So hi there! I feel as though I have been neglecting this blog somewhat over the past few weeks. I will attempt to set things straight, and bring you up-to-date with the latest news. It is now Monday 10th May!

So the last time I blogged, was in Cusco, after finishing the Inca Trail. At this point, if my memory serves me correctly... my body was completely broken. I don´t think I will ever forget the pain felt in my calves. The remedy, however, was found to be Pisco Sour/Massage/Pisco Sour/Massage... I´m sure you get the jist of it. Anyway, it worked, and slowly I began to feel halfway normal again. Then we were ready for the final stop on our adventure of Peru... The Amazon Jungle stay.

So we caught an early morning flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, deep in the heart of the jungleeeee. It is only a 40 mins flight or so, so by the time you are up in the air, you are descending already. We had been told to expect it to be slightly warmer than in Cusco, but I was not prepared for the heatwave that hit me as I climbed down the steps of the plane. It was so humid, and the heat felt almost suffocating! Anyway, we got our belongings, and clambered on board a minibus to take us to our next form of transport to get to the Jungle Lodge... a riverboat. As we approached the banks of the river, the heavens decided to burst open, which was rather nice of them initially, as it was quite refreshing. However, I don´t think I have seen as much rain fall in such a short period of time in my life! It was ridiculous! So we proceeded to climb into a wooden, flimsy boat, whilst being pelted with lashing rains. It was rather alarming also, as the boat started to fill up with brown water! I should also add at this point, that the colour of the Amazon river I would say is akin to Coffee Ice Cream. So the boat, having being ridden of as much water as possible, headed up the river for about an hour, to our Jungle Lodge. On the way, we were served our lunch. This was very interesting as it consisted of a rice dish, wrapped up in a Banana leaf. Very environmentally friendly, as when you had finished you could just throw your leaf overboard! Pretty handy! We soon reached the lodge, and were amazed at how different and natural it all way. Anyway, it was a novelty in the daylight! The open bedrooms, without a window or curtain, a flimsy mosquito net separating you from the Amazon Jungle outside! So we embraced nature, and had a nap in the hammocks provided. We then went on a short walk (about an hour and a half), which after the Inca trail seemed a breeze. This walk took us through the jungle, and we climbed a huge observatory tower, so that we were at the top of the Jungle. Not recommended if you are in ANY way scared of heights may I add. From here we could spot Toucans, a few Monkeys, and had glorious views skimming the top of the rainforest. After the walk, we came back to the Lodge for dinner. Here, I appear to have been poisoned by a deceitfully tasty Lasagne. So I was up most of the night being reacquainted with my dinner. It is worth just noting here, that this was possibly (save the Inca Trail), the worst possible moment on the trip to be ill. There is no electricity in the Jungle Lodge, so thanks to the light of my faithful flashlight, I was able to see the company I was keeping that night. Lots of Cockroaches flocked to check my health, who were not greeted so well by me. Screams tended to suffice. The bats, frogs, and spiders were also keen to rear their heads this night. This morning, we were having an early start, 4am... to spot Caymans and other wildlife at dawn. Needless to say, I was up anyway, and struggled to breakfast. After seeing the look on my face, at this point, I was persuaded by the rest of the group to return to my bed. So I missed out on the Caymans and Pirahna fishing in the Amazon! Pretty annoying! Another Lady was also poisoned by the same lasagne, so we spent the day at the Lodge drinking Camomile Tea. I was feeling a bit better by the evening, so was able to go on the night walk through the Jungle. This is pretty disturbing actually, as you walk in pretty much total darkness along tiny trails armed with a pathetic flashlight. This flashlight is supposed to show you the scary wildlife that could potentially jump on you at any moment. I wondered why I was doing this, as soon as I began, and it was a very long 45 minutes. Twisted branches resembled snakes, and I was convinced that every brush on my leg was a huge spider. We saw lots of creepy crawlies, but ultimately made it out the Jungle alive. Day 3, was another early wake up, and we prepared to board the plane by to Lima via Cusco. I decided to get off the plane at Cusco, as say goodbye to the group here, as it didn´t make sense in terms of my plans, to return to Lima. So we said our emotional goodbyes, and I was suddenly alone in Cusco!

So, I sorted a pretty cheap hotel in Cusco, and stayed there 2 nights before the start of my volunteer project. I had met a Canadian girl called Jen in the Jungle who was also staying in Cusco at this point, so it was good to have some company over these few days. We visited the Inca Museum, and had a good wander of Cusco. Cusco literally is so beautifully, and is an amazing City. It is an absolute pleasure just to be there soaking in the history, and culture.

