Some photos from New Year.

And a happy New Year...

Hey hey,

First and foremost I should say Happy New Year, hope a good time was had by all. Our New Year was... well different to say the least. Cusco is (so I am told by many a cusquenan) one of the two best places to spend New Year in South America and word had definitely got out to the ENTIRE population of Peru. As ridiculous as this may sound I can honestly say I have never seen so many people in such a small area. Imagine Plaza de Armas was some kind of rotting animal and we were all the little maggots out to feast; in short, the square was heaving mass of drunken revellers. Add to this every form of alcohol imaginable, millions of pairs of yellow underwear (its tradition), cigars, Salsa girls in tiny, shiny red thongs, and every third person drunkenly setting off fireworks in the middle of the crowd. The sky looked like something from Star Wars (Janek’s words not mine), and the noise was deafening... if the beginning of Saving Private Ryan had been accompanied by Salsa music, it would have sounded something like New Year in Cusco. We spent most of the evening in and around the square, mainly because it was almost impossible to move anywhere else. There was dancing, drinking, more fireworks, probably several burns victims, numerous sandwiches and a potato. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.

New Year is probably a pretty good benchmark for our Christmas period more generally. Being away from home at Christmas is not ideal for sure, but if I were to spend it anywhere other than with my family I’d pick here. Obviously my opinion is somewhat biased, but the bosom of the Yanapay family almost made up for the missing family members and friends back home. Not to sound too A Christmas Carol esque but there was an awful lot of Christmas spirit floating around: the kids Christmas party almost made me feel like a child again there was so much excitement in the air, and then Christmas eve at Yuri’s mum’s was I suppose a heady concoction of part family Christmas, part office party! Also, having spent every Christmas before this one at home, being absent from my usually festivities made me realise how awesome they are... next year I am fairly sure I will be the biggest pain in the arse over Christmas time, what with my new found enthusiasm for the whole thing!

So now, after about a week off, we are back to normal life here. School started again yesterday and although it was a quiet day in terms of numbers of kids, it felt pretty good to be going back to work. The kids were decked out in the new clothes Yanapay gave them for Christmas, and although you always get hugs and kisses when you turn up at school, the ten day break the children had had meant that those usual greetings were that little bit more intense. On the down side, we lost a lot of good volunteers over the Christmas period, so it was a little strange to be going into school and not knowing everyone there relatively well. People coming and going is something Jan and I are going to have to get used to, but I think even though I know that fact, when people who I really like leave I will always be trying to persuade them to come back (you know who you are).

When I wrote on here before I mentioned that Jan was going to write something explaining a bit more about what we do. Well, we never quite got round to that as you may have noticed. On the upside though, Janek has made a video explaining how the project functions and why. And this time there are subtitles.

watch it here: http://vimeo.com/18195024

I think that this is probably a better representation of the project than my rambling anyways... and to my family and friends who I abandoned this Christmas, I hope when you see this you will realise that I had a pretty good excuse for being absent.

Con amor,

xxxxxx

¡Feliz Navidad!

Hello all!

I hope everyone is feeling festive. Yesterday we had our Christmas party with the kids, which was very hard work but very rewarding. Here's a hastily edited video to show you how we do Christmas in Cusco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhEwGWTxQUE

¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

xxxxxxxx

Our House!

Hola todos!

Janek here. Sorry for the sporadic posts. Things have been pretty busy on this end, I'll give you a brief summary of what's been happening.

Firstly, we've moved house! We have a really nice little place that is a 2 minute walk from where we work. We rustled up a quick video for your viewing pleasure - not as glamorous at MTV cribs, but almost... Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRlomKP62Sk

Another thing that was keeping me very busy was a video of the project. It took a long time to film, then edit and as an extra bonus it was my job to do the subtitles as well. We're going to 'launch' it in the next few days (partially as a Christmas present to the ex-volunteers of the project) so you can see what we've been up to.

