Rochelle writes...

...about her experience while volunteering in the Peru program.

Diary Entries:

· Casa Familia
· Senorita Rosita
· Cuy & Flight of the Conchords
· Locos and Peligrosos
· Mysteries and Mossies
· Maravilloso Machu Picchu

Casa Familia (4 June 2008)

As I am now into my second week in Cuzco, I have moved out of my apartment and into the Family House. I am sharing a room with 2 girls from New York for the week. 20 or so other volunteers have just arrived this week (all from The States) so there are plenty of people around. The family provides all our meals which so far have been great.

I went to meet the Doctor who uses natural therapies today but she is going to be away for the rest of the week so I won't be able to spend time in her clinic. Instead I have decided to spend the next 3 days in the afternoons in a shelter for abused girls. I've grabbed a couple of packs of cards and Rummikub from the games cupboard to help entertain the girls. And hopefully the language barrier will be immaterial.

I am currently doing Spanish for 2 hours in the morning and am conjugating verbs as if my life depended on it. It is pretty tough but a good feeling of achievement to understand something that I couldn't a week ago...

I have yet to try the true Peruvian cuisine which is guinea pig. It comes complete with head and paws. In fact apparently they make a little hat for it out of vegetables. One guy went to a local restaurant slash bar and said they were running everywhere. So perhaps you get to select the one you want - like lobsters.

I hope to organise a trek to Macchu Picchu sometime over the next 5 weeks as well - the later I leave it the colder those nights start getting! I'm really enjoying my time here and also looking forward to next week when I head to the natural therapy clinic in Andahuayilillas.

Senorita Rosita (16 June 2008)

Wow - feel like I have been cast into a parallel universe where I have a whole new life and even a new name! I have been fully integrated into family life here as La Doctora's parents live in an adjoining portion of Casa del Sol. Hence I am spending my time with two 80 year olds and their housekeeper. Rochelle is a bit difficult to pronounce so I have been re-christened "Rosa" or as El Senor calls me "Senorita Rosita".

They have an interesting feature in the garden (aside from the cow) which is like a pit surrounded by seats and with a roof held up by large beams. Turns out it is a cock fighting ring and I got subjected to a 90 minute dvd of a live event. The fights which don't tend to last much more than 5 minutes each involve 2 roosters being thrust at each other then plonked into the ring together but a few metres apart. They then start an elaborate play of pretending the other isn't there but cautiously getting into each others territory before one strikes. The event was broken at half time by women being selected from the audience and then each given a yellow rose and paraded around the ring.

El Senor has a young boy that works with him to train the cocks that we have wandering around the garden. They have a bit fight coming up on Saturday but I may have had my fill. La Doctora's brother also has a little bit of land just up the road so we went and visited his roosters, pigs and guinea pigs (cuy). There is no way I could consider consuming the national dish after seeing those cute little guys.

I have been dividing my time between the Doctors clinics here in Andahuaylillas and Cusco. I have now seen a lot of gall stones, ovarian cysts and enlarged prostates. She prescribes a lot of Bach flowers and homeopathic remedies as well. One of the saddest cases was an older woman living in the mountains on her own who had her cuy stolen that she'd planned to sell to the restaurants in Cusco. It had left her fearful and broke. We also had a woman who came in who I had an initial impression of being quite old - mostly because she had no front teeth. It turns out she was 36 - my age - but people in the country just don't have access to dentists or even toothbrushes. The cost of a consultation in Andahauylillas is NZ$2.50 which wouldn't even cover La Doctora's petrol money.

I made a chart featuring some of the main foods that are consumed over here and divided them into - "Should be eaten every day", "Ok to be eaten sometimes", and "Only eaten on special occasions". Hopefully it has worked well at transcending both the language and possibly literacy barrier as my first client on Sunday spoke only Quechua. I'm trying to encourage people to eat more like their ancestors did. For example whilst quinoa is an up and coming, expensive food in NZ, it is grown here and is the food of the Incas. There seems to be a lot of coca cola drunken here and a lot of papas fritas (chips) eaten! I ordered a cheeseburger at a pub recently in Cusco which came with papas fritas and salad. I opted for mashed potato instead and it came out with papas fritas and mashed potato instead of the salad.

