Is a few Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiches!! Made with sausage, please (they are too cheap on the bacon!!)
It may be a little early for us to declare what we want for Christmas, but we’re doing it anyway. And until someone can figure out how to ship us some Timmy-Ho’s-goodness that won’t be moldy on arrival, then there is only one other thing that we are asking for.
Peter and I are going to make a donation to Ñanta before we leave, and we’d be thrilled if our beloved friends and family would consider doing the same!
Bolivia is the most impoverished nation on the continent and a few Canadian dollars can go a long way. It doesn’t have to be much – you’ve read how inexpensive most things are here.
There are a couple of options that we want to consider designating funds for. Ñanta feeds up to 250 kids a day, and often are not able to offer them more than a bowl of simple soup for lunch. We would like to consider designating the funds to making sure that there is more nutrition in their diets, for as long as possible. Alternatively, there is a great need for funds to help these kids get their birth certificates. Many of them have no idea of when their birthday is, or even what their legal names are. This prohibits them from being able to do many things – participate in sports, etc. We are currently pulling together the costs for both in order to share with you and make a decision based on the funds we can raise!
Last week we were at a pub with many of our friends and a young girl entered just after 10pm. We recognized her face from Ñanta (I would guess that she is no more than 10 years old), and she was trying to sell some chicklets. When she saw our faces, she smiled and immediately came over. We bought 3 packs of gum from her and let her keep the change. It is a sad reality for so many kids in Bolivia – there are estimated to be over 800,000 that are forced to work on the streets in order to help support their families. A place like Ñanta is so important in order to give meals, provide medical and social support services, help them keep up with their homework, as well as to just let kids be kids!
We’ve met some pretty terrific youngsters that have made a big impact in our lives. We want to do the same in return. We hope you’ll join us…
(Please email us for more information or to donate!! petergheck@yahoo.ca or daleneheck@yahoo.ca. We need to make our donation by Friday, Oct 23rd, and so we are looking for money before then!)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Glorious Friday!
It is Friday morning, just after 11am, and I am still sitting in my pj’s, enjoying the cool breeze coming through our window. We are both glad that we are NOT in Spanish class, but are instead just studying at our leisure whilst taking pleasure from the beautiful day! The sun is shining, birds are singing….the rooster is crowing!
Almost perfect. Effin’ rooster.
I am also glad to be done my two afternoons in the pool for the week. Near disasters, again. The Bolivian instructor failed to show both days, leaving me alone in the pool with 15 kids, all wound up with boundless energy. There are also several newbies in the swim club, which means about 5 that can’t even float, while the other 10 have varying degrees of skill.
After about 20 minutes on Wednesday, I was finally given some help. A new volunteer that started only Monday in order to take over the organization of the entire swimming program (as a part of his University program in Holland) was thrown into the deep end, literally. He had no Spanish at all, and had never instructed swimming before. I taught him a few words and left him with the yet-to-be-floaters, as I expected this to be easier for him then organizing and yelling at the other 10 kids.
Apparently, he didn’t think it was so easy, as he seemed quite traumatized by the whole experience when we got out of the pool. He quit the entire program the following day. Glad he gave it a real chance.
Back to the pool on Thursday afternoon and I was initially alone again. This time, help came in the form of an older kid from the swim club that the organizers pulled away from his regular training. Again, I left him to help with the young niños. I had almost an entirely different group of kids that included 2 boys who I had to pull apart from a fight several times. The group was a little tougher to keep organized, and one of the other trainers did come over to help me with the yelling at one point.
Oy vey. While I still think Pete and I both stumbled on some of the sweetest volunteering gigs in town, it has it’s trying moments, to be sure!
This afternoon we are back at Ñanta for Pete’s infamous Juegos de Inglés (English games)! He is quite a hit with the kids, being attacked with hugs by a few of the regular girls whenever he shows up. I am the lowly help delegated to help the kids in the back, but I love every minute of it! The kids are so excited for the classes – some solely for the fact that there are chocolate prizes with each game, but others are very enthusiastic to learn new words. We are averaging at least 15 kids per class, which is a big deal according to one of the co-ordinators at Ñanta. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to put together a few extra lesson plans to hand over when we leave, hopefully someone can continue the momentum of the games once we have moved on!