Lucy has been busy on the marketing front, and being a technological whizz that she usually isn't, she's managed to put a donate button on our blog. If you guys would like to support the project or want to send anything our way for Christmas, please do just click on the Paypal logo on the right hand side of the page. Equally, if you want any more information about finances or general stuff about the project, let us know and we'll happily fill you in. Also, she did a couple of weeks of intensive Spanish classes so now she is taking Cusco by storm. Well, the project, anyway...

This week is our last week at school before we close for the holidays. On Wednesday we have a huge Christmas party for the kids, which is going to be amazing. We start by dressing up - none of the half-measure stuff people usually do. Full costumes with face paint and accessories to make Christmas more Christmassy. Then we welcome the kids and sit them down for a prize-giving. Some of you will be glad to know that there won't be prizes for the kids who come top in classes... Instead, there'll be prizes for the child who gives most kisses, who is most peaceful, most helpful, the best dancer, who has shown most improvement, who comes to Yanapay most regularly, and so on. Then we give out hot chocolate and pannetone while we have a show for the kids. Afterwards it's present time, our closing ceremony and fireworks. When the kids are on their way out of the school they pass through a clothes 'boutique' where they choose clothes for themselves, their mum and dad and any baby siblings. And then, sadly, it's all over until next year.

On Friday, Aldea Yanapay is taking part in the yearly Christmas Eve tradition of Santurantikuy. Think of a huge Christmas market full of various stalls and shops. At 6am we set up our stall in the Plaza de Armas and work starts at 9am. We'll be selling a variety of things: Christmas cards that the kids have been making these past weeks; necklaces, bracelets and other handmade crafts; Christmas muffins; and Yanapay t-shirts and jackets. Yuri (big boss), Lucy, Raquel, Karina (2 brilliant people who are here a year, like us) and myself will be in the stall while groups of volunteers are out trying to sell the product (think of the corner boys in the Wire, but Christmassy and not drug peddlers). We hustle until 6pm when it's time to dismantle and go home for some rest...

At 10pm on Christmas eve, all the volunteers are invited to Yuri mother's house for Christmas dinner. We eat, drink and celebrate and at midnight we exchange our Secret Santa gifts. I know that the best place to be for Christmas is at home with your family. That said, last night we had the Secret Santa for the employees of Yanapay, and it was a wonderful experience. Yanapay is a huge family and is the only other place I could spend Christmas without my own family. The gifts are simple and sometimes token, but the love in the room is palpable as people make teary speeches to thank Yuri and everyone that works at Yanapay for the work they do. Last night Roxanna, a single mother who was abused by her husband and found refuge in Yanapay, broke her customary silence to thank Yuri and his mum for changing her and her daughter's lives and for the support that everyone in Yanapay gives them. It was quite draining, emotionally, but definitely injected a huge dose of Christmas spirit that surpassed the missing snow and Christmas songs back home.

So, we have five busy days ahead of us until Christmas. We'll try and post some footage of the school Christmas party and miscellaneous photos (when gaps in work permit). Being away from home and the family has made us appreciate what a brilliant time Christmas can be. So, if you're just spending Christmas at home with the folks in front of the tv, enjoy it vicariously for us (mince pies, brandy butter, snoozing after lunch - the full works). With lots of love and wishing you a very Merry Christmas

xxx

The first video!

Howdy all,

It took me a while to actually make the first video of our journey to Cusco, and it took me even longer to get it online. But it's finally here, I bet you can't wait. Nothing special, just to give you guys a glimpse of how we live here. I've just made a pretty comprehensive video of the project but it's too big for the internet apparently, and it's also in Spanish so I need to whack some subtitles on first.

Anyway, hopefully this is the first of many. We'll be better bloggers now. Promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAyC0ioAo4I

Pictures for better late than never...

La Catedral and Cusquenan Flag



















Fountain in Plaza de Armas



















Janek as a Japanese tourist



















Washing Pigeons



















Cusco



















Totem and cocodrilo I made in art with the older kids...and the kids with the art from Sicklinghall.

From top down: The kids performing Incan legends in the weekly Friday show, Yanapay the dog, Washington Sonia's baby discovering dreadlocks and our Saturday trip to the park (including Profe Diana and myself learning to do poi...and failing.)

