Getting Home: The Buenos Aires Debacle, Easy Auckland, and My Melbourne!

I told everyone who would listen that I just wanted to teleport straight home from Cuzco. But after hearing about my amazing year they had no sympathy and said deal with it. So Cuzco to Lima, almost missed my connection in Lima and had to sprint to the gate while the announcements called out that my flight was ready to depart. Boring flight to Buenos Aires as I'd finished my book, have had no music since I was relieved of my iphone in Mexico, didn't have a pen to write with and the movie was a Miley Cirus one with the exact same plotline as Life As a House! Usually having nothing to do but daydream on a plane/ train/ bus is luxury to me but today I was just frustrated and impatient!

Had a fun night in a Milhouse hostel in BA; ate some steak and heard hilarious stories from some Dutch girls: them getting caught by border police with an open bag of flour in their pack, the white powder poofing up in a huge cloud, and trying to explain they were craving dutch pancakes and were going to cook some and that it wasn't drugs!

But the next day was a disaster. My flight was at 2am, and all I had to do all day was go to a specific travel agent who is affiliated with STA and get my plane ticket reissued, as it was a paper ticket and it was stolen back in Mexico. Easy, right? At least her English was good; good enough to tell me my travel agent had emailed me the wrong copy of the ticket, that it was missing the most important reference numbers, that he hadn't authorised the reissue, and that unless she could talk to him in the next 3 hours she couldn't reissue it and I'd have to miss my flight, which would make me miss the connection in Auckland. Seeing as it was 3am in Australia I was in a panic.

Ashamed to say a teary phone call home was made from a phone box, waking up my poor parents and stressing them out that I was going to miss both flights home. I couldn't understand why this wasn't easy: she rang the air company and they confirmed I was supposed to be on the flight that night, I had my passport proving who I was, I had emails from STA telling me to go to this particular travel agent to get the ticket (but that wasn't enough authorisation apparently.) Anyway long story short, 4 hours of begging later I somehow had authorisation from STA in London.. because they were awake.. and dredged the correct reference number details up from an old email.. and got the new ticket. Wanted to hug her but I think she was happy to see me leave. In another mindframe I would have loved BA, but I'm sure I'll be back one day to see it properly.

So off to the airport at about 10pm, never been happier to have a ticket in my hand, flight was delayed til about 3.30am. Asleep as soon as I sat down in the plane, opened eyes briefly for takeoff, woke up with customs forms and things placed all over me. It was Aerolineas Argentinas with ashtrays in the bathrooms and only a few TVs on the roof- in 15 hours they only showed one movie and it was Grown Ups. I hate Adam Sandler!

But then Auckland was like an easy paradise dreamland. Speaking English is so easy. If you don't know something, it's the easiest thing in the world just to ask someone! Driving in the airbus into the city on the left side of the road felt really bizarre though.. it felt wrong! But it felt so much like home; walking around the CBD felt so similar to Melbourne, even the same street names like Queen st, Swanston st, Victoria st. Same shops I hadn't seen for 8 months like Cotton On, Dotti, Just Jeans. Easy.

Had bad jetlag that night, slept from 10pm to 1am and then rolled around in the dorm for the rest of the night, feeling like it was Christmas day and I wasn't allowed to get up yet. So excited to see my family. The Qantas flight home was awesome, wouldn't have minded if it was a lot longer! Had my own TV and got to watch Tomorrow When The War Began (loved it! had been dying to see it cos it wasn't released in Europe) and Eat Pray Love. And then roller coaster emotions began as we descended into Melbourne.

I was thinking all these things like all the flights I've taken this year, all the times I've walked straight through airports as other people were greeted by loved ones, all the unfamiliar landscapes I've flown down into, all the times I've headed into places where no-one was waiting and I didn't know anyone and didn't know where I was going.. out of all that, in this little corner at the bottom of the world, I've got these 3 people down there (in the airport already probably knowing Mum), waiting for ME! Missing me! Related to me! Belonging to me.

It was an amazing feeling that I'll always remember. I guess a massive thing I've learnt this year is appreciation of my family.. I mean I've always known I love them, but I've never understood how much I love them.. how lucky I am to be part of this family who love me. I've never been away for long enough to miss and appreciate them before.

Driving home was surreal. Familiar places. Places I'd look at and they'd have memories attached to them. That hasn't happened for 8 months! The smell of my garden and my room. Cuddling Abi. This strange short purple plastic money notes, and chunky silver coins.

It was so familiar, but really really strange. Made me think of this TS Eliot quote: "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started... and know the place for the first time." I hadn't really expected that to happen, I mean I've lived my whole life here, how can it seem strange to me? But I really am seeing it through new eyes, I wonder how long the strangeness will last before I settle back in and start taking it for granted again.

15 extended family members came over for dinner that night and I was walking on air. I'd seen them the day I left back in May, and here they are the day I get home. Yet again, so thankful to be a part of a big loving, caring family. In the whole world, these are the ones who I'm physically connected to! This really is my spot in the world, where I belong with the people I love and who love me!

