¡Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo!

Christmas in Peru is very strange. Even stranger because we´re in a children´s shelter. Lots of groups came with presents, paneton, chocolatada (most delicious-est chocolate drink ever) and entertainment. This is all strange because Christmas lasts a whole month and the entertainment involves clowns and other things you wouldn´t normally associate with Christmas but hey, if its free, whos going to complain?

Clowns on stilts...

angel clown...

Dr clowns...

and a strong man clown.

Fernando fell for the heavy weights trick

Edwin was lead angel in his school's Christmas play!

I had my first overnight house covering over Christmas night boxing day morning. Thankfully I wasn´t in the house during Christmas day, Stephanie (very bravely) did that with the two new short termers Emily and Tiffany from good ol´ En Zed. That experience really made me appreciate the people I work with here. Emily and Tif helped with bathtime and dinner and Bryson came down to help put them to bed and wake them up twice during the night for pee time. Still, ´challenging´ would be the best way to explain the night. The cook was ill so we had to make do with Paneton and sugary tea for dinner.
Anyway three highlights of the night;
1. Edwin was getting out of the shower butt naked and dripping wet and tries to walk through the casita to his room. I stand in his way to get him to dry off before going to his room, to avoid slippery floors. He responded by blowing a whistle right in my face, no idea where he got the whistle. Then when I try to get it off him, he sticks it between his butt cheeks so I can´t get it. I start to walk away so that he doesn´t see me laughing (because I have my "I´m not playing games" face on) and he pulls it out of his butt, puts it in his mouth and starts blowing it again!
2. Waking up kids to pee is hilarious! They are so out of it! I didn´t know it was possible to sleep that deeply, it was as though they were sleep walking. I had to wake up a couple who had fallen asleep again standing up, leaning against the toilet stall wall.
3. Alejandro woke up crazy early at 5:45am shouting for me. So I went and got him and put him to bed again next to me. Thankfully he went back to sleep. Alejo has a breathing problem, so when he sleeps he sounds like the cross between a cat purring and a warthog snorting. Its kind of soothing, so I went back to sleep too.
Big thanks to Stephanie, Bryson, Emily and Tiffany. I´m sure my job wasn´t the hardest but I was struggling and they made it all bearable.

Jhon sleeping in his gloves...

and this was the position Steph found him sleeping in the morning. Still wearing his gloves.

We said goodbye to three kids on Friday. Eduardo, Camila and Christina pequeña left to live with their grandparents. It was happy and sad to see them go. To be honest, I only spent time with Christina. She was in my tutoría back when I had the year 1 kids. My favourite memory of her was when I asked her to tell me a joke. I didn´t understand half of it and I´m pretty sure she accidently gave away the punchline but it was hilarious because she acted it all out. She was an elephant that had stepped on something...I think. Oh and try annoying her and she´ll throw you this look that so seriously says "No. Stop that now. You´re not funny". I wish I´d go that look in a photo. Classic Christina pequeña.

Christina pequeña and Camila leaving

Eduardo leaving with his sisters and grandparents

I´ve been learning a lot about American culture lately. Actually, I think I´ve learnt more about the US than about Peru. Bryson´s home team, the Denver Broncos, had bee doing quite well, up until the last two weeks. So I´ve been hearing a lot and learning a lot about NFL. And maybe Tim Tebow has a little to do with my sudden interest...maybe. Besides lessons in NFL, I´ve learnt a lot about their food and attitudes to food. For example theres ketchup, and then theres real ketchup. Coffee and real coffee. Don´t ask me what the difference is. And, say for example, I had made an amazing meal, nothing but perfection and I let one of my American friends taste it, I expect their response to be;
"Oh wow, thats so good! But you know what would make it great? Add some cheese/ peanut butter/ bacon to that". Everytime, without fail.
But besides their poor taste in food, their general attitude and personality has made me really want to visit the US. Something I have never had the urge to do. I had figured, if I wanted to experience the US, I´d turn the tv on. And maybe Tim Tebow has a little something to do with my wanting to visit...maybe.
Seriously guys, google Tim Tebow.

NFL lesson...thats Tim Tebow the quarter back hes pointing at

Me and my lucky charms yum yum

So New Years Eve was celebrated with burning dolls at the orphanage. In Peru they burn scarecrow things wearing old clothes. This represents getting rid of the old to bring in the new. We also had some fun with the fireworks, which we picked up on the way back from dinner. Buying fireworks just off the street is a thrill in itself!

