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Published: March 4th 2007
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Hello everyone. Another week in Peru has passed and I can´t believe that this is the last week of my project in Umanes! It´s all very strange, especially as some people aren´t going on the tour around Peru afterwards so I won´t be seeing them every day anymore... Hmm, I´m trying to think back over what on earth I have done over the last week and I´m coming up rather blank. Feels like a very long time ago. The rest of the mid project break passed with us mainly going out and eating a lot and shopping... Some members of the group stayed out until four every morning but the latest I managed was about 1. On Sunday we thought it would be a good idea to go and do something cultural so we went to one of the main cathedrals in Cusco (after a quick stop for cadburys.) The cathdral was rather expensive in comparison to most things in Peru. Some members of the group commented that for that price they were fully expecting to experience a miracle. The cathedral was beautiful and an odd mixture of the traditional Catholic decoration that you would get at home and Inkan touches.
For instance they are rather keen on statues of Inkan people being crushed under the hooves of Spanish conquistadors. After a while some members of the group were approached by some form of tour guide who claimed to be speaking in English. We sat down and listened to him for a while and I don´t think any of us had the faintest clue what he was going on about. Taylor sat there nodding enthusiastically and making affirmative noises, but when we asked him what he was talking about, his only response was "no idea". After a while the guide moved off and gestured obviously that we should follow him. Katty and Taylor followed... but the rest of us stayed put. I think it was a wise decision. I don´t think they got anything out of the experience.
That afternoon we went to the Artisan market... again. I think I should be banned from that place. I don´t think I bought much that day, thank god. 3 new people arrived that evening and we all headed back to Umanes amidst much grumbling. Spent the afternoon getting to know the new people and I think we were all in bed by
about half nine.
Most of the week was fairly uneventful. We have spent the mornings filling in the trenches and about half the pipes have now been layed. We are a little concerned that they haven´t in any way tested to see if the pipes actually work... we will all be rather dissapointed if someone turns the tap and nothing happens. Teaching continued as normal. Our kids spend a lot of time colouring in. It keeps them occupied.
The most exciting part of the week came on Friday. Theoretically, we are meant to be out and digging by nine, but as the week went on it had slipped considerably. By quarter past nine, half the group were still in bed, and the other half were in pajamas. Our crew leader Nick gathered us all together to let us know what would be going on. We thought he was going to tell us about filling trenches and installing taps, so when he announced that instead he had arranged a trip to Chinchero to see some ruins, there was instant joy. I have never been so excited about stones. Everyone ran to get dressed, and 20 minutes later we headed off on the bus. As soon as we arrived, we were attacked by small children with armfuls of bracelets. The selling tactic is basically to whinge at you, and to yell out rididculously good offers and then retract them if the person actually tries to buy them. The best way to get rid of them is to say no gracias and keep walking away. Unfortunately, my mind seems to be in conflict. I say no gracias, but keep staring at the bracelets... by the time we left Chinchero I had six new bracelets to add to my collection. One boy, James, had particular troubles. He is incapable of saying no apparently, and instead ended up engaging the kids in conversation, though it was admittedly rather one sided, and mainly consisted of James expalining to the children in English why he did not want any bracelets. By the time we reached the Church that was our first step, he was surrounded by small children selling bracelets. It made for quite a site.
The Church was again, very pretty... we didn´t stay all that long. Our guide for the day was Assunta, wife of Leonseo, the unnofficial mayor of Umanes B. Unfortunately she doesn´t speak any English, but she smiled a lot and worried about our health and safety as we climbed over rocks. The ruins were basically just Inkan stones and steps, and didn´t really mean all that much to me, but they were still interesting. The views were absolutely breathtaking. The ruins are in the middle of mountains. I had a strong desire to sing the sound of music, but no one else seemed to share it... After the ruins, we found a bit of a market... yes, I ended up with another alpaca jumper. It is bright blue, and one of the boys in our group kindly commented that it makes me look a bit like the monster in monsters inc. Stu really knows how to make a girl feel special. We all headed back to Umanes feeling a lot happier about life.
Thant evening as always everyone was very happy to be coming back to Cusco for the weekend. On Friday we went to see little miss sunshine and had pizza at a club. Afterwards we went to a place called mandellas that was supposedly playing jazz, but I think we must have been too late. They did, however, serve very nice cocktails, and they had cushions to sit on on the floor. Was unconvinced by the tacky pictures of Bob Marley however. Ended up not getting back to the hostel until two in the morning, Although all we had been doing was sitting and talking.
On Saturday I somehow ended up back at the Artisan market... I´m still not quite sure how it happened. Someone must have dragged me focibly. The outcome was more alpaca goods (it´s becoming an obsession) and lots of bracelets (I´ve lost track of how many bracelets I´ve now bought out here... it´s not a pretty site). I had to buy a bag (an alpaca bag!) so that I would have somewhere to put all the stuff. I have banned myself from shopping for the forseeable future. It is worrying when you look at a picture of an alpaca and all you see is millions of hats with earflaps.
That day it was Nel´s (a girl in the group) birthday so we all went out together. 21 of us. Made for rather a tight squeeze. Much dancing was eventually involved and most of us didn´t get back until about half three. It´s quite a contrast to Umanes life. Today is our last day in Cusco for a while as this week is the last week of our project! I´m really quite sad. Next Saturday I´m flying to Lima first thing, and then we are going on a tour of all the main sites in Peru, ending up in La Paz (Bolivia) at the end of March. It's upsetting me to think about the end of the project and leaving everyone! I feel like I only just got here and I haven´t had long enough.
No idea when I will next get internet access, but until then, hope all is well at home and missing everyone! xxx
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seedy-beady
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the hills are alive
i feel the music!!! :-) good to know that even out there you are able to maintain your crazy shopping habits...why don't you just go the full way and buy a live alpaca? touring Peru sounds very exciting, don't worry that you haven't had long enough, you have so many other exciting things to do now! lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxx