Day 3, and I'm Ready For A Vacation!

I should have learned by now that even when you think you know what you've signed up for when you volunteer abroad, nothing goes to plan!

Monday was my first day at the Fatima Center, a community outreach run by the Good Shepherd Sisters of a local Catholic Church here in Bangkok. It is surprisingly large place, and I'm not even entirely certain if I've seen even half of it. There is a large school, a kindergarten/preschool, and the women's center for women escaping abuse and seeking help with unplanned pregnancies, where I expected to begin helping this week.

I arrived with two staff members from Friends For Asia, the organization that is hosting me. When we met with the sister in charge, she told me that there were some new women settling in, and it would be better for me to start there on Thursday. Until then, could I help out in the kindergarten and teach English to the kids?

One day I'll write a long post about volunteering abroad in general! I have a draft sitting around since last January when I spent 4 weeks volunteering at a home for girls in Peru. But basically, one thing I have learned is that you just have to roll with it, and do whatever you can to help!

I don't spend a lot of time with children, especially really small ones. I find them a bit intimidating, to be honest. They are so loud, and unpredicatable! One minute they're crying, then theye're laughing, then they are hitting someone, and then they're jumping on top of you...

So there I was, suddenly thrust into a classroom of about 20 small children of greatly differing ages (my inexperienced guess would be a range from 3-7), with the teacher looking at me like "now they're your problem".

I am not an ESL teacher. I'm not a teacher of any kind! And I certainly don't know what to do with a rowdy classroom of little kids that speak a different language. However, I never know what little kids are saying to me anyway, so it really did't feel all that different from my usual interactions.

I grabbed some books from the corner, and we practiced the ABC's, and sang Old McDonald Had a Farm, and The Wheels On The Bus...a few old favorites, by the sounds of it. They espcially liked when the Horn On The Bus Goes Beep Beep Beep!

It was chaotic, and loud, and overwhelming. But the kids are funny and cute, and when I got home that night (with a raging headache), I was able to do some preparation for the next day so that I couldd avoid that awkward moment of standing in front of them with my mind drawing complete blanks on what to do about the whole situation!

We praciced opposites (up, down, hot, cold...they love actions and funny faces), and words for emotions, action words, and sang If You're Happy And You Know It (for the following verses I made up whatever came to my head...its amazing to me that I actually don't know these songs beyond the name of it).
Today I prepared a lesson on shapes and colors, and I came armed with 2 different coloring pages for them (personally hand-drawn and then photocopied. Why thank you, yes I am so artistic and teacher-y! Thank you, thank you very much). They LOVE coloring! What a lifesaver.

Usually no activity lasts for more than 10 minutes before they lose interest and its on to the next thing, which I panic to set into motion before total loss of attention!

Luckily, there is more than just lessons. I arrive around 9-ish, after they've already begun, and then take over until about 10:30. Then they have some play time until 11-ish. I help set up lunch by placing the dishes on the table and chasing away pesky pidgeons who would like to eat too. Then I make sure the kids each find a seat (about 70-80 in all, I think) when they come in, and continue pidgeon duty for the remainder of the meal. After the kids are finished, they take their dishes to the back (to be cleaned by hand by one of the teachers) and brush their teeth. Meanwhile I help another teacher to wipe tables and benches, and sweep and mop the floor.
After cleanup, we eat lunch (purchased by another teacher from somewhere outside the compound) in the classrooms, watching over the kids who are supposed to be sleeping on straw mats on the floor. They, of course, do not wish to sleep (I would love to trade places with them!). There is lots of pinching, tickling, whispering, fart noises, coughing, giggling, etc., until the teacher shouts at them to be quiet. Eventually they do fall asleep, and I have spent this hour and a half entertaining one little girl who never naps (the teachers have just accepted it, and let her go about her business), and an older girl who is the daughter of one of the other teachers.
After nap-time, the teachers brush all the little girls hair and re-braid it...those that know me well are probably giggling to themselves picturing me braiding little girls hair. It is another gaping hole in my qualifications as a Thai teacher.
After this, the kids get a snack, and then its back into the classroom for more English lessons with Teacher Jill!

 They do not respect me AT ALL when it comes to discipline. In fact they usually completely ignore me when I tell them to behave, or else they just smile and continue merrily on. Again, not much different than kids at home. I am not a very threatening figure, apparently!

I am ok with this for the most part, mostly because I take it to mean that I am nothing like their teacher, whom I also fear. This woman is terrifying. I am sure differences of what is culturally acceptable account for much of her behaviour (such as physical discipline, ie: hitting children/smacking their palms with a ruler), but she also has done a few things that made me feel sick to watch, such as taunting and humiliating certain children in front of the class. It is hard to know what my place and role are here, so I don't know what to do about it. Its one of the really hard parts of working in a foreign culture. Even when kids piss you off, they are still just kids, and I hate to see authority figures abuse their power.

On a happier note, the kids really seemed to warm up to me today while I was playing with them. It was supposed to be a "sports day", but the rain really picked up right before we were going to head out, so we all played inside. They are really sweet kids, and were so thrilled just to throw a ball, play clapping games, sing songs, or read a familiar storybook. They love being tickled, being captured by a falling "London Bridge", and impressing me with how much English they already know.

