TEFL teacher!

I am alive and well and realise it has been well over a month since I have updated, so i'll try and cram a month's worth into this blog. I have practically led the life of a monk(ess), except I wasn't trapped in some monk's home - I have been eating, sleeping and breathing TEFL whilst practically living in the school building for sometimes more than 12 hours a day. The last two weeks were ridiculous - my life was on complete standstill - as were the other students also.

But now, you are reading the words of a 'graduated' (that sounds so ridiculous after a month) fully qualified TEFL teacher and who has her life back again, thank God. I have absolutely loved it. Mind you, when I started on the first day, I nearly decided to walk out. A couple of reasons - the course/company are from the US - I was the only European/token Irish in the group, surrounded by the TEFL trainers, most people in the office/staff being from there also. I was nearly cracking up with some of the things that they would say in class...you know the way some Americans get on. "So, everybody, gimme something positive in your most encouraging voice" (the trainer would say). Of course, all of the other students in the class, being from the US and probably not finding anything wrong/hilarious with these statements would answer, "I thank God that I'm alive and it's such a beautiful day" (you get my drift). Then they'd come to me and I'd say, "It's Friday tomorrow, yay!" or "I've a hangover today".I seriously, couldn't come out with the same things about life that the rest of them were saying.

But, like everything, they all grew on me and my class/TEFL trainers were just great and I loved them all, even their 'Americanisms'.

The teaching and learning of TEFL has been completely different to anything that I had imagined. I thought it would be a walk in the park - yeah, like shut up...I am a qualified teacher, this will be easy and I speak English - so just give me my TEFL certificate right now. My God, how wrong was I.

It is completely different to what I'm used to (ok, the classroom management side of things, those stupid detailed lesson plans, that I haven't done since I was at Teacher Training College yonks ago and a couple of the other routine tasks that teachers do was the same). Buzz words such as CCQ's, drilling, elicit, increase STT (Student Talk Time), decrease TTT (Teacher Talk Time), no echoing and the biggie 'Give them nothing'. Well, that last one, near sent me to the fairies...how the hell are you meant to teach at all, if you give the students nothing? In my head, I was looking at these people training us, thinking...you people are completely crazy - that is the most ridiculous idea ever and goes completely against the grain of teaching.

Well, after 4 weeks of using all these buzz words and learning a completely different style of teaching - it actually does work. You give them nothing by eliciting everything (so much fun trying to act out things to the students) using CCQ type of questions. If these are done right, then the students do, and can give you everything. Instead of me listening to the sound of my own voice in a classroom, it is the students voices that I am meant to hear - afterall, they are trying to learn English. Different from my classroom at home - usually it's me talking/teaching, children listening and then getting on with their work. Here it is the students talking - most things are done in pairs/groups - very rare it is individually (because the student isn't talking, which is the whole point of teaching English here).

Each TEFL student had to take mini-lessons firstly for 20 minutes a couple of days a week. These classes were 'live' with real Peruvian adults sitting at the front of the room with differing levels of fluency in English - mainly high basic or beginning intermediate. Whilst this was happening each TEFL student was being monitored by the TEFL trainers - with a handout of an 'observation and evaluation' of your lesson with the boxes 'needs improvement, good or excellent' along with your pros and cons.

Other lessons were on vocabulary. Each week, the vocab lessons got harder - the last week was using 'slang' words. We had to think on our feet as we never knew what words we would get and then we had to elicit these to the adult learners. One slang word I chose was 'to check out'...to check someone out...of course, I had to make a tit out of myself by acting this out by picking on some poor guy named Jesus (his real name) in the class. Mary, the teacher, 'checking out' poor Jesus sitting in the corner haha.The ultimate thing we had to do after this was to check their understanding. The students then had to put it into a complete sentence that was grammatically correct whilst using the right tense. The students we were teaching didn't know these words to start with, so after doing all this, it was great to see that they understood.

The course was full on and most of us practically lived in the school for our last two weeks as we had so many observations to do, grammar papers, detailed lesson plans, evaluations, Personal Development Papers, TEFL training classes that went from 9-4pm everyday along with the big one - the last week of teaching your own class. Most days my alarm went off at 5.45 am, I'd go to school, come back at around 6pm at night and work for the next few hours after that.

I thought I knew what English grammar was all about - I could teach nouns, verbs, adverbs, connectives etc with the kids in school back home. Again, so easy...just gimme that certificate will ya? My God, wrong again. My head was fried with the stuff. I felt like a complete idiot. I never knew or even heard of things in English grammar called (to mention a few): modal auxiliaries, basic conditionals (there are four of them ya know), the formula and function for everthing in grammar must be taught, active and passive voice, using time lines to teach grammar, English verb forms from Simple Present to Perfect Progressive to 'what's the adverbial of time' and is it a main or auxilliary in the verb forms. Different colours of board markers are used for different things and ways to explain English grammar. 

I was nearly in the mental over trying to get my head around all this stuff. Like, really, the Past, Present and Future was about as good as I got before.  I've now learned so many different ways and fun ways to teach English. And, I used to think it was as boring when I was taught it in school; not any more.

I spent my last week teaching a class of adults from ages 24 years upwards to late 40's early 50's who were 'alto basico 2' (high basic 2) in English. I just loved teaching them and was being observed everyday by the TEFL trainers. The trainers called me the 'rapport monster' and said I was full of energy - loads of it and had a great rapport with my students in the class and that I was a 'Crazy Irish' too. 

Teaching adults is different from teaching children and I had so much fun with them. In my last lesson with them, they all gave me a big hug and asked if I was teaching them next week. I told them I was only here for the full week teaching and that their normal teacher would return again on Monday. I found out later, that after my class with them, they all went to the main office and spoke to the owner/Director and asked if I could be their teacher and told him that they wanted me to work there....aww bless them...they were so sweet and I was chuffed.

