So Long, Peru

Our final week was full of mixed emotions. I had my last day at San Antonio where I began to build a really strong connection with the girls. I started bringing my spanish/english dictionary which made it a million times easier to communicate. We finally had a routine to the day: 'doing' my hair...20 times, playing clapping games, playing ball, dancing along to bollywood movies, repeat. the last couple days the children were off for the independence day holiday ( peru's year round school system gives 2 weeks off for the independence day holiday which is officially the 28 and 29 of July) so all 24 of the girls were there all day. It was crazy and slightly overwhelming, but fun and i was grateful to see all of them so much in my last days.

On the holiday we went to cineguilla, basically Lima's banff... the countryside, country clubs offering swimming and horseback riding and most importantly SUN. The prices were higher because of the holiday so we decided to wander to the dry riverbed to catch some sun. Mariah, Dan and Mike went to ride horses with Pablo while alice mary and I got attacked(ish) by a hoard of goats. After they returned from the horses we found a paralyzed dog in the river bed. We think it got hit by a car and wandered as far as it could. They fed it water and leftovers from lunch and eventually were able to buy tranquilizers from a local vet pharmacy to put it down. It was an emotional day, but I'm glad we were able to help the dog. I use we loosely....if you know me, i am very...very afraid of dogs...i don't really know why, but as guilty as I felt, i couldn't contribute much to carrying for the dog. I really wish i couldve, and was also very sad when we put it down...but i would find it easier to skydive than hold a dog :(.

The next day the boys and i went to central Lima...and oh my god was it busy. i really wanted to buy leather sandals and a bag that i had seen a couple weeks earlier, but naturally that shop was one of the ones closed for the holidays. We went to the catacomb museum which wasnt that exciting...but it was like a dollar so, im not complaining. we walked around for a bit and found ahole in teh wall market where i found just what i was looking for but cheaper! we got back just in time for dinner and my roomates were back from their cusco/puno adventure! they got back a day early but the room was still miraculously clean...LOVE the cleaner. friday we hit up the inca markets to buy last minute gifts. then we contemplated going out for a few hours and decided to watch a film instead.

Saturday we managed to FINALLY play a game of soccer. (we could have played friday if michael had the sense to invite us...but no.) we played 11 year olds....and won....barely. i was still satisfied that i had played. Sunday was pretty much all packing and hanging out in the room...which with 4 matresses is actually more comfy than the living room. discovered a bit late, but discovered none teh less. we had sunday night pizza for dinner and linden, lyria, dan, mike and alice all took me to the airport where we indulged in some lovely mcdonaldss fries/ice cream. The airport tax people accepted all my us money that the currency exchange wouldnt, which was a huge success.

I would just like to rant, just for a line or two about the fact that i had to go through customs in houston...Really?? i had to go through us customs and re do security, which meant i didnt have enough time to sit and enjoy my starbucks. which was after i had the emerg exit seat on teh plane and couldnt sleep. ...that is my rant. lesson: only sit in the last emergency exit row...leg room AND a reclining chair.... fml.

Anyway, I'm back now...and in a way it feels like I never left. Maybe because unlike when I went to Europe I didn't come back with a nearly negative bank account and 14 new pairs of shoes. Or maybe because the people at home haven't changed. Or maybe because ultimately it was one month of the 230 some odd months ive lived. which brings me to my next point, and as much as while i was there i kept telling myself, 'do it, you dont know when you'll be back' part of my was also saying 'you can do it tomorrow, youre here for a month' but really a month is not very long. and whats the point of watching pretty little liars somewhere you'll be for one month when you can watch it somewhere where youll spend thousands of months. My only regret wouldbe not travelling more and seeing more of lima. I'm still gathering my thoughts of the 'profound life change' everyone seems to expect i must have had. It seems like everyone expects you to put a finger on it too, and be able to say I now understand_____________ and am more mature in the following ways:______________ but i havent got a bloody clue. I don't know that the trip changed me. I would say though that it provided enough food for thought for a while. The points ive been inspired to ponder so far...because I know you're expecting some sort of cathartic revalation... are these: i loved the orphanage, but i loved pachacutec more, the kids in the orphanage may not have parents, but they are guaranteed everything else-just because children have families that doesnt guarantee that their other needs are satisfied, in fact, in that area it probably means they arent; is it possible that a contributor to the shorter life expectancy in 2nd and 3rd world countries is the lack of safety that comes with low socioeconomic status?--it is too dangerous to run outside, peoples houses arent large enough to fit a home gym even if they could afford it, and gym memberships are out of financial reach for most of the population, on top of that, people need to log so many hours working to pay the bills they dont have time or energy to work out, so maybe its not just the health care system but also the inability to live a healthy lifestyle; simple: be nicer to people who don't speak your language, it is the MOST frustrating situation for them too; "as one person i cannot change the world, but i can change the world for one person" stolen from kait, but necessary to remember when you come to the realization that the likelyhood of even one of the kids we worked with getting adopted is slim to none nevermind finding a home for all of them; i think everyone should travel somewhere far alone. somewhere unknown to them as a traveler. it forces you to meet people and try more things to meet more people. and it lets you be alone with your thoughts--which in my case is borderline dangerous...but interesting to see what your brain finds to be most important when its you and your year-too-old hostel bunk bed mattress half way around the world- i guarantee you'll surprise yourself....

Id say thats enough attempts at being profound and stuff, ultimately i had a fantastic trip, and as cheesy as it sounds it was everything id hoped for and more. Thanks to my Lidia and her family as they hosted me in Lima for the month and helped me get settled and were supportive of my travelling. And also to all the volunteers that were in Lima during the time I was there, you're all part of the amazing experience I had as well as the memories I'll hold for years to come. Specifically my roomates who delt with the stench of my inca trail sweat soaked backpack and sulfer towel for a solid three weeks--in addition to my odd inevitable poke at americans. as expected it birthed a new travel bug into my system--where i venture off to next, i dont know, but i will find sandboarding wherever it is.

Sandboarding!

First of all, before sandboarding we had a really good week of volunteering. We started up teaching at teh new school in pachacutec, i taught english becasue physed wasnt on that day, but it was really fun--the kids were 5-7 years old and beyond precious. I gave a LOT of the donations I brought to the kids as prizes and gifts at recess, also to other children in the area. As much as the kids tehre arent orphans like in the other places we work, they live in what is essentially the slums of Lima. houses of for metal sheets for walls and one on top for a leaky roof line the costal community. pencils and erasers were like gold to the kids, it was really fun to be able to make them that excited. because peruvian independance day is next week, everyone is doing parades this week because they haev next week off. so the kids at teh school assembled a drumline and march and went through the streets with peruvian flags waving proudly. ...the preschoolers had play machine guns though, ive yet to figure that one out. as wrong as it is, the y were superbly adorable. I also had my last day at the special needs orphanage, i wanted to cry. Im going to miss all of my favourites SOmuch!! they are all so unique, but growing to know all of them and their personalities- what makes each one laugh. and as much as it is 10 times harder to get a smile with some of them it means so much more. I almost want to come back just to see how that group of kids is doing, and as much as it hurts my back-carry maria for a nother 12 hours. ahh im getting sentimental, must move on to happier times

After volunteering, and the grand farewell on friday Dan, Liz, Mike and myself caught a bus to Ica. its about a 5 hour bus ride, traffic dependant. I would just liketo point out that we had zero reservations going in to this trip, for those of you who know me-you should be very proud that i was able to "see how it goes" with a 10pm arrival in a foreign country with a foreign language. We arrived and took a taxi to huaccachina, about 10 minutes away but home to a gorgeous oasis of sand dunes surrounding a lucious lagoon. Litterally one road on one side of the lagoon, and one sidewalk on the other side, strictly hostels, restaurants, and shops. we found the hostel we heard was good, AND it had a quad room. first success. then we took a walk to a pub and had 2 for 5 dollar mojitos, then went back to sleep. we woke up to roosters on saturday morning followed by beaming sunlight in a cloudless blue sky. it was finally a taste of summer after a month of gloomy lima skies. we walked around the quaint lagoon, had fresh fruit juice, tried to climb the sand dunes by foot...tried implying eventual failure. its like climbing a treadmil...before you even take your next step, teh sand above your other foot is all sliding down already... a good workout none the less. we ate lunch on the lagoon, i had some lovely ceviche-a peruvian "typical" dish. then spent a few hours laying in the sun. time VERY well spent if you ask me. We had our dune buggy tour and sand boarding at 330 so taht it wouldnt be so hot (good call) and we got to watch the sun set over the dunes. it was AMAZING!!! the sandboarding was easy to get the jist of we did three easy runs first then three big steep ones. SO fun, i was scared shitless when i was st anding at the top but it was unreal. and teh dune buggies were likethe best ride ever, except i definitely consumed copious amounts of sand. ..so worth it. all you could see was sand dunes for miles ...it was unlike anything id ever seen before. and its so cool seeing it meet the blue sky, the lines of the dunes are so crisp-it actually looks like the preloaded desktop backgrounds! anyway it was amazing. I only have photos of before we went on the dunebuggy tour because we only wanted to risk one camera to the flying sand. Mike got lots of sweet photos, but eventually thecamer a did freeze. weather he fixes his camera or not--i will still find a way to steal the photos, worry not.

