We left the "gringo house "at 8 am on the bus and drove high up into the Andes 2 hours from Ayacuchoto an altitude of 12000 feet. A herd of Llamas adorned with bells and bobbles took our rucksacks and off we trekked even higher again . Two guides on horseback carried water for us and a. horseback is the mode of transport for these highlanders and each family are not allowed own more than 2 horses each as grazinhg is limited at such an altitude.
At 13500 we stopped and had lunch , the altitude at this stage was affecting everyone so cocoa leaves were doled out by the handful which we stuffed into our pockets and into our mouths !!
These cocoa leaves are meant to be chewed and when combined with saliva they are supposed to create a feeling of well being and reduce headaches etc. I have to say I thought they were soo gross it was like opening a tea bag and chewing the contents but we trekked on all of us with green curly teeth and hoping the effects would soon take place !!
At 14000 we all had a blast of oxygen which I might add was much needed, its hard to imagine I know but the slightest exertion can leave you breathless, so every 5 minutes or so we stopped for a breather.
The scenery as you can imagine was amazing ( and yes it was literally breath taking !!)some peaks had snow tops there were icicles on cliff faces Not much plant life at such a haeight but what there was was perfect and beautiful.
At 14000 feet we passed a village, and I m not joking you, for those of you old enough to remember peig from the blaskets this was right there.. stone cottages stone on stone , no cement, thatched rooves. I t was just unbelievable that people lived in these conditionsno electricity, no running water, llamas sheep and dogs everywhere.
We passed many herds in our travels being tended to by 6 to 8 year olds sent off up to the mountains for the day so the animals could graze.
We reached our" lodging" which was a one roomed school, in which we ate and slept . I f you check my pictures there should be one of the mattress on the floor , yes THE mattress. The toilet was an outhouse across the field which in the middle of the night was not so pleasant . major fear of tripping over a sheep or llama !!. The toilet was a hole in the ground literally.
No electricity meant we were all in bed by sundown.
6am next day we headed out to the shearing pen where we witnessed a llama being sheared with a shears which basically resembled a large scissors. Two years growth wighing 3 lbs is worth about 15 euro. I n a pen beside us we witnesswd a llama being born , it just dropped to the ground. astonishing, some of you girls reading this have done the same I know !!!!!No sliding roof for these babies !!
after breakfast we mounted horses and trekked through the mountains for the next 2 hours, . W e were all set and waiting for our driver to take us home sitting outside in the sun an hour went by, no sign 2 hoours , holy shit everyone was having appoplexy I m a caucasian get me out of here . We ended up having to climb down treacherous ravines in the rain for the next 2 hours which was not pleasant . When we reached the road we left Pancho our guide to hitch a ride for us and we walked on towards the nexrt village. Well 30 minutes later you can imagine the 5 jaws dropping as Pancho pulled up in a local minibus that was way too overcrowded as it was and told us to pile in !! this was a minibus about 30 years old could seat about 25 people but there were at least 45 once we boarded. I was lucky enough to sit on a bag of alabaster on the floor beside a sack full of live guinea pigs , one which managed to escape and caused major consternation. This bus also had a roof rack that was piled high weith all these peoples belongings including 5 live sheep !!!I dont think OI ve ever been so petrified in all my life as you can imagine these roads are crap and very windy and I can bet the tyres on that yoke were 30 years old too, and mab did he drive fast, SCAAARY. aApparently our bus had broken down and no electricity no mobiles... Definetly not for you Michele or Laura !!
The carnival is in full swing and theres much music and dancing in the streets.
On Monday we all donned our traditional garb and took to the streets in lines and did our salsa dancing while walking I might add for 2 hours through the streets of Ayacucho, It was an absolute riot , hundreds of people line the streets and clap and cheer . Needless to say before we began we had a couple of the local coctails "pisco sour" which is a bit like brandy/sherry mixed with sprite .
Back to normal on pancake Tuesday up to the roof where we do our washing and drying. aAchange of workplace for 1 day , off to the girls orphanage . I was pleasantly surprised clean clean kids clean rooms etc, These kids seem to be doing ok on that front , no love and affection but they are well cared for. I spent the day with the babies aged 3 months to 1 year. Beautiful little babies some with parents who cannot afford to take care of them and some who have been abandoned. In the nursery there was one" Mammy" and me and about 4 girls aged 11to 13 who take care of these babies. The girls do everything from folding the cloth nappies to changing and feeding. It was a happy environment these young girls were soo lovely and soo affectionate with the kids that I left that day thinking ok, at least some kids are being taken care of in this town.
