Apr. 27-28 - Cuscotopia

Today we had an early departure flight to Cusco. As this was Manuel's first trip as a guide, things went a little slower than planed. In the end we did manage to get our flight to Cusco with very little time to spare (it was better than a 24 hour bus ride). One nice thing about the flight is that it was a beautiful day over the Andes, so our hour flight gave us some remarkable views of the Andes and it's green hills and snow capped mountains.

Once we were in Cusco, most of the people on our trip got their first taste of altitude sickness. For most this just meant they were a little light headed, but we were all rather surprised to find that there was a stand at the airport selling bottles of oxygen for the tourists. Cusco might be high, but it isn't so high that you would require extra oxygen. We did find the hotel had their own oxygen tank, and they were serving Coca Tea like it was going out of fashion (everywhere you went they were selling either the tea to drink or the leaves to chew on). Due to the altitude, most of the people in our trip slept all afternoon after we had lunch.

After our lovely nap (part of my daily ritual now....probably will have to do something about that when I start working again) we took a walk around the Plaza de Armas, taking pictures of the buildings in the city, and then took a short stroll around some of the blocks around the city centre, just trying to help acclimatize faster. To give you an idea how small the city centre is, we happened to bump into everyone in our group during our hour outing.

As we found out quickly, Manuel knew all the coolest places to eat dinner and we were never disipointed. Tonight we happened upon a small Peruvian diner that allowed me to try Alpaca meat. I recommend to anyone to try alpaca, it tastes very close to beef and was remarkable. But due to the altitude (a very good excuse if you are ever looking for one) we turned in early so as to conserve our energy.

The next morning we got up when we were ready and found out over breakfast that there was not enough room for all of us to go on the ATV ride, so Sandy and I opted to go horseback riding instead. While we were waiting for our tour to start, we walked around the town looking for equipment we would need for our upcoming Inca Trail hike (walking poles, warm clothes, hats, etc.) and explored the town looking at all the craft shops. One of interest was an art shop where we spent about an hour talking to the owners about Peruvian art, the artists and how their styles changed. In the end we bought a lovely piece of art from the lady, making her first sale at the art gallery.

While walking around we happened to bump into Manuel who informed us he wanted to talk to everyone who was going on the ATV tour at 1. So we headed back to the hotel, and we decided to go in two different groups. As Sandy and I were more than willing to back out this morning, Manuel made sure we went in the first group. We headed out to a restaurant for a quick lunch, and through some confusion, we ended up eating with a GAP group that just finished the Inca Trail and gave us a quick description of the trip. It made us very excited to start hiking the trail ... especially since they told us the food was great.

The ATV ride was tons of fun. We started off (Nick, Anastasia, Nina, Nnenna and Sandy) with some lessons on how to ride the 4-wheelers and got a safety lesson before we headed out on our ride. The first 10 minutes of the ride were through the streets of Cusco before we managed to get off road through the mountains around Cusco. Once we went off the main streets we were blessed with beautiful views of the mountains, travelling through farm country, adobe brick houses and a lovely lake. On the ride though, Nnenna had a few problems. One time she went off the road and got the ATV stuck. The second time she managed to sharply turn the ATV and flipped the bike. Luckily she was spared any injury. But the most nerve-racking part of the ride was coming back where we had to drive through the city during rush hour. There's nothing like flying through the streets at night praying that you don't get run over.

Once back at the hotel we started our briefing for our Inca trail trek. We were given a list of equipment and bag to put everything in, but also given a 6kg limit. The problem is that when we started packing, we couldn't fit everything in our bag, and when we finally did get it in we were overweight. There is no way you can get everything they tell you to bring in the bag. We had to weigh it three times before everything fit. After Freddy (our guide for the Inca Trail) had finished his briefing, everyone was ready for the 4 day Inca Trail hike.