I was also awarded an excellent for my full class teaching - the only one in the group and 100% for my grammar paper/lesson plans - go me. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - I'm a teacher and so I should be but this is sooo different to what I normally do, and there were two other fully qualified teachers in the TEFL course with me also. It wasn't a walk in the park for them either, as they kept getting 'needs improvement', which isn't easy to take if you're qualified as a fully fledged teacher and these people are ripping you apart.

So, is there life after TEFL then? Well, my course officially finishes on Tuesday. I have just loved being back in the classroom again after being away from it for well over a year. My teaching of TEFL is a different style from Primary School teaching.

I would like to base myself here in Cusco for the next wee while, so I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for me here in terms of TEFL work and finding somewhere to live, as I can't go back to my normal teaching job til next August. Nothing is planned yet, so I'll just have to see if any opportunities arise. If not, then I'll keep on moving - exciting stuff.

TEFL Graduation Party - TEFLers and Trainers, Sabrina & Suzanne

A few of our Peruvian students from our mini lessons

Getting my TEFL certificate from Sabrina & Suzanne - TEFL trainers

Champagne for all our hard work!

Night out at the 'Juanes' concert in Cusco

Quick loop of Ecuador

Time to leave Quito after completing my two week Spanish class. I was also given the all clear with my eye again from the specialist. This time, I've another certificate to add to the others - now it was 'intermedio alto' (intermediate higher) in Spanish. I'm thinking they got it wrong or something as there's absolutely no way I'm that- they felt sorry for the dumb Irish. It was so much fun and I really liked Quito and Ecuador and met lots of lovely people.

I decided to head southwards towards a town called 'Banos',  known for its thermal baths and waterfalls. 'Bano' is Spanish is 'toilet', so I presumed 'Banos' would be 'toilets' and maybe looked like them (bit like terrible named towns like 'Muff' in Co. Donegal in Ireland or 'Cockermouth' in the Lake District)- it doesn't really sound good at all! But, no, 'Banos' actually means 'baths' here and was a stunning place. It is a town of about 20 000 inhabitants. The town is quite quaint and pretty with active volcanoes in the region.

I went to Banos with two girls I met travelling; Millie from Ireland, who I met in Guayaquil and Ornit from Israel who I met in Quito,so it was nice to hang out with them. Most days, I decided to branch off and go for a cycle to see the waterfalls. Banos is in a valley surrounded by lots of hills and very big ones at that. The first day I cycled 40 kms, then the next day I decided to go a bit further and cycle past a town a town 70 kms away. The cycle was amazing. The scenery was just breathtaking - and on the 70 km journey, I was the only cyclist on the road. 

There were plenty of times when I was cycling on my own heading up and downwards towards a part of the Amazon Rainforest.  Whizzing past little shacks on the side of the road with people selling lots of oranges and the smell of cooked chicken making me hungry as I passed through each little settlement. Either side of me was flanked by lush, green trees of the rainforest, windy roads and stunning waterfalls.

I was met on my journey by lots of workmen digging up the road on various occasions (the roads in Ecuador are just as good, if not better than the roads at home. Definitely better than the roads in the south of Ireland anyway!) This is all in part thanks to Rafael Correa, the President. Big cities, like Quito, have everything and more in them to offer any local or tourist alike. In my eyes, miles better than Belfast. 

It's strange to comprehend that Ecuador is still a third world country, but the differences between the wealthy in the big cities and the poor as you move outwards towards the countryside is vast. Modern buildings with fancy cars and well dressed people are quickly replaced by shacks crowded together, with families sitting outside houses trying to survive by whatever means they can. 

Anyway, as I was on my cycle, the workmen all stopped to probably see what this strange, bright, white, shining UFO light  in the distance was, coming towards them (with reference to my zero tan). They smiled and said hello to me as I either flew past going downhill or cycled slowly going up the huge hills panting and sweating away.

On my journey I was greeted or practically attacked by a few savage dogs snarling and running after me. Thankfully there were no cars on the other side of the road, as I always ended up there cycling like crazy and telling them to get lost in English, which I'm sure they didn't understand. I didn't know the dogcode word for 'eff off' in Spanish. This happened on a few separate occasions and I survived with a few minor scratches but nearly having a heart attack in the process.

Three hours later, I made it to my destination dying of thirst as all I had was an apple and a tiny drink of water in my bag. I stopped off in a little shop and bought some juice and the lovely lady in the shop had a wee conversation with me and here, they ask if I was cycling 'solita' (by myself)...which is always met with a few gasps of ooohh and ahhhh probably thinking..'This one's a weirdo alright - at her age, she should be at home with 12 kids, making the dinner and sweeping the floors'.

Obviously some of the women here don't do this kind of thing on their own.  The people here in Ecuador are really friendly. I'm thinking even more so than in Peru....yeah, I know - how could I possibly 'diss' my favourite country in the world; but Ecuador is starting to surpass it a little...but I still love Peru though! To get my way back, I could've cycled another 70 kms back up and down hills again on the same route, but most people catch the bus and take the return journey back to Banos, so I decided to do that also as I left late in the morning and didn't want to be cycling back in the dark. To be honest, I think it was those dogs that prevented me from making it 140 kms.

On my bus journey back, I met a woman who was an author for the 'Rough Guide' Travel books. She was in the process of currently updating a new edition about Ecuador and it was really interesting talking to her and finding out the good and not so good spots to go to here. I was thinking she might be a bit kindof famous and has maybe been on TV and I never noticed. She wrote travel articles for magazines also. Just got her first name...Sarah.  I gave her the name of some nice restaurants in Banos and when I met her the next day she checked them out and ate in them (for free if you don't mind). I should be getting a cut of her profits!

