Pictures With The Kids

Here are some group pictures of my friend Sarah and I with the kids that we work with at the school. There are about on average 15 kids there each day. We teach English, play games and help the students with their homework. It's been a wonderful experience and I hope to continue to help the kids with the upcoming construction project to help them build a new school that will teach them trade skills to learn a profession for their adult life. Anything is possible. "If you can dream it, you can be it."

Tipon,Cuy & Clinping

For those of you who may be wondering about the title, let me explain. Tipon is the name of the town & the ruins were these pictures were taken, and they have a special knack for Cuy. A Peruvian delicacy, Cuy consists of roasted Guinea Pig and if anyone knows what clinping is please feel free to share. We’re not really sure why these ruins are here because we were too cheap to get a guide, so we just had fun walking around and using the self timer option on our cameras taking group pictures lol. There are lots of man-made waterfalls and the area has a great view from the top of the mountain. As you can see below, Sarah was very eager to try Cuy lol jk we all split one between the 5 of us and it was still s25 a plate, which is a lot cheaper than Cusco but still high for the amount of meat you get. It tasted very bizarre, like a odd piece of chicken. I don’t think I’ll order it again but it was just one of those things that you have to try once while you had the chance. I’m a believer in Carpe Diem ( seize the day) and I intend to make the most of my final days in this wonderful city that is Cusco.

Chao

~ Jon

Puno, The Lake, & Local Dress

Hello all, here is a little taste of the weekend trip that i and 3 other of my housemates here in Cusco went on. The first couple of pictures are on one of the world-famous floating islands in Lake Titicaca. They are made on top of floating reed beds and take up to 1 year to build! It was very bizarre to walk on, it felt like walking on a water bed. The other picture, directly below, is my attempt at weaving a reed boat like the locals do, apparently they thought it was pretty amusing because they let me take their picture with it lol. The final picture is on another island in the lake, it is not a floating island, and we stayed with a local family. Her name is Beatrice, and she dressed us all up like local islanders and took us into town for the local fiesta! It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I will post some pictures from the party later. The only downside to the trip was that the boat that we traveled on was super slooooooow, I thought to myself, they needed some new faeries like what they use at Mackinac Island! Everyone was commenting on how these lakes were like an ocean. I was like, you haven't seen anything until you have experienced the Great Lakes. The other passengers were like, "Are you from Canada?" I laughed and told them no, I just like to brag about my home state!

Chao,

~ Jon

Brown Bear & Friends

For those of you that have been requesting to see where i work, here are some pictures of the kids that i work with. Below, is a photo of my teaching the Brown Bear and Friends unit. I would read the book in Spanish and then again in English. They seemed to get a kick out of all of the funny colored animals and stuff. There are 4 books in the Brown Bear series and I read/translated them all. After I was done reading, they couldn't wait to look at the pictures and try and remember all of the animals names in English. Overall, i think this day was a success. Also, below are some pictures of some frisbees that my orthodontist donated for the kids here at the center, and they have been playing with them every day since I first brought them, they call them discos because there really isn't a word for frisbee. They enjoy them all the same. TTYl for now, I'm off to Puno & Lake Titicaca for the weekend. I'll say hi to Bolivia for all of you.

Chao,

~ Jon

Pics From the Hike

Hey Guys, here are a few pictures from my 4-day hike to Machu Picchu, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so i shouldn't have to say too much....

Chao,

~ Jon

Trails, Perrils & Machu Picchu

This is the Inca trail, and for the past 3 days i have been working my way up this kinda on and off. We started on a biking tour downhill for the 1st part of the 1st day and that was really fun, we saw many cool sights. I was lucky enought to have a shower each night, which was necessary after a 11hour hike yesterday and a 8 hour one the day before. Ive seen coca plantations, coffee fields and tons of bannanas and oranges. The hikes have been long and i happened to fall into a group where everyone speaks French, German or Spanish, which isn´t that bad because i speak Spanish but 90% of the time everyone is speaking so fast in there native tongue its hard to understand anything. But alas i finally arrived in Aguas Calienties this afternoon as we await the trip to the top of Machu Picchu tomorrow at 4am! It´s been a hard journey to this tiny tourist town where the only way in is by foot or train but it was well worth the hard work and perilous cliffs sometimes. Next step, climb the 2,000 steps and face the mighty Mountain!

Chao,

˜ Jon

Bargins, Bugs & Drugs

Well this morning i work up with a terrible sore throat along with most of my other housemates (there is a bug going around) and it prompted me out of bed much earlier than usual some time around 7am which is the earliest that i have gotten up sine my time is Cusco. Today marks my one week in this wonderful city and the fun doesn't stop there! So i wanted some dayquill and some cough drops so Sarah and i went to the pharmacy to find some proper drugs for my ailments alas i didn't find any halls or dayquill and ended up with some Peruvian version natural medicine of cough drops that were super expensive and only had 4 to a pack for s2! Then later that afternoon i happened upon a snack cart in the street and lo and behold there were my packs of Halls for only s1 each, who would have thought you would find them there. So on to the bargain, I made up my mind this morning that i was going to go book my trip to Macchu Picchu today. I took my top 2 choices for my travel agencies and went to the best one that I liked but was of course the most expensive. They originally wanted $195.00 for the trip + a $20.00 student discount and I showed them a quote from another agency down the street that was $180.00 + a $20.00 student discount. I told him that I had the money on me and that if he would match the price of the other agency that I would book with him instead. He himmed and hawed but eventually agreed to give me the lower price. I'm a bargain hunter born and bred! So I leave Friday morning for the mountain and get back Monday night! I'm really excited for this Jungle/Biking/Hiking tour of Peru! Wish me Luck!