This weekend Im hioping to drive to the coast and see the nasca lines ( look it up ) in Ica a winery and the beach. so i ll keep you all posted . I miss everyone BTW. I ve slotted in very nicely to this very strange life that they live here and am really enjoying the whole experience.
day 3 and onwards
Day one of my work placement which is at a "wa wa wasi " which translates to baby house. This is a government subsidised programme and there about 150 in total in Ayacucho. Basically itswhat is best described in Angelas Ashes for those of you that read that will know what I m talking about, WE would not keep our anomals in them. A mother gives over a room or shed for daycare for up to 8 kids ranging in age from 9 months to 5 years .For this the government subsidy is a grand total of 1 euro per day, yes you read that correctly one euro per day.
We drove through the pot holed streets of Ayacucho ( which is a bit like what we know Sarajevo to be like 20 year civil war ended ten years ago and the place looks like it ended yesterday.)to the end of the concrete and then the dirt tracks began, now its rainy season here right now so these dirt tracks are pure mud . The whole village I m working in has no roads as we know them or pathways just thick mucky trails.I got out of the TRUCK on my first day and squelched my way across to a corrugated gate that opened to an equally mucky laneway to my wa wa wasi which was to be my workplace for the next 3 weeks.
Wilma was the "mammy" as the kids call her was sitting on the floor breast feeding a baby , the rain was torrential that day and the roof has a million holes in it and many buckets were collecting the water that was pouring in. Supply wise, they had feck all so I was very glad of the suitcase of stuff I had accumulated from early learning centres before I left. I dont think I have ever seen so much excitement over new things to play with and do.
I n this "shed" and in this whole village there is no running water no toilets the conditions are indescribable. When the kids want to go to the bathroom, they sit on a potty in the mucky lane and wash their hands in a very grubby plastic basin. The 11/12 year olds are not considered kids anymore and do tall the family washing by hand in a basin and it is not uncommon for 8/9 year olds to be in charge of babies as young as 8 months for a whole day at home alone.
Communication is tough, my Spanish is crap but I am trying sooo hard listening to Michel thomas at crack of dawn and having Spanish lessons 3 times a week. All the kids are truly adorable you really would like to run away with them, extremelyaffectionate and so eager to learn new things. Unfortunately they are all suffering from very bad colds, and coughs due to the weather conditions and the housing.-
The stories back at the 2gringo" house later from all the other volunteers were unbelievable as I said earlier , nothing could have prepared usfor the comnditions we have encountered.
The Government here is totally corrupt ( whats new there ) and yhe cocoa leaf trade ie cocaine is collosal. But is a means of survival for the country people - Mind blowing or what ????
I cant beliecve how little free time I have as some of you reading this know I have barely had time to take a call. My dat begins at 6 and ends abou r ten. The Ayacucuns are apparently big party people but I havent had the inclination or the erergy to partake in antthing afte ten. Theres a carnival her on Monday which we have been learning salsa dancing for so that might be the biggy !!
O n Saturday I m off for a 2 day llama trek up the mountains at 14000 feet, slleping out in a cabin so that should be quite an experience.
I have organised my trip to Cusco at the end of my 3 weeks and my trek to machu pichu cant wait for that and have booked myself into an all singing all dancing hotel for the last night. I think I ll deserve it by then !!
I have taken a ton of photos ( surprise surprise ) and as soon as I havea bit of free time I ll post them here for you all to see.
ADIOS AMIGOS XXX
We drove through the pot holed streets of Ayacucho ( which is a bit like what we know Sarajevo to be like 20 year civil war ended ten years ago and the place looks like it ended yesterday.)to the end of the concrete and then the dirt tracks began, now its rainy season here right now so these dirt tracks are pure mud . The whole village I m working in has no roads as we know them or pathways just thick mucky trails.I got out of the TRUCK on my first day and squelched my way across to a corrugated gate that opened to an equally mucky laneway to my wa wa wasi which was to be my workplace for the next 3 weeks.
Wilma was the "mammy" as the kids call her was sitting on the floor breast feeding a baby , the rain was torrential that day and the roof has a million holes in it and many buckets were collecting the water that was pouring in. Supply wise, they had feck all so I was very glad of the suitcase of stuff I had accumulated from early learning centres before I left. I dont think I have ever seen so much excitement over new things to play with and do.
I n this "shed" and in this whole village there is no running water no toilets the conditions are indescribable. When the kids want to go to the bathroom, they sit on a potty in the mucky lane and wash their hands in a very grubby plastic basin. The 11/12 year olds are not considered kids anymore and do tall the family washing by hand in a basin and it is not uncommon for 8/9 year olds to be in charge of babies as young as 8 months for a whole day at home alone.
