Spanglish

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On the 12th, Mini decided to do a Sacred Valley tour, while I planned to organise my Spanish school for next week. That night tried the local drink - Pisco Sour (okay), and also tried the local specialty - guinea pig. It was really tasty with crunchy skin, and kind of tasted like quail. But you can´t eat too much of it, not that you got a lot anyway, as the meat is quite rich.

On the 13th, after some last-minute shopping, Mini flew home back to Sydney. She was pretty bummed on having to go, and didn´t want the holiday to end. We´ve found Cuzco to be a really nice place. I got settled in with my Peruvian family who I will staying with for the week. Really nice mother and daughter - Yoni & Wendy Mendoza. It´s about a 20 minute walk to the school and the centre of town.

Sunday 14th was Mothers Day. Spent the day with Yoni, Wendy, and Yoni´s mother & sister´s family. Had a roast lamb lunch, which reminded me of home, but not as good as Mum´s (I have to say it as she will be reading this blog). Then afterwards went to lay some flowers at the grave of Yoni´s grandmother.

I´ve found Spanish school (Excel Language Center) to be bloody tiring. My brain was cactus from having to translate words, learn grammar and conjugate verbs. My teacher (Luis) was so patient. I did 4 hours each morning (9am to 1pm), and then I went back to Yoni´s for lunch. Afterwards I had to do homework - did I really pay for this? Compared to a couple of other students I was really lucky with my family as they fed me well and conversed with me. The school also had free activities. Took a free salsa class which was different from the Cuban form and more difficult with lots of turns and spins. Didn´t learn much as I partnered another student who was a bit un-co and had no rhythm so ended up having to teach him the basic steps (what the ....?).

Spent the afternoons visiting some local sites such as San Blas (lots of art galleries & spaced-out hippies), and Santo Domingo (old Catholic church built on top of an Incan temple).

Have also hooked up with some really nice alumnos from school. Went on a hike to Pikillacta - Huari ruins which pre-date the Incas by about 400 years. They came from Puno as they couldn't grow anything there. There are some old trees, and the legend goes that there are ancient men and women living at the roots. If you sleep under one, they have sex with you until they suck the life out of you. Who said romance was dead? The Huari also lived in communities of about 6 families around a sort of plaza, and each day a different family would cook for their mini community. Quite a noticeable difference compared to the future quality of the Inca ruins.

Went white-water rafting on the Urubamba River today with 5 others. Nice and cruisey grade III rapids. We´re sending off 3 alumnos (Sandra, Jonathon and Dan) with pizza and beer as they´re off to Bolivia tonight.

So now it´s only me here on the road. I´ve moved out of Yoni´s place (very sad) and moved to a 5-person dorm in a hostel (very novel). To all you readers, send me an email. Would love to hear any news, gossip, stupid stuff, etc. For all I know I´m boring the hell out of everyone with this blog. Adios amigos, until the next instalment.

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Photos

Alumnos
Jonathon, Rafael, Bernice, Emma & Sandra

Rafting
Inca terraces along the Urubamba