Hello again to all my faithful followers (overly ambitious assumption?).  Since my last entry, I´ve seen some volunteers go and a plethora of new ones arrive.  As of today we have me, Jean Gabriel (England), Andreas (Germany), Christina (Germany), Mariajose (Nicaragua/Canada), Igor (Bosnia/Canada), Erin (Wisconson, USA), and Nicole (Austin, TX, USA).  It´s proving to be a good mix of people who all get along very well.  As of now, only JG, Andreas, and I are living at the NeVo house, with the rest of the volunteers living with families spread throughout Urubamba.

For my teaching work, we recently began a new theme of Family issues.  To introduce the theme I had the students answer a series of questions on home life and the problems they face.  They then got into groups and chose a situation from one of their answers to perform a role play.  Sadly, at least half of the plays dealt with either physical violence, alcoholism, or both.  It´s clear that these issues are prevalent in many of the homes here in Urubamba (and probably throughout the country of Peru).  Because of this, I decided to extend the discussion on this subject to include further depth into family violence.

For the environmental work, JG and I gave our Climate Change presentation again, this time to a group of older (Superior) students at a school here in Urubamba called La Salle.  It went very well.  We also held a formal ¨swearing in¨ event for the various Ecological Clubs in Urubamba´s Plaza de Armas.  At this event, there were well over 200 students present who each received a t-shirt we had printed up to help solidify the group.  Basically the event was to outline the major reasons for having such clubs, the members responsibilities, and to give them a sense of empowerment in numbers.  Urubamba´s Alcaldai (mayor) was present along with some other local politicians, so I would chalk that up as a success.  The following day was the Urubamba trash clean-up day that we helped to organize as well.  There was a massive turnout and a lot was accomplished (although it would probably take years of weekly events like this to fully clean the trash our of all the rivers, streets, gutters, etc.).

I fear that my luck has finally run out on avoiding illness here.  Over the past couple weeks I´ve been battling various stomach issues (one of which was clearly my own fault in consuming street chicha offered to me by an old, scraggly woman) and have just been feeling generally not great.  As I write this I currently have a little fever, headache, and stomach problems.  I suppose it was only a matter of time before I had to deal with the usual traveler´s ailments.

On the Peruvian news front, some serious conflicts have recently erupted in the northern Amazon region of the country where the local people of Bagua, Yurimaguas, and other communities had been protesting the proposal for international mining and oil extraction for 2 months.  After 2 months of road blocking, the Peruvian government made a push to break through the barriers which resulted in an extremely violent and unsettling affair.  Reports differ depending on the source, but it seems clear that at least 60 people were killed (mostly the indigenous people, but also some police).  Some reports say that the police intentionally dumped bodies into the river to conceal the true number of dead.  Whatever the true story is, it was a very sad day here, clearly upsetting the majority of Peru´s residents.  This past Thursday was a nation-wide protest to voice the extreme disapproval for the events that occurred in that conflict, the disagreement over rainforest exploitation/deforestation, and general resentment of the current President Garcia regime.  Although I was initially uncertain about doing so, I ended up participating in the protests in Cusco by marching with some of the teachers I work with at the school here.  It was an amazing experience that I will not forget and I am very glad that I decided to attend.  Aside from the human rights atrocities that occurred, the state of the Amazon rainforest is something that concerns us all.  Being one of the planets greatest carbon sinks that soaks up much of the carbon we emit around the globe, we all have a stake in issues like these.  I truly believe that sometime in the future, a world carbon market will be set up that rewards countries that maintain their forest lands.  If only the governments of these countries can resist the temptation of short-term oil profits to boost their economies…  That´s not something that many countries have shown they are capabe of thus far, incuding ours.

For the cultural activity this Friday, we visited a local ceramic workshop here in town and made plaques in a pre-Incan style.  Everyone´s looked really great; I´m eagerly awaiting the final results that we´ll see this week.  In other miscellaneous news, yesterday, I led a group of some of the other volunteers on a hike up Tanta Marka (the small mountain behind the NeVo house) which was very nice.  It was a beautiful day and the views from up there never get old.

A sincere congratulations goes out to my dear friends Matt and Amanda who have decided to tie the knot after many years together.  I couldn´t be happier for them – two great people very deserving of eachother.  My best wishes on the wedding plans.

I hope all are well back home.  Can´t wait to see everyone.  I´ve also started thinking about some of the things I miss from time to time here that I will have to indulge in upon my return.  Thus far, I note the following: a great cheeseburger, Mom´s manicotti and/or meatloaf, Newcastle and/or Sierra Nevada 6-pack (better make it 12), parmasean couscous (random, I know), 1 full day of being a couch potato and watching useless t.v., Maisy.  More to come…

Scott

Today I write this as a proud Uncle to my newly born niece, Bethany Wood Harrington, born May 28, 2009 – 8lbs 8oz, 21in. I couldn´t be happier for the Harrington family and their new addition.  Bethany is blessed with two incredible parents who have already proven that they have what it takes to raise a great family.  I can´t wait to meet the little one when I return, and I look forward to intimidating lots of future boyfriends to come.

As for life in Peru, things continue to go well for me here in Urubamba.  My environmental work with the Municipality has continued to maintain a focus on organizing the various media campaigns – radio shows, TV shows, and movie nights.  Due to typical Peruvian circumstances, I have yet to film our first short play with the kids.  Protests, holidays, and uncommitted teachers bare the responsibility for such shortcomings.  It can be frustrating, but I knew before coming here that these would be some of the challenges I would face.  I´m learning to accept that accomplishing things here takes a bit more persistence and motivation than what I´m generally used to in the U.S.  When something does get completed, however, there is a definite sense of accomplishment.