There is definitely a part of me that was sad to wave goodbye this afternoon, but another part of me is deeply, deeply, relieved!!! I honestly do not know how I would survive an entire month of what has occured in the past 3 days. I feel like would need a heavier dose of extroversion in my blood to cope.

I am also excited to see what my placement in the women's center will be like. I find it much more enjoyable to interact in smaller groups, and to be able to work with a hopefully longer attention span (rather than struggling to get 20 children to sit in a circle for more than 2 seconds).

I'll report back on the weekend!

The Big Bangkok

The weekend is nearly over...I begin my volunteer placement tomorrow! What have I been up to in the meantime?

1. Thai Language Lessons

It was less than a year ago I started my Spanish lessons with Proyecto Peru in Cusco...what the heck makes me think my brain is capable of learning another language now?? Well, its just part of the curriculum for one thing, but I also really enjoy it. Yes, its a struggle, and I tend to forget things immediately after hearing them, but learning a language really does make a huge impact on being able to absorb a culture and travel experience. Thai is fascinating, because it is a tonal language...one word can have several meanings depending on intonation. I struggled to get my "maa" sound right in order to say "I am from Canada", instead mistakenly saying "my dog is from Canada". The trouble is it all sounds the same to me...Its going to be interesting once I start braving the streets with my new-found vocab!
Fun fact: I blurted out "Gracias!" to my server at the restaurant. Apparently my brain has registered I'm in a foreign country, it just hasn't realized that Spanish is of no use here.

2. Tasting Thai Food

I'm sure you are all well aware of my love of food. Its one of the best reasons to travel! Yesterday the staff took me to a fancy Thai buffet to sample the country's cusine...it was wonderful! I really tried not to eat too much, but it seemed like there was always one more thing to try! How can one resist the tastebud-tempting flavors of coconut, ginger, lemongrass, sweet basil, lime, peanut, spicy chilies, and garlic? What is not to love? I've even gotten adventurous with seafood, sampling squid, mussels, prawns, and various fish. I still don't love it, but I'm giving it a fair chance.
I also tried some interesting beverages...there was a sweet coffee-like iced drink that I really liked, and today my new friends handed me a takeaway cup filled with ominously black liquid and weird jello-y tapioca filling. It wasn't terrible, and it was nice to sip on something cold, but I can't say I'm a fan.
The sweets have been interesting. I tried a warm vanilla-flavored soup with tapioca balls in it (also not a fave), sweetened baked pumpkin covered in a warm cinnamon-spiced coconut milk sauce which was surprisingly delicious, crispy sugar wafers filled with marshmallow and sweetened, deep-fried slivers of egg yolk, and a coconut macaroon-type square. Its nice that most things are prepared with a rice base so I don't have to worry about the gluten issue too much.
Fun fact: the staff were convinced I had told them I was allergic to "weed", not "wheat". It was a pretty hilarious moment when this misunderstanding came to light.

3. City Sight-seeing

Yesterday we visited the Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram Temple (I despair of ever being able to pronounce that), which was really beautiful. We even got really lucky, because it was the last day of a festival there, so it was an extra unique experience!
The 3 saff here at FFA are all locals, and practicing Buddhists (at some level, anyway), so they took part in some interesting rituals, including buying a beautiful bamboo "giftbasket" filled with fruit, rice, and water, attaching banknote, and then writing a prayer on a piece of paper to deceased family members. This prayer and basket are intended as offerings to the family member, and are given to a monk, who reads the prayer on behalf of the the giver, and takes the basket (which is then resold to the next person).

The other ritual was the purchase of some river snakes in a plastic bag, which are released back into the river after reading a specific prayer. The snakes are symbolic of good luck. You can also purchase small turtles on behalf of deceased family, or fish for protection against evil.

The festival also brought food vendors. Since we had just eaten, the most I tried was a free sample of a pork skin puff. Like a pork-flavored styrofoam peanut. Yum.

Today we did a different kind of sight-seeing...we visited some huge shopping malls! The Siam Paragon was massive, high-end, and elaborately designed. We quickly moved on to the smaller, cheaper nearby mall where I purchased some basic shoes that will be appropriate attire for my volunteer placement. I got my first glimpse of typical Thai tourist souveniers, and maybe its a good thing that I have no room in my backpack because I instantly wanted to garb myself in nothing but those infinitely comfortable-looking pants and dresses.

Fun Fact: both Cusco and here in Bangkok, the locals are so proud of their shopping malls and can't wait to show them off. Generally speaking, I try to avoid malls, and they are definitely not something I seek out when I want to experience a new country and culture. No matter where you go, malls all seem pretty much the same.

4. Sweating profusely

It is so hot here. So. Hot. Its like the entire city is a low-setting sauna...sweaty and humid. When I got off the plane and took my first breath of local un-air-conditioned oxygen, it felt like trying to inhale something solid. The heat is like a steaming wool blanket enveloping you at all times.
I am dying. And sticky. And my hair has gone completely feral.
Fun fact: the staff have been complaining of how cold it is, and they are wearing scarves and sweaters. All I want is to stand in the cold shower all day.

5. Getting Over Jetlag

My internal clock is slowly readjusting, but I've still been waking up around 3-4am, and feeling exceptionally weary at 6:30pm. Its going to take time. Jumping ahead 14 hours wreaks a little bit of havoc on a person.

Well, that's all for now! I'll check back after my first day of volunteering :)

First Days in Cusco

Getting ready for my next adventure has me reminiscing about my first days in Cusco last December.

