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Published: March 29th 2009
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Hey! Sorry I haven´t written an entry for so long, was having trouble finding a good internet connection. Found a really cheap internet cafe near my house though, so hopefully will get on more regularly from now on. I´m still having a really good time. Very very busy!
I went to Colca Canyon for 3 days a couple of weeks ago which was amazing! we left at 3 in the morning, it was a 6 hour coach journey over a really crap road with major potholes most the way but hey. We stopped off at a view point to look at the condors, which were huge and then carried on to the edge of the canyon. On the first day we walked all the way down to the bottom which took 3-4 hours, then crossed the river and went up the other side to a little village where we got lunch (soup, then alpaca with rice then fruit). it then started to rain, and thunder and lightening, but we walked up a very steep bit for aobut an hour to another little village where we stayed the night. The next mornign we walked along the canyon and back down to the
bottom where there were swimming pools - very welcome as it was really hot. at this point i decided there was no way i was going to be able to do the 4 hour walk up the other side as it was so hot, so would be paying for a donkey to carry me up! however after a 3 course meal and sitting with my legs in the pool i felt alot better and as it had cooled down i changed my mind and walked it. about 10 minutes in it started to chuck it down and htere was major thunder and lightening, the whole thing was quite surreal! i was by far the slowest so walked all the way up with dennis the guide who was very nice. the donkeys overtook me about half way and i was so so glad i decided to walk, i would have been terrified! it was very very steep and there were big drops down to the bottom, but i managed it in 2.5 hours, which the guide said was very fast, but i think he was just being nice! We stayed the night in cabanaconde and got a nice hot shower and
another 3 course meal! the next mornign we got up early and went to another view point where we could see what we had walked, which was quite a long way! then we got on the coach and drove to some very nice hot springs, and then an all you can eat buffet for lunch! it was a really good trip and the canyon was breathtaking, everyone should go, ive never seen anything like it! The company that took us kindly filmed most of hte trip for a promotional video they are making, which will be on youtube eventually apparently but they keep putting the date back, will keep you informed.
Last week i went mountain biking down chianchi, one of the volcanos. it was fun, if a bit terrifying! it took about 3 hours to get to the start (4000+m), where we were kitted out with full pads, helmets and gloves (someone had fallen and scraped themselves really badly on every other trip of the ppl here). It was really cold and rainy at the top, and i could definitely feel the altitude! I set off very cautiously as i havent ridden a bike for a long time, but
it was like riding a bike. the road was very rocky and sandy, and the corners very tight, but it was relaly good fun. i got in the van (which was following us all the way down) for the uphill as the altitude meant i got out of breath really quickly and i couldnt be bothered! got back on for the rest of the downhill, and was very grateful when we got to the nice tarmac road towards the bottom! had a very sore bum for a few days!
My family are still really great, and the food is generally good, i eat so much here though, so so so much bread, for breakfast lunch and sometimes with tea! most meals consist of rice, potatoes and some kind of meat. Many carbs! my spanish is slowly improving, it has definitely started to click and stuff is falling into place in the last few weeks, my host dad even gave me a high five for a conversation i managed to have with him at breakfast the other day! 😊.
School is great, very hard work but really good. the peruvian teachers are interesting, Ruth, who teaches grades 4,5 and 6 is
i think the scariest person i have ever met! They have some very interesting teaching styles, and Ruth likes to rant, alot. last week she told all hte kids they would get stomach cancer and die if htey ran around after eating... everything is generally very chaotic, they built a new kitchen last week (a plywood hut with a tin roof and no windows), and then an actual floor was put in in the downstairs classroom, so grades 1 and 2 spent the week in the kitchen, which wasnt fun, there werent enough chairs and it was relaly hot and full of flies! this week we were back in the classroom, and htere has been lots of carrying desks up and down and moving stuff around. I have kids in grade 2, and there are 8 in grade one, some are really smart and bright, and others are just on a diffrerent planet. We have to teach art, englsh and pe and then help with all the other lessons, which involve alot of handwriting practice and copying. they have this crazy thing here where hte kids have to write the title, and first letter of each sentence and do the
full stop in red, and the rest in normal pencil, and if they dont, or if there handwriting isnt neat enough, there whole page is rubbed out and they have to start again. they dont really do much maths, and no science, and the first grade spend 3/4 of the day copying out letters. not great and it feels really mean making them sit there and do it, but thats how it is.
Arequipa is really good, the cake is amazing here, we have cake tuesday and cake friday, and most other days are icecream days! went out for roast chicken and chips yesterday which was really good. then i went for a really long wonder with one of the other volunteers and we founda really nice park. the centre of town is very veyr different from the school we are at, its really crazy that they are only half an hour apart.
Anywya, im going to try and upload some photos and then im going home for lunch and having a nice lazy afternoon! someone new is coming to lodge with us, who is just doing spanish school, so fingers crossed for someone nice! New ppl are arriving all
the time, and loads of people are leaving in two weeks time, although there are 4 of us here for a while which is good. hope everything is good in england, and there isnt too much credit crunch crap! dont miss that at all! xx
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Chris
non-member comment
Hi
Great to see your super photos and to read that you're enjoying yourself. The canyon experience sounded great. Life is a bit tamer here - after egg rolling at the Kenwood Hall hotel, the Brownies (and Jenny and Rosa!) enjoyed rolling down the hill in full view of the residents and followed by an Egg Trail around the grounds. All the best for Easter - I guess it will mean more chocolate cake! Chris.