Almost perfect. Effin’ rooster.
I am also glad to be done my two afternoons in the pool for the week. Near disasters, again. The Bolivian instructor failed to show both days, leaving me alone in the pool with 15 kids, all wound up with boundless energy. There are also several newbies in the swim club, which means about 5 that can’t even float, while the other 10 have varying degrees of skill.
After about 20 minutes on Wednesday, I was finally given some help. A new volunteer that started only Monday in order to take over the organization of the entire swimming program (as a part of his University program in Holland) was thrown into the deep end, literally. He had no Spanish at all, and had never instructed swimming before. I taught him a few words and left him with the yet-to-be-floaters, as I expected this to be easier for him then organizing and yelling at the other 10 kids.
Apparently, he didn’t think it was so easy, as he seemed quite traumatized by the whole experience when we got out of the pool. He quit the entire program the following day. Glad he gave it a real chance.
Back to the pool on Thursday afternoon and I was initially alone again. This time, help came in the form of an older kid from the swim club that the organizers pulled away from his regular training. Again, I left him to help with the young niños. I had almost an entirely different group of kids that included 2 boys who I had to pull apart from a fight several times. The group was a little tougher to keep organized, and one of the other trainers did come over to help me with the yelling at one point.
Oy vey. While I still think Pete and I both stumbled on some of the sweetest volunteering gigs in town, it has it’s trying moments, to be sure!
This afternoon we are back at Ñanta for Pete’s infamous Juegos de Inglés (English games)! He is quite a hit with the kids, being attacked with hugs by a few of the regular girls whenever he shows up. I am the lowly help delegated to help the kids in the back, but I love every minute of it! The kids are so excited for the classes – some solely for the fact that there are chocolate prizes with each game, but others are very enthusiastic to learn new words. We are averaging at least 15 kids per class, which is a big deal according to one of the co-ordinators at Ñanta. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to put together a few extra lesson plans to hand over when we leave, hopefully someone can continue the momentum of the games once we have moved on!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Next steps...
It’s hard to believe that we have been gone from Canada for almost 6 weeks - this is easily the longest that either of us have ever been away from home! While we have each had some bouts of homesickness (mine being a little more severe!), we are still as excited as ever to be doing this. It also helps that our family and friends have not forgotten about us entirely and we get to speak often with many of you (including the odd video conference with our beloved cat Oscar)!
While we had originally planned to stay in Bolivia for three months in total, we are both itching to see something new. Every time that we meet fellow travelers and hear new tales of where they have been, we become anxious to see more ourselves. So, in three weeks, we plan to have everything stuffed into our backpacks and be on our way again.
We are wrapping up our Spanish classes this week, a little earlier then planned. It has gotten to the point where we are both overwhelmed with the language, and we have decided to take a break and let it all “sink in”. Our priority now is to practice, practice, practice what we know and then pick up more classes later in our travels if we feel it is necessary. Our professor has said that we have learned all the “basics” that we need.
This will also free up some time for us to actually relax and enjoy more sights in Sucre as well as focus on the volunteer work we are committed to for the rest of our stay. I will be scaling back on the swimming somewhat (more help has arrived and thus I am only needed a couple of afternoons a week), which is good because then I can also help Pete with his English classes.
So, now that we have entered the final days of our stay in Sucre, the big question is, where to next?? We have heard many tempting ideas from our friends here – everyone consistently raves about Columbia and Argentina. We need to consider the items on our “must do list”, and the weather this time of year in each part of the continent. A lot to think about!
This decision was too hard to make on our own. Thus, we went to a higher power.
Yes folks. We consulted The Magic 8 Ball (via iPod application).
