Day - I have lost count! South America Tour

Last time I wrote I was arriving in Lima for my group tour. That day was testing... It was the first time I remembered I am travelling alone. I already felt very homesick, although I'm afraid to say that homesick feeling was for Santa Cruz just as much as for London. Obviously spending two months there made leaving very off and very sad. As I left Lima airport and had to make the decision of what taxi or bus to take alone, seeing other groups of girls travelling together doing the same; I suddenly felt very lonely. However on arrival at the hotel and a brief walk around the ugly block, I was faced with the decision of staying in my room skyping and emailing people and wallowing in my misery, or 'manning up' and going for lunch with the random mix of people who had congregated in reception. Walk around the ugly city with people you don't know and make polite conversation or catch up on sleep and relax talking to friends and family from home... You'll be pleased to hear I went for the lunch and immediately began to have a laugh with the people in my group and had my first paddle in the pacific.The next morning we took an early flight to Cuzco. I soon got to know all of the group and found from then on I was one of few people who chatted to and got along with everybody. There were natural divides in the group; those who wanted to party, sometimes a little too hard, and those who wanted to squeeze every bit of culture possible out of each place, those who preferred to do things alone and remained more allusive, those who had also been doing
volunteer work in south america before, and it goes on! But the group seemed to have one main divide; the 'party goers' who wanted to make the most of 'local produce' on a regular basis, and
then the rest of us, consisting of the lone travellers, which is the bulk of the group.
Generally I found I personally got along well with everybody, so I found the tour a real success in this aspect, and have walked away with a handful of new good friends.
So in Cuzco we had 2 days to sort ourselves out and see the city , which is the 2nd largest in Peru, before we began our trek. In these 2 days I saw my university housemates Katie and Fi for dinner, this was the first time I had seen anyone from home in over 2 months. It was
great to see them although quite off suddenly hearing news from home. I remembered how home is never that far away and my escapism I had been enjoying was slightly burst by all of the gossip from home. Whilst seeing them made me realise how much I miss my friends, I don't miss
all of the going and out and gossip from Surrey/Newcastle/London. So we left Cuzco fpor the tour of the sacred valley. This is the beginning of the Inka route from Cuzco. We visited tiny villages where the al paca produced clothing you see all of the travellers drowned in is
made. Whilst it was fascinating to see the countryside and the origins of the Inca culture, you can see the footsteps of the thousand travellers before. We then arrived in Ollantaytambo, wher ewe saw the beginning of the Inca ruins. The next morning, it began, the trek, the bane of my being for 4 days, my everest! We went to the starting point
bys, Kilometre82, we began walking and at this point I was unaware of ym embaressing fitness levels comapred with others, or of the obscene distance that would grow between the group and then me and steph (my fellow slow walker) as the trek went on. On the first morning, my friend Chris, my 'big brother' in the group spurred me on acting as my personal trainer. When we arrived at lunch I hit a brick wall. I suddenly felty so physically exhasuted I couldnt eat, drink or even sit up at the table. The train ahd also started at this point, and the news of the lack of bathrooms for the subsequent 4 days was broken to me. I broke down at this point. Soon we were rushed on from lunch, and a decision ahd been quickly made without everyones consent to do an extra 3 hours walking than the orginial plan that dat. I was offered the option to turn back with our nubmer 2 guide Kennedy, but this would ionvolve the full 5 hours already achieved inr everse. I said i would wait until that night and make a decision. My friends Kim, and Steph convicned me to stick with them at the abck and take the afternoon slowly; Steph and I took this to a new limit. We soon ahd both guides with us, one each, as the rest of the group were ;left to power to the campsite and relax. Manuel, the headguide, walked with me having a very deep chat about opening your soul to life... in Spanish. If the walk hadn't already taken it out of ,me then that certainly did! Evetually he left the 2 of us with Kennedy. We were trekking up steep, stone steps in the dark. Kennedy would run up about 100 metres and sit back with his book waiting as we practically crawled up at a pace that to an outsider would appear to be stationary. Two porters were then set down to accompany Kennedy. (The porters carry our main duffels as well as the camping equipment so we only have a day bag, they practically run each trek to get to each site in advance and set up, they also include 2 chefs - luxury camping i know!) Each of the porters were then carrying our day bags. This actually became a comedy sketch. The 2 of us would stagger a further 5 steps before stopping and doing our best damsal in distress impression... 