I'm trying to remember what it was like, how I felt, and the things that seemed so strange at first, before I slowly grew accustomed to life in South America. I'm mentally preparing to go through that awkward stage again once I reach Bangkok.

I remember it was very cold when I arrived. There was no central heat in house, which was not uncommon. I would bundle up in my newly-purchased alapaca sweater and wrap myself in my blankets while I typed away on my tablet or studied my Spanish lessons. It didn't help that I couldn't figure out how to get a hot shower for the first week, so I would come out shaking like a leaf and stay shivering for a very long time! (note to newbies: to get hot water out of those electric showerheads, only use the very smallest level of water pressure possible. Also, try not to get electrocuted)

Regis in front of the Catholic cathedral in Plaza de Armas, 

I loved my homestay hosts from the very first. They were an adorable older couple that just loved to have young travelers stay with them. They patiently helped us along with our Spanish, advised us on how much was a reasonable price for taxis, instructed us which buses to take, and fed us delicious food!!! They were a huge highlight of my stay in Cusco, and I highly recommend living with locals while traveling, at least for a portion of the time. I lived in a part of the city I probably would never have seen otherwise, and experienced the day-to-day Cusco from a local perspective. 

L-R: me, my homestay "parents", and my Dutch housemate 

Speedy Gonzales was the little terrier pup that belonged to my hosts. Since they were empty-nesters, Speedy became their fur baby and he was spoiled, but so much fun! It felt very homey and reassuring to have a pet around. He was always happy to see me when I got home :)

I arrived in Cusco at an awkward time, right before New Years. The regular classtimes at my Spanish school were interrupted due to the holidays which delayed the ideal scenario of slipping into a regular routine, and in addition to that there were not many students enrolled. I ended up in individual classes for the first while because no one else was at the beginner level with me. This was nice because it meant I was basically being tutored, but it was also overwhelming.
To have to adjust to a new home, culture, language, and social situation was exhausting and stressful! I had no friends, no family, and nothing familiar at all to turn to. 

When New Years came around, I felt lonely and isolated. I was incredibly relieved when E., a young Peruvian employee at the Spanish school, invited me to join her and her friends for the celebration.

E. and I joining the festivities in Plaza de Armas at New Years

I had only spoken to her over email before I arrived, and a couple times at the school, but I really liked her because she was so friendly and outgoing. Her English is fantastic as well, so I finally had someone to talk to! She ended up not joining her other friends for the night, so we just hung out and talked the night away, danced around the plaza at midnight amidst fireworks and drunken revelry, and then chilled at a local pub and listened to some fantastic live music until the wee hours!
Having a friend made a huge difference to me, and things started to look up.

At the beginning, everything is new and difficult. I took this photo from a cafe off Plaza de Armas, while exploring the city alone and ordering a meal in Spanish for the first time. I was so nervous about the most basic phrases, but with practice it became easier. Navigating transit and city streets by myself was stressful at first as well, but eventually I learned my way around (I made lots of mistakes, and it wasn't the end of the world!), and it felt awesome to be able to show newbies how to get around and where to go. 

I loved randomly experiencing something unexpected. Sometimes it was festivals and dancing in the streets. Sometimes it was a conversation with a local lady. Sometimes it was trying a new food I had never seen before. Every day was something new and exciting. 

I know that my first weeks traveling will be difficult and full of uncomfortable adjustments. A part of me dreads that and wishes I could skip it all together, but the truth is that those first days are when the impressions are the strongest and there is so much potential to see things so clearly...things that fade and become normal over time. I want to try to do better at capturing those moments this time. Hopefully it won't take me 10 months to get around to sharing them with you :) 

8 Weeks of Tropical Living

So, what the heck am I doing in Venezuela? 

I stumbled across Foundacion Aldeas de Paz (Peace Villages Foundation) website while googling volunteer opportunities in South America, and it appealed to me because it has an NGO Administration Internship program. Since I've been studying Sociology, I've been trying to figure out a potential career direction within that field, and this seemed like a cool way to explore one aspect. They also offer free Spanish classes, and it's in friggen Venezuela for Pete's sake! That sounded like an adventure to me! 

So far, it's been a pretty neat-o experience, though off to a slow start. As it turns out, the social and political climate is kind of crappy in Venezuela right now, which makes it a sort of unappealing place for potential volunteers. This fact combined with some other drama that occurred in the previous months, means that I have arrived at a time when there are literally no other volunteers here! There are 2 guys on staff that are really nice, but I was expecting there to be a big community here and instead its just the three of us! The founder is not here either, as he is currently working on a project in the Dominican Republic. Since I¨m working in the office, its ok. I´ve been going through our old listings on different volunteer agency websites updating information, and doing some maintenance for the guesthouse. I think I will be able to keep busy, but it can get pretty quiet over here sometimes, especially since its a 2km walk to the town, which is not recommended to do alone. 

So, its not really what I was expecting as far as meeting people, but on the plus side I´m hoping my Spanish will improve! 

Some highlights and memorable moments include:

-the lovely warm weather! No alapca sweaters necessary! 

-beautiful mountains and jungle

-delicious fresh fruit, including mangos from a tree on the grounds, and weird bananas we chopped down and then deep-fried with seasoning salt and garlic....sooo delicious! 

