What an eventful week we have had! Starting with our birthday celebrations (obviously the most important and exciting events of our whole time here)....

My birthday (Liz) Wednesday 7th May started at the kindergarten, so the day before Becky and I went and bought a massive chocolate and vanilla cake for the kids - which they loved!! It was so cute to see them with chocolate everywhere, but messy to clear up. I got lots of cuddles and the children and staff sang to me in English then Spanish, which was cool. Then we went for some lunch and some retail therapy, before getting ready for our evening meal. We went to a place called ´Fallen Angel: THE Restaurant´ which was decorated really elaborately with model flying pigs, and weird paintings. One toilet was walled with cracked glass and bright blue light, while the other was black and red with barbed wire and roses along the walls (actually quite dangerous, and i considered getting health and safety but because it was my birthday i decided to be kind). The chairs were fur covered stools which you could put your belongings in while you ate (actually a thinly-disguised ploy in the hope you will forget your stuff and they can get rich) and Becky was sat on a bed filled with pvc black and red cushions (very s&m). The table was the best bit...a glass-topped bath tub filled with water, plants and ACTUAL goldfish! The main thing on the menu was steak done in a variety of ways and was really really tasty. The most expensive place we´ve been so far but still cheap compared to uk prices (about 7 pounds for steak and two side dishes!). But then we found out the company were paying for me and Becky for our birthdays!! woohoo. So plenty of cocktails later we went to a few bars and then back home to bed.

The next day, feeling a bit rough, we went to kindergarten to discover that the teacher i had been working with (who i also found out was only 19 years old!!) was leaving...the next day! So on Friday I arrived and there was no replacement teacher for the 3 yr-olds, so the teacher of the 4 yr-olds (Becky´s class) had to try and split herself between two classrooms for the day alternately leaving me and becky by ourselves to entertain 20-odd peruvian kids each! A challenge, but not unbearable. And we were safe in the knowledge that we were getting hammered that night for our joint birthday party...

We decided to go with 80s fancy dress for our party (being born in the 80s and all that...albeit rather near the end, but that´s beside the point), so Andy put on a party for us at the restaurant. Despite the fact that there were only 5 of us who actually looked like we were in fancy dress, it was a great night. The night generally consisted of several drinking games (as you would expect) and lots of dancing (often just me, Becky and Mel - new volunteer - in the middle of the restaurant to Whitney Houston - now fondly termed Whitters). Then we hit some Cusco clubs which was eye-opening to say the least. Lots of western music and our last dance was Madonna´s ´Like A Prayer´ - which for those of you who joined Becky and I in our school rendition of this song will appreciate the humour/irony in this. And we were well into Becky´s actual birthday on Saturday before we got to bed. Needless to say we celebrated Becky´s birthday quietly (thank god) with flowers and more chocolate cake and phone calls home and all things nice. Overall really memorable birthdays.

On Sunday we went horseriding, again, which is always fun. This time we took Mel. This time i didn´t complain about my horse! Infact, i think the guy walking with us got the impression that i wanted to go faster (by my oh-so-subtle jigging about in the saddle and giddy-up noises) because he actually broke a little branch off a bush and gave it me as a whip*!! haha. once i´d stripped most of the leaves off I was trotting off into the sunset - well, if there´d been a sunset. *To all those animal lovers out there, please don´t get the impression that I actually whipped my horse, because that sounds so harsh. It was just a friendly tap. To be honest i didn´t really need to do that. As soon as it saw the branch it certainly bucked up a bit. And i gave it lots of strokes after - not heart-attack style strokes either. Promise. Ahem...

So Monday arrived and we were hoping that a better solution to the teaching problem had been found. And what was this solution?...For ALL the teachers to leave! Oh yes...roll on 9am and "where are all the teachers, Becky? No seriously, where are all the teachers!?" Turns out there had been some kindergarten mutiny and all the teachers had b*****ed off to lord knows where leaving the directors completely in the sewage. And so what happened...that´s right. Becky and I WERE the teachers. * cue soiled pants* Becky: "Hello children, so today you have English teachers. Isn´t that great?" Strangly, apart from the almost complete language barrier it was ok. I brought my inflatable globe (for the occassion, i didn´t just happen to have it with me) so the kids had a little lesson on Ingleterra. Also took the opportunity to give the 3 yr-olds freedom to be creative with paint and chalk and crayons (bit messy, but totally worth it because usually they have to colour certain things in certain colours and its boring), so i was happy with that.

Fortunately, the next day the director started interviewing prospective new teachers and our support assistant had a word to make sure that she doesn´t expect us to teach the kids all the time. And she thought we were here till December - haha! - she got a bit of a shock when we said she had about six weeks left out of us. There was still no teacher for the 3 yr-olds today and absolutely no idea what happened to the old ones, but things are getting back to normal a bit now.

There have been a few other changes recently too. Hali (a volunteer who started around the same time as us) left today. Also we started another placement on Monday at an orphanage for girls, which is fun. They have a lot more space to play than at the kindergarten so it was nice to run again! We haven´t got in with the 14 yr-old crowd yet, but we´re just biding our time, picking our moment and soon i´m sure we´ll be in on the gang. But the younger ones are cuties (even when they smell a bit). Sadly i´m having to recall my times tables again which i vowed i´d never do after gcse maths, oh the sacrifices we make for these kids.

And while she´s not looking I´ll just say...Becky nearly cried today because we had to walk past a mahoosive dog and just as we passed it, another one barked so she shat herself. Which i´ve got to admit was a bit funny. But bit by bit she´s overcoming her fear because Cusco is full of stray dogs. By the time we´re back in the UK she´ll be down the kennels, i´ll bet. However, Becky´s laundry is pretty much always twice the size of anyone else´s and costs double so this could be the proof that she does actually poo herself whenever we see a stray dog (all the time!), or she could just be a lot cleaner than the rest of us. I prefer to think it´s the former.

Anything else of any small interest? hmm...i spotted a dead mouse on my way to the bathroom the other day. I think it died mid-run because it´s back legs were splayed out. Fortunately it was cleaner day (yes we get a cleaner each week) so she took care of it with her industrial rubber gloves on.

We´re going to the theatre tomorrow because we are so cultural. Got to keep my hand in with the performance arts, darling!, before my degree goes completely to waste. Actually we´re just watching a play but apparantly it´s a mix of circus, magic, theatre and something else great which i can´t remember...so it should be good! Will keep you updated as usual...also sorry about the delay and lack of recent photos but the computer is soooooo slow and i have zero tolerance of and patience with technology. But i will endeavour to put the birthday ones on here if it kills me...which it may do, emotionally at least.

Love to all, Liz and Becky x x x x