Travel Blog If it feels good - DO IT!!

Day One 7/10/2008
 
After waking up with 15 minutes to pack up our room and a hangover to match all hangovers, I left Eoghan to go and arrange my home stay and Spanish lessons. Due to a protest in Cuzco (there is rather a lot of them!) I was unable to get a taxi to the home stay until 6pm. So I meet back up with Eoghan and wandered around Cuzco centre in the process aquiring a rather large blanket!
 
Then it was time to meet Mimi who was to take me to the home stay. She spoke no English so here was my first challenge, I manged to work out that diner was at 7pm and where the bathroom was but not much more was understood! Settled into my room, 3rd floor up, which was very nice unfortuntly the bathroom was 3 floors down!
 
The house was about 15 minutes from the centre of Cuzco in a suberb called San Sebasten. The house also doubled as the langue school. There is a family of around 12, covering 4 generations. This happens a lot in Peru due to the poverty and the fact that only a small percentage of elderly recieve a pension , and those that do are unable to live on it.
 
So 7pm came and off to diner I went. 2 other students were staying in the house, both men and both American. Mama cooked the diner of soup and a potato "thing" with sauce, inevitably it cane with egg which I placed to the side. I now truely know what the phrase "fish out of water" means. I didn´t understand a thing that went on at diner, except the odd thing said in English by from either one of the Americans. I returned to ny room resisting the temtation to return to the centre of Cuzco. One of the things the Americans told me was that the water is swiched off at around midday, making it very intersesting for flushing the toilet!
 
 
Day 2 8/10/2008
 
After a very cold and wet night it was time to get up and start a new day, one that felt like I was returning to my first day of school. Breakfast was bread and an egg, luckly I had got Eoghan to teach me the Spanish for no eggs thanks. Then while the water was still on a quick shower, and then down to the classroom for my first ever Spanish lesson. The lesson was one on one with my teacher Sonia.It´s very interesting to only be spoken to in Spanish again Sonia spoke no English, but I seemed to pick up the gist of the femine and masculine aspects of the Spanish langue. So after 2 hours in the classroom it was time for my practical lesson, this time with Erica. So off we went to the local supermarket, where again only Spanish was spoken, it´s amazing what you can across with hand movements. Back to the house for lunch of soup and meat with rice, not sure what the meet was, thought it best not to ask (not that I was able to any way!) as there was rabbits and gunipigs kept in the court yard for eating (it seened to taste of pork anyway).
Then I was offered to go up to the families farm with the 2 Americans Bob and Lucas with Mary a helper who was only about 15 years old and comes from a Quechuan ruel village and in return for her help she is feed and housed which means she is able to go to school in Cuzco. I found out though translation (I´m not that good yet!) that 1in 4 Quechuan babies die before the age of 1.
Getting to the farm was more like a hike up a very steep mountine,which intailed going though some beutiful Inka ruins. On the farm we found the Papi of the family sawing seeds. From the farm there were anazing views over Cusco and the Andes.
On return to the house I had to do my homework, that´s right I really had returned to school!
A new couple had joined the house Rachel an English girl and her irish boyfriend Serame (i know not a very Irish name! He was born in Africa which is how he ended up with the name).
In the evening the school had a cooking class for all the students and teachers. The students are only left to peel and chop, while the teachers, all single mothers (the school was set up tp help the single mothers of Cuzco as this is a masive problem thoughout the whole of Peru) cooked the food an amazing dish of chicken and rice.Eoghan popped in briefly to tell me the plan and now all the teachers think I have an Argentinian boyfriend!
 
Day 3 9/10/2008
 
After another cold wet night, and bread for breakfast, it was time for the second lesson. with a break in the cold and wet the lesson was conducted not in the classroom but in the sun. With the homework marked and only a couple wrong although due to the communication problems I still had no idea why, maybe that Argentinian boyfriend will come in handy! It was time to learn the pleuraland singular stuff and then a few adjectives. Then for the 2 hour practical lesson it was off into the centre of Cuzco and my first ever combi experience. The combi is basically a mimi bus that they try to fit as many people into as is not comfortable or safe! Erica helped me to buy a Spanish dictionary which I had discovered was eesential for the homework part of things. Thenthe heavens opened again so we found a cafe and with a cafe con leche in my hand the lesson contiued. The return journey on the combi was even more interesting as I was on my own and had no idea where my stop was! Having made it back to the house with a crossed finger and a few prayers,it was again time for lunch another bowl of soup and sonething I couldn´t hazard a guess as to what it was, all very tasty though.
I then did a lone experdition to the local shops, where I manged to pick up a few supplies and use a phone to call home and the internet, it´s amazing the small things that can make you feel so proud.
Back to the house for that dreaded homework, at least the dictionary helped this time! While doing the homework I had to give into the cold of my room and put my wooly hat on. Oh my god my room was cold!
Down for diner and the sane thing as I had had for lunch. I am finding that I understand a little more of what is being sais around the diner table.
It´s very tiring having to listen and try to understand a different langue so it was an early night for me.
 
Day 4 10/10/2008
 
On awaking I find I have a sore throat and blocked up nose I´m sure it´s due to how cold the room was. But despite the cold it was down for the classes as usual today is when it got complicated as I was tring to learn regular verbs. After struggling for the 2 hour lesson it was tine for my practical class. Erica and myself went up to a tourest attraction called Sacsayhuaman it has some inka ruins and a large statue called Blanco Christo. We were able tohave a conversation in pigion Spanish from me and pigion English from Erica about the difference between living conditions in England and Peru. It was the first time I had enjoyed my practical lesson more than my classroom lesson.
Lunch and diner were the same thing again some kind of pickeled vegetables and chicken it was tasty not just twice in the same day!
Due to the cold I had an early night after attemping my homework.
 
Day 5 11/10/2008
 
Feeling slightly better after a good nights sleep it was back to the classroom again the lesson was hard but I kept going Sonia, I found has the patence of a saint! Managed to get though the lesson and at the end was rewarded with some cake as one of the other students were leaving. Then with Erica it was off to one of the locial markets a very large hectic place. Getting of the combi I was greated with a large selection of baked gunipigs, I have to say I wasn´t brave enough to try them! Instead we went for a very boring fruit juice.  Then we went to San Franisco square to sit and continue our pigon Spanish/English conversations!
Back to the house and lunch, I was very glad when Rachel and Serame invited me out for a drink and food, I don´t think I could have faced the same thing for diner again!
Rachel, Shame and I headed into the centre of Cusco to an English pub called Norton´s bar. After checking my email and finding out Eoghan had been unwell and had had to come back from his trek, I popped into the youth hostal he was staying in to check he was OK. I found him well and he even came out for a quick pint and a bite to eat with us.
I have to say I was a very bad student and didn´t attempt the homework, it kind of left me feeling like a naughty school girl!
 
Day 6 12/10/2008
 
I awoke for my last day of the home stay. The first part of my lesson was going through the homework I hadn´t done It turned out I would have never been able to do it without help anyway! For the practical lesson Erica and I went to a local football match in which her 2 brothers were playing, it was great fun but very hot, and due to the time we were unable to see the end of the match.
I returned to the house to pack and have lunch. After lunch it was time to say my goodbyes and head back into the centre of Cuzco to meet Eoghan and get organised for our trip to Manu in the morning.