After spending four days in Banos, I had cycled all the routes I wanted to and climbed lots of steps to see things on hills (which normally turn out to be  holy things/statutes - they are everywhere in South America - they are obsessed) to take some nice photos. So where next? I decided late one night that I was going to go to Montanita on the west coast (Banos is on the east) so one of the girls decided to join me also. It was a bus back to Guayaquil (yeah, smart decision from me - I'd already been there when I first arrived in Ecuador) but this was the quickest way to the west without returning back to Quito again. Oh and I decided to leave a bag in Quito also so I had less weight on my back.

Again not one of my brightest ideas as I've made a weird travel pattern around Ecuador that goes something like this...up the middle, down the right, up a wee bit of the middle again, then to the left, up to the top and down the middle again by the time I leave. There must be a name for that kind of pattern in crotchet/knitting terms or something like that...fu*ked up pattern, that's what!

12 hours of travelling, jumping off one bus onto another two after that. The last one, we literally got off and our bags were quickly lifted and thrown onto a little combi filled with locals to take us to Montanita. Montanita is the beach party town of the west coast. The place is full of gringos and locals alike. We didn't have a hostel booked and thought it would be easy enough to find one - how wrong were we. The weekend is not a good time to arrive anywhere without a prior booking. Two hours later after wandering around to every hostel like tramps, we eventually found a place. A complete dive, with wires hanging out everywhere around the room; but it was a bed (boggin at that) but somewhere to stay so I didn't complain. We even managed to sleep with the boom, boom of music going on all night.

The place was heaving with people on the beach and streets. The weekend was manic. The small streets here reminded me a bit of Bangla Road in Phuket,Thailand, but not as seedy nor as many people, in the night time with the parties going all into the wee small hours. There's lots of wooden bamboo huts/shops etc all over the place, with the locals selling everything from ceviche, fruit, all kinds of food and tapestry on the tiny streets. There are outside cocktail bars everywhere. 

Now, myself and Ornit are in Puerto Lopez. This place is quieter than Montanita and the beach is much nicer. Was able to run along it with hardly anyone in my way only the hermit crabs running out of the water and sidewards along the sand.  The two of us suffered badly the first night with a bit of food poisoning - my first lot...that'll be the street food in Montanita - either choclo with mayo or the fruit salad for breakfast that was bought from the vendors..not a nice feeling at all and still feeling rough. The smell of street food brings on a gag reflex and turns me right off! After Puerto Lopez I'm going my separate way back towards Quito and maybe stop by Otavalo and Cotopaxi on the way there. If my stomach has other ideas, then I'm not risking an 11 hour bus journey until it holds a bit of food again.

Next week, I am leaving Quito on Tuesday for Guayaquil and then a 3 day bus trip back to my adopted homeland of Peru. Ecuador has been amazing - I've really loved it so far. The people here are just so lovely, warm and welcoming. I also wanted to get into Columbia, as I've met lots of gringos who've been there and loved the place, but I have other plans and hope to make it there after.

Three guesses as to where I'm going in Peru - ok, actually only one then, as most of you will get it. Yes, I want to go and return to the dodgy house in the desert, followed by the most exciting Peruvian city of all - Trujillo (not). I'm returning to Cusco, for a fourth time. This time, it's not for Spanish. I'm starting a course in TEFL/TESOL there (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). It lasts for a month and afterwards they try and find you some work. I will need the income by that stage and am looking forward to being on the teacher side of the desk again instead of the student side. TEFL will hopefully open up more doors of opportunities for me whilst I'm abroad, and will most likely, benefit my teaching at home when I return.

So yeah, that's my plan for the next wee while. Back to the daily grindstone like normal people out there, of 9-6 pm in classes and course text books that cost a fortune. Students have to wear 'proper teacher attire' as we'll be teaching classes on our last week. Somehow I don't think my threadbare travel clothes will allow me into the classroom - so it's goodbye to my trainers and flip-flops and crappy tops for a little while (until the course finishes). Now I'll probably turn into a 'chica tranquil' (quiet girl) with all this work...hmmmmm?

Myself and Sandra, at her Spanish school in Quito

Certificates from Spanish with my classmates

A view of beautiful Quito from the Teleferico Cable Car

Being a tit at Lloa Volan Pichincha Volcano, Quito

One of the waterfalls at Banos

Beautiful Amazon on my 70km cycle

A bit of the Amazon Rainforest

The town of Banos from high up in the hills

Puerto Lopez Beach

Townscape of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

After food poisoning all I could eat was this rose that I was given to me by a chico from Quito!

Millie - a night out in Calle La Ronda, Quito. 

Montanita Beach, Ecuador

Ecuador

Had a lovely time in Lima and stayed in the hostel that I had previously stayed in. Befriended a girl, Vanessa, that worked in the hostel and she was a wee doll. She took me around loads of places in Lima on days off and I got to meet her family and she took me to mass one Sunday! It was a wee bit different from home - obviously the language, but there's a lot of kissing and holding hands that goes on. Had a great time there, but decided to leave Peru and make my onward journey to Ecuador.

Caught a decent bus for the 30 hour trip up to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Of course, we had to get off at the Peruvian border before entering Ecuador. Our bags were removed and placed back on the bus. We were all ready to go, when one immigration officer got onto the bus and asked in Spanish, 'Who owns the pink travel bag?' - Well, of course it had to be mine. So off I went, had to open my bag; they asked if I could speak Spanish - I replied yes haha. They found an illegal tin of tuna in my bag that apparently wasn't 'declared' at customs; then they proceeded to smell my hair-dryer and open hair dye in my bag and all the other contents in it. Maybe they thought I was a drugs mule or something. I look like a total scrag after a year of travelling.

