Day 18 (1-28-10)
Today I actually got up and headed to the Peru Rail office. There, I was the only person so I walked up to a desk. When I asked if I could move my ticket to the 6th, the guy told me to just get the refund since they have no idea when it will be open. I guess I will wait and see what happens next week. I then headed back to my hostel.
I relaxed, read, watched some tennis and other stuff with the other guests. I talked to Abbey. I then grabbed some food. There was a lot of things going on in Plaza de Armas. So I observed. Most of it was to get people to donate. It seemed like it was worth it. After getting some food, I walked back to my hostel. I hung out for most of the time trying to figure out what to do about my costume.
We all headed to the school. I started to take pictures of the kids. Like at Glenhaven, the children love to be in front of the camera. Eventually I got them to understand that I wanted them to continue what they were doing. I took photos of them playing games, bonding with the volunteers and other stuff. It was a lot of fun. We finally our group to know the dance but they are still out of control. After, I went into the costume room, and couldn´t find anything supermanish. I instead found a big head like from a person at amusment park of a Peruvian boy (hard to explain without seeing it). So I decided to go as a Super Peruvian. I have my Cusco pants on, pan pipes, my head and a pancho.
All the kids loved my costume when I was walking down the street. Adults kind of just stared at me. The dinner was really good food. It was great to see the people´s costumes. We had cheap drinks. We talked and posed for goofy photos. Then we started to play games. It was a lot of fun. We then danced and played limbo. One of the Argentine girls tried to teach me to dance which was a lot of fun. After a couple of hours at the resturant, some of us went to the club. It was an electronic club that brought me back to high school memories. It was a lot of fun. I was even able to check in my big head at the coat check and get it back. It was pretty much amazing. We were there for a few hours and then headed to the hostel. It was a really fun night.
Sad news. J.D. Salinger died.
Showing posts with label Peru Rail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peru Rail. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Frustration at the media though I am part of it
Day 16 (1-26-10)
I woke up in the 9ish hour. After a nice hot, and my first shave in weeks, I chilled with some of the other guests. We watched and followed the news on tv. We are all annoyed with the lack of coverage of the landslides and the floodings here on the global news circuit. All the news is reporting is that tourists have been trapped at Machu Picchu or that people can´t go there. In fact on CNN, it was a weather woman who reported this news. No one outside of Peru seems to care that people are losing their homes and towns at the very least. No one seems to be reporting how many people have lost their lives minus a couple that went back into their house, an Argentine tourist and tour guide. This can not stand and I hope that people are awaken to this tragedy that is happening. I am planning on writing a Guilfordian article about this since most people outside of Peru have no clue or don´t care. Some people here are trying to talk to the Red Cross about trying to help out if they can. Rumor has it that the trains won´t even start running again till the 5th. I am going back to Peru Rail and hope to get my money back. I would be upset but considering all the mess of what is going on, there are more important things in life. So I can get mad. I can always try to come back, unlike the houses and lives that have been lost. So I need to focus my energy on the good that I am trying to do with my volunteering.
On a lighter note, I am also going to probably sacrfice doing the bus back to Buenos Aires from Santiago. I am enjoying working with the children and going to try to do it for a third week and fly back to Buenos Aires the 13th. After that no idea.
After watching the news, I had some juice and bread for breakfast and talked to people online. I am getting a jacket from the place I am volunteering with. I am considering getting a shirt as well. Hmm.. I then relaxed, ate and read until it was time to go volunteer.
At the place, I played more games with the children though I refused to play scrabble. I played this cool game called Set among others. The children are wondeful and full of life. I quite enjoy it. We met in the big circle and discussed the landslides and what not. Despite their ages, the children are well aware of what is going on. Yet CNN doesn´t. Fail.
We then broke up into our groups of "families." Our family´s mission for the day was to get the children to dance. This was extremely difficult because the children in my group are 11 years old and wiling to rebel against the teachers. But eventually after much struggle we got them to do the dance for the show we are having on Friday. It will be interesting. Eventually our work was done for the day and we headed back to the hostel.
I have been hanging out, got dinner and chilling.