The kids also got to go on camp this week. A group from the US came down and hosted the camp at the nearby Laguna resort. The highlight for all the kids I suspect was the pool. It is getting so hot down here!

   

Abel, lovin` it

Edwin running from Steph whos trying to fix his undies

Sofia and Christina enjoying the pool

Jose Luìs not enjoying the pool

 I was completely surprised when Josè Luìs agreed to get in the pool but I didn`t question it incase he changed his mind. I put him on the edge of the pool and while I was sitting down next to him he jumps right in! I fished him out straight away but he was already upset haha. We stayed in for another 5 minutes, Edwin and I tried our best to get him to enjoy it but no luck.

Finally a picture of Jhon smiling!!!

Edwin, very proud of his palm tree

The good, the bad and the ugly

So my time in Peru is quickly coming to an end. Its only a month and a half until I leave and I´m feeling kind of nervous about it. On the one hand I know that I need to go back and make a step towards having a career. On the other hand I can´t imagine leaving because life here is so simple and easy and I´ve made a great bunch of friends amongst the staff, volunteers and kids. Plus, everything that happens here feels like an adventure.
For example; wake up and have breakfast outdoors looking out at sand dunes, go to work downstairs, teaching 3 little Peruvian boys who call you Tia Joo, have lunch which may be something delicious or chicken feet/ cow stomach soup/ mystery meat, take homework class problems, problems, more about this later, chill in the afternoon play with kids/ watch movies with mates/ run laps around the orphanage which did I mention, is in a desert! Its all very surreal.

One thing I definitely will not miss is tutoría time. This is the 2 hours of homework time in the afternoon. Since July, I've had three different groups to work with, two Iniciál  kids (the Kindergarteners that go to school; Pedro and Jorge), five Year 1 kids and now the 3 highschool girls. Its never been an easy time for me or the kids. With the two younger groups my biggest challenge was getting the hyped up children motivated and interested enough to sit still and complete their homework, without just copying each other.
Now that I have the teenagers, the problem is their lack of commitment and motivation to better themselves. They show up late or don't turn up at all, forget their books, copy and paste from the internet, prioritise art over all other subjects and then sulk when I try to explain the importance of responsibility and respect.
 As I write this, Roxana is very diligently doing her homework (thankfully), while Esthefany sulks in the corner. Esthefany has two exams in two days time and she can't understand why she can't leave her studying until the day before. It feels like I'm banging my head against a wall trying to explain it to her. Shes an excellent girl, very enthusiastic and kind and loving but shes struggling to cope with what she sees as limited freedom here, so she frequently rebels. Yamelit, my third student, has decided to study in her casita with her madre, which is probably for the best. This is a huge improvement from Friday last week where she decided she'd nap instead of turn up to class, then, conveniently felt rested enough to wake up for her hour of internet time. I guess I'm expecting too much of them to show some responsibility. Incredibly frustrating.  
I just had to let that out...

Good news is though, in case you haven't noticed, Christmas is coming yaaaaaay! I haven´t been excited about Christmas since....childhood? Yes, that long ago. The kids here are really excited. The best thing for the kids about living here is that they get presents in a constant stream all through the month. Church groups, families and individuals from around Trujillo and from overseas come bearing gifts throughout December. Madness! But fun nonetheless.
My very generous coworkers back in Sydney have sent me money to buy the kids individual Christmas gifts! So this weekend is reserved for Christmas present shopping. The volunteers, organised by Stephanie, are all chipping in to buy all the kids new (fun) bedspreads. If anyone feels like helping me make up the last $40 of the $140 I need to raise to do my bit, feel free to email me and I'll work out how to transfer the money. Much appreciated. Plus any surplus can join the Christmas gift fund.

I leave you with pictures of my trip with Jenn to Puno, where we visited Lake Titicaca and Cusco, where we hiked the Inca Trail for four days to Macchu Pichu. Yes its a hard life.

The floating islands of Uros. The islands are made of reeds bunched together.

2 hour boat ride to the island of Taquile

View from the top of Taquile out to Lake Titicaca.. It looks just like the ocean.

Another underbite dog that stalked Jenn for about 15mins.

 

Calle Recoletta, which is barely wide enough space for a car and one pair of hips 

Baby alpaca!!!

12 sided Quechuan stone...which is apparently famous

A dozen fruit juice stands all selling the same types of juice, right next to each other

Cusco Planetarium, the best part of the trip!