Saturday morning at 7.30am was the pick up for my project, so I was met at my hotel by a member of staff, and we drove to Urubamba. I was extremely tired by this point, as I had had minimal sleep the previous night, fretting about the project. You may have heard, that I originally booked to work for 6 weeks in Cusco with a company called MadAdventurer who had been recommended to me. Well a few days before the Inca trail, I received an email telling me that my group project had been cancelled due to the Volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Firstly, they apologised, then they suggested that instead I was very welcome on any other of their projects - perhaps in Ghana? Well this was useless, as I was already in the Continent of South America, and I already had plans to continue travelling when it finished. So this was pretty scary news, but they then recommended another company called Projects Abroad that had an office in Urubamba (an hour from Cusco). They specialised in teaching projects, which appealed to me, so I agreed. So that is how I ended up in Urubamba ´flat land of the Spiders´, a VERY small town in the Sacred Valley. I arrived here about 9am, and was taken to the house I would be living at with my host family Ormecha Salas. The family were lovely, and so welcoming! My host father Juan Jose, Mother Luisa, and their 2 sons Pierro (3) and Aarron (11). I had arrived on the day of a family fiesta of sorts, so I was taken to Luisa´s mothers house, and we stayed there a few hours. It was then that I realised how basic my level of Spanish was, and I was a little surprised to realise that they didn´t even speak very basic conversational English. I was, of course, expecting to speak in Spanish, I think I just thought that they would know ´hello´ etc. No. So this was a real eye opener. I then discovered that I am only their 2nd volunteer, so they are not very experienced at this kind of thing. Anyway, it was good to meet them all, and I instantly fell in love with Pierro the 3 yr old. He is so gorgeous, and my Spanish is just about good enough to converse with him! We went on a short walk after lunch, so that I could see the school I would be teaching at, and get to know the area a little better. It is about a 10 mins walk into town from the house, so I set off that evening to send a few emails etc. I returned at about 6pm, by the time it was already pitch dark! There really is poor streetlighting in the area, and it is pretty terrifying. I should also add, that my house is situated down a dirt track, which not only has bad visibility but about 5 guard dogs! My host family have a nice dog called Rex, but these other ones are terrifying! They growl all the time, and one actually started coming towards me. I managed to throw myself into the house, in a panick, and vowed never to go out alone in the evenings! I spoke to Luisa, and she said that you need to arm yourself with a rock, and either pretend to, or actually just throw the rock at the dogs! During the day the dogs appear to be fine, they are all lazy and sleepy, it is just at night! They become possessed! This evening at 9pm I first experienced the daily whistle blowing also. Whistles are blown for about 5 mins throughout the neighbourhood to ward off robbers! So I had my first night´s sleep in my new house, in the comfort of my jumper, sleeping bag liner, bag, and 3 or 4 rugs. I was still cold. I can´t get used to the climate here. It is so hot during the day like late 20s, early 30s even, then at night it drops to 5´C or so! Craazy! I also made a note of where the spiders were in my room, so that I could watch them, and make sure weren´t in my bed by the morning!

So Sunday morning came, and I had breakfast. A taste of what was to come, rice. I decided then to go for a wander of the town. Nothing was open as it was Sunday, so I returned for lunch... more rice AND bread AND potatoes. Generally a complete Carb fest. I then decided to get a cab back into Cusco for the afternoon as I was pretty bored! I met one of the Projects Abroad Volunteers Tessa, and we shared a taxi. Taxis are about 6 sols which is less than 2 pounds, for an hour´s cab ride, which isn´t too bad! The cabs do drive very fast, however, so you have to tell them to slow down if necessary! There are so many accidents that happen at night, as the roads are so windy, and narrow. Cars just disappear over the edge of the cliff never to be seen again. On that topic actually, I had a conversation with another volunteer yesterday about how we had been videoed in Puno when we boarded the bus to Cusco. It is a long 8 hour bus ride, and we had wondered why a man had come around with a video camera (this also happened when we boarded the tiny death planes at Nazca). This lady told me that they do it so they can identify your bodies in the event of a crash. Scary! Anyway, I had a pleasant wander around Cusco, bought a few more postcards, and some small gifts to take back for the family. I then came back later than evening to Urubamba in a cab, witnessing a dog getting run over, which was pretty nasty. The taxi dropped me off at the petrol station, and as I didn´t fancy walking in the dark, I got a Moto Taxi for 1 sol. These are pretty much the same a Asian Tuk Tuk´s and are everywhere here. Pretty good easy way of travelling, especially at night. I made sure he took me right up to my door, so that I could escape the killer dogs!

