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Hola,
I arrived in Calca (the small town in the Sacred Valley which I will be living in for the next 3 months) on saturday but have been slow to update my blog.. We left cusco on sat morning after a big night out in Cusco with Guille and Selvie (our 2 peruvian course leaders) and departed for Urubamba.. it was a nice drive over mountains and we arrived in Urubamba safely.. however, just as the people who are living in Urubamba were unpacking one of the tires on our bus suddenly started deflating itself and continued to do so until it was un-driveable on. About 90 mins later (after the driver had put the tire on a tuk-tuk and taken it off to get repaired) we left for Calca.. 20km´s and 30 mins later we arrived in the main square where we were due to meet our famalies.. our family was late but after a quick phone call they arrived and Shaun and I walked back to their house with them..
Upon arrival we were given the grand tour and were extremely suprised to find that our father owned 2 discos in Calca - one which was connected to our house (when it is open we can easily hear the music from our bedrooms) and the other 10 mins walk away.. the house is very nice and our parents are obviously well off compared to other Peruvian famalies.. we have ´luxuries´ in this part of the world like 5 tv´s, a washing machine, a microwave and even a ping pong table... Shaun and I are also lucky enough to have our own rooms with double beds.. the family have also been extremely friendly and helpful - on the first night i wasnt feeling great and slept through dinner so my brothers made tea for me and gave it to me while i was in bed..
One thing that I havnt been able to come to grips with is the size of lunch over here... you usually have a soup to begin with and then a massive plate of chicken, rice and potato.. the gap between breakfast and lunch is also only about 4 hours so I am not usually all that hungry..(I am quickly adjusting to it) the food has been good but there have been a few things that I am not used to. For example, one morning we had duck liver patae for breakfast and were instructed not to eat the yellow parts as they are still ´fermenting´ or preparing themselves.. Food is restaurants is also extremely cheap and good. Yesterday, for example, while in Urubamba, we paid 10 soles (roughly 3.30 USD) and got a ham and cheese samwhich, a side of hot chips, a bottle of coke and a chocolate brownie.
Yesterday (monday our time) we went to Urubamba to meet up with Guille to visit the schools that we will be working in and also to come to grips with the town. To get there we have to catch a collectivo (for a cost of 1 sole - 40 AUS cents). The schools are all fairly run down and we were informed of the various construction projects we can undertake. I will probably spend about $500 of my own money on this but feel free to donate some money (even small amounts) as it will go a long way. There will be between 5-10 people in each school and it is totally up to us regarding how many people teach in each class, what we teach, etc.
TBC
It is now thursday and I am sure you have all heard about the bad earthquake that has struck Peru. It happened at about 6.45 pm local time yesterday and at the time I was at an internet cafe writing an email.. At the time I did not realise that it was an earthquake but my chair was shaking and I was getting all neausus (not sure how to spell the word) and i couldnt work out what was wrong. I was told later that it was an earthquake but luckily it was only strong on the coast and was only a minor tremble here.
This morning all school was cancelled as it is a day of mourning so we decided to travel into Pisac (30 km´s away towards Cusco) as they have big famous markets on tuesday, thursday and sunday. It was a nice town and I purchased a few things in the markets. We felt guilty about missing lunches with our family while being in Urubamba so we decided to come home for lunch which meant we did not have enough time to walk to a nearby Inca Ruin however as we are here for 3 months we will have plenty of time to go back.
I am starting to get nervous as I have organised to do a 122 m Bungee Jump (nearly 3 times the size of the one i did in NZ) this Saturday and Paragliding this sunday - in the Sacred Valley, because of the ´thermals´, it is possible to reach heights of 5700 m. I think we will also be staying in Cusco on friday and saturday nights and then on sunday we are planning to go to a Cusco soccer game.
I have to run again but I will update again next week and let you all know how Bungee Jumping and Paragliding goes (dont worry mum they are both very safe and with the best possible companies). Mum and dad, hopefully you can contact me soon - if you dont before sat, I will call you from Cusco
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