Plan for today is dim sum in central lima followed by shopping followed by pizza for dinner. and one week til home!

What I miss most

Im not that terribly home sick; it feels like im at university for another month, and ive made plenty of friends here...but after having granola with yogurt and bananas for breakfast i remembered for a moment the small luxuries of 1st world living.

-having ice cold beverages
-drinking tap water if necessary
-anything whole grain
-un-salted vegetables
-movies without perma-spanish subtitles
-having my own set of keys
-knowing what im having to eat
-not being a "gringo"
-WATER PRESSURE
-english speakingness
-starbucks closer than a half hour cab away
-laundry drying
---as opposed to remaining damp due to humidity
-being able to go for a run whenever i want
-sadly, tanning
-friends and family a local phone call away


but what i will miss when im home

-sublime chocolate runs... and chokosodas
-30 cent busses
-somebody cooking for me
-somebody cleaning my room
-living with 11 friends
-jaywalking legally
-THE KIDS

eclipse and birthdays

I never really summarized machu picchu because i had been writing about the trail for so long...which is pretty representative of my feeling towards it. Seeing the ruins was more of a omg, its over...than a WOW lets go look around for 3 hours. None the less it was unreal to be there, and crazy to think about the amount of work it took incas to get to MP everytime they needed to deal with issues in their civilization throughout the entire inca trail. what we hiked in 4 days took them 4 hours. The pristine craftmanship of the village was remarkable, not only the fact taht they got all the boulders up to that point, but that they all fit together so perfectly and purposefully. So many considerations were taken in the making, it is highly impressive. After MP we went to lunch in aguas calientes (thank god there was a bus down) we then went to the hot springs...which were no rockies hotsprings, but did the trick for achy muscles just as well. the trained, then bused, then flew and i was back to lima by lunch tuesday.

Wednesday we went to the healthy orphanage. Which i hav learned still has more specials than regulars...but they are functional specials. which is proving to be more than a challenge, because they are really strong but have a lesser perception of right and wrong and responsiveness to guidance...like STOP!...I worked with little boys about age 5...i always thought when looking at my life that i would rather have boys because its less drama in high school...but boy do parents pay for it in the early years...i was a human punching bag! haha it was fun though, and they were really excited i was there. Im still contemplatign where to give all the orphanage supplies. They too were short basic things like pencils and paper, but they also had virtually no toys. It breaks my heart taht i cant be giving everything to everyone. This week we went to a new school in pachacutec where i will teach phys ed. we had to find a new one because the other one had so me political unrest and walls were burnt down among other things. We did our introductions and got a nice reception of food and inca kola :). I met two people from Newfoundland that th ursday then Friday at special needs worked wi th 2 girls from montreal and met a girl from the GTA--GO CANADIANS! ....i really just like that less people make fun if the way i speak..

so Thursday night was the opening to Eclipse in Peru. Its in English with Spanish subtitles-thank god. it was showing everey 20 minutes and still arriving at 7 we couldnt get in til 840. it was insane. but who knew thesame million calorie popcorn from north american movies exists in peru...its apparently the one thing they imported. It was sweet to go with the group, and for a while i forgot i was in peru. which as much as i love every minute, was kind of comforting. the whole stampede thing is making me a tad bit homesick, luckily yall can st op having fun as of today :P. that day we went to central lima and had a gander which was pretty cool. seems like the more touristy and populated places are, the more european they are. the architecture was much more elegant, there were pedestrian s treets, sidewalk patios the whole shibang. but i must say after shopping in a ton of shops here, the style is really not my thing...probably a great thing for the wallet though. Central lima sells thread we use to make bracelets in our spare time, so i finally bought some which was exciting. i also found some nice leather things i might go back to get.

