Havent written for a while so thought I'd do a blog about the daily life here and let you know what I've been up to in the last week.

The placements are good, really getting into them and enjoying them. The kindy is obviously much easier and not as physically/emotionally draining. The children are tho little sh*tes at times...Diago being the worse! The class is for 5 year olds but he is by far the biggest and looks about 8! He's a complete bully and does nothing that he's told. When him and Erik get together they can be nightmare.

The teachers there are great and we do try and communicate the best we can. I'm known as "teacher" although I'm more a classroom assistant with a little more clout than maybe they normally have!

The orphanage is my best project really, purely because we really are needed there and we do make a difference. The people there, cant call them kids cos some of them are c. 17yrs old, are great. It's lovely now because they know my name and those who can talk greet me in the morning with "Hola Michelle" or like Pilar she just screams "Mitchelle, Mitchelle" then proceeds to hug me and smile...its lovely! Cant remember if I've mentioned the Michelle thing or not...they cant pronounce Dawn so I go by my middle name, its easier!

Last Thursday was a hard day at the orphanage, the children do tend to wet/poo themselves and we have to clean them up. I'd like to say that I've got used to it by now but unfortunately it still makes me wretch every time! Has to be done tho. The worse thing is that some of the more disabled/younger ones dont have nappies so you're never sure what to expect and yep...its through their pants/trousers etc. We have taken some nappies in but they tend to lock those away and I think they use them when they have no volunteers around. We get the kids with no nappies or, wait for it, a plastic bag tied round them...this was totally shocking at first but now its become something that we expect. I'm off to the big market today to buy some bits and pieces for both the orphanage and the kindy.

We've had a few mad nights out too this last week! Claire's boyfriend flew in on Friday (they are heading off on a world trip on Friday). Our plan was to go out Thursday night, drink lots and all go to the airport to meet him at 0730 (I didnt have work last Friday). Unfortunately I got in at 5am and was woken up by Claire and Wayne at 0830...we'd all slept in and didnt make it to the airport; Claire only just did after greeting him at the airport in the clothes she'd worn the night before!

Friday was a chilled one, slept most of it. Out again Friday night but I was home by midnight...couldnt take the pace and my body certainly couldnt take any more alcohol! Saturday we went for a long walk to an ice cream factory/shop and Saturday night was another late one, got home at 3.30am. Sunday was a late breakfast sat overlooking the main square and then I headed back to Claire's hostel and we sat sunbathing for the remainder of the afternoon.

Yesterday we went up to San Pedro market, its a fab place. Not a tourist market but one for the locals, took lots of photos and will load those either later today/tomorrow. We bought lots of lots stuff, gorgeous bread (which is quite sweet), fruit and Harriet and Lily bought watermelons so they could do lanterns for Halloween at their placement (the girls safe house). We trudged out laden down with goodies and grabbed a taxi back to the house.

Wayne (Claire's boyfriend) is at Machu Picchu for a couple of days so I went to Claire's hostel and stayed overnight with her, v comfy beds/nice pillows and, wait for it....power shower and really hot water! It's the simple things in life that please me these days!

So...that's sort of my week...a mix of hard work and partying.

As I said will loads some more photos on here later.

As ever, hope you're all well. Miss you all, even tho I am having such a great time!

Dawn xx