Los Niños etc

Spanish classes are going well. My day is incredibly full, but all with great stuff. Turns out my private lesson is at 4:45-6:30, so I can always make the evening lecture. The lectures are done in Spanish, so I think of it as listening practice, which means I am doint about 7 hours per day of solid Spanish learning, plus incidental stuff in the real world. In my 4 hour break I try to eat lunch, do homework for my 3 classes, and visit at least one site - Cusco is full of Inca ruins, museums, etc. Then back to class at 445, lecture 645 to 730/745, and then dinner - and I have found some time for some cervezas as well, which is nice. Last night we had a beer at the ¨highest Irish-owned pub on the planet¨. Also we go to more Peruvian places.

This afternoon I have just returned from a visit to the Hogar Clinica por Los Niños (a clinic/hospital/residence for kids with disabilities). They do rehab, therapy, medical care, etc. and the kids live there full time (see below). They range from babies to about 14 yrs or so. The school arranges a visit once a week, and we go and spend time playing with, talking to, and cuddling the kids. It was quite amazing, as most of them are in their cribs/beds most of the day, and really responded amazingly to us when we picked them up or talked to them or played with them. Most have limited mobility, and their crib gets a little old for them. They were just beautiful. It was a really touching experience. I think that I will try to go a few more times while I´m here.

San Juan de Dios"
About 95% of the children that come to the clinic are from extremely poor families. Handicapped children are often considered a punishment and at times are not cared for at all. The clinic offers a parent program to teach the parents how to properly care for their child. The parent in the program lives on the premises for the last 3 weeks of their child's stay and is taught how to care for their child. In exchange for participation in the program, each parent assists in duties at the clinic, such as laundry, cooking, or cleaning. Although treatment is normally free, a symbolic fee is often paid, such as a bag or rice or potatoes.

What else... mmm.... my classes are great, and I´m learning a lot. I am so pleased - I remember being in Costa Rica, as a complete beginner, and when we went site seeing, the more advanced students than me would tell me what was actually going on. And now I find myself in that position every now and then, when my friends ask me what someone said, or what is the word for ... Its nice to see that I have made a bit of progress.

Tonight the school is playing a film (based on a Gabriel Garcia Marquez book) so I´m in heaven. We watch on an outdoor terrace. Looking forward to it.

I am well and happy, and I hope you are too.
xoxo

I am so SMRT

So upon close study of the currency cheat sheet, I have come to realize that I totally dont need the cheat sheet! I was getting all anal because of the uneven conversion (2.8) plus the whole US dollar twish and getting hung up on it. I thought that if I rounded to 3 I would end up in the poor house by the end of the trip, and 2 wasnt realistic. But now I know that dividing solés by three is certainly close enough. Plus I was all muddled because a lot of things are quoted in US dollars, which means I had to change it to solés (x 3.38) and then to CAD, or convert USD to CAD which I had no idea what the CAD is worth in USD these days, so I was having conversion overload. Now, I know that CAD or USD, divide by three or x by three - close enough!!! ;-)

I´m pretty sure most other people dont spend as much time overthinking and perfectionisting things as I do. Imagine how exhausting it is to be me! :-)

First Day of School!!

I started school today! 4 hours of group spanish class in the morning from 8:30-12:30, and then 2 hours private class in the evenings 6:30-8:30. I did the group class this morning, and its the perfect level for me!!!! I really liked it. I cant believe how much I learned. We have 2 different teachers for the morning, each for 2 hours, which really helps break up the time. Then I have private lesson this evening and then a welcome dinner for the new students.

The school is very professional and well organized - really nice. I am quite happy. Its also in a lovely building with a big sunny terrace and bright classrooms. Light is important to me... :-) Also, I have my afternoons free, which I think will be good? I can tour a bit or study or chill out ... whatever. Sounds good... They also offer free lectures after classes about things like Peruvian culture, Inca culture, etc etc. It sounds like there are usually some at 12:30, but I might miss some of them cuz a lot seem to be during my private classe at 6:30. Therefore I may try to change the time of my private classes - though that would leave less time for leisure... hm... such is the life.

I think I will switch to a room with a private bathroom today - I deserve it since Im in school. :-) It will only cost an extra $9 over the course of the week, so its worth it. After I finish school Ill go back to rooms with shared baños... bleckh:-) Kidding - its not bad at all, really. I just wear my cool pink Roxy flip-flops in the shower... :-)

I get free internet at my spanish school. Not that I couldnt afford the 30 cents per hour before, but whatever, shoestring shoestring!