So I managed to fill my weekend in Urubamba. Monday came then, and by this point I was starting to feel very emotional and anxious. Although I appreciated that my host family were lovely, I was really struggling to communicate. I was sick of sitting there with my dictionary, struggling to string a sentence together. It is undoubtably the best way to learn... being in a foreign country etc. They just don´t tell you how lonely it is! So I went to talk to the office on Monday about my plans, and I decided to cut my time in Urubamba from 6 weeks to 3. I just felt that it was the right thing by me, and that I would not be totally happy here. The company were not best pleased, but I explained my situation and that I was supposed to be on a group project, I had yet to meet other volunteers etc. I started planning how to fill my 3 weeks after my teaching placement, and decided to plan a trip to Chile. This trip would finish in Buenos Aires anyway, which is where I was heading afterwards. I started to feel alot better about things, and I was told that I would have a housemate coming on Friday. This was great news, as I was just excited about having someone I could actually communicate with! 3 weeks for me seemed a much better length of time also, Urubamba is a very small town, and I really couldn´t see myself spending a really long period of time here. I made a resolution, however, to make the most of my time here, and totally through myself into the teaching project.

Tuesday I started my teaching placement at my school. The school is called General Ollanta, and is very big! There are about 800 students, with about 35-40 in each class. I was introduced to the teacher I would be helping, Leandro. From the onset, I found it extremely difficult to communicate with him. It doesn´t speak English at all! So it is very frustrating trying to work out what he wants me to do/ teach etc. The lessons are generally about an hour and a half, so I started off with a bit of a presentation about myself, my family and friends etc. Then did a talk about England using flashcards, some money, photos etc. On this first day, my eyes were opened to the way in which the students are on complete auto pilot and copy everything from the board whether you ask them to or not! It was also quite frustrating to see Leandro teaching incorrec English on ocassions, and having to correct him. I spoke to my supervisor soon after the first lesson, and she suggested that I just take over. This was pretty awkward, as I didn´t want to offend him. So we tried to work out a compromise, in Spanish of course. An English teacher speaking English? Now that apparently would just be ridiculous here...

Wednesday was another OK day at the school. I started to feel a little more settled in my role as Professora Emily Rawes. In the evening, I met up with another volunteer called Rose, and we went to the weekly Pub Quiz. I met a few other volunteers, and had a few drinks. I was then thinking about heading home as it was getting pretty late and I was thinking about the lack of lighting and DOGS. It was at this point, however, that another volunteer told me I couldn´t go home alone, as it was not safe at all. I asked what she meant, and she proceeded to tell me the news, that in the last week 2 volunteers from another company were murdered in the next village alone. This terrified me, and confirmed for me, that it was best that I left after 3 weeks instead of 6! I ended up staying out a bit later, and walking home with other volunteers! Now it is not the rabies infested dogs that seem so scary!

Thursday came, however, and Leandro decided not to show up to school. So I was left alone with new classes to teach. Leandro is supposed to be there basically to control the children, and maintain order. It is especially necessary considering my basic Spanish! I tried my best to control them, and teach them something at the same time. It was so tough! I ended up confisgating numerous items including a bag of sugar (so apparently whilst in England it may be IPOD or Phone... here it is ingredients), a few notes which I tried in vain to translate later (probs best I don´t actually!), and also a few Maths textbooks as they tried to do other homeworks during the lesson! So Wednesday was not a good teaching day, and I left feeling upset and confused about why nobody had told me Leandro was not going to be here etc. I then went home to discover that I couldn´t find my bank card. I realised I had left it in an ATM machine in Cusco on Sunday. This was the final straw! I rang Lloyds in UK and then my parents in panic to try to sort out ways to getting money. I cancelled my card, and thankfully it had not been used or tampered with, which is a relief! Luckily I had enough money to tide me over for a while, but Mum and Dad started looking into ways to transfer my money to me in Peru. Moneygram is looking to be the best bet apparently, and I am so thankful to them for helping me! Such a nightmare! I recovered from my mini breakdown then, and had to go to a teaching workshop at 4pm. This was useful, as we compared here ways to cope with the disruption in class. There is no real discipline system in place here, which is especially necessary in a pretty rough school that I am teaching in. The children just get up and walk around the classroom for no apparent reason. We discussed whether it was best to use the power of silence or to raise your voice etc. A French Volunteer here, even said how in the previous week he had been forced to resort to physical violence, and had 2 boys up by the scruff of their necks against a wall. This was pretty alarming, and perhaps not recommended! I found lots of teaching resources in the office, and got some flashcards, worksheets etc for my next lessons. We are learning the pets in my 3rd grades next week!

