y por fin; MACCHU PICHU!

Upon arriving in Cuzco, we took a cab to a hostel from my guidebook that clearly didn't exist where stated. Cue the tired wander about I'd become accustomed to in unfamiliar cities until we'd found another one. Next on the agenda as usual was to find something to eat, so the discovery of a nearby bakery offering a cup of good coffee soon put a smile on both mine and Marco's tired faces. We continued exploring the gorgeous city with all it's lovely Spanish colonial architecture, admittedly quite rudely built upon the ruins of the Inca's capital city after the Spanish invasion. Vendors swarmed the main plaza area, making the most of the thriving gringo population present gagging for their Inca trail experience and 'authentic' souvenirs. I for one happily participated and bought a pair of 'the pant's'. Brightly coloured - pyjama looking stripey things that I'm sure every gringo who has ever traveled to South America probably has a pair of, but no doubt not a single local owns. I swear you can't be unhappy whilst wearing them.

I woke up feeling miserable in the morning. This city being situated at 11,200 ft above sea level you are encouraged to arrive a couple of days earlier before beginning the trail to acclimatize. Obviously my body was not adjusting so well as I spent the entire day in bed while Marco played power tourist in-between bringing me back food I was trying to keep down. By the time our briefing with our tour group that night rolled around I was still not feeling better. Another German guest at the hostel offered me his help which I readily agreed to. In his (very) broken English he instructed me to shut my eyes & try take positive energy from him as he held my hand & put the other on my forehead. This carried on for a good 5 minutes until he pulled a crystal on a string out of his pocket and swung it around the palm of my hand. The conclusion reached was that I needed iron. How convenient that the girl translating his German to English for me was iron deficient & hooked me up with some of her iron pills. Literally about 15 minutes later, after feeling miserable all day long I felt great.  Sometimes things do just work out. Earlier yesterday to my annoyance Marco insisted we change to this hostel from the one we originally checked into, so turned out to be a good call (I can admit it.) Bring on Machu Picchu!

A 4am start, a couple of hours on a bus & a breakfast stop in Ollantaytambo found us at the beginning of the Inca trail. We set off in our unusually small group which included Marco & I, our two tour guides Marcel & Julian, & an Australian couple. We had ten porters carrying all the equipment and supplies required for our 4 day trip, so I was quite entertained to think how many would be needed for a group perhaps 3 times our size! Our first day of trekking was relatively easy as the majority of the 12km was flat. This included our first sighting of Inca ruins, the fortress Huillca Raccay, & Patallacta. We arrived at our campsite late afternoon in good spirits, and took a moment to introduce ourselves and be introduced to our porters who we would be spending the next few days with.

Our small group of four

Caminando! 

Already gaining on us

 Here I will take a minute to talk about the porters! Words cannot express how much respect I have for these guys. The majority come from small villages far out of Cuzco, and from these men only some spoke Spanish as the rest of them speak their own native dialect of Quechua. There was a mix of ages within the group, the younger ones pointedly stating if they were single upon introduction (awkward?). One porter stuck out in my memory with his brave effort to introduce himself shyly in English, which he's studying as he wants to be a guide one day. So, these guys scurry along the trail at seemingly impossible speeds for someone who's carrying a 25kg load on their back - our own 'red army' as they called themselves. Without fail every stop, they would leave after us to pack up, then pass us somewhere along the trail and have the next site set up and ready for us when we'd finally show up. It makes you feel ppprreeeetttyyy lazy to say the least.

Our amazing porters

They also made dinner itself an impressive fare far from what I imagined on a tramping trip. The chef appointed each trip devises his own menu, so we were probably treated to more authentic Peruvian cuisine than what I'd ordered from any restaurant in touristy Cuzco. And to top that off every morning we were woken up with tea brought to our tent. Sometimes I found it hard to enjoy these little things without feeling guilty. The work they do is very hard and there are obviously some companies that do not look after their porters very well. I saw so many that didn't even have proper shoes and were hopping along the trail in sandals made out of tire! The Peruvian government has implemented a law where a porter cannot be paid less than 42 soles (US $15) a day but apparently it is not widely abided by which sucks to hear. If you ever end up doing the trail I strongly recommend you do some research and go with a company that takes their porter welfare seriously because you will feel a lot better about it. Just do it.