One more thing Im considering is volunteering at the SOS Childrens Village while Im here, maybe in my afternoons. I worked for their office in Ottawa for awhile and admire their work. http://tinyurl.com/9nt26 or www.soschildrensvillages.ca to see what they do. I dont know - its probably overly ambitious, what with 6 hours of spanish classses and factoring in transportation to the village, but Im just writing my musings here, so we´ll see what happens. I am definitely planning to visit though, as the executive director in Canada mentioned that he could arrange visits to villages if I wanted when I travel. They dont normally accept international volunteers as they dont want to have to expend resources on them if they get sick or in trouble that should go to the children, but maybe since Im affiliated with a language school that worries about all that stuff if i need it, they will be more interested?? Anyways, we´ll see. Just rambling my thoughts to you...

Hasta mañana...
xoxo

Cusco

I arrived in Cusco today - it´s beautiful! I really like it and it will be a nice place to stay for a bit. It´s surrounded by mountains (always a good thing) and is very pretty. I am planning to study for one week here, and then my spanish school also has a campus in a small village in the Sacred Valley, called Urubamba. If there are a min of 6 people they will run a week of classes there, so I hope that works out. It would be similar to what I did in Costa Rica, which I really enjoyed. If not I will likely spend my second week in Cusco, and do a home-stay with a family.

Nothing much to report... just one thing I wondered at first today... why do the little traditionally-dressed kids carry baby goats around with them? (ooohh, becuase it makes the money-kip photos cuter... (inside joke)) They are pretty cute, all dressed in their layers of bright pink, yellow, purple etc brocade, with their baby goats in a sling... I fear that paying them for a photo however is encouraging them to stay out of school to earn $... at least that was the case in other countries I was in. I´ll have to seek the opinion of a Cusceño...

I hopefully will start schoooooool tomorrow... FLUENT. I will be FLUENT!!!! (ya right.)

Adios for now.
xoxo

Useful Travel Links

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic - This currency converter is nice because it has a 2-way cheat sheet that math dummies like me can print, laminate, and keep in your pocket... Kent will be ashamed of me... :-) he used to be my portable currency converter.

http://kropla.com/electric2.htm - Info about worldwide plug-voltage-frequencies. This was never important to me as I´m not one to bring my blowdrier around the world... :-) until I got a digital camera that needs batteries recharged... In making my life simpler I made it more complicated.... worth it though.

http://www.travelblog.org - This is a really nicely set up travel blog site. Unlimited entried and photo space, also lots of other nice features. Wish I had seen it before. It´s a fun place to go and read about somewhere you´re thinking of going, or just to escape for a few minutes while you are at work... :-) Recommended by a friend.

Day 2 Peru

Arequipa, Peru

I had a good day today. Im feeling much better after a good nights sleep. I do speak more spanish thn I thought, and I understand more than I thought, though listening is my weak point (for now!)

Soooo.... I went to a cool monastery that´s actually a nunnery. It´s huge, like a village, but in 1970 the government decided they needed to modernize so they coralled all the nuns into a tiny portion, and then opened the rest for tourism!!! Crazy - poor old nuns... they got modernized! Anyways it was really neat. Lots of crooks and crannies. They sure had a lot of kitchens. Hungry nuns.

Then I went and saw a frozen dead girl - well actually she is a 12 year old girl who was human-sacrificed at the top of a mountain to appease a volcano 500 years ago - they call her the Ice Princess. Almost immediately after she died (hours) she froze, so she´s perfectly preserved! Eerie. Skin, hair, the works. There{s even blood and gastric fluids. They know she had vegetables shortly before she died, and a highly intoxicating drink called chicha. Hm. It was totally facsinating though. The stuff that was offered with her (cermics and figurines made of gold and silver to represent the gods) are also preserved, even her sandals, the blankets she{s wrapped in, the bag she carried to the top of the mountain, etc!! It was a great honor to be chosen as The chosen one - you had to be the child (pure and innocent) of nobility, and the most beautiful. Basically she was being sent to live with the gods and represent her people. Totally interesting.

I fly to my ´home´ for the next 2 weeks (Cusco) tomorrow. Start Spanish school on Mon. 4 hours per day of small group lessons and 2 hours of private. Remind me when I complain, that I was the one who chose it.... :-) I´m looking forward to it quite a lot.

The punctuation on these keyboards is all mixed up from ours, so bear with my mistakes - I don´t feel like correcting every apostrophe, nd it{s too hard to leave them out - my fingers move faster than my conscious thoughts.... Also, the A key sticks so I miss a´s all the time.