Gandalf the White, showing us the stars

Briefing for the Inca Trail hike

10 out of 16 people on the group were from Australia haha, the others were from England, Belgium, Germany and America

First rest stop on the first day of the hike. The donkey didn't move the whole 20mins we were there

The hardest workers on the planet; our porters

The sight we walked 4 days to see, which is also accessible by bus

Llamas; pose for photos, eat grass, repeat

Sun Temple

Earth temple

Royal toilet (the hole in the ground)

Kickin' back on one of the many terraces

La Selva

Getting time away from the orphanage is great, especially when you get to spend it in the jungle with some amazing friends. A couple of weeks ago I spent 10 days travelling to the jungle and back with Oscar, Sam and Bryson, which was, in a word "fuuuuuuunnnnn!". I did have heaps of little stories to tell but then I realised they are the "you had to be there" type. Hopefully the photos will suffice.

Trujillo > Chiclayo 3 hrs,  > Jaèn 6 hrs, > Moyobama 5hrs, > Tarapoto 3hrs

Oscar's uncles farm at Jaén

Woke up at 5am in Jaén and spent the morning at Oscar´s uncles house and farm. At the farm we tried the mangoes and cocoa, both of which reminded me of the Solomon Islands. It was very tropical (hot!). Thats a moto taxi which is a little carriage that holds two people, drawn by a motobike. 

A relative of Oscar´s, risking encountering virus carrying ants to get us some fresh coconuts.

Second stop on the first day was at Oscar´s other uncles house in Bagua chica. This little pig came running down the street and hid under our moto taxi because he was being chased by a puppy. 

Hunting at Bagua Chica on the first day. We were looking for deer but unfortunately none of them wanted to come out to meet us. Excellent morning out hiking though. By deer I mean the Peruvian version of deer, which is small (maybe 55kg), grey and has little horns. I don´t know what the Peruvian name for it is.

Thermal baths at Moyobama on the third day. Note Gollum in the background.

Sam is ultra-excited to see rain. It doesn´t rain in Trujillo so its been 3 months since I had seen rain. 

Finally reached Tarapoto our destination on the third day.

Day trip from Tarapoto to Lamas to find a local tribe. Unfortunately we didn´t find them, I guess the deer warned them we were coming.

However, as a consolation prize, we found a medieval castle. This was still being built and painted but we got to have a look around inside anyway. Its being built by an Italian guy, I don´t know any more about it than that.

Found this guy perched way up in a tree at a hotel we looked at. I´m not sure if this type of parrot is even native to Peru.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time in the ATM rooms, just to cool down. Very hot and humid outdoors.

Night time dessert bars on the street are pretty common in Peru and I´m not complaining.

Local food. The yellow ball on the left is mushed up and mixed up yuca (tapioca) and platano (plantanes) with some meat inside. Also on the plate is fried banana, which is delicious!

I´m eating some kind of bush big (?) in a peanut marinade, which I thought was pretty good even though no one else agreed with me.

We think that was the pig thing that I had eaten the night before.

 One of my favourite parts of the trip, swimming beneath this waterfall. The photo does not do the scenery justice; it was so green out there!


Bryson made friends immediately as usual.

The only downside...Oscar lost his wedding ring. It was pleasing however that everyone around us helped us look for it, even after we had given up a few of them persisted.

After a bit of miscommunication between the married couple (jajaja) we ended up in Yurimaguas which is a river port town. This was the absolute hottest day we had experienced so it was great to get out on that little boat just to feel the breeze.

Great shot of the typical selva man; shirt up over the belly, its all the rage.

Jungle produce at a market in Yurimaguas.

The girl is pointing out the bbq grubs to Oscar. Bottom left hand side, the eggs in the bag are actually turtle eggs. She said turtle but I think she meant terrapin.

Gross, yes he ate them. They are even more repulsive when you can see them moving.

Our last day in the jungle, so we went to Laguna Azul. A common feature of river crossings in the jungle; using boats to carry passengers and cars across the river, instead of constructing a bridge. I suspect the only reason for this is that the people running the boat will get paid for it but still...so inconvenient for the rest of us.

Tranquil Laguna Azul (Blue Lagoon). The water itself isn´t blue. It gets its name from the way that the colour of the sky reflects onto the still water.

Oscar is trying to make up for the lost ring by wearing the groom hat...and striking this debonair pose. Well it worked for Bryson and I. 

Another strange to me but common in Peru; dogs with underbite! Found this one roaming the resort/hotel at Laguna Azul.

And this underbite dog belongs to Oscar. His name is Zar. Its hard to tell he has an underbite because he is missing his lower teeth.