I started volunteering last Tuesday at an orphanage for girls called Buen Pastor. So far, I have mixed feelings. For one, it always takes me a little while to warm up in situations like that. I am generally pretty extroverted but, in all honesty, I don´t always know how to relate to children especially in a foreign language. My first day I worked in the kitchen with 3 girls and a cook, peeling potatoes and mashing garlic. When I left, I realized how much the walls reminded me of Copprome, the orphanage I volunteer at in Honduras and felt really overwhelmed and ended up walking home trying not to let my tears flow freely. The second day I learned how to knit with the girls. There are a few different workshops there where the girls do different crafts like ceramics or knitting. There´s also a green house, which they took me to see during our break, a volleyball/basketball court and cows. Also, shortly after I´d gotten there, a girl tried to escape. The director got up abruptly and ran out of the room, leaving me with a ten year old girl named Melanie who told me a girl was trying to escape because she didn´t like it there. That day I also got to play volleyball with the girls when we were done knitting. I wasn´t very good and made them glad. I´m happy that I at least amused them. When I went on Thursday, the coordinator wasn´t there and no one really knew what I was supposed to be doing so I helped the girls cover their notebooks with plastic. Today I knitted again and asked the girls what they wanted to be when they grow up (police officer, professor, veterinarian) and learned that the volunteer coordinator was also an orphan herself.
Two weekends ago we went to the town of Ollantaytambo, which ended up being really fun. I didn´t feel like buying another tourist ticket to see the ruins so I ended up walking around and exploring with Ashley and Emily. We stepped onto a side street and found a ridiculously small monkey hanging on to the back of a dog which was trying to attack another dog.
Two weekends ago we went to the town of Ollantaytambo, which ended up being really fun. I didn´t feel like buying another tourist ticket to see the ruins so I ended up walking around and exploring with Ashley and Emily. We stepped onto a side street and found a ridiculously small monkey hanging on to the back of a dog which was trying to attack another dog.
The monkey was adorable. 
We also decided we wanted to try chicha (corn beer) so we found a place that had a red bag hanging outside, which means they have chicha, and went inside where we found a courtyard of animals. We shared a cup between the three of us with a small group of locals, including a man who sang to us in Quechua. 
Afterwards we got dessert and wine in the plaza and were sitting there enjoying our treats when Hilde and Trey pulled up in a taxi and told us they were staying the night so we decided we would too because we were enjoying ourselves. Trey invited two Chilean guys who were on their way to Machu Picchu to sit and chat with us for a while which was nice. After they caught their train, we found our hostal, which was really nice and had a great courtyard with lots of pretty flowers. Unfortunately, Trey, Hilde and I sat on the hammock together and broke it and the thick log that was holding it up, fell on top of my head, which was really painful.
Back in Cusco on Monday we met our Chilean friends again and went out dancing pretty late even though it was Monday night. The following night was St. Patrick´s day so we went out again to a bar called The Real McCoy filled with lots of gringos and played beer pong, which is about as gringo as an activity as can be.
This weekend we took another little trip to go camping in Urubamba. Also unfortunately, we asked the school for help in planning and we ended up staying in some random family´s backyard after at least a half an hour searching in the dark for the place. Nonetheless, despite the fact that it wasn´t really camping, it ended up being a lot of fun. Jeroen and Cameron played their guitars,
we sang, ate lots of roasted marshmallows and hot dogs and I foregoed sleeping in a tent in favor of sleeping by the fire under the stars. It drizzled lightly in the morning which woke me up, but I didn´t mind too much. We also decided around 1 in the morning to climb a high wall and go frolicking through the family´s corn field. 
It was slightly terrifying, but really fun. It was hilarious because everyone kept falling over in the ditches in the dark. The next morning, we had a slight problem because one of the sleeping bags was missing. We determined that one of the girls who´d come with us who was a friend of a friend from school had taken it. Which is pretty lame if you ask me, but in the end we got it back so I suppose it´s ok. Nada màs for now. 
Hasta luego,
Ashley
We also decided we wanted to try chicha (corn beer) so we found a place that had a red bag hanging outside, which means they have chicha, and went inside where we found a courtyard of animals. We shared a cup between the three of us with a small group of locals, including a man who sang to us in Quechua. Afterwards we got dessert and wine in the plaza and were sitting there enjoying our treats when Hilde and Trey pulled up in a taxi and told us they were staying the night so we decided we would too because we were enjoying ourselves. Trey invited two Chilean guys who were on their way to Machu Picchu to sit and chat with us for a while which was nice. After they caught their train, we found our hostal, which was really nice and had a great courtyard with lots of pretty flowers. Unfortunately, Trey, Hilde and I sat on the hammock together and broke it and the thick log that was holding it up, fell on top of my head, which was really painful.Back in Cusco on Monday we met our Chilean friends again and went out dancing pretty late even though it was Monday night. The following night was St. Patrick´s day so we went out again to a bar called The Real McCoy filled with lots of gringos and played beer pong, which is about as gringo as an activity as can be.
This weekend we took another little trip to go camping in Urubamba. Also unfortunately, we asked the school for help in planning and we ended up staying in some random family´s backyard after at least a half an hour searching in the dark for the place. Nonetheless, despite the fact that it wasn´t really camping, it ended up being a lot of fun. Jeroen and Cameron played their guitars,
we sang, ate lots of roasted marshmallows and hot dogs and I foregoed sleeping in a tent in favor of sleeping by the fire under the stars. It drizzled lightly in the morning which woke me up, but I didn´t mind too much. We also decided around 1 in the morning to climb a high wall and go frolicking through the family´s corn field. It was slightly terrifying, but really fun. It was hilarious because everyone kept falling over in the ditches in the dark. The next morning, we had a slight problem because one of the sleeping bags was missing. We determined that one of the girls who´d come with us who was a friend of a friend from school had taken it. Which is pretty lame if you ask me, but in the end we got it back so I suppose it´s ok. Nada màs for now. 
Hasta luego,
Ashley
frolicking in a cornfield sounds super fun actually :D
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