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Next Volunteer Adventure in Colombia
Monday, July 13, 2009
Pictures & Video
My Lima Peru June 2009 Photo Album
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Last Day In Peru (Sunday Week 2)
Today would be my last day in Peru and I woke up with a splitting headache from the altitude sickness. The first thing I did was go to the nearest pharmacy to get ibuprofen which quickly cured my headache. I went back to the hotel to get breakfast and then went out to see if any special events were going on. There were no events going on at the time and I found a street vendor selling clothing while heading back to my hotel. I ended up giving the street vendor my jacket and purchased some souvenir items from her. She was very grateful and explained that she was very grateful because it gets cold at night in Cuzco. As a token of appreciation she gave me a hat.
I had one more kind deed to do before leaving Cuzco which was to give my remaining football away to a kind on the street. I found the kid approximately one block away from the hotel. There was a man walking with two boys approximately between 8 and 6 years old. I stopped them and advised them that I was giving the ball to his boys as a gift. The man explained to me that the two boys were orphans and that he was taking care of them. The boys were grateful and their faces lit up with a smile. I would have liked to take them to lunch however I needed to get packed and leave to the airport for my flight back to Lima.
The hotel arranged a taxi ride to the airport and the personnel at the airport were extremely courteous. In fact the personnel saw that I was at the airport early and the representatives found me and allowed me to take the earlier flight out. The flight from Cuzco to Lima was scenic and beautiful and pleasant.
I had an 8 hour layover in Lima and spent the time eating at the restaurant, at the internet café and listening to music. One of my fellow CCS Volunteers had the same flight back to the USA and we kept each other company in the waiting area. The flight arrived on time and we had an overnight flight back to Atlanta. Upon arrival the plane was quarantined for a few minutes because someone became sick. After a brief check we were allowed to exit the plan and proceed through customs. I had just enough time to make my connecting flight to Dallas.
Fun in Cusco (Saturday Week 2)
Saturday morning I woke up early and left the house at 6am for my taxi ride to the airport. I’ve had numerous taxi rides while in Lima and this was the scariest taxi ride I’ve had. The first thing was that this taxi had no safety belts and the driver drove as if he were in a NASCAR Race. He threaded in and out of traffic, ran a few red lights and headed down back roads all while driving above the speed limit for the entire 35 minutes it took to get to the airport.
The flight to Cuzco was quick and easy and I was able to register with my hotel “The Royal Inca I” at the airport as I was told I would. The hotel had a taxi that took me to the hotel and I checked in. The hotel room was very nice, It had a king size bed with free wireless Internet, heat and hot water were nice to have.
After checking in I went on a short walk around the city and found a place to have cuy for lunch. Cuy is the traditional Peruvian dish of guinea pig that is common in the mountain areas in Peru. I didn’t care much for this dish but am glad that I tried it.
After lunch I went back at the hotel for a tour around the city of Cuzco. The tour took us to several historical churches, and Incan ruins in the mountains surrounding the city. I also met two ladies on the tour that I would coincidentally meet again later that evening.
At about 7:30pm I met with some of my fellow CCS volunteers that left a few days earlier to visit Cuzco and Machu Picchu. We met in front of the famous church per an e-mail earlier in the day and then went back to their Hostal to meet with the others before going out to dinner. Upon arriving at the at the hostal I see that my CCS colleagues had also befriended the two ladies that I met on the tour of Cuzco. We all then went to dinner and my colleagues the me a surprise birthday / “going away” party at one of the restaurants. During dinner I got a slight headache from the altitude in and was taken care of by one of my CCS friends who provided me with “600mg of Advil” which promptly cured my headache and was ready to go out. I found it to be very thoughtful and was extremely grateful for the kind gestures.
After dinner we went to get drinks and then went dancing at two of the local clubs. This would be my most memorable night out during my time in Peru. My CCS friends were great and I enjoyed the club atmosphere, as I don’t go out much.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Machu Picchu (Sunday Week 2)
I woke up at about 4:30am after getting about 3 hours of sleep but to my surprise I was not tired. The tour agency picked us up at about 5:30am and then drove us to the train station at about 6:00am. It was cold on the train ride from the Poroy station to Machu Picchu and lasted about three hours. The scenery was magnificent and the view of the Andes was stunning.
Upon arrival we I caught a bus to the Machu Picchu entrance and met with my tour guide. I chose to take the tour in Spanish and am glad I did as most of the guides are non-native English speakers and some things get lost in translation. It was also one of my last opportunities to practice my Spanish.
The sites at Machu Picchu were breathtaking and amazing. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and pictures just cannot recreate the sight of the greenery, the bright sunlight and the smell of fresh air.
The tour guide was very informative and gave a good accounting of the history of the sight, its purpose and why it was built in the “middle of nowhere.” Machu Picchu was built in this location to protect it from enemies and was used to research methods for growing crops and for engineering. The Spanish conquistadors also never discovered the city of Machu Picchu.
