Home to Rio

A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday was that the free internet at the hostel is actually free WIFI ONLY. And there is a difference, I thought since they had said free internet and given us logon and passwords that the computors were for our use. My assumption was quickly corrected when I used their computor to check something and the staff member said I owed money for it. I ended up not paying the small bill but in case it comes up for you, clarify if the "free" service in WIFI or the internet on their computors.
In addition, yesterday after we hiked to the first waterfall, our original plan was to hike the Gold Trail. This is the trail that the Brazilians used in the 1500s to travel to Sao Paulo and Rio De Geneiro to find and trage gold. It is a heritage site according to UNESCO and apparently a very popular hike with the tourists according to a pamphlet we came accross. When we got to the base of the hike we saw a sign mainly in Portugese that had a small translation saying we could only hike this trail with an authorized guide and it was prohibited to continue on our own. Being the rebels we are, we took a local teenagers advice and head out on the hike anyway. About ten minutes in, the adult half of our minds took over and we turned around.
Today we woke up early and walked to the bus station to buy our tickets back to Rio with a company called Costa Verde. They have quite luxorious busses and the prices of travel are a bit steeper with them. We paid for our three nights at our hostel but we were .95 cents short of the bill and they let it slide. When we exchanged our US funds over to Brazilian Reals the only Cabrio (exchange place) in the city was in the historic center of Paraty, also known as rip off capital of the world. The woman behind the counter even sounded appologetic when she told us how much of our money she would keep in exchange for converting our currencies. Thinking about it now however, it boils my blood a bit that the poor exchange rate happens to be nearly identical to the one we have been getting from our bank in Canada through the ATM machines. Thanks a lot HSBC.
Another small but very significant part of our travel in Brazil is in relation with our sense of smell. Throughout every area we have visited, we are uncomfortable witnesses to ridculous odours coming from mystery sources. As we are walking down a seemingly clean street, we are hit with the stench of lovely things like garbage, body odour, fish, sewage, poop and mystery soup. Once in a while the smell will be of flowers or ocean or perfume but the incidences of this are fewer and farther between than that of the prior.
At 11am we took part in a boat cruise that floated us t four different islands around Paraty. There were dozens of boats taking eager tourists to see the beautiful scenery only accessable through water. We were on a vessel with eight other people and staff and we spent the day getting more sun, watching turtles swim, splashing around in the water during the stops and viewing the little islands. It was a relaxing and nice day after the strenuous one we lived through yesterday.
Yesterday I mentioned that we were heading out to a beach party after I had written my blog entry. Here's what actually happened: we dragged our butts out of the hostel, down the street about three minutes, paused for one, continued for one and finally admitted that niether of us wanted to (nor was able to) go to this party. We returned to the hostel and passed out instead.
Tonight we caught the 17:20 bus back to Rio and it was quite dark when we got back to Rodovario (the main bus station here). We had to take out more money from the ATM to pay for another local bus to get to our new hostel call Oceans Inn Hostel in Leblon. The only problem was that when we got off the bus we had no idea where we were, we had all our luggage and it was 9:30pm. We walked where our obviously foolish sense of direction told us to go (about one hour the opposite way). So what should have been a 25 minute bus ride turned into a 25 minute bus ride and two hour walk in the middle of the night through what some of the locals call the slums of Rio. At this point however, I am glad this hostel truly exists and they had in fact recieved our reservations and deposit. It is here that I end my tail for tonight so I can catch some zzz's and beachbum it some more tomorrow.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The never-ending road to waterfalls

On our second to last night in Paraty we hiked, trekked, walked and ran over 30 km for around 8 hours. We got home with a significant number of minor injuries all adding up to complete exhaustion by the time we got back to the hostel around 9pm. We started off the day like any other, stuffing ourselves full of free breakfast to the point of nausea. Then we head out to the tourist center to gather information on a few different attractions we were interested in. The woman behind the counter told us in Portugese what we understood to mean "you cannot walk that distance, you must take the bus". We ignored the advice and set out to work off our gluttonous breakfast. We hiked for what seemed like ever down a mainly straight road that curved and hilled every once in a while. The sun was unforgiving and our two bottles of water went very fast. With no water and little to no sunscreen left we continued on. Tyson creatively used his towel to cover his head and shoulders looking quite middle eastern. It was a gorgeous walk, we saw unique flowers and greenery, new insects, snakes, an enormouns millipede (pictured on facebook) and several of the most beautiful water falls on earth. We managed to find some water for sale along the way and we emptied the sunscreen with no sense of rationing for later. The first waterfall was quite big and the water streamed along very large rocks. Tyson said that he had seen a picture of people sliding down these rocks keeping with the direction of the water. I said that the only way I would be ok with him doing this, is if at least five other people came by and did it first. Sure enough, a tour group came by and the guide invited us to join in their activities, one of which was sliding down these rocks. Tyson waited until five people had gone and he followed sliding down several large rocks into a pool of water. I even tried it and it was quite the thrill even though it took a bit of coaxing and negotiating to get me to do it. Of course a few minutes later I was reminded of my age and ballsessness when two young kids slid down the rocks standing up on their feet with a running start. They are crazy. We also joined another group of tourists and went through the waterfalls so that we were behind the water looking out. It was also thrilling and well worth the walk it took to get there.
We had lunch in the form of a picnic in the water and continued trekking another 2 hours to the next water falls where we happened to reconnect with the same groups of people. The only difference was they had driven and thought we were crazy for walking. This second waterfall had a natural rope concoction that everyone was using to swing into the water. Unfortunately my heel was so badly skinned from rubbing against my shoes at this point that I couldn't confortably step into the water. Therefore Tyson enjoyed this adventure on his own. Again our age and inability was portrayed for us when as Tyson struggled to climb to the jumping point, two small kids used the rope with one hand and dove off of it flipping upside down during the drop.
After some back and forth decisions and change of hearts we decided to continue on to the last waterfall. It was straight uphill about 40 more minutes on a dirt road. This is where we saw the millipede at least 4 feet long. We also saw a lizard the half of Tysons length, a snake, wierd bugs and eight thousand mosquitos (that seem to enjoy our OFF spray). The last waterfall was the largest and actually cost an entrance fee (that Tyson kindly got us out of having to pay by using our language barrier). We took a few photos which was not satisfying to the all-adventurous Tyson so he decided to have me film him jumping off of a cliff into water. As I suck at taking photos he actually had to do it four times before I caught it on camera.
To put it very mildly our walk home sucked. It was long, we were tired and hot but still more than pleased with all that we had seen and done during the day. Thank God that we had more than enough hot water for our showers and our dinner was a quick fix. The only problem was we had again run out of cash and there are no ATMs in this area. We still owe the hostel for three nights and have to buy a return bus ticket home. Of course neither place accepts US funds but we did manage to find an exchange place in the historical center that (of course) charges a more insane exchange rate than we had ever seen or thought possible. Tonight we plan on heading out to a beach party by the hostel that a friend told us about. Even though we are tired and would rather pass out, we will try to go for a bit to regain our sense of youth that was so viciously had stolen from us earlier. Tomorrow we are heading out on a relaxing boat cruise from 10:30 until about 16:00 and then catching a bus back to Rio where we have booked a nice looking hostel in Leblon right by the beach.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Paraty