-driving 20 minutes to cross the border into Brazil! We bought things like fresh milk, laundry soap, and chocolate...you literally can't buy these in Venezuela, they are just not available! 

-an abundance of creepy crawlies, including a frog that jumped out of the toilet bowl after I flushed (causing confusion and outright terror/horror), a black moth the size of my hand, a cockroach under the cuttingboard, and my new roommate Oliver, a lizard, who watches over me while I sleep.

-Falling asleep to the sound of crickets and frogs, and waking up to the birds and monkeys. 

-homemade arepas and empanadas...easy to make, and so tasty!

-eating a red ant in a spicy sauce...apparently this is a Venezuelan snack, but I will pass on it next time...

-watching a futbol game in town, and snapping some photos of the Carneval parade

It's been a pretty chill week for me, which has been kind of a nice way to adapt to a new surroundings. Cusco was kind of a warm-up to the real culture shock that comes with Venezuela. Things here are just completely different than at home, so its good that I´ve had time to get used to some of the different things about South America before plunging straight into this crazy place. 

Obviously, one thing to get used to is the completely different concept of time. I simply accept that things will happen approximately an hour after they are scheduled to occur. Sometimes its more like 2 hours. Everything is done at a more leisurely pace, there is no rush. Everything takes a long time. For example, I was supposed to have a planning meeting when I arrived, but since I got there late in the week,  we decided to do it "on Monday". Monday comes, and we plan for 2pm. At 2, it sounds like someone will be late, so we reschedule for 5. At 6pm, I realize its not going to happen, so we reschedule for 8am the next morning. The next morning at 8am, we are eating breakfast, so we finally get around to starting the meeting at 9am, and then one of the guys is distracted by the uneven table leg, so that has to get fixed before we can start...you get the idea. Things get done, but at a verrrry different pace. I´m actually embracing it, though I know its going to be rough when I throw myself back into a treeplanting camp and have to have meals ready on time! haha...

Getting used to the aforementioned creepy-crawlies takes a bit of effort. At least there haven´t been any spiders...yet. 

There are a lot less tourists here in Santa Elena than in Cusco, so being white and speaking English makes me stand out even more than before. While in Peru I stood out as a tourist, here I´m more of a novelty. South American culture is very "macho", so guys tend to catcall and whistle at women a lot, and be very persistent when showing interest in girls. On my first morning here I joined one of the guys on staff to the morning market to do the grocery shopping, and I was quite surprised to find my blue eyes attracted a lot of attention from guys in the village...this is not something I am used to or very comfortable with! I am relieved that I decided to get rid of the platinum blonde hair before traveling. Its going to be an adjustment for me to get used to this part of the culture. 

Things I am looking forward to: 
I am planning on doing two different treks while I´m here, which I´ve heard are really, really good. Details to come (and maybe eventually photos!)
I am also putting some pressure on the guys to do some exploring on the weekends, because I want to see more of the country and get off the property once in a while! We´ll see how it goes :) 

Until next time...

The Long Road to Venezuela

I shouldn't be tired after 4 days of doing practically nothing but sitting on my tush looking out a windows, but As it turns out travel can be kind of exhausting. 

I got up at about 5am on Monday to catch a flight from Cusco to Lima at 7:45am. Unfortunately that flight was delayed, meaning when I arrived in Lima I was basically already late for my connecting flight to Caracas, Venezuela.  

Airports have always been an uncomfortable place for me. They bring out irrational fears, and I have long held a deep-seated phobia of missing a flight. As I stood stranded in a long, twisted queue waiting to go through security and realized I was supposed to be at my boarding gate 15 minutes ago,  I got that sinking feeling...the knowledge that I was going to have to face this fear.

After what felt like hours of waiting in lines, I burst through the last checkpoint. And scanned the departures board. My flight read "last call". I sprinted across the airport to the very farthest gate possible...which was completely deserted. Still hoping against all odds that I might be spared this tragedy, I gasped to the uniformed employee, "Am I too late?"

With a wry smile, he nodded, and my poor little heart stopped. I dropped all my bags and clutched the edge of the desk, probably looking more than a little bit insane. "What do I do now?!" 

Long story short, I was booked for a flight to Bogota, Colombia, for that evening. I spent the night curled up on some chairs beside Dunkin Donuts in the Bogota airport, wrapped in my new alpaca blanket, paranoid about somehow sleeping through the departure announcement. 

That didn't happen, and I departed Colombia in the morning (I'll be back someday for a proper visit!), and arrived in Caracas before noon, where the airport was practically empty and security and immigration was surprisingly quick and relaxed.

I had arranged to be picked up at the airport through a service recommended by the foundation I am staying with. "Peter", a friendly Swiss expat, happily answered all my questions, got me settled at a cute little oceanside hotel outside Caracas (much safer), changed money for me, and told me where I could get some food. The next day, he arranged for me to be picked up by an adorable little Venezuelan man named Luis, who bought my bus ticket and dropped me off at the station. He even bought me my first "arepa", a hot cornbread sandwich that is quite delicious! 

The bus was meant to depart at 3:45pm and run for 22 hours to Santa Elena. At this point, my expectations for timing are no longer to punctual North American standards, so I wasn't completely shocked when we finally rolled out at quarter after 6. 

I was also able to observe with mild amusement a very loud and dramatic argument between a man and woman about who had the Window seat. The woman vehemently insisted it was hers, but later on was kicked out by another man claiming it was rightfully his. Turned out the woman was on the wrong bus.

