Sao Paulo & Paraty

Small update: since we did not manage to get pictures from the beautiful town of Paraty please, check out the link - the place is wonderful...perfect for retirement :)

It is quite a trip to Lima by bus from Cusco - it took 21 hours and to certain extent was quite funny. The road winds so much that I have slept holding a plastic bag tight in case I have to vomit...it was a close call but we both survived without having to use it. Actually when we boarded the bus I have somehow not taken it into consideration that the trip is going to be quite hard on us. Since I have been running all day and did not have not to eat - the first thing I did on the bus is had a 1 liter of strawberry yogurt and a big bag of chips. I regretted it very much afterward...

We arrived though on time and already feeling quite ok since the last six hours of the trip where on Pan American highway which is a stretch of straight road by the coast. Another good thing about arriving to Lima again is that we have felt somehow much more self confident...we have been already staying in Peru for three months and we developed some home feeling. We had an excellent dinner in one of the most amazing shopping malls in Miraflores: the three floor building is carved in the ocean side rocks with a magnificent view over the waves. Tomek had his red meat and Rita her ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime, hmmm, jummy! Survining the night in our hostel with earplugs we headed at 5 am to the airport full of expectations to see Greg and his girlfriend in Brazil, Sao Paulo.

We had personalized choice of 32 different movies on the plane (economy class, LAN, which we still enjoy as frequent fliers from our previous jobs...) and we ended up both independently choosing Sex and the City!!!!

After 6 hours waiting at the airport of a city, where more people live than in whole Hungary, we finally got all together and headed to our hostel. Sao Paulo for us was a place to escape from with its prices and urban jungle with very little attraction to our taste, but we enjoyed the first experiments of making ourselves understood in a Portuguese speaking country in Spanish :)

So we were on the bus the next day towards Rio, with a stop in the old colonial town of Paraty, which is a real gem. What we missed in Sao Paulo we found in Paraty with its colonial old town, lovely beaches and carpirinas! So we headed to a boat trip with island hopping, snorkling and most of all stretching ourselves on the sun, a real treat. Though the weather is not always friendly to us with rain pouring like in Macondo, we feel like being in Paradise. Brazil is like a dream come true!!!

Swimming pool adventures with the kids

Before we made it out of Cusco we had taken the kids from all schools to the local swimming pool. It has been our first time since we came to Cusco that we took the kids out (generally due to financial reasons). It has also been Peruvian kids day - so a good reason to undertake something special. Of course it required lots of coordination and we were quite concerned how we are going to handle our quite hyperactive group.

The task proved not as strenous as we have assumed in the beginning. All in all we ended up with around 25 kids which showed up with signed permissions from their parents and we set off to the swimming pool. One group ended quite late at the pool due to a minor accident of the bus they were travelling on. Nothing at all happened to them but they arrived an hour late. All the kids happily went to the dressing room though two did not reappear from it - there was no way to make them stop crying and agree to come to the swimming pool. Already in the swimming pool though the kids were very obedient and did not require excessive amount of attention. Everybody had a small sandwich after the event and we took the kids back to their homes...quite funny that you can fit around 12 kids into one taxi in Cusco...


All in all no casulties - except one kid with bleeding lip (happened still before she made it to the swimming pool). The bad thing was that the father of this little girl was especially worried about her going to the swimming pool. I guess it is some kind of Murphy's law...Nothing else comes to my mind when such things happen.

In the center Chaplin has been at work - working hard to make sure that the rabbit of one of our teacher's gets back pregnant. I must admit that our Chaplin is much more fit and smart than Chaplina :))) In fact everybody is looking forward to her departure next Monday...right now Chaplin lost all interest in interacting with us and she was making a mess in the patio...

We are going to Brazil

Yes, we are going to have a roughly three break before we come back to Cusco to stay until the end of the week. It was a great feeling to pack - putting to your backpack only the necessary things you need to survive made me feel great - how little you need to be so happy :))) We also cannot wait to get to warmer climate. It has been lately terribly cold at night here. Anyway we will miss the kids and hopefully the kids will miss us...Our trip will take us to the east coast of South America and then we will make it back to the west coast more or less by bus or any other cheap transportation...

During this week we have been concentrating on preparing our culinary event - below you can see the banner of the event during our pub quiz we held this week (on top of all other things)!!!



