The last couple of days in Salta were great - just relaxing and eating genius Argentinian ice cream (passion fruit, dulce de leche, banana split, chocolate flavour... Mmmmmhh!), and thanks to my generous mom we were able to go horseback riding on a so-called gaucho ranch 50 km south of Salta, which was really amazing. We were riding the real western-way with loose rains and the opposite way of what I am used to, riding dressage. The surroundings were absolutely breathtaking, mountains in the background and big fields with yellow flowers and eagles flying above us. Alex even got to gallop a bit, a quite amusing sight.
It was freezing cold when we got back in the evening, and we had a cup of tea at the ranch before returning to our hostel to leave again for dinner - we were going to a nice restaurant cause Alex needed his Argentinian steak.
Next day we headed towards Iguazu, yet another busride of 24 hours. However, this time we went in a very luxurious (and expensive, but the only one) Argentinian bus with great service and seats that you would think would be for very overweight people. The best bus ride so far!
Arriving in Puerto Iguazu, we checked into a nice, but a bit boring hostel and arranged our tour to the falls for the next day. Got up early and took a bus. Almost not worth it describing how incredible walking around the worlds biggest water fall was, check out the pictures instead - and not even those do it justice. You walk around in a constant drizzle because of the falls surrounding you. Spent the entire morning and some of the afternoon there, going crazy with my camera and getting wet before leaving.
Made the horrible decision of trying to get a cheaper bus ticket to Rio by crossing the border to Brazil and buy a ticket there in stead of on the Argentinian side. Took a bus to the border and had to get the stamp in our passport - and was the bus waiting? No no, gringos can wait an hour for the next bus.......
And so we did! Going to Foz do Iguazu to check out the prices of the bus tickets, only to find out that the stupid Brazilian buses are waaaayyyy more expensive than the luxurious Argentinian ones. Furthermore we just got sent back to the feeling of not being able to communicate in a country - finally just agreed to upgrade our Spanish competences from "un poco" to "mas o menos", and then we have to start all over in Portuguese.
So we had to go back - another half an hour waiting at the border and looking a loooooong time for an ATM in Puerto Iguazu before going back to the bus station to find out that all the Argentinian bus tickets were sold out, so we had to buy the Brazilian ones anyway.. Yay!
So now we have a couple of hours to kill on our hostel before going through the border once again, something we should be prepared to spend about 3 hours doing, before getting on our LAST bus to Rio.
Impossible to describe how much we are looking forward to a week in Rio doing absolutely nothing, except from maybe a football game or a tour to see the statue. We can hear the beaches calling out for us....
May 21, 2010
May 16, 2010
Towards civilization
We went from La Paz on a 10 hours busride to Uyuni thursday night - and seeing as most of Bolivias roads are dirt roads and that the country probably has the worst buses in Southamerica, we did not get a lot of sleep.
The only time it would have been nice to have arrived a bit later after a night on a bus, we arrived exactly on time - 5.30 in the morning, dark and freezing cold! We were lucky that the tour agencies opened early and we could get in their offices and warm up a bit while checking out tours to the salt flats. Agreed on a one day tour the same day, and went out to get some breakfast before heading off. Once again again again, I had problems with my stomach - it seems I am just not supposed to feel good for more than a couple of days a time, and it's driving me crazy. I must have taken a trillion pills since I was sick the first time in Southamerica.
Anyways, we drove out in a group of 8 including 4 retired columbians that were very fond of chitchatting with foreigners in spanish - so I got to practice a bit more, which was actually quite nice seeing as we don't really need to speek a lot of spanish when we're just on the road.
The salt flats were absolutely amazing. Ass soon as we stepped out of the car, we were almost blinded by the whiteness of the salt sorrounding us. We saw a hotel made of salt and had a lousy lunch before driving to "Isla de Pescado", an island in the middle of the salt with cactus all over. Took some cool pictures and went back to catch the next night bus, this time to the border.
That bus was the worst bus experience so far. We spend an hour waiting for them to carry the entire contents of a house on top of the bus - beds, chairs, tables... When we finally got in the bus, the seats could not go further than 10cm back, and all around us were local people smoking or getting drunk. After driving an hour or so, more local people got on the bus, and for the next 6 hours there was no room whatsoever for doing anything else than closing your eyes and hoping that we would get to the right place eventually. I woke up in the middle of the night and asked an english guy that was on the bus if he knew what time it was, and his answer was something like "No, but there's a baby sleeping next to you". And yes, there was a baby sleeping on the floor with its mother sitting next to it on the floor as well.
Arrived in the morning to cross the border to Argentina, which equals civilization - at least in Southamerican terms. We were to get a stamp in our passports at the migration office, but the woman there just decided to go out for breakfast, leaving like twenty people waiting for her to come back. After swearing in danish about the crappy bolivian system, and after Alex telling me off for breaking the mood, we got the stamp and crossed the border to get a bus to Salta, another 6 hours.
Crossing the border did lift my mood quite a bit - I was absolutely amazed by the fact that you could actually see nice houses and highways!!!! Woooooow, that was crazy.
Arriving in Salta, we checked in to a hostel and went for a walk to shop for cooking dinner. Walking in the first argentinian city made me so happy - real supermarkets, stores and just a nicer place in general.
Ended up going out with some people from the hostel, since Salta should be a really nice city when it comes to nightlife. We had a great night, and I think that right now Alex is sleeping to get better than he looked this morning. Not that I feel amazing - but it was nice to go out somewhere else than Tequila Bar in Urubamba!
We'll have a couple of more days in Salta before heading off to Iguazu Falls, our next stop and last stop before Rio. Time seems to be running out!
The only time it would have been nice to have arrived a bit later after a night on a bus, we arrived exactly on time - 5.30 in the morning, dark and freezing cold! We were lucky that the tour agencies opened early and we could get in their offices and warm up a bit while checking out tours to the salt flats. Agreed on a one day tour the same day, and went out to get some breakfast before heading off. Once again again again, I had problems with my stomach - it seems I am just not supposed to feel good for more than a couple of days a time, and it's driving me crazy. I must have taken a trillion pills since I was sick the first time in Southamerica.
Anyways, we drove out in a group of 8 including 4 retired columbians that were very fond of chitchatting with foreigners in spanish - so I got to practice a bit more, which was actually quite nice seeing as we don't really need to speek a lot of spanish when we're just on the road.
The salt flats were absolutely amazing. Ass soon as we stepped out of the car, we were almost blinded by the whiteness of the salt sorrounding us. We saw a hotel made of salt and had a lousy lunch before driving to "Isla de Pescado", an island in the middle of the salt with cactus all over. Took some cool pictures and went back to catch the next night bus, this time to the border.
That bus was the worst bus experience so far. We spend an hour waiting for them to carry the entire contents of a house on top of the bus - beds, chairs, tables... When we finally got in the bus, the seats could not go further than 10cm back, and all around us were local people smoking or getting drunk. After driving an hour or so, more local people got on the bus, and for the next 6 hours there was no room whatsoever for doing anything else than closing your eyes and hoping that we would get to the right place eventually. I woke up in the middle of the night and asked an english guy that was on the bus if he knew what time it was, and his answer was something like "No, but there's a baby sleeping next to you". And yes, there was a baby sleeping on the floor with its mother sitting next to it on the floor as well.
Arrived in the morning to cross the border to Argentina, which equals civilization - at least in Southamerican terms. We were to get a stamp in our passports at the migration office, but the woman there just decided to go out for breakfast, leaving like twenty people waiting for her to come back. After swearing in danish about the crappy bolivian system, and after Alex telling me off for breaking the mood, we got the stamp and crossed the border to get a bus to Salta, another 6 hours.
Crossing the border did lift my mood quite a bit - I was absolutely amazed by the fact that you could actually see nice houses and highways!!!! Woooooow, that was crazy.
Arriving in Salta, we checked in to a hostel and went for a walk to shop for cooking dinner. Walking in the first argentinian city made me so happy - real supermarkets, stores and just a nicer place in general.
Ended up going out with some people from the hostel, since Salta should be a really nice city when it comes to nightlife. We had a great night, and I think that right now Alex is sleeping to get better than he looked this morning. Not that I feel amazing - but it was nice to go out somewhere else than Tequila Bar in Urubamba!
We'll have a couple of more days in Salta before heading off to Iguazu Falls, our next stop and last stop before Rio. Time seems to be running out!
May 13, 2010
Bolivia
Spent our last day in Galapagos relaxing and going out for a last meal - including a huge ice cream, since it was our last night in the Galapagos...
We had a day in Guayaquil which we spent walking downtown on the Malecón, a nice road located by the river. Very non-touristy, which was nice after the european and american crowds of people we'd just left.
Arriving to Lima the day after, we found a busticket to Puno, as far west as we could possibly get. Went to McDonalds for lunch - I asked what they had without meat and ended up getting a Happy Meal - why not? So now I've got a Batman car in my bag, definitely going with me on long busrides... :p
Arriving to Puno after a rough 24 hours, we decided to wait for the next bus till sunday morning. Checked in at the Point and met two people who were travelling to La Paz the next day as well, so we went on the same bus. Arrived monday afternoon and went out for a look around the city before returning to the hostel to get a couple of beers. Alex went to bed quite early, being tired after yet another busride, but I ended up going out with some danes, a norwegian and a french guy. Went to an almost completely deserted club called "Mongo's", but since we were 5 scandinavians we managed to get things going a bit. Had quite a nice night, and luckily we didn't have any plans the day after, so I could get a long nights sleep.
Tuesday we went walking around town again, going to the witches market and relaxing a bit. At night we went out for dinner at "The Star of India", where Alex spent almost 3 hours and 4 liters of water and three times puking eating the hottest vindaloo in the world - he received a t-shirt for completing the dish that he now wears with pride!
Wednesday we went mountainbiking on Death Road, the worlds most dangerous road. Definitely an amazing experience, biking on the edge of a road, knowing that if you fall down you'll have about a thousand meters till you hit ground... The scariest part was driving back on the same road though - the fact that you're not in control of the car is way more uncomfortable than just biking downhill, when you can stay to the mountainside.
Today we went to try and get in to San Pedro prison, a place where the prisoners live with their families inside, controlling everything themselves. It was 400kr to get a tour though, so we decided not to go. In stead we ended up going to the coca museum, a really interesting place where you could find lots of information about the coca leaves and the use of them - so now we're experts on cocaleaves... Ended the visit by eating a coca chocolate cake - Alex made the weird choice of a gross coca cheese cake, have absolutely no idea why.
Tonight we have another 12 hour busride in front of us, going to Uyuni to see some apparently amazing salt flats. Hoping to get a cheap tour to fit our budget after having spent quite a lot of money doing Galapagos.
We had a day in Guayaquil which we spent walking downtown on the Malecón, a nice road located by the river. Very non-touristy, which was nice after the european and american crowds of people we'd just left.
Arriving to Lima the day after, we found a busticket to Puno, as far west as we could possibly get. Went to McDonalds for lunch - I asked what they had without meat and ended up getting a Happy Meal - why not? So now I've got a Batman car in my bag, definitely going with me on long busrides... :p
Arriving to Puno after a rough 24 hours, we decided to wait for the next bus till sunday morning. Checked in at the Point and met two people who were travelling to La Paz the next day as well, so we went on the same bus. Arrived monday afternoon and went out for a look around the city before returning to the hostel to get a couple of beers. Alex went to bed quite early, being tired after yet another busride, but I ended up going out with some danes, a norwegian and a french guy. Went to an almost completely deserted club called "Mongo's", but since we were 5 scandinavians we managed to get things going a bit. Had quite a nice night, and luckily we didn't have any plans the day after, so I could get a long nights sleep.
Tuesday we went walking around town again, going to the witches market and relaxing a bit. At night we went out for dinner at "The Star of India", where Alex spent almost 3 hours and 4 liters of water and three times puking eating the hottest vindaloo in the world - he received a t-shirt for completing the dish that he now wears with pride!
Wednesday we went mountainbiking on Death Road, the worlds most dangerous road. Definitely an amazing experience, biking on the edge of a road, knowing that if you fall down you'll have about a thousand meters till you hit ground... The scariest part was driving back on the same road though - the fact that you're not in control of the car is way more uncomfortable than just biking downhill, when you can stay to the mountainside.
Today we went to try and get in to San Pedro prison, a place where the prisoners live with their families inside, controlling everything themselves. It was 400kr to get a tour though, so we decided not to go. In stead we ended up going to the coca museum, a really interesting place where you could find lots of information about the coca leaves and the use of them - so now we're experts on cocaleaves... Ended the visit by eating a coca chocolate cake - Alex made the weird choice of a gross coca cheese cake, have absolutely no idea why.
Tonight we have another 12 hour busride in front of us, going to Uyuni to see some apparently amazing salt flats. Hoping to get a cheap tour to fit our budget after having spent quite a lot of money doing Galapagos.
May 6, 2010
Galapagos Islands
Just got back from our Galapagos Islands cruise. We were dinghied out to the yacht on the first day in the morning from Puerto Ayora, the only tourist town in the Galapagos, a yacht sufficiently big to have 16 guests living aboard along 10 in crew, more or less. I room was tiny, but neither we were expecting any wild luxuries so we found no reason to complain. Spent the first day in Puerto Ayora where we were sent back on land to the Charles Darwin Research Station, a non governmental volunteer organization working on preserving the animals on the islands. They have a specifically large array of giant tortoises on display, which was simply amazing. By far being one of my favourite animals out here, theyre truly huge. Weighing a good 250kg, they dont do much besides chew and grunt whenever life throws it a challenge. If I was ever to come back to life as an animal, this would be the one. Sit on my butt all day, sometimes in the pond, eat, chew, grunt, eat some more and look grumpy for the photo.
Back on board we had lunch and dinner, which despite being quite good, was a huge disappointment. We just came from the inka trail where the food, with no kitchen, was amazing every day and night. There really was nothing wrong with the service or food on board of the yacht, but after seeing your porters work their asses off for you like they did, it was hard to settle to just being taken care of on a yacht, as spoiled as we realise that makes us. Not meant as a criticism to the boat and its crew, but more as another compliment to the inka trail. Now we are back to sleeping on busses and cheap hostals, where our illusion of being so well taken care of everywhere we go will come crashing down.
Day two took us snorkling in the morning at Rabida island. The amazing range of islands out here is one of the most surprising elements. Within a kilometers distance, one island will have pure white beaches whereas the other will have blac
k volcanic rock/sand, and the next being completely barren and red, each offering a different kind of animal life. Rabida offered, as the only thing most places have in common, sea lions peacefully hunting and playing with you while you snorkel around. Of other things to see was the many differently coloured fish on the ocean floor, sea stars and sting rays. This being our first time in the water, we were fascinated by the variety of life. Im really just counting on AC to uload some of her many many pictures soon, including some underwater ones. The ones posted on here are just some that I found on google.