Anyways, take care!
xoxo

Landed in Peru

Arequipa, Peru

Well, I have finally arrived in Peru after a whole LOT of flying, hotels, and airports. Whew. Sydney-Hong Kong-LA-Miami-Lima-Arequipa. I don´t even want to know how many hours it´s been - I think we left on Tuesday (Canada time), and its now Friday afternoon. Ive been in transit that whole time.

I am well and safe, and staying in the town of Arequipa. I flew here straight from Lima on a last minute idea, because I want to start Spanish classes on Monday in Cusco, which is quite a high altitude (3326 m - my highest Ive been is 3636), and I thought I might as well come to Arequipa for some altitude acclimatization (2325m). It is almost certainly being overly cautious, but well, that´s me when I´m by myself. I plan to fly to Cusco on Sunday.

I´m having a bit of first day nerves - I´ll be fine tomorrow after a good night´s sleep! It´s been awhile. My body is pretty confused by the time changes, hopefully tomorrow will be back on track. I just remember one of my favorite quotes (shown to me by Nfld Lisa) -- Everything I have ever done that was worthwhile, initially scared me to death. -- That´s from Betty someone, and another thing that I have realized over the years is that how great of an experience something is is always directly proportional to how scared I was at the beginning (eg. other trips, my job when I first started, etc), so I know that this is going to be a great experience.

I am staying at a nice friendly place where I hope to meet other travellers. The city is quite pretty and very interesting. It will be nice to get to Cusco, as I will meet people and settle in for a bit. I am doing fine with my Spanish, it seems to be coming back. I can definitely get around - travellers spanish, so that is very very helpful!!!!

Email is cheap and plentiful so I hope to email a bit more regularly.

The keyboards are a bit different, so bear with my typos.

Ányways, just wnted to check in, and let you know that things are great.

Love you all lots and lots! I do still have regular email - some of you were asking.
xoxo
Kim

Cured

Oh by the way, the pox are cured. It was sandfly bites. Once we figured it out we kept the windwos closed at night, so they couldn't get in and bite us in our sleep. So, I'm cured!

Nemo has been FOUND!

Cairns, Australia

This has to be quick, but had to tell you this! Yesterday M,L,K, and I went out to the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef! We did two snorkels at two different sites, and then SCUBA DIVED!!!!!! And I didn't even get swept out to see and lost forever! It was just amazing. There is a whole other world down there - the coral was so beautiful, and we saw just scads and scads of fish or every color. Amazing. and..... we saw Nemo! and his dad! and cousins!! Hiding in the purple anenome, just like the movie...

AND we all did an intro dive. Lisa and I were SO scared! M&L went in first with the instructor. K and I were all suited up in our suits masks and tanks, waiting ont he boat. I was so scared that my arms and legs went completely numb, and I had to try so hard not to cry! (Cough cough Pansy! cough)... I'm a bit claustrophobic, plus I have always had a bit of a thing about getting swept out to sea and never seen again... so put that altogether and whattaya got? Scuba diving! :-) Well, anyways, almost as soon as I jumped in I was fine. It was just amazing. So peaceful. I looked back at the others (I was sticking RIGHT BESIDE the instructor so that he could save my life FIRST) and they looked so cool - like they were space walking in slow motion. We went down ten metres and saw coral that blew our minds. Every color, and beautiful fish, AND A SHARK!!!!!! A friendly whitetip swam past us as Kent and I were doing our skills for the instructor. Apparently he went right up behind M&L as they watched in - horror? fascination? in hope that I smelled like bacon so that they'd have time to swim for their lives? :-)

Anyways, it was mindblowingly cool for all 4 of us. We then finished the day with a bottle of champagne as we took a sunset cruise down the coast back to Cairns. Spectacular day!!!

Riff Raff to Lap of Luxery

We were a bit sad to leave the life of riffraffery behind when we gave up Hilda the Hiace (our camper van)...

That is until we got to Cairns and the place that M & L booked for us! We are living in style now, in a 2 bedroom apartment with laundry and dishwasher, overlooking the ocean in 3 directions!!! Kicks ass!!! :-)

Total luxury for Kent and I - were used to staying in dives! (cough cough I mean budget accomodations!)

Actually this place is cheap since we're shairng. Fun!

Riff Raff

Kent and I rented a camper van, and made our way south of Sydney for nearly a week, hitting around three beaches per day, and 8 national parks. We camped on beaches and lived out of our van like riff raff, and had a lovely, relaxing time...