'kennedy.. i need my water', to which he would summon the approripate porter who would jump forward and give the drink to kennedy who would then pass it to us, 'kennedy.. i cant do this'.. 'please girls only 30 more minutes' 'you said 30 last time kennedy' 'yes but you havent moved since then.. come on girls pleease'. This became an ongoing joke with the group 'kennedy tell the porters to hurry up with dinner' 'kennedy tell the porters i want a foot massage' (I was asking for help putting bandages on my blisters, not a massage.. unbelievable!) 'Kennedy.. mkae the porters carry me' 'kennedy tell the porters to compliment me'. Obviously this joke became a vast exaggeration, however my poor little maddy/princess maddy/queen of sheeba reputation quickly caught on! On our final night however we then hada  ceremony with the porters. Manuel explained how the night before when we had grumbled about the torrential rain they had not had tents to sleep in and then had run to the campiste the next day so our tents dried out before our arrival. Hearing this was icnredibly humbling, and half the group, (myself no surprise included) cried on hearing how the porters view the trekkers as a family they must protect. However it then bizarrely turned in to what felt liek an episode of take me out, whereby manuel called forward the singlke porters and they had to chose a girl. I was chosen (first, cough) so I then had to stand and have my photo taken, manuel said something (probably our voews) then hug and sit down. It was awkward with that porter the next day!
After the 2nd morning I got more into the swing of the trek, especially as we then past the highest point; Dead Womans Pass. I went from being miles behind the group to catching up and finding mysdelf, albeit birefly, somehwere in the middle. I spent a lot of time trekking alone as you naturally spread out. I really enjoyed this as you take in so much and really gain from the experience; those who raced at the front said they never had time to stop and think and take thigns in which I found sucha a shame for them. The final day was not just overcast.. we weere actually ina  cloud. So when we reached the sun gate (after a 4am wakeup) and were supoosed to have the first view of machu picchu with the sunrise, you could hardly see you own hand. However the day cleared up, and so we spent the morning exploring the ruin of machu picchu. Whilst it was amazing, for me this was no way the highlight of the trek. I would say the 2nd evening was. After a nature filled walk, we reached was literally felt like the top of the world on a beautiful clear evening.
The trek taught me a lot; how to spur myself on when it seems impossible, how to appreciate what does come your way, how to squat (once in an inca ruin.. classy, and on another occasion on the side of a path thinking only steph was waiting, only to cause a 30 people queue of people craning their necks to see what the hold up was..) and that I never want to go on a walking holiday ("so does anyone actually enjoy this" apparently was my quote of the trek)!
After the trek we had a furhter night in Cuzco to celebrate. We then headed to Puno. Now I will make one thing clear; Cuzco is lovely city in itself not just for the exercusions, Puno - waste of a visit bar the kareoke bar! We then set off on our boat trip of Lake Titicaca. First we went to the island of taquile. Here we trekked (oh good) to the centre of the lakes largest island to have a family cooked meal on a mountain top with postcard worthy views. We then had a sweet man from the island show us the different styles of native dress only for this island, and how it explained your marital status must be distinguished in your clothing. We were explained how women on the island pick a suitable husband based on the knitting skills. This is ebcause knitting shows patience and care. Any future boyfriends will most certainly be requested to knit a scarf or 2.. Cuts costs on the winter wardrobe! We then headed off to the Peninsula where we would be staying for the night. But first those who wanted were given the chance to swim. Our guide told us in reference to the temperature of the lake that 'I've been in once in my life; this is enough'. Obviously I was in, straight off the top deck on the boats despite the 'ooh princess is doing it' comments! And my god, Lake titicaca is muy frio! We thena arrived and were met by the local village leaders and shown to the shcool, here a football was played against the locals, but the picturesque mountain top lunch hadnt been quite so picturesque on my digestion so I refrained from playing. We were then dressed up in the native dress of the Andies... 