So today was our second day in Paraty and each city that we have gone to in Brazil has been quite different. Paraty has about 300 beaches within its vicinity but it is also known for its historical villiage. When you walk down the cobble stone path and up over an old colonial bridge you feel like you are on a movie set. It is a beautiful town and when the sun sets they have dim lights down the street and live violins play through the night. It is nice to walk around at night but if we did not have OFF spray we would have been eaten alive! A few nights ago I gave myself a pretty good black eye from punching my eye in my sleep trying to defend my blood against the mosquitos (I posted a pic of this on my facebook page).
The hostel we are staying at is quite central and we springed for the private room this time so it is quite comfortable. They even offered us a free boat cruise for Thursday because we are staying here four nights. Today they forgot about our wake up call but we still managed to wake up in time for some breakfast. After breakfast we caught the bus to another place called Trindade where the beaches are meant to be famous. The bus dropped us (and about 20 other people in bikinis and speedos) off about five km from the beach because of road work ahead. So we started walking and got stuck in wet tar and tried to wipe it off on some other sticky material. About 18 of the other people we were with stopped and we had no idea why but we kept walking. We continued down steep hills and over steeper hills with no beach in sight. About 20 minutes later a different bus full of all the same people (who seemed to know what was going on) picked us up laughing. Anyway we were grateful for the ride. At the beach Tyson decided to head straight for the "unsafety area" where I dissapprovingly followed. In the "unsafety area" we found huge waves well over our heads, many large crabs, dead fish and jellyfish scattered accross the beach. There is proof of this in the form of pictures on my facebook page. Needless to say, I turned around and ran the other way.
Nevertheless the beaches here are stunning. We have yet to come accross a beach that has not surprised and astonished us. We sat on the beach all day and Tyson spent some time playing paddle ball with his new boyfriend. We caught a van/carpool thingy home with him and his girlfriend. We bought some groceries here and they are ever-so-slightly cheaper than the previous cities we have visited in Brazil.
Tomorrow we are planning on hiking a trek that should be challenging yet fun. I have to be careful because in Ilha Grande I managed to accomplish three significant falls into water. Each time I had to walk in wet hiking shoes for about half a day following the splash.
As a side note: I read in the Lonely Planet book that 50 million brazilians dont make enough toeat; to put it into perspective population of canada is currently 38 million. Also the average wage of people here is about 850 reals which is equal to $500 a month. Based on our modest spending history these past couple of weeks here, it seems virtually impossible to sustain any sort of healthy lifestyle on thsi wage.
Since we still have not figured out our volunteer activity for Brazil, Tyson helped a weak old lady carry her groceries to the bus today.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Ilha Grande weekend away..

We spent another day cooking on our new found favorite beach in Buzios. We are both now different but distinct shades of very painful red. Needless to say that carrying gigantic backpacks on burnt shoulders is less than comfortable. We were wincing in agony with every step but we cleverly played slap for slap on burnt skin to numb our pain receptors and it seems to have worked. On our last night in Buzios we changed hostels and I stayed awake all night fighting mosquitos. They did not seem so interested in Tyson though, so he slept just fine and then questioned whether there was really mosquitos or I imagined the whole thing. I'm not so sure at this point. We watched some of the enticing "Keeping up with the Kardashians" on TV (because it was the only show in English) before bed. The next day after breakfast we went to Centro, bought Acai smoothies to drink and took out yet another chunk of moolah from the HSBC ATM which seem to be conveniently located everywhere we have gone so far.
We had carefully planned out the next leg of our trip which was to take us to Ilha Grande. As we are known to do, we took that last possible bus back to Rio where we were meant to catch another bus to Mangaratiba. Of course the bus was sold out and that lead us to the impossible decision of staying in Rio, risking a later bus, or paying double the price for a different route. We decided on each option at one point in the conversation but settled on risking missing the ferry and taking a later bus. We bought tickets for the later bus from very helpful sales staff but still showed up for the earlier one in hopes of tricking someone into letting us on. It's also important to add that even taking this earlier bus (only 20 minutes earlier) did not guarantee we could get onto the ferry. The ferry we wanted usually leaves Magaratiba daily at 10am only, but on Fridays there is an extra ferry added at 10pm. This is the ferry we wanted, and we had already invested in a room at a hostel on the other side. So at the bus stop we asked a few people to help us out and they all worked together to kindly discover two available seats! I have no clue how they did it but we were completely grateful. We spent that three hour bus ride hoping and praying that we would made the ferry at 10pm.
We did in fact make the ferry, and what a ferry it was! About 200 seats mushed together in a flat floaty thing that swayed from side to side and every time we hit a wave we felt like we'd been shot in the gut. I don't remember the last time I vomitted in my life but I have never had motion sickness. I read, write and sleep in cars and on boats without a problem but I was overcome with nausea and actually vomitted into a plastic bag. Tyson was white as a ghost but somehow still managed to fall asleep. An estimated 90% of the passengers were leaning over the rails and off the boat with sickness when we finally reached our destination after 90 minutes, the way everyone rushed off the boat you'd think they were giving away free lollipops outside. We reached Ilha Grande at about 11:35 and had thankfully booked our first night at a hostel. A random friendly man that we kept running into directed us to the place "weeth a right and a right and left and you there!!" he kept shouting in his raspy voice. We were amused, grateful and a bit unnerved by him. Alas we reached our lovely hostel around 12:30 am after a long day of travelling from Buzios. Everyone told us it couldn't be done in a day but here we were. I guess techinically you could say it was the next day since it was after midnight but let's not get into technicalities on vacation.
Ilha Grande is where the pirates used to hide out many years ago and attack the European ships that came accrosss the ocean. When pirates stopped being real and became halloween costumes, they built a big hospital here, somehow the hospital turned into a prison for bad guys. When the prison shut down some years ago, it became one of Brazil's top tourist attractions. It is filled with lush green jungle (hence how the pirates hid here) and has beautiful beaches. So we started our first day with fresh fruit and 2 doughnuts each and set out to explore our Island.
Ilha Grande is a large Island with mountains riddled with rainforest, hiking trails, beaches, lagoons, waterfalls and coves. There are no paved streets and no cars. The only access is by boat. Our first day of exploring took us through the central "downtown area" to an active aquaduct that carries water to Abraao villiage. We hiked 5-6 hours and saw a magical waterfall in the middle of the jungle. We also saw some old ruins, beautiful beaches and fauna and flora native to the tropical rainforests of Brazil. We managed to ruin dinner by overcooking the pasta in addition to having an unwelcome guest pay us a visit. we were sitting at a small bistro-like table under lush tropical trees. The perfect setting for a romantic dinner. Within 10 minutes with a wide-eyed look on his face, Tyson whispered "what's on my back? I think something just fell on my back." I took one look at the largest ccockroach I have ever seen in my whole entire life clinging on to Tyson's shirt. I screamed bloody murder and ran into the hostel as fast as humanly possible abandoning Tyson to fight the battle of his life alone. As I peeked around the corner I saw the palm-sized monster crawl up onto his shoulder inches from his face and I curled into a ball to cry. Until this moment we now have to do 18 "cockroach checks" of every place we go and everything I have to touch. It was a horrendous and traumatizing experince. We made up for it by eating the most expensive ice cream I have ever dared to purchase. I would recommend you not buy ice cream by weight. As we were sitting by the beautiful beach on a bench eating our over-priced scoop of ice cream a man next to us cried out in a foreign language and swiped a cockroach off his back. I died.
The next day we again hiked for nearly 6-7 hours to what the Lonely Planet calls "the most beautiful beach on earth." It goes by the name Lopex Mendez and if you make it there alive after the steep and arduous hike, you can enjoy the crashing waves, surfers, silky white sand and sky blue waters. We spent some time tanning, sleeping, swimming, reading and snapping photos and trekked all the way home. On the trek home, three dogs (we named them Lopez, Mendez and Balls) followed us the whole way. The waited for us when we stopped and ran with us when we sped up. It was the cutest thing and we have to bring them home. There are so many sweet dogs here that are stray and while I used to feel sorry for them, I think that they are happy. There are many dogs with owners here too. We had salad for the first time since we left home in Ilha Grande, we are very proud of that. They have live music at night here so we walked around, found dessert and listened to the blues and samba music. While our time here was short, it was well worth the effort to see this lovely place. On our last day at the hostel we met another Canadian couple! These were the first Canadians we had seen (from Edmonton) our whole trip so it was quite exciting.
Next we took the same dreadful ferry (that did not seem to bad this time) and another two hour bus ride to another city named Paraty. Once there, we got recruited to stay at a hotel near the city. We just got here and it seems ok. After a large load of laundry (by hand) and a bit of organization we are off to find the sights of this new place.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Buzios