I could write pages and pages of reflections now I'm home, on my laptop in bed again, same place I wrote the first post, full circle. But I haven't got my head around it yet. So that will come a bit later.

Cusco: My last week

Maria Magdelena and Yaqueline

Sophie went travelling in Bolivia this week so it was only Jenny and I volunteering at Chinchaysuyo. I'm glad that I've been at the same placement for the whole month because now I know all the girl's names and most of the boys in my class, and a few from Jenny's class, and I know their personalities too. I've picked up so much language that I'm able to talk to them a bit and know how to control their fights and tantrums, who likes singing what songs, who likes playing certain things, etc. It's such an ego boost when I arrive in the morning and see them sprinting across the playground shouting 'Senorita Yessssica!' and then latching onto my arms and legs.
Nadin

It's been all about Navidad (Christmas) this week at Kinder; colouring in pictures of the sagrada familia and the star and the wise men and singing christmas carols. For some reason the whole of Jenny's younger class moved into our classroom this week so it's more chaotic than usual with the littlies in there too, usually just wandering around or staring into space in their own worlds. Our main job most days is pencil sharpening and stopping fights over pencils and admiring interesting colour choices on their pictures. One little boy will colour everything in blue, every day. Analyse that.
Johan and Rosa Luz
Carlos

Had my last Spanish lesson on Tuesday, because Wednesday was a public holiday to celebrate the conception of Jesus. I moved out of my homestay on Wednesday morning after giving Yoni a blackmarket copy of 'Australia' the movie as a thankyou present and moved up into Loki hostel to stay with Flick who was visiting for a few days!

It was so great to see her and hear about how the volunteering was going in Lima. Lots of differences like she goes to different placements every day including baby day care, orphanages, special needs orphanages, and a Girls Home, and does some contruction work as well. She has saved up and fundraised lots of money at home and said how amazingly far it has stretched: something like $1500 Australian has built a new room, put a new roof on another room, bought about 600 presents for all the kids at the different places and funded lots of outings as well.

But some similarities as well like we both never drink anything in the mornings because the toilets are so gross at our placements we'd rather deal with a headache than use them, and we've both gotten addicted to a chocolate bar called Sublime. I couldn't afford my 3 soles a day Snickers habit so downgraded to the 1 sole Sublime, and now will never go back!

She came with me to my last day of placement on Thursday, and I loved showing her the school and the kids and the mud. They really struggled with her name though.. calling her something like 'Liss-e-chee' instead of Felicity. The kids were taught some really cute traditional dancing ( I got lots of videos) then we were stuck inside because it was raining so hard.. and they went loco. Boys jumping up and down on the tables, girls fighting over us and our cameras and our hands and our laps. Then outside in the mud for a bit, then it was time to go! I'll really miss a couple of the kids, and will always wonder what they will grow up to be and do.
Miss these chiciditas a lot!

Two of Flick's friends from Lima were also at Loki hostel and we did lots of shopping at San Pedro and the Artesans market and El Molino for DVDs and CDs, then went out that night with Haley, Sarah and Shayda and their housemates to a couple of clubs because it was Sarah's last night in Cusco. The clubs included places where we could pour our own drinks, request any songs we like (including Spice Girls!) and dance on the bar to the croatian americano dance! Big night.
Jess, Flick, me and Dani

On Friday Flick, her friends Jessica and Dani and myself went horseriding in the Sacred Valley to the north of Cusco. Not having much horsey experience i got a very 'gentle' horse who was just plain unsociable; hanging about 100metres behind all the others, stopping to eat whenever he wanted, and when we finally caught up to the others he'd stand facing the other way so I couldn't see them! It was drizzling rain and freezing cold in the misty valleys and hills, we could see down onto Cusco, saw llamas and pigs in the fields, and saw the Temple of the Moon which is a really sacred place of 'good pachamama energy' (mother earth.) Then dinner out and watched a couple of episodes of Dexter in the tv room before bed. They left about 7am this morning to head back to Lima!
Dani, Flick & I with Sublime chocolate

Today I'm just doing last minute shopping and printing plane tickets and things and saying goodbye to this city! I'm off early tomorrow morning for Melbourne via Lima, Buenos Aires and Auckland. It's gonna take me 5 days; I get home on Thursday and can't wait to see family and Abi and friends and my own bed and vegemite and nice bread and toilets where you can flush the paper and no more rice!!

Cusco: Weekend 3

Cusco street scene
Plaza de Armas

A couple of interesting things happened this weekend. Haley was visited by a doctor and found out she has a parasite, and that's why she's been so sick. She thinks it's from the ice in drinks out at clubs. Lucas (a TEFL student who Andrew is now living with) had his email broken into by someone who sent his mum emails saying he's been kidnapped and needs ransom money. And in Lima a guy held up a bank with 30 hostages inside for over 7 hours on Saturday, demanding 2 million soles and a helicopter to escape. A police sniper crawled through a ventilation duct and shot him to end it. That was all over the news on repeat on Sunday.

