6 weeks in Cusco

05 March - 16 April

This blog post will be quite long - it's been a while since I've blogged about what I've been doing, day to day - so with 6 weeks to catch up on, I've got a lot to say!

Since arriving back from Arequipa I've been studying Spanish and volunteering in Cusco. Other highlights have included dinner with other volunteers, a trip to Pisac market and Tipon ruins, Semana Santa (Easter) celebrations and two birthdays in my homestay... So:

Spanish classes

I continued doing Spanish classes for almost 5 weeks after getting back to Cusco, 1 1/2 weeks of grammar and practical (2 hours each) and then another 3 weeks of just grammar classes. My 3 various teachers were all excellent and I can now hold a reasonable conversation in Spanish, so long as the other person talks slow enough! I've had a number of locals comment that I can speak reasonably well given just 2 months of classes which I'm pretty stoked about.

Me with Marianela, Anatolia & Yesica when I took them out for a thankyou lunch.

Ahora, pienso que puedo hablar español bien para viajar en sudamérica!

Volunteering

I've written previously about the WaaW volunteering project here. I spent 4 hours there every weekday afternoon, with various other volunteers, helping the most awesome kids in the world - homework, sports, outdoor activities, and a nutrional dinner.

The kids are a lot of fun, although every day is reasonably tiring as they have a lot of energy. Every day we get a "Hola, Profe!" when they arrive, lots of gorgeous smiles and photo opportunities, and a hug and a "Chau, Profe, hasta mañana!" when they leave. It's great to see how they enjoy the little things in life and nice to know that we are a little highlight in their lives that would otherwise be quite tough.

A Friday trip to Cristo Blanco, on a hill above Cusco, with the kids.

Each month they have a different theme, and for April we decided to do the countries of the world - meaning that each of the volunteers could do some activities and talk to their kids about their own countries. I spent an hour showing the kids some photos and talking to them about Australia and New Zealand, before having a go at teaching them how to do a haka. Although it wasn't quite eveyone's interest, a couple of them loved doing the moves (but struggled a bit with the Maori words!). Another day I taught them about the African safari and they had to guess which animals matched which sounds.

I really realised how much our presence meant to them on my last day - they were all very sad to see me go ("No, Profe!") and I got a lovely certificate on which they'd all written their names, and got enveloped in a big hug. I'll never forget those kids, and the way they call me "Pieter Pan Con Leche!!"

My last day at WaaW - "Chau, Pieter Pan Con Leche!"

Homestay

I had a wonderful 6 weeks at Shiomara's homestay, with her parents, Delia and Oswaldo, and her two sisters, Kayla and Ailed. There were also a fair few other people staying there too, at various times - Lisa, from the US, who stayed there the whole time I did, Daile & John from England, Breanna and Kristen from the US, Logan from the US, and all the other guys who came and went for just a couple of days. I might even miss the dog, Toby...

We had lots of fun times at the homestay and with the family - a movie night or two, impromptu Zumba classes in the living room from Breanna, watching Oswaldo & Shiomara on Oswaldo's cooking show, a traditional Semana Santa (Easter) meal, Kayla's birthday, salsa dancing at The Muse, karaoke, and Oswaldo's birthday...

The family and homestayers at the traditional "12 platos" Semana Santa lunch: (clockwise from back left) Lisa, Oswaldo, Kayla, Kristen, me, Breanna, Shiomara, Delia, and Ailed.

Me and Lisa at karaoke on Kayla's birthday - I'm singing Fleetwood Mac!

Oswaldo with his self-cooked birthday buffet lunch - the party was a fancy affair with lots of family (he has 14 brothers and sisters) and 3 of us homestayers, plus a band, cake, and lots of food, Cusqeuña beer and dancing!

I got a cake on my last night, and was convinced to join the tradition of taking the first bite straight from the cake - thanks to John, it ended up being a bit too enthusiastic!

I'll miss the Montesino-Bengoas a lot - definitely hope I can go back and visit them some day!!

The family - Ailed, Shiomara, Oswaldo, Kayla & Delia, at Oswaldo's birthday.

FairCooking & FairSalsa

At FairServices, the founder, John, has also set up several other weekly events - cooking and salsa classes, free for all volunteers.

Cooking classes on Tuesdays are a great mid-week way to wind down after a day's volunteering. We help chop, dice, stir, peel, fry or otherwise prepare a typical Peruvian meal. While I was there, we cooked Lomo Saltado, Tallarin Verde, Causa, Soltero, and Ricoto Relleno. A few of the Spanish teachers are there guiding everything - and usually correcting our Spanish as we're talking to them too - and all the students and volunteers there have a beer or glass of wine and a good old yarn about everything.

Els, Elisabeth, myself and Logan with an excellent Causa, excellent Gato red wine and excellent company!

Every Friday night, Paco and Glennie teach us all how to salsa (kind of). They start off with some basic steps, and then teach various progressions, usually something different each week so those going back don't get bored. It's all a bit easier with a glass of red wine or two, there's lots of laughs as Paco makes his little jokes and we disbelievingly shake our heads at the complicated step he's trying to teach, and eventually we actually manage to dance his complicated steps!