We stopped and spent 2 nights in Eden and went whale watching. Saw so many humpbacks! Also saw a mom and baby. And dolphins. Pretty spectacular! We also saw KANGAROOOS!!!!!! There was a field of literally hundreds, grazing by the beach! Also, saw big pelicans, an echinoderm, and of course the killer possum.

After we returned the van we spent 2 days in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, town called Katoomba. We did a really nice hike through the mountains and the rainforest floor. Cute town, kinda Banff-ish. Next we fly to Cairns to meet up with everyone again.

I've Got the Pox!

I seem to be covered all over in highly attractive, itchy red spots. They look like mosquito bites - or chicken pox cuz there's so many! They don't seem to be life-threatening though, so whatever...Damn, I was just starting to recover from my mountain biking bruises - my Miss America career is foiled AGAIN! :-)

(Not) Attack of the (Not) Killer Possum

So we are camping in a National Park called Booderee (Aboriginal word for plentiful bay) in Jervis Bay, famous for its clear waters. We have just finished dinner of pies (an aussie favorite). Kent is reading in the van. I am sitting outside in a lawn chair in the dark, innnocently enjoying the sounds of the Australian night. I can hear waves crashing, wind in the Eucalyptus, chirps of night bugs. I zone out, completely relaxed with a mug of Australian Pinot Noir in one hand and bread with jam in the other. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I feel a furry little paw on my knee, and a furry little nose nudges my hand. I leap out of the chair, wine flying everywhere, back against the van. There, on my chair is a furry little beast about the size of a cat, with a long tail, stripes, a pointy nose, and little hands, looking quite surprised by my sudden departure... I bang on the van window with a "Kentthere'sananimalouthereandhetouchedmedosomething!!!!!!!!" The dude is still there on my chair, staring, regretting the loss of his strawberry jam feast, took a few steps toward me - I back up again "dosomethinghe'scoming!" - Kent still peering out the window of the van helpfully... Finally dismayed by my lack of hospitality the beast plops down from the chair and ambles away. I dive for the safety of the van, slamming the door shut after me. I did eventually venture back into the night, minus the jam, and moved my chair a little closer to the van... Turns out he was a Bushtail Possum, very common and bold. I'm sure he's giggling all over Aus to his little possum friends about how he chased away the giant in site 50...

Driving Upside-Down

You can tell the Canadians when you're driving. We're the ones with the windsheild wipers going full-blast on a perfectly sunny day. Because we're driving in a backwards car, the wiper switch and signal light levers are reversed, so every time you want to signal, you accidentally hit the wipers. Surely the Aussies have noticed this by now, and keep an eye out for us beginner drivers...

Left turns into left is our new mantra. (left turns you turn into the left lane). and right turns into left...? :-) Even being a passenger in this country seriously messes you up. It's like being on an amusement park ride in the dark, where you can't predict which wway the ride will lurch next. You're sitting on the "drivers" side, and all is backwards!

It's a surreal feeling, becuase all of your instincts and automatic reactions are now wrong when you are driving on the left. I didn't even realize that I had some of these instincts or habits until you drive on the wrong side of the road. You have a general expectation & prediction of what traffic will do which allows you to make split second decisions and now they're all backwards. Don't worry, we're doing fine - we're not the basket cases I make us sound like. By the second day we were fine, used to it, and Kent was calm and competent on the first day of upside-down driving. I liked it, cuz I was allowed to backseat drive for ONE whole DAY!

Right turns sometimes still wig me out though, but he's fine. The freaky thing for me is still seeing cars driving towards you with no one in the "drivers" seat! :-) So off we go, heading down the coast towards Melbourne for a week - wipers flapping.

The Royal Wedding - Stranded at Sea!!

The wedding was just beautiful! The bride and groom pulled up to the church (in Bondi Beach), in a white 1957 Rolls Royce! Believe me, if you couldn't be there, you didn't miss a minute, as we thouroughly Papparazzi'd the bride and groom, and between us and the three photogs, every minute was well-documented! Barry and Chika had the wedding planners from Chika's company taking care of the details of the day, and Prince Charles and Diana had a less attentive staff than Barry and Chika! :-) It was all fabulous. After church, champagne in the garden, a 5-star coach took us to the harbour for our harbour cruise. We cruised around the harbour with beautiful views of the opera house and the harbour bridge, and secluded beaches etc. Then we anchored in the middle for dinner and the traditional dances. Uncle Kerry made a lovely speech, as did Chika's mom. Mike and Chitoshi (the two groomsmen) did a beautiful toast in both English and Japanese. Don't worry, I wore out the battery on my digital camera AND Mike and Lisa's, taking pics.