Finally made it to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador and stayed there for a day and a half. This city has been known to be very dangerous, but they're trying to clean up the image. I didn't wander out at night, but it was nice and pretty along the Malecon during the day. Two days was enough there so then jumped on a bus heading towards Quito, which was another 9 hours away.

I'm at present in Quito - a beautiful city in the middle of Ecuador. I really like it here - lovely people. I've been at a Spanish language school for the last week and have one more to go. I just couldn't stay away from learning all those verbs again. It is a 'sister school' of the one I was at in Cusco and I'm staying in the residence here, so I can just roll out of bed in the mornings and head to classes next door! It's great. The teaching is a bit different and there's more homework. I didn't like the homework at first, but now I'm realising that the stuff is actually starting to go into this dumb brain of mine.

I've met so many great and crazy people here and have been enjoying days out after studying; jogging in a huge park here, going for lunch, a couple of crazy nights out with the locals, visiting the sights in the city and more recently going to La Mitad del Mundo - the Middle of the Earth.  Of course, I had to lie on both sides of the equator, see the water running differently at each hemisphere, balance an egg on a nail (myself and my friend were able to do this and received a diploma). Now we're doctorates of eggs on nails - great for the CV.

When I arrived home in Ireland after being in Thailand, I was given a wee cannister of my aunt Anne's ashes to take with me on my travels. She knew she wasn't going to be around when I was home and knew I wouldn't be back for the funeral and she said she wanted to travel a bit with me and be left somewhere nice and warm. So I decided to spread the little bit of ashes at the centre of the earth, between the two hemispheres, where it was nice and warm. So not only has she travelled miles with me, picked up a new language, nearly got arrested etc, she now lies at 00, 00, 00 - near the line of the equator, near a flowering bush, beside a little blue church there.  I think she'd like it there.

So Quito, as I said is a beautiful city, but supposedly dangerous also. On my first day arriving here I saw someone being robbed - of course I took the wrong street, so quickly turned back. There is the local bus called the 'Ecovia' - it's basically like a street metro, with people shoved in like cattle. A few students in the school have had their bags slashed (without even realising) but it's mainly theft without serious injuries. I've been grand. The school here tries to scare the b'Jaysus out of you telling you not to take certain taxis etc, but I've been fine and have enjoyed speaking Spanish to the wee taxi drivers. Of course, they ask you all the time, if you're married/single etc...my answer is that I'm married - so much easier, as I've learnt from previous situations that if you say you're single, then they want to practically marry you!

However, last night here in the residence where I'm staying right next to the school I nearly crapped myself. Basically the school is like an old colonial type building and my residence is attached to it. There is a guard on 24 hours a day. Last week there were 9 of us here, now there are only 2 as the rest of the students have gone back to the US.  The front entrance door to the residence is always left open (and has to be - no idea why). Even though there are cameras here, the wall isn't too high so anyone can get in.

I decided to go to bed at around 10.30pm as I was tired from my weekend to La Mitad del Mundo. I locked my bedroom door; as I always do and double check that it's locked before getting into my bed. I obviously dozed off, but was awoken 30 minutes later as I heard this kind of creaking noise. I opened my eyes and looked up and realised that the door to my room was open.

I nearly s*it myself. I thought maybe I'd left my keys out in the living room and someone had got in and found them, but realised that they were beside my bed.  I jumped up quickly and shouted to see if someone was there, before quickly closing the door. Right, I jumped out of bed...put my bra on (didn't want to be bouncing all over the place...and if I died, I didn't want to be braless haha), threw on my tracksuit bottoms and lifted my straighteners (as my weapon of defence) to hit whoever it was over the head!

I walked to the door, armed with my black weapon, heart pounding, and opened the door. The place was in darkness and I couldn't see anyone. Made my way, with the other girl living here, to the security guard, speaking to him in Spanish about my door! He thought I was going bonkers, as he said there was no-one around and they would've been caught on camera. The place was checked and there was no sign of anyone or any disturbance.

So I went back to bed; lodged a chair up against my door, straighteners by my bed and managed to get some sleep. Have no idea what happened - I'm now thinking either there is some sort of ghost here or either I was sleepwalking or something hahaha. I think some of the ones here think I'm nuts after that!

I've another week left here and due to leave on Monday. I have no idea where I'm going yet, as I haven't decided what to do. One girl I've met is going to Columbia, but she's taking a 30 hour bus to get there and will be flying home five days after that. Thinking of going with her to see Columbia for a bit, but I really like Ecuador, so I may just stick around for a bit.

May have to stay here a bit longer than next Monday anyway, as my shingles have decided to make a re-appearance in my right eye again. I was getting the usual symptoms that I had in Cusco, and Sandra took me to the eye specialist here last week. Apparently the symptoms were the sign of the virus starting to re-emerge again, so I managed to catch it before it got any worse. Again, another expensive bill (it's much more expensive here in Ecuador than in Peru. Quito is so modern, it is ridiculous, to even think of this place as being in a Third World Country) and medication, but it is worth it in the long run. 

Tomorrow, I've to go and see the specialist again with Sandra (who has been brilliant with me..she's kind of like an Ecuadorian big sister, as she won't let me go on my own and has been translating everything properly for me, so probably would've been lost without her) to see how my eye is. I feel fine as  usual and he has no idea why it has returned so quickly, but has told me the usual. I'll have this virus dormant in my body for the rest of my life and have to live with it...and that's exactly what I'm going to do for now.

