GapBreak update: What a fortnight it's been

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Building
WRITTEN BY: Lydia Searle

Hola!

Since my last update, we've been back to school for a fortnight. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks of travelling, we were all very excited to get back to school and see the kids!

We're finally getting the hang of structuring our lessons and our classes are running a lot smoother. Incorporating teaching aids such as worksheets and games have certainly helped with this. We changed our timetable so we could teach students in different classes than our usual ones, and we’re getting to know more and more of the children by name; it’s amazing how good it feels to know little details like who each other's siblings are, and which kids enjoy this activity or that one. As our Spanish improves this has definitely been getting easier. We can hold proper conversations with the kids now- although we do still sometimes need Nico’s help to explain the intricacies of Binball to a massive group of excited, rowdy 7-8 year olds! 

Our construction work at the school is also coming along well; the trench was finished just last week! Although we did have help from some of the local parents, who provided us with a lovely surprise by digging out a whole section. We have now moved on to digging the holes for the supports of the water tank stand. 'Stand' doesn’t give an accurate idea of how large it is- and just how much concrete is needed! Lifting the bags of concrete has certainly been a challenge, with the three chicas struggling to lift one into the wheelbarrow while the chicos each carry one up on their shoulder. It’s always nice when we’re busily working and the kids come up to try and help us, or just to watch, wave and frantically yell “amigos, amigos!” And as you can see in the photo above, they are absolutely adorable!  It's impossible to be unhappy when our work is set in the Sacred Valley and we look out across the endless, beautiful mountains surrounding Cusco. It really is such a beautiful place, and I think as our time here is dwindling we are all taking more time to appreciate where we are and what we’ve achieved.

For Rianne’s birthday we took a weekend trip to Urubamba, where we camped and tried out white water rafting. It was such a fantastic weekend, a great last trip together as a group before Machu Picchu! The scenery was spectacular, the rafting was absolutely exhilarating (although a bit scary at times!) and for those of us who developed a taste for it in the Amazon, there were zip lines that we could take back and forth across the river. We walked into the local town where there was a fiesta going on, and were swept up in the dancing and music- literally! All the townspeople wanted photos and a dance with us, and we were happy to try it all out! Our tents were only metres from the water, so we could sleep to the sound of the running water after we’d stayed up stargazing and toasting marshmallows around the fire. Feliz cumpleaños Rianne!

Our last weekend has been spent here in Cusco with our families, who we are quickly realising will be some of the hardest people to say goodbye to. Being able to stay in a family home has made this experience so much more authentic and comfortable, and we will no doubt miss our new padres y hermanos!

Hasta la próxima vez, ciao!