Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z. spent 7 months, in 2005, in Peru doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Sorry about the absence of messages. I have been travelling and I have not had much time to write, but I am back in Chincha now, so I have lots of time to write. I had better tell you about Chincha and what it’s like. Chincha is not exactly a city that is going to win beauty contests. Garbage litters all of its roads and there are pot holes everywhere. there are lots of dogs in the streets too, I think more than people. Some of them bark at you like they are going to bite you. I have learned that the best way to combat this is to lean down like you are going to pick up a stone, then they usually back away.
Activities in Chincha are limited. Walking around the plaza de armas is the only thing to do on weekdays. Then you buy food. Lots of exchange students who go to Chincha get much heavier as their time elapses. There are 2 discos in the weekend too. However, if you want to avoid anyone, walking in the plaza and going to the discos are not reccomended as everyone is usually there.
Yeah, Chincha is pretty boring, but I love my work. Seeing my girls after so long was wonderful. There are so many new girls that I am just getting to know as well. One of the Aurora is a 14 year old with a 2 month old baby. I help her out a bit with the baby. I cannot imagine having that responsibility at 14. She seems grounded though. We had Fiestas Patrias competitions as well…. there are 3 zones of Peru and everyone divided into these zones- coast, highlands and jungle. They did dances and singing related to these zones. It was fun helping them prepare and watching them.
I guess I should tell you all about my travels. I went alone, mainly because everyone left Lima before I could get to them. Email is not reliable for that. I went to Huancayo, a very beautiful place. I got free accommodation from friends in return for ‘teaching English.’ I really enjoyed staying with my friends, such nice people. As its in the highlands, I got a bit of altitude sickness but after drinking mate de coca, I was fine. The rio manon valle is just stunning as are the inca ruins at chupaca. It was wonderful.
After that I went to Ayacucho and saw the Wari capital. the wari civilisation was pre Inca and the capital is buried near Ayacucho. The walls are freakeshly high. They know more about construction than modern Peruvians. I also went to the battle of Ayacucho battle field. this battle was fought on my birthday, and the view from the field are stunning.
After that, I made my way to Arequipa to stay with lovely relatives of my family in Lima. They were so nice and I got to drink fresh milk for the first time in God knows how long. I also went to the caà±on del colca, an amazing caà±on that is the second highest in the world. I saw condors and some amazing views that I could just not capture on my camera.
Basically, I had a wonderful time travelling. I am half sorry to be back, but I am enjoying seeing my ‘hijas’ (daughters) again and spending time with them. I cannot believe that I have only 3 weeks left of being here with AFS. It seems like time has gone by so fast, despite the ups and downs. I am now dreaming in Spanish and my English is getting worse. I said ‘conversandering’ the other day. How much more Spanglish can you get? My spelling in English is going down the drain as I am learning the logical Spanish way. People here now say i speak Spansih well. It doesn’´t feel like it, but I know that I am better than I was.
I hope all of you are having a good time at home.
Love
Mariana
Photographer: Mariana Gledhill
Photo: the jungle settlement of Tarzan in the central jungle of Peru
Tags: cultures, dance, development, language, Latin America, Peru, poverty, projects, travel, volunteer, youth