So back to the trail, day two included a steep hike up to 'Dead woman's pass'. I was starting to feel increasing grateful to my cousins advice to pay the extra for hiking poles as the pretty much the whole Inca trail is steps. At the top of the pass we captured the moment with a sweet jumping photo. This day was interspersed with bouts of rain and visits to Inca sites until we reached our final resting spot for the night. I think our porters had been getting into the grog a bit because they were particularly merry when we arrived ha ha. At dinner our guide informed us there had been a landslide on a part of the trail so we would be taking an alternative route through the town Aguas Calientes to get to Macchu Pichu rather than through the original path via the Sun gate.

Sweet jumping photo as stated

Highest point of the trail at 4200m on Dead Woman's Pass

Campsite

Nick woke up the next day feeling unwell, so we split ourselves between the guides so he could go at a slower pace. We did mostly downhill, again accompanied by buckets of rain so we literally felt like we were tramping down waterfalls the whole way. After a visit to Inca site 'Phuyupatamarca' the weather eventually began to clear up and Marco and I had continued ahead on our own to 'Intipata' as our guides were trying to organise porters to carry Nick (who by the way is huge) to our next site. Another testament to the strength of our porters! We caught up as a group over lunch then together visited the impressive Inca site Winay Wayna (Forever Young) before arriving on the outskirts of Aguas Calientes, our last overnight stop before Machu Picchu.

Winay Wayna

Y por fin the day arrived! The night before we had been presented with two options - we could either take a bus from the town center up to Machu Picchu, or hike a trail. Marco and I both agreed that even though the path was not the original it felt like cheating to have trekked for 3 days and then take a bus up. Tough kids! The one perk of the landslide was that now we had a good chance of being able to climb Huayana Picchu. Only 500 people a day are granted passes to ascend this fortress overlooking MP itself. Because it's based on a first come, first serve basis usually Inca trailers miss out because they arrive too late. Thanks to the landslide and consequential detour we had the chance to get up there earlier. Not a bad incentive to hoof it up.

Our minds ahead on the goal, we followed along the train tracks in pitch blackness until we reached the town center. Here we left our Aussie counterparts who had opted for the bus while Marco and I pushed on to the trail. This trail was MISERABLE. In my head I knew it wasn't as steep as Colca Canyon, but god it felt about 3 times worse which I guess I'll put down an accumulation of tiredness from prior days trekking? Add to that the adrenaline of racing against everyone else crawling the trail, not to mention the tour buses full of people, it felt like we were competing on the amazing race - the prize a coveted Huayna Picchu pass!

But I'm happy to say we made it!  Entering Machu Picchu wasn't the impressive first sight I had imagined, as it was extremely foggy and we couldn't see anything. However as our tour guide gave us his detailed tour, the cloud began to lift. By the time we made it up to the view point where you'll find your classic postcard shot, man did we get our view!!!! Trying to describe how epic the Inca's masterpiece looks in real life rather than in a travel magazine is pointless.Of course then a mandatory photo shoot ensued until it was time for Huayana Picchu.

YAY!

 We made our way over to the entrance for the 10am slot, ready for even more uphill trekking. So steep and narrow, the track has bars placed along it to assist visitors on their way up. After about 40 minutes to reach the top, it really felt like it was time to just stop and finally take it all in. Which I did. I sat on a rock looking down on Machu Picchu, with a sense wonderment at what was laying before me as well as of accomplishment for myself at having made it there. I just felt so lucky to be exactly where I was, wanting to be nowhere else in the world but sitting way up there, deep in the Urumba Valley in Peru! YEAH! I can say hands down this was the highlight of the trail for me, get it on the bucket list now!

Awesome couple we kept bumping into along the trail & around Cuzco

Yeah we did it!

Love it.

Here is a video of me trying to get a sound out of the ancient walls of MP. The tour guide could do it, me not so much. Sorry it's sideways.

This wasn't at machu Picchu but from Colca Canyon. Had to include it here as it wouldn't upload on FB, nice Marco! hahahaha

jornada re-visited

*Here is a blog I started writing a good while ago but never finished. Thought I would post it & add some photos.