Salsa-ing the night away...

Markets & streets of Cusco

One thing I've loved about Cusco is just wandering around and taking in the bustle of the city. Mercado Rosaspata, a local market, was just 1 minutes' walk away from the homestay, and I loved getting juices, soups, fruit and anything else at Rosaspata as well as Wanchaq, San Pedro or Mollino.

The locals call you "Papi" or "Papito" as you grab a bunch of bananas for 1 sol (about NZ$0.45), meat and chicken is hanging in open air swarming with flies, mango, maracuya (passionfruit) or piña (pineapple) juices are freshly made in front of you, a full "menu del día" (soup and second course) is on offer for 4 soles (less than NZ$2)... How could you go wrong?

Fruit & veg at Mercado Rosaspata

Sopa de la casa at Mercado Wanchaq

Cheese anyone?

Or maybe - pollo entero (whole chicken)?

One thing I certainly won't miss about Cusco is the dogs - there are dogs everywhere. I get that some people like dogs. But stray dogs really are the owners of the streets in Cusco, lurking on every corner and giving you an earful if you cross into their territory.

The roads themselves are a bit crazy. They say if you learn to drive in Wellington, you could drive anywhere in the world - but not in South America! Abrupt lane changes, narrow streets, constant horn tooting, buses and taxis pulling over anywhere they please, transit police with their damned whistles... The roads in Cusco are something else! (Not to mention they drive on the right hand side of the road too...)

A street near my homestay...

The two ways of getting around have their own quirks. Taxis are extremely cheap, with a trip in town costing about 3-5 soles (NZ$1.30-2.30). Many of them are matchbox-sized with absolutely zero suspension, which is rather uncomfortable on the cobbled streets in the city centre, and seatbelts are basically non-existent.

The buses and combis (mini-vans used as buses) charge around the streets with far too many people crammed inside, charging just 70c (NZ$0.30) for a trip. If you don't mind travelling standing with your head sideways, with hardly anything to hold onto, and getting a tirade of "baja baja baja, sube sube sube" at every stop, they're a good way to get around! In Cusco they also have cool names - the Batman, the Arco Iris (Rainbow), the Correcaminos (Roadrunner) - as I blogged about a few weeks ago here.

A couple of combis loading up on the streets of Cusco.

Liesbeth, one of the other volunteers, with some of the kids from WaaW in a combi on a Friday trip (note: this was not a full combi...).

I can hardly talk about the streets and markets without mentioning the Tupac Amaru Market. Tupac Amaru is a plaza near to our homestay where, every Saturday, it becomes packed full with stalls of everything from plants, cereals, tea towels, furniture, books, pets, clothes, juices and desserts - and an excellent street food restaurant opens up. After Shiomara introduced it to us, we visited almost every Saturday for lunch and a wander.

Cereals for sale.

Cuy (roast guinea pig) on offer in the street restaurant.

Locals eating at the street restaurant - cuy, causa, pollo broaster, papa relleno, soltero, aji de gallina - anything your culinary delights could want, with chicha morada to finish!

Sampling a "Tres Leches" (three milks) cake.

Other random notes & comments

1. The security of the stalls in the markets seems non-existent - it looks like it would be very easy to steal a mango or a couple of eggs as you walk past, and some vendors often leave their stalls for 5 minutes (or sometimes much longer). However, they all look out for each other and there is a fair sense of trust around too.
2. Breakfast is not like I'm used to - no weetbix for starters, and almost all the milk is UHT and not fresh. I've had to get used to bread and jam, a papaya juice and tea. Sometimes we get a quinoa porridge which I've became quite partial to.
3. A lot of American TV programs are available - but all dubbed over into Spanish. You get used to the words not matching what the actor's mouths are doing, but it's still a bit strange. Also, TV while eating is the norm - most cheaper restaurants will have it playing at full volume on some terrible local show like Yo Soy or Esta es La Guerra.
4. They like their pop songs here - English ones - but seem to have a very limited playlist, as the same ones come on all the time.
5. You don't flush toilet paper anywhere in South America - it clogs up the plumbing. It goes into a little bin beside the toilet instead.
6. Rubbish. Everywhere - and very little recycling, other than glass Coke or beer bottles. Coming from NZ, it's a bit of a shock to see how much rubbish people throw on the streets, out bus windows etc. It makes a haven for the dogs and poor people sift through it to try and find anything recoverable.

The people I met

I can't write about my time in Cusco without mentioning all the awesome people - travellers, students, and volunteers - I met while I was there. Everyone I met in Cusco was great fun, all the volunteers put heaps of effort into WaaW, and I'm going to miss everyone a lot. I can't wait to get to Europe later this year and meet a lot of them again...

