PERU

I´ve landed in Cusco for about two weeks, working with an organization called Aldea Yanapay in their school/daycare program and staying in a hostel with the other volunteers. So far Cusco is definitely really touristy, I can´t walk down the main streets or sit in the central plazas without someone trying to speak English and sell me something.. but it´s also a beautiful city, and I really like being in one place and having somewhere to come¨"home" to. I got here Monday night and was kind of surprised to find that they were actaully expecting me (given previous more...relaxed volunteer experiences) and that I had unknowingly left one of the other volunteers, Sharon, alone teaching our class that day. Oops.. but she was really nice about it and helped me figure things out pretty quick. This week we´re helping the kids with art for the first two hours (making Christmas decorations for the school) and then teaching an always-changing group of 10 year olds about Hindusim (!) for the next two. I guess the idea is to teach the different classes about other world cultures and religions with the theme of holiday celebrations in December (actually a pretty great idea, since Catholicism is so dominant here and I´m not sure if they learn much about other cultures in school). It´s been hard figuring out how much informtaion to give them, how to keep them interested, etc.. but in general they seem to be having fun with it, and the school and the hostel are pretty great places, so I feel lucky to have ended up here. School is from 3-7, so I´ve been using the mornings to explore the city, see some churches and museums and things.. and this weekend I´m going to Macchu Picchu!
Backtracking a bit to recap, before I got to Cusco I spent two more days on Lake Titicaca from Puno: took a boat Saturday morning to the Uros floating islands, which are made out of reeds and still inhabited, and although the people who live there seem pretty reliant on tourism at least they still live there.. which was pretty crazy to see/walk around on. Next we went to Amantani island, quite a bit farther out.. did a homestay with a family on the island for a night, watched another amazing sunset. In the morning on to Taquile, which was cool with lots of traditional dress and more beautiful views, back to Puno for the night and then on to Cusco.
I´ve been hogging the computer (free internet!!) for way to long, so hopefully pictures later! xoxo