Apr. 25-26 – Return to Lima ... Again

The bus from Mancora arrived a little later than we were told as there were some issues with the brakes. This caused a delay of about 2 hours. Some of the passengers were getting quite frustrated and in the end actually took their bags off the bus and got in another bus for Lima. Much to their dismay the bus departed about five minutes after them and didn’t have any further problems with the breaks.

Once we arrived in Lima we headed to the GAP hotel where we were going to meet our tour group the next day. Sandy had booked a room for us to stay there but when we arrived they informed us that there was no reservation for us and the hotel was entirely booked. So off we headed to find an internet café to find Sandy’s reservation. GAP had still not sent it to her, so we went on the hunt for a hotel. On our third try we managed to find one, but as most of the day was gone by this point we decided to relax and spent the rest of the day checking out some shops around Miraflores.

Saturday morning provided us with a very slow start as we had to wait for our laundry which, as usual in South America, took longer than expected. We also had to go on a hunt for the rest of our stuff that some how didn’t make it into our laundry bag. Once we had all this sorted out, took my extra bag to South American Explores to store it until I return to Lima We then checked into the next hotel where we were to start our GAP trip - it was late afternoon. As Sandy hadn’t seen the downtown of Lima we opted to head in that direction for the afternoon and poke around the rather small historical centre of Lima.

This ride downtown was Sandy’s first experience of the city busses in South America. Now the interesting thing about the busses in Lima, even though it is a larger and wealthier city than Quito, is that the busses are involved in a more chaotic race around the city. Sandy affectionately called it the “Bus Race” and that is what it was. The busses in Lima are 15 passenger vans with letters and numbers to indicate which route it is. Depending on the bus company, an S route could take you downtown or out to the airport. The only thing that helps is that they have someone yelling out the bus window telling you where this bus is going (but you can’t understand them ... ever) and they also have the names of the streets written on the side of the bus (not much help as you can only read it after the bus has passed). The bus race gets its name from the competition these busses have to get passengers. At the red light the busses line up in order to get the best position to attack the street. As soon as the light turns green, the busses swerve in and out of each other trying to get to the sidewalk to pick up the passengers and then speed off again to catch the next fare. This sounds like any bus system, but when you have 20 minibuses lined up at a stop light which has two dedicated lanes of traffic, it turns into utter chaos. I can guarantee this is going to replace betting on horse racing in a few years ... the word just has to get out.

In the historic centre of Lima, I took Sandy to some of the places I had already visited, including the Plaza d’Armas and the catacombs. But the highlight of the trip was our lunch at Norky’s. Now, I will admit, since I had been eating most of my meals with a family, I wasn’t very good at my Spanish words for food, but after this lunch, that all will change. We looked at the menu and found a meal that looked interesting to share - a collection of different types of meats and a salad with French fries. It turned out we should have opened our dictionary. This meal came with enough food to feed a family of six. Once we took off the meat with which we were familiar, it got kind of interesting. We weren't sure it the safest mystery meat was was pork, chicken or turkey. But we are quite sure the most interesting mystery meat was some part of an animal's digestive tract. To describe it any more would prevent you from eating for a few weeks. But needless to say, Sandy and I couldn't stop laughing and kept comming up with comments on what it looked like and how it culd be one of the best kinds of food to include in a diet plan .... eat a plate of this and then you can have all the dessert you can eat.

After our late lunch we headed back to our hotel and met our GAP tour group. We felt very confident about our group and thought they would be lots of fun to travel with. After dinner with the whole group, we turned in early as we had to catch an early morning flight to Cusco.

Apr. 17 - 25 - Surfing Safari

Sandy arrived late Wednesday night (more like Thursday morning). That morning we headed out so Sandy could see a bit of the city. We went along my favourite walk through Miaflores to Larco Mar and along the cliff to the "Park of Love"; a Gaudí inspired surreal park with little messages in the 4 mosaics talking about love.

Later in the afternoon we boarded a bus to Mancora. Since it was an 18 hour bus ride we opted to partake in some first class luxury and we were rewarded handsomely. Plush leather seats, food rests, leg room and the seats went back almost completely to make a bed. Surprisingly though, this didn't make the ride any faster, but at least the movies were in English and there was some AC.