We finally got to sleep at the same hostel, we chose the hostel that I was at because the staff were friendlier and it was a better location. While Tyson went to the bank and I cooked dinner (kind of) I was speaking with a guy from Brazil who stays at the hostel three days a week because it is closer to his school. He is almost finished his PHD in astronomy. Anyhow later that night I was upstairs on the computor while Tyson chatted with the same guy and overheard him skyping with a friend about junior youth classes and children's classes. These are all Bahai events so upon asking, Tyson discovered that he is a Bahai. It was pretty neat to meet him and talk about the Bahai activities happening in Brazil, with Rio in particular. He had also completed one year of service in Israel in the security department recently so we had lots to talk about. He invited Tyson and I over to his town for the weekend.
The next morning we woke up early and took the public bus to the main bus station where we caught another bus to Buzios. As soon as we arrived after a three hour trip we knew this was the Brazil we were looking for. It is more than postcard perfect. Blue water and beaches with fine white sand all the way around. The sun was shining and everyone seems so relaxed with no where to go. It's absolutely gorgeous. Apparently many movies have been filmed here which makes us famous through association. We found a couple of hostels here and chose the one which is a bit costlier but is located near the beaches. It has a banana tree, hammocks and a pool so I am in heaven here. We spent the day wandering from beach to beach, sunbathing and loving life. The food here is delicous, although overpriced. We tried coconut deserts that are bathed in sweet milk and caramel and ate Mr. noodles with eggs for dinner. We tried to go grocery shopping but it was a bit of a disaster because we cannot speak Portugese and English speakers are few here. We ended up buying dough instead of cheese and butter instead of cream cheese.
The next day we toured all the beaches of Buzios. There are beaches with huge waves famous with surfers, beautiful beaches with black rocks, ones with amazing views, areas with tropical fish and turtles good for scuba diving, areas where the water is warmer and beaches with breathtaking sunsets. We spent the day sleeping on the various beaches. We ate tropical food and I`m pretty sure we are now both convinced that moving here would be a great idea. Everyone is very friendly and the universal hello is the thumbs up. Every time we got lost there was someone around who noticed and was more than willing to help out, as an added bonus none of our stuff was stolen as people promised us would happen in Brazil. We made friends with a cute puppy who followed us around all day and I named him Buttons Sophia McLellan. I cried when he left us for another couple,

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Christ the Redeemer

Today we struggled to get out of bed for breakfast at 9:30am. We shoveled cakes, coffee and white bread with ham and cheese into our bodies and passed back out until afternoon. We woke up feeling guilty for wasting so much of the daytime, gathered some things together and left to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. We got to the bus stop which is very close to our hostel and must have looked a bit lost so a local man who spoke some English offered to help and assisted us with locating the correct bus. The busses here are much better put together than that of Peru. They look similar to the busses in Vancouver and actually have a system to them. We got off the bus at the base of the mountain and were instantly approached with “deals” to get to the top of the mountain. The hostel had informed us that it should cost about R36 in total to get to the top including the entrance fee. One man offered us R38 for the return ride as well as the entrance. We also had the option to take a tram up for a few extra dollars. While we were thinking about it, we were approached by another man from the same company who offered us R25 with all included. So of course we paid the man the cheaper price and hopped into the van filled with other tourists. He drove us to the middle of the mountain and stopped so we could take photos. It was pouring rain, windy and cloudy so the pictures may not be beautiful but it was still a great experience and an outstanding view of Rio.

Then we took the same van a bit higher on the mountain and it dropped us off, the driver gave us a business card and drove off. We were left there to pay our R18.50 “entrance fee” which was meant to be included in the original R25 we paid. The people collecting money for the entrance were of a different company so complaining to them was a bit useless but regardless of where the blame landed; they were very helpful and apologetic on behalf of the other company. Of course we felt a bit ripped off and upset but we paid the extra money for the entrance and went to the top of the mountain to see the second wonder of the world of our trip. It was another one of those things where you may think: I have seen a hundred pictures of it, how different could the real thing be? Awesome! The statue is huge and remarkable. I would even call it a bit creepy because it was covered with thick clouds but we could still make out the shadow of the HUGE statue. Then the clouds would move aside and we could make out the amazing detail.

Inside of the base of the statue is a praying area set up quite beautifully. Even though a lot of what we are doing is quite “touristy”, it is worth taking the time to do it. There is a reason 150 million people around the world selected this statue as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

When we got down from the mountain I approached a man from the same company who jipped us earlier in the day and expressed my concerns to him. He asked me to wait while he looked into the issue and returned with R10 and handed it to Tyson. He apologized for our situation; it was above and beyond most of the customer service I have ever seen in my life. Tyson said he got goose bumps. This is just one example of the many examples we have witnessed during our short time in Rio of the kind nature of the people here.

We were going to see Sugarloaf Mountain with the surrounding mountains (one of the seven natural wonders of the world) today too but decided to wait for a sunny day because apparently it is all about the view. We could not grocery shop today because it is a sort of holiday here so we bought food from the hostel and cooked up some pasta for dinner.

We walked over to the bank to take out more moola to finance the next leg of our plans which include a trip to an allegedly beautiful place called Buzios. We have organized a bus and a hostel there so that has become the official plan for early tomorrow morning.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The start of Rio

I have to mention that the light and water fountain display that we saw in Peru on the second to last night is the biggest water reserve in the world according to the Guiness book of world records. None of our pictures turned out but it was a very beautiful display of music and interactive fountains. For our very last night in Lima, we stayed at a very beautiful hotel in Miraflores which was so lovely! There was lots of greenery and beautiful water. I have posted some pictures of the day on my facebook page. There is a lot of PDA in Peru which makes me a bit uncomfortable but I got over it. We walked for about one hour on the last night to find the greasy street burgers that we fell in love with the previous night. We did not find the exact stand but we did have greasy burgers from a street stand that were just as good, if not, better (we ate four of them). We managed to get our bags back from our friend who kept them while we were in Machu Picchu, and it was nice to get a change of clothes. The next morning we got up (on time) for a nice breakfast and managed to sneak some croissants and cakes into our sleeves to snack on later.