4 skirts, blazers, a sash and a bowler hat.. Just wait for the photo! We were taught how to dance, now when i said that dancing in santa cruz is different to in london, this took new levels to the word different!  It was hilarious however, and however bad we were, especially compared with the children who then put on a show, I think it got some of the group morale back up! We then met our families who took us to the homes for night. Ainsley, who I shared a room with, and I were taken by Edgar and his 3 little siblings to his grandmothers house. The house consisted of various small buildings dotted around overlooking their plot of farm lands, and then the entire lake. The experience, despite the number of travellers they have stay (once a week for the last 3 years) felt incredibly native and was an obscene cultural insight. I can never imagineanother opportunity to be so welcomed into a house so different to what I am familiar with. The family were in the native inca dress, the son walks 5km every day for school, the whole family from the greatgrandfather to the 4 yer old are all on the same small patch sharing a bedroom, and all food is grown on sight or by neighbours before its traded between them.  The following day we were supposed to help on the farms and in the kitchen. We helped in the morning in preparing the bed for breakfast. But aside from this the grandmother was adamant that we left her to her proud kitchen and take the children to play and to teach them a little English. Like I said, it was something I'll never experience again and was truly eye opening. However I do believe that the company are flogging and exaggerated and idealistic picture by saying that you help the families, because essentially they have coped perfectly well every other day without a few travellers 'helping', and I think it is in fact insulting to suggest that they need outside intervention or assistance when they have a perfectly loving and functioning community. We did however bring some produce from the mainland, such as rice and sugar, and when the grandmother produced her knitted souvenirs for us to buy I couldn't say no! However I have learnt that if in 2 months at the orphanage I couldn't do a great deal to help or change anything you certainly can't in one morning in someone's house. After leaving here we headed off to the floating islands. These were set up by communities who were ousted by both the Inca and Spanish regimes. By living on the water they avoid taxes or regime laws. Peruvian gypsies have far more creativity than the English gypsies!! We were shown how these islands are made, which need replacing every 60 years. You can not only feel that you are floating but the straw underneath your foot sagging... Slightly disconcerting. It is quite spectacular and bizarre that people live like this. They have solar electricity (apparently candles on an all straw island in an all straw house were proving to be problematic) but basically live an incredibly basic, but admirable lifestyle. It was fascinating to see such that such varying cultures and lifestyles, live side by side, and the numerous different ethnicities that exist within one country, which are not only so different to Western culture but also to one another. When people say 'it's a small world' they are wrong... It is actually a very big world with a hell load of variety in it.
After leaving Puno we then headed to Bolivia. This was the first time I hve ever experienced an overland boarder crossing... You really are treated like an immigrant; after queuing for hours on end you then walk up a hill and through an enormous archway carrying all of your bags; it was all very ethnic! Whilst the rest of the group spend the weekend in La Paz, my amazing friends in Santa Cruz organised for me to come back for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. This was a real treat as I had been missing Santa Cruz a lot. I then rejoined my group in Potosi (conveniently missing their overnight bus journey). Potosi is the highest city in the world at 5,000 feet; 1,500 feet higher than La Paz. It is also the only place you can legally buy dynamite and set it off, because of the strong mining heritage of the city.