We continued on to Santiago island after that where we also spent the afternoon snorkeling and checking out the underwater life. The usual routine consisted of first snorkeling and the following it up by a small one hour hike on the island.
We visited Bartolome and Seymour islands the following day (yesterday). We again did a lot of snorkeling, and managed to see sea turtles, sea lions, marine iguanas, penguins, dolphins (though far out in the distance unfortunately) and sharks. Sharks would often come around the boat to circle around us, and despite supposedly being completely peaceful, jumping into the water and swimming around after seeing a 2 meter shark was a little frightening. Nevertheless, the only time we saw one of those huge sharks while snorkeling, it quietly circled around us, allowed us to get close and then quietly swam away. The funnest animal to swim around with was without a doubt the sea lions. The younger ones were often quite playful and swam around you, came all the way up to your hand and showed off their underwater abilities. For me, seeing the sea turtles was a huge experience. Theyre exceptionally beautiful animals and very rare in the rest of the world, although we easily saw 4-5 of them swimming around. Only saw a few penguins in the water, and because theyre so small and fast, its almost impossibly to take pictures of them or admire them properly. We usually managed to be in the water for about an hour at a time before it got too cold (the water was around 20 degrees, reaching its highest of 25-28 around february).
Our hikes on the islands also provided us with plenty of animal life. Land iguanas in their beautiful warm colours, marine iguanas swimming under the water and resting above it, the smaller but hugely coloured lava lizards. Blue footed boobie birds were also amusing, doing their mating dance by jumping from one foot to the other, their feet so blue they could just have stepped out of some bubblegum. Frigatebirds with their huge red neck pouches were also amazing, we saw some of those this morning. All in all, the week out here has definetly left its mark on me. The beauty of the islands speak for itself, and no other place in the world do you see such variety in scenery, and such different animal life living peacefully in co-existence. You keep having to remind yourself that you are not in the zoo. Unfortunately, our guide was very preoccupied with the deterioration of the islands and how introdued animal life and over fishing is ruining the islands, true as it is. It is a rapidly growing tourist destination, leaving its marks.
Alex
Back on board we had lunch and dinner, which despite being quite good, was a huge disappointment. We just came from the inka trail where the food, with no kitchen, was amazing every day and night. There really was nothing wrong with the service or food on board of the yacht, but after seeing your porters work their asses off for you like they did, it was hard to settle to just being taken care of on a yacht, as spoiled as we realise that makes us. Not meant as a criticism to the boat and its crew, but more as another compliment to the inka trail. Now we are back to sleeping on busses and cheap hostals, where our illusion of being so well taken care of everywhere we go will come crashing down.
Day two took us snorkling in the morning at Rabida island. The amazing range of islands out here is one of the most surprising elements. Within a kilometers distance, one island will have pure white beaches whereas the other will have blac
k volcanic rock/sand, and the next being completely barren and red, each offering a different kind of animal life. Rabida offered, as the only thing most places have in common, sea lions peacefully hunting and playing with you while you snorkel around. Of other things to see was the many differently coloured fish on the ocean floor, sea stars and sting rays. This being our first time in the water, we were fascinated by the variety of life. Im really just counting on AC to uload some of her many many pictures soon, including some underwater ones. The ones posted on here are just some that I found on google.We continued on to Santiago island after that where we also spent the afternoon snorkeling and checking out the underwater life. The usual routine consisted of first snorkeling and the following it up by a small one hour hike on the island.
We visited Bartolome and Seymour islands the following day (yesterday). We again did a lot of snorkeling, and managed to see sea turtles, sea lions, marine iguanas, penguins, dolphins (though far out in the distance unfortunately) and sharks. Sharks would often come around the boat to circle around us, and despite supposedly being completely peaceful, jumping into the water and swimming around after seeing a 2 meter shark was a little frightening. Nevertheless, the only time we saw one of those huge sharks while snorkeling, it quietly circled around us, allowed us to get close and then quietly swam away. The funnest animal to swim around with was without a doubt the sea lions. The younger ones were often quite playful and swam around you, came all the way up to your hand and showed off their underwater abilities. For me, seeing the sea turtles was a huge experience. Theyre exceptionally beautiful animals and very rare in the rest of the world, although we easily saw 4-5 of them swimming around. Only saw a few penguins in the water, and because theyre so small and fast, its almost impossibly to take pictures of them or admire them properly. We usually managed to be in the water for about an hour at a time before it got too cold (the water was around 20 degrees, reaching its highest of 25-28 around february).Our hikes on the islands also provided us with plenty of animal life. Land iguanas in their beautiful warm colours, marine iguanas swimming under the water and resting above it, the smaller but hugely coloured lava lizards. Blue footed boobie birds were also amusing, doing their mating dance by jumping from one foot to the other, their feet so blue they could just have stepped out of some bubblegum. Frigatebirds with their huge red neck pouches were also amazing, we saw some of those this morning. All in all, the week out here has definetly left its mark on me. The beauty of the islands speak for itself, and no other place in the world do you see such variety in scenery, and such different animal life living peacefully in co-existence. You keep having to remind yourself that you are not in the zoo. Unfortunately, our guide was very preoccupied with the deterioration of the islands and how introdued animal life and over fishing is ruining the islands, true as it is. It is a rapidly growing tourist destination, leaving its marks.
Alex
Apr 29, 2010
Inca Trail
Finally back after four amazing days in the Andes - we got picked up at 6am sunday morning and started our Inca Trail not long after. The first 4-5 hours was both up and down, and I found myself struggling with my breathing when we arrived at our lunch spot - figured out later that Becky's astma-thing worked quite well though.
Arriving at our lunch spot we were served a delicious meal of soup, stuffed avocados and rice and tea - we did not expect such a nice service, as the company hires porters that walk ahead of us and prepare tents and food for us - which I did not realize till we had our first stop.
Apparently we had 14 porters in total - a cook, an assistent and a head of porters. Our group was only of 10 people and 2 guides, so when I found out what these guides get paid according to what we paid to go on the trek, I immediately felt bad.
The first day we walked up 700 meters in total, including lots of ups and downs. When we arrived to our first campsite, we were introduced to our porters - from 21 to 60 years old, all carrying up to 28kg - absolutely crazy!
We had been struggling to get up the damn mountain with our maximum 10kg bags, and they were litterally running up the mountains almost not breaking a single sweat. Hard to believe!
We slept in tents in an altitude of 3700 meters - and damn, it was cold! I woke up in the morning feeling like ice, but in a good mood because of the amazing view we had over the valley. The second day we reached our highest spot, 4200 meters about two hours after waking up to pancakes and porridge. Slept in about the same altitude as the first night, not as cold though. The third day was not as tough, as we were mainly walking down - although that is damn hard as well when the mountain is crazily steep!
The third day we arrived at our campsite quite early, and I found time to take a nap - after getting up 5.30 the last three days, I was completely shattered. We had a great meal once again, and said goodbye to our porters that were leaving on the morning of the fourth day.
The fourth day was special - we got up at 3.30 am in order to be the first in line when the gate to the last hour of the Inca Trail opened at 5.30. By the time the gate opened, we had about 200 people behind us, all waiting desperately to get to the Sungate, a place from where you can see Machu Picchu. We started out almost running because our guide wanted our group to be the first to reach the Sungate - and so we did.
We spent a couple of hours in Machu Picchu, getting a tour round the ruins, absolutely amazing to learn so much about the Incas and their culture. Great, great experience - and, of course, we have lots of pictures (when haven't I...)!
We walked down to Aguas Calientes from where we were to take the train back at 9pm - which meant we had to kill about 8 hours in a tiny town. I chose to go with a girl from our group to check out the hot springs - and that turned out to be a great idea! It was soooo nice to relax in hot mineral water after four days without a proper shower.
So, now I have developed a hatred for steps and staircases - we were literally all walking like old men at the end of the Inca Trail, especially after climbing 53 steps of "Gringo Killers"!
Good thing we're going on a cruise soon - my legs would collapse at the sight of more than ten steps in a row now... At least for a couple of days :D
We were absolutely shattered when we finally got back to our house - Mary waiting for us with cake at 12.30 am. So nice!
Got up this morning to a mixed experience - we are SO excited about finally being assured that we are definitely going to Galapagos, but at the same time, we had to say goodbye to the Rainbow Centre.
The goodbye was so tough - the kids telling us that we have been great teachers and that they love us and they'll miss us and getting cards from them, was absolutely not something I could stand without crying. Alex got a bracelet and a necklace from Lizandra, one of the girls from the Rainbow House, and I got the nicest card from Marco (also a kid from the Rainbow House) that he had written all by himself.
For me, one of the hardest things was also saying goodbye to Becky and Mary. We've had such an amazing time together in the Volunteer House, so it was tough to realize the fact that we might not see them again in a very long time.
We went back and did some packing, went to Cusco and bought a ticket to Lima - an 18 hour busride, so we should be in Lima tomorrow midday if the Peruvian system doesn't fail us once again.
Arriving at our lunch spot we were served a delicious meal of soup, stuffed avocados and rice and tea - we did not expect such a nice service, as the company hires porters that walk ahead of us and prepare tents and food for us - which I did not realize till we had our first stop.
Apparently we had 14 porters in total - a cook, an assistent and a head of porters. Our group was only of 10 people and 2 guides, so when I found out what these guides get paid according to what we paid to go on the trek, I immediately felt bad.
The first day we walked up 700 meters in total, including lots of ups and downs. When we arrived to our first campsite, we were introduced to our porters - from 21 to 60 years old, all carrying up to 28kg - absolutely crazy!
We had been struggling to get up the damn mountain with our maximum 10kg bags, and they were litterally running up the mountains almost not breaking a single sweat. Hard to believe!
We slept in tents in an altitude of 3700 meters - and damn, it was cold! I woke up in the morning feeling like ice, but in a good mood because of the amazing view we had over the valley. The second day we reached our highest spot, 4200 meters about two hours after waking up to pancakes and porridge. Slept in about the same altitude as the first night, not as cold though. The third day was not as tough, as we were mainly walking down - although that is damn hard as well when the mountain is crazily steep!
The third day we arrived at our campsite quite early, and I found time to take a nap - after getting up 5.30 the last three days, I was completely shattered. We had a great meal once again, and said goodbye to our porters that were leaving on the morning of the fourth day.
The fourth day was special - we got up at 3.30 am in order to be the first in line when the gate to the last hour of the Inca Trail opened at 5.30. By the time the gate opened, we had about 200 people behind us, all waiting desperately to get to the Sungate, a place from where you can see Machu Picchu. We started out almost running because our guide wanted our group to be the first to reach the Sungate - and so we did.
We spent a couple of hours in Machu Picchu, getting a tour round the ruins, absolutely amazing to learn so much about the Incas and their culture. Great, great experience - and, of course, we have lots of pictures (when haven't I...)!
We walked down to Aguas Calientes from where we were to take the train back at 9pm - which meant we had to kill about 8 hours in a tiny town. I chose to go with a girl from our group to check out the hot springs - and that turned out to be a great idea! It was soooo nice to relax in hot mineral water after four days without a proper shower.
So, now I have developed a hatred for steps and staircases - we were literally all walking like old men at the end of the Inca Trail, especially after climbing 53 steps of "Gringo Killers"!
Good thing we're going on a cruise soon - my legs would collapse at the sight of more than ten steps in a row now... At least for a couple of days :D
We were absolutely shattered when we finally got back to our house - Mary waiting for us with cake at 12.30 am. So nice!
Got up this morning to a mixed experience - we are SO excited about finally being assured that we are definitely going to Galapagos, but at the same time, we had to say goodbye to the Rainbow Centre.
The goodbye was so tough - the kids telling us that we have been great teachers and that they love us and they'll miss us and getting cards from them, was absolutely not something I could stand without crying. Alex got a bracelet and a necklace from Lizandra, one of the girls from the Rainbow House, and I got the nicest card from Marco (also a kid from the Rainbow House) that he had written all by himself.
For me, one of the hardest things was also saying goodbye to Becky and Mary. We've had such an amazing time together in the Volunteer House, so it was tough to realize the fact that we might not see them again in a very long time.
We went back and did some packing, went to Cusco and bought a ticket to Lima - an 18 hour busride, so we should be in Lima tomorrow midday if the Peruvian system doesn't fail us once again.
Apr 24, 2010
Busy week
Finally have time to come down to a cafe after a super busy week at the rainbow center. Throughout the week we have been occupied with planning a fundraiser event that we have just finished with - a football tournament. Charging every team participating, we managed in the end to come up with 8 teams. We´ve been running around like madmen talking to locals, getting bakeries to make cakes etc. etc. It was a mild success in the end, and I suppose its more about raising awareness about special needs than the dough. Yesterday, friday, was spent with workshops at school because a travelling circus decided to pop by and give us a free showing. They were all firedancers at the Burning Man festival in San Francisco and so theyre fireshow was definetly memorable for us and kids alike. During the day they tought the kids acrobatics, juggling and other various typical circus feats. Friday also happened to be our last day at the rainbow center, so it was a fun way to end it all. Planning on coming back to say our goodbyes on thursday though, so AC has not had her intense crying session just yet.
Tomorrow morning we get picked up at 6 to start our 4 day inka trail. Essentially we hike about a marathon length on the inkas paths over the 3 days and end up in Machu Picchu on the last day. Getting back late wednesday night, having our goodbyes in school on thursday, and then its off to Galapagos. We will be going from Machu Picchu to Galapagos in a week, and AC still found the time to complain about not hitting town on wednesday night in Urubamba. To be fair, it would have been fun to say our goodbyes with this place, although I find myself unusually spoiled complaining about it. Essentially tonight will then be our very last night in Urubamba and we will therefore all be going out to a nice restaurant in a minute.
Thats all for now but will update on Machu Picchu and the trail once thats over.
Alex
Tomorrow morning we get picked up at 6 to start our 4 day inka trail. Essentially we hike about a marathon length on the inkas paths over the 3 days and end up in Machu Picchu on the last day. Getting back late wednesday night, having our goodbyes in school on thursday, and then its off to Galapagos. We will be going from Machu Picchu to Galapagos in a week, and AC still found the time to complain about not hitting town on wednesday night in Urubamba. To be fair, it would have been fun to say our goodbyes with this place, although I find myself unusually spoiled complaining about it. Essentially tonight will then be our very last night in Urubamba and we will therefore all be going out to a nice restaurant in a minute.
Thats all for now but will update on Machu Picchu and the trail once thats over.
Alex
Apr 17, 2010
Work work work woooork
The last couple of days we've been working quite a lot. Wednesday was a fun day though - it was Orange Day, so we were all dressed in orange and had orange food and played balloon dancing and a lot of other really fun games.
Thursday I worked with a really happy Fernando (18, autist). I did hand massage and ludotherapy with him, using instruments and toys, playing with teddy bears and making cow sounds. He was in a great mood, and it really makes you happy when this 18-year old autist runs around the centre laughing and clapping his hands - especially when you know that you're part of the reason why he's happy, since he absolutely loves ludotherapy.