We went through every country. For Peru, 8 Ball told us it was “very doubtful”. For Brazil, the response was “reply hazy, try again later.” Others were equally pessimistic. And then we came to Chile. Our 8 Ball friend gave us this answer:
So, Chile it is!!
We have picked up a Lonely Planet book on Chile and have started mapping our route. We will enter the country in the north-ish, after spending a few days traveling through one of the must-see spots in Bolivia (more about that later!). We will continue to head north, spending some time in the numerous national parks and various small towns along the way, but heading specifically to the city of Arica, which is about 30 kms below the Peruvian border. We are in need of some beach time, and Arica has many to choose from! It is also one of the only places in Chile where the coastal water is warm enough to swim in, thus we hope to spend a couple of weeks there learning to surf! From there we will either bus or fly down to Santiago and spend some time exploring the city and area (and perhaps over to Easter Island?) before escaping to Patagonia and visiting the southern-most tip of the continent.
That is our rough plan so far, which is always subject to change at our whim - or the whim of our good friend, 8 Ball.
While we had originally planned to stay in Bolivia for three months in total, we are both itching to see something new. Every time that we meet fellow travelers and hear new tales of where they have been, we become anxious to see more ourselves. So, in three weeks, we plan to have everything stuffed into our backpacks and be on our way again.
We are wrapping up our Spanish classes this week, a little earlier then planned. It has gotten to the point where we are both overwhelmed with the language, and we have decided to take a break and let it all “sink in”. Our priority now is to practice, practice, practice what we know and then pick up more classes later in our travels if we feel it is necessary. Our professor has said that we have learned all the “basics” that we need.
This will also free up some time for us to actually relax and enjoy more sights in Sucre as well as focus on the volunteer work we are committed to for the rest of our stay. I will be scaling back on the swimming somewhat (more help has arrived and thus I am only needed a couple of afternoons a week), which is good because then I can also help Pete with his English classes.
So, now that we have entered the final days of our stay in Sucre, the big question is, where to next?? We have heard many tempting ideas from our friends here – everyone consistently raves about Columbia and Argentina. We need to consider the items on our “must do list”, and the weather this time of year in each part of the continent. A lot to think about!
This decision was too hard to make on our own. Thus, we went to a higher power.
Yes folks. We consulted The Magic 8 Ball (via iPod application).
We went through every country. For Peru, 8 Ball told us it was “very doubtful”. For Brazil, the response was “reply hazy, try again later.” Others were equally pessimistic. And then we came to Chile. Our 8 Ball friend gave us this answer:
So, Chile it is!! We have picked up a Lonely Planet book on Chile and have started mapping our route. We will enter the country in the north-ish, after spending a few days traveling through one of the must-see spots in Bolivia (more about that later!). We will continue to head north, spending some time in the numerous national parks and various small towns along the way, but heading specifically to the city of Arica, which is about 30 kms below the Peruvian border. We are in need of some beach time, and Arica has many to choose from! It is also one of the only places in Chile where the coastal water is warm enough to swim in, thus we hope to spend a couple of weeks there learning to surf! From there we will either bus or fly down to Santiago and spend some time exploring the city and area (and perhaps over to Easter Island?) before escaping to Patagonia and visiting the southern-most tip of the continent.
That is our rough plan so far, which is always subject to change at our whim - or the whim of our good friend, 8 Ball.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
In the middle of nowhere...
We have been anxious for a day out of the city and we finally got one! With some coercion, our school organized a trip to a remote area a couple of hours out of the city. The trip included a hike along an Inca trail and visiting a small village situated in the center of a dormant volcanic crater. One of the hardest parts of the day was actually getting OUT of the city. 14 tourists, 2 guides and 3 drivers crammed into three vehicles. For the first hour we visited every corner of the city in search of gas…no Shell or Esso on every corner here! Finally, we found one with functioning pumps (electrical problems at others), and we were on our way.