We then travelled to Salar de Uyuni, a sleepy little town which only bears significance as the gateway to the salt flats and Bolivian desert. I was apprehensive about the salt flats due to my on-going stomach bacterial infection; so I felt a pure white desert wasn't the place for this! So we set off in the 4x4 jeeps on the morning of my birthday to cross the wilderness of the Bolivian desert. After visiting the salt factory and museum; where we literally everything is made of salt. Here I was surprised with an enormous  cake for the start of what was in incredible birthday. We then headed across the salt flats, which are the remnants of what was once a sea, and in fact still holds water underneath. It really it stunning and bizarre. So the afternoon was mainly spent taking photos, before we then also visited the abandoned train cemetery. We then stayed at a small farm house hostel, miles from any civilization. Ordinarily it would just be a place to crash for the night; however our night played out a little differently. I briefly stepped outside and when I came back in I was surprised by pinadas, balloons, poppers, party hats and a lot of alcohol, included an immitiation of champagne I had to see of on entering the room. I couldn't believe the effort everyone went to, knowing that I couldn't get in contact with anyone from the outside world. I had the best birthday imaginable, although I think the locals running the hostel didn't appreciate the party that went on until about 5am, when they then had to prepare breakfast for us at 7. We then set off in our jeeps again for what was the most incredible day of my life! We crossed snowy mountains, vast sandy desert, green, blue and red lakes, and canyons all just hours apart from one another. The differing terrain and landscape was the most beautiful are I have ever seen. It shocks me that this area of the world and this desert crossing is not raved about more as it was literally incredible. After another farm house stay we then had a 4am wake up so that we made it to the gazas (where the gas leaks from the ground) and then to the natural hot springs for sunrise. This was definitely worth waking up at 4am for! We then crossed the Chilean boarder, and after hours of queuing we made it in to San Pedro de Atacama; a little country western looking village and travellers meka. Most of us then went sandboarding in the Atacama desert. On arrival I smugly strutted off, board under arm, without watching the demonstration saying as I can wake/snow board I already knew how. I did not realise the problem that you basically sink under the sand with the wrong technique. So for all to watch I stood stuck ankle deep in sand after they had been shouting to 'show them how its done'.. the cheering continued as they had not yet realised I literally couldnt move... how humiliating. We then climbed to a canyon top to watch the sun set and drink Pisco sours. Knowing my luck I actually missed the sunset as I had to go the 'bathroom' (another rocky squatting area) much to my groups amusement.
We then headed to Salta in Argentina for the wine tours, however my stomach bug caused me to miss these. Finally we reached Buenos Aires. I soon found Clara, this was our only 5 days together in 10 months. Clara joiend me and my group for the 'argentine experience' on the first night there, which was the final night with the group. Here we not only learnt some history and culture behind the cuisine but also how to prepare the traditional mate tea and empenadas. We then had an empeneda making competition, where Clara and I proved our lack of creative skills.
The group tour was amazing and I was so glad to do it. I have walked away with the most amazing month worth of memories and a handful of great new friends.
For the rest of the week in Buenos Aires Clara and I decided to explore by foot. We walked from downtown to the trendy neighbourhood of Palermo, down to the colourful houses of La Boca (before being told by the police we couldn't walk any further because there are 'muchos robbers', across to the glamorous Puerto Madera, round to the famous cemetery, and everywhere else inbetween. Buenos aires is a beautiful city and very diverse. On one street you feel you are in Europe, the next in Manhattan, and then as you stumble across some tango dancing in the street you remember you are in Latin America. I was able to meet a close friend of my godmother Janie's past, Patrick who now lives in Palermo. Much to my  amusement he was able to tell me many stories of my parents and Janie's days of hitting the town in London, including about the night my parents met!
I then had a very emotional goodbye with Clara, knowing we wouldn't see each other again until August, as well as with my new favourite continent; South America; which I am returning to in May to continue my orphanage work.
It was then on to New Zealand, the post for that will follow shortly!
(May I apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I tend to write these posts on my phone whislt on public transport and so my concentration wavers!)