• Sarah from Australia,
• Elisabeth, Siebren, Els, Pieter C, Liesbeth, John and Dries from Belgium,
• Jantien and Mathilde from the Netherlands,
• Déborah from France,
• Katja from Germany,
• Laetitia from Luxembourg,
• Daile, John, Ashan and Isabelle from England,
• Lisa, Logan, Kristen, Breanna, Carrie, Rachel, Antony, Rebecca and Robert from the USA,
• Stacey from Canada,
• Tanya from Thailand,

and of course:

• Shiomara, Kayla, Ailed, Oswaldo, Delia, Chino, Marianela, Yesica, Anatolia, Fanny, Mimi and all the other teachers, Eliana, Paco and Glennie from Peru.

Cusco wouldn't have been the same without all of you!

Here's some of the antics we got up to:

- Lunch and a wander every Saturday afternoon at Tupac Amaru market

- Dancing at Mama Africa or the Temple after Friday night salsa classes (not forgetting Jantien's favourite - dancing on the bar)

- Live music and drinks at Ukukus

- Watching a movie or the latest Game of Thrones episode on a quiet weekday night

- Salsa with the locals at The Muse

- "Gringo" dinner at Sarah, Siebren and Laetitia's apartment each Saturday night

- Day trip to Tipón and eating cuy

- Chocolate brownies at Jack's Cafe

- Dinner, drinks and/or a fire on the balcony at Elisabeth, Jantien & Mathilde's apartment

- Quiet beer at Norton's Rats or Paddy's on the Plaza de Armas or a not so quiet Pisco Sour at Hibrido's

- Walk up around the hill suburbs

- Day trip to Pisaq market

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It was an awesome 6 weeks. I was very sad to leave, but I know I will be back one day and I know the volunteering experience, the newfound knowledge of Spanish, and the many great friends I've made will make it some of the best 6 weeks of my life.

However, new adventures now beckon. I've spent a week travelling the coast - Nazca, Paracas, Huacachina and now Lima - and have just arrived in Iquitos for the Amazon jungle before continuing up to Cartagena, Santa Marta and the rest of Colombia.

Chau for now!

Volunteering in Cusco

March 5 - April 15

Since returning to Cusco, I've been spending my weekday afternoons volunteering at WaaW, an after school programme for children aged 5-12 in a poorer part of Cusco. It's been an extremely rewarding experience; the kids love having the volunteers there and the volunteers love being there!

WaaW was set up by the same people as the FairServices Spanish school about a year ago, when they wanted to do something to help kids in poverty in Cusco. Generally, the 20-odd children who come each day:

• Are from families that don't own a fridge
• Usually only eat rice, potatoes or other carb-based foods
• Have parents who often have to work all day or night
• Have parents that can't help their kids with even basic homework
• Go to schools with 40+ kids in one class
• Have very poor basic hygiene

The above list isn't complete... These kids and their families really are struggling with day-to-day life.

So, this is what we do:

We help them with reading & homework.

We feed them a snack soon after they arrive.

We also cook and give them a nutritional dinner before they leave at night.

We organise craft activities in the classroom.

The activities have something to do with a monthly theme. For April we are teaching them about other countries in the world and on one day they got to make Chinese rice field hats.

We play sports with the kids at a nearby court.

On Fridays, those kids that have behaved well enough get to go on an excursion. This week we went to a playground and had some fun acting as "horses" for the children - "Cargame!" ("Carry me!").

Another week we went to a jam factory, where we were lucky enough to get free samples!

Last month's theme was "The Circus", and performing in general. At the end of the month, we dressed them up in with hats, red noses, facepaint and other decorations...

And they performed a short show that they had learnt over the course of the month...

The show was at the nearby court while the volunteers and several others watched!

We also do a small fiesta for the kids who have a birthday in the past month and they get a bit of birthday cake!

The afternoons are a lot of fun (and a bit of hard work as well sometimes!) and we all really enjoy spending time with the kids, giving them high-fives after sports, and hugs when they arrive and leave each day. It's nice to know we can give them an enjoyable time. It's also a good way to practice the Spanish that I've learnt - a great way to learn the "imperative" verb forms!

A photo outside the classroom with all the volunteers and kids. 

Me with one of the students after making hats for an activity one day.

I'm going to put on my advertising hat now... WaaW is, after all, a not-for-profit organisation that relies on donations to stay afloat. The volunteers pay a small fee each week to cover administration costs, but we need money to pay for the rent of the school's classroom, food for cooking each week, materials for the classroom, dental costs for the children, and many other things.

You can read more about our project here:
http://fairplay-peru.org/en/Volunteers/Volunteer/

If you want to make a donation, take a look at this webpage that has a link to a site for donations:
http://www.fairplay-peru.org/en/Sponsors/Ways_to_Help/

There's also a Facebook page about fundraising, which describes some fundraising "goody" bags we're selling if anyone is interested. The total bag is full of artisanal crafts that in total are worth US$100. If enough people donate I get one to bring one home! Search for "WaaW goody bags fundraising" on Facebook.

Thanks everyone!