I am hoping to post some pictures soon, the internet is not that reliable here and I have lost pictures after I saved them because the system went down, a minor detail.
One of the local towns I love to visit is called Pisac, it has a very nice Plaza with a market with lots of beautiful alpaca hand knitted items. I think one word that will stay in my mind for a long time is "Alpaca" because all the vendedoras shout it out all the time to attract shoppers and of course it is necessary to bargain with the sellers.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Arrival in Cusco/Calca October 11
I arrived in Cusco on a sunny Sunday morning, the flight into the airport was very thrilling, I could see the red houses with tin roofs glistening in the sun. At first, I thought it was cars, but then I realized there are not that many cars in Cusco. I was met at the airport by Kikulla and the ride to his home by taxi was down, Cusco is aprox. 10,000 feet and Calca where I was going is in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and is lower, there were some spectacular views on the ride from
the airport. I just knew I was going to love it here.
I was greetly warmly by Aida and I found out I was going to have my own room, I expected to share a room. Aida and Kikulla serve lunch to tourists who are visiting the area with a guide. I was invited to have lunch with a couple from Washington D.C. with their two guides. They were celebrating thier 10th wedding anniversary with a 10 day trip to Peru.
When I walked through the door of Aida´s and Kikulla´s home, I stepped into a beautiful garden, their home is laid out like the adobe homes in New Mexico with a big courtyard down the middle and gardens on each side and living quarters on both sides of the kitchen, it makes for a lot of privacy. My room is facing the garden and also the surrounding mountains. I love to get up and sit outside in the morning, I am always greeted by the sun and their two German shepard dogs, Rufo and Neily ( I am not sure about the spelling).
On Monday, October 11, Tanika (my teaching partner from England) and I went to meet the Director of the school where we would be teaching. We began teaching on Tuesday morning.
Quechua is the first language of the children, spanish their second and we come in with english their third. Nobody in the school speaks english. We prepared a lesson plan. We decided we would do a review of what they had learned before from the previous volunteers who left lots of notes at Aida´s and Kikulla´s home.
One of the teachers told us the children knew what we were presenting to them, we did not find that to be the case but decided to move on to a new lesson on the weather. We teach each class from 3A, B, C, 4A, B,C, 5A,B,C and &6A,B & C once a week. We have 45 mins with third and 4th grades and 1.5 hours with 5th and 6th grades. Teaching is hard work !
Most of the classes are interested in learning, we have one or two classes that resist. The teachers are getting more involved and that is a big help. We start by explaining everything in Spanish and then moving to English.
the airport. I just knew I was going to love it here.
I was greetly warmly by Aida and I found out I was going to have my own room, I expected to share a room. Aida and Kikulla serve lunch to tourists who are visiting the area with a guide. I was invited to have lunch with a couple from Washington D.C. with their two guides. They were celebrating thier 10th wedding anniversary with a 10 day trip to Peru.
When I walked through the door of Aida´s and Kikulla´s home, I stepped into a beautiful garden, their home is laid out like the adobe homes in New Mexico with a big courtyard down the middle and gardens on each side and living quarters on both sides of the kitchen, it makes for a lot of privacy. My room is facing the garden and also the surrounding mountains. I love to get up and sit outside in the morning, I am always greeted by the sun and their two German shepard dogs, Rufo and Neily ( I am not sure about the spelling).
On Monday, October 11, Tanika (my teaching partner from England) and I went to meet the Director of the school where we would be teaching. We began teaching on Tuesday morning.
Quechua is the first language of the children, spanish their second and we come in with english their third. Nobody in the school speaks english. We prepared a lesson plan. We decided we would do a review of what they had learned before from the previous volunteers who left lots of notes at Aida´s and Kikulla´s home.
One of the teachers told us the children knew what we were presenting to them, we did not find that to be the case but decided to move on to a new lesson on the weather. We teach each class from 3A, B, C, 4A, B,C, 5A,B,C and &6A,B & C once a week. We have 45 mins with third and 4th grades and 1.5 hours with 5th and 6th grades. Teaching is hard work !