Ok, so I have been typing non stop for over an hour now, and I am getting quite lazy. So apologies, if everything goes to pot. Friday was a shortish day at school, as it was Mothers Day the coming Sunday. Literally any excuse for a party, and not to educate! So I only had to teach a few lessons, then set off to buy some flowers for Luisa. In the afternoon, I went to some celebrations at Jose´s school, lots of dancing around in scary masks! Cat arrived at about 3pm this afternoon. I had been due to head into Cusco this evening with other volunteers, but I decided not to leave her alone on her first day! I remembered exactly what it had been like! So we had a pretty chilled afternoon, and I remembered what it was like to have company! Everything seemed alot better, experiences are just no fun when you don´t have someone to share them with!

So Saturday came, and we headed into Cusco in the early morning. It was Cat´s first experience in these cramped, smelly taxis! The winding roads were too much for the little girl sitting in front of us who decided to throw up, very pleasant! We found a decent hostel recommended in the guidebook, and dumped some of our things. We then set off exploring Cusco, and we visited the ruins of Sacsayhuaman. This is the remains of an Incan fortress, which sits on top of a hill overlooking Cusco. It was a good to wander around, and lots of photos were taken. Some not by us, which was a little disturbing. We were asked to pose in a photo with some other strange tourists/locals I just don´t know who they were. Pretty amusing anyway, after we had checked our bags to check they hadn´t robbed us! Sacsayhuaman is the cause of much hilarity to the locals/tourists and guidebooks alike... as it is pretty much impossible not to pronounce Sexy Woman. Try it I dare you. Anyway, in the afternoon we did a bit more shopping in Cusco, more alpaca garments. I literally have enough jumpers and leg warmers to last me a lifetime. I would buy more, but my rucksack will not permit me¨;( Sad times. We ate at Jack´s Cafe, which is a fav amongst travellers... really good American comfort food! We then went back to the hostel for a bit to chill before we went out in the evening. We went to a few bars in the evening, including another trip to Fallen Angel (the weird bar with the bath tubs as tables with fish swimming around inside), The Cross Key´s English pub which had a London Phone Box inside (this all made me really homesick so we just had to eat dinner here! I had a disappointing fish and chips!). Then we went back to Paddys Pub, the old time favourite! We met some nice people in there, and then Kat and I decided to try the nightclub extreme we had heard about. They bribed us inside with the offer of a free drink, and we were there. It was very sweaty and not enitrely pleasant so we only stayed 5 mins or so, had a sip of drink and then returned to Paddys Pub. We returned to resume our conversations with the people we had met, and settled at the same table. It was about now that I suddenly started to feel really really dizzy, and seeing double. I had to sit down, or I knew I was going to pass out. I knew I had only had 2 glasses of wine, and that something wasn´t right. People kindly got me some water, and I sat there for 10 mins or so thinking I was going to pass out. Then I started to feel ok again. It was terrifying, and I realised how stupid I was for accepting that free drink in the club. God knows what must have been in it! I was just so lucky I only had a few sips, and then we left! A real eye opener, and I realised I had not been responsible enough! Kat was pretty terrified, as apparently I had looked really strange. Not an experience I want again, but I have to learn from it.! We had a very late night that night, and got back to the hostel about 3am to find it had been locked up! Panicking, we proceeded to bang on the door, until they let us in! We then had an amazing night´s sleep, and didn´t wake up until 12pm! (Usually, at the house, I am woke up before 6am by Pierro or various barking dogs!) This was great, if not for the fact we had arranged to meet people at 11am that morning at Jacks Cafe. Whoops! We felt very bad, but didn´t even have any way of contacting them. That is the thing here, you realise you don´t need mobile really, it really is liberating sometimes to arrange to meet people at a set time and place etc. Not the best in this situation though... oh well will never see them again. Sorrry anyway Kyle and Charlie!

So that brings you up to date. I am so bored of typing now. We arrived back at the house yesterday evening which was Sunday. It is now Monday, and in preparation for my lessons of the week!

All my love, and missing you all so much,

Em xxxxxxx