Friday we celebrated Liz s birthday, her real birthday is monday, when she turns 20! the age i personally am scared as hell to turn, so im excited to see how she does. We went to barranco, which is by miraflores; basically their both nicer, touristier, younger districts in Lima. We fuond a bar called carpe diem which liz, dan and the sisters had gone to last week while i was in cusco. It is a 15 soles entry.. so 5 maybe 6 dollars and is open bar all night. it really sounds too good to be true. but we all arrived home successfully undrugged and realatively un sick so definitely no complaints. they played a great deal of music from home which was fun because it was english, and somewhat remided me of work. which i miss a LOT right now.

Yesterday Kait left to go home. we went to chilis for deserts after lunch and a few of the girls took her to the airport. It was really weird seeing somebody go home. It created the reality that we all go home, and that most of us go home in about the 2 week mark. Which in some ways seems far away, but in more ways is practically going to feel like tomorrow. With all the new volunteers arriving on the 15th including one guy in our house, mike, its almost made me feel like ive been here longer because we arent the new group anymore. Feeling like i know what im doing makes me feel a lot better about being here volunteer wise.

Im still coughing up a lung so Breakfast is next on the priorities, then copious amounts of sleep, because apparently I havent partied in a while and need multiple days of grannyness to recover.

i love toilet seats and hot showers

So this is the continuation of the last post. Pretty much i will try to recall everythig i can about the inca trail but its really all a blur since the moment i heard we were climbing over mountains and sleeping on the ground. Basically, me being the wonderfully useful human I am, solely chose to do the inca trail as a way to get to machu picchu assuming it would be cheaper than taking a train. Defiitely thought it would be a trot through some ravine with comfy ground to sleep on...part of me might have even expected mass bunk bed housing in the middle of the trek. Seeing the I survived the Inca Trail tshirts didnt even ring a bell that i might be up for a challenge.

Anyway, it starts with the guy picking me up at 7 am in a coach, that was conveniently extremely comfortable for me to sleep...one more misleading factor in my impression that a 4 day trek would be easy. The polish trio introduced themselves with excitement because they assumed i was rooming with sebastian as we were the only unpaired people on the trek. i was able to remember dorotas name because of gossip girl, and voitech s name took me like 3 days...and i also highly doubt that s how its spelled. There were also georgia and alice from the uk who had been in south america for dorota since the end of january. There were the checks, petra and thomas...a plastic surgeon and morning tv host slash commercial superstar in eastern europe (and might i add were always 2 hours early). The spanish, carolina and marc who had the delight of listening to the world cup win while on day three of the trek. The argentinians, who had magic water (and were often 2 hours late). The brazilians who were super nice, and some how managed to get ahead of the pack without anyone knowing leaving us to believe they were lost. our Guide valerio was a gem. had the best knee slapping ha-ha-ha scrunched face laugh at his own jokes.

DAY 1. so thanks to ryan i definitely bought walking sticks...2 because they were cheaper...but still more expensive than buying one...really i just didnt understand wwhat she was saying. one thing led to another and we were on the trek. the first 50 or so meters were straight uphill. and then i recieved probably the most devastating news of my life. we were told about the horses and llamas that carried products on the trail. in learning about llamas i found out that unless i lose basically my entire torso worth of body weight my dream of riding a llama was over. the weight limit is 25 kilos.. lets be real here, nicole richie weighs more than that. continuing on, the first day was gorgeous mainly rolling hills which were tolerable with the backpack, but an extremely unfair representation of what was to come. From km 82, where the inca trail hike begins, to the first camp isnt the real inca trail, its more of a man made connection to the train tracks to facilitate tourism. That night valerio created a suposed hallucinogenic tea from flowers...the first of his many lies. the washrooms at this point were quite luxurious they had imprints for your feet beside the hole in the floor, which may or may not have been surrounded by reminents of bad aimers. no showers, and one tap of running water. Day one wasnt too bad, tehre were a lot of stops and ladies on teh side of the trail selling sublime chocolates and inca cola for 500% street pricing. The sleeping wa stn even that uncomfortable.