In the second class I helped out with Funcional, the oldest group. They were supposed to pick things that they liked from Orange Day and draw them with orange colours. I helped Fernando do a puzzle (one of the things that my aunt and mom sent me by the way - thanks!), and kept and eye on the other kids while doing it. Javier, a boy with downs syndrome, came and gave me a big hug telling me that I am pretty, while I was sitting on a chair helping Fernando. Later, Kattya, 20, also downs syndrome, told me that she loved me and that she will miss me when I'm gone. I am never gonna be able to leave!
In the afternoon we made jewellery with the oldest kids - lovely! :D
Friday I worked in inicial with the smallest kids, as always focusing on my favourite, Benjamin. He was playing with some wax that he was really fascinated by, and that kept his concentration for more than 2 minutes - which is absolutely incredible!
In the second class I worked on the computer organizing photos from Orange Day, and Becky and I had to stay at the center till 3.30 before we could leave, starving. Good day though.
Today has been a very relaxing day - reading, going for a walk, having lunch at Misky Song'o... Tonight we're going out in Urubamba, a thing we haven't done for long - hopefully it'll be fun! :)
Thursday I worked with a really happy Fernando (18, autist). I did hand massage and ludotherapy with him, using instruments and toys, playing with teddy bears and making cow sounds. He was in a great mood, and it really makes you happy when this 18-year old autist runs around the centre laughing and clapping his hands - especially when you know that you're part of the reason why he's happy, since he absolutely loves ludotherapy.
In the second class I helped out with Funcional, the oldest group. They were supposed to pick things that they liked from Orange Day and draw them with orange colours. I helped Fernando do a puzzle (one of the things that my aunt and mom sent me by the way - thanks!), and kept and eye on the other kids while doing it. Javier, a boy with downs syndrome, came and gave me a big hug telling me that I am pretty, while I was sitting on a chair helping Fernando. Later, Kattya, 20, also downs syndrome, told me that she loved me and that she will miss me when I'm gone. I am never gonna be able to leave!
In the afternoon we made jewellery with the oldest kids - lovely! :D
Friday I worked in inicial with the smallest kids, as always focusing on my favourite, Benjamin. He was playing with some wax that he was really fascinated by, and that kept his concentration for more than 2 minutes - which is absolutely incredible!
In the second class I worked on the computer organizing photos from Orange Day, and Becky and I had to stay at the center till 3.30 before we could leave, starving. Good day though.
Today has been a very relaxing day - reading, going for a walk, having lunch at Misky Song'o... Tonight we're going out in Urubamba, a thing we haven't done for long - hopefully it'll be fun! :)
Apr 13, 2010
A lot of goodbyes...
Alex, my mom and I went to Fallen Angel wednesday night to show my mom the extraordinary restaurant - and it didn't let us down, as we had the best food ever combined with a glass of wine and a great dessert. Great goodbye-meal, as my mom was leaving on thursday morning.
We spent thursday in school doing workshop in the afternoon, Becky and I watching out for the Rainbow House kids in school because the substitute mother had something else to do. When we got back, we waited for Mary and her dad (that had been there since saturday) to get back from their trip to Machu Picchu, before we went to our favourite pizza plaze, Pizza Wasi, to have another goodbye-meal - for Andrea this time. She was leaving friday morning and seeing her say goodbye to all the kids was absolutely horrible - and it did not make me look forward to our last day!!!
After school we all went to Cusco to have our third goodbye-meal in a row - the last one leaving this week was Mary's dad, so we went out for dinner in Cusco and played some pool at Mushrooms, Mary's favourite going-out-place, and afterwards we went to have a lousy salsa lesson followed by a couple of hours discovering Cusco's nightlife yet another time.
The weekend was very relaxing - saturday we just chilled in the volunteer house, watching a couple of movies, and sunday we went for an amazing hike in the mountains - pictures are coming up!
I started monday measuring the weight and height of the oldest kids at the center in the first lesson - and got a chock to realize, when stepping on the weight myself, that I gained an annoying 4 kilos since I got here! Sooo, I just put myself on a two-day avocado diet starting today..
Yesterday Alex and I bought tickets from Lima to Guayaquil, May 1st - which means that we might be able to go to Galapagos! My dream is getting closer!
In the meantime, I am getting more and more sad, realizing that I had my second-last day in Chinchero today, we are going to the Rainbow House for the second-last time this afternoon, and that I will soon have to cry my eyes out because I'll be missing the center and all its people and animals like crazy once we're leaving....
We spent thursday in school doing workshop in the afternoon, Becky and I watching out for the Rainbow House kids in school because the substitute mother had something else to do. When we got back, we waited for Mary and her dad (that had been there since saturday) to get back from their trip to Machu Picchu, before we went to our favourite pizza plaze, Pizza Wasi, to have another goodbye-meal - for Andrea this time. She was leaving friday morning and seeing her say goodbye to all the kids was absolutely horrible - and it did not make me look forward to our last day!!!
After school we all went to Cusco to have our third goodbye-meal in a row - the last one leaving this week was Mary's dad, so we went out for dinner in Cusco and played some pool at Mushrooms, Mary's favourite going-out-place, and afterwards we went to have a lousy salsa lesson followed by a couple of hours discovering Cusco's nightlife yet another time.
The weekend was very relaxing - saturday we just chilled in the volunteer house, watching a couple of movies, and sunday we went for an amazing hike in the mountains - pictures are coming up!
I started monday measuring the weight and height of the oldest kids at the center in the first lesson - and got a chock to realize, when stepping on the weight myself, that I gained an annoying 4 kilos since I got here! Sooo, I just put myself on a two-day avocado diet starting today..
Yesterday Alex and I bought tickets from Lima to Guayaquil, May 1st - which means that we might be able to go to Galapagos! My dream is getting closer!
In the meantime, I am getting more and more sad, realizing that I had my second-last day in Chinchero today, we are going to the Rainbow House for the second-last time this afternoon, and that I will soon have to cry my eyes out because I'll be missing the center and all its people and animals like crazy once we're leaving....
Apr 8, 2010
After a great week in Ica, Nazca and Arequipa, it was back to work as usual. Its strange thinking we only have two weeks left at the center now and only 3 in peru. Trying to find a way to kill a weeks time in the end of april/beginning of may as AC is travelling to Galapagos. Planning on either staying in Cusco, Lima or La Paz. Anyone feel like coming out to visit either of these places???
Spent the day today doing what I do best, lying on the grass, occasionally telling some kid off, playing football and going to the park. I dont understand this school, I wish mine had been more like it. Morning started off with an hour and a half worth of baseball. Classes didnt seem more important apparently. Had a terrible day yesterday though, up in Chinchero. Started off with a girl tripping over my feet, faceplanting the pavement and breaking her nose. The next second, another girl ran into my legs, tripping over and hitting her head onto the ground, also bleeding alot. Not long after a third repeated the trick, and I looked in a bad situation when the teacher came running out with three loudly crying and bleeding kids lying next to me. What are the chances? Decided to stay clear of kids for the rest of the day, and today after this morning making another boy cry after accidentally tripping him over. I swear im usually good with kids.
Just a quick update this time, thanks for the comments. AND let me know if you wanna come visit during that week :-) Anyone is more than welcome, whether i know you or not.
Alex
Spent the day today doing what I do best, lying on the grass, occasionally telling some kid off, playing football and going to the park. I dont understand this school, I wish mine had been more like it. Morning started off with an hour and a half worth of baseball. Classes didnt seem more important apparently. Had a terrible day yesterday though, up in Chinchero. Started off with a girl tripping over my feet, faceplanting the pavement and breaking her nose. The next second, another girl ran into my legs, tripping over and hitting her head onto the ground, also bleeding alot. Not long after a third repeated the trick, and I looked in a bad situation when the teacher came running out with three loudly crying and bleeding kids lying next to me. What are the chances? Decided to stay clear of kids for the rest of the day, and today after this morning making another boy cry after accidentally tripping him over. I swear im usually good with kids.
Just a quick update this time, thanks for the comments. AND let me know if you wanna come visit during that week :-) Anyone is more than welcome, whether i know you or not.
Alex
Apr 4, 2010
Vacaciones
Once again, sorry for the lack of updates - we've had a very busy easter holiday.
My mom arrived sunday morning, and I sent her to Urubamba because all of the volunteers were going on a Sacred Valley tour. I'd just got out of the hospital, so I was a little tired - good thing we were sitting in a bus most of the tour. We went to Chinchero and saw the ruins there, and then Ollantayambo - more ruins (basically all there is....). Had lunch in Urubamba where my mom joined for the last part of the tour, and we went to Pisac to check out more ruins and pre-inca stuff - we also saw a full rainbow, it was so pretty.
Monday Alex, and I went to Cusco to show my mom around (=shopping and Jack's!), before we met up with the others to jump on a bus to Ica. When we arrived tuesday morning we decided to go sandboarding - and that was a very, very good decision! We went on sort of a tour with a sandbuggy driving around in the desert, and by driving I mean insane driving - it was completely like a roller coaster! The driver chose some places for us to do sandboarding, an absolutely incredible experience. Either you lie down on your stomach or you try standing on the board on the way down - so cool.
The area was called Huacachina, a place with an incredible oasis in the middle of the desert, and we went back there wednesday morning before we took another two hour bumpy ride on a bus to Nazca to go see the Nazca lines. On the way there, however, we saw the outlook tower we were supposed to go to, and decided not to go back as the tower was tiny and far away....
We spend the day in Nazca just chilling on Plaza the Armas, playing cards, shopping a bit and getting an amazing banana split - and in the evening we took a night bus to Arequipa, where we were going to have another three days.
Arequipa is a great city - you can go river rafting, horseback riding, climb a volcano, do the Colca Canyon trek and lots of other stuff - wish we'd had more time there! We ended up going mountain biking down the volcano el Misty on our first day, a tour of four hours on a bike mostly downhill, but also uphill a couple of times. It was absolutely great - and, I discovered a new talent of mine - spitting stones from oranges!
We decided to do the one day Colca Canyon tour on our second day - which involves getting up at two in the morning, yay! However, it was a great experience - we saw 7 condors and met about a hundred llamas, and Becky and I even got to have an eagle sitting on our arm. Went to some thermal baths in the canyon as well, before we headed towards Arequipa again. We were so lucky as to have a bus with no heating system, and being 5000m above sea level in a could, bumpy bus is not exactly the most comfortable experience. On our way back, we had not only one tire, but two tires deciding to give up on the tough mountain roads. Only having one extra, we all had to get out of the bus and wait for a looooong time before moving on in a bus with one flat tire, feeling a bit like a cartoon figure in a bus more bumpy than ever. But yeah, we're in Peru, so what could we expect?
Becky, Alex and I went to the Point hostel in Arequipa for the night. We wanted to go out, but ended up staying at the crowded hostel seeing as it was easter week and all bars and clubs apparently were closed. We did have a good night anyway, as the Point is always stuffed with other backpackers looking for a good time.
Saturday we spent walking around in Arequipa, seeing the monastery - an entire town inside Arequipa where the nuns are still living, almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. We also went to see the only real cinema of Peru, but had to leave disappointed because the movies were all in Spanish. We ended up going to the best restaurant ever for dinner - a place called Zig Zag that had a recommendation in the Lonely Planet. We had a lot of peruvian specialties, for instance we tried the alpaca meat and the trout, but really great.
Saturday was the last day of our tour as we're having school tomorrow. I was quite tired due to my lack of sleep the last couple of days, so the 10 hour bus ride from Arequipa to Cusco was a very short ride for me - I fell asleep even before we started driving from the busstaion, and besides waking up a couple of times because of the freezing temperature of the bus, I slept till we entered the bus station.
Today the Plaza in Cusco is filled with people due to Easter break, and there are parades all over, which is quite interesting. Tomorrow we'll go back to scool - and I can't wait to see the kids again!
My mom arrived sunday morning, and I sent her to Urubamba because all of the volunteers were going on a Sacred Valley tour. I'd just got out of the hospital, so I was a little tired - good thing we were sitting in a bus most of the tour. We went to Chinchero and saw the ruins there, and then Ollantayambo - more ruins (basically all there is....). Had lunch in Urubamba where my mom joined for the last part of the tour, and we went to Pisac to check out more ruins and pre-inca stuff - we also saw a full rainbow, it was so pretty.
Monday Alex, and I went to Cusco to show my mom around (=shopping and Jack's!), before we met up with the others to jump on a bus to Ica. When we arrived tuesday morning we decided to go sandboarding - and that was a very, very good decision! We went on sort of a tour with a sandbuggy driving around in the desert, and by driving I mean insane driving - it was completely like a roller coaster! The driver chose some places for us to do sandboarding, an absolutely incredible experience. Either you lie down on your stomach or you try standing on the board on the way down - so cool.
The area was called Huacachina, a place with an incredible oasis in the middle of the desert, and we went back there wednesday morning before we took another two hour bumpy ride on a bus to Nazca to go see the Nazca lines. On the way there, however, we saw the outlook tower we were supposed to go to, and decided not to go back as the tower was tiny and far away....
We spend the day in Nazca just chilling on Plaza the Armas, playing cards, shopping a bit and getting an amazing banana split - and in the evening we took a night bus to Arequipa, where we were going to have another three days.
Arequipa is a great city - you can go river rafting, horseback riding, climb a volcano, do the Colca Canyon trek and lots of other stuff - wish we'd had more time there! We ended up going mountain biking down the volcano el Misty on our first day, a tour of four hours on a bike mostly downhill, but also uphill a couple of times. It was absolutely great - and, I discovered a new talent of mine - spitting stones from oranges!
We decided to do the one day Colca Canyon tour on our second day - which involves getting up at two in the morning, yay! However, it was a great experience - we saw 7 condors and met about a hundred llamas, and Becky and I even got to have an eagle sitting on our arm. Went to some thermal baths in the canyon as well, before we headed towards Arequipa again. We were so lucky as to have a bus with no heating system, and being 5000m above sea level in a could, bumpy bus is not exactly the most comfortable experience. On our way back, we had not only one tire, but two tires deciding to give up on the tough mountain roads. Only having one extra, we all had to get out of the bus and wait for a looooong time before moving on in a bus with one flat tire, feeling a bit like a cartoon figure in a bus more bumpy than ever. But yeah, we're in Peru, so what could we expect?
Becky, Alex and I went to the Point hostel in Arequipa for the night. We wanted to go out, but ended up staying at the crowded hostel seeing as it was easter week and all bars and clubs apparently were closed. We did have a good night anyway, as the Point is always stuffed with other backpackers looking for a good time.