Additionally for my environmental work here, JG and I prepared and presented a presentation on climate change last week at a meeting of the various ecological clubs that have been organized at the schools.  It was a bit challenging since my pronunciation of many of the scientific terms in Spanish is questionable at best, but I am extremely happy with how it went.  It is clear to me that this is a topic known little about here in rural Peru.  Many of the kids (and teachers that were present) seemed pretty surprised by what we had to say, particularly about the current and near-future consequences for their community here in the sierra region of Peru.  For me, that presentation was the single most important thing I have done since being here.  I´m hoping to put together a sort of school tour of the various institutions here in Urubamba (and possibly other surrounding communities) to bring this presentation around.  I think that with Peru being one of the countries most affected by the effects of climate change, with the consequences getting significantly worse in the coming decades, educating the kids here about it now is extremely important.  In their lifetime they will see many, if not most, of the glaciers disappear on their mountains which will create serious problems for agriculture, potable water, and other areas.  As the climate continues to warm here, infectious diseases such as Malaria will creep to higher and higher altitudes like Urubamba and other mountainous regions previously not exposed.  These are just a few of the many catastrophic changes that are inevitably on their way.  But anyways, I don´t mean for this to be a completely pessimistic entry – just pointing out some of the reasons why I feel this work is so important.

My work at the school has been pretty steady.  We´re currently on the topic of self esteem, self perception, etc.  Week by week I´ve been growing slightly more comfortable with speaking and having a dialogue with the kids.  I still have trouble understanding everything they say, but I do feel like I´m improving bit by bit.  I´m really grateful for having been placed into Victoriano´s (the teacher I work with) class.  We work really well together, filling in the gaps that the other leaves.  He´s a great guy and has since introduced me to Urubamba´s best ceviche restaurant as well as chicha (Peruvian home-brewed corn beer).  A good man for sure.

As for other random/cool things, I made a ring a couple weeks ago with the help of a local artisan here.  He came to the house for one of our ¨Cultural Friday´s¨ and showed us how to do everything.  This included the use of a blow torch, sulfuric acid, and raw silver.  It was incredibly interesting to see how the whole process works from start to finish, especially since I was under the impression that all of these types of jewelry that you see at local markets here are mass-manufactured somewhere else.  I have a whole new respect for the work ethic of these artisans.  For a different activity last week we went to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum in Cusco.  It was definitely one of the nicer museums I´ve seen here and I was really impressed by how well so many of the pieces have been preserved (some for 2,000+ years).  This past Friday we went on a nice long hike, starting at the ruins of Moray.  Moray is still a bit of a mystery here.  It was a natural indentation in the landscape that was carved into layers for some type of agricultural production.  Many think that this was a sort of Incan greenhouse where they experimented with different crops to determine what they could grow best, and at which times of year, etc.  But from above it apparently looks like two eyes with a teardrop, so some people hypothesize that it has further meaning than just agricultural production.  Who knows.  It was cool though.  From there we walked to Moras, a small town where we stopped for a picnic and had the opportunity of seeing two bulls sparring in the middle of the courtyard for unknown reasons.  We continued on to Salineras which is home to the famous salt pans which I had the opportunity to see several weeks back during my time in Taray.  It was a long day of hiking, and a satisfying one.

A couple of weekends ago we were graced with the presence of Maricarmen, the general volunteer coordinator of NeVo.  Mari is probably the biggest reason I chose NeVo in the end because of her willingness to help me with the overall process, taking time to speak with me directly over Skype, etc.  She cares greatly for the communities of Peru and works hard to make a difference here.  It was her Birthday when she arrived so we had a little party for her with wine, cakes, and some homemade tortilla chips/guacamole that I somehow managed to put together.  JG and I played lots of music with the sons of Conny and Grit which was a lot of fun.  We gave them some quick lessons and before not too long we had the whole house rocking out to The Cranberries ¨Zombie¨.  Yes.  The next day a group of us decided to hike Tanta Marca, the little mountain behind our house here.  So off we went with the volunteers, Mari, and the kids.  After about 10 minutes, I found myself trekking up the mountain with Grit´s 3-year old daughter, Nina, on my shoulders.  All the way up 2 hours and back down.  It was exhausting but a funny experience.

This weekend here is the biggest festival of the year in Urubamba, celebrating Señor de Torrechayoc.  I couldn´t tell you the full story of this religious figure because I don´t know it, but the people here certainly seem to hold him in high esteem.  Yesterday (Saturday) there was an all-day dancing festival at the local stadium, featuring over 30 different groups and their traditional dances.  Lots of wild, colorful costumes and equally wild dances.  It was extremely ¨Peruvian.¨  I´m pretty certain you would never see anything like this outside of Latin America.  The party didn´t really stop after that as there were constant parades in the streets, followed by multiple live, traditional bands lining one of the streets (actually, the street that I live on) with dancing, drinks, food, you name it.  We volunteers were quickly welcomed into countless dancing circles with complete strangers and had a really fun time.  Judging by the explosions and music I´ve been hearing all morning from the house, I think it´s safe to assume that this party will continue straight through tonight, and quite possibly into Monday.

Ok, no more writing for this guy today.  I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the nice weather back home.  I´ll see you all in exactly 2 months (except for the 3 troopers making it down here in 1 month).