Day 2. the challenge day...but i ran a marathon 9 months ago so clearly im super fit and cant be challenged, right?... WRONG. basically it waas like see the top of that mountain?...oh wait, you cant, its so high up its above the clouds and blocked by fog. well, either way, were climbing it. and we were told we could get porters because it was the hard day... but if dorota was going to carry her bag, i HAD to carry mine. basically they were random sized boulder stairs zigzagging up the mountain t il lunch when we were 400m of altitude away. then valerio took my oxygen and basically made me get aporter. and because i felt like a whimp in respect to carrying my bag, i decided to tough out teh cold and wear my lulu short shorts through the pass in teh rain and fog... insisting that i was canadian and not cold. i was freezing. YAY were at the top of the mountain. NOW lets go down the entire mountain on wet stone steps equally as uneven as the ones to teh top... oh me oh my. I think that they realized how long it would take for people to go down, they put bathrooms half way. after lunch there were no more fake poor peruvian ladies selling outrageously priced energy supplements which was mildly depressing as they usually came with the excitement of seeing a few llamas with small children, that were tanned, and therefore looked like me, and i therefore allowed me to imagine what i would look like on a llama at the age of 3. it also signified a no turning back now idea. me being the cynical person i am began to considering differnt fake injuries or medical conditinos and wondering how they would get me out...and if it was worth it to keep killing myself. in all fairness the porter was a godsend. IF YOURE DOING THE INCA TRAIL DONT BE TOO PROUD TO GET A PORTER. we got to the camp..which was our highest in altitude.. had happy hour aka popcorn and tea...on taht note, all i drank was 4 cups of tea a day because i didnt feel like carryin gwater...and sponge bathed in my bottleed water teh firt night, ( at taht point i still had hope for hygeine). anywho the washrooms were a step up--toilet bowls, no seat... apparently the fact that theres no seat means crapping on the bowl is ok? icckkkk it was gross. i really would support anyone willing to begin a inca trail washroom cleaning business. on the second night we were at huge camps wit h pretty much everyone doing the trek. at this point i was deeply curious how 60 year olds, and children, and the obviously gravely unfit had all made it to the same point as me. i have yet to find an answer...but i think its along the lines of "non-student-budget tours probably provide extra porters the whole time". anywho not much too interesting besides it beeing relatively freezing because of the altitude. and then hearing some american man ask why it was colder at higher altitudes wehn were so much closer to thesun...

Day 3. another pass, you could see the mount ain we had to climb from the camp, which was depressingly daunting. I got a porter all day because it was 16km, ihad enough money, and i felt bad for myelf for missing the wake up call coca tea tent service.. which i missed blindly meandering to the filthy washrooms. as much as the milage was higher, (10 k day 1, 9k day 2) it was only a short up/down-hill/mountain then we saw more inca sites like we did on teh first day and the middle section was really nice and jungle-y and easy. which made for a nice day. then we proceded downhill...forever, we decended a km in altitude.. gross, then we all met up at and inca site waiting for valerio to give us info on it for like a half anhour and left when he never came becasue we were worried the line for hot showers would be too long. on that note, hot showers = best 5 soles ever spent. also though, it reminded me how much being a girl sucks, our line went about 4 times slower than teh mens. while we were waiting carolina and marc listened to teh world cup final via radio and cheered for their win! in retrospect this whole thing seems really short considering it was our last night...but in the moment, the days were somewhat neverending in certain respects. For our last dinner we had a huge buffet feast. which was nice, except for the part where we were starving at every otehr meal, and then we had way too much food.. i wish they had spread it out a little bit, and that way the porters woulndt have had to carry so much food for so long. might i also add, that maybe becuase of my job, or maybe because im asian...i had a hard time calling our porters porters, i wanted to call them sherpas, because basically that s what they are. anyway, just a fun fact. also, on the note of porters, they wore sandals to run through the inca trail with 50 pouunds on their backs. crazy men. they all spoke kechwa ....or whatever taht dialect is too, which was challenging when they were repetitively telling me things. not that i understand spanish either, but its less of a long shot. we gave them tips and a thank you speech dlivered by thomas and translated by marc that included english words that the english girls and i didnt understand and a sentence about the porters being our bread of the inca spirit? oh, thomas.

