Hello to all at South Hills!

What can I say? Peru is absolutely amazing!  From the people, the food, and the culture, to the overall atmosphere, Peru is definitely a must-see place!  The POD (Personal Overseas Development) staff have all been extremely friendly and helpful, and have given us a very warm and grateful welcome.  So far we have looked around two orphanages that are in much need of our help, and we are going to visit 3 or 4 more in the next couple of days.  The staff are all very sweet and kind, and the children are very cute and some are very cheeky!  Much like the children of South Hills :-). We are also half-way through our Spanish lessons, which are going really well; quite difficult to learn though within 4 days!

There are plenty of shops everywhere, selling all manner of things.  I have already bought a few bits that I will show you when I come home.  There are lots of amazing markets, which are huge, and have hundreds of tiny shops within them. There are also plenty of families who sit on the side of the street and try to sell you all kinds of things e.g. a photo of you holding one of their week-old lambs, time to use a phone to call home, a photo of you with a Llama, different foods and jewelry and plenty more besides.  Also there are street children who try and sell you things like sweets or chewing-gum.  Most of the people on the street will make about 10 sols a day, which to us is about 2 pounds!  We went to a beautiful restaurant on Monday night to celebrate another volunteer’s birthday, and there was music and an amazing show whilst you ate, and I can now say that I have tried Guinea-pig and Alpaca!  Both very tasty!  

The altitude is 3000 feet above sea level, and with that and the time difference it has taken us about 4 days to get back into a normal routine and feel ok.  The altitude does very funny things to you; I personally had absolutely no balance, and felt as though I was swaying all the time, with headaches here and there.  For this the locals suggest coca tea, which doesn’t taste all that great but is really good for curing most signs of altitude sickness.  On Friday we are to set up a lesson plan for one of the schools, and we are going to an animal rescue centre, where they will have a few of the animals we found on my treasure hunt! 

A very big hello to one and all!
 
3 weeks in and still having the time of my life!
 
The animal rescue centre was amazing, and had all sorts of animals from condors, Andean hairless dogs, parrots and giant tortoises to llamas, alpacas, giant guinea pigs, owls, falcons and tiny monkeys!!  All of the animals were really friendly and well looked after before being released back into the wild.  I have also been doing some sightseeing.  We went to the Sacred Valley and followed part of the Inca trail which was really interesting and the views were fantastic!  We learnt all about the ways in which they lived and how their culture formed in to what it is today.
 
I started my placement 2 weeks ago.  I am volunteering in a girl’s orphanage within the town of Cosco.  I have to get a 10 minute taxi there and back every day which only costs me about 45p!  I help out there Mon-Thurs and either assist them with there homework or set up basic activities and games with them to keep them entertained.  They are all very sweet and grateful of our help.  Within my orphanage there are a few other volunteers who are mainly American.  We all get on really well, and this makes for a great, stimulating atmosphere.  We make up large scale activities such as a water balloon fight for the children as there is plenty of help, and some of the more nervous or quiet children can have extra one-to-one care.
 
Also on Fridays we go to a small English school and work with the children there.  We implement simple activities to promote their English e.g. while they colour a picture we will be asking them at different times what colours they are using or what picture they are colouring in, or just general questions about themselves to help with their English.  We also plan to play games like "duck duck goose" but in their case "Llama Llama Alpaca" and keep everything in simple English.  Their understanding is very good and they really appreciate our help.
 
Last weekend we went to a Peruvian family’s house in one of the more rural areas.  There they taught us how to weave (which was really tricky) and they also showed us how to milk a cow, as well as watching them and learning how they prepare the guinea-pigs for dinner!  I won’t go into details but it was definitely insightful!  All in all it was a very good day and we came back with some amazing experiences and learnt just how hard they work just to get by.
 
In the next coming weeks, I will be visiting Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca where we will be staying with some more Peruvian families and learning more about their culture.
 

1st September 2009

Hello again everyone!
 
I cannot believe it is my last week here in Peru!  The time has flown by.  Soon I will be back to school and will only have lots of photographs and memories of my time here.
 
I returned last night from Lake Titicaca; it was stunning.  It is the highest lake in the world at 3800 ft above sea level making it one on the highest lakes in the world, and in volume one of the biggest in South America!  We set off to Puno (a lakeside town near the border of Bolivia) on Saturday morning, stayed one night there, and then started our tour of the lake on Sunday, on a small boat.  First we went to visit the floating islands, where everything, including their boats, houses and furniture is made out of the reeds from the lake; it is quite amazing how they live there.  All of their islands are tied together so they don’t float away, and if a couple gets married and wants their own space they simply cut the island in half!
 
Next we stopped off for lunch at a natural island and learnt about the typical dancing they have for different occasions.  I joined in with some of them and it was quite difficult.  Afterwards we sailed to another island where we watched the sunset, and stayed with a Peruvian family in their house.  We helped them prepare dinner and sat around a table with some commissioners from America and learnt about their work.  Next the Peruvian mother dressed us in the typical dress and we went to a party, where everyone danced Peruvian style!  It was very fast and so much fun!  The next day we spent the morning by the lakeside soaking up the views and scenery; it was so peaceful and beautiful.  We then said our thank yous and farewells to the family that had looked after us, gave them a gift of some candles - as there is no electricity on the island - and set off on a 3½ hour boat trip back to Puno.
 
Now it’s our last week here, and I have 2 days left in my orphanage!  I plan to buy all the children gifts and things to help the carers e.g. cleaning supplies and equipment for the children to be shared out as and when they need them.  It will be very sad to leave, but I know that I have made a difference here even though it has been small.  It is also our last English teaching lesson in Chinchiro on Friday, and as there are more volunteers starting on Thursday it is our job to run through what we have been doing, so they can carry on with similar work.
 
I hope to bring back a few bits and bobs from Peru to school to show everyone; I just hope I can fit it all in my suitcase!
 
Will see you in a matter of days!  Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive and kind to make my trip as successful as possible.  Thanks to you I have helped so many people, and had the time of my life, caring for and supporting the families out here.
 
Thanks again, see you all soon!