busy week and lazy weekend

well it´s been a hectic first week but it´s now the weekend and I can finally catch up with everything!!!

got over the altitude sickness on tuesday night, stopped falling asleep and feeling nauseous, which was lucky for me, as that night Charlotte got sick. Apparently I only got a mild form as she was properly throwing up all night long and didnt recover properly til friday!! the next day Julien got sick during the day and three others that night!! dropping like flies!! so touch wood that´s all we´ll get, the three girls who were here a few weeks ahead of us kept scaring us by saying that all initial 40 of their group were properly sick the first week!!

everyone else is off on a trip to the coast this weekend, I didnt go as I´ll be doing it with tucan travel later and it costs 250dollars!! so this morning I had a 2 and a half hour spanish lesson with Clever, one of the drivers who has to stay in the house to let me in and out!!! he is dead on though, he wants to improve his englisah so he speaks to me in english and I in spanish, it works!! there are so many markets to explore here- lots of art, tapestries and jewellery, and also the "gringo plaza" for tourists where you can sit out, eat drink, soak up the atmosphere and look at the artists.

wednesday was a really fun day, i started at the mental health centre, and i thik i will be working with the kids onday, wednesday and friday mornings and tuesday afternoons. There was only four kids in on wed, with downs, adhd, and other conditions. it was a bit crazy but a lot of fun trying to keep them concentrated on tasks and getting them to do things for themselves- setting the table etc, as their families do a lot for them and they dont learn much independence. after lucnh we were brought to quinua artisan village which was a beautiful town with amazing ceramics- i succumbed to temptation, and the to the wari ruins, a pre-incan civilisation. we also saw fields and fields of cacti!! cacti is everywhere, growing out of buildings etc, as this is the dry season there is dust everywhere, you can taste it in the air even!! a big dust storm blew down the street yesterday, it was horrible!!!

thursday was ellies last day with the streetchildren (she was here for 5weeks before us) so we gave them piggybacks and span them around until we almost collapsed. she took at lot of brilliant photographs, whicj i´ll have to steal off facebook!! i have been taking photods here, but forgot to bring the connector so cant upload them here :( oh well!! thursday afternoon we were supposed to have a geast speaker but he didnt come (something to do with a protest- happens a lot here) so Marisol (placement director) brought us to the shining path museum instead- it was really well put together and a grim reminder of the atriocities that happened here, ayacucho suffered a lot. Marisol shared her experiences with us as she was a lived through it, and the guest speaker will also tell us more next week.

yesterday was mental health again, and we went on home visits to see two children who had epilepsy. i say children they were really 17 and 18 but i swear i thoug the first boy was 9 or 10 he was so small. they were both mostly bedbound with their families taking care of all their needs, so they both had really contracted limbs. we massaged their legs, feet, arms, hands, and backs, and performed basic stretches. It was an amazing experience, especially getting to see the conditions people here live in. I just wish I had more skills I can share with the people who work here, I want to be able to come back and really help after I gain more experience.

more things about ayacucho- really dusty, really dirty (in most places hygiene basics are not followed, even in the health clinics) poor (high poverty levels- the city looks unfinished as people can only afford to build another story to their houses every 10years), but also full of life, friendly, and full of fantastic people who have been really warm and welcoming!!!

i´ve been repeatably waking up at 6 in the morning cause thats when the traffic starts to get busy )and loud- blaring horns is a way of life here, as is not having any particular road signs or rules) so the some shops open then, and stay open until at least 11 at night which is the latest we´ve been out (curfew!!) I love it!!!

three weeks left in ayacucho, and next weekend hopefully llama trekking!! :)

love to all,
Orla

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