When we arrived in Mancora, we were swarmed by taxi drivers trying to get us to use their taxi. I had gotten used to this in South America, but these were more aggressive than I had ever seen before. The crowd of them was so thick that they blocked your access to the luggage and you actually had to physically force your way through the crowd. Not really the best welcome to Peru's beach paradise.

When we finally had our bags, we headed off to Laguna Camp, hopefully our hotel for the week, but we were turned away because they didn't have space (we went back later that day and found they actually did have space, so we booked it for the rest of our stay). We got back into our motor taxi and made our way to our number two choice, Sol y Mar, known to be rather rowdy, but it was cheep and on the beach. They did have room for us so we droped our bags.

Our first day, like most of our days in Mancora, was spent relaxing - sitting on the beach, reading, eating, drinking, swiming and fighting off people trying to get us to eat at their restaurant or trying to sell us jewelry. A typical day in paradise!

On Saturday we changed hotels (Sol y Mar had no one else staying there ... even though it was the party place) and moved into Laguan Camp, a small collection of bamboo bungalows with hammocks strung between each palm tree, so we decided to add something to our daily routine - sleeping in a hammock. All in all it made for the perfect vacation ... away from my vacation.

Before we changed our hotel, we went for our first surfing lesson. Mancora is one of the best places for surfing in Peru, this is evident by the perfect waves and abundance of surf shops. It's warm water, sandy beach and easy access to the waves also makes it one of the best places to learn how to surf in Peru. This was the main reason for travelling up to Mancora, but due to tired arms, sun burns and various other aliments (bugs, blisters and cuts ... from surfing) I only managed to take three lessons and surf alone only once.

The lessons were actually very well thought out and people are able to pick it up very quickly. After getting a board and waxing it up we headed out on the waves to learn. The instructor would hold onto the back of the board and kick from behind when a wave came and actually sit on the board until you were up. They would continue doing this, slowly weaning you off the extra stability the instructor provides by sitting on the board, until all you need is an extra push and someone telling you when to paddle. All in all it was a great experience and I was so excited when I managed to get up all on my own.

Mancora wasn't all fun and games in the sun, it also had a sad side. Walking along the beach you are bombarded by people trying to sell you things or get you to eat at their restaurant. As we were there for almost a week we got to know two of these people in particular, Israel and William. They were little kids who ran away from home in search of a better life, and they found that life on the street was better than what they were used to at home. No one seems to know where these kids live in Mancora, but they appear to make enough to live on by selling shell necklaces to travelers. One nice thing is that by coming to a small town like Mancora, they were looked after quite well. One restaurant we visited would actually feed them at night after the guests had left.

Once we finished our week of relaxing on the beach in Mancora, Sandy and I got on another 18 hour bus ride back to Lima where we were going to meet our GAP tour group to start our Peruvian adventure.

Apr. 13-14 - Where snowboards go to die

The next stop on my journey was Huacachina, a tiny oasis just outside of Ica, the largest town near Pisco. Huacachina is a hang out spot for travelers along the Peruvian coast where there are all night parties and fantastic sandboarding in the surrounding sand dunes. That wasn’t my experience with the town.

When I arrived in Ica, I was approached by a very friendly man who wanted to save me some time and money and suggested I stay in Ica, at his brother’s hotel. He told me that he owned a hotel in Huacachina and that it was one of the only two that were left standing after the earthquake, only had water for two hours a day and there was no electricity. Had I not been working in Pisco I would have believed him, but I knew there was no way his story was true, hotels had been built very quickly and electricity had been restored within three weeks of the earthquake. When I finally did arrive in Huacachina, as I suspected, there was only one hotel that hadn’t reopened and all others were fine. You would never have known there was an earthquake seven months ago if it weren’t for the one hotel that didn’t reopened.