Kind of crazy - but our pub quiz has again been very successful and now we will be able to have it every week. We have already sold lots of jewllery designed by Rita. The rest of the items will be hopefully sold at the Saturday event. The worst thing about the culinary event is that we will miss it - we have to leave Cusco by bus tomorrow to be able to catch the plane from Lima to Sao Paulo. The bus ride takes a meager 21 hours! But the seats are business class so it ain't that bad.

The good thing is that we are having here the founders of Bruce Peru so they will represent us at the event. Later on I will also post a small movie from the event...after coming back from Brazil.


So in the coming weeks you will be able to see lots of new photos and posts...For now enjoy the jewllery shots in our gallery...

Last week before a break

Chaplin is chilling on our sofa - this is his favourite spot. He is actually resting for a good reason - on Monday Mrs. Chaplin will arrive for some time. Our new teacher asked as for some services from Chaplin. She will bring her female rabbit with hope of baby rabbits...so we let Chaplin chill on the sofa before he will be sent on this noble mission.

The good thing is that this week we were having all teachers in the schools. At least one of the teachers is very good - the other is better than the teacher that we had before but we are not sure she can manage the whole class in case she has nobody to help her... at least she has great respect in the eyes of the kids...this definitely helps to keep order in the class. Volunteers are generally abused by the kids - the kids do with them whatever they want. I am the best example of it - unfortunately.

Rita on the other hand is now fully immersed in creating jewellery - our kids are supposed to start putting together necklaces & bracelets which we are to sell at our culinary event. So far though it seems that Rita takes most fun of it - and secretly told me that if we cannot sell them at the event she will appropriate them for herself :))

As to the event - today we should receive the invitations and A2 posters for the event from the print house. It has been quite a battle with the print house to get what we want and when we want but today we should really have it happen. Anyway it is our own design and we will try to post both here on the blog though they will probably look not as nice as in reality. We have them printed on nice glossy paper (poster) and excellent paper especially for the invitations (no idea what it is called in English).


Next week in general will be full of extracurricular events. As mentioned on Monday Chaplin is going to have a date. On Tuesday we will have a Peruvian Children's day so we decided that we are going to take the kids to the swimming pool - I suspect that it is going to be adventures for two reasons at least: first previous directors told us that last time there were quite big problems before they let the big group in as the kids were not exactly clean looking so big washing took place. Secondly controlling those lets say 30 kids at a swimming pool might prove quite challenging. On Wednesday we have a pub quiz and a visit of Bruce Peru founder and his wife (the organization for which we are now working/volunteering). It came as quite a surprise for us - actually we have learned it today...one can say that we provoked it as we have written quite a long email addressing the problems we face here and we think the whole organization faces - we got a very positive response to it and request to meet and discuss how can our proposals be implemented...so here we go...

On Thursday then we will probably visit all the schools with our visitors...On Friday something big will happen and on Saturday we have our Culinary event. In the meantime of course we have to sell 70 tickets to the event, go over our problems and accomplishments with the founder of the organization and make sure our Peruvian Chef does not forget anything for the event. Today actually we are to see our DJ play in one of the local pubs - forgot to mention that we will also have a DJ playing background music though...

That would be it I think what we are up to next week... Otherwise both of us also got a haircut - important milestone as going to get a local haircut is a sign of deep trust in the host country...

I started with the rabbit so I will end with the rabbit - the smart ass learned how to open the door of our room at night from outside and stays the night in our room - I guess he does not like the cold outside. The good thing is that when he wants to pee he makes lots noise so that we have no other choice than to open the door for him (he can open the door only one way). He runs to his "toilet" and is right back in the room - quite amazing. Anyway he is quite in demand as at least three people would like to prepare a dish out of him.

Working in Cusco for the kids

It has been quite a long time since we last time wewrote here - it is mostly due to the fact that we had lots to do with the schools - a lame excuse I would say but nevertheless true.

Things change very quickly even in charity organizations which in theory should be operating in much more stable environment than private enterprises. Somehow this is not the case. Perhaps it was only last week and a change that could be associated with the rainy season seems to have arrived in Cusco. Actually it feels more like hailing seasons as half of the time it hails instead of raining. It is also even colder than it used to be - brrr....

To start with we had some great success in fund raising on all fronts. As mentioned earlier we are working on a culinary event in one of the most fancy places in Cusco - Club Cusco. It is actually only members club which lets us organize the event in their premises for free. Our Peruvian chef and his friends will work for free doing all the cooking etc. There is also going to be Peruvian handicraft, our photo exhibition and salsa dancing. You can see the plan of the event here - unfortunately only in Spanish.

