So we are up in Huancayo now, the heart of Peru´s highlands (siera). It is beautiful up here to say the least, much more the Peru I had imagined before coming here. Everymorning we get up to catch a 7.30am car (like a shared taxi) to another spot where we catch a combi for one hour to aco, the small peublo where we teach english. Now a combi is bascially a minivan that acts like a bus, and here in Peru in such a mini van you can fit 27 people plus babies inside. We counted. It is amazing how they cram people in. Then we come home and have a wonderful home cooked lunch from one the peruvian volunteer coordinators grandmother. Actually she cooked us breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is amazing, really. Then in the afternoon we volunteer at an afterschool homework club in a closer village, only 15 minutes away. It is a little less stuctured there and the kids are VERY lively but it is fun. Some of the kids are very bright and it pains me to think some of them won´t reach their potential due to a lacking in the standard of education they recieve here. One half of a set of twins has impressed me in particular. He is only 7 but managed to pick up how to do basic equations (eg. 2X + 2 = 12) in about 5 minutes. And it was evident he had not come across this before and I was explaining it to him without knowing any of the relevant spanish words. Well. Today I and Kelly had a fantastic time, we had a short sleep in, then made it to a nearby village for their market day and festival. We did some good shopping, I got a Alpaca inca style slingshot amung other things, and then we took a taxi out into the campo propper (the countryside). We got out next to a beautiful, crystal clear river and found a grassy spot to have a picnick for lunch. Then we explored up along the side of the river and I found nice spots for me to study and Kelly to knit. We found a tiny little peublo up there too before catching a combi back. Great day. Later we will make and eat pizza with the other volunteers.

Cherio!