On Friday night La Doctora took me to a special Fathers Day dinner which took place at the Cusco Club. It was very much the hoi polloi of Cusco and her nephew couldn't even get in as he was wearing jeans. However so was I - jeans are a going out outfit when you are a backpacker after all! Except that they were obscured mostly by the long black alpaca jacket that she had lent me - which I then daren't take off. Even when I ended up dancing with the Presidente of the Club later in the night. I had pretty much gone 3 whole days by that stage without speaking a word of English so it was great to spend Saturday in Cusco hanging out with some English speakers. Spending this time in the country has got to be good for my Spanish though and it feels like a very authentic Peruvian experience and right off the well worn gringo trail.

Cuy & Flight of the Conchords (26 June 2008)

I feel really fortunate to be staying with Doctor Gladys and her family as she has made me so welcome. And I really feel like I'm having a true Peruvian experience. The extended family are around a lot so I get to spend a fair bit of time with her kids and the cousins and uncles etc. They are definitely the middle class Peruvians as Doctor Gladys' brothers and sisters are all professionals - either doctors, engineers, lawyers or dentists and the grandkids all seem to be heading in the same direction.

I've spent more time in Cusco this week than in Andahuaylillas which has meant a completely different clientele. Less stolen cuy and missing teeth and more the upper middle class with their western blood sugar diseases and looks of horror when I suggest dietary changes and exercise! Whereas in Andahuaylillas I think people are simply grateful for the information as they just don't have the same access to media or internet so they really don't know what dietary choices are good for them.

On Sunday we bought a couple of cooked cuy (guinea pigs) for El Senor and La Senora. They loved them - head and all. They are really difficult to even watch being eaten - they come out perfectly intact with little feet and teeth.

For those moments when I do want a taste of home, at least I've got Scribe on my ipod and my sister (bless her) sent me 12 episodes of Flight of the Conchords. I am now the envy of a couple of the Americans from the Family House who adore FOTC. They've definitely got a cult following amongst the more enlightened Estados Unidesense. Unfortunately they couldn't find any pirated copies down at El Mollino the market that sells just about everything bar FOTC dvds!

Locos and Peligrosos (1 July 2008)

It was fiesta time in Cusco this week and it's difficult to describe the sheer ensuing craziness and party atmoshere. On Monday there was one parade after another from morning till night with absolutely no consistency between groups. Some groups had quite a religious theme carrying a display of Christ on the cross with an arrow through his arm(?) surrounded by figurines of half naked woman. While another group will be dancing girls in amazingly short dresses and high boots. This could all be followed by groups dressed in outrageous masks with huge noses or completely covered in white balaclavas pretending to be drunk and dancing with empty beer bottles.

This all culiminated in Inti Raymi on Tuesday which is the winter solstice and involves a huge festival at some local ruins of which the finale is supposed to be the slaughter of a llama with the an Incan priest offering the llamas heart to the sun. You can pay $90 for the privilege of a front row seat or rough it with the locals. Of course, I chose the latter option. The highlight was when thousands of locals stormed the ruins for a better view which had been cordoned off by police and the cops were powerless to stop them. I guess that is what happens when you charge prices that no locals can seriously contemplate.

A couple of nights earlier, there was a big concert on in the plaza and it was jam packed with people. We managed to squeeze our way across but not without incident. It wasn't till he looked that one of the guys realised he'd been pick pocketed. They'd managed to get his wallet out of the front pocket of his jeans without him feeling a thing. Real Oliver Twist styles. Then at Inti Raymi I actually spied a female pickpocket trying to get into my friends overshoulder bag. She bailed pretty quick once she realised she'd been spotted. However, I met a Spanish guy a couple of weeks ago who had traveled the world without incident except for getting his car broken into on the Karangahake gorge back home.

Around this time I also had an interesting encounter with a shoe shine man. Small change is really necessary here and hard to get hold of when the ATM's only dispense $25 or $50 notes. Anyway I really did need my shoes polished but only had $25 but he assured me he had change. So we agreed on $1 for the shoeshine. So once he'd finished he took my $25 then went to get the change. Round the corner. Out of sight. I realised this was potentially the most expensive shoe shine anyone had ever had. Fortunately he had left me with his shoe shine stuff to safeguard in his absence. Hence I began busily working out just how many shoe shines I was going to do in order to make my $25 back. And berating myself for being such a fool despite being a reasonably seasoned traveler (i.e. old). Well the relief I experienced when the shoe shine man eventually showed up and managed to keep my credibility intact.