All the proceeds from the event are going directly to our organization. Last week mostly due to Rita with her excellent Spanish we have managed to secure 10 sponsors for the event (pubs, restaurants etc.) Since we had two days in which we could not even get a single sponsor sign up we were kind of totally shocked that we managed to secure 3 within two hours. As the last sponsor was a dance club and they did sign up and pay at 11pm we ended up having a party and dancing till 1.30am. It was a great relief and great fun. Though next morning at seven I was supposed to go with our cook to the market to buy food for next week. It is quite an expedition because you actually need a donkey to carry all the vegetables etc. back home.

Now we just need to print and sell 80 tickets but we are quite optimistic. In addition thanks to our efforts now we get everyday excellent food for free from La Retama restaurant for the kids and we have an agreement to bring our kids for arts classes to one of the local museums. Rita's Spanish is by now incredible!!! Hard to believe that she made such huge progress.

One unexpected result of the tours around the city is the fact that we have managed to find lovely restaurants and cafe's and additionally got to know their quite eccentric owners - perhaps also some underground Cusco :)) There is hardly any night club, pub or restaurant in the center of Cusco we have not been to so walking around means you stop every 5 minutes to greet someone and pretend that you are best friends :)

In addition or perhaps first of all we have received lots of money through our online donation page - in total 3230USD!!! (excluding the culinary event)...VERY BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE DONORS!!! We have no words to express our gratitude to everyone...We will be back with pictures and reports of how the money was used to support the kids.

Considering the current successes in fund raising this week we finally intend to introduce books to the kids - it is a bit more complicated as it sounds because our kids are not on the same level (not to mention age). Therefore each school will need at least three different books which we are actually compiling on our own.

In addition we are overhauling how the classes are led to increase the effective time that kids learn (in a more structured way) and to teach them a bit of discipline.

On the negative side we are missing teachers for our schools. Two of our teachers have quit and we are in the process of finding new ones. For the time being we have managed to find temporary solutions but we need to have a more permanent setup. Rita has talked to the director of two collages specializing in preparing people to become teachers and we had some applicants from them but so far did not manage to get anybody to fill in our vacancies. Keep your fingers crossed for this week. This is critical but also a great opportunity for us to improve the quality of education our kids get. It is though a very strange process - the candidates come - we agree on conditions and then next day they do not show up at all - or alternatively they show up and next day they say that actually the time of the classes does not suit them. Why they have not mentioned it earlier is kind of strange since we made it clear when the classes start. Weird??!!

Another problem that we are facing is lack of volunteers. It would be much easier to run the show if we had more people. Unfortunately this week there will be only three of us. Next week another volunteer will arrive to us from Belgium but in October we will be down to two people. This is quite worrisome. So far we have not been too successful with our fliers so we will change our campaign a bit - from more subdued to playing more on feelings - lets see whether this will play out better and we have more suitable people knocking on our door. On the other hand we are going to tackle this problem by trying to partner with agencies which specialize in recruiting volunteers (we know from other centers that it can do miracles). With those two new initiatives we hope to get more people to help us.

Therefore after all this stress I come back home and train the rabbit...and in addition we have made a small dinner for eight people on Saturday evening with Hungarian Goulash (I guess Gulyás à la Pecs) which tasted to like real Hungarian goulash - all our respects to Rita!!!

A week of strikes in Cusco

UPDATE: The kids loved the food we got from one of the more fancy restaurants in Cusco...we were scared they would not like it because it is quite different from what they are used to...fortunately they really like it so we will nowadays take the leftover food from the buffet dinner every day and take it to one of our schools!!! Below the picture of kids having lunch...

This week was relatively quiet for us. The strikes started last week and we thought they would end there, but they went on all the way till Wednesday the following week. The university students did not like the increase in bus prices so they brought the whole country to a halt - especially Cusco. So we spent three days in the center with various activities indirectly relating to the kids. Fortunately some sort of tentative agreement has been reached and for a month things should be peaceful.

Some time at the center gave us a chance to make a small movie about the kids in our schools.



On Friday we started our search of sponsors for our charity event in Club Cusco for the 27th of September. This leaves us go to all the top restaurants and pubs of the city, meeting a lot of different people with very different reactions to our proposal. But we almost never had to leave with an empty hand, e.g. we managed to land an agreement with one of the restaurants to give us their leftover food for our kids. Today we got the food for the first time and it is a bit too fancy - lets see how the kids react to it as we have noticed in the past they do not like changes in their diet...

