The Children of Cusco

The morning that the Knights left Cusco, I decided I needed some time in a peaceful place, so I headed to the Cathedral to sit in solitude for a bit. Following a quiet walk back to my hotel, I grabbed a taxi and headed back to the bucolic hotel in Urubamba for some peace before beginning the volunteer work. First, I stopped in Pisac, a small town in the Sacred Valley, for a visit to the ruins. As you may remember, I had stopped at the famous Pisac market en route to Manu but had not had a chance to see the ruins on that trip. I’m so glad I made the detour in route to Urubamba, as the Pisac ruins were the most extensive and the most impressive that I had seen thus far. I chose not to hire a guide for the ruins, and although I didn’t quite understand the significance of everything, I found wandering around on my own to be most enjoyable. The place had quite a spiritual feel and a Zen-like aura to it that I found was best experienced on my own.


The Ruins at Pisac

I’ve found the Peruvians to be extremely friendly and welcoming, and the managers at the Urubamba lodge were no exception. They welcomed me back to the hotel with open arms and cheek kisses (as is a customary greeting here) and gave me a room upgrade to a suite only a stone’s throw from the river. After a tasty lunch and a couple of cusquena beers, I commenced reading my book and subsequently napping in the sun with the river roaring in the background. Dinner in the restaurant was by candlelight, and the only other guests were a small Peruvian family and an American tour group headed up to Machu Pichu the next day. I slept better than I had in days, waking in time for a filling breakfast and some more time in the sun before heading back to Cusco.

I made one final stop in the Sacred Valley in Chinchero, a small town with more Inca ruins and a large Sunday market. Unfortunately, I was too late for the market but did have a chance to wander through the stalls as the owners were breaking them down and toting large packs up to the ruin sites. The ruins here were also quite beautiful, and the only other visitors were some French tourists (ugh) and locals relaxing on their token day off. I believe I’ve now visited all the major towns and ruins in the Sacred Valley, with the exception (of course) of Machu Pichu. I had started to get a bit “ruined” out, so it was an apropos time to switch gears to volunteering.

Ruins at Chinchero

Local woman enjoying a Sunday afternoon in Chinchero

I arrived back in Cusco at the Maximo Nivel school and was taken to the house of Yoni Mendoza, a lovely older Peruvian woman who lives with her one daughter, Wendy. Wendy is around twenty years old and is a student in the local university, studying tourism. I learned that I was one of five female volunteers staying with Yoni and quickly engaged in a conversation with friendly Katrina, an electrical engineer from Seattle. My other three roommates included Emily and Erin, friends from Charlotte, NC who had just completed their freshmen years in college (Tulane and Georgetown, respectively), and Chantelle, an Aussie from Sydney who was wrapping up a three month trip in Asia and South America. Chantelle was on a four day trek to Machu Pichu and had been in Cusco one week before us, so we weren’t able to meet her until Monday evening. In anticipation of our morning volunteer orientation, Yoni and Wendy took the remaining four of us on a stroll around the city, pointing out helpful sites and landmarks.

The next morning, Emily, Erin, Katrina, and I walked fifteen minutes to the school and met the other volunteers that were starting their programs on the same day. We learned that several volunteer organizations, including the Global Volunteer Network, support and funnel volunteers to the Maximo Nivel program. Maximo Nivel provides volunteers to over 30 area community centers, orphanages, schools, and other programs established for assisting and helping local children. Our group of fifteen volunteers was joining 40 other volunteers already living in Cusco, and we were told that another 140 volunteers were arriving in June. It’s clearly a thriving and well-organized outfit.

Katrina and I were assigned to work at Huchay Yachaq, a local community center in the hills above town. The students attend school during the day and then spend their afternoons at HY, working on homework, trying to learn English, and playing with other local children. We were told that anywhere from 60-80 neighborhood children could show up on any given afternoon, and that we would be two of three volunteers helping the two staff in the school. I was, understandably, a little nervous. Chantelle was also volunteering at HY in the mornings, as we later learned. Erin was assigned to a local health clinic, and Emily was going to be teaching English in a school outside of Cusco.