Me lying on the equator line

Myself and Millie receiving our 'diplomas'

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Cathedral in Quito

Centro Historico in Quito

Quito Street

The President of Ecuador  - Rafael Correa, in Quito

The Road to Nowhere

I took my 9 hour bus journey from Trujillo to Talara in a local bus called 'El Dorado'. Before entering the bus, passengers had to make sure they'd no guns on their possession. A fingerprint had to be taken which was attached to a piece of paper with your seat number on it. I was the only white 'gringa' female on the whole journey. The bus was quite old; air conditioning was turned on by opening the windows and the flies and smell of arses were included in the price. It did have one working TV at the front which continuously showed 3 films of 'George de la selva' (George of the Jungle) and one actually repeated itself in the course of the journey. Never before have I seen George of the Jungle and never again do I want to see it.  The sound was deafening and there was a constant whirring noise on the TV. 


The bus was full and a girl in her mid 20's sat beside me. As soon as she sat down, I could have sworn she had a kipper in her bag; either that or she'd some sort of infection. Jaysus, the smell of fish was wild, and it disappeared as she left the bus. In the seat across from me sat a man in his 50's who constantly gobbed (spat up phlegm) the whole way there, either on the floor or the seat in front of him.  At every toll, people got on selling food/drinks (I stuck to my ham baps) and of course, fishy beside me, fed her face at each stop and fell asleep after her food had disappeared down her oesophagus (obviously her body was exhausted from all the digesting it was doing).  


We drove through endless desert upon desert. Looking out the window each time, the scenery never seemed to change. I moved seats once darkness had arrived, as lots of people got off at the stop prior to mine and some weird, local guy decided to sit beside me, replacing the guy who was gobbing and kept staring at me. Naturally, I gave him the 'WTF look' and moved to another seat .  I eventually arrived in Talara to streets full of moto-taxis - it was like being back in Thailand again for a short while. The moto-taxis were unable to take me to my place of rest in the desert as the sand was too much for their little tyres. So I managed to find a taxi car to take me, which was expensive, but I didn't care as I just wanted to arrive in Lobitos as I was tired.


On entering Lobitos, there is a military check-point, which I already knew about. However, stopping at this check-point, I could hear the soldiers telling the driver that the house I was going to HelpX in was closed. Naturally, in my head, I was like, no - it's ok, of course it's not closed as I was in contact with them via email before I left Trujillo.
I arrived at the driveway of the house (this place really was in the middle of nowhere/desert) only to be greeted by two armed soldiers with a dog.  The taxi driver told them I was an 'amiga' of the owners and they exchanged words and I could still hear them saying it was closed. I asked them if it was ok if I could get out and speak to the people in the house. I was then followed by these armed guards to the front door; which was a window. The soldiers prohibited me from entering and I had to sit on the bench outside the window and talk to the people through it.


The owner had apparently gone to Lima on Tuesday and couldn't seem to be contacted by phone, email or facebook. In the house were 5 HelpXers (the 2 main people I was in contact with via email were from Germany - Sebastian and Andrea; hippy looking people, with dread locks in their hair; another guy from France, who had arrived in the morning and was quite shy and obviously in shock at the soldiers being outside the house. He went to bed...probably wondering how to get the hell out). There were 3 other guys there, who were in Lobitos to surf.  Naturally, at the start, I wasn't too concerned and thought that the soldiers had to 'ok' my arrival, as the area is used as a military base.


Time passed, and Sebastian, the German, spoke to the soldiers and still, I wasn't allowed in. This time there were 5 of them around me, talking on their walkie talkies, disappearing into the darkness, then re-appearing again to make sure I hadn't entered.  I didn't feel threatened by them (maybe the Police and military presence around good aul N.Ireland had something to do with that). By this stage I was wrecked, and Jack the Ripper could've been standing in front of me and I wouldn't have been bothered.


Whilst sitting there, I got to chat to the Andrea, the German girl and she said that as soon as the owner left on Tuesday, the military swooped into the house, cordoned off the place (with that type of sticky tape the cops use when there has been a murder scene...which was still visible on all of the doors - probably why I couldn't get in a door and had to sit at a window).  They wanted to know who was in the house, questioned them and went into every room taking photos and not allowing people to enter.  Now, by this stage, I was getting a bit suspicious. It's like the people inside were under some sort of house arrest (even though I'm sure they weren't) and then there was dopey me, sitting outside trying to get in.


Time passed and still under no circumstances, was I allowed in and there was to be no more than 8 people inside. It was a night on the desert for me then. I was escorted off the premises by armed soldiers with their fat perro (dog) in tow and it didn't matter to them that I was by myself, female, and had nowhere to stay. Even my 'pretty please' in Spanish didn't swing it for me. A tiny bit of me wanted to try and bribe them, but I chickened out. Later, Sebastian and Andrea came and said they knew of a place nearby that I could stay. There was a wee surf hostel located down the sandy pathway that was able to accommodate me for the night. The HelpX house paid for my night and told me to come back the next morning. Even after everything that had happened, they were still desperate to get me back into that house the next day (?), which was a bit strange alright.


I slept in the nice surf hostel and got to waken to the sound of the waves; but as soon as I got up and had a look outside (i.e. sand with oil rigs dotted over the place) and saw my other house on the hill; I decided, enough was enough - time to leave. Even if I wanted to stay, there was no way the military would let me and I didn't fancy a bullet to the head if I tried to enter the house.  The wee hostel I stayed in was very basic but nice; full of surfers who were friendly and I met a nice guy called Elmo, who was finishing his surfing there after 3 months and was looking to get into Talara to get a bus to Lima. He told me that there was always something not right about the house I was meant to be in and advised me to stay well away. 