Several times throughout my time in Peru and even more in the “richer” area of Miraflores I had young children run up to me and beg me for money. Children who are definitely school aged were running around the street in torn clothes and beggin for help in Spanish. I am not sure what the right thing to do is in this situation? Turn away? Give money? Give them a hug? I just wondered where the parents of these children were hiding and what kind of future the kids will have in their lives with no education and no resources. The problems exist everywhere, perhaps more evident and visible in downtown Lima.

We walked around town for the rest of the day and it was a relaxing way to end our busy and exciting time in Peru. Due to expensive Starbucks and too much ice cream we ran out of money and had to pay USD for the cab ride to the airport but I guess that is all a part of the experience. At around 6:15pm before we left for the airport we went to a Baha’i meeting at a friends home which miraculously happened to be about 30 seconds from our hotel. It was a 19 day feast (Baha’i function that takes place every 19 days) and although we only understood very little, we both felt at home in the friend’s home. I was glad that we were able to fit that into our schedule.

So as soon as we began to feel comfortable and at home in Peru we packed up and flew to our next destination: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Our flight with Taca air was comfortable and I was able to sleep from about 11pm until we landed at 6am but Tyson stayed awake to watch the Green Lantern so he was quite tired the next day. We were lucky to sit together on the flight because we were originally seated apart and had to trade. It was a very full flight. We took an airport transfer bus to our hostels in Rio De Janeiro and got horribly lost in a bad part of town with all of our luggage at 7am when the streets were completely bare. We also had our Canada flag patches proudly pasted on our bags to make sure everyone knew we were from out of town. I have to say that we were a bit nervous because we have heard many frightening things about this city. I will add however that several people went out of their way to assist us with finding our way to the hostel, they were very gracious and we had NO problems at all.

We had to stay at two separate hostels our first night because no where had two empty beds. This absolutely sucked but we made it through and we will try to prepare better to ensure it does not happen again. Although I suppose it is better than the dozens of people sleeping in boxes on the streets of Rio tonight.

Anyhow now we are in Brazil, and the weather has sucked today but we are willing to let it go for the first day…we will see what tomorrow brings. We did a lot of research on where to stay and what other areas of Brazil we would like to see. If anyone has suggestions I would more than welcome you to share them with me. Our to do list consists of Sugar loaf mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue tours (of course). We are also intending to see Paraty, Ilha Grande Island and Buzios. We also want to see the beaches here in Rio (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon) and do a favela tour. This is where we have gotten to so far but nearly every item on the list depends on the weather cooperating so we will keep our fingers crossed. Portugese is very different from Spanish and perhaps even more difficult, we have already started to pick some up but I cannot say it is easy. It took us twenty minutes to order Subway for dinner tonight. We also had burgers and chocolate for snacks after dinner so I think I should figure out a form of exercise, especially since I have also created a “must eat in Brazil” list on my first day here. Off to bed for me, I have a big day of beaching, learning and eating tomorrowJ

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

We met some guys from Whistler (orginally from Australia) on the bus from Cusco to Lima, they had been to a few of the places we are headed to so they relayed some tips for us that will likely be helpful in our travels. It was also nice to talk to someone about beautiful British Columbia. The bus trip was never-ending but the stream of spanish movies (with English subtitles) and bingo games kept us mildly entertained. We also used gravol to knock ourselves out for the night.
After the bus ride we were swarmed by pushy taxi drivers, non of whom spoke a word of English. We were trying to figure out where we were going when one of the drivers offered his phone for Tyson to use to call our friend who we were trying to meet up with for our bags. Tyson accepted the offer and made the minute and a half call. Immediately following the call, the driver asked for five soles to cover the phone usage. I tried to respectfully explain that he should have warned us that the call would cost money prior to offering his phone otherwise we have no way of knowing that there would be a cost associated with the offer and interpret the act as kindness. The man was not satisfied with my explanation and began to demand the money. At this point I have to admit that I lost my cool and tweaked a bit, mainly because I felt that he was trying to screw us. I said I may not speak Spanish but I am not stupid, and not only would I not pay for the phone call, but we did not need a ride from him either. Anyhow we caught another taxi to our lovely hotel. Now generally, I do go on about the fact that I can stay in grubby hostels and eat street food but I will be the first to admit that it felt wonderful walking into a clean, safe and pretty place. The hotel is in a very nice part of town and the room is beautiful! It felt good to take a hot shower and relax for a while. The only problem is we still do not have our bags so we have had two outfits in the last four days. We have been handwashing our clothes which never dry in time so we are constantly putting on damp clothing.
We left the hotel to find some dinner and watched a beautiful light show in the central Mirflores area. We had originally wanted to walk to the light show but were told by at least four other people that it would be impossible to walk the whole distance. So we caught another crazy bus that dropped us off at the park where the light and fountain show took place. The distance was quite reasonable despite what we were told, so we walked home.
We bought dinner from a street vendor we were not sure about at first, but we were quite cautious in doing so. Step one, we watched other people eat the food first. Step two, we bought one burger and shared it. Step three, we bought two more burgers and shared those. We are still alive and kicking so its all good. Then we bought a huge tub of ice cream and had to finish it because we do not have a freezer to store it in. As we were walking down the street a couple pointed to Tyson and said "gringo!". He turned around laughed and greeted them, they said hello in response and giggled. I think he finds it interesting to be the minority for a change. We had a nice night and a great sleep in a clean bed. Thank God for small wonders, we are starting to be more grateful for the things we used to take for granted like warmth, hot water, clean clothes, familiarity with our surroundings, food and much more.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The wonder that is Machu Picchu

