Arrival and the first week

Hola amigos! We have arrived in Peru!

So we have finally made it to Peru. After around 24 hours of travelling we got to Lima where we were met by Charlie and Jorge who took us to get mobiles and have lunch. The next day we got to Trujillo airport which is tiny - the baggage pickup place is only the size of my kitchen and dining room in Scotland combined. We were picked up by one of the tias who then proceeded to take us on a trip round the city where we kept on dropping off and picking up a couple of the girls and some guy for unexplained reasons, stopping halfway though to jumpstart someone´s car. We finally got going to the aldea which is right out of the city next to sugar cane plantations and in amongst huge mountains. At the aldea we were put in separate houses and ate lunch (rice and beans with fried egg - Mum, Dad, Lorna - you should be proud of me considering i dont like beans or egg but actually its the nicest thing ive eaten since ive been here). The days since then have been spent just playing with the kids until we get a bit more used to the routine and get to know the kids before we start activities on Monday.

On Thursday  we went to a festival at the kids´school where they had all made Chinese lanterns out of recycled rubbish and we went on a walk round the area round the school which was all just adorable. We were a bit confused at the start but got used to it...at the moment we´re learning to just go with the flow, ask questions if we want to know more but not to expect to understand the reply!

Yesterday we helped blow up balloons and cut out letters of the kids´names who have August birthdays for the monthly birthday party which is held on the last Friday of every month. We asked and were told that the fiesta was at 2 oclock. 2 o´clock came and went, we assumed it might be at 3 or maybe 4 instead but no, at 6 o´clock I was in casa 5 which is where I´ve been eating this week and all the boys seemed to be disappearing somwhere, eventually Juan Carlos said I was to go with him to the fiesta which was a relief and I was really looking forward to it. So we went to the salon (assembly room/library/communal area type thing) and after a bit of waiting some of the older girls did a dance to gangnam style, 4 kids did the egg and spoon race, and then musical chairs. I then got dragged up to have purple foam things put in my hair and then had to do a catwalk down the middle of all the kids which was hilarious. We were all given sweets and chocolate etc and there were 2 piñatas full of even more sweets which the kids got showered with since they were standing underneath them. It was all complete madness to me, kids running everywhere and making a racket but the tias didnt seem to mind and the kids were enjoying themselves.

Another thing I should mention is that it´s surprisingly cold. When we wake up at 6am it´s freezing but it normally warms up at around 10-11 and stays warm until 4pm-ish when it starts to get dark. Mind you, it is winter here so it should get warmer!

There are 10 casas in total but a few of them are empty. We live in casa 3 and the kids are always wanting to get in - they come and knock at our door and say they want to draw and paint but they´re not allowed in because they apparently always steal your things...I´m trying to be very careful with my camera because every time they see it they shout "camará, camará!" and want to have it.

I´m loving it here and I´m getting used to the language and South American dialect. I understand way more than I thought I would and I have no idea how the previous volunteers coped with no Spanish whatsoever. The aldea is so beautiful and the children and tias are all lovely. I´m struggling with names at the moment but so far I know names of all the boys in casa 5 plus a few others I´ve been playing with!

Thanks for reading, apologies for the lack of photos but I forgot the cable for my camera so next week hopefully!!

Ciao, Heather

Hectic pre-departure organisation

“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” - Susan Heller

So right now I am probably the most stressed I have ever been in my entire life. I have countless things to do and never seem have enough time to do them (slash I'm just really easily distracted and end up researching what sorts of fruit grow in Peru).

I have bought SO many things, probably too many in fact! I got my rucksack a few weeks ago and have been practicing with it and I actually love wearing it (everyone looks at me strangely when I say that), so at least that's a good sign! I have also bought clothes for hotter weather (which I obviously don't already have due to Scotland's predictive climate: cold, or even colder) even though when I get there it's winter and only like 13 degrees apparently. Yay. I have a pile of medication I am taking in case of any tropical diseases or conditions along with like 6 months' worth of antihistamines that the chemist looked a bit shocked at when I gave her the prescription slip.

Also since it's such a big part of my life right now I thought I'd mention our massive to-do list stuck up on the wall. I can't wait for the moment I can tear it down and it'll be gone forever. It is genuinely the bane of my life right now.

Yep, so to get more to the point, in less than 3 days I'll be in Madrid airport waiting for our connection flight to Lima. Tonight will be my 3rd last sleep in my own bed before I come back to Scotland next August. Tonight was my last homemade meal eaten at home with my family. I won't see any of my friends until this time next year. It's so strange to think that so much of my spare time this past year has been spent working towards this, and now it's here I can't quite believe it. It sometimes just hits me that I am actually going away and it's not just something in the distant future any more. It was truly horrible saying goodbye to my best friend Rachael and I'm dreading when I have to say goodbye to my parents and sister on Sunday.

Talking of goodbyes, I had my leaving party last Saturday which was really great fun and a lovely send off for me! I was so close to getting emotional but I stopped myself as that would no doubt have been embarrassing for all....

I'm currently sorting out photos to take with me and i have way, WAY too many. Like, I'm talking 200. How on earth will I ever find space for this?! My rucksack is already bursting at the seams and even though I'm so close to being finished (how did that even happen?!) I still have 2 books plus other stuff to try to pack in which is going to be an impossible task.

Anyway adios for now as I have many other more useful things I really should be doing right now. This will likely be my last post before I get to Peru (wow, scary) so see you there!!

Heather <3