Vida Peru

OKAY so on to my new experience in Peru. Like I said in the beginning, it is extremely different, but having been in Bolivia briefly, I was a little bit more prepared. I had a 3 ½ hour flight to Lima, went through customs with my bags, paid $25 american for my bags being too heavy (which I’m not sure how that’s possible because I had less stuff then when I flew over to South America and didn’t pay a penny…who knows). I had an hour flight to Cuzco, and when I arrived I could tell the air was thinner just as I was trying to haul my bags outside the airport. It was a tiny airport, but no one was there to pick me up, and the only phone number I had for contact was for the Lima coordinator (go figure). Finally some guy came up and said “Kristina?” and I just prayed that he wasn’t going to kidnap me. He told me his name was Ronnie, and was the brother of my host mom. He took me to my house, and I was greeted by tons of stairs made of rock and about 6 family members. I could barely make it up the stairs without feeling like I was going to pass out with the thin air.


my house in Calle Lucrepata, Cuzco

They gave me cocoa tea to battle altitude sickness (cocoa leaves are illegal in the states), and I unpacked all my stuff. The house is very different here and difficult to explain. I live with grandparents, parents, a 7 year old son, and a 20 year old girl who I think is the sister of my host dad, but it’s really confusing. We also have about 2-4 dogs depending on the day (2 of them sometimes stay on the street, and sometimes they stay in the patio). I have a pretty huge room here with two beds in it, a couch, and chairs which is nice for living space. Every room in the “house” is separate and is all connected by the outside patio. The patio is where the sink is and where all the laundry is hung. I’m still getting used to the fact that I have to go outside my room just to use the bathroom, although there isn’t much difference because the temperature in my room is the same as outside (realllyyy cold at night here, I’m living in the Andes, remember?). I’ve only killed one huge spider in my room so far, I’m hoping I won’t see the rest… (I’ve come to learn that ignorance is bliss when it comes to the bugs sharing my room with me). My bed has literally about 6 thick blankets on it, and I still sleep in sweats, socks, long sleeves, hoodie, and a scarf. I feel like I’m living in my room in Boston (during the winter of course). My house is literally on a mountain, so when you are on the patio you are able to see some of the Andes Mountains which is really cool, especially in the morning when the sun is rising.


The view from my street.

Right now it is the Fall Season in Cuzco, so that means that during the day if it’s sunny, it is really hot during the day from 11am to 5pm (about 70-85 degrees depending on the day) and at night it usually drops below freezing. Stupid me, I brought about 2 hoodies, and don’t even have a winter jacket. I’m going to have to look into having my parents send me stuff because it’s only going to get colder as we enter the Winter season here very shortly…

Sunday, Ronnie took me on a walking tour of some of the city. The city is MUCH smaller than Cordoba. I am able to walk to the main square in probably 10-15 minutes, even though I don’t live in the touristy part. Although I like being able to walk everywhere, I miss Cordoba and how it was a bigger city to explore. But I’m trying not to compare… In one plaza, I was sitting on a bench with Ronnie and I saw Justin, my friend from Northeastern University. He also has been co-oping in Argentina/Peru but we had never met up. It was good to see a familiar face. Later in the day, I talked to my host grandparents and got to know them a bit. They are harder to understand in their Spanish because they speak very softly but I was so grateful that I had gone to Argentina before to learn Spanish or else I would be in a lot of trouble communicating. They have a harder time understanding me then my host parents in Argentina did, I’m not sure why but hopefully it improves. I’m having a hard time changing from my accent in Cordoba also. In Cordoba they use the term “vos” instead of “tu” (for “you”), which is a hard habit to break. They also pronounce “Y” and “ll” as a “shh” sound instead of “yuh” like they do in Cuzco. Also very hard to change, but everyone asks if I’m from Cordoba which makes me laugh because Cordobese people are known for this ridiculous sounding accent.


