Macho Man

I set my alarm from 8 something but was too lazy to get up so I slept till 9:30ish. I got up and chilled. Got some breakfast and watched the news. I showered and relaxed. I finally was able to talk to Abbey for a bit. It was enjoyable.

After, I hung out with the other guests in my hostel. We talked about Machu Picchu and other things. Eventually we headed to the school. Justin and I had to play the role of the macho men by carrying boxes to the school. There, I danced with some of the kids before we started because music was playing. I played more games with the children and then a bunch of the volunteers and the children played some game kinda like duck duck goose but with dancing. Hard to explain.

In the circle, we discussed the show for Friday. It was funny to see what all the different groups were focusing on. In my group, after breaking up from the circle, we worked on our dancing. The children were really hard to get concentrate. We finally had to sit them down and explain it. We got them to focus, relativelly. I am hoping that the show goes alright. We finished and all the volunteers met. We discussed our goods and bads as well as the party tomorrow. The theme is Superheroes or cartoon characters. I am going as Clark Kent/Superman. Yes I am taking the easy way out. I talked to Yuri and he said I can take pictures of the children to use for the website and for myself.

After I got back to the hostel, I grabbed my camera and wallet because I was meeting up with Martha and Danielle who got back in town and were leaving tomorrow. On the way, I took some pictures. I also saw a vigil for all those who lost their homes. I took some night shots. After picking up a message from the girls at their hotel, I met them at Jack´s Cafe. It was great to see them. We talked about our past few days. Also about random stuff. With us, was a guy who works at University of Dreams. It was a lot of fun. I then said bye to them and to keep in touch. I tried to find my Brazilian friends whose last night it was but I could not. It sucks but that is life.
I passed people who were collecting things for those who have lost their home. I prob will go by there later this week and give them waters. I came back to my hostel to write and type. Tomorrow I am going to try to change my Peru Rail ticket for the third time to the 6th.

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