Cusco

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Following the completion of the Inca Trail, there was no time to recover. We were whisked off to our accomodation and introduced to the boys and girls. The boys and girls are split into different districts of Cusco. The girls orphanage was in the suburb of Wanchaq which was only 5 mins in a tico taxi from the centre of Cuzco. Our accomodation was right on top of the girls Orphange which was very handy. The boys were about 10 minutes away in a slightly tougher neighbourhood, Santiago. The apartment was extremely basic, the kitchen consisted of a camping stove! Oh well, so much for doing some cooking!

The girls all gave us a very warm welcome with each one introducing themselves and welcoming us to the Orphanage. Surprisingly most of them could speak english, some much better than others, but the main thing was that they all made a big effort and fuss about us arriving. All in all there are ten girls, ages from 4 to 14 years who were from 5 different families. Each girl is at this Orphanage with their sister. It proved difficult sometimes to remember their names as each one has someone almost identical. They are quick to tell you off if you get their name wrong though!

The girls Orphanage is run by Astella who has basically given up her life to help these little girls. She stays with them night and day, helps them with homework, makes them tea and cares for them like a mother would. She has one day off, that is she leaves at four o´clock on Friday night to return to her family but is back at the Orphanage on Saturday morning first thing. An incredible women! In addition to this she wanted to make us dinner and do our washing. Of course we said no.

The boys Orphanage was run slightly differently. This was probably due to the ages of the boys as they ranged from 10 to 18. The boys had already four established volunteers who had been in Peru for months. This was a little difficult at times as when you tried to teach them some English or play a game with them, they would become rather hostile. In the end we were all there for the same reason and it shouldnt matter who was assisting who. For this reason we spent most of our time at the girls Orphanage.

So our plan was for the time at the Orphange was to take spanish lessons in the mornings and work witht he girls in the afternoon. So we signed up for some spanish lessons with our teacher Anna Marie, a "loco" Peruvian! So after our crazy spanish lessons we would head back to the girls and try to help them finish their homework and once they had finished we would play games, make arts and crafts, teach them or help them improve their english, it was alot of fun! The girls just loved having the volunteers around and they were always so polite and every night when saying goodnight they would say thank you and give you the biggest cuddles! So sweet!

A couple of days we made some christmas decorations as they had put up their christmas tree while we were there. Ross and I bought some polysterene bells that we came across in some random photocopy shop and the girls painted them as a competition and they absolutely loved it! There was a park with big fun slides (nothing like at home) so we decided to take them there on Friday afternoon for a treat and the smiles that were given in return would cheer up anybody!

Gladis was the youngest at 4 years old and she was the most individual. She did what she wanted, always! If she didn't want to play or join in you'd know about it. Vanessa and Alison were both a riot, little terrors! They were so loud and they'd always want to climb and jump on top of you. Ruth was pretty quiet at first but after a few days and if you helped her with her reading she was a little gem. Very geniune and didn't fight for attention, she'd just wait until you were finished with the others. I liked Ruth alot. Yoselin took a real shining to Ross and she would always want to sit beside him at the table for arts and crafts. One of the funniest afternoons with arts and crafts was when we were making calendars. Ross had been at the boys Orphanage and as soon as he was back he wanted to get involved. He started making a "sheep" calendar and looked like he was really enjoying it. Beats squaring a cashflow statement! Some of the younger girls were just sticking things everywhere and Vanessa saw that Ross had prodcued a pretty good effort so she decided to claim it and put her name on it, Ross was gutted!!

Shirley and Lisbeth were the oldest and their english was pretty reasonable so they would act as our interpreters sometimes with Astella. As they were older there were not around as much. As I said before all of them were amazing! They'd take turn to cook each night, they'd help with the laundry (hand wash only) and tidying the Ophanage. The girls are so much more independant than children of the same age back in the UK. Sharpeners are in very short supply so instead the girls use a six inch knife to sharpen the pencil. It just sits on the table for everyone to use. UK Police would've wanted this knife handed in as part of any Knife Amnesty!

After only a couple of weeks, you become quite attached to the girls because they are such a pleasure to be around, it was difficult to say goodbye. On our last day we took them to the park which they loved and we did too! So after of couple of hours racing down the slides we headed back to the Orphanage. Once back at the house the girls had prepared some songs and dances for us. So they all lined up and started to dance. They were great! Shirley had to keep Gladis and Vanessa (the youngest of the girls) right as they were so tired from running about in the park. The girls had also made us some cards which was very sweet of them. A few of the girls gave some speeches and then from another room appeared Vanessa, Soyria, Yoselin and Cinthea in authentic Peruvian dress and they performed a dance for us. Vanessa certainly perked up after dressing up!

So all in all our time and the orphanage was extremely rewarding and so much fun to be around the girls. We will never forget that experience!¨
Cusco

So there is not much to say about Cusco to be honest. We we were there for about 3 weeks in total and if it hadn't been for the Orphanage and spanish lessons we would've been so bored! Most people are only there for a day or two before or after the Inca Trail/Machu Picchu then they don't mind the place but after three weeks it does drain you.

The place is very touristy and every corner all you hear is "lady, Inca Massage", "you like my postcards, I did it myself" and also "free pisco sours if you eat at my restaurant" but there are at least six different people asking you and following you at the same time.

We spent a bit of time around the Plaza and took a walk or two up to the hills surrounding the city but nothing more. I think at that point as we had seen the most impressive Inca site in our eyes that we couldn't be bothered with any more seven stone bricks and nice Inca walls.

Our evenings in Cuzco were spent in the nightclub uptown as our friend Nimish wanted to go there everynight to learn Salsa. We felt like we were there all the time, it was like our Cuzco "local", even though we don't have a "local" at home! It was quite funny watching Nimmish trying to dance, especially since Ross and Ollie just watched and laughed all the time!

So all in all, Cuzco wasn't the best place for us to hang out in for three weeks but because we had been working at the Orphanage and learning spanish it made the time go a little faster.

We are looking forward to moving on, especially as we are getting the train to Puno which is on Lake Titicaca, our last stop and final night in Peru.

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Photos

Painting day!
Little Gladis at the bottom left wasnt amused about something.

Lionis!
This dog was amazing. Supposed to be a guard dag but never got angry once. He got some doggy biscuits on our final day. Never saw his tail wag so much.

The Orphanage
Our building was the Space Ship with the yellow roof.

Calender Day!
Ross posing with some of the girls. Ross made the calender on the far left. Venessa, who is holding it, later drew all over it. I almost lost it!

The Gang!
From left to right: Ross, Yoselin, Blanca (back), Soyura, Lynsey, Cynthia, Ruth, Mama Astella, Shirley (back), Alison, Anuke (Volunteer), Vanessa and Gladis (falling asleep).

The Army
Another protest one Sunday on the Plaza

The Cathedral
The view of the cathedral from the plaza. Where we would people watch and watch the police through the shoe shiners off the plaza but they'd always come back from another direction.