Most of the classes are interested in learning, we have one or two classes that resist. The teachers are getting more involved and that is a big help. We start by explaining everything in Spanish and then moving to English.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
My time in Lima, October 6-10
I was met at the airport by Joanne and her husband who were sent by i-to-i to meet me, I received a huge welcome from them and felt at home already, they could speak some english and told me the host family where I would be staying did not speak any english, my first experience with immersion.
I experienced the traffic in Lima on the ride from the airport. Lima is a city with 8 million people and lots of taxis and old cars that spew out pollution. I was tired, I had been travelling for 12 hours. I was greeted warmly by Mercedes and Abraim when I arrived at their home in San Miguel ( a neighborhhod in Lima) about 20 minutes from the airport.
The next day I explored the neighborhood and then two other volunteers arrived so I had other people to do things with, Tanika from England who had just spent 5 weeks teaching English in the Galapagos Island and James from England who was going to be volunteering in an orphanage in Trujillo ( north of Lima). Tanika and I would be volunteering at the same school in Lamay.
We went into the center of Lima and visited some the sights, the Cathredal which is situated in the Plaza de Armas ( all cities seem to have a Plaza de Armas). The Cathredral was built by the Spanish ( los conquistadores), very impressive and massive, we took a guided tour, lots of gold and beautiful wood, they incorporated the beliefs of the Incan population with the Roman Catholic Church, used many of the symbols that were meaningful to the Incas in the statues, e.g. the sun, Inti Raymi. There is a huge festival honoring Inti Raymi every June 26th.
On Saturday, we had an orientation at Fiorella´s home in Miraflores (in country host for i-to-i). We also met all the other volunteers with i-to-i, most of whom would be staying and volunteering in Lima, at schools and orphanages. We had a wonderful lunch at a private club, I had ceviche which I loved. Afterwards, we took a tour of Miraflores by bus, it is a very pretty part of Lima, lots of parks along the ocean, good for surfing.
I experienced the traffic in Lima on the ride from the airport. Lima is a city with 8 million people and lots of taxis and old cars that spew out pollution. I was tired, I had been travelling for 12 hours. I was greeted warmly by Mercedes and Abraim when I arrived at their home in San Miguel ( a neighborhhod in Lima) about 20 minutes from the airport.
The next day I explored the neighborhood and then two other volunteers arrived so I had other people to do things with, Tanika from England who had just spent 5 weeks teaching English in the Galapagos Island and James from England who was going to be volunteering in an orphanage in Trujillo ( north of Lima). Tanika and I would be volunteering at the same school in Lamay.
We went into the center of Lima and visited some the sights, the Cathredal which is situated in the Plaza de Armas ( all cities seem to have a Plaza de Armas). The Cathredral was built by the Spanish ( los conquistadores), very impressive and massive, we took a guided tour, lots of gold and beautiful wood, they incorporated the beliefs of the Incan population with the Roman Catholic Church, used many of the symbols that were meaningful to the Incas in the statues, e.g. the sun, Inti Raymi. There is a huge festival honoring Inti Raymi every June 26th.
On Saturday, we had an orientation at Fiorella´s home in Miraflores (in country host for i-to-i). We also met all the other volunteers with i-to-i, most of whom would be staying and volunteering in Lima, at schools and orphanages. We had a wonderful lunch at a private club, I had ceviche which I loved. Afterwards, we took a tour of Miraflores by bus, it is a very pretty part of Lima, lots of parks along the ocean, good for surfing.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Getting ready to leave
I am leaving for Peru on Tuesday and will be arriving in Lima on Tuesday evening, I have a few days to get to know Lima and will have an orientation on Saturday. I will be staying in a home in Miraflores, Lima.
The orientation will include learning about the culture and an introduction to the school and children in Calca where I will be teaching English to 6-12 months. I fly to Cusco on Sunday morning and will be staying in a home in Calca, which is about 20 miles from Cusco, in the highland area of Peru and in the general area of Macchu Picchu. I plan on writing about my experience and posting pictures.
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