I woke up in the 9ish hour. After a nice hot, and my first shave in weeks, I chilled with some of the other guests. We watched and followed the news on tv. We are all annoyed with the lack of coverage of the landslides and the floodings here on the global news circuit. All the news is reporting is that tourists have been trapped at Machu Picchu or that people can´t go there. In fact on CNN, it was a weather woman who reported this news. No one outside of Peru seems to care that people are losing their homes and towns at the very least. No one seems to be reporting how many people have lost their lives minus a couple that went back into their house, an Argentine tourist and tour guide. This can not stand and I hope that people are awaken to this tragedy that is happening. I am planning on writing a Guilfordian article about this since most people outside of Peru have no clue or don´t care. Some people here are trying to talk to the Red Cross about trying to help out if they can. Rumor has it that the trains won´t even start running again till the 5th. I am going back to Peru Rail and hope to get my money back. I would be upset but considering all the mess of what is going on, there are more important things in life. So I can get mad. I can always try to come back, unlike the houses and lives that have been lost. So I need to focus my energy on the good that I am trying to do with my volunteering.
On a lighter note, I am also going to probably sacrfice doing the bus back to Buenos Aires from Santiago. I am enjoying working with the children and going to try to do it for a third week and fly back to Buenos Aires the 13th. After that no idea.
After watching the news, I had some juice and bread for breakfast and talked to people online. I am getting a jacket from the place I am volunteering with. I am considering getting a shirt as well. Hmm.. I then relaxed, ate and read until it was time to go volunteer.
At the place, I played more games with the children though I refused to play scrabble. I played this cool game called Set among others. The children are wondeful and full of life. I quite enjoy it. We met in the big circle and discussed the landslides and what not. Despite their ages, the children are well aware of what is going on. Yet CNN doesn´t. Fail.
We then broke up into our groups of "families." Our family´s mission for the day was to get the children to dance. This was extremely difficult because the children in my group are 11 years old and wiling to rebel against the teachers. But eventually after much struggle we got them to do the dance for the show we are having on Friday. It will be interesting. Eventually our work was done for the day and we headed back to the hostel.
I have been hanging out, got dinner and chilling.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Jack Sinclair = Example of the Small World Theory
I woke up early for the day. I tried to shower but the rain had damaged the water systems so no water. I got dressed and went to get money to pay the bill. After I got back, I ate breakfast and discussed the weather with other guests in my hostel. We watched the news where towns have been devasted by the landslides and flooding. It is going relatively unreported by the news, so I am planning to write a Guilfordian article about it. I would later learn while people here want it declared a state of emergency, but the tourism forces here don´t for fear of money purposes. This is terrible.
I got in my cab and headed to the next hostel (one connected to my volunteer program), that I hope doesn´t have leaky roofs and more respectful guests. There I got info about the program and whatnot. It sounds like a lot of fun. I put my bags in my room. Because this volunteer thing is a full week commitment, I was suggested to change the date of my plan to Machu Picchu.
I then headed to Peru Rail office. This office is run very similar to the DMV. The people working there are very confused and usually have to ask for help from several colleagues. Also your number is randomly called. After an hour of waiting, I got my turn. It only took like ten minutes. Then I headed back to my hostel.
At the hostel, I checked somethings online and talked to Abbey. I met a girl from near Seattle who went to Western Washington. Small world. I met some more of the other guests. I relaxed and played with a little girl who I think is someone who works here´s daughter. I also got some cool pictures of a child learning to juggle. I met a girl who is super close friends with Taylor Barrett from their time at Middlebury, small world again (basically my whole life). Eventually I met Yuri who runs the place I am volunteering at. He gathered all of us volunteers from the hostel to walk the block to the school.
At the school, the volunteers were split into words based on the colors, for example I wear a yellow jacket there and I am on group Sol. But first I and another volunteer had to manage the game room for an hour or so. There I played some games with the children. I got my butt kicked by three girls in scrabble. I frequently had to ask the other volunteer to make sure they were not cheating. Then I played a boy in Sorry. I swear the dice was weighted. He kicked my butt too. Finally I beat a girl at Guess Who?
After an hour or so, we were met all in a circle. Yuri then discussed the rules, what the agenda for the week was and introduced all the new volunteers. He is a very cool guy and loves what he does and has done a great job building this program. We then were split in our groups and we had to decide a country to learn about since countries are the theme of the week. Our group choose Brazil.