I was lucky enough to land a seat beside a German woman who has lived in Santa Elena for 30 years...she was the only other person on the bus who spoke English, which was very helpful! 

The big festival of Carneval is coming up this weekend, so a lot of people were taking huge boxes and bags of goods from Caracas to sell in the smaller towns. This meant there were some security checks along the way. At one point the driver came into the cabin and told everyone who had extra goods that they needed to pay off the national guard if they didn't want them to go through all the stuff. Bribery is just normal here! 

At another point we were all made to get off the bus, grab our bags, line up, and wait for the guards to go through all our stuff. They literally shook out every last sock and panty, but when they got to my German "mother" (as we began to joke, because everyone assumed that was the case), they just waved us away. It's the big innocent blue eyes.

At one of the last stops a guard with a huge gun burst onto the bus and demanded our IDs. I think I'm becoming desensitized, because this didn't phase me one bit when a month ago I would have been terrified. 

Honestly, I've been seeing some pretty bizarre stuff here, and hearing some crazy stories, but I haven't felt personally unsafe. 

I finally arrived in Santa Elena in the early evening, approx. 24 hours after departing Caracas. What a trip! 
Now I am happily tucked away at Foundation Aldeas de Paz, enjoying the delightful heat, mouthwatering mangos that drop from the mango tree beside the office, and my adorable little cabana (complete with reptilian roommate). 

I have so much to say, and not quite enough computer access to get it all down fast enough, so until next time...I´ll be swinging in my hammock...I mean, working...

Only One Week Left in Peru...

Greetings, friends!
Despite the lack of blog updates, I am in fact still alive! Since I started volunteering after my Inca Trail trek my days have been very full of activity and time to write has been limited, to say the least.
Now I find myself once more at the end of a full and delightful day, with an early start awaiting me tomorrow...so I will keep this brief.

What have I been up to?
Well, I finally completed my Spanish lessons...I clocked approx. 100 hours, though that might be a bit of a stretch if you only count classtime...there were many "field trips" which was usually practicing conversation in a cafe, or browsing a market. Overall, I really enjoyed my classes at Proyecto Peru, and I know I learned a lot! Now I just need to do some studying to solidify what I've learned into my brain! The irregular verbs are the bane of my existence!

As previously mentioned, I've also been volunteering at an orphanage for girls. This was definitely a placement that was outside my comfort zone, but it has been a neat experience. I think it probably deserves a Blog post if it's own, so I won't say too much right now. This week is my last with them...In fact I leave Cusco a week from Tuesday! So crazy how fast time flies!

Last weekend I went with 3 other girls from the school to do a tour of Lake Titticaca, which was really alot of fun! We left late Friday night on a sleeper bus, complete with big comfortable reclining chairs, and arrived in the lakeside town of Puno at about 5am. From there we joined the rest of the tour group and hopped on a boat to visit the Uros' man-made "floating islands" (really incredible!), as well as a much largeer regular sort of island where we climbed some mountains/big hills, dressed in traditional clothing for a fiesta, and lodged with a local family for the night. The next day we visited another island after a bumpy ride on the  choppy early-morning water, climbed another hill, ate fried trout for lunch, and then clambered down over 500 stairs to reach the Harbour to get back on the boat.

It took a couple hours to get back into Puno where we browsed some shops and bummed around in a cafe for a while. At an appropriate hour we visited a delightful restaurant in the Plaza which served me a delicious ceviche (fresh fish marinaded in lime juice, and slathered in some kind of cool, herby sauce...not cooked, btw! I'm getting more adventurous with seafood), and then back to the cafe for hot drinks. I had the opportunity there to Skype my family for the first time since I left at the end of December, which was really nice.

We departed Puno on another night bus, arriving back in Cusco in the week hours of the morning on The Monday.  We tried to sleep once back at home with limited success! That was a rough day for Spanish lessons!

This weekend was much more chill. Yesterday my friend and I slept in after a late (fun) Friday night, and then spent the afternoon haggling in the markets, trying to get some souvenir shopping out of the way. A mouthwatering meal at "Korma Sutra" curry house, and a fruity pisco cocktail at the Pisco Museum with some friends completed the day.

Today we visited some little-known, untouristed ruins about an hours walk from our homestay. It was a gorgeous sunny day, a steep climb, and a refreshing break from the bustling busy city and tourist crowds. Afterwards we made ourselves some lunch (avocados here are just infinity x better than at home....it's not fair), chilled out, and went to the "cine" to watch "unbreakable"...In English, with Spanish subtitles :)

Tomorrow the plan includes volunteering, getting my mullet cut off, (yes, one of the many perils of the pixie cut is growing it out often results in a horrific mullet), doing laundry, and visiting the Inka Museum! Not sure what the rest of the week will hold, but I'm organizing a group to visit some sights in the sacred valley next Saturday! Hopefully I'll have time to put up another post soon!

Adios for now!

Weekend Update: Conquering Fears

Friday:

My second day of Spanish lessons. I'm adding more words to my vocabulary every day, but still struggling to understand people when they talk...comprehension is coming little by little.
I ventured out of my comfort zone today (this is now a daily occurrence...between the stress, mate de coca, and all the exploring on foot, my heart is getting pretty fit) when I ate lunch at a restaurant by myself after my lesson. Granted, not much speaking was required, but I didn't use any English at all, so that was an accomplishment!