All in all until now we have managed to fundraise USD 1600 for which we would like to say thank you to all the donors. We are of course all the time hoping for more...

Finally we had a really relaxing weekend with our awaited lie-in hours. Third time this year we had the luxury to dine at a HOME, thanks to our newly established local network. We had an excellent dinner with vine, a long chat with our friends from the US. On Sunday Rita climbed the mountain close to our home with Amelia, one of our volunteer to visit Sacsayhuaman, one of the Inka ruins around Cusco. Though we do not have altutude problems any more, it does feel like being an old bone, running short of breath after a 100 meters walk uphill.

In Cusco as usual during the weekend there was a parade and fireworks...and our bunny became much more brave - running around the house and stealing bananas from the kitchen and dragging them all the way to his nest...

Machu Picchu

Our weekend in Machu Picchu has been one of the best in long time. We felt again like during our first half a year of travelling. We went there with Alanna - our American volunteer - so altogether the three of us.

We have decided for the easier option and took the train both ways instead of doing it the cheap way by overnight bus and then trekking for a couple of hours. We have departed very early in the morning and arrived still to have breakfast in Aquas Calientes. We found a decent hotel, had a walk in the town which is nothing more than an artifical chaotically build tourist town consisting solely of overpriced hotels and restaurants.

The rest of the afternoon we have spent in the outdoor spa drinking mohitos and enjoying the excellent views. The evening was a great surprise, as it was so warm that we could eat outdoors our dinner. After Cusco where it gets freezing cold whenever the sun is behind the clouds, Aquas Calientes felt like heaven. Although we had a very nice place to stay overnight we did not take into consideration that till early morning hours we would have a party right under our windows...anyway we had to wake up at 4am to start the claim to Machu Picchu - it was pitch dark and we had no torches so we had quite a challenge - it took us 90 minutes to get to the top - quite a steep ascent and we felt exhausted but happy to have made it. By that time there were already lots of people lining up for the tickets. Once we entered the whole place was covered by fog and we could not see anything. Since the site is quite huge and I have visited it a couple of years ago - I was supposed to know where the things to see where located - although I tried to convince Rita that we have just passed them but they are not visible I had to take the "blame"of being not prepared :))) Anyway after waiting for hours during which Rita got acquited with the llama's (or where those alpacas?) finally the magnificient ruins revealed themselves to us. They are always amazing and the great thing was that we were all in a daze - I think we will need to go there still one day in the future - I cannot get enough of it - it is just as nice as Angkor Wat...both amazing things in the middle of the jungle.



Our bunny Chaplin is also doing great - it is great to have him around as he is very happy in the morning to see us and during the day visits us in our rooms. He is quite social and pretty much understands quickly when it is time for him to leave to his place on the patio.

As to our BrucePeru Cusco center: lots of changes have been recently introduced which have not always been accepted immediately by everyone.

Anyway our schools start nowadays at 9.00 o'clock instead of 9.30 as earlier. There is a weekly meeting on Friday's where the teachers plan the week - we will still revamp it a bit but at least we have some coordination nowadays... We have also introduced everyday reports from school with attendance lists etc. So we know how many kids are in the school and what is needed.
We will also shortly have meetings with kids that have graduated from our schools last two years. Unfortunately we will be closing one of the schools as we do not have enough kids there...this will probably take place next week...

We have uploaded lots of new pictures especially from our Ticatica school. Most of the new pictures were made by Alanna and are just excellent!!!



Last week we have also had our first pub quiz which was a great success - mainly thanks to the queen of the night - Amelia - our new volunteer made a great show and we have managed to raise 140 USD. As of now we have altogether raised in total USD 1220 which is more than GREAT!!! The biggest amount of it thanks to Alanna's dad...We are really happy that there are people who are willing to help like this. We and all the kids are greatly indebted to them and everyone who has helped so far. We are also in the middle of organizing a big party and the most fancy club in Cusco - where we will have a cooking show, dancing etc and all proceeds from the tickets will come to us - not to mention that everyone who comes will have to bring some clothing as donation - it will take place on the 27th of September...


Once again BIG THANK YOU again to everyone - especially to Alanna !!! We are still waiting though for more so if you can please help...

As to our center - things have changed much as well - we have a repainted the bathroom as mentioned before, Sonia our cook makes great dishes and keeps the place clean, bread gets delivered to us every morning and we save costs by doing the shopping on the cheapest market only once per week...so things are changing and it is a great feeling !!!