Scott

Well, our second attempt at collecting Urubamba´s trash was finally met with success.  Although the truck was a bit late again arriving on location in the Plaza de Armas, we finally boarded the vessel around 3:15am after napping for a bit on some park benches.  JG and I sat up front, marking up our route maps as we made the stops through town.  The first half (in the dark) was spent collecting piles and piles of mixed garbage along the streets of Urubamba´s markets.  Sadly, I´d estimate that at least 75 or 80% of this ¨trash¨ was recyclable or compostable.  Lots of food waste, cans, paper-products, etc.  The ride only further proved the need for a better (or at least A) system of trash separation and recycling.

After a couple hours, we landed in the Urubamba dumping area, basically a massive heap of trash planted on the side of a mountain not far from town.  This was a sad sight if I´ve ever seen one.  An environmental and public health disaster.  Because the area lacks any sort of retaining fence, the trash is free to blow all down the mountain and the dogs, pigs, and other assorted creatures are welcome to come peruse the assorted treasures and diseases lurking here.  Sweeping my head from side to side in the pitch black with my headlamp on was a bit creepy with the many, many eyes staring back at me.  Surely these dogs venture back down into town after getting their fill, only to spread whatever nastiness they´ve acquired to the other animals and human inhabitants.  This place really just points out the severe limitation of resources Urubamba suffers from.  In my opinion, fencing this area would be a top priority due to the very visible health concerns.  I will certainly be pushing for this over the coming weeks.

After returning to the Plaza after the first dump run, we ended up waiting there in the truck for an hour while the street cleaning team (lots of people with barrels and brooms sweeping the streets all through the night) finished up their jobs and dumped the collected garbage into the truck.  I was actually able to catch a few Zzz´s in the truck at this time.  I´m sure one day I will look back on that situation and realize just how absurd it was that I was napping in a dump truck in the pitch black at 5 in the morning in Urubamba´s Plaza de Armas.  But that´s for later reflection.

Around 6 or so, we started on phase II which was the trash collection for much of the town´s residents.  As we began the route, Nicolo (the driver) switched on some speakers on the outside of the truck and we were soon riding through town with Peruvian music cranking for all to hear.  The music basically acts as a warning system for the residents so that they can gather their trash and get it outside before we arrive.  Watching the sleepy inhabitants of Urubamba racing out to dump their trash was quite a site.  Some people looked as if they had been waiting out on their stoops all night for us to come while others were literally sprinting out their doors with two barrels in hand, pajamas on, and hair sticking out in every direction (clearly, this would be my method of choice).  Of everything this morning, however, I think my favorite part was when some of the people would happen to look up into the cab and notice the two of us (an American and an Englishman) riding along in the dump truck.  Two white guys acting as their ¨bin men¨ (a term that my English counterparts use that I find hilarious) was clearly not something they were expecting to see.  Since in these parts having light skin basically qualifies you as being filthy rich, the idea of us collecting their trash was a bit of an oxymoron.

So after getting quite the thorough tour of the streets of Urubamba, we finally wrapped up our work a bit after 9am.  I arrived back at the house to find Conny and the volunteers eating breakfast.  Pretty funny.  After grabbing some food myself, I did a few things, caught a half hour nap, and was off to teach 4 classes in the afternoon.  After classes, I cooked my (now much sought after) chicken/avocado/homemade salsa tacos with Mexican Woody´s handmade flour tortillas, and was fast to bed.

Friday morning came quickly and we were off to hike the very scenic route between Chinchero and Urquillos.  This was a pretty leisurely hike that offered us some really great views as we descended back into the Sacred Valley.  Since it began up at a pretty heavy elevation, I was able to pick lots of wild mint that grows up there which I´ve found makes incredible tea.  One thing that I find really amazing about this area in general is just the capacity of the land to grow so many different types of food.  Peppers, avocados, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, corn, quinoa, bananas, mangoes, apples, you name it.  Going to the produce market here in town has quickly become one of my favorite activities as you can get loads of the freshest produce in the world for practically nothing.  I´m maintaining probably the healthiest diet of my life without even trying.  Finding unhealthy foods is actually almost a little challenging.

Aside from the above, I´ve done a lot of work over the past few days in preparing my lesson plans for school, as well as some other work for my environmental projects.  All in all, things are going very well for me here in small town, South America.  The season is turning quickly to winter which means chilly nights.  It really seems as if this change solely took place in the span of 24 hours.  There was one day that was unusually cold and cloudy here and since then there´s been a noticeable difference in the climate, both day and night.  But it´s still incredibly beautiful here and very comfortable weather for me.

FYI – New pictures are up at the ends of albums ¨Volunteer Work – Nexos Voluntarios¨ and ¨Trekking the Andes.¨ http://picasaweb.google.com/scottwood83

I hope everyone is well.  A Happy Birthday goes out to my beautiful niece, Emily, and a Happy Mothers Day to all you Moms out there.  Keep in touch.

Scott

It´s hard to believe I´ve been here in Urubamba for over a month now.  And in the country of Peru for 7 weeks.  Really wild.  But I can definitely say that I haven´t been wasting any time here as my days have few, if any, gaps without work or some other activity.

