Blogs from Junin, Peru, South America - page 6

Ik ben maar 2 dagen in de Selva geweest, maar de JUNGLE is toch wel een aparte post waard. Ik was spontaan in La Merced beland. Net in de centrale Selva. La Merced en de omringende plaatsjes zijn niet bijzonder wild aangezien ze gecultiveerd zijn, maar de echte jungle ligt daar binnen handbereik. Het is kennelijk ook een populaire vakantiebestemming voor Limeñas, waardoor er genoeg keuze is aan tour operators die je graag helpen om een op maat gemaakt avontuur te beleven. De volgende dag op dagtour gegaan langs watervallen (waar je kunt zwemmen! Koud water, maar dat is met die hitte niet zo erg), een bezoek aan een native community (die volgens eigen zeggen nog op geheel traditionele wijze leeft... Het is kennelijk heel traditioneel om een dansact voor de toeristen op te voeren en ... read more

I cannot believe our three weeks in Huancayo are coming to a close! We have been so busy since we've been here.... There is a national transportation strike today, which means no cars, taxis, buses or trains are driving anywhere in Peru. If they do drive, people will throw rocks at the cars, etc. Because of the strike, a lot of businesses are closed and we sort of have the day off, which gives me time to write.... The Andean Outreach Program (the group I am here with - there are six of us on this trip) works with a local organization called La Luz Esperanza (the light of hope) and we met with them early on and visited four small, rural schools that they have helped build and support in recent years. One school was ... read more

GAH! BIG NEWS EVERYONE!! today, i found GOOD COFFEE!!! this is kristina, btw, in case any of you were wondering. so as i was saying, as i sipped my cafe con leche and ate my crema voltada and gazed out over the jungle mountains, i began to think about the food here in peru. i usually think a lot about food, so i decided to create a blog entry just about that. feel free to skip this one if you dont share my passion for anything etible or sipable. so to start off, lets talk about coffee. when i was preparing for this trip, i thought i was going to coffe heaven. i believe i once called it ¨kristinas coffee tour around south america¨. unfortunately, that didnt pan out, and all i could find for the ... read more

They´re really cute, and fuzzy. Alpacas that is. So we are leaving to volunteer for 2 weeks in jungle. Its hard to believe that our trip is half over and we have to leave all of the kids here. So much has happened over the past month it has certainly flown by. On the weekend, we walked to Torre Torre, a rock formation just outside Huancayo-- very reminiscent of a tiny grand canyon (or so I have heard). We also visited Huancayo´s local zoo. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. I feel like most of the animals could have broken out of their corrugated tin cages if they wanted to... the fox definately looked like it was preparing for it. i myself (kristina) didnt go to torre torre or the zoo, but i did go ... read more

hola from peru! this is kristina, just wanting to let all of you faithful readers out there what its like in the day of a peruvian volunteer. this last week, i have been waking up at around 8:00 to the sound of dogs barking, taxis honking, the recitation of spanish verbs etc, and the occasional herd of cows or sheep passing by. and no, we dont live in the country, or even near it for that matter. for whatever reason, herds of farm animals will trot by on our residential street and end up in a park, where they will eat and leave poop for us to step in. i eat breakfast, and walk about 15 minutes to the combi stop. for those of you who dont know, a combi is a regular sized van, seating ... read more