Getting started

Whilst working out how to breathe up here, I´m also still working out how to organise my time between the various projects. Setting things up myself is, as I expected, a wee bit of a challenge! But I was ready for it, and for plans to go Peruvian pear-shaped from time time, and I was right! I´ve got time this afternoon to write this, because today didn´t work out as I´d hoped!

Having slept my way through Monday, with just a quick trip out to get soles and buy coca tea to stop my head spinning, I was all set to get going on Tuesday. Especially as a plan to visit the school with Marisol on Monday had fallen through. But then the Tuesday attempt fell through too, as Marisol had to get a sick volunteer to a doctor. I could have just gone myself, but the prospect of finding the right bus, recognizing the right bit of wasteland, re-introducing myself in Spanish to teachers who may not recognise me was all too scary a prospect on day 2, and I decided best plan was to wait for when Marisol was going there anyway.

I then tried calling Gil at Los Gorriones, the home for special needs kids, and he was out so I left a messy Spanish message. I could have just turned up, but again, the propsect of a bus ride out into unknown wasteland wasn´t tempting!

So I cut my losses and went for a pleasant stroll around the town in the lovely sunshine, and had a safe lunch in one of the nice squares. Everything is pretty much as I remember, and there´s certainly been no big surge of tourism. There are a few snazzy new buildings in the centre, banks mainly, but the rest is comfortingly familiar. The outskirts I´m afraid are also very familiar. So the rich part is a bit richer and the poor parts just as poor as ever ...

One good thing that came out of other things not working out was that on my walk just by chance I found the SOS Children´s Village office. Feeling brave, I walked in and introduced myself, and the Directora was free and happy to speak to me. She coped with my Spanish and she´s very keen for me to help while I´m here - not sure what I´ll be doing, but she`s going to show me where they are working and tell me more next Tuesday.

In the afternoon I finally got to meet up with Marisol at CCS - and it was just like old times, and so lovely to see her! She was very keen to tell me about all the latest problems at the school, and about all the work she´s been doing there, and how she´s been waiting for me to come back so that we can tackle things together! We then arranged to go to the school together on the Wednesday.

Last stop was a trip to an ELT school called Los Cachorros, as thanks to Marisol, I´d agreed just before I left the UK to help there because they´ve just lost a teacher and probably won´t find a proper replacement until January. Am not quite sure how I feel about teaching adults, but the school gives all its profits to a street kids shelter, so how could I refuse? I´m only observing this week so nothing too scary.

Wednesday, things finally started happening! I got to the school in the morning, up to Los Gorriones in the afternoon, then to the school to observe another class, and then back to the centre for a drink with someone I´d met at Los Gorriones - an American weaver in Ayacucho for a few days, researching textiles and thinking about coming back as a volunteer to give art classes to children. And after one small beer I was certainly ready for my bed!

This morning I decided to take it a bit easier and this afternoon the plan was to go back to the school with Marisol for a parents´ meeting that we´d found out about yesterday. It was going to be a good opportunity to talk to them about the state of the school and to discuss what we might be able to do to help further, and Marisol had some results of medical tests on the children to discuss with them. But after a very bumpy and hot 30-minute bus ride, we got to the school to find that all the parents had left and just a few stragglers were still there. They told us the meeting hadn´t happened as the Presidente of the parents´ association had gone to Lima. Given that he´d set up the meeting, it was all a bit odd, but I remember this kind of thing happening before, and Marisol says it happens all the time. So all a bit frustrating as it´ll now take a while to set up another meeting and we can´t really set it up ourselves, so have to wait for missing Presidente to reappear ...

Tomorrow I´m going back to the school to help with a class of tiny kiddies, and then to Los Gorriones in the afternoon, so more on each of those soon! Photos too, once I get my act together.