After we left the city we had to brave the unpaved and unbarricaded mountain roads. The scenery was unbelievably beautiful, but it was hard to enjoy while we whipped around hairpin turns, with wheels spinning in the road that sometimes was only made of sand. Several times we had to stop to let random pigs, donkeys, or kids cross the road! I employed the imaginary passenger side brake several times, to no avail (reminded me of driving with Nicole!) Somehow, even though there was a risk yesterday of actually skidding off the side of a mountain, I think it still might have been less scary then driving with Nicole… =)
Finally, after about 40 minutes of driving, we arrived at our first destination. A small church and statue marked the beginning of our descent down an Inca Trail. A 500 meter descent over about 5kms took us 2 hours. Our walk was marked by a rugged stone path and was constantly downhill. We had to make frequent stops to enjoy the amazing scenery and for pictures as the rest of the time we were just focused on making sure we stepped in the right place.
Once we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, we enjoyed a quick snack provided by our tour guides and were back in the vehicles to head off to our next destination. Now, I thought the previous drive was bad. This was waaay worse. The roads were increasingly rocky, and the hairpin turns up the mountain were a little tighter. This time I gave up my front seat to sit in the back which helped make me a little less nervous as I was less focused on what the driver was doing right beside me. Sometimes, ignorance is best! Several times we had to stop so that the driver could pour water over the radiator – the uphill climb was causing his vehicle to overheat. We even had to cross a river, which we thankfully handled easily.
We drove through a couple of little remote towns, causing quite a stir as we went. Kids were running after the vehicles, anxious to peak inside and try to sell us whatever they had on them. We finally arrived at the small village of Maragua, which is situated in the middle of either a volcanic crater or meteor landing site – apparently the truth is not out there! I can honestly say that I have felt like I was more in the “middle of nowhere” then I did for the time we were there (and I grew up in Brownvale! Ha!) Some of the villagers swarmed around us like we were the attraction. No vehicles, domestic animals (pigs, etc.) roaming the streets. We tried speaking to a couple of the kids, but they couldn’t understand our Spanish – we were in one of the areas where they spoke only an indigenous language (only 60% of Bolivians speak Spanish).
We took off on another hike along the side of the mountain to explore some cliff overhang that had a little cave as well as a little waterfall. We had to be particularly careful on this part of the hike as the path was not well tread and was right on the side of a cliff. The danger was worth the views we saw (Hi Mom!)
After that trek, we headed up a steep field to get to the top of a peak that gave us an overlook of the rugged Andes on one side and the volcanic crater/meteor site on the other side. A friend commented on how it felt like we were hiking on Mars with the red, iron rich soil and desolate landscape and she was absolutely right.
By this point we were all starving (it was after 2pm) – our tour guides fed us a chocolate bar and then we headed down the mountainside to the vehicles where the rest of our lunch was waiting. We scarfed down our sandwiches while the locals watched, often approaching people to try selling their textiles. Many of us offered our accompanying chocolate cookies to the children who greedily snatched them out of our hands and quickly stuffed them in their pockets.
We loaded back into our vehicles and started the trip back to town. Pete and I dramatically professed our love to each other, fearing for our lives as we got into our separate vehicles and began the drive home! My vehicle was the last of the three to leave, and not long after we left Maragua we stopped to poor more water on the radiator as well as check the state of the back tire. Every time we stopped, our driver was determined to catch up to the other vehicles in front of us, speeding around the tight corners even faster. At one point, our back end threatened to slip right off the road (the back driver’s tire WAS off the road) before he corrected the vehicle and brought us back. Thank goodness it was on the mountain side and not the cliff, but regardless, it was enough to make us all catch our breath. The rest of the ride I was entirely white knuckled with a tight grip on the seat in front of me.
Thankfully, we arrived safely. When we got out of the vehicle though, we then understood why he was so concerned with his back tire. It had lost a lot of air, and we could hear more air pouring out of it. Fantastic condition to be driving on mountain roads. Seriously.