That night, the party that I had been told about didn’t happen. It turns out that Huacachina is quite dead on a Monday night, not that it should suprise me. In spite of not being surrounded by lots of people to hang out with, I did manage to find three other guys to spend the evening chatting with; two from Argentina, and one from Australia. It made for an interesting evening as I became the translator for everyone as the Argentineans didn't speak much English and the Australian didn't speak Spanish. Even the bartender got into it and had me teach him a few things in English so he could better help the hotel guests in the future.

The next day I got up early in hopes of going sandboarding. After breakfast, I rented a board from the hotel and headed out to try sandboarding. Well, let's just say, this is something that Lonely Planet hyped up more than was needed. I started on a small hill in hopes of practicing a bit. The heat was extreme and you kept sliding back down while climbing the sand dunes. It took about 10 minutes to get to the top, and once there I put on the board, I stood up and didn't move. I had to bend over to push myself along in order to get any speed. Covered in sand, I decided to climb up the highest sand dune in hopes of getting enough speed that I could probably try to turn. After 20 minutes of climbing, I reached the top, put on the board, pointed it directly downhill and didn't move. I pushed myself a bit, and didn't move. All I could do was push myself along and move slowly down the hill. In the end I just took off the board and ran down the hill ... which was more fun and a lot faster. I guess after skiing on real snow, sand just isn't fast enough .... and there's something wrong when you're skiing and suffering from heat stroke .... it just doesn't seem right.

As soon as I got to the bottom of my third run, I took a shower to get rid of the sand (it went everywhere .... I mean everywhere), got a cab back to Ica and hopped on a bus to Lima. My sandboarding and partying adventure in Huacachina was a bust!

Apr. 12-13 - Visitors from another planet?

Over the past couple of days I had come to the conclusion that I would leave my volunteer project early. After reading my Peru guidebook, I realize that there are a lot of places I want to visit while in Peru and don’t think I have enough time to do it all. So on Saturday I left Pisco and headed for Nazca to begin my travels around Peru.

As you tend to find at bus stations in South America, I was greeted by two women who were trying to get me to go to their hotel (it’s the sales people you find greeting you a lot, not necessarily women greeting you). But the way they do it is quite interesting. They lure you in by saying that they are a representative of a very popular hotel in the guide book, and then while they are taking you there they tell you about this other place that’s better ... it’s usually owned by a brother of the owners, or sometimes the same people, just a different hotel of the same chain. If you decide to go with them, you have to be adamant that you are going to the first place they told you about. So, off I went with them to my hotel, and along the way they asked me about what I wanted to do in Nazca and managed to sell me on two tours that left tomorrow, a flight over the Nazca lines and a trip to the Chauchilla Cemetery (you have to be very cautious about the Nazca lines flight as two days ago a plane crashed in Nazca killing all 5 French tourists ... Volunteer Visions were so nervous about this that they had me sign a contract saying I would not hold them responsible if I died in a plane over the Nazca lines, even if I had terminated my volunteer contract with them).

The "Nazca lines" are the main attraction in Nazca. In total there are about 10,000 lines (one straight line is 25 km long) covering over 500 km² situated about 10km north of Nazca. They are so large the Pan-American Highway drives directly through the middle of them and they are close to the city. When I drove by later on the bus, I kjnew they wer there and where they were located along teh highway, but I couldn't see them becuase I was too close. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that a man flying from Arequipa to Lima looked down while over Nazca and discovered these lines, which form some 300 different geometric shapes, animals and plants. Since then people have been trying to figure out what these lines (which were created between 900BC and 600AD …. dates change depending on who did the research) were built for. Maria Reiche (she studied the lines for 50 years and is assumed to be the authority on the lines) believed the lines create an astrological calendar to help the Nazca people know when to plant the crops, and all the drawings in the sand were symbols of the astrological calendar’s months. The problem with this theory, as with most of the theories, is that only a few of the lines fit with this theory. The most important three lines that fit with this theory, are very long straight lines that point to the sun at the solstice and equinox. Other theories include Erich von Daniken’s theory that they are from an alien landing sight. He claimed that the triangular shapes are because of the lift-off pattern created by UFOs. My favourite theory is that of George von Breunig who thought they were running tracks ... who knows why he thought that!

