Everywhere we go...we always take the weather with us.....

Yes, there was a very British thunderstorm today! But Cusco is still coming out of the rainy season so hopefully it will brighten up over the next week or so.

So during my last blog-writing sesh the computer froze up which is always good, so not had a chance to write about our weekends yet. And as each day goes by i seem to forget more and more because we´ve done so much. So now i will try to recall some of it...

Well, firstly we live in the PoD house with another two volunteers: Liam (24, British, who is teaching English in a Spanish school) and Annabel (19, British - actually Scottish with a very southern english accent, who is also on orphanage placements). There is also another volunteer Hali (33, American, on orphanage placements) but she spent two nights in the PoD house before promptly moving to a hotel down the road. But we mostly do activities in a group, though we are all doing different placements.

Becky and I started volunteering at a local kindergarten for disadvantaged children last week. The first few days were pretty tough because we still don´t speak the language - literally enough to get by in a very basic conversation - but fortunately the kids don´t seem to care much and it certainly doesn´t hold us back from playing with them. The difficulty is in their behaviour and the standards of the nursery. The place would actually get closed down in the UK!! They have one adult toilet for 50 kids! And one teacher for each of the three classes. They are absolutely desperate for volunteers - we took them to the park the other day ... well, it was a public paved area with a few patches of grass...and god only knows how they manage to get them from the nursery to the park in one piece with only three teachers because it is each man for himself out on the roads and the kids like to make their own great escapes. they also like to pee in the street which was a bit shocking at first! lol.

They have very little to occupy them so instead they like to get attention by fighting with each other. They have very little respect for us or each other. I (Liz) got kicked in the shin on the first day! haha. i beat the little b*****....yeh, just kidding. But things are slowly improving now they are getting to know us better. We took some bubbles in for them today and they just loved it! Such a simple thing, but it kept them occupied for ten minutes. We have also started to sing English songs for them (because the director is very keen for them to learn some English). Becky´s impromptu version of ´Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes´was most entertaining i must say. :) There may be a lot of blank stares now but in three months time we´ll have them doing the actions at least!

A ha, so i still haven´t written about the weekends. Well, on our first weekend we used our tourist tickets and took a tour around the Sacred Valley: the ancient ruins of the Incas (see photos). This included a visit to Chinchero, famous for the traditional ladies who demonstrate their weaving skills and try to sell you their goods (which absolutely everyone does here!). We revisited Chinchero last Sunday and had lunch with a Peruvian family which consisted of some sort of pumpkin stew with potato AND rice - they love their carbs here so so much for losing weight! - some homemade cheese, extra potatoes which you have to peel first (I avoided that one!) and some massive corn on the cob which was not sweet in the slightest. To follow we had chicha morado (drink made from purple corn) with a pear in the cup - really sweet and sickly. Needless to say i have not felt the greatest since then, but i´m not holding them responsible. It´s my fault i have a weak digestive system. lol. Then we had one-on-one lessons with a lady who taught us how to weave. It is so complicated but good fun and made us realise the amount of time and effort that goes into each piece. We got to keep our equipment as well, so yesterday Becky set hers up again and attempted to pick up where she left off. I think she managed to do one line before royally messing up - and for someone who was suspiciously adept at it in the class i was surprised, so i haven´t even attempted it yet!

Back to our first weekend, we also went horseriding in Saqusayhuaman. Again, no safety precautions required - no previous experience discussed and no helmets or preparation. Just leap on the horse and go. At the start I was at the front on this boisterous horse and this young lad was leading it up the path. I thought: i´m paying to ride it myself, not be led around. So in my made-up language of Espanglish I protested. He was about to give me the reigns and i though: there´s gotta be a reason why this horse is being led around and i´m not gonna risk it galloping off with me clinging on for dear life not being sure whether my travel insurance covers not wearing a helmet on a rabid animal. So i changed horses. Turns out my new horse was pretty slow, always at the back and the lad didn´t lead the other horse all the way around anyway. Moral of the story: keep your mouth shut and have a little trust. But the scenery was amazing and it´s something I definitely want to do again on whatever horse i get.

This blog is actually becoming an essay so I´ll try to be brief. Last Friday, after our placement we visited a few museums on our tourist ticket (natural history and contemporary art). Both were a bit disappointing to be honest. The history one had a mummy on display which was the most impressive and interesting thing (being mummified in a foetal position). But the rest was bits of pottery and ceramics. Also, quite a few pieces were just in the room with no barriers from human contact! There were one or two cameras in the rooms and the odd security guard (one of which was fast asleep in his chair - haha), but apart from that you could touch all the art work and some of the pottery. But because we are good girls we didn´t abuse this privelige....much. The art museum was small and filled mostly with what i would describe as any old splattered canvas. But there was one room of really impressive paintings (and you could take photos - so they shall be on here soonish).

We also visited El Molino market which was supposed to be the place to get cool stuff. It just reminded me of the kind of tat you can get in Burnley market for example. It is good if you live and work here in Cusco because you can get everyday stuff at cheap prices, but we are not really in the market for anoraks, spanish cds, food blenders and parasitic food so it was a bit of a disappointment.

That´s about all i can think of at the moment, but (as always) will keep you updated on our adventures. Friday we are taking a day off work to visit Lake Huacarpay and on Sunday we are going white water rafting which i am literally pooing it about, so i´m sure the following blogs will keep you all entertained (no doubt at my expense).

Love to all. Liz and Becky x x