Saludos de Peru!

Well, the 'fro' has been straightened & de-fuzzed. 72 hours without moving it, getting it wet, any form of exercise nearly put me round the twist. But thank God, no more fuzz and hopefully less abuse!

Only 9 days left until I fly out and I've managed to sort out arrangements in Cuzco, Peru after I overland there in September.

I'll be working in the Nursery and Primary School for disadvantaged children from impoverished backgrounds, aged from 4-13 years...aww.. can't wait.  Duties will include playing with the kids, correcting their homework and teaching the oldest children.  Sounds a bit similar to what most teachers do normally on a daily basis, but the only problem is...me no hablo espanol. Like..nada/none whatsoever!

This should be some fun trying to communicate with them when my fluency level is: - hello, yes/no, can I have a beer please, where is the toilet and yariba, yariba, andale, andale (Speedy Gonzalez, the cartoon character taught me that), oh and..I don't speak Spanish.

The heading of this particular blog 'Saludos de Peru' was a header on a letter I received about my placement, so at least that's a start of my grasp of the Spanish language.  For all I know, it probably translates into 'Stay away from Peru!'  One other letter was in Spanish also, giving me directions of how to find my accommodation when I'm volunteering. I've tried to translate it myself, seeing if I can find any English sounding words in it...

It says 'Entrar por la Av. Universitaria y lo kioscos hasta el parque central voltear a la derecha en direccion de pasaje las Magnolias'...so I've translated it into my own style:- 'Entrance is near the University Avenue near kiosks in central park in the direction of the Magnolia passage (or maybe there are magnolia flowers/plants nearby or something)..Maybe some nice multi-lingual friends of mine can tell me how SO wrong my translation probably is.


Before the volunteering occurs, most volunteers get to spend a week with a typical Peruvian host family who will meet us at the airport & take us to a Spanish Language School where we will sit a 'placement test' in Spanish.  Apparently, this test places students in the right group and the right level - mine shouldn't take too long to mark and no doubt the Special Needs group will be receiving a new pupil for the week.

The itinerary states that classes start at 8:30am and one activity during the week will be cooking lessons. I'm quietly hoping that my favourite dish of mushy peas with vinegar, pepper & salad cream hasn't been introduced in Peru yet. Once the Peruvians/Andean people have tasted it, their staple diet may change to peas instead of potatoes. Apparently they have around 2000 different varieties which have been around for over 5000 years.  So the common 'spud' needs to be replaced.  There will also be dancing classes (!!!??), tours, visits etc for all the volunteers. I'm really looking forward to it already.