First Week Impressions...

This week we:
Started our volunteering
Explored the city
Got sick
Got hair raps by Peruvian hippies/ watched and translated for the other girls
Started Spanish classes
Went to Machu Picchu
Celebrated Gretchen's Birthday
Started Conversation partner meetings
Went to the black market... and much much more.

What do we think so far??
Well, today this is Cora writing so I can only speak for myself, but so far I love Cusco. Our house mates are amazing, so is everyone else we have met. I really enjoy our volunteer project, I am working in a small preschool as a teachers assistant with 2-4 year olds. They are from the slums and very poor. I feel as if I am a good help to the teacher with the children as well as helping her with her English. The children behave much differently then children I have worked with in the past so it is a learning experience for me as well. I have taught them many songs as well so far thanks to Lydia as well as to my random knowledge of children's songs in Spanish.
Im terms of my Spanish conversation practice as well as Spanish classes, they are both going very well. Both my conversation partners are really nice and my Spanish class is very helpful. Señora Ester is funny and I like her teaching style. The only down side is that we like our house mates so much that we rarely have to speak Spanish, hopefully we can change that.
This week I am going in search of a guitar, guitar lessons, and a Andean dance group. The girls and I are going to try to find clothes with western clothes that are not covered in llamas, and go to yoga class. I am contemplating connecting my phone, even though I am enjoying not having it, as well as joining the gym in order to take classes because it is so cheep here. Caitlin might go into the jungle with some of our housemates next week, but I had my first and last jungle trek in Bolivia, so I will stay behind. I am planning on going to a different church mass every week in order visit them without paying. I am jumping head first into the culture here, so I have decided that that justifies my going to church without being Catholic.
So far, that is a snap shot of our week. I will write more about Machu Picchu when we put the pictures up because I think it deserves its own entry. In terms of the sickness I mentioned earlier poor Caitlin has been sick almost the entire time we have been here and I got a bit sick today, but not to worry, it is nothing to serious. So far the only change in our well being is that we can eat very little due to that altitude, and we are developing British accents and Ausie slang by being around our foreign housemates!
All and all everything is going smoothly and I hope you all enjoy reading about our trip as much as I enjoy writing.
Well, thats it for today,
Cora