But here is what I find most believable. The images in the sand all represent animals that Shaman (religious people of the time) tend to see in their drug induced dreams. These dreams take the Shaman to, what they believed were places where they can talk to the gods. The creation of the animals tends to coincide with a time when the religious site close to Nazca was abandoned (no one knows why), which was followed by a sever draught for 40 years. It is felt that these symbols were built to appease the gods in hopes they would bring water. Some of the lines appear to point to the mountains where the Nazca people knew there was water. The only problems with this theory are: What’s with the rest of the lines? How did the Nazca people know about monkeys, which are only in the jungle on the other side of the mountains? What is with the alien/astronaut figure?

One thing that has been solved is how they were formed and why they have lasted so long. They figure that the shapes were built at that size in one of two ways. Through a series of ropes and poles, they were able to use a small drawing in the sand from which to create larger scale in which they currently are seen. The second way is that they managed to build a tower from which they could see the drawing, and then move the tower when they started to build the drawing. Probably the most interesting thing about the lines is how they lasted so long, especially since they are created by moving one layer of rocks away to create a contrast between the dark, sun-baked rocks and the light brown earth below ... where is no depth to these drawings, and as such should have been filled in a long time ago. In fact, the nature of the desert is what helped preserve these lines. Because the dark rocks get so hot during the day, the wind is unable to penetrate through the heat layer and touch the ground. On those occasions when the wind is able to reach the ground, it creates a tornado which picks up the sand that might have filed in the line, and carries it away (I saw as many as 5 mini-tornados at one time while in Nazca). Because the earth below the rocks is so hard, the tornados don’t take any of that earth away.

The flight that I took over the lines left at about 8:30 in the morning. I managed to get the co-pilot seat in the front of the plane so as to get a better view of the lines below. Over the 30 minute flight, we managed to visit 11 of the figures and each time our pilot would circle it twice, each time banking to the other side so both sides of the 4 passenger plane could see the lines below. It was better than any roller coaster ride could ever be, especially since there was some turbulence.

Later that morning, I was picked up for my next tour by Jesus, the most interesting character in all of Peru who had so many tall tales that I recommend to anyone going to Nazca to look up Jesus. It was from him that we got most of our information on the Nazca lines, and the Chauchilla Cemetery. According to Jesus (which I did verify later), the Chacuchilla Cemetery was a burial site for the Nazca people over 1,000 years ago. They people were buried in family tombs after being mummified, and as in the Egyptian culture, were buried with things they might need in the next life; water, food and personal affects. When the next person in the family would die, they would open up the tomb and put them in as well, until everyone in the family had died and they would seal the tomb for good.

This burial ground was found about 100 years ago by grave robbers, who would dig up the graves, steal what they wanted, and throw the bodies aside as they were worthless to them, except for those of the important families. It was tradition for many South American tribes to use tools to change the shape of the skulls of important families when they were children to make them look like coneheads or “alien like” ... these skulls were also quite valuable on the black market. By the time archaeologists arrived, there were bodies spread haphazardly around the desert. Only in the last couple of years was the Peruvian government able to spend the money on archaeologists to come in and research. They would then arrange the bodies in a more respectful manner. But as there is not enough money to protect this gravesite around the clock, grave robbers still visit the sight at night and have been known to open up new tombs.

Now, you are able to walk around about 12 different tombs which have been opened up. All of the tombs contain some bodies in them which, due to the dry climate of the desert, still have a full head of hair and all their clothes surrounding them. The tombs also have a few different types of pottery in them, along with various bones and other items that were in the tombs. One thing that Jesus was quick to point out is that, due to the bodies being thrown around the landscape, there is no way of knowing if these bodies did actually come from these tombs or not. But one thing was for sure, it was kind of awkward going for a walk in the desert, looking down on various dead bodies of adults and children…especially when I was taking pictures of them.