Afterward I conquered another fear: bartering! I'm now a proud owner of a chompa de alpaca (alpaca sweater) which apparently I got a fair deal on. This is probably due to the compassion of the lovely woman who sold it to me, rather than my pathetically timid bartering skills. I probably looked like a drowned rat as I shivered and explained "soy muy frio!" ("I am very cold!"). Today was very rainy and cool, and there is no indoor heating anywhere! Now with my new purchase I am cozy and "muy caliente"! I wish I had more room in my pack to load up on these for my next Canadian winter!

My final task of the day was to get a phone. I rented a basic phone from the school for S/.10 a month (approximately $3-4) and bought the recommended amount of credit from a hole-in-the-wall pharmacy for an additional S/.5. Though I miss my trusty smartphone from home, I'm glad I didn't bring it. My roommate said his was stolen within his first week in Cusco.

I still haven't ridden the bus...this speaks to the amount of terror it strikes into my heart. I have been overcharged nearly every time I've taken the taxi, so I've begun walking everywhere which can take a very long time and usually results in me huddled in a doorway during a downpour. Maybe this weekend I'll finally take the bus...

Saturday:

Friday night had my stomach producing some interesting sounds, and after a sleepless night tossing and turning, I arose in the morning with a seriously upset stomach, feeling shaky and aching for sleep. The thought of food was not appealing, but I managed some breakfast and then postponed my planned putting and went straight back to bed. For the rest of the day.
I have no idea what it was...maybe a bug or delayed "soroche" (altitude sickness). Overall, I can't complain as it was relatively mild and I was feeling back to normal the next morning.

Sunday:

After breakfast and a cold shower (still not used to it), I decided enough was enough and I needed to tackle my (perhaps disproportionate) phobia of the city bus.
The buses here are independently owned companies, with names that can be quite funny (ie: "batman"). Their destinations are printed on the side, but since I only know approximately 3 streets and have only a very basic understanding of the city layout, this is not very helpful.
The buses honk as they approach the curb, and when the front door opens the driver's assistant hops out and shouts out the bus's destinations in hopes of attracting potential customers.
I approached the "pereno" (bus stop) hesitantly and even more timidly approached a stranger to inquire which bus I should take. My Spanish must have been muy malo indeed, because he simply brushed me off and I scurried back to my corner. My next tactic was to run up to the next business and ask the assistant "plaza de armas?". She shrugged with an indifferent "Si", and waved me aboard. I clambered into the first available seat, which happened to be at the front, and observed the proceedings with interest.
The main street by my guesthouse is one of the busiest in the city...basically that equivalent of a highway. Driving in Cusco is...an experience. Apart from a few stoplights, it mostly seems like a free-for-all! There are 3 lanes on this particular road, but they are more like guidelines. Cars drift between them at will, dodging built up traffick, pedestrians, and taxis creeping up from crossroads, or simply drive over the lines to keep their options open. I have never seen such aggressive yet skillful weaving through traffic...it looks like chaos, but I have yet to witness an accident or road rage. There is honking a-plenty, though! They honk for everything...to let pedestrians know they are approaching, to inform another car there isn't a chance in the world that they can cut in, to greet one another, or in the case of a bus making a stop: to say get out of my way, or I will crush you! I am even more impressed by the drivers here because there is basically no such thing as automatic transmission. Another fun fact: there are seriously old VW bugs and vans EVERYWHERE!
Back to my bussing experience.
People seemed to pay upon their departure, and the standard fare is 70 cientes...the equivalent of about $.23, which is a vast improvement over arguing with taxi drivers insisting on S/.5.
The downside, of course, is that I'm in charge of knowing where to hop off. I have yet to master this. Both times I rode the bus today resulted in a long walk to my actual destination (though not as long as it would have been without the bus)! Good thing I have nothing but time on my hands! Tomorrow I try again, with a different destination. We'll see how it goes!

New Year, New Country

country. 

I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to write an update here. The Blogger app on the tablet I am using has gone on strike indefinitely, and the browser will not accept that I am in fact the rightful author of RBF and insists on a read-only Blogger basis. As of now I have decided to write this in an email to myself from my tablet, which I will copy and paste into Blogger from the more cooperative computer at the school. 
Now that you are up to date on everything that you don't care about, I'll try to summarize a few points of interest from the last 5 days...

1. I arrived safely. It came to about 24 hours of travel, not including the drive to Vancouver. I got precious little sleep due to nerves, flying (can anyone actually sleep in those seats?) and airport delightfulness, so I was pretty pooped by the time I landed in Cusco, Peru. My adrenaline got me as far as about an hour after settling into my homestay, and then I crashed for about 4 hours until dinner, and when I went back to bed later that evening, I slept soundly for another 8. A rarity for me at the best if times!

2. No altitude sickness! Yay!!! My host family has been drowning me in mate de coca which is supposed to help,  so maybe that is the key. The tea tastes like green tea, and I get seriously jittery when I drink it. I'm sorry I can't bring any home for you to sample, as the drug sniffing dogs at the airport would bust me as a coke smuggler. True story. 