That afternoon, Carlene, one of the volunteer coordinators, took Katrina and me up to HY. Carlene had actually been a volunteer at the center herself a few months prior and had raised over $3,000 for building improvements when she had returned home to LA for a few months. In order to get to HY, we took a bus called Arco Iris (or “rainbow” in English) for 60 soles (around $.20) outside of town about 15 minutes. We then hopped off and proceeded to walk up an extremely steep dirt road for the next 15 minutes. We learned that the government had recently funded the paving of the road, and some workers appeared to be making slow progress on laying the concrete. While walking, the most beautiful little children came running out of their houses to greet us, sprinting with open arms to give us hugs. These little ones had the biggest smiles on their faces and greeted all of us with little cheek kisses and exclamations of “Hola, Profe” (short for “professora”). Several of them walked with us up the hill to the school.
My heart just broke when I walked into the building. It was quite large, but in bad need of a new paint job and, in general, some care. The first floor was dirt, with some tables in the main room and a children’s classroom on one side. The second floor had more tables, a small library of children’s books, and an art case. We met the two angels, Willard and Marlene, who work with the children everyday, for what I’m sure is a meager salary. As we spoke with Willard and Marlene, the children began to arrive with their backpacks and boundless energy. It was clearly going to be a great place to spend some time.

In walking back to town, we passed the small houses where most of the children live in extreme poverty. None of the roads were paved, and it appeared that most of the houses didn’t have any of the comforts we consider necessities – proper beds, much running water, and boundless amounts of electricity to power appliances. I was looking forward to returning the next afternoon.

On Monday night, the four of us had planned to meet up with some of the other volunteers from our orientation. Although Cusco is renowned for its large number of pubs, the only one we knew was an Irish (of course) pub on the main square. Over some not-so-Irish beers, we enjoyed chatting with the others that had signed up to spend the next 2-4 weeks in Cusco. In general, most of the volunteers were from the US, and even a couple were from Chicago (the father of one even works in the Chicago office of Deloitte!). I quite liked our group.

On Tuesday, I met fellow volunteer Lara for Spanish class. My program through GVN included one week of Spanish classes, of which I was in need. I must admit I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well my Spanish has returned to me, given that the last time I spoke much Spanish was during my months in Costa Rica back in 2000. But my memory was severely lacking proper grammar and some basic words, which I hoped the intermediate class would trigger. On the first day, Lara and I spent most of the class chatting with our teacher about American and Peruvian politics, all in Spanish. Despite some tumbles, I understood most of what our teacher said and was able to communicate in broken words and phrases. The teacher also gave us some short homework aimed at helping us with verb tenses, which is by far the most difficult part of this language.

That afternoon, Katrina and I headed with Dwayne, an Aussie volunteer, up to HY. It was certainly overwhelming with so many children, but we had a great time. Although I couldn’t communicate extensively with the children, we had a fun afternoon of arts and crafts, making earrings, bracelets, and necklaces out of wire and beads. The project kept the kids entertained for hours, and I walked away with two pairs of earrings and bracelets, all gifted from the little ones. I couldn’t believe it – these kids have NOTHING, yet they gave ME gifts. They made the gifts and gave them to me without a second thought, as if it was the most natural thing for them to give the gringa gifts that they themselves wanted to keep. I did the only thing I knew how – to praise all of them, to thank them, and to give them huge hugs of appreciation. Carlene said the afternoon before that the children were just so starved for attention and love; how I wish I could give them so very much more than just my time for a few brief afternoons.

That night, we helped Willard dole out their dinner, which consisted of a mug of milk and a piece of bread. The money for both had been donated by prior volunteers, and the children sat patiently waiting to receive their small roll for dinner. As I mentioned, all of these children are beautiful, but they clearly lack proper dental care (as evidenced by the missing or rotting teeth), health care, and parental attention. Some are in need of a bath or a shower, in addition to a lot of love. HY offers them a safe place to spend their afternoon and a place to learn, play, and spend time with friends.

During my Spanish class on Wednesday, I met Amy, another volunteer from the States. Amy had been working as an editor for Frommer’s for some time prior to applying to grad school at NYU. Before commencing her program, she decided to take one year off to pursue other interests. Amy had arrived in Peru in March and was certainly the veteran volunteer – as she had spent a couple of months at HY prior to working at a girl’s orphanage for a couple of weeks. I enjoyed chatting with Amy and was thrilled when she decided to return to the HY program for her last couple of weeks in Cusco. That afternoon, she and I traveled up to the center, and it was obvious how much the children loved seeing her again. We were met with huge hugs and kisses and had another great afternoon with the ninos. I helped one little girl with her subtraction homework, and then I taught some of the young girls songs I dug up from my Girl Scout camp past.