The other area of craziness that amps up during festival time is crazy taxi drivers. Because you pay a flat fee not based on their time, they will endeavour to get you there in the quickest time possible. La Doctora said that taxi drivers have a saying that "God is a Peruvian" due to the amount of close encounters that they manage to survive and I am inclined to agree.

And here is just a sample of my experiences:

• 1. Driving from Urcos to Andahuaylillas with 16 people in the taxi. Admittedly it was a station wagon.
• 2. Driving from Andahuaylillas to Cusco and overtaking at night on a particularly busy stretch and pulling into our lane just in time to see the oncoming truck had a big sign saying "Peligro Combustibles" i.e. crash into me and we'll probably both go up in flames.
• 3. Reversing up Avenida de la Cultura (main street) once he realised he'd missed my turn into oncoming traffic just last night.

There was a different festival in Andahuaylillas this weekend as well (can't seem to get enough of them over here!). As compared to Cusco I was the only tourist at this one. This went mostly un-noticed except by one young girl who shouted "gringita" and pointed in my direction. They marched 47 saints through the streets and then celebrated with eating, dancing and drinking in the streets. And cock fighting in the backyard of Casa del Sol. Which is how I came to lose $5 on a cock with no tail feather. I thought it meant that he was the survivor of many tough battles. Just not this time apparently.

Mysteries and Mossies (10 July 2008)

The jungle... It was a great trip. I flew to Puerto Maldonado and then took a boat 2 hours down the river to Eco Amazonia lodge which was in an amazing setting with lodges set amongst the jungle. After a magnificent lunch we visited Monkey Island which is owned by EcoAmazonia. Unfortunately these monkeys are well used to humans and thus you have to avoid them trying to jump on your backs and stealing your water bottles. Not everyone was so lucky and I spoke to an Aussie girl who was licked up one arm and across her face by an over-friendly primate before managing to disintangle herself. It also made me realise that the guide's machete wasn't necessarily just for chopping bananas.

After dinner we went crocodile hunting and managed to spot a number of caiman (crocs) resting peacefully on the river banks. With only limited use of electricity 6-10pm at night, everyone was in bed pretty early after a couple of games of pool.

The next morning was a 5am start and after an amazing sunrise we rowed our boat for an hour and a half down the river we ended up in the middle of the jungle and walked up a watch tower, painted ourselves with natural dyes and spotted more monkeys, caiman and turtles. It was pretty muggy but no more so than a typical summers day in Auckland. It was just so pleasant having such warm evenings - unlike Cusco which drops about 20 degrees in the same amount of minutes.

After a 5km trek back through to the lodge we had a bit of relaxation time which I spent hanging out in the hammocks which is when I believe I may have suffered the attack of the aforementioned mossies. Later in the afternoon we went for a walk through the medicinal garden which was really interesting. Our guide's father was a shaman (medicine man) so he had an intimate knowledge of healing plants and also extolled the virtues of ayahuasca which is a hallucinogenic jungle plant that is supposed to lead to greater life clarity. That is after you have spent most of the day vomiting (an inevitable side effect).

The next morning we headed back by boat to Puerto Maldonado. While waiting for our flight we visited a snake farm and managed to hold a python, an anaconda, a small caiman (carefully) and a biting turtle. One group had seen a snake in the jungle that if it bites, death will result in 30 minutes unless you get the anti-venom in time. Fortunately this one was busy laying eggs so wasn't so interested in biting anyone. And then it was back to Cusco, exchanging the dangers of the jungle wildlife for the perils of Peruvian taxi drivers.

Maravilloso Machu Picchu (11 July 2008)

Unless you have booked in advance, are well organised or are traveling off peak, there is a good chance that you won't be able to walk the famous Inca Trail (Camino Inca). Fortunately there are a number of alternative treks which allow you to arrive at Machu Picchu via Agua Calientes, the town at the base of the famous ruins. I chose to do the Lares trek which takes you through a lot of small villages and is really picturesque.

