Hola!
Finally found enough energy to make a post.. been pretty exhausted during the nights but I think we are finally aclimatizing (after 20 odd coca teas and a box of Tylenol)!
Woke up this morning with a dozen empty water bottles that accumulated over the past 4 days, so took us 10 minutes to figure out how to cram most of the bottles ( along with the soccer ball and drawing supplies for the orphanage and our mini pharmacy we bring with us) into our bag to bring to Maximo Nivel to get rid of.
We walked to the corner around 2 blocks from where we are staying and 10ish minutes after we got there tracked down a taxi who knew how to get there ( a "legit" taxi stopped for us but neevr knew where Maximo was so we skipped on it). Finally got a taxi for 3.50 soles which is apparently the going rate unless you speak spanish as poorly as we do :P All others have been 4 soles or more so it was pretty good aside from the fumes, but it seems no matter where we go we´re followed by a shroud of smoke (in combination with the dry air our throats are a bit on the dry side).
Once we got to Maximo and I dumped out our quota of plastic in the "No Organico" can we went into our Spanish lesson and learned a bunch of adjectives. Me and Angie compiled a list of useful words and phrases to use at the orphanage for our teacher to translate for us which made communicating today somewhat easier! Angie wrote "We need more lemon pledge" on the translation sheet (a Family Guy quote) which I forgot about before handing our instructor the sheet. Bit awkward for me to explain, for Angie hilarity ensued. We all played a matching game (similar to the game in Mario where you memorize the cards that have been flipped and if you pick a pair you take the cards) Terrible explanation I know, but we played it with opposite adjectives (ie. black and white) which I am absolutely horrendous at :P Angie tied for first though, and her reward was to bring chocolate for tomorrow. I like this country.. I lose and get chocolate, weeoo!!
Then we went to a market just outside of the plaza.
Awesome (According to Angie, lol)
There were at least a dozen little shops that you had to walk down a small dark alleyway to get to, but once inside it all opened up (there was a small hub of market stands, all outside with overhangs over the majority of the stands), and holy ponchos!! Angie was lost in a sea of hobo llama gloves and handcrafted rainbow hobo bags (a type of purse...that is also awesome, according to A.). I´m not one for trinkets or souvenirs but the place was actually amazing.. definitely going to head back there later and barter for some hats/scarves/random Inca attire once we brush up a bit more on our espagnol.
Before we went to the orphange we grabbed a bite to eat at another one of the Irish pubs in the Plaza and had nachos (no cheese, vege chili on the side) and a plate of fries which were decent. We did order 2 bottles of water though which we weren´t too certain about.. the bottle said something along the lines of "natural Peruvan water" which made us a little nervous, but no problems so far!
The most interesting thing about lunchtime today was when we walked outside after lunch we were greeted by close to 100 policia with riot shields scattered around the outskirts of the Plaza. I panicked, thinking of brutal moments in Call of Duty, whereas Angie went and got her picture taken with one of the policia. Turns out the riot shields were more for show then anything else and they turned out to be really good humoured. She even got her picture taken, riot shield in hand! Was a little jealous after that.. may go in for a photo op if the opportunity arises again.
Today was an awesome day at the orphanage, and personally I found it to be the best day so far! It was a little bit slow starting off (the kids were all outside the orphange somewhere, and 10 minutes after we got there 30 kids came plowing through the front door, really caught us off guard). Angie found some chaulk at Maximo so she had the kids playing different games of hopscotch, which really took off! Hours later there were still kids playing and drawing out there own games with the chaulk, which was pretty neat to see. Angie also played 21´s with some of the kids (they LOVEEEEE cards!) and I ended up teaching some of the kids the difference between pull ups and chin ups. Angie did a pushup to demonstrate the difference between a plank and a pushup (apparently plancha is pushup in spanish) and shortly afterwards a posse formed around her. I guess they dont see many girls doing pushups around those parts.
The best part of the day for both of us with volleyball with a kid (probably around 16 years old) who we hadn´t met at this point who turned out to be a child prodigy with the piano. He played a bunch of Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cascada that he leanred by ear, as he doesn´t read sheet music, which we thought was incredible. He also played us a song that he is presently composing on his own. We told him we´d be back tomorrow with lyrics to the songs he played us. Angie found it rough to meet someone with so much talent and such a great personality in a place such as that. (Angie: It´s unfortunate that we can come so far and do so much, and indeed make a difference in many kids lives, but to have to leave knowing that there is so much more that needs to be done to allow these kids to grow as people and become the successes they deserve to be.)
Rat Tavern Round 3 (I think ?)
Had a few more drinks with Francisco as our server. Got him to try a chocolate covered piece of corn that Angie bought thinking it would actually taste good (it really, really wasn´t). He agreed.
Met a guy at supper tonight at our homestay whose been sick several times but told us antibiotics are fairly cheap here. Good to know in case we run out, hopefully it doesn´t come to that.
And my long winded first entry comes to an end.
Buenos noches
Daniel
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