Communication is tough, my Spanish is crap but I am trying sooo hard listening to Michel thomas at crack of dawn and having Spanish lessons 3 times a week. All the kids are truly adorable you really would like to run away with them, extremelyaffectionate and so eager to learn new things. Unfortunately they are all suffering from very bad colds, and coughs due to the weather conditions and the housing.-
The stories back at the 2gringo" house later from all the other volunteers were unbelievable as I said earlier , nothing could have prepared usfor the comnditions we have encountered.
The Government here is totally corrupt ( whats new there ) and yhe cocoa leaf trade ie cocaine is collosal. But is a means of survival for the country people - Mind blowing or what ????
I cant beliecve how little free time I have as some of you reading this know I have barely had time to take a call. My dat begins at 6 and ends abou r ten. The Ayacucuns are apparently big party people but I havent had the inclination or the erergy to partake in antthing afte ten. Theres a carnival her on Monday which we have been learning salsa dancing for so that might be the biggy !!
O n Saturday I m off for a 2 day llama trek up the mountains at 14000 feet, slleping out in a cabin so that should be quite an experience.
I have organised my trip to Cusco at the end of my 3 weeks and my trek to machu pichu cant wait for that and have booked myself into an all singing all dancing hotel for the last night. I think I ll deserve it by then !!
I have taken a ton of photos ( surprise surprise ) and as soon as I havea bit of free time I ll post them here for you all to see.
ADIOS AMIGOS XXX
In the Beginning......................
Well Hello, to all of you sitting in your centrally heated homes with the nice warm shag pile under your little tootsies and that nice cup of tea in front of you or that glass of vino if its you Emer !! A marathon journey that ended almost 24 hors later in the town of Ayacucho, which is to be my home for the next 3 weeks.
I arrived at the city of Lima population 9 million who I might add were all out on the streets that night took my 5 kg bag off the conveyor...... just kidding my 3 bags and hoped to jaysus that en route to, my hotel that I was not going to be mugged . The vehicle I was travelling in was possibly as young as 30 years .
Anywaty after 5 hours kip I headed back to the aeropuerto where I met with some of the people I was going to be living with for the next 3 weeks. couple of Canadians , English and Americans a Scot and mise the token paddy. We piled on to a weenchy little propelled plane and headed off high up over the Andes only to arrive i Ayacucho at 7 am . The tarmac had more cracks in it than a 500 hundred year old Inca and the terminal was, well a room !
We loaded into "trucks" and headed for the "Gringo house" . Jaws were a hanging as we drove through the streets... nothing could have prepared us for what we saw, there were some roads but a lot of pure mud tracks no pavements and drivers appearing to have no idea which side of the road they were meant to be on . Women in traditional peruvian costumes flocked the streets and many kids , looking extremely grubby in very shabby clothing .
much sleep later city tour, lectures on what to do and what not to do spanish classes I wondered would I get time at all to even make a phone call in the next 3 weeks , and now by day 3 I will be lucky, maybe at 5 am !! Anyway we were all assigned our work places and proceeded into the trucks for a tour of same , one girl is working at a soup kitchen which is basically a hovel that , have to go internet cafe closing , to be continued,,,,,, God knows when
I arrived at the city of Lima population 9 million who I might add were all out on the streets that night took my 5 kg bag off the conveyor...... just kidding my 3 bags and hoped to jaysus that en route to, my hotel that I was not going to be mugged . The vehicle I was travelling in was possibly as young as 30 years .
Anywaty after 5 hours kip I headed back to the aeropuerto where I met with some of the people I was going to be living with for the next 3 weeks. couple of Canadians , English and Americans a Scot and mise the token paddy. We piled on to a weenchy little propelled plane and headed off high up over the Andes only to arrive i Ayacucho at 7 am . The tarmac had more cracks in it than a 500 hundred year old Inca and the terminal was, well a room !
We loaded into "trucks" and headed for the "Gringo house" . Jaws were a hanging as we drove through the streets... nothing could have prepared us for what we saw, there were some roads but a lot of pure mud tracks no pavements and drivers appearing to have no idea which side of the road they were meant to be on . Women in traditional peruvian costumes flocked the streets and many kids , looking extremely grubby in very shabby clothing .
much sleep later city tour, lectures on what to do and what not to do spanish classes I wondered would I get time at all to even make a phone call in the next 3 weeks , and now by day 3 I will be lucky, maybe at 5 am !! Anyway we were all assigned our work places and proceeded into the trucks for a tour of same , one girl is working at a soup kitchen which is basically a hovel that , have to go internet cafe closing , to be continued,,,,,, God knows when
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