Saturday we spent walking around in Arequipa, seeing the monastery - an entire town inside Arequipa where the nuns are still living, almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. We also went to see the only real cinema of Peru, but had to leave disappointed because the movies were all in Spanish. We ended up going to the best restaurant ever for dinner - a place called Zig Zag that had a recommendation in the Lonely Planet. We had a lot of peruvian specialties, for instance we tried the alpaca meat and the trout, but really great.
Saturday was the last day of our tour as we're having school tomorrow. I was quite tired due to my lack of sleep the last couple of days, so the 10 hour bus ride from Arequipa to Cusco was a very short ride for me - I fell asleep even before we started driving from the busstaion, and besides waking up a couple of times because of the freezing temperature of the bus, I slept till we entered the bus station.
Today the Plaza in Cusco is filled with people due to Easter break, and there are parades all over, which is quite interesting. Tomorrow we'll go back to scool - and I can't wait to see the kids again!
Mar 27, 2010
Busy week
Sorry for the lack of updates, but with the CIS group being here, it has been quite a busy week. The day CIS got here, the areas water decided to call it quits and we were left without running water for 48 hours. With a new group of 20 CIS people in the building, the lack of toilets quickly became a problem and we had to stay away from the house as much as possible for our own sakes. These are just some of the conditions we have to just take with a pinch of salt and move on from. Also had the electricity die on us a few days ago, so its been a tough week to get through.
CIS has been working all week on building a house on the school grounds for Fernando and have gotten surprisingly far with an almost completed house standing as proof. None of them were picky and got straight down to work with mixing cement, carrying blocks and painting bits and pieces all over. Was very cool to see, and it was equally fun to show them around the school. The volunteers almost got a weeks break as the kids were more excited to see 15 blonde young kids walking around their school, not surprisingly. Unfortunately, a few of them were hit by salmonella and guardia, resulting in doctors visits and hospital visits too. As a matter of fact, every single volunteer, including myself, were hit with guardia (parasites). This being our cusco weekend, its a shame our medication says no drinking. AC has unfortunately, unlucky as she is, been hit with more than just the guardia and is now, again, hospitalized with a fun mix of salmonella, guardia and amoeba. She is doing well considering the circumstances, though and plans to leave already later today. She did however miss out on a Cusco city tour yesterday.
Found out just 2 days ago that next week there will be no school at all. Easter is massive down here, and celebrations go on for weeks. Either way, we plan to use the time to travel to Arequipa and Ica to see volcanoes and go sandsurfing, as well as the Nazca lines. Will come back and update more frequently,
Alex
CIS has been working all week on building a house on the school grounds for Fernando and have gotten surprisingly far with an almost completed house standing as proof. None of them were picky and got straight down to work with mixing cement, carrying blocks and painting bits and pieces all over. Was very cool to see, and it was equally fun to show them around the school. The volunteers almost got a weeks break as the kids were more excited to see 15 blonde young kids walking around their school, not surprisingly. Unfortunately, a few of them were hit by salmonella and guardia, resulting in doctors visits and hospital visits too. As a matter of fact, every single volunteer, including myself, were hit with guardia (parasites). This being our cusco weekend, its a shame our medication says no drinking. AC has unfortunately, unlucky as she is, been hit with more than just the guardia and is now, again, hospitalized with a fun mix of salmonella, guardia and amoeba. She is doing well considering the circumstances, though and plans to leave already later today. She did however miss out on a Cusco city tour yesterday.
Found out just 2 days ago that next week there will be no school at all. Easter is massive down here, and celebrations go on for weeks. Either way, we plan to use the time to travel to Arequipa and Ica to see volcanoes and go sandsurfing, as well as the Nazca lines. Will come back and update more frequently,
Alex
Mar 20, 2010
New volunteers, Rainbow House and Cusco night out
Wednesday we went to pick up a new volunteer, Andrea, in the airport. Went back and gave her the grand tour of Urubamba, and since it was Sct. Patricks day, Mary had decided to cook for all of us, and it was really great. It was also wednesday, night for going out in Urubamba, so of course we ended up at Tequila Bar.
Thursday there was no school, because there was a strike in town, so Alex and I went to help out Mel with some pictures for the Rainbow House. We went to the Rainbow House later as well, and helped the kids with their homework and watched some of Avatar in Spanish. Interesting...
Friday was spent preparing a song with the kids that they are supposed to be singing for the CIS people. After school we went to Cusco to go out. Checked in at the hotel and went to have dinner at Fallen Angel, the most amazing place in Cusco - the tables are bath tubs with fish covered by glass, and there are couches and puffs and funny light. Best place ever! The food was amazing as well.
Afterwards we went to a place called Mushrooms at Plaza de Armas, where we had a couple of drinks - we had been going out a bit early, so we decided to spice things up and make a race of who could finish a beer first. I won by far!
We went to have some salsa lessons after playing some pool, good fun. Then we decided to go barhopping for some free drinks - and I had the weirdest experience ever. I litterally had three people pulling my right arm and four pulling my left - all of them from different clubs, promising us two, three or four free drinks each if we just came to their club. So we did manage to get tipsy and have a great night out in Cusco without psending too much money.
We got up saturday morning to have breakfast at Jack's (of course!!!), and to head of to some markets. Alex and Mary went back to Urubamba after about half an hour of shopping, and Becky, Andrea and I stayed in Cusco to buy ourselves some gringo shirts...
The CIS people have arrived, and we'll be 8 people in the volunteer house and the students living next door, so it's going to be busy there!
Thursday there was no school, because there was a strike in town, so Alex and I went to help out Mel with some pictures for the Rainbow House. We went to the Rainbow House later as well, and helped the kids with their homework and watched some of Avatar in Spanish. Interesting...
Friday was spent preparing a song with the kids that they are supposed to be singing for the CIS people. After school we went to Cusco to go out. Checked in at the hotel and went to have dinner at Fallen Angel, the most amazing place in Cusco - the tables are bath tubs with fish covered by glass, and there are couches and puffs and funny light. Best place ever! The food was amazing as well.
Afterwards we went to a place called Mushrooms at Plaza de Armas, where we had a couple of drinks - we had been going out a bit early, so we decided to spice things up and make a race of who could finish a beer first. I won by far!
We went to have some salsa lessons after playing some pool, good fun. Then we decided to go barhopping for some free drinks - and I had the weirdest experience ever. I litterally had three people pulling my right arm and four pulling my left - all of them from different clubs, promising us two, three or four free drinks each if we just came to their club. So we did manage to get tipsy and have a great night out in Cusco without psending too much money.
We got up saturday morning to have breakfast at Jack's (of course!!!), and to head of to some markets. Alex and Mary went back to Urubamba after about half an hour of shopping, and Becky, Andrea and I stayed in Cusco to buy ourselves some gringo shirts...
The CIS people have arrived, and we'll be 8 people in the volunteer house and the students living next door, so it's going to be busy there!
Mar 16, 2010
Marco's birthday and Chinchero
Another update!
Marco's birthday yesterday went really well. After school, Alex and I went to buy him a present - a schoolbag, a cap and a volleyball. And, because we thought he ought to have a piece of his favourite cake, one of those as well. Ended up giving about 80kr in total.
We went to dance with the kids because Marco wanted to listen to his favourite song "te amo", so we played "stopdans" a couple of times. Good fun!
When we finished playing, it was time for some cake - the substitute mother had made a massive cake for all of us. We had to give Marco his presents first, though. His face turned into one massive smile when he saw the piece of cake we'd brought him, and was about to get up and thank all of us, when we told him we had more. Seeing the bag, he was almost smiling to much to be able to say "gracias profes", and was about to get up again when we told him to open the bag and wee what was inside - the volleyball and the cap. He thanked us all like a million times and wore the cap and the bag immediately. It was amazing to see how happy a 15-year old boy can get when having a 80kr birthday present - at home, he probably would have been asking where in the bag his iPod was...
This morning I went to Chinchero with Becky and Mary. Got there at 9 and waited an hour and a half before any kids showed up - apparently the kids couldn't get to school because of the rain, imagine how that would be at home... :D
Becky and Mary helped out with class, and I went with Iris and Miguel to Proyecta de Vida. We went to visit some families whose kids were at school. In Chinchero, the outreach project is about teaching the parents how to improve their lives and the lives of their children. They've been going to the houses before and told the parents to make their houses better, and if they improved, the would get some food from Kiya Survivors. The first house we visited was the house of a boy called Carlos, who lives alone with his mother and grandmother because his dad left them. They have no toilet and share a tiny room with a stove and two beds. However, the mother had made a great effort to improve the house, so she got some pasta, breakfast and milk, and she was so happy.
Afterwards we went to the house of Alex and Martin, two little boys attending the school in Chinchero. They have two sisters attending a regular school, and they all sleep in the same bed with their mother. Imagine 5 people in a bed for 1! Their dad left them for another woman long time ago, and so Alex, about 7 I'd think, is the man of the house, in charge of everything with the house and the bit of farming they have.
However, the mother was not home, probably because she had heard the car coming and left because she didn't want to talk to Iris since the house looked the same as last time they were there.
We went back to Chinchero, dropped Iris off and then I went back to Urubamba with Miguel. It's a 40 minute drive from Chinchero to Urubamba, and I thought it was going to be boring sitting in the car with the driver and PE teacher of the school, but I actually managed to have a bit of a conversation with him in Spanish. AND! I got to drive the van!!!!!! I drove from about ten minutes outside Urubamba on the small mountain roads that leads to the town, in a van with breaks that do not work properly and where it is almost impossible to change gears. It was so funny though, and when we got into Urubamba, Miguel spotted the police and told me to stop, 'cause I didn't have my license with me. Good thing I just managed to pull over and switch places with Miguel, wouldn't have liked to be caught by peruvian police...
Tomorrow a new volunteer is arriving, and we'll be 5 in the house. It'll be great! Alex is missing some male company though, so he¡s looking forward to the arrival of CIS.
Marco's birthday yesterday went really well. After school, Alex and I went to buy him a present - a schoolbag, a cap and a volleyball. And, because we thought he ought to have a piece of his favourite cake, one of those as well. Ended up giving about 80kr in total.
We went to dance with the kids because Marco wanted to listen to his favourite song "te amo", so we played "stopdans" a couple of times. Good fun!
When we finished playing, it was time for some cake - the substitute mother had made a massive cake for all of us. We had to give Marco his presents first, though. His face turned into one massive smile when he saw the piece of cake we'd brought him, and was about to get up and thank all of us, when we told him we had more. Seeing the bag, he was almost smiling to much to be able to say "gracias profes", and was about to get up again when we told him to open the bag and wee what was inside - the volleyball and the cap. He thanked us all like a million times and wore the cap and the bag immediately. It was amazing to see how happy a 15-year old boy can get when having a 80kr birthday present - at home, he probably would have been asking where in the bag his iPod was...
This morning I went to Chinchero with Becky and Mary. Got there at 9 and waited an hour and a half before any kids showed up - apparently the kids couldn't get to school because of the rain, imagine how that would be at home... :D
Becky and Mary helped out with class, and I went with Iris and Miguel to Proyecta de Vida. We went to visit some families whose kids were at school. In Chinchero, the outreach project is about teaching the parents how to improve their lives and the lives of their children. They've been going to the houses before and told the parents to make their houses better, and if they improved, the would get some food from Kiya Survivors. The first house we visited was the house of a boy called Carlos, who lives alone with his mother and grandmother because his dad left them. They have no toilet and share a tiny room with a stove and two beds. However, the mother had made a great effort to improve the house, so she got some pasta, breakfast and milk, and she was so happy.
Afterwards we went to the house of Alex and Martin, two little boys attending the school in Chinchero. They have two sisters attending a regular school, and they all sleep in the same bed with their mother. Imagine 5 people in a bed for 1! Their dad left them for another woman long time ago, and so Alex, about 7 I'd think, is the man of the house, in charge of everything with the house and the bit of farming they have.
However, the mother was not home, probably because she had heard the car coming and left because she didn't want to talk to Iris since the house looked the same as last time they were there.
We went back to Chinchero, dropped Iris off and then I went back to Urubamba with Miguel. It's a 40 minute drive from Chinchero to Urubamba, and I thought it was going to be boring sitting in the car with the driver and PE teacher of the school, but I actually managed to have a bit of a conversation with him in Spanish. AND! I got to drive the van!!!!!! I drove from about ten minutes outside Urubamba on the small mountain roads that leads to the town, in a van with breaks that do not work properly and where it is almost impossible to change gears. It was so funny though, and when we got into Urubamba, Miguel spotted the police and told me to stop, 'cause I didn't have my license with me. Good thing I just managed to pull over and switch places with Miguel, wouldn't have liked to be caught by peruvian police...
Tomorrow a new volunteer is arriving, and we'll be 5 in the house. It'll be great! Alex is missing some male company though, so he¡s looking forward to the arrival of CIS.
Mar 15, 2010
A little extra..
I know Alex just wrote here, but I feel like I have to tell you guys about friday and monday.
Friday, I went to Proyecta de Vida ("life project") with Iris, our social worker, Miguel, our driver, and Mary, another volunteer. We went to visit the families of some of the kids that are not attending school and ask them why they're not coming.
We first went to Javier's house, a 17-year old boy with downs syndrome. His parents couldn't really give us a reason for him not being in school, but apparently they had a lot of problems in the family - the dad, 68, having trouble with his hearing, and the mother, 64, having severe back problems. They had 9 kids, and 2 of them died. Having a kid with downs syndrome on top of it cannot be very pleasant. Iris told the parents to visit a clinic to get a hearing aid for the dad and some physiotherapi for the mother, but they seemed very sceptical. She also told them to get a health insurance and to give her a copy of it - very strict lady, she is!
Afterwards we drove to a nearby town called Ollantaytambo to visit Jose Alberto. His mother works in a restaurant and might let her go soon because of the lack of tourism in Ollantaytambo. His dad is currently in a hospital in Cusco because he's got cancer - another very sad case that really made me appreciate the life I live!
Today has been a very interesting day - I was sitting in Mel's office when a 16-year old girl comes in - apparently she was waiting for Eli to come talk to her. She starts crying and tells me that yesterday her mother hit her on her thigh and pulled her hair, and that she was in pain. It was quite strange not knowing what to do, seeing as I am not used to speak to 16-year old girls about their problems with their mothers in Spanish, but I think I managed to make her feel a bit better. Eli comes in, and I walk off to help with Inicial. After about 10 minutes though, Eli wanted me to come to the office again to take pictures of the girls bruises. She had two huge bruises on her thigh, and when Eli told her that we were taking photos of it to have proof, she told her not to talk to her mother, 'cause she would get mad at her and hit her again. She couldn't explain why her mother hit her either. Quite a different experience compared to what I'm used to!
I'll find out what the school's going to do about her mother... In the meantime, we'll go celebrate Marco's birthday at the Rainbow House.
Friday, I went to Proyecta de Vida ("life project") with Iris, our social worker, Miguel, our driver, and Mary, another volunteer. We went to visit the families of some of the kids that are not attending school and ask them why they're not coming.