Because Thursday was a public holiday here in Cusco, several of the volunteers had decided to head out for a few drinks. The five of us from Yoni’s house headed over to another home where 15 volunteers were living. From there, we went to a local karaoke bar that was clearly overwhelmed and amused by the 20 of us that invaded their place on a quiet Wednesday night. Of course, some usual karaoke selections were sung, including songs from Neil Diamond, Backstreet Boys, and TLC J I’m not sure the locals were all that amused with the poor singing, although at one point I did see the owner of the bar holding his cell phone up to the volunteer group belting out a local favorite of “Te Vas.” I laughed quite a bit that whole evening.

The five of us weren’t so motivated on Thursday morning but finally made our way to the Plaza de Armas for the Corpus Christi festival. We couldn’t actually step foot in the plaza, as it was a wall-to-wall crowd of locals from Cusco and the surrounding towns. Several statues of saints and of Jesus were being carried through the crowds into the Cathedral, and groups of Peruvians were singing and dancing in the streets. We took a couple of snapshots and then headed up to the Plaza of San Francisco, where food stalls had been set up to sell the local Peruvian favorite dish called churriacha. Five older men gave up their table for us, and we ordered up five plates of what turned out to be the most random assortment of food. Included on each plate was a piece of grilled cuy, or guinea pig; chicken; cornbread; sausage; some green vegetable resembling spinach; peppers; cheese; and caviar. We all tried the plates of food but quickly concluded that we should have ordered only 2 – instead of 5. I’m glad we attempted to eat the local fare, but we left the stall hungry. Fortunately, a familiar café was around the corner that served some decent sandwiches, fruit salads, and pasta.

Plaza de Armas on Corpus Christi

Statues toted through the Plaza

Plates of local food, and the local men who gave up their seats for us (one supposedly works for a local magazine?)

Mi amigas de me casa - (from left) Erin, Katrina, Emily, and Chantelle

That afternoon, we went to the apartment of Edith, a Peruvian woman that works at HY in the morning with Chantelle. When not working with the kids, Edith has a side business of fortune telling and palm-reading. We were all a little curious and decided to check it out. She lived in an apartment building in a different side of town, which we finally found after knocking on several different doors. I wasn’t sure I was actually going to have my fortune told, but the others were keen. We decided to go in a group, and after the first person heard their fortune (which wasn’t really that bad), I definitely decided not to do it – mostly out of fear that I would worry needlessly about something that may or may not be true.

After the fortune telling, we all were in need of a beer and some cake (a great combination), and we headed up to the San Blas area of Cusco. Chantelle found a great restaurant that specialized in crepes, and we had a pleasant dinner to wind up a fun day in the city. Afterwards, we headed back to Yoni’s house, where I picked up my bag for the weekend. I had decided to head down to southern Peru and Bolivia, to make up for the trip that had been cancelled the week before at the last minute.

I arrived at the bus station, ticket in hand, minutes before the power went out in the whole city. Fortunately, we started boarding the bus soon afterwards, and I grabbed the window seat next to a larger woman that I believe was from Spain. Although the bus was safe and heated (thank goodness), I only was able to enjoy a couple of hours of sleep given some sickness that had set in the day before. I arrived in Puno at five in the morning, where it was absolutely freezing. Fortunately, a kind main in the bus station directed me up to the cafeteria, where I attempted to warm myself over a cup of bad coffee. At around 6:00 a.m., I took a taxi to the office of a local tour company with which I had reserved a day trip from Puno, on the Peruvian northwest side of Lake Titicaca, to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.

The tour bus left a 6:30, with six other tourists – two couples from Argentina, and one from Germany. For the first three hours, we rode alongside Lake Titicaca, a huge lake that spans Peru and Bolivia. It’s supposedly the highest navigable lake in the world at around 3800M. Unfortunately, my sickness and my exhaustion had hit me, and I kept dozing throughout the lakeside drive. We finally stopped in a small town on the shores of the lake, where I could splash some water on my face and buy some breakfast. One hour later, we crossed the border into Bolivia, which entailed us walking over a chain serving as a fence to exit the country and enter the next. Bolivia is one of the many countries now imposing reciprocal visa requirements on US Citizens, and I had to pay $100 (a LOT of money here in South America) to obtain a visa stamp for entry. Once through the border, we drove a few more minutes to the lake-side Bolivian town of Copacabana.

