 more volunteers coming this week! – so many more than in Ecuador.

Right now is summer in Peru, so the schools are on vacation and GVI is providing summer school at three schools. I have been assigned to a school which is new to GVI this week. There are just over 50 kids and when I start there, there will be 6 of us working there! The community is of about 10,000 people and is about a half hour away on the eastern flanks of Mt. Misti. I will go up to the school for the first time on Monday.

There seems to be a real differentiation here between the volunteers, the intern trainees, and the interns. I am in the intern trainee program, and in Ecuador we were just considered the same as any of the other volunteers. So, I will begin with some of the training, and will have additional duties besides the work in the classroom, such as helping to mentor the new volunteers in lesson planning and coordination of activities at the school. I’m looking forward to learning more about the operations of a program that runs on volunteer service and how it is managed.

Yesterday Janine and I played tourist. We started by going to a museum that contains artifact and objects that were part of Inca human sacrifice offerings high up in the mountains. In the late 1990’s a number of bodies were discovered, including one that is named Juanita, the “frozen ice maiden”. Some of you may remember a cover photo and big article on this finding in the National Geographic, Time Magazine and others. (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983667,00.html ) The bodies are just over 500 years old and there were 4 girls and 1 boy that were found. The museum display was very tastefully done: it started with a (rather dramatic) movie of the discoveries filmed by National G, and then a guided tour through the displays of the artifacts. The final display was of one of the frozen bodies – not Juanita, but another one that was found at the same time. They rotate the display so that DNA and other testing can be done on the bodies. After the museum we figured we need to talk about it, so we found a coffee shop and sat for awhile. I have to kind of wonder why “we” think we have the right to be grave robbers…..

After our deep thoughts, we headed off to wander around a bit as Janine hadn’t seen any of Arequipa yet. We found a poster for a weekend of Yoga classes and decided we would sign up for the beginner’s classes which are two hours each next Saturday and Sunday! We also headed to the market and found the clothing market, and then the fruit and veg and other things market. This was a big indoor market, which reminded me of the ones in Budapest. Apparently there are at least two more of these markets here, of which one is bigger than the one we went to. We got lots of veggies and made a huge salad for the weekly GVI Friday night BBQ.

So last night was fun, with a number of people in the communal kitchen getting their potluck dishes made and prepping for the bbq. Alton grills chicken each week and then who knows what else will be there. We had a huge spread and actually quite a bit of leftover food. Janine and I will be eating salad for a few more meals! There is another gal here, Meghan, whose birthday is the same day as mine, so we had a birthday cake as well. She also had her ipod with speakers on, so we had nice music. It was interesting that quite a bit of the music was older of my generation or before!

Tomorrow many of the volunteers are heading to Puno on Lake Titicaca, but most of the interns and trainees are staying here. We plan a day of shopping for pirate movies and books – apparently you can buy paperback books that have been copied! The movies run about 3 soles - $1 and the books are also quite cheap. In the bookstores, a paperback in English will run over $10! We are also planning a nice dinner at Zig Zag, an upscale restaurant that serves Alpaca meat, amongst many other things of course. I plan on trying the national drink, a Pisco Sour!

On Sunday, I will officially start on the project, with an orientation and then moving to my homestay around 5pm. All I know at this point about my homestay is that it is about a 5 minute walk from Casa de Avila, which will be very convenient.

First days in Arequipa

I have a week before needing to report to the GVI project in Peru, and at first I thought I would go to Machu Pichu during the week. But then when I started having difficulties making airline reservations, and when I continued to feel crappy from the cold/sinus infection, I decided I would just go straight to Arequipa, find a hotel with some nice amenities, and just take it easy. I didn’t hear back from my first hotel selection, but I found another with a rooftop terrace, breakfast included, and willing to let me use the kitchen for a few things, and wireless in my room, all for $30. (This is not a cheap hotel/hostal here, but I decided it was worth it to have my own room, bathroom and wireless.)  There's an unexpected benefit: there is a music school nearby and every evening I've heard beautiful choral music!  The church bells of the city also ring every morning and at noon and can be heard all over.

I spent my first two days basically in my room. I slept; drank a lot of water; took antibiotics and vitamins; caught up on skype phone calls; worked on my blog and photos; and read books. I made it out for a walk each day, and saw some of the city. From the hotel terrace, I can see three volcanoes close by when they don’t have a cloud cover. Although this is the rainy season, and other parts of Peru are suffering from rain and flood damage, there has been no rain here since I arrived. The weather has been sunny and in the low 70’s according to the internet, but I think it must be hotter. Arequipa is at a lower elevation by a few hundred feet than Otavalo, and thankfully, I am not going up and down in elevation each day while I try to beat this crude. I am feeling much better, although I still have some congestion.

On Sunday I went to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, and it was like a party! It was crowded with people, sitting and standing in little groups talking. There is a lot of greenery and gardens in the plaza and the buildings surrounding it have long arched covered walkways. I then had lunch at a place behind the cathedral and had a traditional dish: stuffed pepper with potatoes with a creamy cheese sauce.  I only ate the peper because I had a wonderful salad first.

