Day 2 with the elderly

Today was day 2 at the home for the elderly for Victoria and I. We had breakfast at 7.30am and then started walking down to the home at about 8.15am, as its only walking distance from the home-base that I'm staying at. By the way, walking up here is so much more difficult than walking back home due to the altitude. I find that walking 15minutes to the elderly we are little puffed! But its just the altitude, and the other girls here say that you acclimatise quite quickly.

So we went to the home for the elderly and got started in the kitchen helping prepare their lunch. Luckily we didn't have to chop the veges too small today! Just rough chopping which was nice, so we got through the veges pretty quickly. Its great actually cos Victoria and I can practice our Spanish while we're sitting chopping. One of the older ladies, Sabelle, is partly deaf i think and speaks mainly Quechua, but she helps us with the vegetable names!

We then went to sit with the rest of the old people and talk to them and see how they are. Victoria bought her Ipod and Ipod speakers and we plugged it into the wall and played some spanish nursery rhymes that she downloaded back in England. The absolutely loved hearing some music, because its just so cold and boring for them sitting in the little courtyard in silence. So hearing the music, and in spanish too was just such a great idea. The 'boss' old lady, who is the loudest mute i've ever heard in my life, was so happy she got up and danced and danced and danced with us. She is a lovely, but cannot speak so she kind of yells at people and uses her hands to express what she wants but she is so loud! There was another lady who we thought couldn't walk and basically was like in a coma, all of a sudden started singing and clapping her hands which was very exciting! After a while we turned around and she was standing up dancing! So i think the music went down a treat! We also bought about 20 bananas for the ladies and gave them to them for morning tea, which was also a great idea cos obviously they dont get bananas. But the thing was, was that bananas are so cheap here. For the big bunch we had, it cost 1.50 soles, which is roughly 50cents. So we decided that everyday we are going to buy bananas and bring them for morning tea.

So overall it was a fantastic day and the old people are so looking forward to seeing us next week and spending the whole week with them. On Friday's we go to the prison and take the children out to the zoo, shops or park which apparently is wonderful! Because there are so many women in prison, there are so many children in there as well, a

s they are allowed to live with their mothers until they turn 4 years old then they go to the orphanage. So we take one child each and do something with them, cos living in a prison for the first 4 years of your life is not very exciting and not very conducive to learning and growing. So really looking forward to this tomorrow!!

Tonight Victoria, Karen (from Canada) and I are off to the fancy restaurant in town. All the other girls are going to a seminar on healthcare- as they are doing health care as a volunteer placement. We thought it would be good to go until we found out it was a seminar in spanish and we won't understand! So the fancy restaurant will be great tonight, it will be nice to choose what i want to eat, cos obviously we eat what we're given here. Not that its bad, its good food the cook cooks, but its also nice to choose what you feel like. And we'll have another chance for a Pisco Sour- the local peruvian liquor which is delicious!

xoxo millie