All is great over here! ... Like always. Before I get side tracked on another blog with what amazing experiences we have been having I would like to say what a fantastic effort us 10 little Australian´s have made on our greenhouses. With the greenhouse that was already there when we arrived we are pleased to announce that it is complete as much as it could be in our power. Now we only await the irrigation man coming.
We finished planting last week and are now watching our darling little sprouts make their way into the warmest location this side of Lima. We (the guinea pigs included) eagerly await the first harvest of our vegetables and grass. Each year has been allocated a plot of land to whihch they will become more and more responsible for. Eg Year 6B is in charge of monitoring the beetroot. The 2nd greenhouse is coming along very nicely now that we understand how to make foundations. However it is very important to note that none of this could have been achieved without the tireless help of Riccardo who powers along with his Peruvian guns all day along, aided by Harry´s delivery of a bread roll at ´elevenese´. This week we will begin mud brick laying as well as continuing to sand and paint the school the ´happy´ blue it is. Charlie is also bevering away on designing an ´Under the Sea Mural´ which will dominate the school´s front wall.
In between lessons and construciton we are also continuing on our more needed house visits. Last week we returned to visit the first house we went to and talk with the mum. She was the most lovely lady who couldn´t have possibly said thankyou any more often. We have made a deal with the family that now as they have more time (the potato harvest is over) they will clean up their yard and in return we will provide some more beds, a window, a door, some shoes, blankets and a kitchen table so they are not eating off the floor. It is difficult to imagine what it would be like having only 2 single beds for 7 people, only sandles on your feet to block out the cold and nothing apart from the cooking pot to eat form. We are all extremley greatful and happy that we can use some of our fundraising money to go to people that really need it and will appreciate it.
These last 2 weeks we have had many ´brushes with locals´as i´d like to put it. Not only has Nick had the obvious with getting a needed he claimed, but slightly uneven haircut we have got very up close and personal with many differnet locals on a number of occasions. On venturing into the Plaza de Arms in Arequipa and finding themselves in the middle of Ollanta celebrations (after he was announced to have won the Presidential election) Bec got brushed by a theif who carefully extracted her wallet. Without much further ado she kicked up a mighty good fuss and was issued it back rather promptly. Personally I don´t think he knew what he had got himself into and when he saw Carissa´s pleading face begging ´por favor´ he gave into his goodwill. What luck.... we all can´t believe it! The same weekend we had our first cultural outing to the Ice Maiden museum and got to get as close as ice will allow to the Ice Maiden herself. It was an incredible story of a child sacrifice who knowingly was going to die had to walk from Cusco to Arequipa a 4 month journey and then up a mountain only to be hit on the head. The Inca´s aim in this?? to stop a volcano errupting. Louisa despite asking the good question of did the sacrifice work (no) was still compared in size to this tiny girl by another Australian on the tour. Not the best thing you want to be compared to especially after she has shrunk in size after 400 years in the ice. This same weekend I got to live with another Peruvian family due to unpleasent circumstances but this family were the nicest, most generous people I have ever met. They looked after me while Peru´s food took its toll and even in hospital sat next to me and a Peruvian lady who was having labour pains. This was too much for Liv and I to bear and we opted out by sharing the hospital bed and going to sleep. Thankyou a million times to God for this wonderful most pleasent brush with locals!
The adventureous group we are ventrued past many tourist hotspots to the Lares hot springs. In doing so though we first had to navigate a lying decietful bus driver. To put it in perspective it was pitch black outside, freezing cold and the road we were on was a very narrow path with one side droping into the canyon below us and he wouldn´t stop the bus even at the pleads of Sophie´s to ´stop the bus´ after she felt a bump. He was convinced nothing happened but after 10minutes of begging he finally stopped and surprise surprise... Sophie´s pack had fallen off the roof racks 11mins earlier. Thankfully a nice bus driver behind us brought it up the mountain and delievered it. On arriving into the springs at 10pm and bathing under the stars with one or 2 other locals we all forgot about being charged extra and concentrated on enjoying the special moment we were apart of. Transport wise always gives us reason to get up close and personal with the locals but this week Sophie and Lousia drew the short straw and were smugled onto a bus up to the Colca Canyon. They were placed not ontop of chickens or potato bags which now is considered normal but they were literally stuffed behind a curtain with a Frenchman until they passed the officials. The size of the space need not be described further expect to say that our 2 smallest were too big for this little box.
Overall we have had a very interesting 2 weeks filled with work and play, old friends and making new ones.
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