7th November 2010

I find it a little frustrating in my life how easy it is to get caught up in daily routine and forget about what is really important to me. Stating the obvious I know. In these last two weeks I have been reminded of the many personal goals & ambitions I held prior to my arrival in Chile I wanted to accomplish in my time here, that I have let slide due to getting caught up in those little things.

I will start by talking about Jornada. Last weekend everyone from VE went away for the weekend to Cajon de Maipo for a retreat. We spent the weekend reflecting on what we do with VE, our work in our institutions and why we are in Chile including what brought us here. I think I was definitely a little skeptical of the whole idea at first, but it didn't take long for me to forget about life in crazy Santiago for a few days and throw myself into it. This was actually addressed almost immediately as we shared in a group setting what we were bringing with us to Jornada, and what we were leaving behind in Santiago. I said that I was leaving behind the guilty clutter in my head of all the things I should have accomplished by this halfway milestone. With me to Jornada, I decided to consciously make the effort to live in the moment, to enjoy and focus only on what was around me.

The last month I have been so busy between Spanish classes & work, that I've felt a little alien from everyone at VE. I really enjoyed this weekend when we were broken into smaller groups so I had the chance to get know some people I haven't had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with. Together each of us shared what had brought us to Chile in the first place. Apart from the common theme of taking an overseas trip after completing studies, the alternative seemed to be coming to a certain crossroad in life with the desire for change. It was comforting & somewhat inspiring to hear a couple stories in particular, probably because I felt myself relating as they spoke.

The last 3 years I have spent working on cruise ships as a dancer and I feel lucky to be able to honestly say I love my job. But like many others I was starting to feel a strong pull for a change of scenery, as it had definitely become too easy to continue accepting contracts. I always knew that I wanted to volunteer sometime during my life, and finally I had reached the point where either I was going to do it now or I never would. If I look back to the 3 months prior to me arriving in Santiago there seemed to be so many different paths I could have gone down rather than the one I chose to Chile. I was in a long term relationship, unsure of where I wanted it to go. I just felt like being on my own. I also remember the sick panicky feeling I felt when I turned down a ship contract I was offered when I didn't even know if I'd been accepted into VE yet. But at the same time I felt a distant sense of excitement because me saying no was forcing that change to happen in my life even though I wasn't sure at that moment what it was going to be! Thank god two weeks later I found out my last minute application had been accepted so I promptly booked myself a ticket to Chile for a departure in four weeks time. And here you find me two months later.

Another thing that I have somewhat avoided since I have been in Chile is skyping people from 'home'. After talking to 2 in particular today, I traveled back in time to where my head was at right before I left New Zealand, which to be fair was pretty all over the place. I was newly single, about to embark on an adventure that felt slightly irrational but at the same time very right and just what I was craving. The excitement that came with the prospect of a new beginning alongside all the possibilities, expectations & hopes felt like it was about to burst through my skin I was that amped for it. And when I got here I was not disappointed! But I am frustrated with myself as back to what I was saying at the beginning of this blog, I've let some things off my list sadly be neglected and not given them the precedence & effort they deserve. Time is passing by so fast here it is incredible. What I'm trying to say is that those conversations today gave me a reality check to get myself back on track and endeavor to do better! I do realise how vague I sound when I write this as obviously I'm not sharing these publicly here.

Back to Jornada, it turned out to be more than I expected from a retreat and I know it will remain one of my fondest memories that I leave Chile with. A weekend full of conversation contemplating life, some re-assessment of my time already spent here, plus maybe a few too many activities consisting of saying nice things about one another left a general warm feeling of contentment to return to Santiago with. And to top that all off, under a beautiful clear night sky I saw my first ever shooting star. In that moment maybe it was possible to wonder if I even needed to make a wish for something more. Yup.

Trying to the master the wire game...

Applause for succeeding!

September class group shot in the theme of the Halloween weekend

Pretty nice back drop for the weekend away

canyon de colca

So picking up from where I left off, Marco and I arrived in Arequipa that night and made our way to the hostel we'd picked out on the bus from my trusty guidebook. I'm ashamed to say that our first night in Peru we went and ate at a Mexican restaurant. The guilt did slip away pretty fast though when I was tucking into delicious enchiladas after living off a Chilean travelers diet of completos, churrascos and empanadas the last week and a half. The next day we shopped around for a trek to the Colca Canyon finally booking ourselves in for a 2 day excursion that started the next day. In case you wanted to know, Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world being more than twice as deep at the Grand Canyon in the United States. Exciting! That night we went and visited the Santa Catalina Monastry which is over 400 years old.

The Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa in the Plaza de Armas

Inside the Santa Catalina Monastry

We woke up at 3.30am the next morning to get ready for our 4.30am pick up. A knock at the door 5 minutes later informed us that our shuttle was waiting for us downstairs. Thank you to the woman who sold us the tour for telling us the wrong time. Marco who was smart enough to pack his large backpack the night before ran down to try stall them whilst I frantically packed up my stuff. Needless to say by the time I made it downstairs we were not greeted to happy faces. Ugh, we were those people. A couple of hours later we stopped for a very average breakfast then we made our way to the view point 'Cruz del Condor' to try catch a look at some Andean Condors but I didn't see any. Arriving at the entrance it was time to get hiking, so we were split into 2 groups to begin our descent into the heart of the canyon. The views are spectacular the whole way down. You could see the Colca River that runs through the canyon, and the oasis we were going to stay at for the night that is able to stay green all year round due to water that springs from the mountainside. Part way into the trek it was then I got to see my condor. Hoorah. Further along the way we walked through a couple of villages that exist inside the canyon. One of the larger ones even had a primary school and child care center. Upon asking our tour guide more about it she told us that the majority of children that live within the canyon don't end up going to high school once they finish primary because it's too expensive for them to travel outside the canyon or pay school fees which was pretty sad.
Eventually we got to the bottom, but not before missing the rain that had started to fall. Lucky we were in the faster group of the two because the second group arrived a good while after us which must been pretty miserable with the downpour. There was no electricity in the oasis we staying the night at, so we enjoyed a candle lit dinner with some extremely salty pasta and box wine Marco had bought at the village we stopped at for lunch. Good call Marco. The next morning we were off again at 5am, the big incentive being breakfast which wasn't happening until we arrived at the top. A very steep zig-zagging  track led us out of the canyon. Marco, myself and our new Canadian friend Jen wanted out asap so we busted ahead of everyone making it out in 2 hours rather than the 3 we were told it was going to take. And yeah if it sounds like I'm bragging I probably am because it wasn't an easy hike and I definitely felt a sense of achievement I when I made it to the top. What respect I have for the people who live inside the canyon, and who make their livelihood by walking up this miserable track every day with their mules loaded up with drinks/snacks etc. to sell to tourists like us. We were even given the option the night before to pay extra and take a mule back up which some people in our group actually did. It's really such a wake up call to see how other people in the world live their lives. After walking an easy 20 mins more to a small town for breakfast we went and made a visit to some hot springs for some well deserved relaxing. Arriving back in Arequipa there was no stopping though as we had already booked ourselves on an overnight bus that night to Cuzco for the much anticipated part of our Peru trip - the Inca trail & Machu Picchu.

Looking for the Andean Condor

View from the top entering the canyon. The green part in the center is the oasis.

At some point walking down

River Colca

Jen & I taking a break on the walk back up

Finishing at the top!

  

Tour group complete

The pictures just don't do it justice

Cool kids

home sweet home

So it's definitely been more than awhile since I last updated my blog, the obvious give away being that I am writing this at home in Christchurch, New Zealand. So I successfully made it back! There were a couple of close calls that might have taken me down another route to a less ideal outcome but here I am. Last night I was even informed of a conversation that took place while I was away between Dad, Mum & my brother Steve, regarding who was going to go over and get me in the event that something bad happened. I'm not really sure how many scary kidnapping docos had been consumed the prior months....perhaps 'Taken' had screened while I had been away? Regardless Dad was the one delegated in case you wanted to know.

I'm really not trying to make light of potentially dangerous outcomes, but I do think South America gets more of a bad rep than what it deserves. This opinion comes from a girl who came to South America on her own, spent four months adjusting to - then falling in love with her new life in Chile, probably the most economically stable and arguably safest country for women in South America. Who then spent two more months immensely enjoying herself traveling around the rest of the continent. Whether I was joined by a friendly face from Santiago, tagging along with new friends I had made along my journey or downright being alone on my own for more than a few days, I was was the one ultimately responsible for every decision I made whether it turned out to a good or bad one or simply down to plain old luck. I loved it and would do it all again in a heartbeat should I have the chance. I would even go as far as to recommend to the next person to go do this on their own as I think it pushes you and gives you the opportunity to meet so many more people that way. This isn't me pretending that I wasn't ever nervous, scared or a bit lonely at times. Of course I had those moments example number one being the morning I left Santiago. As I looked at my reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator on the way down with my ridiculously large back pack on my small frame I remember thinking to myself  'Aleisha what the hell are you doing?'