Apr. 6 - The poor man's Galapagos

My first day off from working in the heat where Haydee will let me do anything and decided to head to the Islas Ballestas. Known as the poor man's Galapagos, this collection of islands are situated no more than a 20 minute boat ride away from the coast of Peru and contain the most diverse collection of marine bird life in Peru. The islands are also covered with various sea life, including sea lions, penguins (my very first) and various smaller marine life.

Because of this, it is also famous for another thing ... guano (bird droppings that make the best natural fertilizer - name comes from the Quichua word for droppings). Because of the sensitive nature of the island's ecology, harvesting of this "white gold" is only allowed every five years. During that time, a group of workers move out to the islands for a few months and with hammers, picks, shovels and brushes (yes, they use brushes to help pick it up....it really is worth that much) they collect the guano on the island to be sold around the world. Since the workers are only on the islands every five years, the docks and buildings they use are very rundown and give the island a haunted town kind of look.

The journey out to the islands started at 7 in the morning, when I was supposed to be picked up by the tour group. Well it turns out that things run on time here like they do in Ecuador. The bus didn’t arrive until 7:45, and we still had to run around Pisco to pick up some more people who were joining us on the trip. The bus then took us to Paracas where the boat would depart for the Islas Ballestas. (Paracas is also the beach were José de San Martín landed in 1821 to liberate Peru from the Spanish, one of the last countries to be liberated from Spanish control).

On our way out to the islands, we sailed around the Península de Paracas where there is a large geoglyph built into the sand measuring about 150m high and 54m wide and 1m deep. The geoglyph is in the shape of a candelabra, and there is some discussion to be had about who built the design and what it actually is. Some believe it to be built by the Nazca culture and be a type of local cactus. Others believe that it was built by pirates and sailors to provide them a point home, and that it has some significance to a constellation. Others even believe that some of San Martín’s fellow liberators built it as a sign of victory. Either way, it creates a wonderful sight and somewhat of a mystery to try to figure out.

The islands themselves were white rocks that were covered with birds, in fact some places were black from the number of birds walking around the island. We drove the boat all around the islands, poking into coves, going under land bridges, listening to the sea lions and watching the thousands of birds fly around us and walk on the island. I was particularly fascinated with the penguins as I had never seen one in the wild before. They are quite small and rather cute. Sadly there is no way to describe the wildlife and beauty of these islands, only pictures can do it justice, and even then it isn’t enough.

Upon returning to the mainland, we hung around the waterfront of Paracas before getting in a bus to head back to Pisco, where I spent most of the afternoon helping Haydee build a modulo in her backyard where she intended to live in order to make the house available to more volunteers who she was expecting in the coming year.

Mar. 29 - Apr. 12 - Pisco volunteer project

Diego was the first one up in the morning to say goodbye to me. Of the whole family, he was the one who wanted to learn the most about Canada and was definitely the saddest to see me go. Soon after, Susy woke up and we headed off to the Ormeño bus station to begin my trip down to Pisco.

The plan was simple; I go to the counter, show my passport and get my ticket (which Awaiting Angles purchased for me in Cusco) and board the bus. We called the day before to make sure that is all they needed to happen. When we got to the bus station their story had changed. It appeared that the ticket had already been printed in Cusco and therefore they couldn't provide me with my ticket, even though they did agree that I was indeed the David McCurdy that the ticket had been purchased for - interesting that I would have this problem after the $60 incident. Since they didn't have a phone in the station, Susy insisted that she go call the Cusco office of Awaiting Angles to sort everything out. 45 minutes later, Susy was unable to raise the Cusco office, not even on the 24 hour emergency line. So in the end, I had to buy a second ticket to Pisco.

The ride down had to be the best bus ride so far. Even though it took me through some of the Peruvian desert, a type of landscape that I had never seen before, it was the bus itself that I liked. After sitting in so many cramped busses in Ecuador, it was quite the luxury to be able to stretch my legs out in a chair that offered me more leg room ant I could ever use. On top of that it was air conditioned and they served me breakfast ... what else could I have asked for?

