Here in Cusco!

I have arrived in Cusco, Peru and absolutely LOVE it! This entry will probably be one of the longest ones to start off my trip since I have been so busy meeting everyone and getting acquainted with the city that I haven’t written since I got here. I arrived at 8:30 on Sunday morning and used my Spanish to have a nice man help me with my two large bags. As I walked outside of the airport I felt the intense South American sun on my face and immediately pulled out my sunglasses. Máximo Nivel, the organization based in Peru that does my placements, was waiting for me just outside and got me right into a taxi with a short little guy named Brian who escorted me to get checked in and then on to my home-stay. We drove about ten minutes and were already in the heart of Cusco which was a vibrant city bustling with people of all sorts: businessmen, indigenous women dressed in many colors with a lamb or llama in tow, children in uniforms, beggars, and many fellow gringos from all over the world. Next, we pulled up to my home for the next 2 months and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it had a front gate. I was even more surprised when I walked in to see a beautiful home equipped with a large TV, hard wood floors, and multiple sun rooms. I met my host mother, Patricia Tejada, who is just perfect. She is very pretty and friendly and I felt right at home as soon as I walked in and she gave me an embracing hug. We have an adorable maid too named Totti who only speaks Spanish. I was excited to learn that there would be 8 of us living in her duplex type home along with her two sons, Diego and Lorenzo. My roommate, Lindsay from Ottawa, and I have already bonded and I really like her and her friend Ariana who works with her back home. Down the hallway is Michael from Newfoundland who talks kind of funny and they all (the Canadians) say “aye” and “aboot” ALL the time! Upstairs is Connor also from somewhere in Canada, Claire from North Carolina, Shirin from somewhere in Canada too and Xian (pronounced Shen) from South Carolina who actually goes to USC Med School! What a small world, AYE?

Sunday was pretty relaxed since we were all (Lindsay, Ariana, Michael, Xian and I) tired from just arriving. The others upstairs have been here for a couple weeks already. Lindsay and I took a nap until around 1 and then all of them decided to head into town but I stayed back to talk to my entire family, except Andrew and Marcie who live in CT, on the webcam with Skype. It was weird to be talking through just a computer connection cord so far away. I showed them the mountains in the background and assured them that I had gotten here safe. I had some tomato soup and bread for a light lunch and then unpacked and played with Patricia’s daughter’s 2 adorable Chihuahuas (which left yesterday though) Patricia has a cat named Cookie that we all make fun of because it smells, has scabs and meows all the time. It’s an orange tabby and is slightly cute, but it’s one of those cats that you don’t really want to touch you. Connor and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. The area is very calm and I like it a lot and feel very safe here. I am in part of Cusco called Wanchaq that has a lot of high rise apartment like homes and not many houses. There are soccer fields all around filled with young kids laughing and playing. The Peruvian children are darling. They have this face that you can’t resist and I really enjoy speaking Spanish with them because I don’t get as nervous to be always correct as I feel with adults. I told Patricia however that I only wanted to speak Spanish with her and to not let me try to speak English even if I don’t know how to say something. When we got back we had dinner which was unlike most things I have eaten before. It was potatoes, goat cheese and eggs made into some sort of patty along with some other vegetables. I enjoy her cooking though and it will be nice to eat things different than back in the US to really feel part of the Peruvian culture. Another thing different than in the US is that since indoor plumbing is so bad we cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet! Instead it has to go in the trash bin, which you can only imagine how bad the bathroom starts to smell after a couple days without taking out the trash. We all went to bed pretty early Sunday night after cold showers (which I have heard is the norm) since we had orientation fairly early the next day at Máximo. Lindsay, Ariana and I all had orientation at 10:15 am. It was hard to get used to the rock hard bed that sinks in the middle I have to sleep in and it get so cold here that I slept in a sweatshirt, sweatpants and socks along with three comforters. We intended on sleeping in until about 9:30 and getting up to get ready real quick, grab breakfast and then a taxi and go. This was not the case. Around 7 am the numerous stray dogs that roam the streets everywhere here start to howl, someone was hammering on the roof and Patricia’s granddaughters were running through the house yelling “mama, mama.” At orientation they talked to us about safety, health, house rules, how to contact them, places to go in Cusco, etc and then I was given my placement. I will be working during my time here in an after-school program called Colibri to give street children constructive time during their day to do homework, read, play games, and even get a small meal that is likely to be their only for the day. We walked around Cusco during the day and I took a picture with two baby lambs, one of which had on a hat! I decided to do my Machu Pichu tour with my housemates instead this weekend for a much cheaper price and we decided that we would climb Wanapichu too, which is the highest point at the ruins and only 460 are allowed up a day. Claire, Michael and Xian and I went to eat lunch at a little restaurant down “Gringo Alley” as the locals call it. Around 5 pm I went to see my placement with a fellow Michigander who now lives here in Cusco named Byrnna. It is near the Plaza de Armas in downtown, but it involves me walking up two very steep alleys to get to a small room on the side of a mountain. Once I arrived I was welcomed with open arms from all the children who literally sat on my lap and kissed my cheek (a Hispanic custom) within 5 minutes of arriving. The room smelled like urine and the children were filthy. It broke my heart to see this but empowered me to do all that I can while I am here. I laughed and played with two little girls around age 7 who insisted I take their picture. I had to take a taxi home by myself which I was a little nervous about since it was already dark, (it gets dark here at 5:30 pm) but I made sure to speak Spanish with the driver the whole time home to make it less awkward. It is about a ten minute drive and it costs about 3-4 soles which is around a dollar to get from my house to downtown. When I got home I was exhausted from a long day of walking around Cusco in the high altitude, however I still have not, and hope not to not feel any effects of being at such a high elevation. I have gotten a few little headaches, but nothing debilitating like they had suggested might happen. Dinner last night was chicken and potatoes and then we all went back downtown around 9 pm to meet up with other volunteers: Brendon from Saskatchewan who I have been talking with for the past couple months, Udi from Minnesota, Kim from the UK, Brooke from Colorado, Brittany from Canada, Mina from Canada, and Sabrina from Boston. We went to a pub called The Cross Keys for some happy hours drinks and it was so fun to sit around three tables and talk all about where we are from and bond with people from so many different places. We got home around 11:30 and Lindsay and I stayed up for probably another hour talking in bed about life in Canada and life in the US. So far my time here has been great and I look forward to what lies ahead. I am going to go out to the bank now to exchange some money and then head to the supermarket for some snacks before I have to go to work at the orphanage at 4. Adios and hasta luego!

-Hillary-