Crossing the border into Bolivia

Although it’s not as beautiful as the real Copacabana in Brazil (supposedly), I enjoyed our few minutes in the quaint town. We had a tour of the church, in which a brown-faced virgin statue was placed over 400 years ago. Copacabana is reputedly one of the most important spiritual towns in Bolivia due to its famous cathedral and Virgin Mary statue. After visiting the church, I walked through the main street to the bank of the lake. There were several cafes and boats for rent, and it seemed like a pretty tranquil and relaxed town.

From Copacabana, we boarded the company’s catamaran for a cruise on Lake Titicaca. On the boat, I met a kind couple from DC – Barbara and Herb. They were wrapping up a two week vacation in Bolivia, during which time they had traveled to the rain forest, the salt mines, and several of the larger cities. I was thankful to have another English-speaking couple on board, and they were nice enough to let me join them for our snack and later for lunch.

After sailing one hour on the lake, we stopped at the Isla del Sol, the largest island in Lake Titicaca. The island is 17 km in length and is apparently great for trekking. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do a proper hike, but we did get to walk up the hill on one end side of the island and around an area that the tour company had developed to show local crops and animals. The views over the lake were magnificent, and because of the clear day, we were able to see the snow peaks of the dormant volcanoes that surrounded the lake as well. Our stop on the Isla del Sol ended with a boat ride on a replica of a typical reed vessel that was used by the Incas hundreds of years ago.

Our cruise ended with lunch on the boat, followed by a three hour sail to the southern part of Lake Titicaca. As the sun set, we disembarked and boarded a van for the final two hour drive into La Paz.

Bolivian flag and some snow-capped peaks on Lake Titicaca

Llamas and alpacas on Isla de Sol

Traditional ceremony on Isla de Sol

On board a traditional reed vessel on Lake Titicaca

Sunset on Lake Titicaca

I didn’t know much about La Paz but remembered that my friend Smita from NC had spent a summer abroad there when I was studying in Costa Rica. She had raved about her experience, so I was curious to see the city. Besides, it’s supposedly the world’s highest capital city, and with being so close, how could I not go for a visit??

La Paz is located in the crater of a volcano, and as we rounded one corner on our drive, we looked down into a bowl of shining lights. We had already passed through El Alto, a huge suburb that has almost matched La Paz in size and population, to reach the rim of the city. We drove down into La Paz, where the streets were full and people were buzzing with Friday night energy. We dropped off the American couple at their hotel, and then I was dropped off at my hotel which appeared to be well-placed in the center of the action. Although it was only around 8:00 p.m., I headed directly to bed. I was exhausted from being up for almost two full days and from a cold that had started to settle in.

The next morning, I woke up not feeling so hot, but decided to make the most of my one day in La Paz. I headed out to a local coffee shop for breakfast, and then wandered around some of the sights I thought sounded the most interesting – a market for knock-offs called, not surprisingly, El Mercado Negro (The Black Market), the Witchcraft Market, two cathedrals, a pedestrian mall, and an artesan area. I attempted to find a Museum to no avail. After a close brush with what I think was an attempt to be robbed (some scam about a “lost” Mexican tourist and a local “stranger” who needed directions in English??), I decided I had seen enough of the city and headed back to my hotel. I had the chance to catch up on some emails and to just relax, before heading to a tasty dinner that evening.

Plaza de San Francisco in La Paz

The next morning, I woke early to catch my flight back to Cusco from Bolivia. I learned that morning how much I disliked Aero Sur, the local airline. Because I didn’t have my credit card with me that I had used to book my ticket (I had only taken the bare essentials with me to Bolivia), the airline refused to check me in until I had purchased another ticket. There were no kiosks or quick lines, and it ultimately took me almost two hours from the time I entered the airport to finally sit down at my gate, despite no one else in the security line.