I got picked up at 6am on Friday morning and we drove for an hour into a small town where I had rice pudding combined with a sweet gelatinous purple substance (probably derived from purple corn) for breakfast at the local market. Here we could stock up on supplies, such as energy bars and water for the next few days. I also bought a walking stick as they'd been recommended (and I am very old and was soon to be even older). We then drove another 2 hours over a winding metal road to the start of our trek stopping on the way to visit 2 condors captured for breeding. They release them regularly to fly around which is just as well 'cause they are big birds and their enclosure was a little on the small side.

Our starting point was the Lares natural hot pools which was definitely a selling point for this particular trek. They were in a lovely setting and there were lots of locals there despite it being a pretty isolated area. A group of physically disabled people arrived as well for the healing properties of the waters. We made the most of it as this would be the last time any of us would be bathing for a couple of days.

After lunch (3 courses) we set off on a 3 hour gradual climb to our first campsite. Lares is 3100m and we were heading up to Huacahuasi at 3800m (fyi - Mt Cook is 3755m). On the way we ended up walking with a lot of children on their way home from school. We'd all chipped in to buy bread to hand out to them on the way - even though they would probably have preferred dulces (sweets). Having said that they were always really grateful and didn't demand something from us as I've experienced kids do in other countries. The amazing thing was that some of these children live in Huacahuasi, the same village that we were heading to for the night. The reality is that probably doesn't take them 3 hours to walk home 'cause they were skipping up those hills compared to us. But it is still an easy hour or more downhill to school in Lares and 2 hours home each night which is pretty dedicated.

By the time we got to Huacahuasi camp was set up and we had some hot water in a small bowl to wash with. After an amazing dinner we stayed up for a bit playing cards but eventually the cold drove us to bed. I wore everything in my back pack but a tent isn't much protection from the elements. However nothing will beat the sensation of the sun pouring in that next morning and tentatively being able to unpeel all the layers.

After a 3 course breakfast including porridge, pancakes and toast, we commenced our trek for the day again. At times it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and suddenly a 4 year old child would be jogging up a hill towards us. In the meantime we were feeling the effects of every inch of the 4200m that we eventually reached. In fact I was very glad for having been in Cusco for as long as I had as I didn't suffer anything other than some mild lack of fitness due to city living for the past 4 weeks. Whereas one of the guys was in a pretty bad way - super tired, no appetite and bad headache. It was really frustrating for him too as he runs 3 times a week and is a super healthy guy usually but was really knocked around by the altitude. It must have been even more frustrating to see our cook and horsemen jogging past us about an hour after we'd set off, having packed up all our tents, heading towards the next campsite in order to have our next meal prepared. These guys would be super athletes at sea level!!

...A 2 hour train ride took us to Agua Calientes where we checked into our hotel and looked forward to our first hot shower (or any kind of shower for that matter) in some time. Sheer bliss. We then met with an Irish couple who had both been too sick with Salmonella to do the trek but were keen to visit Machu Picchu nevertherless. I then celebrated my first birthday dinner as it was now July 7 in NZ. Although I think it came as a shock to my trekmates that NZ was ahead of the rest of the world (at least in time) as they thought that was Australia. Slowly, slowly, I am chipping away at the myth that we are indeed one big nation called Australia.

The next morning, after a 4.45am wake up call, we headed up the winding hill to Machu Picchu. It is pretty unreal arriving at such spectacular ruins, witnessing the sunrise, climbing Waynu Picchu and just hanging out. About 60% of the ruins are original but another 40% has had to be repaired. And the repairs in some parts haven't worn as well as the original! It may have remained undiscovered by the Spaniards when they first invaded but they've had their bite at it since. In the 80's when the King and Queen of Spain came to visit, the obelisk in the middle of the large lawn area was removed to allow their helicopter to land. Furthermore, in 2000, a stone that had been used as an astronomic clock, was chipped when a crane used when filming a beer commercial fell on it.

And here at Machu Picchu is also the site of Peru's most expensive snack bar. The prices were more expensive than your average Western style snack bar which is outrageous when 25 cents can buy you a lovely rice pudding for breakfast. I had visions of my own little empanada stand to compete with the 7 dollar empanadas on offer! That is like a 7 dollar pie. And water was 5 dollars! Truly outrageous.

However back to the veritable one of the seven wonders of the world that is Machu Picchu. It was definitely a great place to discover and no doubt I will struggle to find anywhere as amazing for any subsequent birthdays. A 4 hour train ride then brought us back to Cuzco where we parted company, tired and sore. But thrilled to have had such an awesome experience.