3. My hosts Willy & Gloria are the sweetest little couple. I think they are in their 60's, and they live in a multilevel home with separate apartments in each floor. Their grown children with families if their own lives in the other floors. They also own a 6 month old terrier named "Speedy" (spelling unknown...this is just how it sounds). 
I am one of two student/volunteers staying here. The other is a guy from Germany who is fluent in "Spain Spanish", which has an interestingly different accent. He also speaks English, so I feel pretty silly struggling to learn my first second language!

4. I am slowly adjusting to a different way of water usage that includes unpotable running water (ie: brushing my teeth with bottled water), throwing toilet paper in the garbage rather than flushing it (because the plumbing can't handle it), and water only being hot when used for tea. Cold showers and I have yet to become friends. I'm already dreaming of a steaming hot shower followed by a large tub for soaking in when I get home! 

5. I've had my first Spanish lesson, and discovered that (unsurprisingly) I am far better at reading and spelling than at speaking the language. My memory is bad...I knew that already...but it is frustrating when I have to keep checking back to my phrasebook for things I know I've learned! It's early days yet, so there is still hope for me.

6. The weather is generally cool, though. It changes rapidly from sunny and warm to rainy and stormy. We've even had periods of hail the last two days, and plenty if torrential downpours.  I plan on purchasing a nice cozy alpaca wool sweater this week. Sure it will make me stand out as a tourists...but who am I kidding. That was already blatantly obvious. I've never felt so conspicuously white in my life. 

7. Last night/this morning I celebrated Años Nuevo (New Years) with my new Peruvian friend, E. We joined the drunken throngs of tourists and locals alike in Plaza de Armas...it was quite an experience, and I will hopefully elaborate on it later when I figure out how to put up photos and video! It was unlike any New Year's party I have ever seen before! My ears are still ringing :)

8. I've done a fair bit of exploring on foot already since I think it is one of the best ways to get to know a city, along with the fact that I haven't figured out the bus system yet and I have plenty of time to kill! Cusco is quite large and very busy. 

9. The food! Gloria is a wonderful cook, and everything has been very tasty. Peruvian cuisine is very starchy, so there has been lots of quinoa, rice, and potatoes, usually accompanied by a bit of huevos (eggs), queso (a mild, salty white cheese), or pollo (chicken). For breakfast once it was simply a sliced boiled potato with two large slabs of cheese! More often it is a guava smoothie and two small bananas.

10. The portion sizes have been so incredibly large, and served three times a day, that I have been feeling sick and each bite is a struggle to swallow! Nerves and not a whole lot of activity also contributes to a current lack of appetite. I have been so afraid to offend that I've eaten everything I've been given no matter how long it takes...but I finally worked up the courage today to speak to Gloria about it! It took me about an hour to compose a short paragraph in Spanish which I read to her haha!! She laughed and said that she wouldn't serve so much to me, and said my pronunciation was "muy bueno". Tonight will be the first test run with the new portion sizes! My next challenge is tackling the bus...

That's all the news I can muster for tonight. It takes a long time to tappity tap it out on the tablet! Hope you enjoyed reading! 

2015

The past year has included some pretty sweet travel times, including a family vacation to Hawaii, my second season in a treeplanting camp, and a cross-Canada roadtrip with 3 wonderful people! Not too shabby for a slacker on a student's budget.

2015 is even more promising.
In fact, my upcoming adventure will begin tomorrow when I begin my journey to South America!

On December 29th, I'll fly into Cusco Peru to spend 6 weeks learning Spanish at Proyecto Peru and volunteering in an orphanage for girls. Then in February I hop on a plane to Venezuela to undertake a volunteer program with Aldeas de Paz to learn the ins and outs of NGO administration, while taking some more Spanish lessons. I will spend 8 weeks there, and then head home mid-April to readjust to North America for two weeks before heading out into the bush for my third season cooking for treeplanters in northern BC and Alberta.

It will be a little crazy and I fully admit to being slightly terrified! But I know it will be really cool, and I will meet so many fantastic people, and see some pretty nifty parts of the world...so I am also really excited! I've wanted to learn Spanish and live in a country where I can practice it for quite a while, so it will be pretty special for me to be able to do that in 2015.

I should have some basic internet access once I arrive there, but I'm not sure that I will be able to upload many photos unfortunately. We'll have to just wait and see how it goes. Either way, I'll be using this ol' blog to keep you curious people informed of what I'm up to while I'm away. Feel free to creep, but I would also love to hear from YOU! Despite the adventures, I'm sure I'll miss home sometimes :)

Anyone else have travel plans for the new year? What are some goals you are aiming for? 

L'expérience de la province Canadienne française

Yes, I am Canadian, and no I don't speak French. Yes I know, Canada is officially bilingual, but let's be honest here. It's really only important if you live in Quebec or hold a government job. Its definitely not that important for residents of BC, which is on the opposite side of the country. However, its really helpful to know the language if you happen to be a BC resident visiting the officially francophone province of Quebec. It was literally like entering a different country. I couldn't read any of the signage as I drove us through the very confusing (and frequently one-way) streets of Montreal.

It was vital to stop for poutine in Montreal, allegedly its place of origin.

Side note: For those who for some reason have never experienced the glory of poutine, let me explain. This delectable dish is arguably the best thing that has come of out of Montreal (I jest...I think). Start with a bed of hot, crisp, salty french fries, top with smooth, creamy cheese curds, and smother with gravy. It is glorious; a truly genius culinary creation that will tantalize your tastebuds, and send your brain to place of fat and sodium induced euphoria.
Of course, most gravies contain a significant amount of wheat to achieve a good consistency, so unfortunately I had to pass on the Montreal poutine experience. But I ate it vicariously, and this story has a happy ending which you will read about in a later post. 

