lost in translation...

hello friends,

i hope this post finds you well. I am now up in Kelowna, Canada visiting a few mates. I originally came up here to see one guy from back home, and ended up finding out that i know 4 people in the area. Its always cool catching up with mates from back home (and snagging some free accom and net time...joking...not)

So i left Peru about a week ago, the last few days in Satipo were pretty hectic - racing around to visit some families and hand out a few more items to help some disabled kids there. We had a really great time back in Satipo, met some fantastic people and felt really welcome there. We were always invited into people homes for meals, we got invited out to peoples farms out in the jungle, invited to play soccer games, we even helped train a local satipo youth team. We had a fantastic time there, caught up with old friends and made many more new ones. I hope that we were able to help out a few families out in Satipo and i look forward to going back out there in a few years time and seeing the progress of the kids and catching up with our ever growing number of good friends out there.

One of our friends from Lima drove out to Satipo and brought some wheelchairs and other equipment that wasnt available in Satipo. We got a lift with her back into Lima with a few days to hang out. This included going to a part of the city where theres heaps of knocked off clothing sold. Its kind of a district which is known for being pretty dangerous, so dangerous that there is a fence around a 5 block area to keep to undesirables inside. So its kind of like an urban jail, which you are free to try your luck wandering around in. I am not sure why i was taken to this place...and since i have already been mugged twice in Lima on previous visits, i was pretty alert...but i survived.

We also did a roadtrip down to Ica, where we did some sand buggying and sand boarding. Sandbuggying is where you jump in a dodgy looking buggy with a massive old V8 motor and some tiny peruvian man flogs it around the sand dunes. Kind of like a rollercoaster, without the tracks or security measures. We did a bit of sandboarding, which is kind of fun, really difficult to do standing up so most people usually just toboggan down.

I was due to fly out thursday morning at 00:45. But somehow, this time got lost in translation and they thought it was midday on thurday (instead of midnight) so at about 8pm wednesday we were about 2 hours south of Lima down the coast in a sweet holiday house on the beach. I knew we should probably leave soon, so i reminded them that i had to be at the airport in a few hours. The we all realised what had happened, so we scrambled to get everything in the car and hit the highway(they had planned to stay there that night and leave on thursday, i didnt know this). So all ended well i made it to the airport with heaps of time to spare. The only problem was i had most of my clothes at the laundrymat(?), which i thought would have been open pretty late. It wasnt. So long story short, Im now in Kelowna, Canada with daily temperature highs of 5 degrees and i have about 20% of my clothes. haha. good times.

Anyway, I am here and loving canada despite only seeing a small amount of it. I went snowshoeing on sunday (hiking with this tennis raquet type things on your feet) and am planning to go snowboarding for the next few days up at big white and silver star. Next week il bus it down to montana to catch up with an old mate from Aus. Then its back on the plane and back to uni a few hours later.

This post has been pretty rushed and a bit scattered, but all is well. Im having a great time and packing a lot into my final few weeks here. Not much time for the net so il fill you in on all the details when i get home. Hope life is great where you are. Take it easy. andy

marshmallows for breakfast...

It seems that noone in Peru(or maybe all of south america) eats cereal for breakfast. Cereal is pretty much all i have ever eaten for breakfast and im not about the stop now. After scouring all of Satipo we came across a selection of 4 types of cereal. The best of these are little vanilla cornflakes with tiny marshmallows, so thats what ive been eating for the last one and a half weeks(and with 40grams of sugar per 100, i can almost feel my teeth decaying as i munch down)...fun times...oh yeah, and the only milk they have is long life milk...warm. Breakfast, best meal of the day!

The transport strike ended saturday 2 weeks ago, and we were able to get a bus out to satipo that night, prime seats, numbers 1 and 2. Also prime seats for viewing a head on crash, which occur rarely, but more often than you would like. We got out here safely (obviously) and checked into the majestic hotel , the one we stayed in last time. Its been really cool catching up with people who we havnt seen for a year or two. Things change really slowly out here, so most people were still in the same jobs, hanging out in the same spots, playing soccer on the same pitch on the same night of the week at the same time...

We came out here to almost 2 years ago to construct a school for disabled kids. We made great progress whilst we were here, and the project was supposed to be finished a few months after we left. But it wasnt. That is still the case, there has been progress(they built a sweet fence the whole way around the complex) but the buildings still arnt finished. After talking with the council we have been assured that at least two of the buildings will be finished by June. Over here a lot of things are supposed to be finished in a few months, but end taking 6 or 7 years... I am hopeful that this will not be the case with out project, as there is growing pressure on the mayor (theres an election in october) and some support groups really pushing for the centre to be completed. We will see. About an hour ago Fernando and I gave a live TV interview for about 20mins, Fernando has already made a documentary about the project which is currently being edited and given about 7 radio interviews. All this publicity is really raising awareness about the disabled kids in Satipo and we have had many people come knock on our hotel door and tell us about families with disabled kids they want us to come and visit, which is the main reason we are here.

Our main focus at the moment is helping the families of the kids directly. we have been racing around in mototaxis visiting the families and have had some really cool times. The families have been really welcoming and keen to let us into their lives. So far we have visited 15 different families and provided them with hygiene packs (laundry equipment, soaps, shampoo, kitchen items, bedding, mattresses, clothing etc) and also school supplies for the kids (backpacks, books, colouring in stuff, pencils, reading books etc). We have also tried to source some specialist equipment that would make the lives of the child/family a lot easier. We have ordered some custom showering chairs from a local carpintero, crutches, we have two wheelchairs and a metal walking frame coming from Lima, some custom leg braces made for a little girl etc. Its really cool to be able to help the families with these items that they would otherwise have no chance of obtaining, as they get no help from the government, no welfare etc. The kids are pretty stoked to get some new stuff as well, and excitied to go back to school to use their new school books. One little boy with downs syndrome ran over and climbed up me (like you would a coconut tree) to give me a hug. It is a weird experience been climbed up...

Having a really sweet time out here, really glad im able to help in some small way. Im out of here on Sunday going to be a bit sad saying goodbye to eveyone again, but i will be back and i will speak spanish perfect... hope life is great where ever you are, remember to be thankful for what you have. take it easy kids :) andy