I took his advice and decided to get a combi (without saying goodbye to the others in the HelpX house) with him to the nearest Cruz del Sur bus station here (there was no way I was jumping on the local 'El Dorado' bus again). I decided to spend a few extra Soles in comfort and safety on my next journey.  The only Cruz del Sur bus out of this place goes direct to Lima. If I wanted to get to the border of Ecuador with some bus company/border crossing, I'd have to take the local dodgy buses; but have been well warned off these as the border crossings are dangerous and can be quite hairy if you take the wrong bus. I think I've had my fill for one day and Lima sounds great - so I'm taking the next fancy bus out of here back to the city of Lima. God knows where after this; I'll figure out something on my 18 hour journey back to Lima (I could swear Cusco is trying to pull me back again - how dare it!!).


If this had happened to me 4 years ago, I probably would've been on the first flight home. Now, I don't get too bothered - always another extra story to tell. I think the last year of travel has definitely chilled me out - great stuff!

Oh Trujillo, you're breakin my heart

'You're shakin my confidence daily, oh Trujillo, I'm down on my knees, I'm begging you please to go home, go on home!' (sing this to the Simon and Garfunkel 'Cecilia').


Woo-hoo - two new posts within the space of a few days. Shows how bored shiteless I am in this place called Trujillo. This dump is the third largest city in Peru, the 'Capital of the Everlasting Spring' (yeah right, a cloud of fog more like) and the birthplace of Peru's judiciary and was the scene of the Revolution of Trujillo in 1932 and to be honest looks like the revolution never ended. A bit of brightly coloured buildings in the plaza and pink and blue buildings falling down all over the place, with every car being a taxi (probably to take people anywhere but here).  Apparently it was twice the capital of Peru - thank God, some judge up here decided to give it back to Lima, as he obviously realised how awful it was and saw sense in returning it to its rightful place.


This place is boring with a capital 'B'. Reasons to those stated above: -

• Tried to find a bit of nightlife here - the first being an Irish bar called 'The Office'. Googled it and went in search of it (as there was nowhere near the plaza opened or any bars that were mentioned either closed down, were non-existent). Asked lots of people where it was and got looks of uncertainty, so the time came to google it again, not only to realise this bar was actually in Trujillo in Costa Rica (just thousands of miles up into Central America).

• The hostel is like a ghost-hostel with the room resembling that of a box, with an entrance of white iron gates, resembling that in a convent. It does have big showers mind you; and the daily breakfast of two baps and jam are coming out of my ears.

• The streets are lined in a grid shape and unfortunately they all lead back to the Plaza de Armas, which is dull, in comparison to Cusco terms. The only exciting thing happening, was one man singing out loud to people sitting on the benches (to be honest, I think he was a bit mental anyway).

• Received a sheet of info from the lady who owned the hostel and one of the main highlights of Trujillo was to go and visit the 'Museo de Jugetes' - 'The Toy Museum' ..eh no thanks along with a UNESCO  World Heritage Site of 'Chan Chan' - In my non exciting historical eyes; it's a big sandcastle that has eroded away.  The only joy I got visiting here was trying to be a rebel by climbing over a bit of rope onto another piece of sand and getting a whistle blown at me by the Security Guard shouting 'Prohibito'. It was open from 9-4.30pm - myself and Grainne arrived up at 2.20pm and were walking out of it by 2.40pm down the dusty 2km road back onto the main 'highway'

• Turn from the plaza and take a left down one street and you'll find a shop selling glasses and next to this shop, you'll find another selling glasses and the same repeated the whole way down - I have no idea how any of these people make a living when the shop right next door is exactly the same.

• There is the beach however, which is a 40 minute combi-ride out of the historical centre and is a nice change, but looks a bit like Newcastle Beach in County Down about 30 years ago where you're not sure if it is sand or dog poo that you are treading in along the path.  Maybe it's history and quaintness are lost on me because I can't wait to get the hell out of this complete dive. It like being in a prison here - even walking on the streets zaps all the energy from you.  The only joy we've had so far is eating at a nice restaurant for 9 Soles (£2) for 3 courses and Grainne trimming my hair!!

But, of course, I am getting out of here in less than 24 hours time and Grainne is heading south to Arequipa, so I'm on my own travelling again. Three days was enough here. I have booked myself onto some dodgy bus that the locals get heading up the coast (gone are the posh/safe/expensive/GPS Navigation/ 2 bus drivers & host/fully reclining seats/free wifi/food on board Cruz del Sur buses that I've been using here in Peru) to Talara which is 9 hours drive away. It'll be my own food/stuck beside a chorlita with bread sticking out of her backpack/seats that recline 5 degrees or knowing my luck, forward/free Wifi for anyone wishing to steal my laptop/1 bus driver maybe taking a nap up the coast/28 Soles (£6 for a 9 hour bus journey compared to nearly 90 Soles for the same length of time on Cruz del Sur to get to Trujillo from Lima).

After this, I will be heading off into the desert of Peru - the west coast is very deserted the further north you go. As I said before, I will be going to a place called 'Lobitos' which used to be an old English port which has now been taken over by the Peruvian military and is being used as a base and training area, in the middle of a desert 40 minutes away from the nearest town or city.

After my bus arrives in Talara, hopefully with my bags still with me at this point, I have to try and get my way to Lobitos using a moto-taxi or combi (but somehow I don't think I'll be appreciated on a combi the size of a workers van with people squashed into it and me and my big pink bag entering) and find my way to a big 'pink house'. But before I find this I need to pass through the police check-point in the area. The people I'll be working with sound absolutely lovely and the place seems pretty chilled out, so looking forward to it. Anything is an improvement to Trujillo, even the vast emptiness of a desert on one side, with the sound of the ocean on another sounds good...'Jubilaaaaaation!!!!' (the end of the song for Cecilia/'Trujillo').