We got to Aguas Calientas at about midnight and as soon as we got off the train several ladies and children ran up to us offering hostels. We picked one that that "offer free wifi, free breakfast, very clean" and walked over to a dumpy dump with nothing for free. We walked back to the main area where we agreed on a different place. The new place was still a dump but it had warm water and we were too tired to complain. The water from our shower flooded the whole bathroom with at least three inches of water, so we shut the bathroom door and went to bed. When we woke up in the morning the water was gone, not sure where it went, but it worked out well.
We got a 4:30am wake up call at the hostel and headed out to the bus station to find an already long line up for the bus ride up the mountain to Machu Picchu. It was pouring rain and we started to regret leaving our rain jackets back in Lima. This was short lived though because the clouds opened up and the sun showed up to give us fabulous weather for the majority of the day. We took a bus (for $16 each return) about 30 minutes up the mountain and thanked God that we had bought tickets prior because it was sold out for the day (2500 tickets available per day). As soon as we walked in the front entrance we had to climb about 15 minutes up the mountain and looked upon one of the most unbelievable sights known to man. Machu Picchu is one of the seven wonders of the world. It was built by the Inka people with small instruments that they created out of various stones. It is a city complete with an agricultural area where they grew crops, a religious area where they had temples and burial sites, and an administrative area with offices and desks and secret access areas. All of Ollantaytambo and Aguas Callientas have Inka ruins as well but this area was well hidden from enemies that tried to attack the people. After the Inka people left, there were two families who farmed some of the area. This is when Hiram Bingham, an explorer from Yale University, who was very interested in the Inka people "rediscovered" the place. His name is everywhere (it is even the name of one of the trains you take to get to Aguas Callientas) as the person who found this area which upsets me a bit because Machu Picchu and the Inka ruins had already been well known to many Peruvian peoples. We explored the ruins from 6am until about 3pm when it began to rain again. We hiked up Machu Picchu mountain which had a glorious view. We have approximately 300 pictures that we will post in the next few days. It is difficult to explain the sights and sounds of this attraction, but it was well worth the time and money it took to get there. It is hard to believe that these people built such an amazing place so long ago with no machinery. The stones they used are HUGE, they rolled them on wet wood to get them up the mountain. They used the stars and astrology to guide their building and they worshipped the sun as the provider of life. They understood that the sun got closer to the earth in the summer and used this information to help them with their crop. They chose Machu Picchu mountain to build their city because it is the one area that recieves the most sunlight throughout the year. There is a limitless amount of information about the Inka people and this wondrous place they built, but I encourage each of you to find a way to visit it because it's hard to communicate its glory in words alone.
After our full day on the mountain we were wet, sweaty, tired and hungry so we walked back to our hostel looking forward to a hot shower but all we found were squirts of ice cold water shooting out of the shower head. That was enough to get us to complain and we got a new room with a TV!!! After four episodes of friends we walked out to the main square which is very beautiful. It is set up much like Whistler and they had a big projector showing the soccor game between Peru and Chilli. This was a sight to see! The Peruvians love their soccor and for some reason Tyson is now very into it. We were attacked by many restaurant owners offering us "good deals" on food. We ended up spending more than we should have but the pizza was delicious.
We asked for a wake up call at 7:30 am the next morning which never came but thankfully Tyson woke up at 8am and we managed to catch our 8:30 train back to Ollantaytambo. Here we caught a taxi who said he would take us to the bus station but rather dropped us off in the city and refused to take us further. So we paid the man and wandered the city which turned out to be pretty fun. We explored a market place and met a couple people from France. We ate lunch (pizza for the third time) and pinapples and took a cab to the bus station where we are waiting right now. We are awaiting another 24 hour bus ride and then we have two nights in nicer hotels so are happy:)
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The road to Machu Picchu

The day before we left Villa La Paz, the doctor said that one new female volunteer would be arriving. A few hours later he said that he just remembered that there would be two people because the girl was bringing her cousin. He asked us to squeeze an extra mattress into the storage room and scrounge together some sheets and pillows. At around 23:00 I opened the doors to four girls, all looking excited and eager to be there. I called the doctor down and he greeted two of the girls and acted as if he could not see that there were four people. It was quite a funny moment when he caught on that there were four, and he almost fell over. The doctor is quite an organized man and does not enjoy surprises so Tyson and I quickly took over and said we would take care of the sleeping arrangements. Everyone cuddled close that night. The next day we gathered our things and snuggled the babies for one last baby hour. It was difficult to say bye to the kids, they were very sweet and followed us around all morning right to the cab.
We arrived to the bus terminal early and checked in. It was a very nice station and we were instantly more at ease about the trip. We met up with a friend of my cousins who kindly took us to another town called Miraflores to show us around a bit. It is a very cosmopolitan area with a chili's, starbucks, burger king, Tony Romas ribs and more American stores. He took us to an authentic Peruvian place for lunch. We had two Peruvian dishes that I cannot recall the names but they were delicious. One was a dish that reminded me of Japanese sashimi but with a lime dressing and onions and corn. The second was seasoned rice topped with fish and a pesto type sauce. Both plates were huge portions and it was so nice to eat fresh food after being at the Villa La Paz for a week. The dishes were about 30 soles each which sounds like a lot compared to the cost of food here but when we convert it it only comes out to about $12. It appeared to be quite a popular place because the cue to get a table was hours long.
Our new friend also kindly took our excess baggage that we couldn't bring with us on the train. So we only grabbed one change of clothes for the three days.
We took a cab back to the bus station where we had to take out more cash from an ATM (we have not been budgetting very well) and hopped on the most amazing bus I have ever seen. Leave it to Tyson to book the best of everything. Huge soft seats that recline into beds, TVs at almost every seat showing the latest movies, blankets, pillows, cup holders and earphones! It's a two level bus and we were not seated next to each other originally but we managed to trade our way closer. The sights on the way were beautiful. Water and mountains and hundreds of little towns full of tiny huts that people live in with no cars. We did take many pictures along the way but it does not do justice to the beauty of Peru. What a different way of life. We also got very nice meals on the bus ride. The only problem we ran into was that they mentioned several times during the safety video that we were only to URINATE into the toilets on the bus and number two's were not allowed. Well this proved to be difficult since Tyson and I were both suffering from digestion issues. Needless to say we broke this rule and thankfully never got caught. I also have to say I would never wish 24 contnuous hours on a bus for anyone.
Throughout the trip we regularly brought up the kids and how much they would have enjoyed the bus ride. We miss them a lot already and I see myself going back there. I reccomend anyone to take a trip to the home and spend some time volunteering with the children.
After the bus ride we took a quick taxi to the main taxi station called Pavitas. From Pavitas we shared an unofficial taxi (official taxis are more expensive) with an Argentinian couple who were extremely late for their train. I'm unsure if it was this fact or if this type of driving is typical for Peruvians but the bus ride to Lima was nothing compared to this cab ride. The driver was weaving in and out of traffic in pouring rain up the side of a mountain. There were several times I closed my eyes because of course if I can't see it, it's not happening. He drove us to a place call Ollantaytambo which is a big tourist place and everything was quite expensive. This is where everyone has to catch the train to Aguas Callientas. We had some extra time so we hiked up a mountain that looked to be Inca ruins. It was quite magnificent, but the air is a lot thinner here and I was definitely feeling short of breath. Tyson was either being brave for me or really didn't feel anything. Most people take pills to relieve the symtoms of high altitude but we toughed it out. Then we went for a nice dinner and had pizza and a chicken burger. We bought a backpack full of snacks and hopped onto the train. As we were on the train we heard what sounded like gun fire but Tyson says it was just a baseball-sized rock. Immediately following the bang we looked up at the window above us and it was smashed.
We are now at a hostel in Aguas Callientas. We will climb up the mountain at 5am tomorrow morning and head back to Lima the next day. I hope it will be worth the 48 hour journey to get here."If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Last night I went to bed early but Tyson went to the bar with another volunteer to watch a big soccor game (Peru vs. Paraguay). Apparently it was a lot of fun because I could hear the whole town shriek every time Peru scored. Tyson said that the people were very nice and even bought them a pitcher of coke. That is the general experience we have had with the people here, they are very warm and kind.

After breakfast this morning we went to the market with the doctor and a few of the kids. There were flies everywhere and I don't think the place would have passed our food safe standards. There were stray cats and dogs running around to find scraps of food. We bought some (packaged) snacks for our long bus ride tomorrow. Mamita and the doctor bought tons of fruit, vegetables and fish for the week.

I had mentioned a couple of days ago that they mamitas are very creative with food and they do not waste anything. Well we saw a fine example of this at lunch today. Lunch is usually soup and rice with beans. Today for some reason none of the volunteers touched the soup so I caught on and skipped the soup as well. Tyson must have missed this detail and said "oh noodle soup!" and poured himself a big bowl. Mamita seemed very pleased with Tyson and gave him a couple of limes as a treat. As he tried it, there was a distinct fishy aroma and he proceeded to gag on the fish head soup that he had just tried. We had had fish friday last night so they had saved the heads for lunch today. Obviously the mamitas (and the doctor) do not look kindly to waste so we had to be very sneaky in disposing of the rest of the fish head soup. They served fish soup again for dinner and it made me nauseous.