We first went to Javier's house, a 17-year old boy with downs syndrome. His parents couldn't really give us a reason for him not being in school, but apparently they had a lot of problems in the family - the dad, 68, having trouble with his hearing, and the mother, 64, having severe back problems. They had 9 kids, and 2 of them died. Having a kid with downs syndrome on top of it cannot be very pleasant. Iris told the parents to visit a clinic to get a hearing aid for the dad and some physiotherapi for the mother, but they seemed very sceptical. She also told them to get a health insurance and to give her a copy of it - very strict lady, she is!
Afterwards we drove to a nearby town called Ollantaytambo to visit Jose Alberto. His mother works in a restaurant and might let her go soon because of the lack of tourism in Ollantaytambo. His dad is currently in a hospital in Cusco because he's got cancer - another very sad case that really made me appreciate the life I live!
Today has been a very interesting day - I was sitting in Mel's office when a 16-year old girl comes in - apparently she was waiting for Eli to come talk to her. She starts crying and tells me that yesterday her mother hit her on her thigh and pulled her hair, and that she was in pain. It was quite strange not knowing what to do, seeing as I am not used to speak to 16-year old girls about their problems with their mothers in Spanish, but I think I managed to make her feel a bit better. Eli comes in, and I walk off to help with Inicial. After about 10 minutes though, Eli wanted me to come to the office again to take pictures of the girls bruises. She had two huge bruises on her thigh, and when Eli told her that we were taking photos of it to have proof, she told her not to talk to her mother, 'cause she would get mad at her and hit her again. She couldn't explain why her mother hit her either. Quite a different experience compared to what I'm used to!
I'll find out what the school's going to do about her mother... In the meantime, we'll go celebrate Marco's birthday at the Rainbow House.
Back to work
This weekend we decided to stay home or at least in the near area. One of the teachers, Elizabeth, wanted to visit a student who lived in the valley somewhere and we all went together on mountain bikes. It was amazingly beautiful to bike around in the valley, and fun, but with the altitude and our bad shape in mind, it was also extremely hard. We biked the whole morning from 8 till 2 in the afternoon and took the bus home. Stopping the bus when its already on its route is harder than it sounds, and after finally finding one and strapping our bikes to the roof, we were squeezed into a bus with no room for more people. Without a doubt the most uncomfortable bus ride of my life. Saturday night we went out to town in Urubamba but returned relatively early (around 2). For my part, it was because I had decided on getting up at 6 to watch the formula one grandprix with a local restaurant owner, also the owner of the only satellite television in town. It all went very well until power in the city died an hour into it. It didn´t come back for another 3 hours, and so I had missed the ending to my race despite getting up so early. However, I did manage to convince the tv owner to let me come by more often for the rest of the season as well as to watch football games at my own leisure = easier than going to Cusco.
After finding out that FCK-Broendby were playing, I found an internet cafe and managed to watch it online. The girls had in the meantime taken the bus to the Pisac market, a town around 45 minutes away from here with a supposedly huge market on sundays. Well satisfied with the result of the game, I hit the hammock for a few hours and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.
Today is Marco´s, one of the boys of the rainbow house, birthday and we plan on heading over there after school. Tried to find him an atlas or globe as a present considering his overwhelming knowledge of geography. On one of our first days, he surprised us danes by claiming that Denmark was indeed one of the largest countries in the world considering we had greenland to take into account. How does a 14 year old peruvian boy know this? Since then he has rambled on about countries, civil wars and knows far more than any of us about the world we live in, in terms of geography.
Speaking on my own behalf, i´m really beginning to miss certain aspects of life back home despite having a good time out here. Friends, family, living in a big city with constant electricity and most importantly, food. Rugbroed, leverpostej, haribo, lakrids, vingummier... CIS, you know what to do if you have any left over room in your luggage ^^.
Alex
After finding out that FCK-Broendby were playing, I found an internet cafe and managed to watch it online. The girls had in the meantime taken the bus to the Pisac market, a town around 45 minutes away from here with a supposedly huge market on sundays. Well satisfied with the result of the game, I hit the hammock for a few hours and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.
Today is Marco´s, one of the boys of the rainbow house, birthday and we plan on heading over there after school. Tried to find him an atlas or globe as a present considering his overwhelming knowledge of geography. On one of our first days, he surprised us danes by claiming that Denmark was indeed one of the largest countries in the world considering we had greenland to take into account. How does a 14 year old peruvian boy know this? Since then he has rambled on about countries, civil wars and knows far more than any of us about the world we live in, in terms of geography.
Speaking on my own behalf, i´m really beginning to miss certain aspects of life back home despite having a good time out here. Friends, family, living in a big city with constant electricity and most importantly, food. Rugbroed, leverpostej, haribo, lakrids, vingummier... CIS, you know what to do if you have any left over room in your luggage ^^.
Alex
Mar 11, 2010
Kids, disease and new volunteers!
Getting back from Mancora meant having to change attitude significantly. The constant lying on the beach was traded in for a more regular day at school, which as bad as it sounds, is really something we were looking forward to. Seeing the kids again on the first day of school was great, and this time with even more kids we hadn´t met yet. Because summer school was more about the fun and games, regular school has allowed us to get more one on one time with the kids which is really the most enjoyable part of it all. AC was as usual paired up with Benjamin, a 5 year old with downs syndrome and weak chin muscles. Work with him usually consists of making him exercise his muscles by blowing up balloons or just attempting to make him talk. I was given a student named Robert, also with downs syndrome. He has a hard time socialising with the other kids, so my job was primarily to play games with him and make him feel more appreciated before returning to class with him. We´ve both been attending the regular classes as well, trying, and not always succeeding, to keep the kids under somewhat control. Went to rainbow house after school yesterday as well, was as always a pleasure to be there with the rainbow house kids who mostly don´t attend the regular school at the rainbow centre. One of their substitute moms decided to leave recently, and so we had to go also to see how the new "mom" was coping with having 6 kids run around.
We now have two more volunteers at the rainbow centre, both girls. CIS, I really look forward to your visit, especially for some male company. Nobody dares take the trip to cusco with me to watch football anymore, for example. Nevertheless, both new volunteers are very nice and sociable. Because we´ve been quite busy recently, the only chance we´ve had to really get to know them has been around the dinner table where it´s getting harder by the day to cook with no oven, forcing you to really be creative with the stove.
My day today was not the best i´ve ever had. Experienced a hurting stomach and some nausea last night, and at school this morning when my stomach wasn´t feeling the best, AC forced me into a collectivo to Cusco in order to see the doctor. She insisted on coming with me in case something happened on the way, but I felt bad for ruining her day at the school. Got to the doctor, took some tests and found out I have 4 different kinds of salmonella, one strong kind and the other 3 either on the way up or dying out. On top of that, some parasites as well. Already forgot the name of it, but it was much less serious and easily killed with some pills supposedly. I have had to buy a bag full of antibiotics which, probably for the good, means no drinking or unhealthy eating for the next 10 days. I feel perfectly fine today, making it quite frustrating, and unless I feel significantly worse in the next few days, I don´t have to drop by hospital. In denmark, salmonella is made out to be the worst thing since cancer, but down here it really isn´t as serious. They know how to deal with it, and it´s very common. There are no serious symptoms in my case at least.
Will be back to update soon,
Alex
We now have two more volunteers at the rainbow centre, both girls. CIS, I really look forward to your visit, especially for some male company. Nobody dares take the trip to cusco with me to watch football anymore, for example. Nevertheless, both new volunteers are very nice and sociable. Because we´ve been quite busy recently, the only chance we´ve had to really get to know them has been around the dinner table where it´s getting harder by the day to cook with no oven, forcing you to really be creative with the stove.
My day today was not the best i´ve ever had. Experienced a hurting stomach and some nausea last night, and at school this morning when my stomach wasn´t feeling the best, AC forced me into a collectivo to Cusco in order to see the doctor. She insisted on coming with me in case something happened on the way, but I felt bad for ruining her day at the school. Got to the doctor, took some tests and found out I have 4 different kinds of salmonella, one strong kind and the other 3 either on the way up or dying out. On top of that, some parasites as well. Already forgot the name of it, but it was much less serious and easily killed with some pills supposedly. I have had to buy a bag full of antibiotics which, probably for the good, means no drinking or unhealthy eating for the next 10 days. I feel perfectly fine today, making it quite frustrating, and unless I feel significantly worse in the next few days, I don´t have to drop by hospital. In denmark, salmonella is made out to be the worst thing since cancer, but down here it really isn´t as serious. They know how to deal with it, and it´s very common. There are no serious symptoms in my case at least.
Will be back to update soon,
Alex
Mar 9, 2010
Back from Mancora...
Thursday we went surfing almost the entire day, got up at like 5 am to get ready. When we got back we met some danes at the hostel (locos!) and went out for dinner with them and some canadian friends. Decided to buy a lot of rum and coca cola and get drunk, and so we did. Went to check out Mancoras nightlife, and it turned out to be pretty good! Got back way too late and we were both hungover in the morning. Scrambled eggs and a lot of shopping saved my day though.
Took the bus back to Lima and checked in at the Point in Lima. Turned out there was a lot going on there, so we went out in Barranco though we were tired after 18 hours on a bus. Went to a nice club, and Alex ended up singing karaoke in Spanish, as weird as it sounds...
None of us had any sleep since our flight was at 10 in the morning, so we went directly to the airport round 8. We were sitting in the airport leaning over our table eating a crappy McDonalds toast, but finding it to be quite funny anyway. Had the shortest flight ever - when we were boarding, Alex almost yelled "shutgun for the window seat", and we sat down in the plane and fell asleep immediately. We don't even remember taking off, just woke up when we hit the ground in Cusco. Went to Jacks to get a big fluffy pancake (it was GREAT!) and went back to Urubamba.
In Urubamba a new volunteer was waiting for us, Becky. Went to bed early... Woke up to go for the first day of regular school. A lot of kids were missing since it was the first day, but other than that it was great. When we got back another new volunteer had just arrived, Mary, and we went out for lunch with her, Eli, Manu, Becky and Mel. Went back for Spanish and are now planning to go home for some dinner...
Took the bus back to Lima and checked in at the Point in Lima. Turned out there was a lot going on there, so we went out in Barranco though we were tired after 18 hours on a bus. Went to a nice club, and Alex ended up singing karaoke in Spanish, as weird as it sounds...
None of us had any sleep since our flight was at 10 in the morning, so we went directly to the airport round 8. We were sitting in the airport leaning over our table eating a crappy McDonalds toast, but finding it to be quite funny anyway. Had the shortest flight ever - when we were boarding, Alex almost yelled "shutgun for the window seat", and we sat down in the plane and fell asleep immediately. We don't even remember taking off, just woke up when we hit the ground in Cusco. Went to Jacks to get a big fluffy pancake (it was GREAT!) and went back to Urubamba.
In Urubamba a new volunteer was waiting for us, Becky. Went to bed early... Woke up to go for the first day of regular school. A lot of kids were missing since it was the first day, but other than that it was great. When we got back another new volunteer had just arrived, Mary, and we went out for lunch with her, Eli, Manu, Becky and Mel. Went back for Spanish and are now planning to go home for some dinner...
Mar 4, 2010
More Mancora
Woke up at 8 this morning to go to the Mama Cocha center here in the area. Unfortunately, there were currently only 2 kids there as the rest are either attending regular school or on vacation. This meant that as much as we loved spending time with Jose Antonio in his wheel chair and Hector, we only spent about 4 hours there. I managed to check out the whole place again - it has changed massively since the last time I was there with CIS. A huge wall surrounds the main building, next door is now another classroom, swings, shaded areas, a physiotherapy room and a climbing castle. It was almost unrecognizable. However, the sign I helped put up two years ago was still there along with the drawings we painted inside the house. The danish flagged fish, the mischievous looking turtle etc. Don´t think either of the two kids remembered me specifically, but seemed happy to have company no matter who we were.
Managed to book us in for an intensive 10 hour surfing trip tomorrow with 7 hours of surfing included, along with 4 other hostel guests. Felt exhausted after the last 2 hours so this should be a good workout. Really looking forward to it.
We walked down the beach for todays sunset and found horses to ride, so saw the sunset riding on horses down the beach. Although not my preferred method of transport, and never will be, it was fun. AC has definetly missed horses back home and enjoyed it alot. The sunsets "up" here are really amazing, plenty of photos taken :-)
Alex
Managed to book us in for an intensive 10 hour surfing trip tomorrow with 7 hours of surfing included, along with 4 other hostel guests. Felt exhausted after the last 2 hours so this should be a good workout. Really looking forward to it.
We walked down the beach for todays sunset and found horses to ride, so saw the sunset riding on horses down the beach. Although not my preferred method of transport, and never will be, it was fun. AC has definetly missed horses back home and enjoyed it alot. The sunsets "up" here are really amazing, plenty of photos taken :-)
Alex
Mar 3, 2010
Mancora
We try to upload as many pictures as we can, but it takes a good computer to upload pictures down here, and its hard to find those around, sorry. Doing our best, and thanks for the interest :-)
Coming to the end of tuesday here in Mancora after a few relaxing days. Feels like we have been super active, and I wish I could say we have, but weve spent most of our time by the pool. and the beach. with a beer. with good food. in 35 degrees. Anyone say snow, cold, depressing weather in denmark? Yesterday we went to town and got a surflesson for a couple of hours. Managed to stand up on quite a few waves and overall very satisfied with myself for a first timer, and I think AC can say the same. However, the waves were at the least 2-3 metres tall, and when youre lying down on a surfboard and about to surf for the first time, its a little scary when your instructor just turns your board around and pushes you into the wave. The trick, as we quickly discovered, is simply just not looking back. Had a lot of fun, and planning on going back for some more hours both thursday and friday. Will be heading to Mama Cocha, the other Kiya centre here in the area, tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how that has changed since the last time I was here.
The hostel were staying at is definetly meant for the younger crowd - loud music into the night and backpackers all around. Its definetly entertaining and you get to meet a lot of new people, but frustrating not to have anywhere to turn away to when you want just a minute of quiet and peace. Enjoying our days here without a doubt though, and despite looking forward to getting back to Urubamba already, I wish we could stay here for a few days extra with a few bucks extra in our wallets as well. Its not particularly expensive, but backpacking leaves you with a budget, unfortunately.
Coming to the end of tuesday here in Mancora after a few relaxing days. Feels like we have been super active, and I wish I could say we have, but weve spent most of our time by the pool. and the beach. with a beer. with good food. in 35 degrees. Anyone say snow, cold, depressing weather in denmark? Yesterday we went to town and got a surflesson for a couple of hours. Managed to stand up on quite a few waves and overall very satisfied with myself for a first timer, and I think AC can say the same. However, the waves were at the least 2-3 metres tall, and when youre lying down on a surfboard and about to surf for the first time, its a little scary when your instructor just turns your board around and pushes you into the wave. The trick, as we quickly discovered, is simply just not looking back. Had a lot of fun, and planning on going back for some more hours both thursday and friday. Will be heading to Mama Cocha, the other Kiya centre here in the area, tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how that has changed since the last time I was here.