Day 61

Sorry I haven't written in so long. After returning from la Paz I continued work at the orphanage. This was great to spend more time here especially as over Christmas a lot of people didn't work so they really needed the help. I took some of the baby mover chairs home for the day to fix, thinking it would be an easy task, however lucho and I subsequently went to the Market 3 times in one day in attempt to fix the damn things! On the Friday before Christmas a party was organised for the children, it was quite bizarre; they were dressed up varying from lots of wise men outfits to a full-blown astronaut costume. The teenage boy who gardens who them then played 'dj' and put on loud, explicit rap, which the nuns and children together proceeded to dance to. I told the nuns I had bought some presents and treats for Xmas; they then said 'ok good make sure you have enough for 70 children..' I later was to realise I had been in charge of organising any plans for Xmas day. So i went on the afternoon of the 25th with elizabeth (marcelos wife), Lourdes (maria and luchos mother), and Lucho. We arrived and the woman working seemed to have no idea about this but shrugged and just pointed us in the direction of the children who had nothing to do with their day. We put on a tea party with sweets, cookies, fruit juices etc from scratch with no help from anyone there. Most, although not all, of the children seemed very happy. The women in charge then said we were not allowed to see the babies, nearly in tears that I wouldn't see Millie I explained I had been working there for 2 months and I had bags of presents for the babies, so she reluctantly let only me in. This is the last time I saw them. I definitely want to visit again and see how the children have grown up and see Millie when she is not a baby. I found out that to adopt in Bolivia the only fixed criteria is that you have to be married; I think this is ridiculous that a single woman who could provide love and support and perhaps have a big house etc would not be allowed yet a married couple can wander in, having had no background or financial checks and pick a baby in under 20 minutes, as happened in the week before Christmas. Surely to have 1 parent is better than to have no parents, and it is not frequent for people to come in to adopt.
The main Christmas celebration was on the night of the 24th, we had a big meal, exchanged presents, then went in to the street for midnight where there are hundreds of fireworks going off, we then all went to Maria and luchos house across the road for champagne and more celebrations. On the 25th it is not so important, I had lunch with marias family and then went to the orphanage, in the night all the younger crowd just sat outside and drank until the early hours.. Not a bad way to spend Christmas!! Although, I went to 4 supermarkets and 3 markets and Bolivia does not supply mince pies!! What kind of xmas doesn't have mince pies! 
For New Years Eve we went to a party called Sunrise. It was maybe a sports club or something but there was a huge open sided marquee and stage, with 2 dj sets and an open bar! We arrived at 11.30, needless to say I was the only one fretting about this in the taxi, and we were shown to our table, soon over the speaks came 'cinco... Cuatro.. Tres..' luckily my Spanish is so advanced I understood what was happening! Then lots of fireworks and champagne, followed by dinner at about 12.30, then we just alternated between dancefloor (beginning to learn how to dance like a Latino!) and our table. Having the table, waitress service and everything being free really eliminates any stress. Before we realised it was getting light and it was 5.30am. They then served breakfast, which was a local, very spicy dish, and in my mind was the highlight of the night!! I had thought when I heard it was open bar and breakfast that there was no way I could take advantage of both but actually it worked really well. We got home at nearing 8am, so new years day was spent asleep! Apart from this time after Xmas was for more of the same; anther trip to aqualand, more dinners at my favourite chicken joint, cinema and Market trips, a few nights on the town, etc. On the 3rd (Tuesday) we then went to Rio Selva, a hotel outside of Bolivia with a lake, swimming pool and volleyball etc all set in a forest. This was thanks to Diego as his parents have a timeshare there. It was diego, lucho, Maria, their other friends varinia and Carol, and myself. I was pretty gutted Miguel and Marcelito couldn't come but they both had work. It was an awesome 2 days to finish my time in Santa cruz though. 
I really love Santa cruz. It's such an exciting city. People say new York is the city that never sleeps, but I think Santa cruz is like this, at any time of day you see people at work; mechanics, markets open with children running around, builders, restaurants; all open throughout every hour. People are really living. There is no time for days of sick or complaining about feeling depressed or grumbling news headlines. Don't get me wrong, there are problems... The Bolivian government is becoming increasingly undemocratic and biased. It favours la Paz and sucre and basically taxes Santa cruz the most but gives little back, yet Santa cruz is the city making the money and generating the new business, and a rapid pace. There is therefore huge resentment and conflict between people from la Paz and people in s.c, resulting in a number of shootings even just whilst I was in s.c. This is not rare. Then in contrast to the new supermarket that went from being just a skeleton of a building to fully open and functioning in 8 days, another supermarket was then burnt down in the week before Christmas. On the day i was fixing the baby chairs everyone said to go to a certain market because they would have the parts, it therefore was apparent this market was popular and well-known, lucho then told me when we were there that it was Santa cruz's main black Market and 'if or when your iPhone gets stolen this is where we will come to buy it back' (I am writing on it now so maddy 1 Santa cruz 0 !!) this market is shameless in the selling of stolen or illegal stuff, street after street more and more random paraphinalea was revealed; 'this is the road for stolen car radios', 'this corner is where most of the stolen cameras are'. It seems people in s.c are rarely shocked by anything! Any of this news excites people for little more than half an hour. It's a harsh city at first but when you settle in it's exciting and vibrant. You can't just sit back and watch the city, you either get involved in the belly of it or it'll spit you out.
Yesterday I had a leaving lunch and a leaving dinner, despite it being my 3rd 'leaving' and the subsequent speculation I would again return after 2 days! This morning I had to leave the house at 5.30, I stayed a marias house so I wouldn't wake Paola, and I said my goodbyes last night at 1am when we finished dinner, yet come 5.15 this morning there was a housefull, both Maria and marcelos family and Diego, I then had 2 cars take me to the airport. I am so grateful to the friends I have made here and I am already planning when I can return, perhaps for longer!!!
Today i join the group tour. Peru, here I come! Your work has been cut out for you!

Photos

I have attempted to upload photos a number of times, but it seems very slow, I therefore have created an account purely to view photos.
For those on facebook who have already seen some pics, these are largely the same but without the drunken snaps and with more cultural ones!!!

Please find at www.getjealous.com/maddysgapyearphotos

I will post soon about the past week and my Latin Catholic Christmas experience!