I actually really enjoyed visiting Montreal, because it felt very European. Grand cathedrals, cobblestone streets, and great food. Unfortunately our time there was short, and it dumped rain the whole time. That didn't stop us from exploring the city on foot for an afternoon, though. 

It was neat to see some distinctly Canadian sights with a French-Canadian take, such as The Bay department store. 

My inner (sometimes well hidden) history nerd was dying to get my hands on a travel guide so I could look up the buildings we were seeing and read about the history behind them all. However, it was pouring rain, so it probably would have been ruined anyway. 

The amount of rain we endured was really quite ridiculous. It was like being attacked by a garden hose. I discovered that wearing a rain jacket is really not that helpful if you're not also wearing rainproof pants. All the rain just runs right off the coat onto the rest of you. I can't remember the last time I walked around downtown literally soaked to my skin. But that day, it happened. 

Fortunately, when we visited Old Quebec City we had really lovely weather. It was sunny, it was hot, and the tourists were out in full force. 

It was also one of those traveling days. When tempers are short, everyone is sleep-deprived, traffic is bad, and walking around historic buildings sounds like a lot of work, so all you really end up doing is eating at an over-priced (albeit still very tasty) eatery, snapping a couple obligatory photos because you have to prove you actually made it there, and then falling asleep on a park bench. No, but actually.

So my lasting memory of Quebec City was that it was cool to look at, but if I were to return to Quebec I would probably just head back to Montreal because it had way more personality. 

Quebec was also one of the two places that we did not have a host to stay with, so I really feel like we missed out on a bit of the authentic French Canadian experience. Oh well...maybe I'll go there again someday! 

Bohemia

I started a blog post the other day, but it was growing to massive proportions, and I just don't have enough time or patience with this iTouch to complete it.
So I'm going to try to keep this brief, until I can do proper posts with pictures and anecdotes.
We have been in Prague the last couple of days, and it is quite different from everywhere else we've been so far!
It's a beautiful city with lots of intricate and unique buildings. The castle on the hill is quite stunning no matter what time of day, you always want to take another picture of it!
The Czech language sounds a lot like Russian...meaning it's frickin hard to pronounce! This is the first country we've been to where we haven't even attempted to learn the "basic" phrases. We can't get our tongues around the crazy sounds! So far it hasn't been a problem since almost everyone we need to communicate with speaks some English. It's surprisingly touristy here.
I can't say that I've found it a particularly friendly country, though. I'm going to have to give that impression a bit more thought to explain exactly why I feel that way, so I'll try and remember if for a future post :)
Anyway, tomorrow is our last day here. We head out on our last night train tomorrow at 6:30pm, and will arrive in Amsterdam at 10am the next day! The longest train yet. I'm super stoked for holland though! Can't wait!

Impressions of Paris

*Beautiful architecture! SO. BEAUTIFUL.

*Everyone smokes. All the time. In your face.
*People dress so nice! Most women were wearing dresses & heels (or jumpsuits!). Men have perfectly groomed coifs. I felt like a total grub!
*Its dirty. Mars De Champs (park beside Eiffel Tower) has a lawn of cigarette butts. The Metro is littered with little single-use tickets. Garbage on the streets.
*Creperies are not just for tourists! There are way too many...Im pretty sure everyone eats at least one crepe a day. Along with croissants, and baguettes, and other delicious things. How DO they stay so thin??
*Helmets are not mandatory for bicycles. Frightening.
*Intersections hardly ever designed in a simple perpendicular shape. They are more like...I dont even know. Cars come from every which way, and there are no lines, and there are stoplights everywhere. I dont know how they can tell which light to obey!
*The French that have to deal with tourists are day are generally snappy with foreigners, while the regular everyday folks are usually more than happy to chat with you and try and communicate. I had a lot of fun using my (very) limited French vocabulary.
*Its very expensive. My wallet is screaming with pain, and I didnt even splurge on anything!
*Its HOT and HUMID! I did not expect that, but it was a nice surprise, for the most part :)

Next up...I will try and jot down some impressions of Italy, and update you on things we have been doing. Ciao!

Bonjour!

Greetings my dear followers! Today I write to you from Rennes, France. This is pronounced "ren". "there is no 'renness'" as our bus driver told some asian tourists, while making a face. Ha ha! But I have actually met some really nice French people and it is so beautiful here.
There is so much to tell but I am only able to use brit's itouch here since we haven't located an Internet cafe.
So far I have taken over 200 pictures (filled a 1 gb memory card. This doesn't bode well) and seen some really awesome things. I can't wait to share them with you! I am also trying to keep up my journal so that when I get a chance to blog I will have some early impressions to draw from.
Regis is loving it here and gorging himself on fresh figs, and croissants. He insists on his picture being taken from time to time to probe that he is actually here so those will go up at some point as well.
Tomorrow we head to versailles for the day and then hop on our first "night train" to get to Italy! So excited!! Hopefully I will be able to get some quality time with a keyboard there. Just can't seem to adapt to this touch screen. I'm such an old lady.
Well I need to go now but we will chat again soon!