On Saturday I went to the free salsa lesson offered by Maximo Nivel. It was hilarious. I was so unco but then got better and was partnered with a teenage Peruvian guy who could seriously move his hips. Then that night just hung out at one of the volunteer houses where Sarah & Haley live watching movies.. I wish I'd been able to move houses, it's so much more fun and sociable than my homestay!
Cusco street scene

On Sunday I was meant to do a Sacred Valley tour of all the Inca ruins around here, but I'd forgotten to book it. Plus it was raining so it would have been a bit crap. I bumped into Andrew, Candice and Lucas on the street and ended up spending all day with them at San Pedro market, then at their apartment in a dodgy neighbourhood, then out at a bar up near the plaza. Also there was a huge soccer game on today. The streets were blocked off for parades of crazy red-clad supporters, Jenny said she stood in the rain for two hours in the queue to get into the stadium but the line didn't move so she gave up!
Dried llama foetus at a witch's stall in San Pedro market

Inca foundations under Spanish walls

Rainy season has definitely started, I'm wearing my hiking boots almost every day because of the mud!

Cusco: Week 3

Sophie took this photo of the kids. From left to right: Maria Magdelena, Katerine, Elisabeth, Isabel, Rosa Luz, Carlos.

Well now when I try to say things in French, Spanish words come out. My brain is so confused right now.

I couldn't move houses because the others are all full, so I've had a pretty quiet week but still loving it. On Wednesday Sophie brought a fake christmas tree to kinder and we set it up, letting the kids put decorations on, they loved it and still just go up to the tree and look at it and stroke the decorations in what seems like awe. I guess when it's twice your height it's pretty impressive!
Sophie & kids decorating the tree

I went back to El Molino market with Sophie to buy bubble wands, and that created chaos on Thursday. We only had 3 big ones (can't find small bubble blowers anywhere!) so there were stampeding crowds around us jumping and hitting and chasing the bubbles. Couldn't blow them out fast enough. The older kids (primary schoolers) always want to join in on what we're doing with the kinders, which is fair enough, but they always make things more violent and crazy and start lots of fights.
Class nativity

Today the teacher accidently locked her keys in her house so we were outside for about 2 hours waiting for her to arrive so we could go in the room. Luckily some white rocks in the rubbish heap work well as chalk so that was a good distraction!
I've learnt to have no shame around the kids. Silly dancing, faces, singing, animal noises, and using my terrible Spanish on them. Today I was earnestly encouraging them to wash their hands in the 'soup' (I meant soap), and always get the word for 'pencil' (lapiz) mixed up with the word for 'happy' (feliz) so I often tell them to 'share your happies!' and 'put the happies in the middle of the table!'
Me with Liza (hat) Rubi (green) and Marleni (hidden)

They must think I'm a spaz! But today was cute when I was asking a little girl about her pets, and she asked if I have a dog, and if I do, why don't I ever bring it to school? I told her my dog lives in a different country, very far away. She told me I could bring it on the bus.
Marleni with my sunnies

Nadin with my sunnies

At home Yoni and her grown up daughter Wendy put up their Christmas tree so things are starting to feel festive, and I've been watching some terrible Peruvian sitcom with them every night after dinner which is so dramatic I can almost understand it!

Going to do some shopping this weekend and maybe go on a Sacred Valley tour. So many things to buy and so little space in my pack... will be interesting!

Cusco: Weekend 2

Huacachina: an actual desert oasis

Missed Spanish last Friday afternoon to meet the other girls at the bus station for our adventure to Huacachina! Haley from Maine, Sarah from Los Angeles, Shayda from Toronto and myself hopped on our giant luxury bus at 5pm and settled in for the long (15 hour) trip. The way the driver took our fingerprints and shoved a video camera in our faces as we got on was unsettling... this wasn't for a promotional video.. it was to identify us if the bus didn't make it! But our chairs reclined right back, the aircon worked, we got a blanket and pillow, and there were even videos being shown (in Spanish of course, with no subtitles. Didn't know Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwn were so fluent in It's Complicated!) I thought it was a pretty comfy trip! Woke up for a pink sunrise over the rocky desert as we wound constantly down the mountains to sea level. Unfortunately someone in front of us was very motion sick and provided a disgusting sound track to the tranquil scenery.

We were fed a strange fishy breakfast and papaya juice in Ica then all crammed in a tiny hatchback taxi with our bags for a quick ride to the oasis town of Huacachina. Amazing. The giant yellow sanddunes surrounded us on all sides and it felt like we were on a movie set. I loved the way the sand cut a straight line up against the sky, it was so pretty. There's a green lagoon surrounded by a couple of streets of restaurants and hostels and dune buggy rentals, and that's the whole of Huacachina. Apparently only 25 people live here and the rest drive in from Ica to work every day.