The arrival in Pisco was very simple. Haydee (the mother of the family with whom I was to live) met me at the bus station and in no time at all she took me to the volunteer house, dropped off my bags and whisked me off to the place where I was to volunteer. By 12:30 I had seen the town and knew how to reach my project. All I had to do now was wait until Monday when my project would start.

In the meantime I was able to have two low key days in Pisco, mostly around the volunteer house. On Saturday night, we did go out for an evening on the town. There was a lecture from Haydee about safety concerns surrounding dancing with the women in Pisco (some might be married with jealous husbands) and to make sure we didn't walk around alone .... Pisco isn't a very safe town at night. The one thing I did find out was that bars don't close in Pisco, so when you go out, you're out until six in the morning ... not exactly my kind of fun, specially when the music is so loud that you can't talk, let alone in another language.

Because of my rather late night I was forced to sleep most of the day away in Pisco on Sunday. For lunch on Sunday I managed to try the local culinary delights; Pisco Sour and Ceviche. Pisco sour is a drink made from a local wine and is enjoyed throughout Peru ... sour but very, very good. Ceviche on the other hand is a raw fish marinated in lime juice and other spices enjoyed along the coast of Peru. Both are incredibly delicious.

I started the first of my three different construction projects on Monday. This first project was helping rebuild the local high school, just down the street from Haydee's house. Even though it wasn't completely destroyed by the earthquake, it had been condemned. In the interim, a temporary school had been built for the students.

Contrary to what I was expecting, in my volunteer work, this was a full on construction site that required hard hats and steel toe boots. It also consisted of over 60 construction workers working on three separate buildings. All the funding for this was coming directly from the Peruvian government. As I quickly found out, this worksite was not prepared for volunteers. My work at this project consisted of cleaning the molds for various cement structures required to build the school. So, for 8 hours a day I sat hunched over scraping cement off one wooden mold after another singing whatever song came in my head ... usually I only knew the chorus so it got rather repetitive.

Even though I didn't feel that my presence was helping very much, the workmen did appreciate my help and continued to come over and chat with me along with offering me a cold drink. From my understanding, the construction workers didn't want to over exert the gringo, nor did they have the resources to train me to do another job. Because of this I spoke to Haydee about another project where they might benefit more from my help and where they could train me to do other things.

So, on Wednesday morning, Haydee walked along the street looking for some people who needed my help (this is how she found all the volunteer projects). We finally came upon a house across the street from the school where I previously worked, where the construction crew could use some help. So, over the next two days I worked with Julian, Raul and Pepe to help build a house for a needy family. They taught me how to lay bricks (known as "king kong" bricks, because even King Kong couldn't knock them down, and if he can't neither can any earthquake), mix cement and gave me some hard work fit for a Canadian.

It turned out that this crew, like most of the construction workers here in Pisco, were not from Pisco. This crew was from Lima and when a friend asked Julian to come down to help, he moved to Pisco with his crew for a year to help build houses. Since the earthquake there has been a construction boom which had to be filled by people from all over Peru, most notably from the jungle.

The next two days I wasn't allowed to do anything as I was having some slight digestion problems. Haydee, who is overly protective of the volunteers, insisted the problem was worse than I let on and felt that I shouldn't work or do anything that might harm me, or upset my stomach. So for two days I was under house arrest and sat around the volunteer house, reading and watching soccer on TV.

It wasn't until Monday that I was allowed to go back to work, and at that time Glenn (the other volunteer) had finished his previous construction job. When we arrived at our project, they informed us that the construction crew went home to Lima for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Tuesday. So, Glenn and I headed back to Haydee's house to help build two modules in her back yard. These modules were temporary homes for people to live in after the earthquake. The construction of these was the same as Glenn's previous construction project. When fully completed these 10x20 foot wooden structures would house a family and all their belongings until such time that they could afford to build a house of their own. Costing around 600 soles (about $250 CDN) they were not distributed to those who needed them most, but to those who could afford them. This is how Haydee, who's house remained completely intact after the earthquake, managed to get two of them. Her plan was to move out of her house into the modules so that the house would be completely free for the volunteers to live in.