Last week I taught my first self-created lesson plan at the school on the theme of Amistad y Enamoramiento (Friendship & Love).  Partly a success.  Partly a learning experience.  I think that since I worked with 4th and 5th year students during my first couple of weeks at the school, my concept of what was feasible for the 2nd year classes may have been a bit skewed.  In other words, what I had planned on accomplishing in a week and a half ended up needing a solid two weeks to finish.  Nothing too crazy, but I have certainly learned a bit more of what works (dictation, short question/answer sessions, class discussions) and what requires a significant amount of time and effort (any kind of group work).  As it turns out, last week we accomplished all of the ¨meat¨of the new theme such as new terms and ideas, and this week the kids are performing their plays (based on different situations I created for them on either a topic of friendship or love).  These, I must say, are truly entertaining.  Many lack adequate preparation and end up being impromtu skits, and I honesty can´t even understand half of what´s going on because of the incredible amount of slang they use that is unfamiliar to me, but it´s some of the best entertainment I´ve found in ages.  I am also extremely thankful that I am working closely with Victoriano during these classes as his help with my many communication glitches is priceless.  I´m definitely enjoying these classes, but have quickly learned that the more planning and effort that is put in prior to class makes the actual class time that much more worthwhile (for both parties).  As for the subject matter, let´s just say that I spent about a quarter of each of my classes answering questions from the students about what ¨enamoramiento¨ is like in the United States; more specifically, what my relationship is like with Megan (yes, lucky you).  I made sure to sneak hidden lessons into my responses, such as telling the kids about the importance of equality in relationships (something that lacks in many Latin American relationships) and that the basis for a loving relationship should be founded mainly upon friendship as opposed to just physical attraction, money, etc.

For my environmental work, I´ve continued to focus on the educational campaign for the new trashing/recycling plans here in Urubamba.  I´ve been working on a proposal to approach schools with in order to convince the school directors to include their children in the project.  We´ve been going from school to school with these ideas and so far have been able to get all but one on board in one way or another.  These kids will be helping us to put on a weekly radio show, television show, and weekly movie night, among other promotional activities.  Lots of work, but it is definitely necessary in order to hit the community from as many angles as possible in terms of education.  The separation of trash and recycling efforts is a new concept here and will take some pushing and shoving to reprogram the minds of the residents.  As for the 2am dump truck run last Thursday… it was a no go.  After waiting in Urubamba´s Plaza de Armas from 2 until after 3:30am, we finally heard it off in the distance.  We connected in an alley and talked with the workers.  They clearly had not received word that we were going to be riding along with them and were very confused as to why these two foreigners were approaching garbagemen in an alley and further, why exactly we wanted to ride along in the dump truck with them.  After fully explaining ourselves, we came to find out that, because the following day was a holiday, they weren´t even running the normal route so tagging along would have done us zero good.  Instead, I ended up back in bed at 4:30am.  Just another night in Urubamba.  But no need to worry since tonight (actually tomorrow – Thursday – morning at 2am), we´re off to try again.  This time we´ve made direct contact with the boss and everything should be better organized.  We shall see… in 5 hours.  Additionally for my environmental work last week, I traveled to Cusco to take part in a regional conference on environmental issues at Cusco´s Municipality.  This was really a great experience in that I saw how a real Peruvian governmental meeting is run.  It was a full house and even included an intermission with music, dancers, and people in giant bird costumes.  Don´t ask me… I was just as baffled.

On Tuesday last week, I took a day off from my environmental/teaching routine to travel to the remote community of Huaka Wasi with Yasmine for her Artisan project.  This village of 280 or so people is a hefty 3.5 hour drive on steep mountain roads from Urubamba and provided some of the most spectacular views of my trip thus far.  The community itself literally rests among the clouds and was pretty chilly.  All the members of the village wore traditional dress (by choice, not for tips) and were certainly intrigued by our presence.  We were shown a demonstration of the craftwork by the women of the town and I soon found myself in the center of a circle being blessed in Quechua (native language) while flowers were being sprinkled on my head.  I was able to get minimal information on exactly what that whole event was all about, but it certainly felt special.  After taking loads of pictures for a future brochure of their work, I was invited in for some freshly boiled potatoes (all natural! as they like to point out), carrots, and tea straight from their hillside farms.  The day was really an amazing cultural experience that I will not soon forget.  It´s refreshing to know that there are still some people in the world who are generally content with a (respectively) simple way of life.  At the same time, it worries me to think about the fate of such a community when their glacial water supply will most likely be gone within the next 20 – 50 years.  Right now they are a fully self-sustaining community with very little outside income.  How they will adapt to the rapidly approaching affects of climate change is not a question I am currently able to answer.

And now for the adventure of this past weekend.  Jean Gabriel and I went on a 2 day trek to some Incan ruins (Huchuy Qosqo), starting the hike in the small town of Chinchero.  We were led by two friends of Conny, Javier and Grit.  The hike itself was at about a moderate level for me; in other words, just right.  However, as we approached the end of day 1, Jean Gabriel stepped onto a slick patch of grass, sliding out of control like an inebriated figure skater, and landed hard face-down in the mud.  My initial reaction was to laugh as it was one of the funnier things I´d witnessed in a while, but it turned out that he landed pretty badly with his elbow on a rock.  It swelled pretty rapidly and he was unable to straighten his arm.  I gave him some advil and fashioned a make-shift sling out of a sweatshirt, and we finished the walk to our campsite.  Where we camped sat just above the ruins, overlooking a massive wall of mountains and a valley.  Pictures are up: http://picasaweb.google.com/scottwood83 To get JG down to a doctor would have been a few hours hike down, and the chances of getting him an X-ray for at least another day would have been slim to none.  Leaving the decision up to him, he opted to just get some rest on the mountain since he wasn´t in excruciating pain or anything.  After a great afternoon of clambering around the ruins and a freezing cold night of sleep, we got back to Urubamba late morning on Sunday.  Of course there were no X-ray facilities available until the next day, so Monday morning, JG finally got to the hospital in Cusco to learn that he had indeed fractured a piece of his elbow.  Part of the bone had chipped off near a nerve which was why trying to straighten the arm was causing him so much pain.  So he´s now in a full cast from shoulder to hand and will be re-evaluated in a couple weeks to see if the chip is healing properly.  If not, it could mean surgery (not something I would be too happy about having done here).  We´re keeping our fingers crossed.

