On Saturday my roommate, Ian, and a few other volunteers
were going to Cusco for the weekend and since they speak English I decided to
go as well. I have no idea what I would have done in Urubamba otherwise. It was
probably a good thing as I did not do much but it took my mind off of the fact
that I could not talk with my host family and put me in a better frame of mind
when we returned on Sunday.
This weekend was the Day of Assumption and Cusco had lots
of crowds and what looked like parades but they did not really go anywhere that
I saw. But it was a very festive atmosphere in the city. Other than walking
around a lot and picking up a cell phone, I did not do too much while in Cusco.
The altitude was killing me and I felt like I was 80-years-old every time I had
to walk up a hill or a set of stairs. And Cusco has plenty of both, sometimes
combining stairs and hills. Let’s just say that I often felt like a fish
gasping for air at the slightest level of exertion.
Cusco is much prettier than I expected and there are a
lot of tourists walking around. They also have a Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC
in the Plaza de Armas. I have not been to the Starbucks but I have considered
it. Once you get out of the typical tourist areas, however, the city is much
grungier. The bus station from Urubamba is about ½ mile from the city center
and things start to change. For one the buildings are not as nice and the
streets are dirtier. And the smell of sewers becomes much more prominent around
the bus station, like really strong. There is also more traffic as I think they
limit what goes into the tourist areas. That or most Peruvians just don’t have
much cause to go where the tourists are.
One of the Project’s Abroad employees who picked me up
from the airport was playing in a band in Cusco on Saturday night so we went to
see it and low and behold, they played a lot of 90’s grunge rock music! I was
more than a little surprised to hear this but quite pleased to have music that
I was not only familiar with, but also like. In the past week I noticed they
play a lot of old music from the 80’s and 90’s on the radio here as my host
family has it on every morning and evening.
Another thing I have noticed about Peru is old VW’s are
everywhere and I have not seen so many running around since the 80’s. The old
beetles are constantly plying the streets and there is also a very healthy
supply of old busses as well. They tend to be pretty worn out, as one might
expect on a car that I bet has 200,000 miles or more on it. I am thinking of
taking pictures of them and running an album titled the VW’s of Peru.
I did not bring my camera to Cusco as I was wanting to
travel lighter on the weekend, but I did have a cell phone but as of yet, I
have not been able to move the pictures to my computer. But my plan is to
return the following weekend and I will have my camera with me then.
Walking around both Cusco and Urubamba I have noticed
that there are a lot of dogs wandering the streets, which I am not to pet as
per rule number three from when I arrived. For the most part they keep to
themselves and do what they please, but on occasion I have seen them chasing
cars and taxis down the street in the middle of traffic. They are not like your
house dogs in the U.S. and I am not exactly what purpose they serve running the
streets but they are not strays and I am told they are often owned by somebody.
They are just outside dogs that are allowed to roam the same way some people
let their cats roam. But it is a bit strange to see in the city.
My first day of classes was on Monday and I am at General
Ollanta Cologio, which covers kids from about middle school through seniors in
high school. My grades are 3, 4 and 5 which are kids around 14 to 18. The
classes are broken up into levels; A, B, C and D, and the more advanced kids
are in level A. For the most part the A and B classes are the easiest to work
with because they actually try to learn, The C and D classes can be a bit wild.
I have one 3rd grade C class that I have dubbed “the wolves” or “los
lobos” because they were totally out of control when I was there. In all the
grades and levels it is surprising to me how much they talk during class and
get up and wander around. This must be what teaching at an inner city Chicago
school is like sometimes.
In the flip side of that, I learned on Thursday that
there is one kid in my 3A class that walked 3-4 hours in each direction to come
to school. He lives up over one of the mountains in a rural area and has to go
up and over the mountain two times a day on a dirt path. You probably are
thinking this sounds like a “when I was your age…” story but apparently it is
true. He also is a good student and very friendly as I found out.
The professor I am working with is Ruben Silva and I like
the guy but I have to say I get the impression he is a bit burnt out with some
of los lobos. But he seems to enjoy teaching, is easy to get along with and
speaks a good amount of English, something that I guess some of the English
teachers do not. This is something I don’t really understand as how can you
teach something you can’t really do yourself? I can speak a very small amount
of Spanish but I should not be teaching it. My Spanish is better than some of
the teachers English I guess.
I’ll also say that I was not expecting to have to teach
English grammar as a part of this. It makes logical sense but I still was not
expecting it and frankly was a strait C- grammar student in high school. I did
not understand how it works then and I do not understand how it works now. The
ironic part about all of this is I was a journalism student and got mostly B’s
and A’s in college in my journalism classes. To me grammar is like math, which
I also am poor at. It is the formula I don’t get and writing to me is a bit
like art, an artist can paint but trying to explain the methodology behind it
is a different story.
One week down and another 4 to go. By the end of the week
my Spanish has improved to the point where I feel I can at least communicate
with my host family on a very basic level now. So while it is still tough and
it tires me out to try and speak Spanish all the time, I am improving and more
comfortable in my surroundings now. By the time I leave, who knows, I may
actually be able to speak it a bit.
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