After lunch the doctor asked me to get one of the young girls a new pair of shoes from the storage room as her current pair looked at least three sizes too small. So I took her upstairs and she selected a new (to her) pair. As we came back downstairs a young boy looked curiously at the shoes and said (in Spanish) "water gets into my shoes all the time" and proceeded to show me how the soles were completely detached from the rest of the shoes and the toe area was worn away to the point that I could clearly see his socks. Now I have to ask, back in Canada would we ever wait until our shoes were used or worn out to this point before we buy new ones? I think we just buy new ones when we feel like it, or when we see a cute pair we just have to have. And as a bonus we get to select our own preferred style of shoes to purchase. Also I was thinking about Tyson and the fish head soup, Tyson threw his away and bought other food. The kids eat everything they get and seem to appreciate it. They don't have the luxury to not like the taste of their food. Just a thought.

As we were trying to get our things together today for our big bus ride tomorrow (One of the many modes of transportation we will be utilizing to get to Machu Picchu), I came accross an interesting piece of information. On the train that we will be taking, there is a five kilogram luggage limit. We have to pay $4US a kilo to a maximum of ten kilos more for everything we have over that and it goes on a different train. We have about 25-30 kilos of luggage. Or we could store it at a bus station for $10US per day. Or we could leave it at the house here and not have anything with us and have to come back to Chaclaccayo which is about four hours out of the way. All options suck.

Tomorrow the cab will be picking us up at 10am (after baby hour) to take us to the bus station in Lima. In case its worth mentioning: cabs cost 90x the price of busses. When a bus would have cost us one sole, a cab is costing 90 soles.

The doctor went to mass before dinner tonight and for some reason shut off the wifi before he left so I decided some physical activity would be beneficial. I went for a walk, there was great weather and I felt safe (except for having to watch out for cockroaches). I even passed by a fire station and got a tour of the inside. It was a treat.

It's going to be hard to say good bye to this place.



"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Second to last night in Villa La Paz

While at dinner last night I asked the doctor if he finds that the kids have a hard time going through puberty here in a house with almost zero privacy. The doctor said that he has kicked people out for having relationships because it comes with too much hassle, for example if one of the girls becomes pregnant. They are not allowed to have boyfriends or girlfriends in the home. The kids range in age from babies to 30 years old so it must be difficult! I guess this is yet another challenge that comes with living in this home and having such dissabilities. I asked about one of the young boys who often dances around in dresses and the doctor had mentioned that they used to be concerned about his mental status. The doctor replied that he had asked the boy's mother about his history several times and finally she admitted that the boy had been raped as a child by one of their older male neighbors. The boy now has psychological issues as a result of this. I imagine there are many similar stories for these kids.
Tyson spent a few hours last night playing guitar with one of the young men here. They seemed to bond over music and everyone was listening. It was special and I took pictures that are posted on my facebook page.
The more spanish we pick up, the more we can communicate and the closer we become with the kids. Today we had wheelchair races at the park and arm wrestled with the kids who normally use wheelchairs so their arms are freakishly strong. I lost to every single kid, I need to start working out.
At the end of each month they celebrate all the birthdays that took place through the month. Each child gets a new outfit (from the second hand outfits in the storage room) selected for them by the mamitas and a new game. They also eat cake and dance.
Today after breakfast we attempted to do some laundry. We filled up a big sink full of water and got a small ration of detergent from the mamitas. We used a scrub brush and tried to make the soap last. Luckily we are very selective about which articles of clothing we actually wash. It was an experience that will cause us to go home and hug our old washer dryer that we used to complain about.
Today during baby hour, I held a baby who has a huge benign tumour on its face. It is quite unsightly covering the entire forehead and side of the face. It is swollen and bruised and the baby cries a lot. The tumour is too big and surgery would be too extensive for what the baby could likely endure. They have started the baby on a new medication that has previously had great results for similar cases.
On Saturdays the mamitas go to a huge market to shop for all the meat, vegetables, fruits and snacks for the week. This feeds all 60 kids and about 15 staff for three meals per day. The approximate cost comes to about $100 US for everything. Tyson and I will try to go with them tomorrow.
Today at coffee we met about five youung people from the US who are a part of the peace core. They have to commit two years to the program and could get stationed in any third world country to help with its development. They get paid a small amount of money at the end of each year. In Peru they get about $6500 US which is a significant amount. It sounds like a cool program and I think we are going out with them tomorrow night to celebrate one of the girls' birthdays and our going away.
After coffee we played outside with the kids and did excersizes it was a lot of fun and its hard to believe that after tonight we only have one more night here.

Please check out my facebook page for all the photos of the kids and the city!

The routine

Tyson took the bus to Lima today with a child who is five years old but looks barely two because of his size.