In the Plaza de Armas

Monday, some lady (yes, some lady, I’m getting used to just going with the flow because everything is always so disorganized) picked me up at my house and took me to my first day at the Kindergarten. The kindergarten is only about 5 or 6 blocks from the touristy area, but it’s in the ghetto. It’s crazy how the city changes so quickly from where all the tourists are, to where the “rest” of the people live. The Kindergarten is at the top of an apartment building, where they have about 40 kids in 3 small rooms. This job is really going to challenge my patience. It is much different from working in the orphanage, and after the first three days I had a major headache. The kids are adorable, but extremely hard to contain, and the teachers are always telling me to keep the kids in their rooms which is impossible because the rooms don’t even have doors! I literally have to block off the entrances with chairs. Thank God I know some Spanish or I would be really stuck. My second day at the Kindergarten, 3 other volunteers from the US came in, and they will be here for a week. They didn’t know any Spanish, and I felt so bad for them when they were trying to control the kids. The kids in my room are ages 1 to 2 years old. Basically the whole place is a day-care for the kids of the parents who have to work on the streets selling things to get by. I’m there from 8:30am to 1-1:30pm everyday, which doesn’t seem like a long day, but believe me with 40 kids screaming and crying all day I am so exhausted I have to take a siesta afterwards. I’m in the process of trying to change my job because I don’t get a lot of practice using my Spanish with the babies since they can’t talk. I’m hoping I can work with older kids but we will see what happens…


a little boy at the preschool I worked at.

Wednesday I went out with the 20 year old that lives in my house, Yvonne. We met up with Justin (from Northeastern) and went place to place getting free drinks. It’s crazy how in Cuzco they offer free drinks everywhere just to get people to come into their bars and clubs. In Argentina we had to at least pay for drinks, if not entrance fees too in some places. It was good to catch up with Justin and meet some of his friends although most of them are leaving Peru soon.


Justin, Yovanna & I out in Cuzco

Thursday night I met up with Kim and her friends (Kim is a friend of Holly’s who is has been in Peru since January) and they showed me some good places to go out to. At midnight I had my first “legal” drink at InkaTeam. It was fun but didn’t feel too different since I have been able to drink legally since January in South America.


Friday on my 21st birthday, I woke up early and went whitewater rafting with 2 volunteers from my job, Kristen and Alex, and 3 other volunteers from another location. It was a beautiful day and we had an awesome time! Our guide was really funny and spoke some English which was good, but when he found out I was learning Spanish he refused to speak to me in English haha. It was good practice though! We spent 4 hours out on the river, and the water was freezing! We jumped off a cliff into the water during one of our breaks, and then at the end we jumped off a bridge into the water which was fun but so cold! It was a great way to spend my birthday. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, and we had some 3 & 4 level rapids which was exciting. That night, Kristen and I got dinner at an Italian restaurant and we tried our first Pisco Sours (the drink of Cuzco). It wasn’t bad but not my favorite. Afterwards I went out for a bit but was so exhausted from rafting all day that I didn’t make it much past 2am. All in all, the birthday was good, but I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone from home in July :).


A few of us jumping off a bridge during our lunch break.

So that’s pretty much what’s going on here, I am getting used to not having internet in my house and using internet cafes which is kind of a pain, but is doable. I am also getting smarter about showering (only doing it during the daytime hours, since a hot shower is rare, and being outside with wet hair during the night is asking to die of pneumonia)...oh and sometimes there isnt any water at all, not even cold water. I'm also getting use to not drinking the water, and not getting lost in the bad areas of Cuzco. Although I don’t really look Argentine, I could pass for one if I had to (some of them have light hair and light eyes like me) but here in Peru there is no way I can pass for a Peruvian. Because of this I have to be really careful ;) Tomorrow I’m heading off to “el campo” with Yvonne to see her house which is in the country. This week went by really slow, but I’m sure once I get used to things here, things will be pick up…

Hasta luegooo