Cusco - Week Three

Hi everyone. I have now completed my last full week here in Cusco learning spanish. This update is a little earlier than normal as I will be out of internet access next week, more on that later. Here is the update for this week including my birthday celebrations!!:

After the exersions of the mini trek at the weekend I was feeling a bit sore on Monday morning. I think it was the last downhill descent that did me in. After Spanish on Monday morning we all went to visit the Inka Ruins of Saqsaywamen that are located in the hills above Cusco. It was a beautiful day and provided great views of the city. Here is a of shot of the ruins with Cusco in the background:

Tuesday was a relaxed day with Spanish lessons held in one of the cafes in town. After lunch I went to the local equivalent of The Gap (called "Topy-Top") to buy some cheap clothes for the community work I will be doing for the next four weeks. For the first week we are working on the construction of a new language school about 30 mins outside of Cusco. The following four weeks we are going to work in two remote villages high in the Andes. The work will involve conservation work, building work on community facilities and helping out in the local school. It should be an amazing experience. Tuesday was also a bit sad to learn of the death of the legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel who died whilst on holiday here in Cusco.

Wednesday 27th October and my birthday!! Thanks to everyone for the emails (and the card Sara!!!) it was great to hear from you all. I had a birthday lunch at my Peruvian family and they even cooked me a huge cake:

Happy Birthday Alex

Dan, Tom and Rich booked up a section in "Los Peros" (The Dogs) for drinks and food - thanks guys. I had a great time and thanks to everyone for the presents of a birhday cake, a wooly llama hat and a jar Marmite (a taste of home!!). After Los Peros we all hit the nightclubs, the funniest being Underworld where we were the only ones in the place and took over the DJ booth!! Here are some shots of the night:

Who's the daddy?

Hands off ladies I'm spoken for!!!

Me with my hat, cake and Marmite!!

Thursday was spent recovering from the night before and enjoying my Marmite - heaven! In the afternoon a few of us went to buy some building materials for the first weeks community work. In the evening we all went for a talk by the conservation charity we will be working for in the villages in the Andes. It was interesting to see photos of where we will be working and to get more detail on he type of work we will be doing.

Friday was the last day of Spanish. The past three weeks have flown by and I hope some of it will stick in my brain. For lunch we all went out with some of the local children from the school to a chicken and chips joint. After the lunch the children presented us with certificates of our achievements. Here I am receiving my certificate:

On Saturday we moved out of our Peruvian families. We bought Marina (my host) some chocolates and flowers which she really liked. It was sad to leave but I have some great memories. We all moved back into our hostal to prepare for the community work next week. Saturday night was a lads night out. We first went to see the movie Collateral with Tom Cruise, it was alright but not one of Cruise's best efforts. After the film we all went to the local Irish bar for beer and steak sandwiches. After the bar we all went out into the local square where celebrations were taking place for All Saints Day (I think that is what it was for). A large firework show was underway so it was great to watch. The fireworks were crazy with rockets shooting into the crowd. Health and saftey doesn't really exist here in Peru. It did add a certain excitement to the evening as you had to duck as rockets flew overhead!! Here are some shots of the fireworks:

Well that is it for this post. I will be out of communication for next week but will be doing another update next weekend. The next update will be all about our first week of community project work.

Hasta Luego.