Back to our hostel for a refreshing shower and then out for some dinner and drinks with our friends – Oktoberfest! I didn’t last all that long, heading to bed after 1am, falling asleep before my head even hit the pillow. Pete was drinking with friends at the hostel until almost 4. Hence why I am sitting in the café to finish this blog, while he has head back to the hostel for a nap…. =)
For non-Facebookers, don't forget to follow this link for pictures!! We saw some amazing scenery...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145321&id=669761083&l=235dac27e9
After we left the city we had to brave the unpaved and unbarricaded mountain roads. The scenery was unbelievably beautiful, but it was hard to enjoy while we whipped around hairpin turns, with wheels spinning in the road that sometimes was only made of sand. Several times we had to stop to let random pigs, donkeys, or kids cross the road! I employed the imaginary passenger side brake several times, to no avail (reminded me of driving with Nicole!) Somehow, even though there was a risk yesterday of actually skidding off the side of a mountain, I think it still might have been less scary then driving with Nicole… =)
Finally, after about 40 minutes of driving, we arrived at our first destination. A small church and statue marked the beginning of our descent down an Inca Trail. A 500 meter descent over about 5kms took us 2 hours. Our walk was marked by a rugged stone path and was constantly downhill. We had to make frequent stops to enjoy the amazing scenery and for pictures as the rest of the time we were just focused on making sure we stepped in the right place.
Once we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, we enjoyed a quick snack provided by our tour guides and were back in the vehicles to head off to our next destination. Now, I thought the previous drive was bad. This was waaay worse. The roads were increasingly rocky, and the hairpin turns up the mountain were a little tighter. This time I gave up my front seat to sit in the back which helped make me a little less nervous as I was less focused on what the driver was doing right beside me. Sometimes, ignorance is best! Several times we had to stop so that the driver could pour water over the radiator – the uphill climb was causing his vehicle to overheat. We even had to cross a river, which we thankfully handled easily. 
We drove through a couple of little remote towns, causing quite a stir as we went. Kids were running after the vehicles, anxious to peak inside and try to sell us whatever they had on them. We finally arrived at the small village of Maragua, which is situated in the middle of either a volcanic crater or meteor landing site – apparently the truth is not out there! I can honestly say that I have felt like I was more in the “middle of nowhere” then I did for the time we were there (and I grew up in Brownvale! Ha!) Some of the villagers swarmed around us like we were the attraction. No vehicles, domestic animals (pigs, etc.) roaming the streets. We tried speaking to a couple of the kids, but they couldn’t understand our Spanish – we were in one of the areas where they spoke only an indigenous language (only 60% of Bolivians speak Spanish).
We took off on another hike along the side of the mountain to explore some cliff overhang that had a little cave as well as a little waterfall. We had to be particularly careful on this part of the hike as the path was not well tread and was right on the side of a cliff. The danger was worth the views we saw (Hi Mom!)
After that trek, we headed up a steep field to get to the top of a peak that gave us an overlook of the rugged Andes on one side and the volcanic crater/meteor site on the other side. A friend commented on how it felt like we were hiking on Mars with the red, iron rich soil and desolate landscape and she was absolutely right.
By this point we were all starving (it was after 2pm) – our tour guides fed us a chocolate bar and then we headed down the mountainside to the vehicles where the rest of our lunch was waiting. We scarfed down our sandwiches while the locals watched, often approaching people to try selling their textiles. Many of us offered our accompanying chocolate cookies to the children who greedily snatched them out of our hands and quickly stuffed them in their pockets.
We loaded back into our vehicles and started the trip back to town. Pete and I dramatically professed our love to each other, fearing for our lives as we got into our separate vehicles and began the drive home! My vehicle was the last of the three to leave, and not long after we left Maragua we stopped to poor more water on the radiator as well as check the state of the back tire. Every time we stopped, our driver was determined to catch up to the other vehicles in front of us, speeding around the tight corners even faster. At one point, our back end threatened to slip right off the road (the back driver’s tire WAS off the road) before he corrected the vehicle and brought us back. Thank goodness it was on the mountain side and not the cliff, but regardless, it was enough to make us all catch our breath. The rest of the ride I was entirely white knuckled with a tight grip on the seat in front of me.