We went up into a room and discussed Brazil. We talked about the capital, the money, the dancing, the soccer players and whatever. It was a lot of fun. The children are kind of crazy. There were ten children and two other volunteers, Justin from England and I am not sure where Melisa is from. After we finished our agenda, we just went around the room and asked questions. Eventually the day was done. All the volunteers had to meet. There Yuri discussed more of the rules and we talked about our day. I learned that we are having a big group dinner on Thursdays where we will play games and what not. It will be fun. Then I headed back to my hostel and caught up on what I had missed.
I ate dinner at the pizza place next store which is somewhat related to my hostel. It was nice. Now to relax the rest of the evening
I got in my cab and headed to the next hostel (one connected to my volunteer program), that I hope doesn´t have leaky roofs and more respectful guests. There I got info about the program and whatnot. It sounds like a lot of fun. I put my bags in my room. Because this volunteer thing is a full week commitment, I was suggested to change the date of my plan to Machu Picchu.
I then headed to Peru Rail office. This office is run very similar to the DMV. The people working there are very confused and usually have to ask for help from several colleagues. Also your number is randomly called. After an hour of waiting, I got my turn. It only took like ten minutes. Then I headed back to my hostel.
At the hostel, I checked somethings online and talked to Abbey. I met a girl from near Seattle who went to Western Washington. Small world. I met some more of the other guests. I relaxed and played with a little girl who I think is someone who works here´s daughter. I also got some cool pictures of a child learning to juggle. I met a girl who is super close friends with Taylor Barrett from their time at Middlebury, small world again (basically my whole life). Eventually I met Yuri who runs the place I am volunteering at. He gathered all of us volunteers from the hostel to walk the block to the school.
At the school, the volunteers were split into words based on the colors, for example I wear a yellow jacket there and I am on group Sol. But first I and another volunteer had to manage the game room for an hour or so. There I played some games with the children. I got my butt kicked by three girls in scrabble. I frequently had to ask the other volunteer to make sure they were not cheating. Then I played a boy in Sorry. I swear the dice was weighted. He kicked my butt too. Finally I beat a girl at Guess Who?
After an hour or so, we were met all in a circle. Yuri then discussed the rules, what the agenda for the week was and introduced all the new volunteers. He is a very cool guy and loves what he does and has done a great job building this program. We then were split in our groups and we had to decide a country to learn about since countries are the theme of the week. Our group choose Brazil.
We went up into a room and discussed Brazil. We talked about the capital, the money, the dancing, the soccer players and whatever. It was a lot of fun. The children are kind of crazy. There were ten children and two other volunteers, Justin from England and I am not sure where Melisa is from. After we finished our agenda, we just went around the room and asked questions. Eventually the day was done. All the volunteers had to meet. There Yuri discussed more of the rules and we talked about our day. I learned that we are having a big group dinner on Thursdays where we will play games and what not. It will be fun. Then I headed back to my hostel and caught up on what I had missed.
I ate dinner at the pizza place next store which is somewhat related to my hostel. It was nice. Now to relax the rest of the evening
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Waking up to Fireworks
Day 14 (1-24-10)
After a much needed sleep, I was awoken to the sound of fireworks. First of all, why are there fireworks going off at like 9 something in the morning. Second, today is a really cloudy day and hard to see much. I got up and checked people´s responses to my epic journey yesterday. I checked the Peru Rail website to see when their office was opened till so I could figure out my plans. I saw that it was open till 12. When I looked at the time it was 9:30. I quickly showered and all that jazz and left my hostel. Grabbed a cab and headed off to the office.
It was a mad house with many people complaining about what happened. I ran into people who I had met on the train. We talked about our various plans. An Argentine couple from our train, who served as translators, helped me, anAmerican girl named Sophie and a couple from Vancouver cut and get bumped up in line. The Argentine and Canadian couples asked for their money back because they couldn´t do it any other time. Sophie and I decided to go Wednesday. We got our money and bought new tickets. We have to take a cab to where we got on the second train yesterday because the full rail is shut down. So I hope Wednesday works.
