Week Three (Semana Tres)

Monday 3rd May (Lunes tres de Mayo)

Today I had constuction at school. There´s an area behind the building enclosed by a mud-brick wall which will be the kicthen. It was very overgrown with weeds, stinging nettles, rocks, tiles and a large mound of dirt. There were mainly three of us for the whole time and we cleared all the weeds, etc and began moving the dirt - it was hard work! That evening, I went to Los Perros for afternoon tea with Laura and Steph. It is a restaurant at the Plaza which was opened by an Australian man. We had iced mochas.

Tuesday 4th May (Martes cuatro de Mayo)

Today Emily and I had English and Art. We made name tags (paper folded into three and sticky-taped together so they sit on the desk) which the niños (children) wrote their names on and decorated. We went through the alphabet and Emily read them a book about the alphabet she brought from home. We also made Mother´s Day cards (Feliz Dia Mama´). At the end of the lesson when our lesson plan ran out, they went quite crazy again. Did a little construction after class, then had our Spanish lesson at 3 to 5pm.

Wednesday 5th May (Miercoles cinco de Mayo)

Today we had sport. We split the boys and girls up as they are difficult to control as a group, and usually don´t want to do the same thing (eg. the boys love soccer, but the girls do not). Emily taught the girls while I mainly taught the boys. We played tunnelball and captain ball which both went really well - they enjoyed them and stayed focused. We shot basketball hoops where they bounce the bakk three times, reciting óne, two three´in Spanish and English or ÁBC´ in either language also. I got the boys to shoot soccer goals from different positions which they enjoyed. Some of the niños found a big hole in the ground which they jumped in towards the end of the lesson, so we attempted to pull them out. After school, Maddy, Emily and I went to the Plaza for lunch. We went to a Lonely Planet recommendation called ´The Muse´, where they use purified water and ice. I had a chocolate and banana smoothie which was great. However, our food wasn´t very good. Both mine and Maddys´ lasagnas were cold and partly frozen, and Emily´s steak sandwich was very burnt. I told them ´mas caliente, por favor´ (more hot, please), so they heated it up but with no apology. It was a nicely decorated place though. That night, Maddy and I went to a 4 year olds birthday party with Melanie (our host sister). It was princess-themed. There were lots of balloons and food. There were many adults sitting around the room with about 5 kids in the middle, dancing. It was cute.

Thursday 6th May (Jueves seis de Mayo)

Today for constuction, Adrian and I hammered bamboo into the top of the doorway with nails and wire. This is so that the plaster has something to stick to. It was tiring but we finished it. We had a meeting with Lauren, Selby and Jane (from Peru´s Challenge). They told us we had raised $9000 total, one of the highest amounts (highest was about $10 000), but that we had actually raised the most per person. We had Spanish that afternoon. Maddy was sick tonight, so she went to the clinic at 11.30pm.

Friday 7th May (Viernes siete de Mayo)

Today we had no classes as the niños performed a Mother´s Day presentation. It was similar to our welcoming presentation on the first day. We sat on chairs on the court as did many Mothers while the kids sang and danced in traditional clothes. I walked to the clinic and visited Maddy (10 to 20 minutes away) who had salmonella but was a lot better already. That night, I talked to mi familia on the telephone which was great. I was going to go to Millie and Shaya´s to watch movies with them, but went to a party across the road with my host Mum (this internet cafe is attached to the house). There were about 15 of us for one of the men´s birthday party. We sat in the living room and ate chicken and a chili stuffed with mince and carrots which had cheese on top which was delicious. We also drank Cusqueña beer and danced together which was fun. I went to bed at about 2am.

Saturday 8th May (Sabado ocho de Mayo)

Today I went to the Plaza with Emily. There was a parade in the main square with lots of people in costumes. I bought some paper and glue for Mother´s Day cards for my two Mothers (Australian and Peruvian). I also bought an exercise book for lesson plans. After lunch, Paola (host Mum) and I visited Maddy in the clinic. We had dinner later then Emily came around to do some lesson plans for the next week.

Sunday 9th May (Domingo nueve de Mayo)

Today was Mother´s Day. Mariella made breakfast - chocolate cake and a special white bean drink which is made on special occassions. Their cousin was there also. We walked up the street to another house/shop to visit one of our Aunties and other cousins. Then the cousin and Julio (host Dad) went on the cousin´s motorbike as Julio was cooking for his Mother. Emily and I went to the supermarket where she bought a cake for her host Mum (there were only three left in the whole shop!) and I bought coconut, rolled oats, fresh milk and honey (instead of golden syrup). I bought the other ingredients from our shop. Mother´s Day is huge in Cusco and there are many signs and decorations everywhere. Our family hit the volleyball outside which was fun. Once it rolled down our street which is a long hill, so I ran after it, and when I returned they had a drink ready for me. It was funny. For dinner, we made Anzac biscuits and pancakes. We put a heart on Paola´s pancake with strawberry jam. We also had lemon juice and sugar with the pancakes. After dinner, we had some red dessert wine and danced in our living room.