The hostel were staying at is definetly meant for the younger crowd - loud music into the night and backpackers all around. Its definetly entertaining and you get to meet a lot of new people, but frustrating not to have anywhere to turn away to when you want just a minute of quiet and peace. Enjoying our days here without a doubt though, and despite looking forward to getting back to Urubamba already, I wish we could stay here for a few days extra with a few bucks extra in our wallets as well. Its not particularly expensive, but backpacking leaves you with a budget, unfortunately.
Feb 28, 2010
Mancora!
I was looking so much forward to go to the centre wednesday, but I found myself vomiting in the morning and was dragged to a doctor by Melanie. Was told that I had to go to the gringo (=traveller) clinic in Cusco, and so I did. Annoyed that I was not feeling that bad anymore, I had to get drop with some electrolytes and some other things 'cause apparently I had gotten myself salmonella, amoeba and a third thing that I don't remember the name of.
In case any of you don't know, the needles they put into your hand are huuuuuuge! And they had to switch them five times 'cause they couldn't find a vein.... Yay!
After trying to talk the nurses into letting me out, I was finally allowed to leave friday morning. Alex had spend two days at the centre painting faces and angels wings for the play, so I was excited about finally getting out of the hospital and being able to see the play that was on friday, the last day of summerschool. Still missed it 'cause I felt bad though, so I had to go to the house.
Fortunately I felt good saturday morning when we got up to catch our flight from Cusco to Lima!
We got off the plane and went directly to the bus station to catch a bus for Mancora. The bus left at 4pm, and we had food and drinks served by a funny man walking around the bus like a flight attendant with a trolley and a nice suit, asking if we would prefer coffee or tea with sugar.... Obviously we were not able to stay away from laughing at the very friendly man a couple of times, as he was coming over with a tray covered by a green cloth, offering readings such as Madagascar (the movie, turned into a childrens book) and other not very tempting magazines.
The bus was nice though, and we arrived at Mancora at about 9am this morning. We went to see Alex, the coordinater of the Mama Cocha centre in Los Organos (near Mancora), and went back to our hostel, the Point Hostel in Mancora.
Apparently we've arrived at a perfect day, 'cause tonight there's a fullmoon party at our hostel. Looking forward to a week in a vacation paradise with opportunities of surfing, horseback riding and lots of other stuff!
In case any of you don't know, the needles they put into your hand are huuuuuuge! And they had to switch them five times 'cause they couldn't find a vein.... Yay!
After trying to talk the nurses into letting me out, I was finally allowed to leave friday morning. Alex had spend two days at the centre painting faces and angels wings for the play, so I was excited about finally getting out of the hospital and being able to see the play that was on friday, the last day of summerschool. Still missed it 'cause I felt bad though, so I had to go to the house.
Fortunately I felt good saturday morning when we got up to catch our flight from Cusco to Lima!
We got off the plane and went directly to the bus station to catch a bus for Mancora. The bus left at 4pm, and we had food and drinks served by a funny man walking around the bus like a flight attendant with a trolley and a nice suit, asking if we would prefer coffee or tea with sugar.... Obviously we were not able to stay away from laughing at the very friendly man a couple of times, as he was coming over with a tray covered by a green cloth, offering readings such as Madagascar (the movie, turned into a childrens book) and other not very tempting magazines.
The bus was nice though, and we arrived at Mancora at about 9am this morning. We went to see Alex, the coordinater of the Mama Cocha centre in Los Organos (near Mancora), and went back to our hostel, the Point Hostel in Mancora.
Apparently we've arrived at a perfect day, 'cause tonight there's a fullmoon party at our hostel. Looking forward to a week in a vacation paradise with opportunities of surfing, horseback riding and lots of other stuff!
Feb 24, 2010
Bolivia and Titicaca
Just got back to Urubamba after quite a few days away. Alot has happened and ill do my best to remember it all.
We started off Friday around 6pm to leave for Cusco, having our bus to Puno leaving at 9pm. Having missed the last collectivo (shared taxi), we were forced to take the cheaper bus. Cheaper for obvious reasons. Takes twice as long, smells constantly of fart, petrol, sweat and is a bumpy, slow and just plain painful ride. Me and the other volunteer sat next to a highly crazy religious woman who worked at the meat market and smelled like it too. When we finally arrived in Cusco, all the excitement to be on our way was almost completely gone. Nevertheless, we found dinner in town and made our bus to puno with comfortable seats. Took about 8 hours, whereafter we jumped on a bus to Copacabana, the small village on lake titicaca in bolivia where Isla del sol is. This bus ride included crossing the border to bolivia, and for the other volunteer with us, an american, this was no easy task realizing she had to pay a 135 dollar visa. For us danes, we simpy walked across, filled out the forms and got our stamp. Turning our eyes the other way, the american opted towards making a deal with the bus drivers (since she didnt have 135 dollars handy) and was more or less smuggled across the border. She was told the same bus drivers would be there to pick us up, and the same procedure would go for the return ticket. The bus took 3 hours, and upon arrival we almost immediately jumped on a 2 hour boat to Isla del Sol, the island that the Inkas believed to be the origin of their god. We climbed to the top of the island and settled in, after much walking around and haggling after realizing there was no atm present and we had to be sparesome with our wallets. We found a cheap place with a stunning view over the lake and the snowy mountains in the background. Sat outside watching the approaching thunderstorm with a cold beer, thinking about how incredible the place was. Having a lake so massive it seems more like an ocean 4000 meters up in the mountains is hard to grasp.
We woke up early and set off on a hike across the island (about 15km). We had briefly met some brazilians the night before who joined us. It took us a good 3 and a half hours to get across the island, but the view was worth it all. Walking past inka ruins and constantly having this amazing view out over Lake Titicaca took the mind of being tired. We took a boat back to mainland and Copacabana around 1:30pm and went on the hunt for an atm as we were literally completely broke at that point. To our greatest surprise, there was only one bank in town, that only opened on tuesdays. We refused to believe it for a while as it really just seemed straight out stupid considering the amount of backpackers and tourists in town. Walking around broke with no bank forced us to find a hostel that took card, which was very few and ended up being a little more expensive than expected, although 30 dollars a night for a triple room seems like nothing to the western world. The owner of the hotel Copula, a german, was extremely generous and understanding and gave us a good price. The place was also absolutely amazing with a view over the lake and hammocks providing the perfect place for me to relax with a view while the girls looked around in shops. We did eventually find a place that offered a cash advance for a huge personal commision, but desperate and moneyless in a foreign country, we were forced to accept. That night, of all nights, happened to be carnival in bolivia and after dinner we made our way to the plaza just to look around. There were at least 5 bands playing and everywhere people were dressed in the most amazing traditional costumes. The moral code seemed to be no less than drink till you fall, and so they did. We were pulled in by locals, given free beer, given their costumes, the other volunteer was proposed to and introduced to the mother in law, father in law and the rest of the family (the man proposing was just sober enough to remain on his feet). We danced around in the most absurd conditions but constantly just laughing and having a good time. During my two years at Roskilde Festival I would say I have seen my share of drunk people, but this was just even more loco (for you, petersen). Watching them literally tip over and zig zag their way home was a lot of fun. The next morning the girls went shopping and I stayed in the hammock with some music, and we had our bus home to catch in the afternoon. Leaving at 6, it left at half past (such is peruvian time as we have come to learn). With a bus to catch at 9 in puno to cusco, we were getting nervous, although bolivia is one hour ahead. Immigrations took a while, and our american friend was terrified to see her bus drivers from last time were not there. While the rest of us got in line to legally leave Bolivia and enter Peru again, with an extended visa, she strolled past without any problems but with her heart beating quite fast. Once again, we turned our blind side to the matter, of course caring about her but not wanting to get involved in anything. The bus on the other side was a dump. It rolled, smoking like a camp fire, towards Puno at an alarmingly slow pace. Several times the engine stopped, and finally, 10 km from Puno, it had could go no more. Already half an hour late for our next bus that we HAD to make because we had only gotten monday off from the school, we were thrown into a taxi, told to leave the taxi, jumped on another bus and got to Puno at 10 and even in peruvian time, the bus had left. Being given a promise of a reimbursed ticket in the morning, we found a hostel in town, got up early and went back to the terminal. We managed to get in touch with the school to let them know we wouldnt make it today. As expected, no one took blame the next morning and we fought for about an hour without luck, and had to pay for another ticket home as we had no other option. Being able to speak spanish in day to day situations as we can now is very different from arguing, and we had to give up eventually. We finally made it to Cusco at 4 in the afternoon and got home to Urubamba just now, at around 7. The school was very understanding of the situation, luckily, but we now only have 3 days of school before leaving for Mancora for some more vacation. At the moment we are getting very little work done, and seem to have a lot of vacation, but who are we to complain. Suzy, founder of Kiya Survivors, is currently here and having to see her, more spanish lessons and going to the rainbow house in 3 days is going to be very hectic.
Will write more soon,
Alex
We started off Friday around 6pm to leave for Cusco, having our bus to Puno leaving at 9pm. Having missed the last collectivo (shared taxi), we were forced to take the cheaper bus. Cheaper for obvious reasons. Takes twice as long, smells constantly of fart, petrol, sweat and is a bumpy, slow and just plain painful ride. Me and the other volunteer sat next to a highly crazy religious woman who worked at the meat market and smelled like it too. When we finally arrived in Cusco, all the excitement to be on our way was almost completely gone. Nevertheless, we found dinner in town and made our bus to puno with comfortable seats. Took about 8 hours, whereafter we jumped on a bus to Copacabana, the small village on lake titicaca in bolivia where Isla del sol is. This bus ride included crossing the border to bolivia, and for the other volunteer with us, an american, this was no easy task realizing she had to pay a 135 dollar visa. For us danes, we simpy walked across, filled out the forms and got our stamp. Turning our eyes the other way, the american opted towards making a deal with the bus drivers (since she didnt have 135 dollars handy) and was more or less smuggled across the border. She was told the same bus drivers would be there to pick us up, and the same procedure would go for the return ticket. The bus took 3 hours, and upon arrival we almost immediately jumped on a 2 hour boat to Isla del Sol, the island that the Inkas believed to be the origin of their god. We climbed to the top of the island and settled in, after much walking around and haggling after realizing there was no atm present and we had to be sparesome with our wallets. We found a cheap place with a stunning view over the lake and the snowy mountains in the background. Sat outside watching the approaching thunderstorm with a cold beer, thinking about how incredible the place was. Having a lake so massive it seems more like an ocean 4000 meters up in the mountains is hard to grasp.
We woke up early and set off on a hike across the island (about 15km). We had briefly met some brazilians the night before who joined us. It took us a good 3 and a half hours to get across the island, but the view was worth it all. Walking past inka ruins and constantly having this amazing view out over Lake Titicaca took the mind of being tired. We took a boat back to mainland and Copacabana around 1:30pm and went on the hunt for an atm as we were literally completely broke at that point. To our greatest surprise, there was only one bank in town, that only opened on tuesdays. We refused to believe it for a while as it really just seemed straight out stupid considering the amount of backpackers and tourists in town. Walking around broke with no bank forced us to find a hostel that took card, which was very few and ended up being a little more expensive than expected, although 30 dollars a night for a triple room seems like nothing to the western world. The owner of the hotel Copula, a german, was extremely generous and understanding and gave us a good price. The place was also absolutely amazing with a view over the lake and hammocks providing the perfect place for me to relax with a view while the girls looked around in shops. We did eventually find a place that offered a cash advance for a huge personal commision, but desperate and moneyless in a foreign country, we were forced to accept. That night, of all nights, happened to be carnival in bolivia and after dinner we made our way to the plaza just to look around. There were at least 5 bands playing and everywhere people were dressed in the most amazing traditional costumes. The moral code seemed to be no less than drink till you fall, and so they did. We were pulled in by locals, given free beer, given their costumes, the other volunteer was proposed to and introduced to the mother in law, father in law and the rest of the family (the man proposing was just sober enough to remain on his feet). We danced around in the most absurd conditions but constantly just laughing and having a good time. During my two years at Roskilde Festival I would say I have seen my share of drunk people, but this was just even more loco (for you, petersen). Watching them literally tip over and zig zag their way home was a lot of fun. The next morning the girls went shopping and I stayed in the hammock with some music, and we had our bus home to catch in the afternoon. Leaving at 6, it left at half past (such is peruvian time as we have come to learn). With a bus to catch at 9 in puno to cusco, we were getting nervous, although bolivia is one hour ahead. Immigrations took a while, and our american friend was terrified to see her bus drivers from last time were not there. While the rest of us got in line to legally leave Bolivia and enter Peru again, with an extended visa, she strolled past without any problems but with her heart beating quite fast. Once again, we turned our blind side to the matter, of course caring about her but not wanting to get involved in anything. The bus on the other side was a dump. It rolled, smoking like a camp fire, towards Puno at an alarmingly slow pace. Several times the engine stopped, and finally, 10 km from Puno, it had could go no more. Already half an hour late for our next bus that we HAD to make because we had only gotten monday off from the school, we were thrown into a taxi, told to leave the taxi, jumped on another bus and got to Puno at 10 and even in peruvian time, the bus had left. Being given a promise of a reimbursed ticket in the morning, we found a hostel in town, got up early and went back to the terminal. We managed to get in touch with the school to let them know we wouldnt make it today. As expected, no one took blame the next morning and we fought for about an hour without luck, and had to pay for another ticket home as we had no other option. Being able to speak spanish in day to day situations as we can now is very different from arguing, and we had to give up eventually. We finally made it to Cusco at 4 in the afternoon and got home to Urubamba just now, at around 7. The school was very understanding of the situation, luckily, but we now only have 3 days of school before leaving for Mancora for some more vacation. At the moment we are getting very little work done, and seem to have a lot of vacation, but who are we to complain. Suzy, founder of Kiya Survivors, is currently here and having to see her, more spanish lessons and going to the rainbow house in 3 days is going to be very hectic.
Will write more soon,
Alex
Feb 19, 2010
Couple of days...
Tuesday we went to the park so that some of the kids could get to swim, and they loved it. We ordered tickets to Mancora! So now we're going from 27/2 to 7/3, to spend a week there. We got tickets for 150 dollars for both of us, Cusco-Lima and Lima-Cusco. We will have to spend 17 hours in a bus to Mancora though, but we're looking so much forward to it!
Wednesday was a sad day, as James and Maddie had their last day at the centre. At night we went out to have some sort of goodbye-party. It was a funny night at Tequila Bar, and I am probably the only one who remembers all of it, reasonable as I am :D
Jaime and I got flowers from a kneeling Alex, and I was told by Manuel, Melanies boyfriend, that I have a lot of things to learn in life - for example the fact that stones are magical...! James also found that Alex lying on a bench was a very comfortable spot to sit on, much to Alex' regret.