Feliz Navidad x

Day 43

My decision to stay in Santa Cruz for longer was definitiely a good one. The weekend after my last post we (myself, Marcelito, Maria, Marias boyfriend, Luis, and a friend of Marcelito´s) to Samaipata, a countryside village where they family have 2 little bungalows. It was such a fun weekend.. did some long scenic walks in a historic national park first and then in a sort of forest area with rivers and waterfalls, we drank Ambrosia (the first milk of the day from the cows with cognac), and stayed in the house drinking etc in the evenings. I then planned to leave, again, so I had my second leaving lunch, but I then decalred I had changed my mind on xmas and would come abck here and not go to peru, i figured with people who actually really want me here and the chance to help at the oprhanage this is more of an expeirence than just going to the beach with our british people. This means I am here until early January. So i then went off to La Paz for what was supposed to be about 2 weeks. But then I discovered altitude sickness, and after spending half a night in hospital with oxygen pipes up my nose and metal clamps round my wrists and ankles (SAW: The Bolivian Edition???) I was back in Santa Cruz within 2 days! La Paz is a very striking city, not so much pretty as just quite breathtaking. It is very high up so you are in the clouds literally, and sourrounded my mountain tops. The family didnt speak any english so I really stretched my spanish ability... the conversation obviously ran dry pretty quickly and turned more into a game of charades. They were lovely though, and gave me a speed tour of the city so that I still got to see a lot. The father is head of the airforce so I somehow managed to land myself seat 1A for nada on the plane back.. ideal i thought, as I strutted through security drink in hand and walked to the plane chatting with the pilot (his mate) about how yes thank you i would love to come to the cockpit during the journey to see, this was more like it. So there I was sitting comfortably in my big seat, smug as hell definitely deserving a slap, i didnt understand the announcement explaining we had to swtich planes or why everyone was getting up and leaving,. I eventually worked this out and thought, well, no rush ive got my seat waiting in another plane. good one maddy. on the next plane it was a first come first serve on seats, and the seats were somewhat smaller. i found myself practically in row 3457938 seat Z. different pilot. no vip treatment. 2 hour delay. maybe in hindsight I overeacted by crying for the first 20 minutes and it probably was comic for everyone else to see the stupid smug tourist from the last plane shoved at the back. karma. Taking off from la paz is bizare because of the altitude; its like ´cabin crew for take off ... 10 seconds later ... ladies and gentlemen we are now curising at 20,000 feet.´ anyway i enjoyed my albeit brief trip to la paz a lot, but i am excited to spend xmas here in s.c
I am working at the orphanage again now, I had an emotional reuinion with millie (my fave baby) and melly (my fave 5 year old). Athough melly keeps called me ábuela´... this means grandma... sun damage is taking its toll maybe. I also went to the market on saturday and bought lots of toys and sweets for the orphanage for xmas,  so i am going to go that day and help out and give them to them. i know babies cant be excited about recieving presents but its still worthwhile to know they are getting good, clean new toys that arent broken, and that there was presents for the older children.
Last night we went to the plaza and outside the cathedral there were carol singers. Weird standing listenging to silent night in spanish whilst slowly sweating to death.
Lots of love to everyone and I hope you are enjoying the pre-xmas time at home xxxxx

Day 31

I have finished work at the orphanage now. It was really great working there but it is sad that you cannot do anything to really change or help in the long run, maybe you make that day or month better but you dont make any of the childrens lives better. I think for this projects like building them a new area or something is better, maybe in the future I will return and try to do this.. I was so sad when I had to leave; i spent nearly an hour just with milagro (my favourite!). i dont remember if i already said this, but i found out she had an older brother and sister, but when their mother died they were split up and put in different oprhanages. things like this actually make me really angry.. a bit of extra admin/organisation would keep the remnents of a family together and essentially make a huge difference to their lives. maria tells me this usually does happen. when i was leaving the head nun came and said thank you and we chatted a bit, although it was all in spanish so it was a fairly retarded conversation on my part! she then gave me a bracelet, which i immediately broke in front of her, good, and then she gave me another bracelet, which i now am wearing and will always keep. i still cant decide whether i think it is better for some of the children to be there than the potential lives they could have had; sometimes you see children working with their parents in the markets or on the streets at night, and then i think actually for the children in the orphanage who are safe and sleeping maybe it is a better start to life. I felt really weird and a lot of guilt on my last day i was looking after them and i couldnt help but think how different our lives will be and how nothing will change that. The children need a lot of look after, by the end as i was more involved i realised how much there was to do, constantly looking after nearly 20 babies between 3 of us, but often just 1 of us, is difficuly, because its crucial you dont let anything go amiss, and then of course there are all of the other children, so they really have a lot to do there. I found out that the other people who work are all paid and are not volunteers, maybe hence some of their attitude! But obviously this is a big drain on the money available, and then with having to feed, water and give medicines to 70 children, you can see that it is struggling. This is why volunteers are actually a big help, it made me think maybe i should work for a longer amount of time in the future, so to actually save them the cost of another person working.