For me looking back, a repeated memory that sticks out vividly was when I would initially arrive in a new city. Usually dog-tired from some long-ass bus ride, arriving at yet another dodgy bus station at some absurd time, you'd try give an impression of a gringa not to be taken advantage of (impossible for me) by ignoring the flock of vulture taxi drivers that would descend upon you until you'd got that stupid heavy pack on your back again and some sort of bearing of your where abouts and what you were doing next. Usually a cab did have to be resorted to and it's a feeling I can't describe, of knowing you're completely at someone else's mercy, getting in a car with that person who knows you are carrying absolutely everything that you own on you, and hoping against hope that they are not a bad person and will deliver you safely to where you want to go. Caring if they charged me an outrageous tourist priced taxi fare was last thing on my mind. I have to say those tour books containing the evil taxi driver warnings really do make a girl paranoid.

I would definitely say that living in Santiago for the first four months helped me a lot for when I eventually got backpacking. I wasn't dropped in the deep end by any means as immediately after arriving in Chile I was welcomed into a close knit community of volunteers/instant amigos with the added stability of living in one place while adjusting. What I can't stress enough that benefited me the most while I was traveling was taking the time during my initial four months in Santiago to go to Spanish classes and learn the language (but as if you wouldn't!)  It really made a huge difference to my experience backpacking. Being able to communicate efficiently is way under rated while traveling, it makes life a hell of lot easier and best of all of course gives you the added enjoyment of being able to converse with the locals of the country you're traveling. I enjoyed bantering away to those taxi drivers, gathering hints about best places to visit whilst casually dropping into the conversation my 'friend' that was meeting me at the hostel they were dropping me at (that so-called 'friend' that would be looking for me should I happen to go missing ahem)
Bottom line it actually was a bit of a rude shock for me when I finally got to Brasil and Portuguese was waiting for me.

My mum keeps telling me that she thinks I had a guardian angel on my shoulder during my trip. Along the way I did often feel like luck was on my side that's for sure. I'm not religious but if it was a guardian angel or just some good luck it was definitely found within the people I encountered along the way. Because if I could tell you the biggest impression that was left on me from South America it was from the people I met there. Whether a local or a traveler like me I met some of the most impressionable, good hearted people someone would hope to encounter. The South American people live up to their reputation of being warm, friendly and open. I found the locals, with their curiosity of what had brought you halfway across the world or occasional incredulousness that you were traveling on you're own, were proud of their country and the fact that you were there enjoying exploring it and what it had to offer. The only bitter thing to find was that often they themselves had not had the same opportunities to travel their own or neighboring countries due to their financial means. It does make you feel guilty, and at the same time very lucky to have the chance to do what you're doing.

And then there were the travelers like myself. The best part about these people were that somewhere along the line, they had made the same decision like me to go visit this particular place in the world. So each with the same shared goal to experience South America in all it's glory, at the risk of sounding extremely cheesy we lived each day like it was our last, making good memories like they were going out of fashion because hell, who knew the next time we would be South America again?!

Happy travelers capturing memories the best way - with a jumping photo!

and FYI the next few weeks I hope to catch up on my blog entries from my last six weeks traveling. Here goes trying...

chau chile

Well I've finally left Chile. As I write this I am on my way to Arequipa, Peru. Crossing the border was relatively easy, only involving taking a collectivo from the bus station in Arica to Tacna (Peru) then a 6 hour bus to Arequipa. Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring the city and organizing our trip to Colca Canyon the couple of days after that. I'm excited to do some trekking again, a warm up for our next stop Machu Picchu!