After laying out by the pool (it was really hot!) and having lunch by the lagoon we headed off for the only reason you come to Huacahina: sandboarding! A little eager, we all strapped ourselves in the 'boogie' (as they pronounce it) about half an hour before we actually left. It has racing car seatbelts and a roll cage and we soon found out why.
Shayda & I with the buggy

This was not just the simple transport to do the boarding, this was like an insane roller coaster ride with no tracks. The driver was wearing protective glasses and a backwards cap and roared us over the huge dunes. We had no idea how he knew which dunes were good to drive down, or how to tell where he was. Screamed down almost vertical drops, spun out to hang on the edge of others, and finally pulled up with untouched sand dunes surrounding us. I've never been in a sandy desert like that, it was mind-blowing!

Sand ripples

Some people (with snowboarding experience) wore the boots and boarded down like they would at the snow, but we chose to lay on our bellies on the board, elbows tight in front of us, to go down headfirst and use our feet to brake in the sand! The first dune looked huge and Shayda flew down without using her feet. We all followed and realised it wasn't quite as scary as it looked.
Haley, Sarah, Shayda & I

The second dune was absolutely enormous. I have no idea how to judge the distance but the people at the bottom looked like ants. Even using our feet to brake didn't slow us down much, it was so fast! If we'd been bumped off or rolled off it would have been the worst sand/ carpet burn in the world.
2nd dune: that speck at the bottom is a person

The third and fourth dunes were like moguls and we couldn't see how they ended up. A mystery for everyone; some people (Shayda) flew over the edges without caring but others braked so much they threw up sheets of sand so they could slow down and look over the edges before they went over head first! It was so much fun, everyone begged for una mas (one more!) but the sun was setting and we had to drive to a lookout point to see it properly.

Sunrise and sunset in one day, I don't see that often! Sunset was amazing orange and yellow over the dunes and we got some great pictures. Driving back in the dark was scary, we had to wear our sunnies so the sand didn't go in our eyes, and we couldn't tell the gradient of the sand at all, every time we went over a bump we didn't know if we were about to fly down a steep slope or not! Then the town came into view, just little dots of light around a dark patch of water, and we realised how tiny we are in the desert.

On Sunday we lay out by the pool again in the baking desert heat (hadn't expected this.. I thought my last sunbaking for the trip was done in Belize!) then headed off on a wine and pisco (famous peruvian grape brandy) tasting tour. Ica province is famous for its vineyards and we went to 2 artesanal wineries and were shown the traditional way to do it. Ica has 85 wineries and so in wine season there are 85 stamping parties where everyone is invited to jump in the pit and dance around all night, squashing the grapes. The juice is then fermented in huge ceramic jars which are the shape of bombs, and really reminded me of Laos and Vietnam where they have all the old bomb casings leaning together outside museums and stuff. We tasted really sweet dessert wines and different flavoured piscos and some jam and chocolate too!
Pisco tasting

Monday morning we got up early for a tour to the Balletas Islands which are known as the 'poor man's Galapagos!' Out on the boat it was like entering the land before time when we got close to the islands because every surface was just swarming with animals. Birds: sea gulls, pelicans, vultures and even little penguins. Crabs and star fish and mussels and sea lions draped over the rocks. So many birds flying they cast shadows over the boats. Just noises of squawks and fights and bellows and caws. The sealions were so cute; laying their heads on each other, yawning, waving a flipper around. It stunk and is a massive guana deposit spot. Apparently two men live on the island to look after the animals, but they have no electricity or running water or anything. What a strange existence they would have.
Penguins, pelicans, sea lions

Our hostel pool backing onto the dunes

We lay out and burned for the rest of the day, and all the pages fell out of our books. The heat? Then a quick bit of jewelry shopping and back to Ica for the bus home to Cusco. We all felt that the ride back was a lot rougher. I was on the aisle this time and as we swung around corners I'd be bashed into one arm rest or the other. All our stuff ended up in the aisle and was swept to the front of the bus where we found it this morning. Didn't sleep much, it was too windy! But home safe! Had lots of fun with the girls and was sad to find out Andrew and his girl have moved into an apartment of their own so I'm totally alone in my homestay! Think I might ask to move houses tomorrow just because I'm a bit lonely!

Cusco: Week 2

4 yr-old room

Really settled into routine now the boys have gone but I still haven't learnt to deal with the weather properly.. this week has been freezing and raining then suddenly turning burning hot, or the other way around every day! So always need to carry rain jacket and be wearing sunscreen.

On Monday the playground was all mud and puddles because it had been raining overnight, so the kids turned into soggy grubs, their trackpants soaked in mud up to their thighs. The boys crawl around on all fours roaring at each other pretending to be tigers or monsters or something, and a new game today was trying to pee on each other. Lovely.

Tuesday was hot, I can't remember what we did at kinder, but neither Sophie or Jenny were there on Monday and Tuesday so it was just me.