On sunday we went to  a national park, Guembe, which had a mariposario (butterfly dome), a bird sanctuary, natural springs, waterfalls, a lake, an island for monkeys, etc. This was probably my best day yet! I went with Maria, Sergio (marias boyfriend) and Luis (marias brother). We didnt actually plan to go, we were going to go to aqualand again but it had closed down (not paying its taxes.. good one) so we ended up taking the long dirt track to guembe which was a result! Did some kayaking, climbed to the top of the bird sanctuary water tower where you can see the entire city and beyond, swimming, etc. Once again, even though i bloody wore cream this time, i ended up with a bright red face. This needs to stop happening. They keep looking at me and saying ´....ohhh... roja´ yes thank you i had noticed!!! Also was not ideal when, i kid you not, about 25 wasps attacked me at lunch, dad you would have been proud i did not make as much of a scene as usual!
On monday i went to the cinema and for ice cream and then later for dinner with Luis because everyone else had to study. I suppppoossse you could call it a date. haha... joke....
Moving on!!!! Yesterday we went to the river.  (with maria, luis, their mum, aunt and cousin) I thought ohh nice, sit and watch the water, maybe some boats... Right this was not the case. In reference to a previous post about this being the hottest city ever... THE RIVER HAS DRIED OUT. i mean seriously is that some kind of joke?!! anyway it was actually awesome. there are like these hut restaurants selling the best local food (you have to try sonso... yuca and cheese on a long wooden stick) on the drive up, which is all sand and dirt track, and then over a mound (we were in a 4x4 obviously) and then theres this huge plaine which is the ´river´. i think maybe the word desert would be more appropriate bit never mind! there is a bit with water which is knee deep, we went from paddling in this to basically mud wrestling. then luis and i got a quadbike (HOW romantic... ha) and went across the river on it. again was such a good day.
apart from that we´ve been going out to markets, for dinners etc, i´ve been getting more into the local cuisine etc.. the stomach can just about handle it now! theres a market near by, which looks from the road like a few shops, and then as you go in suddenly becomes a maze of indoor lanes selling clothes, dvds and all sorts of apparent foods side by side. we went there the other night to get a film, and even at 10 at night there are young children, dogs and chickens all wondering around in the lanes for you to squeeze through, then it was a hectic array of sounds, smells, colours etc, but then we tried to go on the sunday and it is a genuine ghost town because obviously sunday being the holy day is taken more seriously here. crazy how much it changed in one day.
so then today... my ´last day´... i had my ticket booked for a 1.30 flight to la paz. i went to the market in the morning with maria and her mother, then came back and had a bbq with marcelos family and maria. then we set off to the airport, marias mother was driving, there were then a further 6 of us in the car, all good, wasnt much of a sweaty journey! got to the airport (10 minutes before my flight was due to take off.. these bolivians are fairly lax like i said!) and as we were approaching i said oohhh i dont want to leave, next thing i know marias mother has changed my ticket for me and i am here until monday. i never even got out of the car at the airport. anyway, i am very happy about this so i think we will maybe go to samipata this weekend where the family have another house in the countryside with marcelito, miguel, maria, luis, sergio and diego.
So heres to another week here! i hope everyone is well and enjoying the build up to christmas!

Day 25

Hola amigos!