I ended up spending more time in Arica than I wanted to. Camping on the beach would have been the way to go I realized too late the last day I was there which I spent in entirety on the beach. The waves there are killin'. Instead I stayed in a hostal with my newly made friend Jaqueline, who I met in San Pedro de Atacama. We went on a tour of Parque Lauca which was beautiful. The tour took us almost all the way to the border of Bolivia where stands the beautiful snow capped Volcan Parinacota. I have to say Chile really does give New Zealand a run for it’s money in terms of natural beauty. I continue to be amazed at the diversity in landscape that can be found in this country. When I spent time in the south it reminded me very much of New Zealand with the mountain ranges and green everywhere. And as I have just learnt, the dry dessert country of the north offers just as much to admire. I found it incredible to be able to leave San Pedro de Atacama, drive for an hour or so and then smack in the middle of nowhere run into your choice of salt flat/lagoon/geyser - take your pick says Chile! 

San Pedro itself is a bustling, dusty little tourist town in the middle of nowhere - the jumping off point for the huge range of tours it offers. I myself did four, my favourites including the Geysers del Tatio tour and the Salt lake Lagoons. The geyser tour involved getting picked up at 4am to be able to see the geysers at their most active. Our tour guide cooked us eggs for breakfast by putting a dozen of them in a plastic bag then leaving them in a geyser for 15 minutes as he proceeded to show us around. After breakfast we went for swim in a natural thermal pool, or correction I did as no-one else from my group would get in because it was freezing outside. On the way back we visited the tiny Machuca Village and ate some llama kebabs which were yuuuuummmmmy. 

That afternoon I headed out on the Salt Lake Lagoon tour.  We were taken to the Cejas Lagoon which is a pool of salt water which is so dense it allows you to float, it feels awesome to be weightless. Next up we were taken to Laguna Piedra to jump the 20 metres into the water to clean all that salt off our bodies. I ended up doing it 3 times to try get a photo, failed all 3 times so instead settled for a video. Then it was time to get snap happy with our cameras at the Tebinquince Lagoon as we watched the repuesta del sol. Gorgeous. I don’t know if it was because San Pedro was the first stop on my journey, or because Arica was kind of average, but a part of me fell in love with the place. Maybe I can use the excuse that I ran out of time to try the sand boarding to return?

Lagunas Antiplaticos

Oasis in the middle of the dessert

Salar de Atacama

New friends

repuesta del sol

On the beach in Arica

Looking out over Arica

Parque Lauca

Llama love

So back to Santiago. I ended up staying there an extra day than originally planned because I didn’t organize myself properly to be able to get away. I’m glad I stayed that extra night though because it was so nice to be able to see everyone from VE at 'Cafe' and have one last boogie in Mito Urbano (would we really go anywhere else? jaja) before I left. 

When I arrived in Santiago, I remember saying more than once that yeah I liked Santiago, but I wasn't in love with the place. My last couple of months there though, I really started to like it. More than anything I think it was the people I met there that made me like it so much. I loved living in my apartment with Camille & Vero in Bellas Artes. It was such a novelty finally living in the real world again after living almost non-stop on ships for 3 years. It was nice being able to be able go to Salsa class at night, walk out of my apartment & chill out at the park when I felt like it, AND I learnt I actually enjoy cooking. It took me 2 months to finally feel comfortable in my institute. There was never a day I dreaded going, but at the beginning I always felt on guard and unsure of how the day would unfold. Not knowing the language definitely was the worst part, I think I have never felt as stupid in my life as I felt in Chile. But, I went to Spanish school, began to understand more (still not everything!) and I got to know the girls at Aldea better every day.  Eventually without realizing, I started really looking forward to going to work. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t have my off days, this goes without saying. But there would be days for me personally I didn't feel so great, and I would really look forward to seeing the girls that day. There is something about the energy and life in the girls that is very endearing and addictive to be around. I don’t know how to describe it. I’m trying hard right now not to look back through rose tinted glasses, which is easy to do of course once you leave a place. There were some days I was gritting my teeth, the girls behaviour and moods swings were unpredictable at times to say the least. For those days I was so glad to have my Lily & Stephen around for support (thanks guys) and to share a sopaipilla with. 