I stayed home and helped with breakfast. I am getting very sick of the avacado spread. I previously was not a fan of avacado but now it has become nauseating. It's hard to complain because the kids have eaten this every morning for their whole lives. We then help with dishes. The mamitas fill up one sink with a set amount of soap and water and a second sink with plain water. We scrape the kids plates into the garbage and dip the dishes into the each sink of water. By the end the water is black with floaties and sometimes when we are drying the dishes there is still food on them. We never refill the sink with fresh water, there just isn`t enough. You just have to look past it and keep antibiotics handy.
They never ever waste food, everything is kept and reused the next day until its gone. The mamitas are very creative and make fresh bread three times a week.
There is a set routine here. The kids wake up at 5am and do their chores (mainly cleaning) and head out to school after breakfast. Some kids were kicked out of school and some are too young so we play with these kids all day, mainly Uno and tag. We eat all our meals after the kids are done. The doctor eats breakfast and linch with the kids but dinner with us. On weekends the kids can watch a movie but other night they head to bed at 8:30. The weather is wonderful, fairly warm with a cool breaze. It`s perfect.
The doctor is in his 70`s and is very gruff with the kids. The only time he seems to relax is at coffee or dinner with the volunteers. He is yelling and shouting most of the time (like a parent) but the kids adore him. They always want to hold his hand and hug him. It must be a very rewarding position to be in but it came at a price. The doctor left his wife to begin this foundation in 1983. He gave up any chance of having his own family to serve these children. His wife did not want to come.
I have picked up a lot of Spanish here because the kids speak very little English and they expect you to understand them.
The churches are very supportive of this home and they donate food and supplies often. They often donate big bags of rice, flour and beans. The home is well known in the area and there are always people donating supplies, but it is never enough. Of course financial docations are the best because money goes much farther here than it would in North America. Only medicine costs about the same here as it would in North America. They DESPERATELY need an elevator in the home. There are always kids on cruutches falling down the stairs or we have to carry kids up and down. A small elevator has been estimated to cost $18,000 US. Apparently a rich spaniard had offered to pay for it a couple of years ago but never followed through. The doctor also has fundraisers in the States and Peru yearly and he has a foundation in the US.
My physical environment is comfortable here. All the volunteer rooms and bathroom are locked and we have to have keys on us at all times so the kids don`t sneak up. I sleep on the top bunk of bunk beds and it creeks at night. I have not seen any cockroaches in my room yet. May of the parts of the house have no roof covering it but luckily it rarely rains. We eat a lot of rice and onions and we do our own shopping to supplement our diet with neccessary junk food like coke and ice cream. We do our laundry by hand and we can only use hot water when we ask 30 minutes prior.
Outside is dirty, there is litter everywhere, the sidewalks are broken and unfinished. There are huge holes in the roads and sidewalks that make it impossible to walk around at night without falling. There is water running down ditches between the sidewalks and the streets (I`m not sure why). But they have beautiful parks with lots of butterflies. All buidings and even parks are surrounded by a compound of tall thick solid walls. These walls are decieving because on the inside the homes are beautiful.
The doctor has a few rules that we try not to break. For example he has a special plate (don`t use it), he has special tea (don`t drink it, and if you do sneak some, make sure to replace it before the next breakfast), do not slam the van door , do not flush toilet paper down the toilet and do not use the bathroom at 6am, 9am, or 11pm. Last night at 11pm (on the dot) I woke up to banging on the bathroom door (my top bunk is right next to the bathroom) and a frustrated voice shouting ``are you going to be long in there, it`s 11!!! And then I hear Tyson`s voice questioning``is it``. While most of us would have appologetically rushed out of the bathroom Tyson goes on to say ``I`ll be a couple more minutes``, the nerve of that boy! But we all laughed about it today.
The baby I held during baby hour today has a double cleft lip and palate so bad that I can see the bottom of his nose when he yawns and there are teeth growing out of his lip. I will be posting pics of the kids on facebook because I can`t figure out how to get them on here.
People have been asking me if they can help or donate. The answer is yes, they appreciate everything here. You can contribute money through paypal through their website or you can mail stuff to the house if you email the doctor and ask for the address. The website is www.villalapazfoundation.org
We went to the market today and I couldn`t figure out most of what was for sale but I think they were promoting worms as part of a weight loss program. I took pictures.
I forgot to mention yesterday that the girl who was dragged onto a moving bus came to the house a few years ago stuck in a pretzel position. Her body was so stiff that she couldn`t move. Now with the support and care of the doctor and nurses she can walk. Amazing.
Tyson got home from Lima at about 14:30 in the same shock that I was in from the driving and the hospitals and the bus system. Now that we have experienced this, we will probably just take a cab.

bus ride to Lima

Yesterday was a very busy day because it was the day that they celebrated the life of St. Francis. We ate and danced all day. The kids stayed home from school and had a blast. There was special Peruvian food and delicious cake! It felt good to relax and dance our hearts out with the kids.
This morning Tyson was feeling ill with stomack issues and a headache so I fed him a cocktail of analgesics and put him back to bed for a few hours. He woke up feeling much better (don't worry)
I was asked to take a few kids to the hospital in Lima this morning after breakfast. So around 7:30 am a nurse who speaks zero English threw a baby into my arms and signalled me to follow her and several other kids with crutches and other walking aids. We walked accross the street to an area that was not a bus stop, there are no bus stops here. You stand where you see a few other people standing and it becomes a bus stop. A small bus slows down (does NOT stop) and a man by the door manually opens the door and screams out LIMA LIMA and the nurse rushes to the door of the bus and everyone starts throwing themselves onto the moving bus. It was an anxiety-provoking, dangerous event and I cannot believe we are all still alive. The two kids who are on crutches were lifted by the man who opens the doors and heaved onto the bus (which still hasn't stopped). Meanwhile the bus driver is yelling and honking and other cars are honking, it's chaos. The poor girl on crutches is laying on the stairs leading up to the bus and is being dragged to a seat. What seemed to me like a degrading and inefficient event seemed to be very normal for everyone else involved. So I went with it and jumped onto the moving bus with a baby in my arms. Luckily the other passengers were very polite and got up so I could sit. Interestingly enough, this was not the scary part of the bus ride, because as soon as the door was manually shut by the person who stands at the door, the bus driver swerves into moving traffic lays his horn and steps on the gas like he's in the race of his life. It turns out that the bus drivers get paid according to how many times the circle around their route, and they want to get paid! There are no set number of lanes, cars and busses squeeze into wherever they find space and leave about 1 cm of room between them and the next vehicle so no one can get through. And when its time to get off, the bus slows down, the man at the doors holds out his arm to stop traffic and you get out in the middle of the road. It is such a scene of organized chaos! It's madness, but I guess it works for them....
On the way home I had no baby so no one offered me a seat. I stood for about 20 minutes until a seat opened up. During these 20 minutes I was literally holding on with all my strength so that I wouldn't be thrown against the windshield. All in all it was an interesting experience and, if it comes up, I would do it again.
I am now considering adopting a peruvian child ( I already have a few picked out)
At the hospital, I was in awe for most of the appointment. We brought in about four children and the hospital was very old and damp and cold and felt more like an old warehouse than a place of healing. The stretchers looked like very old hard beds with attached railings that we broken and covered with rust. I couldn't believe it. I had to carry the baby the whole 7 hours because there were no strollers. While it did help that it was a very cute baby who I fell in love with, it was still heavy. Many of the doctors were seperated into tiny portables with barren walls except for the odd picture of Jesus standing over a sick child. The equipment was outdated, the floors were broken and I felt uncomfortable. Perhaps I am spoiled with our hospitals but I don't think I will be complaining about them again. Everyone would speak to me in Spanish first and I would respond that my Espaniol is pequito and so they would say "are you the father baby?" to which I would normally say, "yes". We left the baby who was covered in casts in the hospital for his umpteenth surgery at the tender age of 6 months. As I was waiting for his turn with the doctor I couldn't help but think that these children don't have the support of a family. I have people in my life who love me more than anyone else. They are always there to support me through anything I ask for. Imagine not having a mom or dad who would do that for you. A parent who hasn't bothered talking to you for most of your life, who left you for dead, or even worse, tried to kill you.
At coffee today the doctor told more stories about some of the children. One child (who won't let us photograph him because he says "the picture will scare people, I don't want to scare people") was left alone at 4 months of age and accidentally tipped over one of the many candles that was lighting up their small home. He is covered in such severe scars because the burning goes down to his skull. The home burnt down and the parents left their child for dead. They have no idea that he is doing well and living in this home. He is very sweet and it's a sad story.
Another child who was born perfectly healthy was dropped on its head as a baby by a drunk parent and now he has irreversable brain damage. He cannot even hold his own head up. The nurses tie him to the bed in a sitting position so he can see. His name is Christian.
Another kid born with a rare type of MS and watched his father commit suicide because he couldn't take the kid's illness.
There are countless stories like this. Another child named Victor was born with one leg and no arms. He does everything imaginable with his one foot. He uses every part of his body for a task. Its unreal. He uses his mouth to carry things and his foot to eat with. Tyson took him to the park today and he was playing in the water from the sewer (dirty) and then lost his balance and fell in slow motion as he moved his shoulders frantically to stop the fall. But since he has no arms he couldn't stop the fall and laid in the gross water and laughed uncontrolably. Tyson laughed with him and we have all been laughing at this story all day. It's sad but its important to laugh. These kids are happy here and while outside of the home people look at them like freaks, inside the home, they are safe. Its a life saving place for these children. I have only known these people for a few days but I feel so close to them, like family. I love every one of them.
Tyson pointed out something funny today. The woman who do the cooking for the house are called mamitas and all this time I have been calling them mamcitas (which actually means sexy mama), this explained all the wierd looks I have been getting in the kitchen.
In an unrelated story, scotia rewards points suck and they have the best ice cream here!