About half way through my tour I also ran into Danielle, one of the ladies I met on my tour of Cuzco and again on Saturday evening. I would coincidentally meet her one more time at the end of the tour. After the tour was over I had lunch at one of the local shops and had an amazing trout fish lunch for the equivalent of $4.00. I also met a dentist from the U.K in the train station and was also a coincidence that we would be on the same train and would sit next to each other.
The train ride back was entertaining as we were given a fashion show of traditional Peruvian alpaca clothing. A few travelers also participated in the action. The train dropped us off at the half way point between Cuzco and Machu Picchu at a city named Ollantaytambo.
The tour agency arranged for a Taxi to meet myself, the dentist that I met and two other people for a ride back to Cuzco. The ride lasted about 1:30 hours and this cab driver also drove as if he were in a race and this ride topped my ride as being the most fearful as it was dark and the roads twisted and turned on a two lane road through the mountains. The cab driver also ventured into the oncoming lane to pass slower drivers.
Upon arrival at the hotel, I went to eat dinner and then went straight to bed.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday Week 2, My Most Memorable Day!
Friday was my last day at Fe y Alegria and would prove to be my most memorable. To start the students in our first English class surprised us by decorating the chalkboard and giving myself and my partner D.J an applause when we walked into the class room. The teacher Julissa and some of the students gave small speeches thanking us for teaching English, American Football and for volunteering our time. We spent the remainder of the class time taking pictures after the speeches and saying “goodbye” to the students. My little buddy Ruben also stopped by during while we were taking pictures and found his way into the class portrait. This proved to be difficult after spending time and getting to know them.
Some of the students gave us gifts to remember them by and the one that stood out the most were the gifts from Maryt and Angela. Maryt and Angela wrote each of us a card with a personal message thanking us for helping them and for spending out time at the school. Maryt thanked me for helping her in the computer lab and for attempting to fix her USB drive. They also us necklaces to remember them and I will not forget such kindness.
Maryt was unaware of this but I purchased a USB drive for her to replace the one that had problems. I loaded the USB drive with English lessons for Spanish speakers before hand and discreetly placed it into her palm as we said our final goodbyes.
Another gift that stood out was a bracelet from one of the students named Candy from the 13 – 14 year old class. These gifts were completely unexpected and I plan to showcase them when I return home.
Last but not least my little buddy Ruben also gave me a gift. It looked to be a piece of a Christmas ornament and I thought that It was extremely thoughtful coming from such a young child.
It was difficult to leave but we were finally able to get into our van and head home for lunch. After lunch D.J and I went to the mall to print the pictures and left them with our colleague Kelsey to distribute them.
I returned to pack my clothes, eat dinner and then played some games in the living room before saying “goodbye” to my friends for the past two weeks. I had an early flight on Saturday morning to Cuzco and had to go to bed early.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Week 2 (Thursday)
Today we began our workday by playing football at Fe y Alegria. Today was our last day and we did what we could to make the best of it. By this time the students were familiar with the rules and concept of the game and we were able to get in and start playing right away. We took video and pictures and all three classes went smoothly.
At the end of the school day Maryt found me and wanted me to take a look at her broken USB drive. We found a computer and sure enough the USB drive did not work. I gave her the bad news and it was troubling to see her facial expression. It was obvious that she invested a lot in the drive and was disappointed that It did not work.
We returned to the house after placement for lunch and afterwards people went and did their own items. I had a lot to do and unfortunately had to skip my last Spanish lesson. Before doing so I advised my teacher and went run a few errands.
I had plans to have dinner with one of my Peruvian partners from the website Sharedtalk.com. We agreed to meet at Ripleys in Miraflores and then go to a restaurant for dinner. My partner ran a bit late so I went t Ripleys which is a store similar to Sears in the USA and did some browsing. I found the electronics department. I remembered Maryt and her broken USB drive and was able to purchase a 4gig USB drive for 40.00 soles which is approximately $13.33. My plan would be to give this to her on Friday. She used the USB drive to save her school assignments and I wanted to make sure she had the ability to continue to do so.
My Spanish partner showed up and we went to a local restaurant for a dish called “Pollo abrazo” which is a dish of chicken prepared in a Peruvian way. The food was great and the so was the meeting with my Spanish partner. We had the whole meeting in Spanish and I was able to learn even more about the Peruvian culture and ways that things are done in Lima. For example the reason that bathrooms don’t have soap and toilet paper is because people steal them. This is the reason its common for Peruvians to carry a small supply of soap and toilet paper with them at all times.
After dinner we walked around Kennedy park in Miraflores for about 20 minutes and then it was time for her to leave. I advised her of inconsistent prices from Taxi drivers so she called one for me and the driver gave her a decent price of 10 soles from Miraflores to Jokey Plaza instantly. I thanked her for everything and took the taxi to the CCS home base.