All else is going well here in the small, but lively city of Urubamba.  It´s approaching 10:00pm here on Wednesday night and I am realizing that I should be in bed in order to get at least a couple hours of sleep before my 1:30am wake-up call.  I hope all is well with everyone at home and elsewhere.  Keep in touch and be well.

Scott

So I`ve been slacking a bit on the blog…  Not my intention, but these things happen.

My initial impressions of Urubamba, my accommodations, and volunteer work were all pretty much on the positive spectrum.  The Nexos Voluntarios (NeVo) volunteer house is really perfect in my opinion, sitting right at the base of a mountain.  It has a nice kitchen/dining room, a living room with a great computer and fast internet, an upstairs with 2 bedrooms (I have my own), and a full bathroom upstairs and a half downstairs.  Pictures of the house and my first couple weeks in Urubamba can be found here:http://picasaweb.google.com/scottwood83/WelcomeToUrubamba?feat=directlink

Currently, I`m sharing the house with two other people, Samantha from England/Australia and Yasmine from Morocco.  Both are very nice and the three of us get along well.  Another volunteer, Jean Gabriel from England, came the week after my arrival and is living in a homestay.  He is here for the same amount of time as me and we are working on one of my projects together.  More about that in a minute.

Urubamba the town consists of about 13,000 residents (although you would think it`s much, much smaller if you just strolled through town – families are pretty spread out with farms and so forth).  It`s somewhere between 9,000 – 10,000 ft. elevation, but despite being up that high it is engulfed by towering Andean peaks.  The scenery here is really something special.

So initially, the plan was that I would be working full time on a reproductive health education project.  That would entail me teaching numerous classes at a local school, preparing the lessons, etc.  As much as I was eager to do this work, part of me still really wanted to become involved in some of the environmental projects here in town.  After speaking with Conny (volunteer coordinator), she assured me that they could accommodate my interests.  So we worked out a schedule that allows me to split my time between environmental work (mornings plus a bit) and R.H. education (afternoons).  Since Jean Gabriel would be working on the environment full time starting my 2nd week, we decided that I would just begin when he arrives.  So week 1 was fully R.H. education.

But week 1 didn`t exactly start until Tuesday…  Apparently about once a month or so the farmers here in Urubamba get a bit rowdy and hold a (usually somewhat destructive) protest.  The big issue for them is that there is currently an effort to privatize the water supply in town, which will in turn put a hefty pricetag on their water usage.  This is an issue that I`m interested to learn more about as I`m not sure if it`s one of the big multinational companies trying to come in here solely to make ungodly profits at the expense of the community (which I assume is the case as I know it happens a lot in South America), or if it`s another type of plan.  All I know is that when they protest, they block all roads between Urubamba and Cusco with giant boulders, and it`s not generally a good day to leave the house.

So I took my first official day to read some materials from NeVo and the United Nations Population Fund (who NeVo partners with on the R.H. project) and begin to prepare for class.  Samantha has been volunteering with the R.H. project for 8 months now and plans to stay until June, which puts her roughly a month or 2 shy of a year down here.  Since she is very much in the swing of things at the school, I basically shadowed her for the first week and helped out where I could in class and with lesson planning and other work.  In each of our classes, I took a few minutes to introduce myself to the kids and gave them the opportunity to ask me any questions they wanted.  Questions were generally about my family, if I have a girlfriend, wife, and/or kids!!, what I think about Urubamba and Peru, my favorite sport, color, food, etc.  Oh, and thanks to Samantha, who I somehow told about my brief acting career, I began receiving questions from kids about whether or not I had ever been in a movie (coincidence? I think not.).  So, yes, I have officially signed my first autograph, as incredibly absurd as that is, and I now seem to have developed a type of celebrity status among the kids of this town.  I can`t walk down the main street without hearing my name being yelled by a screaming pack of 12-year old girls, or a ¨Profie!¨ (short for Professor).  There´s definitely no hiding my glistening white skin, so I guess I`m just going to have to get used to it.  It`s now even to the point where teachers at the school and other random Urubamban residents are asking me about it.  I tell everyone how minimal my 3-day acting career was, but I think they just want to believe what they want to believe.  I suppose there are worse things you can get an initial reputation for in a situation like this, so I´ll take it as it is.

The school itself is a secondary school called General Ollanta and is only about a 5 or 7 minute walk from my house.  The grades are Year 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and ages range from about 11 to 17.  Each ¨Year¨ is broken up into A through D or E (with the ¨A¨ classes supposidly containing the brightest students, and the ¨D¨/¨E¨ classes needing a bit more attention).  Classes are on average around 40 students per class (yea, quite large).  Going forward, since I am now just teaching in the afternoons, I am focusing entirely on the 2nd year classes (A through E) and am working with a teacher named Victoriano.

This week is the first week that I have fully prepared my own lesson plans.  I think it will be a learning process since I have already discovered that group work with kids of this age range is a hell of a challenge and requires waaay more time than I had anticipated.  But, despite the fact that my first lesson plan is not working entirely as expected, I`m having fun engaging with the kids in class.  Communication is still my biggest challenge, but I wasn´t expecting this work to be easy.  In addition to the R.H. classes, I have also been helping out with Art and English classes when possible.  Both are a bit more informal and give me a good opportunity to have a dialogue with the kids which I definitely think helps my Spanish.  In one of our English classes, we played the song Food, Glorious Food from Oliver (as it was a food themed day) and gave them a sheet of lyrics with some missing words to fill in.  Let´s just say that a class full of Peruvian kids screaming/singing ¨Fooood, glorious fooooood¨ might just be one of the highlights of my trip.

