A little bit different

Sorry that I'm only updating once a week now, it's manly just because I'm being lazy. The first week in Lima has been pretty fun, we went dancing a few times and have been out to get some Peruvian cuisine which is really good. My family here is really nice and they are always making sure that I am not cold and that I am well fed. So far I have visited the point which is a piece of land in Lima that juts out so it's completely surrounded by water, the Plaza de las Aramas in Lima, the orphanage I visited last time in Lima (and they said I can't work there so I need to look for another one) and a couple of other little suburbs in Lima. I want to go to go visit some cities in Peru this weekend but everyone that was going to go with me backed out at the last minute for different reasons and so now I'm not sure if I can go. A lot has gone on the last week but at the same time not much has gone on so it's kinda hard to write a blog. I promise I'll try to update more often

Lima so far

First things first, I guess the US is ignorant to whats going on in Lima b/c apparently some people thought that I was in some kind of danger. The unrest that is going on is only in the Amazon areas so in otherwords I'm about 1000 miles away from where the people were killed. There are protests going on close to me but the most danger they really possess is the cops throwing some smoke and or/ gas grenades to clear the crowds.

I made it to Lima on Saturday morning and have already gotten adjusted to where I'm staying. It is super nice here, I have my own room, there is a nice living room with leather furniture, a super nice kitchen with a large TV and the bathrooms have hot water and bidets. The family is also nice with the Grandmother, 2 guys one in his 20's the other 17 and 2 ladies in their late 20's early 30's. The mother here is really sweet and also is constantly shoving food down our throats (it's good but she keeps piling it on and I can barely finish it all). This time there is no disclaimer because this is actually how I'm living. I'll try to upload some photos for everyone later.

Also, I've only had one day of classes so far but they seem like they will be easy and on top of that my 5 weeks consist of a 3 day week, another 3 day week, a 4 day week, a 3 day week, and then another 4 day week with my final on the fifth day. Needless to say, the classes here should be pretty lax allowing me to enjoy my; stay more. I also might start looking for orphanages this weekend because my classes end at 3:30 so I could spend a couple of hours each day at an orphanage if it's not too far away.

Chao for now,

Brandon

My Trek Up the Mountain

Sorry that it's been so long again but there have been some factors such as working overtime to try to get this movie shot, electricity was down one day, the internet was down another, but anyways here's me update for today.

On monday I went with 5 other volunteers to visit a cross on the top of a mountain. There is this lit Cross that you can see from pretty much everywhere in Ayacucho and we heard that it was a great view so we decided to go. I followed Matt because he said he new how to get there but when we got off the bus we found out that we were a little over 2 hr hike from the cross but then we were pointed to another wooden cross that was only about a half our hike. So we decided to hike up to see this cross as well as the view. It was quite a trek and was very dusty getting up there and the dust, altitude, and being out of shape were getting to me because once we got up there I felt like that cross was for me. Anyways, we got to the top and the view was amazing and the sun was setting over the other side of the mountain so it gave it an even better look.

In other news, there has been some unrest the past couple of weeks because some agreements with the US have opened up the amazon for energy research and bio development and the native Peruvians are not happy about that so they have been setting up road blocks as well as running cables across the rivers so that boats can not pass. Well last week it got violent and about 30 were killed and again a couple of days ago some police officers were being help hostage and in the process of freeing them around 35 more were killed and somewhere around 150 were injured. As a result, the whole country is on strike indefinetely so the markets are closed (and markets here does not mean stock market) as well as some other places here and there. I haven't checked the bus stations yet but if they are closed then that will mean that I wont be able to get out of Ayacucho.

A Little Update

Sorry for the lack jof updates but I´ve been trying to make these posts interesting and frankly nothing out of the ordinary has happened this past week. I leave Ayacucho next friday and I can´t believe I only have one more week because it feels like I got here yesterday, as expected I´m really glad that I decided to not just come here to study for a month because I could not imagine only spending a month here but I have a feeling after two and a half months it still wont feel like enough.

As for what I´ve been doing this past week, on Sunday I went and visited some churches but out of the 12 I visited only 3 were open but one of them was holding mass so I sat through that but had a little difficulty paying attention because the sound system was kinda fuzzy, I was tired, the kid behind me wouldn´t stop talking/kicking, oh yeah and the whole speaking Spanish thing.

The rest of the week went pretty much as normal, I worked with the Lupes 3 times and the Pequeños once and I have today and tomorrow off so I´m going to try to go visit some more sites before I leave. I also brought up the idea of making a movie to Gill, the Dad here, and he was very accepting and gave me permission to interview some of the señoritas and the kids. I also brought up the idea to the other volunteers and they are very excited about it so I´m going to start working on that this afternoon. That´s pretty much it for now, I just figured I´d give a little update since I haven´t done so in almost a week.

Peace,

Brandon