Wednesday was cold, and Sophie was there. We spent the morning tracing shoes onto 25 pieces of paper (the joys of no photocopier) for them to paint and lace wool through, learning to tie a bow. Then we played outside on the basketball court with a plastic set of bowling pins and balls she brought, it was very uncoordinated and cute.
Everybody watching Johan bowl

On Thursday the teacher was asking the class about Christmas, it was hilarious. She'd ask 'who was born on December 25?' and they'd yell Papa Noel! When she drummed it into their heads it was 'bebe hesus' she asked 'where was he born?' and they'd say things like 'hospital!' and 'Cusco!' They also sung a carol in Quecha (the native Inca language) which was really interesting to hear.
Presents!

Then a Peruvian woman came in (I didn't catch where she was from/ working for) but she was donating a big box of toys for the kids and you should have seen their faces. The younger class came in too with Jenny, and every boy got a plastic digger truck and the girls got a little backpack full of plastic toy food, tiny spoons and forks and pans and a cooker. They loved it but were heartbroken they had to put it all back in the box because if they'd taken them out to the playground the older kids would have taken them straight away. Still they tried to smuggle the toys out in their backpacks and jumpers and got in a lot of trouble from the teacher.
I got so burnt today in the playground, it felt hot but not roasted shoulders hot!

The teacher disappeared so we couldn't leave at 12 because our bags were in the locked room, so ended up hanging around for ages til she came back. Had some really cute conversations with some of the shyer kids who normally don't get a look in because the needy, bossy ones are usually all over me. But asked them things like what siblings they had (lots, often 4 or 5!), what their parents do (they weren't too sure, but their mamitas cook very well!), how far from school they live etc, trying to get a better picture of their lives.
We also started up some games like Duck Duck Goose and What's the time Mr Wolf? which both actually worked quite well for a little while. They all ended up chasing each other round in circles when duckduck failed, and What's the time mr wolf ended up with about 15 wolfs wanting to chase the other kids.
Duck Duck Goose


On Friday (today) it was rainy and muddy again. Sophie tried to do a little test on the 5 year olds in our room to see how they compared to the 5 year olds at her other placement she goes to on Monday and Tuesdays. Our kids failed miserably, some of them still don't know how to write their names, their numbers are all upside down and backwards, etc. She said the kids at the other school knew so much more; she could write a word missing the vowels and they'd fill them in no problems, but no chance here. The only way they are taught things here is by copying them over and over on a piece of paper. But as soon as the numbers or letters they are copying aren't there to look at, they have no idea how to do them.

In playtime the girls 'cooked' us up some pollo y arroz y chocla (plastic chicken rice & corn) with their new cooking toys and fed us, we stopped fights on the seesaw, picked crying kids off the floor, etc. I'm pretty sick of hearing 'carga mi! carga mi! carga mi!' (carrryyyy me!) but am getting to know the quieter ones more, they're really sweet. Cute names like Maricely, Marleni, Rubi, Nadin, Fresia, Isabel, Maria Magdelena, Celeste, Cintia, lots of Carlos' and Manuel's.

As for Spanish classes, we're learning so much each day but when I read outloud I have a horrible half French half Spanglish very Australian accent. I keep saying french things like 'le' instead of 'el' and pronouncing things like they would be said in French, so while French knowledge helps me a lot in recognising similar vocab, it also hinders!

A 24 year old Texan guy has moved into my house, and his girlfriend is staying next door, so now I have some young people to hang out with at home which is fun! They're doing a TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language) course at Maximo Nivel for the next month, then wanting to teach English in South Korea.
I went out with them and some other TEFL students on Wednesday night to see a Peruvian cover band which was a really fun night!

In an hour I'm heading off on a 15 hour overnight bus ride with Haley from Spanish and a few girls who live in her house, to Ica for sandboarding down giant sanddunes this weekend! Hoping the bus will be okay!

Cusco: Weekend 1 & free time!

So last week is a blur of waking up around 7am, having a rushed breakfast in Yoni´s house (usually drinking yoghurt and a roll), then powerwalking up to the bus-stop to meet Jenny at 8.30am. We'd sit together in the van trying quietly to remember the words and actions to Hokey Pokey, discussing whether Duck Duck Goose is too violent for the playground, and trying to think of other activities that would work beyond the language barrier.

After placement we'd catch the bus back into town and walk to our seperate houses for lunch. Peruvian lunches are the big meals of the day, usually vegetable soup and then rice and chicken, or potato and chicken. After lunch I'd walk or taxi (less than a dollar) up to Plaza de Armas to meet Scott and we'd go exploring or shopping or just have a drink in the shade if we were already sunburnt. He knew his way around really well because he spent most of his days exploring the streets!