Last week I also began my environmental work with Jean Gabriel.  I`m working in an office at the municipality in Urubamba´s Plaza de Armas with a woman named Derling.  The majority of this project is focused around a new trashing and recycling initiative aimed at the entirety of the town of Urubamba.  In a few months, residents, markets, and businesses will be provided with various trash and recycling bins, and it`s my job to run an educational campaign to properly inform the community of this new process.  In order to help spread the word more efficiently, I´m going to be leading a group of students and other people (apprx. 200) in different marketing efforts aimed at educating Urubamba residents and business owners.  Much of this will be door to door informational talks, radio and television programs, and other advertising campaigns.  Since the town only has 1 trash pick-up truck, I´m also going to be working to assess the current collection route (i.e. riding in a dump truck from 2am to noon this Thursday) in order to find ways to improve its efficiency.  There are, of course, other side projects going on with respect to environmental work, but this will be my main focus during my time here.

This Saturday I went to observe one of the weekly radio shows that the kids present on an environmental topic.  In the future I will be helping to guide this project and working with the kids to develop appropriate topics and so forth.  Of course only one of the 5 kids ended up showing, so I was quickly shoved in front of a microphone with Jean Gabriel, and before I knew it I was giving a full-blown explanation of how Carbon Credits work… in Spanish… on live radio.  Now, I would like to think that I have a fair enough competence of this topic in a very general sense, but being put on the spot to explain it is a challenge.  Being put in that same position, but in a foreign language, and knowing that there is a pretty large audience actually listening at that very moment is a completely different story.  I can only hope that I didn´t offend anyone with my poor language skills.  A story nonetheless.

So outside of my volunteer work, I have also had time to see a good amount of sites in the Sacred Valley/Cusco area and do some other fun things.  I won`t go into too much detail since I feel I´ve documented these trips fairly well with my pictures, but basically I´ve had the chance to see Pisac, Tambo-machay, Puca Pucara, Qeqo, Saqsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, and several museums in Cusco.  All these pictures are up in their respective folders here:http://picasaweb.google.com/scottwood83

Last weekend, I also caught a futbol (that´s soccer to us Americans) match between Cusco and another regional team (Bolognis or something?).  It was pretty uneventful with a final score of 0-0, but a bad futbol game in South America will generally beat a good game anywhere else in the world any day.  The talent is definitely there.

Ok, that´s all I have in me for now.  There are plenty of details that I´ve had to omit for my own sanity in writing this, and I know that the structure of this entry is all over the place, but I just wanted to get as much down as I could in an effort to catch up to the current moment.  I hope everyone is well.  I definitely miss my friends and family… and pizza… and Sierra Nevada beer.

Until next time,

Scott

Well, I finished up my final week in Cusco before heading up to Urubamba for my volunteer work. It´s been a while since my last post so I´ll do my best to provide a relatively brief summary of the past 2 or so weeks.

My first week of classes went pretty well. A lot of it was review of things I had ¨learned¨ in my past high school Spanish courses, but it was necessary nonetheless. Aside from learning Spanish, the school has also been a great place to meet people. Since everyone is in a similar situation, most people traveling solo, making friends is easy. I´ve met people from Holland, Sweden, Australia, Canada, France, and of course the U.S., among other countries. It´s great to hear their stories and why they decided to come to Cusco. In addition to school, most people are doing at least some form of volunteering.

Included in the school are some additional activities and classes. I took advantage of a traditional Incan music class as well as a Salsa class (after some arm twisting). The music class was great. We played Zampoñas which are traditional bamboo flute-type instruments and learned a couple basic songs. I have since bought the instrument and am set on learning it. As for the salsa dancing… I guess I learned a few basic steps, but after seeing what it looks like in a real salsa club, it would likely take a bottle of Tequila and the assurance of not remembering the night to get me out on a real dance floor.

One important note that I know you will appreciate, Dad… I can officially say that I have had a pint at the world´s highest elevation Irish owned pub. It´s called Paddy´s (surprise, surprise) and is right in the center of Cusco on the Plaza de Armas. Some of the best nachos I´ve had as well.

Two weekends ago, I went horseback riding up in the mountains just northeast of Cusco with Katherine, the daughter of my host family, and some friends from school (Stephanie, Melissa, and Anna). The views were huge, and we also saw some ruins (The Temple of the Moon & The Temple of the Monkey). It was a really great time aside from my horse, El Principe (The Prince), being a bit unhappy with the weight on his back and constantly trying to bite me or throw me off.

Next up… salsa night.  Actually, what I thought was going to be a full-on salsa club ended up being a discoteca.  Although the plan was to go with my American and European friends, one thing led to another and I was suddenly headed to the club with my Peruvian host-sister and her friends.  After accepting the fact that I was quite seriously THE only gringo in the joint (out of several hundred people), I let my guard down and let the boots fly.  Being a rarity, I quickly found myself befriended by a group of Peruvian dudes (most likely using me to break the ice with the ladies), and I actually ended up having a pretty fun time.

The morning after the club, I packed up my things for an alternative week of classes in Taray.  The Spanish school rents a house in this small farming community, about 45 minutes from Cusco, as an option for students to study outside of the city for a week.  I was hesitant about doing it at first since my host family didn´t have a lot of great things to say about Taray (mainly that a lot of students get sick while they´re there), but I ended up going.  And I´m so glad I did.