Was Aldea what I expected it to be? From the time I received the e-mail back in NZ telling me about my institute, I think I learnt to loose all my expectations right then and there. I think I may have tried to imagine a little what it was going to be like, and I laugh thinking back on those thoughts now. I remember reading the description of Aldea from the previous volunteers, prepping us that ‘sometimes the girls can get physically violent’ and my mum  asking in a worried voice how big were the girls are over there haha. And then I think of one particular girl charging down the sports field screaming obscenities with a hockey stick in hand and pounding it on the concrete and I laugh to myself. Such events weren't always things you could laugh about later, what I actually found worse with the girls was usually not the physical violence that occurred, but the emotional bullying that went on between the girls. Especially seeing it from girls who you knew had kind hearts and knew better than that. It always made me sad to wonder who had treated them so bad in their life to make them feel the need to act out like that. Again in orientation week when the new volunteers arrived I was reminded of my shift in expectations that occurred as time went on. Breakthroughs with the girls happened, but they were smaller and fewer in between than expected. There were definitely times I wondered what good my presence was doing in Aldea, but at the same time I would think to myself what if VE didn't place volunteers there? The main feeling I got from the girls at Aldea was that they were just so bored and lacking opportunities for personal growth. If we weren't there would the girls just be watching crappy telenovela non-stop? I wouldn't doubt it.

I didn't know what to expect my last day at Aldea, and it turned out to be one of the most fun days I have ever had there. We organized a water balloon fight and almost every girl participated (a rarity!). At the end of the day they all wrote goodbye notes to me on a big piece of paper and I don't know why but it felt even more special that they were written in Spanish. In the end I hope they at least found a friend in me, from whatever end of the spectrum it may have been. Naturally there were girls with whom I was closer or spent more time with, but everyone of them had spirit and I know I will always continue to think of them and hope for the best for them in their lives.


Te echo de menos Chile! xxx

Leaving Aldea for the last time

bye santiago

So I'm leaving tomorrow and have absolutely no time left to write a post, however I'm putting up some photos from my last day at Aldea and will write a blog on my 22 hour (bad decision) bus ride tomorrow to San Pedro de Atacama.

Last day at Aldea with Stephen & Lily. I'm going to miss them so much!

Exactly how I like my sopaipilla hmmmm going to miss these too.

aaawwww.

 The girls wrote me good bye messages, so cute.

Photo taken my last day in Santiago with my disgusting new haircut. Be warned this is what happens when you can't speak a country's native language.

And here is the blog I wrote for the VE Global website about the dance the Aldea girls did for Christmas.

Finally a photo of my girls I can post!!!

Baile de la Navidad

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 10:55AM

 

Aleisha Manion
Christchurch, New Zealand

The girls at Aldea María Reina love to dance.
So with Christmas around the corner and the opportunity for an audience during the holiday celebrations, a Navidad-themed baile was in order. With the song chosen and the dance choreographed, the only thing left to do was to recruit some dancers. This can be harder than it sounds at the hogar. Housing around 45 teenage girls, the girls moods change constantly, affecting whether they want to participate in the days activities or not. Myself and the other volunteers have found usually the best source of motivation to get them to join in comes from the girls seeing others enjoying themselves and not wanting to miss out on the fun!
True to form, we started the day with one girl and ended with six, with another three more wanting to join in tomorrow. A week went by filled with rehearsals, and new girls asking to join in each day. The girls worked hard together. It made me really happy to see their long-term commitment to putting in the time and effort to make their dance look the best it could.
There were girls who struggled with a particular step one day, who after some one-on-one time would turn up the next day and have it perfect. I saw older girls helping the younger ones, and others taking the initiative to solve choreographic problems, or encouraging the others around them to keep practicing. It was nice to see sides of girls' personalities I had not seen before, girls who usually had no interest in dance who put themselves outside their comfort zone to try something new.
Well the big day arrived and after coordinating costumes and a last minute rehearsal out on the cancha, they were ready as they would ever be. Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" came through speakers and they began their routine. While some had shy smiles across their faces and others threw themselves into it, the cheers, applause and encouragement from the audience was well deserved. I truly felt proud of each and every one of them as I snapped away with my camera, happy to see all their hard work finally paying off.
Again I am amazed at the energy and spirit of the girls I work with every day and what they are capable of if they put their mind to it.

 Here is the link to the original blog and you can also check out the sopaipilla video Stephen made on this page.

http://www.ve-global.org/blog/

See you in San Pedro woop woop!