Lima

I'm now at present in Lima - a city covered by low fog all day long. I'm in an area of the city called Miraflores which is right by the coast. Went for a run along a bit of the coastal route yesterday and the sea/coastline is stunning. The city, even though I was here last year for a few days, is a far cry from Cusco. Miraflores is a wealthy area of Lima with high rise buildings, hotels, casinos, fancy cars, people running, skateboarding and surfing etc. It's hard to believe that Cusco and Lima are two cities in the same country. Completely opposite ends of the scale and it's easier to breathe here as I'm now back at sea level and my lungs are thanking me for it.

I graduated from Spanish school last week and received an intermediate certificate (go me!) and now I'm ready to use my new found knowledge as I travel bits of South America. Here's hoping I'll become a bit better as I move onwards. I would love to be fluent in another language - I'm so jealous of those people who can speak two, three or more languages. In my last week at school, I had to dress up in local traditional dress with a few other students and model or in my case prance down a home-made catwalk (between a handful of plastic white chairs onto a tiny blanket with a chico on my other arm). Was really good fun.

Myself and Grainne were also coerced into setting up a stall in one of the plazas in Cusco and talk about Ireland to let the locals know about our country and culture. Initially, the school was asked for two American students, but Mayke, the director of the school said that she knew of 'dos chicas locas de Irlanda' (two crazy girls from Ireland) that would be be able to help out (even though there were loads of American students in the school).  'Chica loca' (crazy girl) has replaced my Christian name - no idea why, as I'm just being my usual self. I suppose it's the Spanish version of my nickname 'Maddog'/'Mad' at home.

Well, we set up our stall in the plaza and you can guess what was probably on it - yes, empty cans of Guinness, a couple of flags, a huge Guinness money pot, two leprechaun hats - really sells Ireland as a serious country (not) - more like a country that likes to drink alcohol and party all the time!  Grainne dressed up as a leprechaun; I painted my face and legs and wore my St Nicholas' school Gaelic jersey - and yes, we both looked like complete tits standing there tying to explain in Spanish about Ireland to the locals. We felt a bit famous for the day as there were loads of randomers coming up to us asking for a photo. 

Our stall, even though it would have looked ridiculous at home, was better than the rest. Beside us was Ecuador - on this stall hung an Ecuadorian flag and on the table they were selling 'perro kaka' (translated literally as 'dog poo')in little bags (but they were some sort of chocolates). The guy looked bored as hell and spent most of the day reading his book, with hardly anyone coming to his stall. Mexico was there too and they had a tiny table selling nachos and then there was Argentina - they nearly killed us all with the smoke from their barbeque, selling sausages, meat and what looked like intestines. Someone must have complained about the smoke, as the Police turned up and told them to move their BBQ elsewhere.

Was looking forward to Inti Raymi in Cusco - a huge festival here that I described in my last blog. But alas, I only got to see the crowd leaving the plaza after it had all finished. The reason? Well, we all decided to go out the night before and didn't get home until 7am the next day. Was a great wee night. We had Sandra, one of the Directors of all of the language schools in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador staying in our residence for the week. A really lovely lady, who we decided to ask if she wanted to come out with us for a drink (her first taste of Guinness) along with Mayke, another Director. Mayke left after one drink and Sandra continued on til the wee small hours of the morning.

The next day there was no sign of Sandra from her room (now this woman works like 10 hours a day or more, nearly everyday, and is normally up early in the morning to work). We thought that we'd maybe killed the woman and had to knock on her door to see if she was ok. Thankfully, she was alive and well - but I don't think she'll be accepting offers from us Irish again. 

I love Cusco and somehow I think I'll end up back there again someday for my fourth time. I have no idea what it is; it is like a magnet that keeps pulling me back. I have met many locals and some of the ones who work in the school invited myself and Grainne round to their house for dinner before we left. There's a little Cusquenan family there in my second home - it's great.

Tomorrow, myself and Grainne will be catching a bus at 11.30pm to Trujillo (after a baby-shower here with some friends of a host family that Grainne stayed with in Cusco last year), a city north of Lima, which is 9 hours away. I will be staying here until Wednesday and after that, we'll be off on our separate ways. I want to go northwards up through Peru and into Ecuador; Grainne is going to go down to Arequipa  - a city I've already visited last year, before she heads on home.

I will make my way up the north of Peru, along the west coast, where there are lots of beaches and sun and will make my way near Mancora, which is a massive surfing spot here in Peru. I will be staying in a place called Lobitos, which is a surfing camp near the sea, and where there is some HelpX work (yep, I'll be starting that up again).  They've kept me a spot working for them - not sure exactly, but probably bar work, cleaning dorms, helping in the kitchen etc. Have said I'll stay for 2 weeks, or more, depending on how I get on and if I don't get bored. My visa for Peru, still lasts for another 2 months as I got 120 days instead of 90 - still have no idea how this has happened. As long as I don't get arrested for a mistake that the immigration officer may have made on my passport when I entered the country.

After this, my sketchy plan is to go into Ecuador - I may decide to go back to Spanish school in Quito for a couple of weeks there or volunteer...who knows - I have no clue!  It's hard to believe that I finished teaching, exactly this time last year - the year has flown by.