After 3 amazing hours of sleep, we got up to go to the centre on thursday. We said a final goodbye to Maddie before we went, and met James in the house to say goodbye when we got back from school. The house feels a bit empty with only 3 volunteers now. Good thing is that we have now moved to the top floor an have a great view! Awesome :D
Today was a crazy day. There was carneval at the school, which equals crazy water fights and throwing coloured flour at each other.
After about an hour of water fights, I sat down in the grass, convinced that I was going to dry soon, as I was not that wet.
BUT some of the kids thought that I was absolutely not supposed to dry, and Vladi, Yelson, Carlos and Carlos dragged me to a huge tank of water, placed me directly under it and opened it.. I gave up trying to run away from them though I had been putting up quite a fight against the four boys, and ended up getting completely soaked.
Afterwards dear Eli brought the coloured flour. And yes, I was attacked by several kids, and yes, I was completely multi-coloured after a couple of minutes. Loco!
Where was Alex in all this mess? Of course, he was at the Rainbow Centre to fix a bed for Matilde! And of course he got back just in time to join the fun, more clean and certainly more dry part of the carneval - chopping a tree full of toys and balloons with an axe (and yes, all the kids did that with a real axe - not very scary!) while dancing around it.
Got back just in time for our Spanish lesson, and we will be leaving for Lake Titicaca in a couple of hours. Can't wait!
Wednesday was a sad day, as James and Maddie had their last day at the centre. At night we went out to have some sort of goodbye-party. It was a funny night at Tequila Bar, and I am probably the only one who remembers all of it, reasonable as I am :D
Jaime and I got flowers from a kneeling Alex, and I was told by Manuel, Melanies boyfriend, that I have a lot of things to learn in life - for example the fact that stones are magical...! James also found that Alex lying on a bench was a very comfortable spot to sit on, much to Alex' regret.
After 3 amazing hours of sleep, we got up to go to the centre on thursday. We said a final goodbye to Maddie before we went, and met James in the house to say goodbye when we got back from school. The house feels a bit empty with only 3 volunteers now. Good thing is that we have now moved to the top floor an have a great view! Awesome :D
Today was a crazy day. There was carneval at the school, which equals crazy water fights and throwing coloured flour at each other.
After about an hour of water fights, I sat down in the grass, convinced that I was going to dry soon, as I was not that wet.
BUT some of the kids thought that I was absolutely not supposed to dry, and Vladi, Yelson, Carlos and Carlos dragged me to a huge tank of water, placed me directly under it and opened it.. I gave up trying to run away from them though I had been putting up quite a fight against the four boys, and ended up getting completely soaked.
Afterwards dear Eli brought the coloured flour. And yes, I was attacked by several kids, and yes, I was completely multi-coloured after a couple of minutes. Loco!
Where was Alex in all this mess? Of course, he was at the Rainbow Centre to fix a bed for Matilde! And of course he got back just in time to join the fun, more clean and certainly more dry part of the carneval - chopping a tree full of toys and balloons with an axe (and yes, all the kids did that with a real axe - not very scary!) while dancing around it.
Got back just in time for our Spanish lesson, and we will be leaving for Lake Titicaca in a couple of hours. Can't wait!
Feb 16, 2010
Chinchero 15/2
A little update about yesterday. I went to Chinchero with James, and as we waited for the kids to show up, we cleaned the floor, which was soaked in water because of the rain. We did not expect a lot of kids, since only one had showed up half an hour after they should have been there - however, we ended up having about 20 kids to teach!
We started out with brain gym - very basic brain gym, as there were a lot of new students. Then they had a snack, did some drawings and had lunch. One boy, Daniel, did an amazing drawing. A shame it had to stay at the school! A short school day, but quite hard anyway.
The difference between Pasitos Chinchero and the Rainbow Centre is huge. All the kids are clean when they show up in the Rainbow Centre, they're all very positive and outwards, and the kids in Chinchero are all very shy, and most of them wear dirty clothes and some have skin diseases. You can easily tell there's a lot of work to do in Chinchero, and I might go there more than just once a week when regular school starts...
Today we're off to the Rainbow Centre in a couple of hours. I've been with the kids in the park during school time, some of them went swimming - a lot of fun!
Still have amazing pictures to upload, but the internet here os soooooo slow!
We started out with brain gym - very basic brain gym, as there were a lot of new students. Then they had a snack, did some drawings and had lunch. One boy, Daniel, did an amazing drawing. A shame it had to stay at the school! A short school day, but quite hard anyway.
The difference between Pasitos Chinchero and the Rainbow Centre is huge. All the kids are clean when they show up in the Rainbow Centre, they're all very positive and outwards, and the kids in Chinchero are all very shy, and most of them wear dirty clothes and some have skin diseases. You can easily tell there's a lot of work to do in Chinchero, and I might go there more than just once a week when regular school starts...
Today we're off to the Rainbow Centre in a couple of hours. I've been with the kids in the park during school time, some of them went swimming - a lot of fun!
Still have amazing pictures to upload, but the internet here os soooooo slow!
Small update
Just a quick update this time. Friday night we all went out to our project coordinators house for dinner and had a great time. The evening was followed up by a night out in Urubamba, as crazy as it gets. We had a great time in each others company, an saturday we invented the best hangover cure in the world: danish pancakes and a water fight with the kids. It cured the uncureable. Poor AC should never had made pancakes the first time since were now expecting more anyday!
Sunday we went to Ollantaytambo, a small village about half an hour from Urubamba. We had heard of some festival there and decided it was worth a days trip. As previously mentioned, the month of february is a little intense on the water down here, and as it turns out, weekends are even worse. There is no mercy for gringos what so ever, and it really is best to stay in doors. Just on the way to Ollantaytambo we had to close windows in the car several times to block buckets of water. We´ve actually bought quite the water cannon and now never ever leave the house unarmed. It was almost worse in Ollantaytambo and 50 kids charging at us from all directions forced us to have an early lunch at the closest restaurant (shelter). We headed towards the so called bull run in town (due to the festival) and saw a wall of water created by kids using balloons, buckets, anything. I managed to bribe a police officer to get us through for 5 soles (10 kroner) but half way through he seemed to vanish and we were drenched in less than a second. The bull running then turned out to be a bull fight which was a mixed experience. Interesting to see culturally, but less interesting because its so brutal. It didn´t look like the bulls were tortured, and neither were they killed, but it we still had mixed feelings about it.
Today was spent more or less peacefully at the rainbow center for me and chinchero for AC. Have made plans to take monday off for an extended stay in Puno, the city closest to Lake Titicaca which we will then visit. Will cross a few miles into Bolivia (apparently the most beautiful side of the lake) which then also allows us to renew our visas. Parents, it is NOT dangerous - it is a hugely visited tourist spot. The first week of march the center is closed due to a transition between summer school and regular school and we have therefore decided to head up north to mancora, partly to visit the other center and partly just to relax, perhaps learn how to surf and lie on the beach for a good 5 days. Plane to Lima and bus from Lima to Mancora will take about 24 hours but costs less than 600 kroner all together, including return tickets.
Thanks for the comments everyone, keep them coming, great to hear from you all.
Alex
Sunday we went to Ollantaytambo, a small village about half an hour from Urubamba. We had heard of some festival there and decided it was worth a days trip. As previously mentioned, the month of february is a little intense on the water down here, and as it turns out, weekends are even worse. There is no mercy for gringos what so ever, and it really is best to stay in doors. Just on the way to Ollantaytambo we had to close windows in the car several times to block buckets of water. We´ve actually bought quite the water cannon and now never ever leave the house unarmed. It was almost worse in Ollantaytambo and 50 kids charging at us from all directions forced us to have an early lunch at the closest restaurant (shelter). We headed towards the so called bull run in town (due to the festival) and saw a wall of water created by kids using balloons, buckets, anything. I managed to bribe a police officer to get us through for 5 soles (10 kroner) but half way through he seemed to vanish and we were drenched in less than a second. The bull running then turned out to be a bull fight which was a mixed experience. Interesting to see culturally, but less interesting because its so brutal. It didn´t look like the bulls were tortured, and neither were they killed, but it we still had mixed feelings about it.
Today was spent more or less peacefully at the rainbow center for me and chinchero for AC. Have made plans to take monday off for an extended stay in Puno, the city closest to Lake Titicaca which we will then visit. Will cross a few miles into Bolivia (apparently the most beautiful side of the lake) which then also allows us to renew our visas. Parents, it is NOT dangerous - it is a hugely visited tourist spot. The first week of march the center is closed due to a transition between summer school and regular school and we have therefore decided to head up north to mancora, partly to visit the other center and partly just to relax, perhaps learn how to surf and lie on the beach for a good 5 days. Plane to Lima and bus from Lima to Mancora will take about 24 hours but costs less than 600 kroner all together, including return tickets.
Thanks for the comments everyone, keep them coming, great to hear from you all.
Alex
Feb 12, 2010
Feb 11, 2010
Chinchero and whatevers up.
The guitar was a small traditional peruvian guitar, how could I not? Sounds like a banjo. Ragnar, back me up.
Almost now an integrated part of the rainbow center, and will definetly never get used to being called "Proffe Alex" (professor alex) by the kids. Just doesnt seem right. Been shadowing some classes and have definetly opted towards working more with the creative and sportive side of things. Worked one on one yesterday with a student called Sharon with music therapy which basically consisted of teaching her the names of the instruments and when she was allowed to play it and when she was not, a concept she seems quite challenging to grasp.
Went to the rainbow house the other day as well, was amazing to see how they live now, having their backgrounds in mind. Their excitement when you walk through the door and how badly they want to show you their room really does make you feel good about yourself. Planning on going back on saturday with danish pancakes and water balloons. Turns out february is a month of madness down here. Kids throw water at any foreigners, no mercy. Today we were chased by 10 boys with buckets of water shouting "GRINGOOOOOOS". Unfortunately for AC, I am faster meaning she got drenched and i escaped >:D
Spent today in a Kiya outreach project in a town between Urubamba and Cusco called Chinchero. We went around to families with special needs children and essentially just tried to convince them to send their kids to our school. We ran into an incident with a severely autistic boy who was just put into a small "cage" no bigger than 1 by 2 meters outside because they didnt know what else to do with him. The sister, in 4th grade, had just had her first child. The parents were more willing to send their oldest son to university in Cusco than to help their son with autism in any way possible. The boy couldnt communicate and in frustration had bite marks from biting himself. He needs physiotherapy which we can provide for free, but the parents are too suspicious of what we do. Every single house we went to had pigs, goats, cows and chickens (one with shoes! Ragnar will once again appreciate!). Not exactly the most hygienic living conditions, and it was definetly an eye opener to see how bad poverty can actually be down here.
On a totally different note, we are becoming extremely cheap. When we first got here, 6 soles (12 kroner) seemed amazingly cheap for an hour of taxi, but now we seem to hesitate at paying 1 sol for a bottle of water for example. Parents, this is your time to be proud.
Finally, we are just getting used to the height. In Chinchero today, at 4000 meters, a 10 meter walk uphill caused your heart to beat and break a sweat. It feels like your heart is swollen and is really quite unpleasant. Here in Urubamba, lower down, it is really not that bad anymore and we can barely even feel it.
Thats all for now, thanks for the comments :-)
Alex
Almost now an integrated part of the rainbow center, and will definetly never get used to being called "Proffe Alex" (professor alex) by the kids. Just doesnt seem right. Been shadowing some classes and have definetly opted towards working more with the creative and sportive side of things. Worked one on one yesterday with a student called Sharon with music therapy which basically consisted of teaching her the names of the instruments and when she was allowed to play it and when she was not, a concept she seems quite challenging to grasp.
Went to the rainbow house the other day as well, was amazing to see how they live now, having their backgrounds in mind. Their excitement when you walk through the door and how badly they want to show you their room really does make you feel good about yourself. Planning on going back on saturday with danish pancakes and water balloons. Turns out february is a month of madness down here. Kids throw water at any foreigners, no mercy. Today we were chased by 10 boys with buckets of water shouting "GRINGOOOOOOS". Unfortunately for AC, I am faster meaning she got drenched and i escaped >:D
Spent today in a Kiya outreach project in a town between Urubamba and Cusco called Chinchero. We went around to families with special needs children and essentially just tried to convince them to send their kids to our school. We ran into an incident with a severely autistic boy who was just put into a small "cage" no bigger than 1 by 2 meters outside because they didnt know what else to do with him. The sister, in 4th grade, had just had her first child. The parents were more willing to send their oldest son to university in Cusco than to help their son with autism in any way possible. The boy couldnt communicate and in frustration had bite marks from biting himself. He needs physiotherapy which we can provide for free, but the parents are too suspicious of what we do. Every single house we went to had pigs, goats, cows and chickens (one with shoes! Ragnar will once again appreciate!). Not exactly the most hygienic living conditions, and it was definetly an eye opener to see how bad poverty can actually be down here.
On a totally different note, we are becoming extremely cheap. When we first got here, 6 soles (12 kroner) seemed amazingly cheap for an hour of taxi, but now we seem to hesitate at paying 1 sol for a bottle of water for example. Parents, this is your time to be proud.
Finally, we are just getting used to the height. In Chinchero today, at 4000 meters, a 10 meter walk uphill caused your heart to beat and break a sweat. It feels like your heart is swollen and is really quite unpleasant. Here in Urubamba, lower down, it is really not that bad anymore and we can barely even feel it.
Thats all for now, thanks for the comments :-)
Alex
Feb 9, 2010
8/2 and 9/2
Monday was a great day. Despite my increasing cold that was not exactly getting better after the weekend in Cusco, I tried to go for a run in the morning. I did not manage to get very far though, as I turned around, agreeing with myself that running without being able to breathe through my nose was not a very good idea.
At the center we started out with brain gym, where I managed to say "Me gusta comer panqueqas", very proud of myself! I spent the first hour with Elizabeth teaching group 1, the little kids, where we were doing drama.
After our break that I spent practising my nonexistent volleyball skills with the kids and some of the teachers, I spend the next hour watching the physiotherapist working with a 5-year old boy with Downs Syndrome. It was very interesting to see her alternative methods, trying to make him blow into a balloon, practising his coordination using stones he had to put in a bottle, and massaging his face to strengthen his facial muscles so that he will be able to talk.
We spent some of the afternoon learning Spanish with our teacher Natalie - though I am still not at all able to have a conversation in Spanish, I feel that both Alex and I are improving. Actually, I did manage to have a tiny conversation with our neighbor Delfina, as I asked her if she could wash our clothes. Very proud of myself!
The rest of the afternoon was spent hiking to a cross on a mountain. Probably not the best cure for my cold, and I did lag behind a bit, but it was totally worth it. The view from the mountain was incredible - I'll soon update a couple of photos! (Mom, you'll get so jealous!)