Then I'd go to Spanish class at 4pm. My class has only 4 people in it (including me) and is so much fun. There´s 2 American girls with Jenny and myself, and we're all about the same language level and all do childcare in the mornings, so spend quite a bit of time asking the teacher for vocab like 'stop hitting' which we all scribble down! Haley, one of the girls, works in a daycare centre with 3-5 year olds and was excited to learn the word '¡comparte!' for 'share!', but told us the next day that when she confidently told this to a child, the child just looked straight up at her and said 'no!'
We learnt regular and irregular verb conjugations last week, so I can finally start making sentences that I haven't learnt as a phrase. Our teacher Esthe is great and it's a really relaxed and fun learning environment, so far away from the stress of uni French tutes!

At 6pm Scott would pick me up from school which was cute, the sun sets around now and it suddenly gets cold. We'd have dinner around Plaza de Armas then I'd taxi home, so tired that I'd be in bed by 9.30pm, and he'd hang out at his hostel.

Chris and Jake arrived on Wednesday, and had a couple of days to acclimatise before we went to Machu Picchu on Saturday!

On Friday my package arrived finally yay! I went straight from placement to the Post office and got there at 12.39pm, but they didn't want to give it to me because they only give out packages from 8.30am til 12.30pm. I was a whole 9 minutes late. I begged and pleaded in Spanish, so they let me through to look at the package, but I didn't have my passport (I'd brought my license instead) so they again didn't want to give it to me. More begging and pleading and trying to explain that I needed it today because there was a replacement bank card in there and I needed access to money before Monday! Finally they allowed me to tell them my passport number (luckily I'd memorised the new number of my emergency passport) so I could take the package.. What a victory! So now I have a debit card for the first time since it was stolen in Mexico. And Mum sent me a camera charger so I can charge my camera for the first time since the charger was stolen in Belize! Just in time for Machu Picchu.

On Saturday morning it was a bumpy 2 hour bus ride (through amazing scenery.. up so high the clouds hanging over the valleys were level with us on top of the mountains) to Ollaytaytambo where we got a 2 hour train to Aguas Calientes which is the town at the base of Macchu Picchu mountain. A scary bus ride up the mountain (sometimes so close to the edge of the road we couldn't see the road out the window.. just a sheer drop) with almost Avatar type mountains opposite.. except they weren't hanging.

Up the top we could walk straight into the ruins. The words Machu Picchu actually mean 'Old Mountain' and is the name of the huge mountain behind the ruins (not the one you see in the classic photo; that one is called Huayna Picchu and means Young Mountain.) There were a few tour groups around but the place wasn't crawling with tourists like I've heard it is in June- August.

We learnt some really cool stuff and I was glad we had a guide because otherwise we would have walked straight past rocks that he described as used to be covered in gold and worshipped, etc. There were cool things all over the place like windows that the sun shines directly through at dawn on the 21st June, casting light over a certain rock that then casts a shadow in the shape of the Andean Cross.. and the sun also hits a certain rock at the same time which then appears as a Puma... etc. Saw places of llama sacrifices, an open area with amazing acoustics, a sun dial by which they knew when the solstices were so when to sow and reap crops, so much cool stuff and we got some awesome photos!

We walked around to the Inca Bridge which is a scary structure across a sheer mountain face, it's closed now because someone fell to their death, but scary enough just sitting on the edge of the cliff. Couldn't fit the whole cliff in my camera viewfinder. Then we hiked backwards along the last couple of k's of the Inca Trail, to the Sun Bridge where the hikers get their first rewarding view of the ruins. It was really tough going uphill, even though Machu Picchu is at lower altitude than Cusco I struggled!

On Sunday I explored some more of Cusco, like the San Blas hippy/ artist district where I bought an amazing necklace from a traditional Inca healer dude.. this is a whole story in itself but he was all on about my aura being green and orange instead of a harmonious purple, so I needed this energy balancing fire opal necklace... haha anyway it's beautiful and the back has (apparently) rocks from Machu Picchu and Huana Picchu to help trap bad energy and transform it into positive... and noone is allowed to touch it for the first 10 days I wear it so they don't mess with my energy! Anyway that was a fun conversation.

I met up with the guys and we checked out a couple of markets; San Pedro market where there are witches stalls selling potions and spells and dried llama fetuses, then El Molino, the 'black market' where you can buy anything from soccer balls to flat screen TVs to Nike shoes. Then we just chilled out at their hostel before an all you can eat Indian dinner, then they hopped on an overnight bus to La Paz. Won't see them until we're all back in Australia for Christmas!

Peru: Cuzco volunteer placement first week

Jenny (far left) in the playground

The company I´m volunteering with in Peru is called IVHQ (International Volunteer Headquarters), and I chose it because the prices were very reasonable compared to any others I could find. i-to-i run by STA charges over a thousand dollars for a month's placement, and others are similar, but IVHQ was only a couple of hundred. The options were construction, jungle conservation, teaching English, or childcare.

I chose childcare and knew I wouldn't find out what sort of placement I'd be in until I arrived, because out of all the schools, orphanages, day-care centres and street kid centres they wait to see which one needs help the most at that time. So on Tuesday morning a Sydney girl called Jenny and myself were taken onto a local bus (tiny white van) by a woman who works at Maximo Nivel to our placement.