After we got that all figured out, then we started to walk to the main square. Along the way, we stopped at this place that Sophie volunteered at, to found out where to get the cab on Wednesday. I asked about their volunteer program, it seemed pretty good but costed almost $800 for two weeks and I think the other one that I was waiting on was cheaper. We then parted ways to meet up on Wednesday. I then went back to my hostel. I was able to briefly talk to Abbey which was nice so we could catch up on each other´s Saturdays. She got to go to Bath and have a Jane Austen full day. I am happy for her.
I then went to get lunch. I went to check if Martha and Danielle were at their hotel but no they had left for Puno. So I decided to treat myself after a stressful day yesterday. I went to a resturant called Jack´s Cafe. It serves breakfast all day. I got scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. It was quite yummy. Then I went back to my hostel to relax for a bit. I then grabbed some dirty clothes and took to a place to get them washed and dryed. I relaxed for a bit more.
I then went to Skype with my mom since it is her birthday. It was nice to talk to her. I also got an email from the other volunteer program that they will be expecting me in the morning. Woohoo. I was then able to Skype with Abbey. It started to thunder and lightening here. It sucked because it looked like it was going to be a nice day. I won´t miss this weather in a few weeks. I ran back to my hostel. I relaxed for a bit before running to my clothes. Since then I have ate some stuff and packing my bags to leave the hostel in the morning. I am hoping for a good night sleep but we shall see.
After a much needed sleep, I was awoken to the sound of fireworks. First of all, why are there fireworks going off at like 9 something in the morning. Second, today is a really cloudy day and hard to see much. I got up and checked people´s responses to my epic journey yesterday. I checked the Peru Rail website to see when their office was opened till so I could figure out my plans. I saw that it was open till 12. When I looked at the time it was 9:30. I quickly showered and all that jazz and left my hostel. Grabbed a cab and headed off to the office.
It was a mad house with many people complaining about what happened. I ran into people who I had met on the train. We talked about our various plans. An Argentine couple from our train, who served as translators, helped me, anAmerican girl named Sophie and a couple from Vancouver cut and get bumped up in line. The Argentine and Canadian couples asked for their money back because they couldn´t do it any other time. Sophie and I decided to go Wednesday. We got our money and bought new tickets. We have to take a cab to where we got on the second train yesterday because the full rail is shut down. So I hope Wednesday works.
After we got that all figured out, then we started to walk to the main square. Along the way, we stopped at this place that Sophie volunteered at, to found out where to get the cab on Wednesday. I asked about their volunteer program, it seemed pretty good but costed almost $800 for two weeks and I think the other one that I was waiting on was cheaper. We then parted ways to meet up on Wednesday. I then went back to my hostel. I was able to briefly talk to Abbey which was nice so we could catch up on each other´s Saturdays. She got to go to Bath and have a Jane Austen full day. I am happy for her.
I then went to get lunch. I went to check if Martha and Danielle were at their hotel but no they had left for Puno. So I decided to treat myself after a stressful day yesterday. I went to a resturant called Jack´s Cafe. It serves breakfast all day. I got scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. It was quite yummy. Then I went back to my hostel to relax for a bit. I then grabbed some dirty clothes and took to a place to get them washed and dryed. I relaxed for a bit more.
I then went to Skype with my mom since it is her birthday. It was nice to talk to her. I also got an email from the other volunteer program that they will be expecting me in the morning. Woohoo. I was then able to Skype with Abbey. It started to thunder and lightening here. It sucked because it looked like it was going to be a nice day. I won´t miss this weather in a few weeks. I ran back to my hostel. I relaxed for a bit before running to my clothes. Since then I have ate some stuff and packing my bags to leave the hostel in the morning. I am hoping for a good night sleep but we shall see.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Attempt One at Machu Picchu
Day 12 continued (1-22-10)
I tried to go to bed but some of the people who I share a room with didn´t show me any respect. They kept coming in and out of the room, turning on the lights to search for things and I don´t know. It really frustrated me. Finally they appeared to be done with this nonsense. Turns out they made friends with girls in the hostel and decided to hang out in the common room that is next to my room. They were very noisy so I couldn´t fall asleep. I tried to ask them nicely if they could be quieter but that didn´t work. 30 minutes later, I went out and asked them to move somewhere else. So they did but that lasted for what they prob assumed was the time it would take me to fall asleep. The hostel really needs quiet hours and I fully plan to mention in my comments. Eventually after all this madness, I fell asleep.