On Tuesday we headed back to work on the new house once again only to find out they didn't need our help anymore. So off I went again with Haydee in the led looking for another house that could use our help. We didn't have to look far before we met Gloria who felt the construction crew on her house could use some assistance.

The house at my third project wasn't that far along in the reconstruction process. The main part of the house faired quite well through the earthquake, but the part we were rebuilding was made of adobe bricks (dried compressed earth ... very fragile) and thus completely collapsed. When Glenn and I arrived, only a part of the foundation had been constructed. So needless to say, Glenn and I helped dig a foundation and pour the cement for the first couple of days. Mystro and his co-workers kept picking on Glenn and me saying Glenn, who only knew how to work at full speed, was a machine, and I had the "Force of the Bear" because nothing was too heavy for me.

Sadly, after three days, we ran out of cement and in true South American style, it would be delivered tomorrow, we thought. The Mystro tried to find work for Glenn and me to do, but with not much luck. So we hung around the construction site until mid afternoon when we took off to explore the town.

As you can very well imagine, the town of Pisco was in dire straits. The earthquake of August (according to a US report) measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, and destroyed about 90% of the city. (The official measure of the earthquake is 7.5, but some people believe the government recorded it lower because the law says they have to pay for the entire reconstruction if it is over 8.0). As you walk down the road you are able to see what look like open lots that, 8 months ago, were city blocks filled with houses. Most of the rubble has been moved away and these empty lots are now large refuge camps. The houses that people now live in are, if you're lucky, modules that you either bought or were supplied by the Turkish government. The next step down would be a tent donated to the relief effort. But for the most part, people lived in whatever kind of shelter they can slap together. Common materials were bamboo, plastic tarps, palm leaf mats and scraps of wood. The entire town had been turned into a large refugee camp. To me the most interesting shelters were the churches. One was completely gone, except for the towers on either side of the door, and during church services they would put up a tent with the altar permanently outside (it was strange to see it standing alone in the rubble). The other church was built from the same material as the refugee camps.

Within these shacks would be one's whole life. Your family would live, sleep, shower, cook and use the washroom in it. It would also contain all the personal affects you were able to salvage from your home. Luckily, being a desert, it never rained so you didn't have to worry about making sure your stuff was protected from the rain. Unlucky for them, because it was a desert, everything was constantly dirty. A fine sand constantly covered everything they own and there was nothing you can do about it.

Hygiene was another problem. Because there was no running water or water removal system, everything had to be shared. Each camp had a communal water source and a latrine, but for the most part the area was not hygienic. There were flies everywhere and garbage was just put in a pile beside the road. Every now and then someone would either take it away or burn it.

The earthquake also took it's toile on the economic system in town. The main shopping strip in town now consists of small stalls and tables where people used to have their shops. Those business and hotels which had money have been rebuilt, but they stand around open lots where tourists don't particularly want to visit. The ones who don't have money are forced to either take out a loan to rebuild or go under. With all that said, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it had improved.

The aid the town had received has come from the most interesting places. The fastest (and most) aid came from Turkey, of all places. They provided clothes, shelter and financial aid directly to the people. Cuba has provided vast amounts of medical help and focused its aid on the hospital (which still consists mostly of tents). Other countries sent their donations to the government of Peru which has not been the most affective at distributing it (you can get help from the government if you can show you own the land but most people rent). The Peruvian Government, according to one person, has gone so far as to declare Pisco competely rebuilt, but from what I can tell, it has a long way to go. People were incredibly gracious that Glenn and I would come to help out, but one lady hit the main issue on the nail when she asked me to get any rich people I knew in Canada to send money. The main thing that can help the people now is money, fairly distributed to where it is needed most.