Anyways, after dinner when the crew began to lift anchor (if that's how you say it - my sailor talk is rusty) the winch broke, and so we were stranded at sea! Yay for us, we got an extra 1.5 hours of boat time, and they kindly kept the complimentary bar open the entire time! Once they fixed it they then cruised us all around the harbour again to see waht we would have - but here's the best part - because we were late, we got a sunset cruise and then a night cruise with the lights of the city and opera house. Truly spectacular!!

With Love From Tree Dream and Samaurai Star

Saturday night Barry and Chika, Mike & Lisa, Kerry&Ruth, Kent and I, and Chika's mom, 2 sisters, and their husbands and children went for dinner at a beautiful seafood restaurant on the wharf in Sydney harbour. We had an absolutely lovely time getting to know Chika's family!!! They are so nice and fun. Kent and I sat closest to her sister Miko and husband Chitoshi. They taught us Japanese, and now we can count to 5, say hello at all the times of day, please and thank you, we can say "my name is" and "nice to meet you". Then they figured out the congi (japanese characters) for each of our names! Mine is quite poetic I find, as I am "Tree Dream". Kent is extremely pleased and feels very cool because his is "Samaurai Star". Lisa is "Scientist Sand" and Mike is "Sportsman Artist". Chika is "1000 flowers" and Barry is --- wait for it -- it's a good one.... "old lady raccoon"! :-) Super fun. We had such a nice time with them, and the food was goooood - and so was the wine.... :-)

Happy Eid!!!

To WF and family, and AA and family and baby Noor, happy, happy, happy Eid!!!! I hope you and your families had a wonderful day! I'm sure baby Noor was not spoiled at ALL on her first Eid!!!
I'm thinking of you all. Eid Mubarak!
Love,
Kim

Sydney

Well, we're having a very lovely time in Sydney. It's a very, very pretty city. We've walked about 10,000 miles, and it's all been very nice. We had a few beach days, took the ferry across the harbour to Manly Beach day before yesterday, and also spent time at Bondi Beach yesterday. We've done some shopping and lots more walking, checked out the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge (Mike and Lisa walked across it), Darling Harbour (kind of like the causeway in Victoria idea), Paddington (a sort of trendy strip with lots of shops, pubs, cafes, etc), Kings Cross (strip joints and ladies of the night), Darlinghurst (they call it "a place for bright young urbanites (read: gay district)), downtown, and a few others. All have been super nice - we have never felt unsafe or weird in this city, it's very clean, safe, pretty, and friendly.

The wedding is tomorrow (Sunday) so I'll try to post a few pics if I figure out how, but no guarantees... We took Barry for his stag last night, and did a pub crawl. It was fun - it was me and Lisa's first Stag party!!! :-) We felt very cool. We were disappointed though, it wasn't quite how we pictured a stag - no naked girls, but oh well, maybe the next one. ;-) I got ID'd, and then they didn't believe it was me on my ID! I guess they didn't believe I was 30, in my pigtails. I don't blame them...

Today is the rehearsal and tonight is the rehearsal dinner at a seafood restaurant with a harbour view, so we will act like grown-ups. The wedding is at a church near Bondi Beach, and the reception is a cruise of the Sydney harbour! Should be excellent. Kerry and Ruth (my aunt and uncle, the groom's parents) got in yesterday. Everything went well, but they were super tired. We invited them to the stag but they ended up passing as they were too tired. Maybe we would have gotten to go to the nudie bar if they had come... Darn it guys!!!!!
:-)

Anyways, we're having a great time, drinking enough beer for all those who couldn't be here, and enjoying the city very much.

Love to you all!!!
xoxoxo

Naked in Oz

Well, the good news is that we arrived safely in Sydney after 44 hours of travelling! The not-as-good news is that our luggage wasn't able to make our FIVE connections quite as nimbly as we were. It decided to take a layover somewhere in Philadelphia, whilst we proceded on to Las Vegas, LA, Hong Kong and Sydney.

So, we are 4 days in these clothes now, and Kent has gone to pick up our bags at the airport.

We had a nice day of siteseeing yesterday, and will be hooking up with Mike and Lisa (my brother and his wife) shortly. They will appreciate that we waited until we found our bags to see them... :-)