Eberth and myself dressed up in local costume at school

My two Peruvian mums in Cusco 

Our 'Ireland stall' in the plaza 

Crowds of people in the Plaza de Armas for Inti Raymi

Myself, Sandra (the Director of  the Spanish Schools), Mayke and Grainne with  their first Guinness

All Clear

Thankfully, I was given the all clear by the specialist today. The virus has gone from my eye, but she told me that it will return again - could be weeks, months, maybe longer, but when it does I've to seek medical help at once.  Here's hoping I'm not in the arse end of nowhere. If that does happen, then I'll happily take a flight to the 'The First World' rather than losing my sight altogether here in some Third World country in South America. The specialist who was looking after me was lovely. I've never come across a nicer doctor. Each time I went, she gave me a kiss and a hug goodbye - nice doctors over here - the doctors at home could learn a thing or two!!!

Next week is my last week of Spanish classes here in Cusco. Two weeks ago I think I hit a brick wall as the poor teacher was nearly pulling her hair out trying to make me understand complemento directos and indirectos. They had me in a class with another student from France, who was clearly fluent in Spanish and who could speak, understand and basically could have taught the teacher.

I asked nicely to be moved to another class the following week to revise some of the things I learnt prior as all these verbs that need conjugated were confusing me. This week, I'm with an American student who has been learning Spanish since Grade 8 and who is taking Spanish as a minor at University. There are so many past tenses in Spanish (so far, I've been taught the preterito simple, presente perfecto, pluscamperfecto and the preterito imperfecto - there are probably more which I'll gladly never learn). Why can't it just be easy and only have one -it's doing my nut in. 

Since my last blog, Grainne, my friend from Ireland, arrived in a complete dump for her volunteering miles outside Cusco city. No sooner had the poor girl arrived in her homestay, she was looking out of it. Grainne, no sooner had she put her bags in her room, just left her house and came to mine. She decided she wanted out, so thought it was a good idea to go and collect her bags from her homestay. Two hours later in a taxi, the two of us were driving around Cusco to find her home - we had no idea where it was; neither did the taxi driver or the vagabonds on the street, so we made our way back to my house; decided to google a map and directions to her house to give to another taxi driver. 

Ok, great stuff - or so we thought. We got into a taxi, showed the taxi the directions from my house to hers. The taxi driver took off, turned the car around the block and hey presto...he brought us both to my house. Grainne, at this stage was in the back saying  'what the bleep' - two of us arriving back to where we were in the first place, practically outside my door (the two of us in stitches at this stage). Eventually we got there, took her bags and flitted in the early evening. She is now safe and sound in the same residence as myself and two others (she's in the Presidential Suite at the top of the house - own double bed, bathroom etc and the rest of us are slumming it and sharing at the plebian level below) and volunteering with the Spanish school that I'm in here in Cusco.

The altitude is being a wee shite as per usual. I'm blaming it for being baltic here at night, breaking my phone, computer, charger and now my straighteners along with my dodgy eye. Here in Peru, people don't tend to throw things out - they get them fixed again and again. Found a little set of electrical shops down the back streets of Cusco and the wee man in the tin shed of a shop of his (no bigger than about 2m x 2m) said he could fix them. He told me to come back that afternoon. 

I arrived back at the time only to find he wasn't there and my straighteners were lying there with the wires everywhere. I sat and watched the TV with a couple of the other men in the 'electric shed' and still no sign of him. I was thinking that he hadn't a clue, knew when I was arriving and scarpered. 1.5 hours later I said I'd return the next day. Lo and behold, he wasn't there again, straighteners still lying in the same place. Finally, on the third day, I cornered him and found out that my little straighteners couldn't be fixed. Obviously the circuit was way too advanced for his techinical skills (which involved him using 2 screwdrivers and some kind of outdated ohmmeter to tell him if it was working).

During the weekend, myself and Grainne decided to get into the spirit of Euro 2012 and support Ireland in their first match against Croatia. Grainne brought over the Irish flag and some t-shirts from home to wear. We found some face paint here in Cusco and I bought the Peru flag (as Peru were playing Uruguay in a World Cup Qualifier for Brazil). Off we went, dressed in our colours and headed to the local Irish bar. 

We left our house with our flags in hand; faces painted and Grainne singing 'You'll never beat the Irish'.  As soon as we left the passage to our house, we ran into what we thought was some type of funeral.There was a crowd of people walking slowly past us: priests, altar boys etc. looking at us dressed like eejits. It was slightly awkward situation alright!  Luckily, it wasn't a funeral, it was some sort of procession for Corpus Christi.  So, happily we continued onto Paddy's Irish bar here. The two of us were the only ones dressed in our finery - after a couple of drinks, we didn't care. In the end, Ireland lost miserably and Peru lost also - both teams at the bottom of their respective tables. It didn't take long for Grainne to take out her baby wipes and remove the flags from her face. Me, I slept in mine.

Cusco is renowned for all of its fiestas. There isn't a weekend that goes by without the people singing and dancing in the street, full of lots of colour. Corpus Christi was absolutely huge here. Never seen so many people in the Plaza del Aramas and have never seen so many holy statues (and scary looking ones at that) being paraded through the city with the local Cusquenans drinking and eating guinea pig - any excuse for a party.

The biggest fiesta of all here is on 24th June - Cusco Day/'Dia del Cusco', or more famously 'Inti Raymi' which is massive over here. It is the 'Festival of the Sun' which is a religious Inca festival in honour of the god 'Inti' and takes place in the winter solstice when the sun is furthest from the earth (tell me about it - damn freezing here at night, the cold is ridiculous!). Apparently, it's the second largest festival here in South America, after the Rio Carnival. Have timed my classes perfectly as they finish on the Friday of that weekend. Myself and Grainne have decided to leave Cusco after Inti Raymi and head to lower grounds.

My dodgy eye

Carrying holy statues around Cusco

Supporting Ireland and Peru in Paddy's Pub, Cusco

Daily fiestas in the Plaza de Armas in Cusco