The town is, I believe, about a thousand or so feet lower than Cusco and is completely engulfed by gigantic Andean mountains.  The climate is perfect – dry heat in the sun, and cool in the shade.  The house itself is settled in the valley and offers incredble views, which were easily enjoyed from the hammocks under their little thatched/tiki hut.  It´s right down the road from Pisac, about a 1/2 hour walk or 5 minute (1 Sole) mototaxi ride, which was great since Pisac has one of the better-known markets in Peru.  There you can find anything and everything colorful.

As amazing as Taray was during the day, it was equally as awe-inspiring at night.  Being at such a high elevation and far from the city lights of Cusco, I have never in my life seen stars like the ones in Taray.  Not only can you point out all the major constellations, but you can clearly see the Milky Way which is usually next to impossible to point out at home.  Needless to say, I found myself stumbling clumsily off the road quite frequently at night with my head arched back.

The house in Taray was pretty basic, but just right.  Being the only hombre of the 8 of us, I lucked out with my own room and bathroom, which was great.  Also in Taray were Stephanie (San Fran, Cali, USA), Melissa (Denver, CO, USA), Anna (Sweden), Marissa (Asheville, NC, USA), Evelyn (Holland), Sophie (Holland), and Leonika (Holland).  We made up a good group.  The food was so so, but I managed not to get sick which was my main goal.  I can´t say that the rest of the group was so lucky.  Most everyone else had at least some sort of stomach upset during the week.  All I can say is that I am very grateful I´ve made it 3 weeks without incident (I don´t usually do this, but… knock on wood).  Of the 3 weeks of Spanish classes I´ve had, the week in Taray was by far the best.  Our instructor, Nuri, was excellent and infused a ton of conversation practice into our classes, and we had our 2nd half of classes each day outside.  School just doesn´t get any better than that.

While in Taray, we took a side-trip to see the Salt Pans of Salinas.  This is an area a short hike up a mountain that is just a massive, natural, salt deposit.  I´m not sure exactly how long it´s been in use, but it is still in use today.  It was a really interesting visit, and yes, I can attest to the fact that it tasted like salt.  Aside from the Salt Pans, I took two other unorganized hikes near Taray.  One was an attempt to conquer a mean looking peak in Pisac, which I attemtped with Melissa (from Denver).  Unfortunately, we failed miserably as the trail ended about half way up.  After attempting to continue on, we ended up losing the trail and bushwhacked our way down, ending up in some farmers corn field in Pisac.  A good workout nonetheless.  The other little hike I took was up to a waterfall not far from our house in Taray.  This was a nice 30 or so minute walk that offered some different views of the surrounding area.  After a farewell bonfire on our last night, we headed back to Cusco.

My last week in Cusco was very good and allowed me the opportunity to witness a very important week of the year here, Semana Santo.  This is the holy week before Easter (which isn´t really celebrated).  On Monday, there was a big parade through town where a group of people carry a statue of Jesus through the streets.  Later that night, the majority of Cusco residents congregated in the Plaza for a mass blessing.  It was a very surreal event to witness with an unimaginable number of people present.  Trying to leave the Plaza was pretty crazy with a great many people trying to squeeze down thin streets.  It was a bit claustrophobic and showed small signs of the ¨mob mentality¨.

The rest of the week went well and included a small gathering of families one night at my host families house (a tradition they keep every year), and a day of ¨Doce Platos¨ (12 Plates).  That meal is to celebrate The Last Supper – 1 plate of food for each of the 12 apostles.  It was quite a feast, and I was even asked to prepare a plate.  I just made a simple sliced tomoato/mozorella/cucumber platter with balsamic/oil dressing.  Thankfully, it was a hit.

After saying my goodbyes on Friday and Saturday, I was picked up Saturday afternoon to head on up to Urubamba.  This is where I will be for the next weeks while I am doing my volunteering.  I´ve had a couple days here in Urubamba so far, but will make a separate entry for all that.

Chao!

Scott

As a final note, I finally got my pictures up!  the link is as follows:

http://picasaweb.google.com/scottwood83/WelcomeToPeru?feat=directlink

Hola!  Thanks everyone for the comments.  It’s great to know that I’m not simply sending random text across the internet to to a non-existant audience.

Yesterday afternoon, another student arrived who will also be staying with my family.  Her name is Stephanie and she’s from San Fran, California.  It’s nice to have someone else English-speaking to confer with for certain translations.  Last night we had a city tour organized by Amauta, our Spanish school.  The city of Cuzco is really beautiful and full of incredibly ancient history and architecture.  Many of the walls were constructed by the Incas themselves.

After the tour, we headed back for a light dinner and got to bed pretty early since we had an early morning coming today.  This morning at 8am I had my placement exam/interview at the school which helps to determine your current level of Spanish in order to place you in an appropriate class.  There are about 10 new students starting school this week with me.  They hail from France, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and the USA from what I have heard.  All are friendly and interesting to talk with.  I got placed in a class with 4 other people, one of which is Stephanie, my housemate.  Should make things more convenient since we will likely be traveling to/from the school together.

The school itself is very nice.  It has a beautiful roof-top terrace that looks over the city and surrounding mountains.  There is also a dorm here if you choose to live here instead of a homestay, as well as free internet which is what I am making use of now.  I have pictures that I wanted to upload, but considering these machines are a bit outdated and don’t have USB ports, I’ll have to hold off and do that at an internet cafe somewhere.

Okay, time to head ‘home’ for almuerzo.  Then it’s back to the school for my first class at 2:30.