Tuesday, we started out with brain gym, and then we went to go talk to Melanie about going to the Rainbow House this afternoon. She introduced us to the children living there, and we'll be going today.
My break was spent trying to communicate with a fantastic 18-year old boy that suffers from autism. This was so fascinating, as he was so eager to show me how good he was at cleaning his cup after drinking his milk, and we went to say hi to the horse that lives in the center. He gave it some grass, and just standing there watching the horse and having a bit of company clearly made him so happy. It's so amazing that he can be such a glad person, especially considering that he and his siblings have a very difficult background.
In an hour, we'll be going to the Rainbow House!
At the center we started out with brain gym, where I managed to say "Me gusta comer panqueqas", very proud of myself! I spent the first hour with Elizabeth teaching group 1, the little kids, where we were doing drama.
After our break that I spent practising my nonexistent volleyball skills with the kids and some of the teachers, I spend the next hour watching the physiotherapist working with a 5-year old boy with Downs Syndrome. It was very interesting to see her alternative methods, trying to make him blow into a balloon, practising his coordination using stones he had to put in a bottle, and massaging his face to strengthen his facial muscles so that he will be able to talk.
We spent some of the afternoon learning Spanish with our teacher Natalie - though I am still not at all able to have a conversation in Spanish, I feel that both Alex and I are improving. Actually, I did manage to have a tiny conversation with our neighbor Delfina, as I asked her if she could wash our clothes. Very proud of myself!
The rest of the afternoon was spent hiking to a cross on a mountain. Probably not the best cure for my cold, and I did lag behind a bit, but it was totally worth it. The view from the mountain was incredible - I'll soon update a couple of photos! (Mom, you'll get so jealous!)
Tuesday, we started out with brain gym, and then we went to go talk to Melanie about going to the Rainbow House this afternoon. She introduced us to the children living there, and we'll be going today.
My break was spent trying to communicate with a fantastic 18-year old boy that suffers from autism. This was so fascinating, as he was so eager to show me how good he was at cleaning his cup after drinking his milk, and we went to say hi to the horse that lives in the center. He gave it some grass, and just standing there watching the horse and having a bit of company clearly made him so happy. It's so amazing that he can be such a glad person, especially considering that he and his siblings have a very difficult background.
In an hour, we'll be going to the Rainbow House!
Weekend in Cusco
Saturday morning we headed off to Cusco to spend the weekend. Alex went with James very, very early in the morning to watch a football game - only to find that the pub where they were supposed to watch the game, was closed.
I slept a couple of hours longer and went with Jaime to Cusco, where we met with the other two, had a great lunch, and then we went to do some shopping in the markets.
Afterwards we went to meet up with Maddie at our hostel, and we had dinner at a weird place that had no idea whatsoever of cooking. Then we went to a couple of cafés and clubs, including an amazing place with some sort of fairytale theme. When you got in the restaurant/café, you took a hat and/or a funny tie, and you could go sit down in comfortable couches and pillows. I had a drink containing passionfruit, milk, ice, rhum and a secret! Such a great place.
We ended up in a crowded club - the only one that was crowded I guess, since the rest of Cusco was quite empty because of Machu Picchu closing in february. It got quite late, and I might have had a drink or two that I should not have had, 'cause I was quite hungover when we woke up sunday (blaming it partly on the altitude, of course...).
Sander was too, and he managed to go to the markets with the others, but I was soooo tired I had to go home and get some sleep. Terrible, terrible ride in the collectivo (taxi from Cusco to Urubamba), as they drive insanely fast and the roads are not exactly the best ones.
When Sander walked into our room, he declared that he had spent a lot of money buying three instruments, including a little guitar, and I couldn´t help laughing. I felt a lot better, and the rest of the day was spent eating, relaxing, reading and making pancakes (which, of course, was eaten with peanut butter, as we are living with to americans :D)
I slept a couple of hours longer and went with Jaime to Cusco, where we met with the other two, had a great lunch, and then we went to do some shopping in the markets.
Afterwards we went to meet up with Maddie at our hostel, and we had dinner at a weird place that had no idea whatsoever of cooking. Then we went to a couple of cafés and clubs, including an amazing place with some sort of fairytale theme. When you got in the restaurant/café, you took a hat and/or a funny tie, and you could go sit down in comfortable couches and pillows. I had a drink containing passionfruit, milk, ice, rhum and a secret! Such a great place.
We ended up in a crowded club - the only one that was crowded I guess, since the rest of Cusco was quite empty because of Machu Picchu closing in february. It got quite late, and I might have had a drink or two that I should not have had, 'cause I was quite hungover when we woke up sunday (blaming it partly on the altitude, of course...).
Sander was too, and he managed to go to the markets with the others, but I was soooo tired I had to go home and get some sleep. Terrible, terrible ride in the collectivo (taxi from Cusco to Urubamba), as they drive insanely fast and the roads are not exactly the best ones.
When Sander walked into our room, he declared that he had spent a lot of money buying three instruments, including a little guitar, and I couldn´t help laughing. I felt a lot better, and the rest of the day was spent eating, relaxing, reading and making pancakes (which, of course, was eaten with peanut butter, as we are living with to americans :D)
Feb 6, 2010
The rainbow center
Today was our first day at the rainbow center. Woke up around 7:30 in order to be ready for the day at the center at 9 to rain rain and more rain, but a beautiful view of the mountains with snow in the background. Much like my worries last time of how I would react to seeing all the kids, they were once again put to shame. You are immediately greeted like one of them and you feel welcome and appreciated straight away. We stayed in the shadows today as we will in the beginning of next week and just watched what was going on. We spent an hour on brain gym (morning ritual to get the day started) in the morning which due to rainy weather had become a play session in one of the classrooms instead, where we were both picked on and had to put on our best show of making different animal noices, a fierce dog myself, if i may say so.
For me especially, I was looking forward to seeing how many of the students i would recognize and how many of them would recognize me. All of them did, and even remembered my promise of being back in two years time. There was surprisingly few new students at the school and so it was great to see someone like Gervacio be his usual self and Sharon boogi-ing down to anything resembling a beat. The stuff we painted last time, the swings etc., still looked as colorful as ever but could do with a little retouch. CIS?
Had two hours of spanish lessons this afternoon. Been a while since weve had to use our brains for anything challenging so now im stuck with a headache and if possible, worse spanish skills than this morning. Elizabeth, one of the teachers at the center is coming over for dinner and some beers later today, and i´m heading to Cusco tomorrow morning at 7 to watch Liverpool-Everton as James, british volunteer, has convinced me its the right thing to do. Followed by a rugby match and then the market by which time the girls will have made their way there. Will then check into a hostal and have a hopefully fun night out in Cusco.
Alex :)
For me especially, I was looking forward to seeing how many of the students i would recognize and how many of them would recognize me. All of them did, and even remembered my promise of being back in two years time. There was surprisingly few new students at the school and so it was great to see someone like Gervacio be his usual self and Sharon boogi-ing down to anything resembling a beat. The stuff we painted last time, the swings etc., still looked as colorful as ever but could do with a little retouch. CIS?
Had two hours of spanish lessons this afternoon. Been a while since weve had to use our brains for anything challenging so now im stuck with a headache and if possible, worse spanish skills than this morning. Elizabeth, one of the teachers at the center is coming over for dinner and some beers later today, and i´m heading to Cusco tomorrow morning at 7 to watch Liverpool-Everton as James, british volunteer, has convinced me its the right thing to do. Followed by a rugby match and then the market by which time the girls will have made their way there. Will then check into a hostal and have a hopefully fun night out in Cusco.
Alex :)
Feb 4, 2010
Feb 3, 2010
Urubamba
This one will be in english, sorry :-)
After two amazing days in Lima with Pacific ocean sunsets, warm weather and good food, we´ve managed to move on and are now currently checked in at the volunteer house in Urubamba. Our flight to Cusco from Lima was very uneventful, and almost empty as Machu Picchu has been closed for the next two months due to the heavy rainfall. Although not affecting us, there are constant reminders such as landslides, wrecked houses and roads being partly blocked by stones although not having any impact what so ever on a peruvian taxi driver going (parents look away) 100+ on small deserted roads. Very glad we didnt rent a car anywhere down here; traffic in Lima is intense. Cars squeeze in wherever they see a 10 cm gap. They are extremely aggresive and the horn is used more often than not.
The volunteer house in Urubamba is not exactly the most luxurious - a room with two beds and a drawer for our clothes. A nice view however of the plaza outside where we so far, after only having been here for about 3 hours, have seen pigs, ostriches, chickens, goats and donkeys casually taking a stroll. Just got back from a small lunch with the coordinator of the project, Melanie, where we were introduced to two of the other three volunteers working here, who all seem very nice. Can definetly feel the height difference, our drive from Cusco to Urubamba took us to 4200m, and we both feel a little light headed and dizzy, although nothing serious. We have the rest of the day today and tomorrow to relax and get to know the area before we are introduced to the rainbow centre on friday. Will strive to get some pictures up and running on here sometime soon in the next few days.
Hasta luego.
After two amazing days in Lima with Pacific ocean sunsets, warm weather and good food, we´ve managed to move on and are now currently checked in at the volunteer house in Urubamba. Our flight to Cusco from Lima was very uneventful, and almost empty as Machu Picchu has been closed for the next two months due to the heavy rainfall. Although not affecting us, there are constant reminders such as landslides, wrecked houses and roads being partly blocked by stones although not having any impact what so ever on a peruvian taxi driver going (parents look away) 100+ on small deserted roads. Very glad we didnt rent a car anywhere down here; traffic in Lima is intense. Cars squeeze in wherever they see a 10 cm gap. They are extremely aggresive and the horn is used more often than not.
The volunteer house in Urubamba is not exactly the most luxurious - a room with two beds and a drawer for our clothes. A nice view however of the plaza outside where we so far, after only having been here for about 3 hours, have seen pigs, ostriches, chickens, goats and donkeys casually taking a stroll. Just got back from a small lunch with the coordinator of the project, Melanie, where we were introduced to two of the other three volunteers working here, who all seem very nice. Can definetly feel the height difference, our drive from Cusco to Urubamba took us to 4200m, and we both feel a little light headed and dizzy, although nothing serious. We have the rest of the day today and tomorrow to relax and get to know the area before we are introduced to the rainbow centre on friday. Will strive to get some pictures up and running on here sometime soon in the next few days.
Hasta luego.
Feb 1, 2010
Lima
Saa er vi ankommet til Lima!
Soendag morgen skulle det selvfoelgelig sne i Koebenhavn, saa vi ankom til London to timer forsinkede og naaede ikke flyet til Miami. Vi blev dog hurtigt sat paa et fly til JFK, saa vi ventede ikke saa laenge i London. Troede vi...
Pga. smaaparanoide ameriakenere skulle alle passagerer dobbelt-trippelt-tjekkes, noget der skulle tage to timer. Heldigvis, eller rettere fornuftige som vi jo er, var vi ved gaten som nogle af de foerste, og vi boardede hurtigt. Saa vi matte paent vente paa jumbojetten (og ja, Simon, jeg har taget billeder af samtlige fly vi har vaeret med :D)!
...
Et spil Towerbloxx og en halv marabou senere var vi dog i luften - endelig var vi da i det mindste paa vej ud af Europa!
Vi ankom stopmaette af flymad til JFK og fandt hurtigt naeste gate, og saa stod den ellers paa soevn det meste af turen til Lima.
I Lima maatte vi igennem naesten samme procedure som i USA, med papirer der skulle udfyldes osv. Og da vi fik vores baggage skulle vi igennem en slags "tjek". Man skulle trykke paa en knap, der saa enten lyste roedt eller groent, og saa maatte man enten paent vente paa at faa al sin baggage scannet, eller ogsaa maatte man gaa videre. Vi var heldige at den lyste groent for os begge, for det saa ud som om at maskinen lyste efter hvad den lige havde lyst til...
Mario stod med et skilt i ankomsthallen, saa vi var hurtigt ude i bilen og paa vej til Hotel El Carmelo. Vi har allerede laert vores foerste ord: Juvia, eller noget i den stil, som betyder regn. (Jeg havde svaert ved at huske det, saa nu taenker jeg "jubijaaeee, der er regn", og saa lyder jubijaaee lidt ligesom juvia. Fantastisk maade at huske spanske ord paa)
Det lader til at INGEN overhovedet kan tale engelsk, heller ikke Mario. Saa vi proever os frem, men humoeret er hoejt, og vi har det sjovt. Vi glaeder os til at spise paa peruansk restaurant i aften, og nu vil vi smutte over i den flotte Parque Miraflores.
:D
Soendag morgen skulle det selvfoelgelig sne i Koebenhavn, saa vi ankom til London to timer forsinkede og naaede ikke flyet til Miami. Vi blev dog hurtigt sat paa et fly til JFK, saa vi ventede ikke saa laenge i London. Troede vi...
Pga. smaaparanoide ameriakenere skulle alle passagerer dobbelt-trippelt-tjekkes, noget der skulle tage to timer. Heldigvis, eller rettere fornuftige som vi jo er, var vi ved gaten som nogle af de foerste, og vi boardede hurtigt. Saa vi matte paent vente paa jumbojetten (og ja, Simon, jeg har taget billeder af samtlige fly vi har vaeret med :D)!
...
Et spil Towerbloxx og en halv marabou senere var vi dog i luften - endelig var vi da i det mindste paa vej ud af Europa!
Vi ankom stopmaette af flymad til JFK og fandt hurtigt naeste gate, og saa stod den ellers paa soevn det meste af turen til Lima.
I Lima maatte vi igennem naesten samme procedure som i USA, med papirer der skulle udfyldes osv. Og da vi fik vores baggage skulle vi igennem en slags "tjek". Man skulle trykke paa en knap, der saa enten lyste roedt eller groent, og saa maatte man enten paent vente paa at faa al sin baggage scannet, eller ogsaa maatte man gaa videre. Vi var heldige at den lyste groent for os begge, for det saa ud som om at maskinen lyste efter hvad den lige havde lyst til...
Mario stod med et skilt i ankomsthallen, saa vi var hurtigt ude i bilen og paa vej til Hotel El Carmelo. Vi har allerede laert vores foerste ord: Juvia, eller noget i den stil, som betyder regn. (Jeg havde svaert ved at huske det, saa nu taenker jeg "jubijaaeee, der er regn", og saa lyder jubijaaee lidt ligesom juvia. Fantastisk maade at huske spanske ord paa)
Det lader til at INGEN overhovedet kan tale engelsk, heller ikke Mario. Saa vi proever os frem, men humoeret er hoejt, og vi har det sjovt. Vi glaeder os til at spise paa peruansk restaurant i aften, og nu vil vi smutte over i den flotte Parque Miraflores.
:D
Jan 11, 2010
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