Day 3: Chaclacayo-Be Grateful

I slept in this morning of course but luckily it was only by 10 minutes.
I sleep on the top bunk which creeks every time I move so it wakes me up but other than that its great. We wake up at 6:30 and head downstairs to help with breakfast. Everyone eats bread with avacodo spread. It isn't bad actually. We had also bought some yogurt and fruit from the market to supplement our diet here. After breakfast I managed to sneak in a shower. We have to ask the nurses on the second floor to turn on the water 30 minutes before we want to shower. If it wasn't for the fact that I was significantly unclean from my travels, the shower would have been an unpleasant experience. The water is luke warm and has zero water pressure so it just trickles down and you get creative about how to clean yourself. The shower floor is clean but broken and old and the shower curtain is moldy. Anyway I survived and then we had baby hour from 9-11. My heart melted during this time. We each grab one or two babies who are disfigured from burns, malnutrition, congenital issues etc. There are babies in body casts, dressings all over, cleft palates etc.A few of their faces are so disfigured it's shocking at first. But they are all babies and act like normal babies and need love and care as such.  They wear torn clothing and their toy box contains old broken pieces of what were once ( a long time ago) a toy. We packed the kids up into dirty broken strollers and brought them to a pretty park. They appear very happy, they laugh and play like "normal" children. But will they have the same opportunities that kids back in Vancouver have? No.
By chance these kids were born in Peru to poor parents who did not have the resources to take care of them. They were lucky enough to be brought to this home where they can survive. But this place needs help. The couches are old and torn, everything here has been donated, nothing matches but they make due ok. They eat a lot of rice and bread but very little meat or fruit. They run around and laugh and play. We play a lot of cards and UNO. They love it. The kids are very friendly and social. We are picking up enough Spanish to get by. After baby hour the babies go back into their cribs where they stay for the rest of the day. Try to compare this to babies back home who have hundreds of dollars worth of brand new toys approved by a thousand companies before sold. Kids have thousand dollar strollers and car seats. They wear a new outfit everyday....Seems a bit unjust when you see the vast differences.
The kids here, have adapted to their handicaps very well. A boy with no arms eats and drinks with his feet. He plays with toys with his feet. The kids with crutches climb up the stairs with unreal arm strength. Kids with burns don't seem to mind the way they look. They all help each other.
The doctor is very respected here. All the kids wait for him to arrive for meals before they sit down to eat. They pray before every meal and thank the doctor often.
I brought my laptop downstairs to type out my blog..bad idea! Every child wanted to touch it. I wonder what these kids will do when they are older....
We have another baby hour at 15:00. They cry when we try to put them back into their cribs, it's hard to leave them.
Every day at 16:00 all the volunteers go out for coffee with the doctor. The coffee here is delicious and under $1 for a great cup of hot coffee. The desserts are also wonderful. We had a shortbread cookie today with butterscoth/caramel filling covered in powdered sugar. It cost 1 sole (about 45 cents).
The doctor told us about one of the girls here who has one leg and other physical abnormalities. Her father had tried to kill her when she was younger, he tried to smother her with a pillow, the first few years that she was in this house she screamed through the night every night from PTSD. The doctor told us about some of the other kids who are serverely compromised on the inside. One kid's heart is located on the right instead of the left. Other kids have organs that are unreckognizable to doctors but they still survive. The clinic pays for everything: schooling, food, clothes, accomadation, surgeries and medical care.
Now I have to heade downstairs for a st. francis holiday that is very big here. The kids are all dressed in traditional outfits abnd will be performing dances and singing. It's quite a bit deal. I'll have the camera out tonight!!

Villa La Paz, Chaclacayo, Peru

It was a sad plane ride (the few minutes of it that we were awake). We slept a lot and before we knew it, 27 hours later, we were through our stops in LA and El Salvador. We landed in Lima, Peru at 14:11 and had to go through customs and immigration which was pretty simple. We managed to smuggle our sun screen through ALL the flights even though it was 237ml!!! We are rebels!
We were supposed to be picked up by a driver from the clinic but of course no one was there except the creepy taxi guys who followed us around and tried to "help". As a semi-experienced traveller, I ignored them, Tyson on the other hand wanted to share our life story. I think he learned pretty quick when thousands of them started targetting him. I dont know how they knew we were tourists with the vancouver canucks tshirts and hundreds of canada pins and patches on our baggage. Anyway we finally got some change, found the phone number and called the clinic. It was such a huge relief to speak to someone who could understand and speak English! It turned out that the driver was late to pick us up.
We drove an hour and a half from the airport to a town called Chaclacayo. It was an interesting car ride with no apparent regard for any traffic rules and everyone laying on their horns the whole way. Music was blaring and we starred wide-eyed at the dirty streets and graffitti covered shacks. definitely a shock from our beautiful streets in Vancouver.
When we got to the clinic about 7 other volunteers (all from the US) and the doctor (who runs the clinic) were just leaving for their daily coffee break. We joined them and everyone is very kind. This clinic was started in 1987 and the doctor (in his 70's now) funds and runs this clinic for poor and destitute kids. About 26 people are employed here (cooks, nurses etc) and there are just under 60 kids.
When we came back from coffee we came into the house and were immediately greeted by dozens of small kids. Kids with no arms, no legs, no fingers, badly burnt faces, disfigured bodies....all appeared happy and joyous. They helped each other with crutches, wheelchairs, translating etc. Some of them speak a few words of English but they mainly speak spanish. They all want to know our names and where we come from. We helped out with dinner time which was quite entertaining. Then we walked to the market to buy fruit and snacks for the next few days.
I don't think a week here is enough but I have a feeling we will be back.
We skyped our family which was great because we miss them tons!
We will be posting pics in the coming days.

Seattle goodbyes

We are sitting at Seatac airport with puffy faces from all the tears that came with our goodbyes.
It was harder than I thought.
This week consisted of a LOT of last minute prep and errands and visiting family and friends.
On Thursday night (Sept. 29) Tyson's mom had a family dinner to say goodbye. It was so nice to have some time with everyone.
I ended up picking up a shift at work yesterday which (those who know me know this is typical) may not have been the best idea but it kept my mind from going nuts.
We also had a friend come by the house who just returned from a 6 month backpacking stint. He helped us go through our bags and we ended up taking 1/3 of our clothes and toiletries out. I am happy about this as my back is already pissed off at me.
At the airport today just as I was about to burst into tears, a man who wasn't paying attention walked into a huge sign and we all burst into laughter. I think this man was sent to lighten the mood because it made the good bye that much easier as we couldn't stop laughing at the poor man's misfortune.
Now as we sit here ready to board the plane we are thinking about how grateful we are for our friends and family. The goodbye party from my parents, Tyson's parents, my work, Tyson's work and our big party with friends. Thank you everyone for your support and love. We love you guys so much and could definitely not have done this without you in our lives.
We are about to embark on one of the biggest journeys of our lives and I'm overwhelmed with emotions I cannot explain.
Woooooooooo here we go!!!!!
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