Day 4. MachuPicchu. wake up at quarter to 4....not cool. especially when you decide to bring akinetic energy flash light that requires two hands and dies in like 2 minutes. so i would like topoint out that i am a very efficient blind hiker, as i did the first 30 minutes tapping my upcoming ground with my walking stick. valerio promised it wasnt that difficult-just a couple of hours at the difficulty of the first day. too bad he forgot to mention the whole we climb another mountain thing. and the sand gates, where we get the first glimse of machupicchu were up such a steep wall we hd to climb with hands and feet. getting there was amazing, but all the people that hiked the trail were there which was a bit crowded. we continued hiking to another inca site where we watched the sun rise over machu picchu which was gorgeous. and incredible when your delirious from sleep deprivation. we continued onteh the classic photo spot and toured mchu picchu for a few hours.

So ive been typing forever so more info to come later today or tomorrow. i will say though that after this weekend i have nver loved hot showers or legit toilet seats so much in my life. also i realllllly want to be at stampede.

pre inca...aka before i died

Apparently I havent written in a while and lots has happened in that time. Ill try to make it short and sweet, but I dont forsee that attempt succeeding.

First, we went back to the special needs orphanage on monday. Ive officially fallen in love with the kids. Mostly because carrying them around for 5 hours is an excellent workout... and because they are ridiculously adorable. On Tuesday we were unable to go to teach in Pachacutec because there was a protest going on in regards to overdue renovations. On Wednesday we went to the regular orphanage. I worked with a group of girls aged 8 to 12, more than half of them were special needs, just not as severe as the ones at the specialized facility. It was really nice to work with a more responsive age group, but my lack of spanish proved to be a much larger issue as i was unable to keep up any form of conversation. we played basketball soccer and volleyball. i actually tried. i still lost 2 games. but dont worry, i won soccer...by a point. They taught me some basic words in spanish and i taught them english, it was really fun and quite useful. What i found most exciting was seeingthe samaritans purse shoeboxes in the orphanage. it was really cool to see where they actually go, and to understand that i was working with a group of girls that really needed my attention.

CUSCO. is to lima what banff is to calgary. significantly farther, but still ridiculously touristy for blocks surrounding the main plaza. My hotel was quite nice, the terrace in the middle is exposed which let the beautiful weather warm up my room while i was touring the city. It was really pretty and very historical. There were a LOT of churches for the size of the city. It was crazy clean and people spoke much better english. In contrast to places like vegas where street salesmen sell call girls, they sell manicures facials and massages in cusco...apparently their sacred because incas got the EXACT same ones. I had alpaca for lunch which was quite an interesting experience...it wasnt very weird tasting, it was more so the concept of "im eating alpaca" that threw me off. I really wanted to try guinea pig, but it was expensive considering the high possibility of me hating it. Instead i searched out a good salad to fuel my veggie deficit. Considering the touristyness things were quite cheap, a menu for lunch including 3 courses and a pisco sour was 12 soles...so 5ish canadian dollars. on taht note, i tried a pisco sour...it was like a lime margarita with whipped egg on top. I also went to the grand market to look around, it was like a huge farmers market with loads of raw meat and no health standards. I being the adventurous person i am had a smoothie. only because it was 2 soles and contained copious amounts of fresh fruit. and mostly because it was miles away from teh raw meat and roaming dogs. yes, cusco has random strays too.

starbucks=success!

