COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Building
WRITTEN BY: Elizabeth McInerney
Hola Australia! It has been a busy past three weeks for the nine of us, with only three weeks left in Cusco... which is really hard to believe as it has become a second home. Our placement has gone so fast with only five volunteering days left although we still having our Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu to look forward to. We have all become the closet of friends, excited for travel plans ahead, but scared to leave each other and go our separate ways.
Our volunteering has been very productive and we have been able to see the difference we have made to the community. The aim of the school is to be able to cater for more kids, which is the reason why we reconstructed the classrooms, and built a kitchen, which is finally done! We plastered and cemented the outside and inside- once again - meaning throwing the thick, muddy substance at the wall (majority of it landing on the floor again), but thanks to the amazing Rafeno (we dont know what we would do without him) it looks professional. We then had to level to floor with rocks before cementing it, where we dug up dirt with our hands and were picky about the size rock we needed. While doing this I found some teeth remains which kind of freaked me out, but was pretty cool at the same time.
We then began our next big project - the greenhouse - that we are building for the community of Quillahuata, as the school already has one. On the first days we walked to the site in a straight line with our pick axes and shovels pretending to be the seven dwarfs and singing "high ho, high ho, off to work we go", and got to work- digging out the ground deep enough to make it level for the foundation of the greenhouse. We did this over the five days, finally getting it deep enough. The boys enjoyed throwing the mud at each other, Nathan getting the worst of it (if you know what I mean), with us girls being innocent victims when their aim was off. As the work was pretty exhausting, Rafeno gave us coca leaves that are meant to help with breathing. Coca leaves taste alright in tea, but by themselves apparently not so good- according to the face Nick made when chewing them before spitting them out. After digging was complete, we spent two days moving rocks of many different sizes (some ridiculously big) in buckets and our hands from up the hill. It was pretty exhausting, and the boys were awesome carrying the big buckets on their shoulders. But it was rewarding to see all the rocks next to our to-be-greenhouse when we were done.
Teaching has been pretty great as well, especially since the kids know us better, they are more comfortable and responsive. Nick, Freya and I had an English lesson on body parts where we used the wiggles song "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" but with different body parts to teach the grade one and twos. They all enjoyed it, getting into the actions. The next day when i stuck a poster up, some of the kids could point and name them so it was successful (hopefully in the long term). In Pe we have played many games, such as Red Rover and Rugby (Pancho, Hornorio and Megal where just too good at kicking the ball it always ended up at the other end of the field). In art we made beautiful frames out of Popsicle sticks and glitter, which are now hanging up in the classroom with some of the pictures we have taken of the kids. Nick also planned an art lesson where we made hand puppets of pigs, lions and frogs. the kids all enjoyed running around afterwards making the animal noise and playing. Its going to be weird not seeing them everyday when we finish.
Apart of our placement we have also done two house visits, which have made us realise how much more we have, which we sometimes forget to appreciate. The family I visited, consisting of the mother and son, have very little. The bottom floor a kitchen with a little gas oven (which reminded me of the plastic kitchen I had at the age of four), and a small table with little food supplies, no animals and a front door that didn't fit the frame because she had to borrow one. Can you imagine not owning a front door? The top level had two rooms, one unfinished and one bedroom the two of them share. The biggest problem was the unsteady ladder which looked broken and dangerous and the one plank of wood that served as a balcony to get into the bedroom from the ladder. No bathroom. It was all really sad to see, so we used some of our fundraising money to purchase materials to make the balcony, a ladder as well as complete the second room. With Rafenos help, hopefully our donations will make a big difference. It was a beautiful moment when we took the materials to the house, as the mother looked overwhelmed with happiness, and we had to hold back tears when she gave us handmade bracelets and a kiss on the cheek in thanks.
Around Cusco we have enjoyed shopping (a lot) and taking in the life of Cusco. On the 30th of May it was a public holiday in Cusco and we went into the city to join the celebrations of Corpus Christi - a big religious festival in Peru. After witnessing the mass out the front of the main cathedral in plaza del Armas, Peruvians paraded around the square with gigantic, extravagant statues of saints, with loud music playing. The atmosphere was hectic, and slightly overwhelming, but great to be apart of. We also had a weekend trip to Pisac markets, realising on our tour in April we only saw probably 1/8th of the markets, so going back was great fun (but probably not for our wallets).
