Hello all :)
I am quite surprised that already a whole month has passed that I have been working at the school here in Cusco. It is easy to remember how much time has passed because I just count the number of weeks that I have spent in each "family". I was in Cielos (Sky) for two weeks, Delfines (Dolphins) for one, and Dinosaurios (Dinosaurs) for one. Each family is organized by age group and we learn about a specific theme each week, culminating in a fabulous show every Friday evening. This past week we learned about Hinduism, and I was with the oldest group of kids, ages 11 through 13. They were quite insistent from the beginning of the week that they wanted to perform a short dance for the show. It ended up being quite stressful and a lot more work than I expected... Mostly because one of the girls said that she would help me teach a particular dance because she knew it, and then she backed out at the last minute. Luckily, another girl had a very "take charge" attitude on Friday at 5 and ended up choreographing the whole thing while I taught basics steps to the boys and figured out their costumes. The show had started at five, but since the day before we had computer issues and several of my kids showed up quite late, we were allowed to prepare until 5:30 and join the others when we were ready. It ended up being quite adorable, and the rest of the kids in the audience were enthralled with the dance, which was the main purpose of the show. I was very pleased.
Yesterday, I went with a friend, Yuri (who is also the director of the school) to look for a puppy. He has a cat at his apartment and wants to find a companion puppy for her to play with. I told him I would gladly help him pick out a puppy. Unfortunately in Peru, there are not any laws about pets and pet care, and since the country is still so poor, many people sell puppies and kitties and other animals on the sides of the street from grubby cardboard boxes or rough rice sacks. It is a way of making money for them and the animals are not well taken care of or treated with any sort of compassion. They are a means to an end. After having no luck in any of the veterinary clinics (where they sell "purebreds" that are well taken care of), Yuri decided to go check out an area where a bunch of people would be selling animals of all kinds. It was so sad to see... I nearly cried. But it was encouraging to know that he could be potentially "saving" one of these animals. Of course, the big problem is that no one really knows what the puppies will grow into--there is such an extensive range of crossbreeding that it's impossible to know what size the puppies will be or what their personalities will be like. Since Yuri knew he wanted a quite small dog to keep his cat company rather than eat her, he did not feel comfortable purchasing an unknown breed. So, we will try next weekend maybe.
Today I woke up early and went with seven other volunteers to Urubamba, a nearby city that was having an organic market today. Apparently it only happens once a month, so I wanted to go while I had the change. We were told it was just a small market but we had no idea how small until we got there. There were maybe about 15 people selling goods, and each had a table less than four feet by two feet. Nevertheless it was a nice trip and it was very interesting to encounter the hipster culture of Peru. There were several Americans, Europeans and Australians that had made their lives in Peru working on organic farms or using organic materials and resources to make goods such as shoes, oils, jewelry, belts and other accessories. It was very interesting. I bought a delicious piece of banana pecan cake and had some wonderful Chai tea. I did not find anything else, but I was glad that I went. The best part of the trip for me was the ride home... the views were spectacular. It was an hour long ride through gorgeous countryside with mountains and lakes all around. The day had been very cloudy and rainy off and on, but as we drove back to Cusco the sky started clearing in certain areas and the sun was peeking through in places to give just enough light for awesome pictures and a few beautiful rainbows.
Another thing I am getting excited about is starting to work on some marketing items for the school. Since I am a long term volunteer and I have plenty of experience with photography and computers, Yuri has asked me to help him create a poster for the hostel and restaurant that will advertise the two during the Christmas season. I am also going to start working on a way to get previous volunteers involved with the school again by asking them to make monthly (or yearly) donations. A girl from England will be here this week and will work with me on that (I hope she has some experience with banks, otherwise I'm going to be calling Doug and DeAnn Opheim for help quite frequently. :)
Anyway, I'm sorry this is such a short update with no pictures, but I am on my way home now for dinner. I will add pictures this week and keep you all updated as much as possible.
Love, love, love
Maia Jo
No comments:
Post a Comment