Yesterday I got out and played tourist. I went to the Plaza de Armas again and visited two churches nearby. The main cathedral has had extensive damage in a number of earthquakes, but it is fully restored. After viewing the churches, I went off to a travel book-recommended restaurant for lunch. They have set menus here, which are usually a 3 course meal for a very low price. They had three different ones listed and I didn’t have a menu translator with me, but I saw a couple of local business men with huge bowls of soup, so I told the waitress that I wanted the same one that they were having. After about the second or third spoonful of the lightly spiced soup, I became suspicious of the contents and started eating mainly just the broth, and the few things I could identify: potato, cabbage, carrot. When I got the broth down low, I started inspecting the contents a bit closer and started seeing some white tubular shaped things. Remember the soup I didn’t want to try in Huayrapungo because it had chicken innards? Well, this one was similar: it had beef tripe! I ate the rest of the soup broth and left the bits and pieces. The second course was a squash and potato chunky sauce over rice which was quite good until I discovered a hair in it! The final course was a small dish of tropical fruit and it was quite good and had no surprises for me. The meal cost 8 Peruvian Soles – or around $3 US. I actually left quite full and am willing to try the restaurant again, despite the hair.

After lunch I went to the St Catalina convent which was established in the 1600’s and still has cloistered nuns living in a section of it. This convent takes up a whole city block and is a city within a city. For most of the time, the nuns lived in their own, very simple and basic houses within the convent, and then later, lived dormitory style with shared cooking facilities. As with the main cathedral, the convent has been damaged by numerous earthquakes, and most of it has been restored using the original paint colors and designs. The salvaged furniture and art are nicely displayed throughout. I had a guide take me through which I found out a long time ago that having a guide can really provide so much more information than what you can get from travel books and brochures.

I wandered around some more and then went to a café operated by an organization that helps needy children. All the profits go toward the education and programs of the organization, and apparently some of the older kids help out in the café and hostel that they operate as well.

The historical center of Arequipa is really quite beautiful and the architecture is Spanish colonial. I’m back in a land of beautiful wood doors and love it!

Today I spent countless hours organizing and uploading photos before I ventured out. I took a nice walk again, looked for mani pasta (peanut butter) at a grocery store, had a fantastic salad and part of a small pizza for lunch (the rest will be for dinner), and got my hair cut! I had it cut really, really short before I left Juneau, so this is the first cut I’ve had since I’ve been gone! He basically just trimmed it and cleaned it up…hope it will work for me tomorrow!

Last week in Otavalo

The first two days of the week, I worked with Bronwen in the classroom, turning over the students to her capable hands. Bronwen is quite artistic and I am sure she will have fun with the kids and they will definitely learn from her. I realized how comfortable I had gotten with the kids and the operations of the school, and how I wasn't fazed my much anymore when something didn't go as planned either in the classroom or with the food for breakfast and lunch or with the keys!  Making puppets was one of our last projects together -- I brought a kit with me, and they kids had fun with them.

On Tuesday when we entered the classroom building and started setting up, Bronwen looked at one of the work tables and asked what on earth was on the table! I walked over to it, and saw that it looked like bird doo, so I looked up to see if there was a whole in the roof, or a bird in the rafters. There wasn't, and then I saw that there were little piles around on the floor and on top of a book on another table! It was chicken shit! The bird must have gotten in through the hole in the back wall! Had a good laugh about and tried to get some of the older kids to clean up for us, to no avail!

Wednesday and Thursday were my days to help build a stove. Well, as with many things here, it didn't go quite as planned, but we did get off to a good start and I got to do a little bit! All of the materials for two stoves had been delivered to the two locations where the community wanted the first two stoves to be built. The first problem was that they wanted to build one outside of one of the school buildings, where they hoped someday to extend the building! After a bit of discussion, Tracey was able to convince the community leader that the intent was for them to be built in an existing house, and not outside somewhere where it might take years before they got a building built around it. So, off we went to the second site where work began. All of the materials: bricks, cement blocks, the sand, cement and gravel, along with the cook top and pipe for the chimney had to be carried up from the road to the house. Again there was discussion about exactly where to build and the position of the stove. The location was determined and work began: things had to be moved out of the way, the earth had to be leveled off, and a cement block wall had to be relocated. Once these guys determined everything was right, I got to spread some of the cement between the bricks --- my contribution to the building!

I think I might have mentioned that the food at the homestay was pretty basic and for lunch I usually had a roll with something inside of it, and two pieces of fruit. The roll most often was dry and might have had caramel or jam or guacamole in it, or be plain. I usually carried a bag of peanuts with me to supplement the lunch or add to the jam sandwich. On a really good day it might be tuna or sandwich ham. Well, later in the week when returning to Otavalo, Bronwen said she was starving --- her roll was so dry and plain that she hadn't been able to eat it, so had feed it to the chickens! I had a good laugh about that too. I hope she is either able to suggest other food to the homestay mom, or come to terms with the food!

For our usual Wednesday GVI get together, we went to a nice fish restuarant for our goodbye dinner.  Janine, Jordy and I were all leaving.  Janine is on the same program as I, so I will work with her again in Peru. On Thursday, immediately after school, I finished packing and was driven into Quito by my homestay parents. I spent all of Friday traveling from Quito to Arequipa, with a long layover in Lima. Here I am with Janine and Tracey:

I am quite pleased with the work I was able to do with Huayrapungo and will miss the kids. However, the long, long days including an hour ride on a bumpy road every morning and afternoon won't be missed!