Well the project phase is over and its been a hell of a week. You honestly won´t believe how hard the girls have worked, they really have done themselves proud.
Its difficult to put into words the impact working in a community like the one we´ve been has on you. Its quite humbling and empowering all at the same time.
We´ve been building a kidergarten on the ide of the existing school. The building materials have been adobe (mud/clay) blocks weighing around 25kg. Hundreds and hundreds of these needed moving by hand and also the adobe ´cement´ needed mixing by foot (nb thats not a typo it really was by foot)
Highlights of the week for me have been:
Playing football against middle aged women in Quecha national dress!!!
Lying in the middle of a dusty field staring at the brightest starry sky contemplating our place in the world. Several of the girls had a brilliant night sleeping out under the stars.
My birthday evening sitting round a campfire with the team and the local community including the builders. The weirdet mix of music - KISS, the builders singing and playing guitars and accordian then finishing off with tunes of Jo´s ipod.
Getting a brilliant Llama woolie hat, 2 awesome cakes, a handmade (A4 paper) card and 2 bottles of beer for my 40th birthday yesterday.
It really has been an amazing week and you should all be as proud of these lot as I am, they really have been outstanding this past week in many different ways.
Thats not to say they don´t do my head in some times!!!! We´ve had a few money issues this afternoon!!!!!! A tiny bit of thinking ahaed would really really help!!
We´re now in Aquas Caliente getting ready for an early start (up at 3am, out the door at 4am) to head up to Macchu Pichu in time for sunrise. The girls are currently out and about exploring the handicrafts market now they´ve sorted the afore mentioned money issues and arranged accomodation for the next 2 nights and brought entry tickets for tomorrow. I think they are also sorting out food for tomorrow too
We´re off out for a meal later, not sure where yet though, not sure I can wait that long either, I´m starving already.
Our access to the internet is limited and when we are in town you´d be staggered by how much there is to do by everyone to keep the expedition wheels oiled. Planning activities, contacting activity agents, planning and arranging transport, planning and buying food stocks, sourcing / checking / booking accomodation and keeping the expedition cofferes topped up with the right amount of money in the right currency. I´ll try and put something on here every opportunity I have and encourage the girls to do the same but time is really tight tbh.
So from here its Macchu Pichu tomorrow, back to Cusco first thing the day after. Lots to do planning wise to sort the R & R phase (we have an exciting plan on the card if we can sort it, more to follow) and prepare for the trip to Lake Titikaka. Early start to Puno then 2 days at the Lake (que Pan Pipes!). We then travel on to Arequipa and after just a nights stop over start our trek. 3 days in the Colca Canyon and back to Arequipa for a days WW rafting. We´re then into our last few days and the plan for that is still in its infancy. The team is trying to work out how to fit in everything it wants to do while having time to savour where they are.
Its a tough life but someones got to do it!!!!
Ian
El Profesore ;-)
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Hey it´s Livvy! We´re in an internet cafe in Aguas Calientes!! It´s a bit like Starbucks but a lot cheaper.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is Jess! It really is amazing here, a little daunting as we´re surrounded by the mountains that we´re going to climb tomorrow but it´s beautiful, I can definitely tell why the Incas chose to build their city here!
It´s livvy again.. We have just been to the market and bought some cool stuff.. We both got Inca Cola t-shirts and I bought a tacky Machu Picchu cap. We had a struggle finding a hostel today but we´ve eventually found a rather soulless one which is a shame in such a pretty town.. but it´ll do!!
And Jess again I also bought a jumper, very warm, should be great for the trek. I´m really enjoying the challenge of having to organise everything ourselves but it can get irritating at times when Ian refuses to help us and just rolls his eyes when you ask for help. And the project was really cool, we met such friendly people and saw "the real Peru", I was very proud to see the work that we had done on the Kindergarten before we left.
Rebbie says ´this trip is sick yo´...
Rach says ´s´up dowggg´
I think that sums it up...
Love from Livvy and Jess (who is sulking)