I’m glad that I took the trip down to La Paz, but in general, I didn’t really like the city. In all fairness, I probably didn’t give it its due time, but I just didn’t find much there that interested me. I legitimately tried to see several sites during the day, but wound up back at my hotel five hours later. The city was pretty, and I certainly would like to see more of the country, but I was really looking forward to returning back to Cusco by the time I woke up on Sunday. On the one hour flight “home,” I loved seeing the scenery change from flat plains with distant mountains into the dramatic Andes and the beautiful valleys of Peru. I arrived back at my house early enough to catch up with my fellow amigas, hear about their weekend, and relax the rest of the day. I was able to speak with both Ben via phone and my parents via webcam, and our whole “family” of seven enjoyed a nice dinner Sunday evening.

The Andes in Peru, in flight back to Cusco

Sunday evening at our house - Erin, with a glass of wine, and our new TV blanket

On Monday, I met a conversation partner with whom I was to practice my Spanish in lieu of more classes. Carmen was around 38 years old, had three children, and was learning English to help with tours of Machu Pichu. We had a pleasant hour, alternating between Spanish and English, and it certainly was good practice for me. After lunch at Yoni’s house, I headed up to HY for volunteering. Once I arrived at the school, I learned that the school had been closed for some building improvements. The $3,000 that Carlene, the former volunteer, had raised was used to pour cement in the first floor, lay a sidewalk, and build proper steps up to the building. Although the building had been closed, I had a really pleasant walk back down to the bus with two local teenagers who attend the community center. I learned all about their families (6-8 brothers and sisters!) and chatted with them about life in the US. I promised to see them again on Wednesday, when the construction was to be finished. Because I still didn’t feel great, I made good use of the afternoon off to rest.

HY was scheduled to be closed on Tuesday, so I decided to head with Emily to her school outside of Cusco that morning. We left Cusco around 8:00, rode a bus for about 30 minutes, and arrived in the little town of Poroy shortly after 9:00. The town is small, and quite poor, and it was clear that the English teaching that Emily and three other volunteers were doing was much appreciated. I joined Emily in two classes – one class of first graders that we had for an hour and a half!, and another class of teenagers that we taught for around 45 minutes. Emily was great with the little ones, thinking quickly on her feet and using basic songs and games to teach the children body parts (from the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”), to playing games of numbers (“Por favor, grupos de dos”). I was worn out after the first couple of hours but was looking forward to the class of teenagers, who apparently already had some knowledge of English and who were slated to learn high numbers that day. I definitely enjoyed this group, although teaching them was a challenge. I have a whole new respect for my parents and my friends who are teachers.

Emily with her students in Poroy

We left the school and headed back to town, and then in the afternoon just relaxed back at Yoni’s house. I’m afraid the cold nights and lack of heat here are starting to get the best of me, and I find that I am feeling worse and worse instead of better and better.

Yesterday, Katrina and I met with different tandem partners, two young ladies (16 and 19 years old) who are studying English at Maximo Nivel. We enjoyed chatting with them and then listening to them giggle about all of the young boys they thought were cute here at school. Katrina and I took a break from our Peruvian house lunches and headed to Jack’s Café, a local restaurant catering to tourists; we split some tasty sandwiches and purchased some cake to share with our friends for dessert that evening. Yesterday afternoon, Amy and I headed up to HY with Dwayne, only to learn that the construction had not yet been completed. We still were able to hang out with the little ones for a bit, but were told to return on Friday when the construction should be done. I enjoyed chatting with some little girls and snapping some photos on our way back to the city. When talking with them, one of them asked for my bottle of water, which they eagerly passed around and consumed quite quickly.

Classroom at HY

Construction on the sidewalk, with Cusco in the background

Outside of HY

Walking to catch our bus from HY - with some local kids playing football (soccer) in the distance

Some little girls from HY

Children running down from HY, with Cusco in the background

One little nina

Because Chantelle and Katrina are leaving this weekend, the seven of us from our house are taking them, along with Yoni and Wendy, to dinner tonight in the main plaza. We will certainly be sad to see them leave, as the five of us have become quick friends. Erin and Emily have other friends coming into town this weekend to volunteer for the next few weeks, and we hope that they will be able to join our house. If not, we’re promised two others that we hope will be as much fun as the two we’re losing.

A word of congratulations to a few friends from home…much belated congratulations to the Bordeauxs on the birth of Ben earlier this spring and to the Murphys on the birth of Abigail in March; and recent congratulations on the arrival of Dillon Turner out in Seattle. I’m also thrilled by good news from the Angel family and counting the days for the Markey family. And of course, I’m still counting down until I get to see Ben, in exactly 28 days.