Hasta luego.

Well, I made it to Cuzco.  After a couple days of traveling, it´s really a great feeling to have a home base.

My flight left Logan airport right around the scheduled 9:45am departure time, followed by a couple hour layover in Newark, and then on to Lima, landing around 10:10pm.  To my surprise, I encountered no trouble clearing customs and shuffled right on through.  Because of my extended stay, I was almost certain I would have some issues as from what I had read, the longest temporary visa they issue is 90 days (I´m here for I believe 132).  I just assumed they would stamp me for 90 and I would have to exit and re-enter the country to have it renewed.  But before I knew it, the customs agent was stamping my immigration card with a fat 182!  This was great news! 

 

Señor Carrasco, a man associated with Nexos Voluntarios, was waiting outside of baggage as planned, with sign in hand: ´Scott Wood´.  He was as kind as could be and led me to his car where we departed for Miraflores, Lima, Peru.  We chatted a bit during the ride and I was surprised to find that I could actually comprehend a decent amount of his Spanish.  My speaking abilities, on the other hand, are definitely rusty.  I guess that´s why I opted for 3 weeks of Spanish lessons before I start volunteering.

 

After about a half hour of Nascar-style maneuvers through the reckless streets of Lima (seriously, those roads are not for the faint of heart), Sr. Carrasco dropped me off at Flying Dog Backpackers hostel, which I had also arranged ahead of time.  My name was on the list and I was shown to my bed (top bunk of 1 of 3 sets).  Oh, and did I meantion the tremendous heat and humidity?  All I can say is I´m glad I won´t be spending all of my time in Lima.  Hot, humid, polluted, and overcrowded are 4 things that generally don´t fully agree with me.  Regardless of those factors, and the bumping bar scene below my room, I managed to fall asleep at some point.  6am, however, came a bit too soon for me.  I showered quickly and was met once again by Sr. Carrasco who was to bring me back to the airport for my flight to Cuzco.  As a pleasant surpise, he was accompanied by Maricarmen, the volunteer coordinator who I´ve been in constant contact with for the past several months, and a British woman named Helen who is currently working with her in Lima.  The company was much welcomed and they even walked with me right to my flight check-in location.

 

After some more boring airport scenery, I hopped on the lovely STAR Peru flight to Cuzco.  The condition of the inside of the cabin assured me that they must spend all their money on the inner-workings of the plane, so I felt quite safe and unconcerned with the torn seat pockets and scratched up walls.  After a quick 1-hour flight, I was on the ground in Cuzco and being greeted by a representative from Amauta Spanish School.  She introduced me to another student, Tobia (sp?), from Switzerland.  She was very nice and I felt absolutely terrible that her luggage was nowhere to be found…  Apparently she was told it would be transfered in Lima to her flight to Cuzco, but she was clearly mistaken as no one seemed to be able to give her any idea what-so-ever as to where, exactly, it might be.  Nothing like being in a foreign city with zero changes of clothes and no clue when, or if, you will ever see your luggage again.  I offered her some clothes, but we both knew there was no way in hell they would do her any good.

 

Around 11am or so I was dropped off with my host family, the Marin´s.  The family consists of the mother - Sara, father – Oscar, and daughter – Katherine (note: all name spellings are guesses).  All I can say about them is… thank the lord.  They are the most amazing, incredible family anyone could ever be placed with.  Within seconds of being introduced, Sara gave me a big hug and told me that I will be her son for the next few weeks.  I have never felt more welcomed in my life.  She told me when I call or write home that I must send lots of hugs and kisses from her family to mine and to assure my family that I am in good hands.  She and Katherine speak just about zero English, but are amazingly patient and incredible at explaining things in simpler terms when necessary.  We were conversing freely over some hot coca tea (helps with the acclimation process – Cuzco is at around 10,000ft) in no time.

 

After an amazing lunch of chicken, rice, and some raddish-potato dish, I walked with Oscar through Cuzco.  He owns a tourism agency right in the heart of the city and, after showing me some sights and where my Spanish school is, pointed me in the direction of a good internet cafe.  Which gets me to now.  And, althought there are many other details I left out, I have to get going as I am meeting Oscar back at his office in 5 minutes to head back home.

 

I miss you all and hope everyone is well.  Please keep in touch.

 

Scott

9 days until departure…

This is my first official post and will be brief as I am still in Pre-Departure mode. If you’ve made it to this site, chances are good that you’re aware of its purpose. For anyone who is not, here is the 2 sentence summary: I will be volunteering in Urubamba, Peru for 3 months from April 11 – July 4, 2009 on a public health project focusing on reproductive health issues. Through this blog, I will be reflecting on my experiences with frequent entries, pictures, and whatever else I can come up with.

A very rough itinerary for the next 4 months is as follows:

3/20/2009 – Depart Boston for Lima – Hola, Peru!

3/21/2009 – Flight from Lima to Cusco

3/23/2009 – Begin Spanish School with Amauta Spanish School in Cusco, Peru

4/10/2009 – Finish school

4/11/2009 – Travel from Cusco to Urubamba

4/11/2009 – Begin volunteering with Nexos Voluntarios in Urubamba, Peru

7/4/2009 – Finish volunteering

7/4 – 7/30/2009 – Traveling & meeting up with friends

7/30/2009 – Depart Lima for Boston – Adios, Peru!

I’m going to be sending out a fundraising letter in the next few weeks in an effort to rally support for this volunteer project. I’ll be sure to post it to the site. Any and all contributions are welcome! Just click on the “Donate” button at the top of the right-hand column.

Scott