The van was so crammed; our knees were interlocked with elderly women in traditional full skirts, woollen cardigans and amazing hats, students schoolbags hung over our shoulders, and we were leant on by kids pulling bags of market produce. The van crawled up the cobbled streets of Cuzco past markets and squares and streets I'd never otherwise see, through old archways and around steep corners. Then we left the city and headed up the hills, past packs of dogs snoozing and scratching on the side of the road, past shanty towns with corrigated iron rooves and rubbish littering every surface. People flagged the van down every 20 metres and squeezed on, and others yelled 'Baja!' when they wanted to hop off. We wondered how we would remember our stop as it all looked the same, memorising landmarks like 'the rubbish skip with three dogs in it' and 'the pile of tyres.'

But luckily ours is the last stop so we can't possible miss it! It's about 30 mins out of town up at the top of the hills, so we can look down on the sprawling brown rooves of Cuzco, the tiny shiny specks which are cars, we can even see the runway. It's an amazing view with a snowcapped mountain in the background. Up here it's very rural, pigs and chickens mixing with the dogs. We learnt we are placed in the kindergarten of a tiny school called 'Chinchasuyo,' me in the 4 year-olds room and Jenny with the 3 year-olds. I was a little apprehensive of the language barrier, but as soon as I stepped into the room I was greeted with a shouted chorus of Buenos DIAS!! and had my hands taken and others hugging my legs.

The room has a dirty, broken concrete floor and an open bucket which serves as a toilet. The kids had gorgeous smiling faces but most of them were filthy; string holding up their pants, ripped clothes, rotten and broken baby teeth. Some looked better off and had clean faces and hair, and some had nicer clothes like a little girl in a long skirt, lacy blouse and cute sunhat. We did a little bit of maths (3 + 1 = 4) then it was playtime with the 3yos outside.
Fresia being a monkey

In the playground is a broken set of rusty swings, two slides, and a scary metal see-saw with sharp bits sticking out of it. Jenny & I tried Ring Around a Rosie (which the kids sang in Spanish) and some other games but all they wanted really was to be picked up, dangled upside down, tickled. I started a game to try and get them to go down the slides instead of climb up them and block up the top, where I'd lift them off the bottom of the slide, and swing them round before putting them back on the ground. Silly idea by me, there was a fighting queue a mile long wanting to be swung off the slide, and I got exhausted and light-headed and had to stop!
Elizabeth (looks cute but she's so naughty!)

I was supposed to leave at 12 to be home by lunch, but the teacher (who speaks no English) left the room with me alone with the kids so I couldn't leave, and chaos reigned. We were supposed to be drawing our families, but there were brawls over the eraser, pencil stabbings, and general paper tearing violence. It was completely out of control and overwhelming as I couldn't even tell them to sit down, stop fighting, important vocabulary like that. Jenny came in to get me, and ended up helping until another woman came in (not the teacher), then we could leave. Exhausted, realising how much Spanish I needed to learn to be able to have a bit of control.

The next few days were much better though because a 3rd volunteer was there, a girl called Sophie in her late 20s from Belgium. She's been there for 3 weeks already, speaks Spanish, and brings in all sorts of activities. Wednesday was skipping ropes. 3 and 4 year-olds can't skip, but they can whip each other with the ropes, and loved jumping over the rope when it was wiggling on the ground like a snake. Lots of tears and ´Senorita mirar!´' (Look Miss!) at what someone else had done to hurt them. I am called either Senorita, Gringita (whitey), or Yessica. 'Mirar' is about the most used verb in the playground.. 'look, he stole my hat/ pushed me/ pulled my hair/ threw a rock at me...' etc. The boys are cheeky, blocking up the top of the slides, holding down the see-saw so one end is stuck up the top. But the girls fight just as much; punching, throwing rocks, pulling each others hair.

Thursday was hair washing. Lots of the kids knew about shampoo and obviously had their hair washed by their mothers at home, but some turned the water brown. I was on combing duty.. and made sure to be very gentle on knotty hair because I can definitely relate, hated having my hair brushed when I was a kid.
Boys wanted to be 'perritos' (puppies) when we facepainted.

Today (Friday) was face painting. All these activities are Sophie's ideas, and she brings the things in. She's been fundraising for ages so can buy things like skipping ropes etc, she even bought a whiteboard for the room. We did butterflies, hearts, monkey and dog faces. I got to learn the words for colours. The kids are so funny, wiggling and laughing until you take a photo of them when they suddenly look solemn and sad. It's great having Sophie next to me because she can translate the important things the kids tell me, or what they're asking for.
Sophie swamped by kids

The cutest moments include the teacher beginning the lesson by asking 'Who's been eating all the colours (pencils)?' and everybody chorusing 'Johann!' And when they dance and sing.. I've got to try and get a video of it!