The past nine days we were lucky enough to go on second trip, which was a break we all needed. First we went to Puno to visit lake Titicaca. We arrived at 4am, where later on in the day I got the rude awakening of falling down a flight of cement stairs in my socks, just as Tricia started screaming when the shower head fell off. we spent that day exploring the town, shopping at markets, eating Peruvian food at a local restaurant and found a gaming arcade where Nathan and Alex played some air hockey. The next two days were amazing as we did a two day tour which involved visiting the floating islands (Islas uros), Isla Amantani and Isla Taquile. The floating islands were amazing, where pretty much everything is made out of reed. Our tour guide told us how the families lived and about the construction of the islands. The one we visited was only three years old and had 25 members. We had time to explore, witnessing the simplicity of the houses, as well as a boat being built. Now days they have solar power which allows the islands to have power for lights, TVs etc. We got to catch a traditional read boat across the lake to another island which was pretty special, and quite tranquil, being rowed across the water and taking in the view. It was then another three hours to Isla Amantani, where we were all greeted by a family we would stay with for the night. The home Freya, Tricia and I stayed in was in pretty good condition and very homey, with a view of the lake from our room. We got fed a great lunch, consisting of traditional foods such as quinoa soups, potatoes, rice and "squeaky" cheese, before we given "mountain" beanies for our trek up the hill to see the Incan ruins of a temple and sunset. After Cat held my hand and pulled me up the hill, we didn't see very much of a sunset, but rather a lightening storm, with yellow and orange light sneaking through here and there. It was truly stunning and magnificent. From the top we could see the mountains of Bolivia, which was also pretty cool. We looked at the Incan ruins, walking around anti clockwise three times, as the tour guide said it was spiritual and we would be granted a wish, so we made our wishes.
That evening the group were all dressed up in traditional clothing, and had a lot of fun dancing with the families- the Australians being the highlight (probably because we are the youngest and love a good fiesta). The next day we visited Isla Taquile which according to the tour guide is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All the locals wore traditional clothing, and we spent our visit walking around the island to the plaza, with the beautiful view of the lake on one side and villages on the other. I got excited seeing gum trees reminding me of home, singing to myself "home among the gumtrees".
We found a sign pointing to Sydney with the distance which was over 13,000kms, however they spelt it"Sidney". After chilling and looking around the local markets and taking in our surroundings we had a yummy lunch of fish or an omelette. While eating we were told stories of local traditions. The most beautiful being that when a man and woman get married, the woman cuts a bit of her hair off, which is then sewn into a belt among alpaca wool which the husband wears around his waist. This gesture is to say that their marriage is forever. One story was that a man had lost his wife, but continued to wear it so she was always with him, making us all go "awww" (well the girls anyway).
We then spent six days in Arequipa, also known as the white city, as all the old, beautiful buildings such as the Cathedral and Santa Catalina Monastry are made out of Sillar (volcanic rock). On our arrival we couldn't believe the beauty of the main square, and when looking out to the distance, we had the view of three snow capped volcanos, Chachari and Pichu Pichu (both inactive) and El Misti (active) which are all over 5000 metres above sea level. We had the most amazing week. We visited museums, the cathedral and the Santa Catalina Monastery. Saw hangover three in English at a cinema (first time at the movies in two months). Enjoyed playing pool, fooseball, laying by the pool or in hammocks at the hostel, while making new friends from around the world. We went Go Karting which was so much fun!
The cars went really fast around the corners, each of us racing each other and trying to overtake. Nick was awesome and went without no hands (always successful), but he was the only one who crashed. We went white water rafting one day in the Chilli River. We all had such a thrill, successfully making it through rapids classed one to four, even after initial fears. I was with Nathan and Alex, who powered the boat at the front, always getting the worst of it when we dipped. Nathan got attacked by a tree, and we all go stuck under a waterfall which was freezing cold. Our guide was awesome, calling us the (Great) White Sharks, high fiving us with our oars and getting us to do the harlem shake. We didnt fall out (thank god), but some of us came close! We then all jumped into the river from a rock, the water freezing cold and most of us screaming when we jumped. Nick was the best jumping horizontal, making the silliest face and looking like a super hero :) another day we had a 3am start for our bus tour to the Colca Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world (bigger than the grand canyon).
Here we saw some of the largest Condors who put on a show and sawed through the sky, we were all quite amazed! While here the weirdest thing happened- some tourists asked to be in a photo with Nathan, then questioned if our fluro face paint was some cultural ritual (which was funny because we all had the weirdest things painted on from the night before- such as flames, a rabbit or cat face, a carrot, a fish, a moustache etc). We then visited the hot springs, after walking over the wobbliest bridge which felt so unstable and swinging. Alex kept running and swinging it behind me which freaked me out majorly. I slipped on some algae into the the hot spring backwards with camera in hand (lucky its water proof), resulting in me laughing and my leg stinging. Only Nathan and Tricia saw so it wasn't that embarrassing but it was a massive trust for me to fall in. But otherwise we spent some time soaking up the warm water (it felt like a spa) taking in the surroundings, and floating around before we headed back. On our way back we saw snow, and these pretty cool rocks.
We got to get out and we had a snow ball fight- well more like Alex and Nathan were throwing snow balls at us while we tried to get a photo. It was Cats first time seeing snow up close, and as she runs towards excited to touch snow for the first time, Alex whacks the side of her face with a snowball. Good first time touching snow, taking it to the face. Well it is safe to say we had some memorable adventures in Arequipa and at wild rovers, all of us sad to leave the beautiful city.
We all home in Cusco safe and sound, ready for our last week of volunteering! Its actually Fathers Day in Peru (which is pretty weird), so Freya and I came home to some chocolate cake our brother Frans made for our dad for breakfast at 7am. We were not complaining.
Until next time,
Xoxo Cholo girl
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