So I will recap my week as usual...
On saturday we went go karting, and it turns out I am... awesome! It has to be my calling in life! Quite cringe though when I was giving banter the whole way there about how i would win then i did by 7 laps, the first few times i lapped them it was funny but by the 5th or 6th it was just awkward! Then on saturday night we went to the irish pub in the main plaza then to a club, i still find it strange how they do things differently, like only ordering shots, but not any drinks to sit and enjoy, so just every 15 minutes they do another shot and have nothing inbetween.On sunday i went to the park with luis, marias brother, he speaks english pretty much to the same level as my spanish, so it was a lot of bad spanglish, and giggling!
This week I have been at the orphanage every day, i´ve got to know the other volunteer, a german girl, quite well, as well as more of the other children. Like i said the older children seem a bit happier because they can play outside with each other. It is the babies i still feel so sorry for. People said working at an oprhange will be so great because all of the children are so happy to have you there, but its not as simple as this. When you see them sitting in a dusty room playing with old, broken, dirty toys and theyre ill and so are crying for hours on end and really whatever you do wont change anything in the long run, its not the romantic image people have. Sorry to sound so cynical! It was quite nice, one of the children; miguel, has gone because his aunt came to take him. she had been looking for 5 months since his parents died but hadnt known where he was, so everyone was really happy for him. i´ve been thinking about that all week, what it must be like having his first week at home, and also how forutnate that is, because he´ll have a totally diferent life now. although he was definitely one of the easiest to look after. feeding the 1 year olds is one of the most difficult things, they obviously need spoon feeding but some respond to this better than others. there is lots of dribbling the foot back out, knocking the bowl out of your hands, food throwing, falling asleep mid meal, crying, watching each other, throwing up, choking etc etc tec! we have to get them to finish their food though, so when it comes to feeding people do grab a ´good´child i.e. one that is easier. i actually saw another women eating the baby food when she thought no1 was looking to try and get rid of it as the child wouldnt eat it.. so funny. i´m literally inlove with millie, my favourite one, she is 7 months old, i found out she has 2 siblings but theyve been seperated and are in a different orphanage. please can someone say theyll adopt her.. ill be a fulltime aupair! tomorrow is my last day working there i cant believe it! i am going to write up about it properly with contact details and photos so to encourage other people to go there to work.
Apart from that this week, we have just done the usual i.e. lots of chicken dinners at this place we like. its like an authentic, outdoor, cheap nandos, so obviously i love it! every day we have lunch as a family, which is always home cooked and delicious. its really nice that whatever they are doing everyone comes home for lunch. they found it odd that i said we do this more for dinner; dinner isnt important here. on tuesday i had to go in to the city to go to the airline office and to the post office (for the 3rd time to colelct one package.. they dont make it easy), so after i sat in the main plaza and read for an hour, and then went into the cathedral, and then for an early evening beverage, was a nice afternoon with my fantastic own company as usual!
ive noticed the longer you spend somewhere the less things surprise you, and unfortunately, the more it wears away at your pity. when i used to see beggars, who are extremely crippled and are the worst case of poverty ive seen, i found it very sad and shocking, now it doesnt seem much of a shock to walk past a man with no limbs or a blind woman sitting in the road inches from traffic. the same with the children, you may remember i said i nearly cried when i saw they had the í love my mummy´bibs, well i found out quite afew of their first words is ´mama´ but now i dont feel as saddened by this when i think i probably should. I do feel bad for not spending christmas at the orpahange, but it didnt make sense to spend 2 months in santa cruz and no time in la paz or travelling on before my tour starts. for christmas i think i will be in mancora in peru, a beach town.
i am flying up to la paz on wednesday. i´m sure i will ahve a busy weekend to report on as it is my last in s.c, and then next week i will upload photos! sorry if i am sending people short emails or taking a long time to reply.. i am nearly always just on my phone when i read them and writing along email on my phone is not easy! lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Day 20

It's official Santa cruz is the hottest city ever. And with no grass, beach, rivers, or basically any shade, I am officially melting!
I was on the bus to work the other day an thought that the experience I have 4 times a day needed explaining. So to hail the bus, which you can do anywhere, I stand on the side of a main road just out of the way of cars in the patch of sand that replaces need for pavement (beats me how there is sand in a landlocked country with no desserts), the sand is also a real pain when it sprays of a car in your face.. Anyway, so you stick you arm out hard and fast, ignoring all of te beeping cars, which when you are the only blonde in the entire city is frequent, the bus swerves in often straight at you, and you hop on and pass the driver the 1.80b's (about 15p) over his shoulder while he drives, of you need change it'll get passed to you from passenger to passenger about ten minutes later. The bus then hurtles along. Lanes, crossings, breaks and any form of rules are not a big feature on Bolivian roads. When you want to get off you then shout stop, this seems to be the one word I can never remember, so I just shout random Spanish words until he realises; he then swerves in and slows down, the door is already open so you sort of hang on and jump as it is slowing down and then run alongside still hanging on until youve steadied yourself an definitely before he starts speeding back up (I speak from experience). On my route home from work I then cross a very busy main road, a good fair distance to cross is normally when you have 2 cars doing about 40 and they still a good 10 metres away.. Ample time at this point, to go from standing into a sudden sprint to
cross the road. Anyway.. Just setting the scene!
The orphanage is going well. I think for the children who are age 3/4/5 it's quite nice because they are all together an get to play all day in a safe surroundings, unlike a lot of children you see in the city sitting on the streets in the markets, and it's sort of like they have lots of siblings and seek quite happy. It is the babies I feel really sad for because this is the age when you don't need or care for friends, but just need parental care and attention, and whilst they are adequately provided for, they don't get that love. It is very eye opening and really very sad.
Thankfully I am now better, yesterday i walked 6.5 km across the entire city, I stopped at a few cafes along the way as well as in plaza de septiembre, the main square. I really have seen most of the city now, although it's a shame not exploring it with anyone.. Lucky I am amused enough by my own company! I tried to sunbathe on a bench in the square but the sun had heated the bench so much that I actually burnt myself.. last night we went for dinner than just sat
in diegos garden drinking etc. Drinking games in a foreign language is almost a certain loss! We are off go karting now.. In this heat.. Wish me luck! Xxxxx