Blogs from Huancayo, Junin, Peru, South America

Overview – Volunteering Experience (2nd Month) Since the three guys have left the place, it has been quite in the house. I moved up to sleep on the second floor because the nights were getting colder and it was warmer in the room upstairs. NOTE: I watched many of the NHL playoff games as I missed hockey. Initially, I was watching the games on my phone. However, after a while, I couldn´t stream the games on my phone so I was going to an Internet place that was close to my house. It was so funny seeing the kids staring at me watching hockey as they probably never seen that in the life. Huari (May 2) On Sunday, I went with the girls (Stefany and Gwen) to a little village near Huancayo called Huari. If I ... read more

Our last few weeks in Huancayo were very busy. Teaching took most of the weekdays, and exploration took the weekends. We visited Wari ruins, that pre-date the Incas, climbed to about 5100meters on Huaytapallana, a mountain with a glacier, and took the train to Huacavallica. Now we are in Huaraz, another town high in the Andes, circled by huge craggy mountains covered in snow and glaciers. Mountaineering folks from around the world come here. Unfortunately, our first couple of days were pretty raining, so we don't have the best of photos to show. On our big climb on Huaytapallana, the breathing got pretty laboured. I had the most trouble, working hard just to breathe OUT! I also fell and wrecked my baby finger on my right hand pretty badly, cuts, sprained and sore. Spectacular mountain though. ... read more

We stepped into the courtyard and straight into the heart of a little family business. And it was more heart than business. On a low bench along a wall a young man sat pencilling designs on small rounded tan-coloured gourds. Two young women next to him, carving out his drawings, using nothing more than a nail sharpened to a point. I noticed the plasters wound around finger tips; saw the concentration on their faces and felt their cameraderie as they worked together, chatting, smiling, laughing. Standing, a few meters away, a world unto himself, worked Pedro Veli, the master. A little padded bib hung over his chest, he peered over his glasses and worked steadily. On his gourd there was no pencil drawing. His image came from memory, from imagination, from life, from himself. He carves ... read more

Me voila partie pour ma derniere semaine dans l'ecole d'INICUDE a Jauja. La fete nationale etant le 28 Juillet au Perou, l'ecole dans laquelle je suis participe cette semaine pour cette occasion, au grand defile des ecoles des alentours de Jauja. Une marche impressionnante d'enfants entre 4 et 18 ans qui defilent aux pas militaires, les jambes hautes, le dos droit et les bras tendus. Impressionant! D'abord j'ai assiste au chant de l'hymne national du perou, par toute la population, debout, la main sur le coeur... Cela ne laisse pas indifferent de voir des gens fiers de leur pays et qui essaient de se raccrocher a quelque chose finalement, a appartenir a une unite... Apres le chant de l'hymne national, j'ai assiste aux defiles de beaucoup d'enfants, les tous petits de 4 ans d'abord, puis les ... read more

Me voila partie pour une autre destination, a savoir a Jauja, dans la region de Huancayo, en pleine cordillere des Andes! Le changement de paysage et de climat fut radical. Adieu au ciel grisonant et au froid, me voila en pleine montagne avec un soleil puissant, pour des journees a 25degres ! L'association pour laquelle j'interviens en tant que professeur de langues/animatrice s'appelle INICUDE. C'est une association qui a cree une ecole, pour des enfants de 4 a 12 ans. L'ecole se trouve en peripherie de la ville de Jauja et est entouree de montagnes. Je suis partie pour intervenir 3 semaines dans cette ecole. J'ai deja realise un peu plus d'une semaine la-bas et je peux dire que les enfants sont attachants... Autant qu'au Cambodge... Des mon premier jours avec les enfants, l'acceuil fut vraiment ... read more