The blog is back!

Yes, it´s back! And I´m finally back in Ayacucho, hurrah! After a straightforward but long 30-hour journey and no sleep for two nights, one of them spent in Lima airport, I finally made it here at 6 on Monday morning. And what a way to arrive. Last time I came by plane, and it was pretty small as I recall, but this time there were only 16 passengers and it was full! We had to climb up a ladder to get into the plane, and any hand luggage only fitted on our laps, and even for me it was a tight squeeze. Ear plugs were supplied - and used - and we chugged over the Andes for an hour and then swooped down into Ayacucho, landing on the little piece of concrete and grass that they call a runway.

I was about to approach the taxis, when a familiar face from CCS - Emerson, one of the drivers, plus Cassandra an ex-CCS volunteer who´s staying at the same hostal as me - came up to greet me. I was very touched that they had bothered to come and meet me, especially at 6 in the morning! And then Marisol from CCS also came to meet me, but just missed me and then phoned the hostal to check I was here and OK. I was very touched by the warm welcome - it´s one of the things that I loved about this place.

I´m now acclimatizing, but it´s a slow process and I´m still struggling a bit with the altitude and heat - though am not complaining about the bright blue skies and sunshine! The hostal I´m staying in is basic and a little quirky, but clean, comfortable and friendly. It´s run by a charity for working kids, and some of the kids work in the hostal - cleaning rooms, serving breakfast, etc. Breakfast doesn´t always happen quite as you expect, but I´m acclimatising to that too! I´m right in the centre of the city, next to the market so have fresh food on my doorstop, though as the kitchen here is very basic I´m not sure if I´ll manage much actual cooking. And I have a great view of the city and mountains from my room. The buses I need all seem to run almost past the door, so that´ll make things nice and easy to get around. Thanks to Marisol for setting this up for me!

I´ve caught up with Marisol a few times now, and I´ve also visited the school and the home, and have made contact with a few other places - more about all that in another entry! Bye for now.