Peru: First impressions

(Cusco. Scott took this photo on his iPhone, out of his hostel window.)

Scott & I arrived from Guatemala City and stayed overnight in Lima on the 13th November because due to winds picking up in the mountains in the afternoons, there are no flights to Cuzco after 4pm. I met up with Flick (and her new volunteering friends) for dinner that night which was great and caught up on everything we´d done since we saw each other last at Oktoberfest! But that´s all I saw of Lima; taxi rides to and from the airport and a night in Miraflores.

We got to Cuzco around 11am the next morning; the landing was exciting as the plane came down into the city which is in a tiny bowl surrounded by mountains, and the overall colour was brown brown brown. As soon as we got off the plane a group of elderly tourists scurried to an oxygen stall in the baggage hall and strapped on some masks.

I was shown around the language centre/ volunteering program office where I´ll be spending a lot of time over the next month (I´m here right now) and then dropped at my homestay, and Scott wandered off to find his hostel.

I´m staying in a woman called Yoni´s apartment, with 4 other people. There´s 2 beds in my room but so far I´ve got it to myself, it´s about 15 minutes walk to the language centre, and Yoni (in her 60s) is lovely. But I was a bit disappointed that there are no other young people in the house... one Polish lady is in her 40s and the other three (an American and a French Canadian couple) are all over 60. They´ve all got much more Spanish than me and are able to converse and express opinions amongst each other and with Yoni in Spanish, never speaking in their first languages.

I´m torn: I´m absorbing lots of vocab just by listening to them at meals, and I´m able to understand the gist of all conversations but not produce it yet, so I know staying with them will help me language-wise, which is what I´m here for. But on the other hand, I´m really wanting to travel on the weekends with people my age, and make some friends to do things with in town. So I don´t know whether I want to ask the program to move me to a ´volunteer house´ of which there are 3 or 4 in town and they´re full of people my age (they must have been full the day I moved in) or whether I should stick it out and be as immersed in the language as I can at Yoni´s.

Anyway. The altitude affected me a little for the first few days as I got lightheaded going up the tight wobbly spiral staircase to my room on the 3rd floor, and when I walk quickly up the road I get out of breath and feel like an asthmatic. Also woke up with headaches that stuck around all day for the first 3 days, but nothing as bad as the French Canadian gent in my house who had to spend 3 days in hospital attached to an oxygen mask!

Impressions of the town:
To get to Maximo Nivel (language centre) I walk past a gorgeous cocker spanial X pup who I pat every day. Then the first market I pass has street food out the front (deep fried batter like some kind of doughnut, fruit, chicken rolls, some kind of coloured drink scooped out of buckets, & mystery meat skewers.)The worst bit of the walk is next; dusty path always under construction next to a busy road so my lungs fill up with dust and exhaust fumes. Then the second market I pass is the Artisan´s market and I struggle to not stop and look at the knitted beanies, scarves, jumpers, and very touristy keyrings and things. Alpaca´s on everything. Then the path gets interesting as for some reason they have pulled up random patterns of tiles on both sides of the road, so it´s like a game of hopscotch, tiles wobbling precariously over muddy holes and puddles. This is now the main street and I´m hopping past restaurants, mini markets, travel agencies, a bank, a post office.
Avenida del Sol

If I keep walking up Avenida del Sol (main street)past Maximo Nivel right to the top, I get to the main square Plaza de Armas. It´s gorgeous around here; cobbled roads, cathedrals, fountains. But this is the most touristy spot, and you can´t walk 5 metres without being offered massages, paintings, shoe shines, menus, jewelery, and even photos with women in traditional costume holding baby alpacas!
Kids & baby alpacas (had to pay them for this pic)

Plaza de Armas

Cuzco is called ´the bellybutton of the world.´This makes sense when you notice it´s in a bowl, hills surrounding the town. In daylight ´Viva Peru´and other signs are visible carved/cut into the hills, and at night the lights in all the buildings on the hills appear like stars in the darkness surrounding the city. It´s so beautiful sitting in Plaza de Armas at nighttime as the streetlights show up the churches and cobbles and arches,the lights on the hills like stars all around, and real stars above.



The daytimes have been really warm and sunny, or warm and cloudy. I got sunburnt despite being warned to wear suncreen. I guess being 3.5kms closer to the sun really does matter. But as soon as the sun goes down, it´s cold. Cold enough for woolly jumpers, beanies and gloves (all of which I bought pretty quickly from the artisans market!)

I´m running out of time before I have to go to Spanish and don´t want to rush writing about my volunteer placement so that will have to wait til later. Unfortunately my camera cables and chargers were stolen back in Belize so I can´t upload any photos until I get home, and can´t even take any photos on my big camera until I recieve a new charger in the mail! But Jake and Chris arrived yesterday, and Scott is still here, so if I don´t get my charger before Saturday (we´re going to Machu Picchu then) hopefully between us we can get some good pics!