Day 13 (1-23-10)
I woke up at like 5:30-40ish to some Peruvian men thinking it was cool to watch tv. I will not miss this hostel. Maybe if I had a private room, it would be different but who would have thought it was like this. I tried to fall back asleep but was relatively unsuccessful. I got dressed and went to check things online before my cab came.
On my cab ride to the train station, I passed a lot of potential photos. The combination of the windy road and my cab driver´s driving made me feel a little not good but I survived. I got to the train station and ran into my Brazilian friends. It was nice. We talked and shared horror stories of our nights. When I went to check the time, I realized I didn´t have my phone. Did I leave at the hostel, in the cab or was it stolen? I couldn´t remember. This was bad. Caro and Mario tried to calm me down which helped. We then ran into Chileans who Caro and Mario met the day before. They tried to help me. Most people didn´t signal on their phone. Eventually one of the people who work on the train helped me. He asked a friend and he called the hostel. They found it. I had left it by the computer due to dashing out in a rush and being so tired. This was instant relief. I told the group the good news and we all were happy. We all talked for a bit before Caro and Mario had to leave on an earlier train.
I waited for my train with the Chilean women because they were on my train. All the trains were delayed because of the heavy rain last night. Two after the original departure time, we headed out. I was seated with two other Americans. They are out of college. One is working as a freelance writer and photographer in Buenos Aires (pretty cool). She and I exchanged info in between taking lots and lots of photos from the train.
After 40ish minutes, our train stopped. No one seemed to know why. Eventually, I learned that there was major landslides blocking a section of the track. So we waited to see what was going to happen. I played some Texas Hold Em with the Americans. After 45 minutes, we finally started to move again. But that was short lived. We only pulled into a place so we could get buses. We were given a choice, go to Cusco and try another day or bus it for an hour to another train to take us the rest of the way. As the Italian who I met in Lima said to me, I may die tomorrow (his twisted way of saying Carpe Diem). So I said to myself, I am going for it. While we waited for the buses, I took some pictures of whatever town we were in. The picture above is of a nice woman who allowed the photo (it is currently unedited so that will happen in a few weeks).
I finally got on a bus. After an hour or so, we got another train. At this rate, I had maybe a few hours there but that is better than nothing, right? We had heavy delays getting out of this station too. I sat with two woman from Southern California, Martha and Danielle, and a New Zealander named Ara. They were enjoyable company considering the circumstances. We talked about a wide range of things. I also taught them some stuff about their cameras since they had some questions. Turns out within an hour or so, another landslide had happened. We were about 20 km away from Aguas Calientes. But we couldn´t go any further. I guess we were lucky that we were not there when it happened. People are currently trapped at Machu Picchu. Luckily I had no travel plans that got messed up through this. I plan to try again next weekend (I have to go to the office tomorrow to figure out what to do). It sucked but that is a part of the adventure.
On the train back to the station we got this second train, I met two people who had been doing volunteer work here so I got a suggestion that I am going to try out since I haven´t heard back from this other one. Martha and Danielle and I chatted some more. They are in some kind of medical field but I couldn´t figure it out. But when I mentioned that I had Crohn´s, they became very insistant that I get off Gluten. I plan to investigate this more. The change would not happen till after I get back at the soonest. We then had to get back a bus to get back to Cusco. I mostly tried to sleep with the aide of the music of Explosions in the Sky. Eventually, Martha and I swapped iPods. She has a good taste in music including cds I want and she wanted some of mine.
We ended up at the Peru Rail office (where I need to go tomorrow to get either my money back or try to change my ticket till next Saturday (I am thinking the landslides will be cleared by then). The SoCal girls and Igrabbed a cab since their hotel is near my hostel. We went to grabbed dinner. Martha played the role of interrogator but I am used to it. I also showed them the photo album that I am traveling around. After, we said bye and good luck on things. I might try to see if they are around tomorrow. I came back and checked facebook. I had to let people down by not going to Machu Picchu. I then uploaded while the people who woke me up this morning are watching Peruvian music videos. I will tell them to turn it down so I can sleep.
Plan for Sunday
Wake up. Try to go the Peru Rail office early to figure out what to do, then check out this volunteer opportunity. Then hopefully going to Skype.
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