Thankfully, we arrived safely. When we got out of the vehicle though, we then understood why he was so concerned with his back tire. It had lost a lot of air, and we could hear more air pouring out of it. Fantastic condition to be driving on mountain roads. Seriously.
Back to our hostel for a refreshing shower and then out for some dinner and drinks with our friends – Oktoberfest! I didn’t last all that long, heading to bed after 1am, falling asleep before my head even hit the pillow. Pete was drinking with friends at the hostel until almost 4. Hence why I am sitting in the café to finish this blog, while he has head back to the hostel for a nap…. =)
For non-Facebookers, don't forget to follow this link for pictures!! We saw some amazing scenery...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145321&id=669761083&l=235dac27e9
Friday, October 2, 2009
I had aspired to write the next blog post in Spanish but, well, I’m super lazy (as well, Spanish and I are not getting along today). I’m so lazy in fact, that you are getting this update via point form! Nothing overly exciting in our world these last few days, but here it is…
- With no pool duty for me this week, I am becoming a master at the afternoon siesta. This has been an incredibly lazy week for me, and I loved every minute of it!
- Pete, on the other hand, has managed to add another item to his list of duties at Nanta – he is now also helping with the tennis program on Thursday mornings! Yesterday was his first day, and he loved it! It’s also a big bonus because it keeps him out of the bakery.
- Thursday night we had an incredible dinner out with some friends from our hostel and school. The owner of our hostel recommended an exclusive Italian restaurants – so exclusive, in fact, that there was no sign adorning the front, and we had to ring the front door bell to get in! Seven of us dined on a three course meal of bruschetta, our choice of pasta and delicious tiramisu – throw in a couple of bottles of wine and beer, and we paid about $70 CDN for all of us. I had to be rolled into bed.
- We have the potential for a jam packed weekend, which makes my lazy week seem a little more justified (maybe?) Pete and I are going to head out to see a movie at the local cinema – District 9 has just arrived! Saturday we have a day long hike scheduled through some Inca trails and into a dormant volcanic crater, as well as Oktoberfest afterwards at a local gringo pub (if we make it after the long day hiking). Sunday we hope to take in our first game of South American “futbol”. Interesting fact - alcohol is not allowed at the games in fear of things getting too out of control (I guess the fans are crazy enough as it is)! Can you imagine if booze wasn’t allowed at hockey games? I think only THEN would it get out of control in mass protest!!
- With no pool duty for me this week, I am becoming a master at the afternoon siesta. This has been an incredibly lazy week for me, and I loved every minute of it!
- Pete, on the other hand, has managed to add another item to his list of duties at Nanta – he is now also helping with the tennis program on Thursday mornings! Yesterday was his first day, and he loved it! It’s also a big bonus because it keeps him out of the bakery.
- Thursday night we had an incredible dinner out with some friends from our hostel and school. The owner of our hostel recommended an exclusive Italian restaurants – so exclusive, in fact, that there was no sign adorning the front, and we had to ring the front door bell to get in! Seven of us dined on a three course meal of bruschetta, our choice of pasta and delicious tiramisu – throw in a couple of bottles of wine and beer, and we paid about $70 CDN for all of us. I had to be rolled into bed.
- We have the potential for a jam packed weekend, which makes my lazy week seem a little more justified (maybe?) Pete and I are going to head out to see a movie at the local cinema – District 9 has just arrived! Saturday we have a day long hike scheduled through some Inca trails and into a dormant volcanic crater, as well as Oktoberfest afterwards at a local gringo pub (if we make it after the long day hiking). Sunday we hope to take in our first game of South American “futbol”. Interesting fact - alcohol is not allowed at the games in fear of things getting too out of control (I guess the fans are crazy enough as it is)! Can you imagine if booze wasn’t allowed at hockey games? I think only THEN would it get out of control in mass protest!!
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