We´ll get to starbucks later, because Im only capable of retelling in chronological order. Also, ignore the poor gramar and spelling errors : a) because this is a Spanish keyboard b) because there is only Spanish spell check. So weve had two days of actual volunteering, the first at pachacutec...the school we visited on wednesday. A really poor area, the church runs the school but they have the bare minimum when it comes to resources. I was selected a s a physed teacher! So Thursday was an imporvised class because they were between units... clearly we played soccer. And I was clearly patronized by 10 year old peruvian boys. I had to play to make the teams even; they definitely looked at me, discussed, laughed, and pointed to the net. During breaks between classes I proved that I was somewhat competent and was allowed to play! but holy do those kids have energy. That was a workout and a half, nevermind the fact that 3 boys were skipping class and stealing the ball, so i had to keep chasing them around. AND THEN they made up a story that I made a deal with them and owed them 40cents, good thing they were beyond adorable. Pachacutec is super long bus ride (about an hour and 15) but definitely worth it, seeing how happy the kids are to see you. ALL the little girls pull on your arm so you can bend down and kiss each others cheeks and say buenos dias como estas... it erases all memories of being sardined for an hour in the farthest thing from a 4 wheel drive escalade.

Friday we went to a special needs orphanage, many of us were really hesitant never having worked with special needs children before. It is much closer maybe only 15 minutes away by bus. I worked with toddlers, but other volunteers worked with older kids at preteen age, with the physio, or in the orphanage classrooms. It was a long day from 830 to 130 with no break. Its very physically and emotionally draining to work with children to begin with, but after Friday I have a new found respect for those who work with the special needs. None of my toddlers spoke, or really understood if you spoke to them (even in Spanish), sadly I think some were deaf in addition to their other syndromes. Some were clearly much more debilitated than others and were confined to wheelchairs, where some were able to be the energizer bunny toy destructing kids were used to. I think the biggest help for the nurses was in feeding time. Feeding 10 kids is a huge challenge, so me and Monica (one of the girls from Victoria), helped feed the kids at snack and lunch. We also helped with baths and putting them down for nap time. It was way more exhausting than I could have imagined, but the nurses were very grateful for our help w hich was nice. And every bite of food or slight smile was a huge sense of relief and success. It was a huge eye opener into special needs care in general, not just peru. It was actually areally nice orphanage, they had very high s ecurity, a good amount of s taff, and everyone that needed a wheelchair had one. They also had tons of toys where I was. Some looked like north american donations--so if you are someone that donates, it really does make a huge difference! And to ease the stress of our first day the brazil netherlands game was on while we were there. Basically the final half consisted of e very nurse and doctor and myself sitting with a kid on each leg staring at the television... one doctor held the antenna with his hand the entire time to get the best reception haha.

Also, might I add...I know it sounds ridiculous, but I kind of miss work. Or at least the Pint family, and being the loser I am, all I could think was I hope as many people in Edmonton are watching these games as they are in Peru. Its so huge here (obviously), when we went to another district yesterday we found an avenue of restaurants. It was teh last 10 of the spain paraguay game and everyone was in a cluster outside every restaurant pushing and shoving to see the game. So girls, I hope it caught on at home and you all made sweet money at 7am.

On friday night we ventured to pizza hut... a 5 soles cab ride away (3 soles = 1 USD). A little taste of home was definitely nice. The food here has been fantastic, but sometimes a little grease and non-rice carb is needed. Yesterday we went to Miraflores... Were pretty sure it`s its own city but its close enough to be Lima. Unfortunately the weather wasnt fantastic, but there were still people surfing what looke like hella sweet waves if i was a stereotypical californian. There were like 8 side by side soccer 'courts' on the beach, all the fields so to speak seem to be concrete here, I assume its more cost effecient as far as upkeep goes. Miraflores is defineitly how the tourists see Lima. Tons of shops, malls, museums, and street vendors, and the staple 7 side by side made in china souvenir stores in the center of the main plaza. Where you see tourist, you see Starbucks. That company doesnt lose a dime in any dollar exchange, my grande americano was the same price as it is in canada to thepenny. but it was probably the best most comforting thing ive ever tasted. We ate dinner at a little restaurant called Haiti, just had some simple sandwiches. Miraflores is slightly more expensive then San Miguel (where we are living) but still way cheaper than north america. The gloomy weather took a lot out of us so we ended up coming home pretty early. Later we had a cake and birthday celebration for volunteers from another homestay, which was really nice!

Today I think were going to the inca markets today, which ill write about later this week, maybe before i head off to machu picchu on thursday. I promise the posts will be longer once time passes, as the volunteering itself will require a lot less explanation.

As for now, thats my life story, im going to go learn spanish and cure my cold (which I DEFINITELY caught from one of the twelve children who cough/sneezed snot/drool into my face on friday)