Better late than never

So we haven’t been the best at updates so far but all that is set to change, I promise! Here is a quick roundup of life so far...

As Janek predicted, arriving back in Cusco did take the sting out of leaving home; there is something uplifting about blazing sunshine, blue sky and breathtaking mountains. Not least when your feet are planted on said mountains, alleviating all fears held moments earlier on the plane that you were seconds away from plummeting to your death between their peaks. I should clarify that at no point were we about to die (I know this because the air hostess told me so when I took a rare break from staring at the inside of my hat to survey the flight situation); the imminent danger was in reality just a little something I concocted in my head to make the flight more ‘exciting’. And to give me an excuse to crush every bone in Janek’s hand.

So, feet safely on terra firma, we were welcomed by Yuri, his wonderful mother and Dianita. Our first day now seems a long time ago and is a little hazy. I believe cups of maté were drunk to help with the altitude (that’s tea made from the leaves of the cocoa plant, also used to make cocaine: sounds very rock n roll, in reality is soggy leaves and hot water), greetings were exchanged with the staff that were here when we last were, and dinner plans were made. These dinner plans were later broken as Jan and I managed to sleep for a solid 17 hours or so, and we awoke to a Sunday consisting of a Halloween party held by Cusco’s most important gay man, pounding electro music, misjudged fancy dress costumes and many a drag queen.

After this slightly hedonistic beginning, our first week was spent settling into our new lives. Jan spent every afternoon in school, and every morning trying to get his head around the volunteer system which was being run by another guy before we got here, and I took on the task of Yanapay’s marketing and image promotion. My job has been made much easier thanks to the help of Maia, a particularly dedicated volunteer who has been here for 2 months; she’s helped me get to grips with the systems that were in place before I was here, and also happens to be a technological whizz kid. Anyway, Janek promises an entry very soon that will explain a lot more about what exactly we are up to out here, so watch this space for more information.

We’ve quickly slipped into the pattern of our day to day life here. Cusco is a beautiful city in a breathtaking location, and it’s pretty easy to get every home comfort we could want (including Heinz ketchup and Twinings tea, although no Ribena for me so far). Around the main plaza you could almost imagine that you’re in a European city, everything is so convenient and geared towards tourists. It’s easy to forget the reality that Cusco is a messed up place; you quickly become desensitized to seeing pissed up men lurching up streets and peeing (most of the time not even against a wall), children working through the night on the streets sniffing from bottles of glue, old women doing manual labour jobs I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do. I suppose you can argue that this is the ‘real’ Cusco and in many senses it is. If you leave the main square the colonial white washed buildings metamorphose into mud walled structures often shared by several families, which look like when the next rain comes they’ll just slide down the mountain. But weirdly this reality exists alongside the clubs and travel companies that depend on the tourists that are here to see Machu Picchu. Cusco is a melting pot consisting of the most dysfunctional elements, and we are somewhere in the middle of all of it.

Between working in school with kids that so blatantly come from Cusco’s ‘darker side’ and going out with volunteers for slap up meals or crazy nights out, our lives are slightly schizophrenic at the moment (a little like the weather here), and trying to write something to get this across has forced me to think about it perhaps more than I otherwise would. It’d be easy to write something that dwelt on the negative stuff we see here every day, but then a lot of what we see happens at home too, it’s just more concentrated here. And in all honesty, for all the depressing statics concerning kids, women, animals, corruption, crime, drugs, I still think (like I did when we first landed here), that Cusco is an uplifting place. Yesterday we took the kids from the school to a local park. I could relay every detail of their dirty clothes, the fact that many parents of kids as young as 5 didn’t bother to come and pick them up, that many of them didn’t have water with them despite the blazing sun, or that as well as the kids in the park there were also an awful lot of men hanging out there getting drunk. Yet that stuff isn’t what stuck out for me. My day was dominated by a bunch of kids being kids and having a whole lot of fun, myself being included in that bunch. Yesterday really sums up for me what our experience here has been so far; I reckon that these pictures can probably convey this better than I can...

Hasta pronto chicos,

Besos y abrazos

xx