Thursday 6 October 2011

White water rafting for Peru volutneers + first week of home stays

It´s all happening here in Peru. For the past two weeks there is a lot to report, from moving into our new homes, starting teaching and construction at Corao and on top of that taken two incredible weekend trips away. We've ridden horses through the Sacred Valley, white water rafted the Apurimac river rapids and thrown ourselves off a bridge for a 20m swing.

We are now situated in San Jeronimo, Cusco living with our friendly host families. At first separating from our share house of the first week was a little daunting, beginning our new lives for the next 3 months with a Spanish speaking family. Meal times and general conversations have been aided with wild gestures and speaking in broken Spanglish, the families are incredibly welcoming and very caring.

What is most comforting about our new homes is just how close we all live from one another! Three families live on the same street with only a few minutes walk between all of our houses. Two weeks in and we are all living much more comfortably and settled into our new routine of work at Corao and twice weekly Spanish lessons.

Our introduction to the Corao School has been one of the most memorable experiences of the trip so far. We arrived at the rural school greeted by smiling students, grateful teachers and traditional cechuan women. Our welcoming was very special, we sat, sprinkled in confetti and pinned with a handmade broach, on tiny chairs facing the classes of scruffy and excited students. Each year group sang a welcoming song to us then hugged us all individually, a very appreciated gesture. So far teaching has been a challenging but rewarding experience. Each week we take 2 to 3 classes of two subjects each 45 minutes in length. These range from English, Art, Sport and Computers and has proved at times very testing.

We´ve all had to be very prepared with our lessons plans and be ready for anything, particularly with the unexpected energy levels of our students. We've acted as mediators, disciplines, new friends and of course the teacher figure. To see the joy from simple pleasures in art and craft, the love of football and the interest in English makes the lessons all worthwhile.

When we aren´t teaching we have been working on the first construction project; a mud brick wall. From the initial breaking down of the wall, a trench has been built, enormous stones lugged into the trench and now in the cementing and mud brick laying phase. This type of physical work for some has been a first time experience as we dig, scrape, pull and push the earth, haul rocks from A to B and find ourselves covered in dust by the end of the day.

Our first adventure of horse riding was a very eventful day and night for the group who camped overnight on ancient Incan Ruins. For some a fear of horses was conquered as we rode 30km through the Sacred Valley. The views were incredible and the path taken was one of the most beautiful routes we could have chosen. When the path could not cater for the horses any longer we were told a 45 minute walk would lead us to a bus back home. Five hours later and after scaling the mountain down to the nearest town we finally boarded a cramped bus home. For those who stayed behind to camp the time spent over night was a favourite memory, sleeping on ancient ruins and waking up to the scenic Peruvian mountains.

Our latest weekend trip was a 3 day white water rafting trip. After a four hour bus ride we began our rafting, starting on level 1 rapids that built up to level 5! Travelling with very experienced guides they made our trip very safe but incredibly entertaining. Everyone was in the water at least once being hurled down the river as we bounced over some adrenaline pumping rapids. At night we camped by the river with a fire and played some hilarious rafting games. It was trip well worth taking, finished off by a 20m bridge swing jump followed by a night in Cusco city with our guides watching the film made over the weekend.

What´s next? Almost one month into our placement the time has seemed to pass so quickly. This week we begin our house visits, however there is still so much more to achieve and so much more to see! Adios for now.

Are you interested in becoming a Volunteer in Peru or Teaching English in South America? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in educational and volunteer travel overseas – find out more here

No comments:

Post a Comment