School's out ... but much practice needed

(Have included some audio files of our Spanish classes in this post - hope they work for you.)

It's difficult to describe how intense and exhausting our Spanish lesson experience has been.  The concentration required when everything is in a foreign language is incredible.  By then end of 2 hours of grammar class my head is spinning, but then we followed up with 2 hours of practice lessons. EVERYTHING is in Spanish .... and we hang in their listening for any words we recognise to pick up the gist of the explanation.  And a few gestures also help.

Mimi:  Profesora explaining verbs  and more   and present tense  and mucho more
You can occasionally hear our contributions in these lessons - either 'Si' or repeating a word said by Mimi ....... 

The FairPlay Spanish school usually run individual grammar classes, but agreed to our request to work together.    Would have been even more intense individually - at least one of us had a little 'think' time while the other was providing a response.

Lex providing a response in class

And of course we've had homework as well - and it gets checked each day.  Homework

We've been asked to provide examples for all the grammar elements we've been learning - and then we write down our examples .... Zac tells me it's easy to spell in Spanish - it's phonetic.  Apparently he's a much better speller in Spanish than he is in English.  For us it's been a challenge .... made much worse because we are unsure of the Spanish alphabet ......  Mimi correcting Lex's writing

Our 'practica' teachers at times speak a little slower.  These sessions have been fantastic - going to local markets, museums and even a cemetery with locals.  We did draw lots of looks - standing in shops trying to copy words we were told and then providing the correct article or add adjectives etc - but it's all been good.  We didn't understand every word .... most of the time ... but I'm amazed how much we did understand.   Esme at the textile museum  and more 

Museo de Arte de Ninos

 

Museos de Arte - even here there's lessons ... and flash cards.

  

Cemetery    

The 'empty' spaces - because families have NOT paid annual fee - remains removed and space resold.

We've been to 2 cooking class evenings - more social events than cooking classes, although we were all more involved last week for Papa Rellena.  Delicious too..

 

In lots of ways it's an opportunity for some to speak English.  Most of the people who have signed up for classes have already done quite a bit of Spanish (unlike us).  One fellow did 5 weeks in Bolivia before 4 weeks here.  Others have studied for several years at school.

I think we can interpret and read many more words .... but even in short communication, we are lost!!!  We have only covered present tense, regular (and just a few irregular) verbs - haven't even looked at other tenses so necessary.  There is much more to do - and we may go back for some more, after a short break. The first step is having the confidence to communicate (and stuff it up for sure) - and we had our first boost when communicating with a market trader last Friday when we bought a 'chompa' for Lex.  'Poco a poco' (Little by little).

We finished our week off by having lunch with our 2 Practica teachers - and even that was a language lesson!!!  Thank you to Esme and Nela!!

We have been blessed....

Everyday here in Peru offers an adventure - today was no different.  An early 5.30 am start saw us pile into a taxi, prearranged the day before by Milka .... and off out of the Cusco Valley, and into the Sacred Valley.  Just a few days ago, Sep 14, thousands of people made a pilgrimage through the night, over the mountains to to a church high up on the slope above the village of San Salvador.  We first heard about it at our language class - (some were going to attempt it) - but there wasn't much information other than you trek up over the mountains through the night to arrive at the church in time for 6am Mass - then return by bus.

Apparently the festival of Senor de Huanca lasts several days either side of the 14 Sept, allowing many more people to visit the site.  Hence our early morning start ....  arriving at the site around 6.30, we passed several groups who had apparently camped out overnight, and were cooking cuy (guinea pig).  We were by no means early!!!

We could see the church further up the hill, and just below that was a sea of blue tarps.  By this stage, our car had been stopped by groups of vendors selling candles and decorations - weren't sure of the purpose of these at this stage.  Up the hill and through the market stalls - the usual food, drinks, and the most amazing array of miniatures.  Customs seems to be that you can buy  miniatures of things as gifts for others, and take it up to the church to have it blessed by the priests, with holy water from the area. And it will come true in the future.  There were all sorts of things, cars, trucks, houses, beer bottles, money, wheel borrows full of tools, etc.... as well as numerous, various sized, framed images of Senor de Huanca, and the magnificient decorations and flowers.

So ... Zac and Milka bought us a 'miniature mobile home' - it was decorated, splashed with holy water - AND we 'Transfer of sale' document from the stall holder - all signed over to ME.

And a house for Zac and Milka - with the required transfer documents...

With all our items for blessings we headed on further UP the track.  It is a huge church in a spectacular part of the valley.  The views are amazing!!  Milka's message for Tio Don - "These are mountains."

The church was already full - well all seats taken.  But when Mass began, people continued to pile in.  We stood through a full hour of Mass - and the only words I recognised were 'glory glory hallelujah' - well they sing 'gloria gloria hallelujah'.  So much for our week of Spanish lessons!!!  There must have been about 2000 in the church, but when Mass finished, all those still outside surged in to get their items blessed by the priests.  What a crush!!!  We were right beside a door, but it took quite some time to get out.

Eventually a priest appeared a level up from the church (spotted by Milka) and she made sure we were right in his path to have our items blessed - splashed with holy water. And Zac took Framma with us - she too was blessed!  Next he proceeded to some of the decorated cars - and blessed them!!

With our candles blessed we headed into one of the small rooms to light our candles (different colours for health, wealth, love etc) and have a little quiet time.  The concrete walls were plastered with shapes and words made with the molten wax.  Many of the local women have long hair, often tied in plaits - however, accidents of 'hair in flames' still occur.  Lex and Zac returned with such a story.

Peru is a land of complete contrasts - but the one thing which seems to connect all sectors is 'religion'.  This festival goes on for days - thousands must pass through over the several days.  Many bought framed pictures and shrines including all sorts of miniatures for their homes.  Most of the taxis have religious pictures hanging from their mirrors - we even have one of those for the 'real' mobile home when we get it.  There are images of Saints everywhere - in shops, markets, streets, homes etc.

For us, it was an amazing experience.  Thanks for taking us there!!

Standing up for a cause....

Things are changing here in Cusco.  Whilst many of the changes are for the better, it's clear that tourists have added to life in a different way.  Most things here are cheap by our standards - our money can go a long way.  So when things are so cheap, we (tourists) don't mind paying a little extra - and in doing so, we inflate the price for everyone. 

Which is the case with taxi fares.  There are no meters - just stand prices for certain areas.  The standard price from where we live to the plaza or our school is s/3 - but because we are 'gringos' we tend to get charged a little more - s/3.50 or even s/5.  Not much more, and really wouldn't mind paying it - but, it's the principle. 

So when we hail a taxi, we tell the driver our destination, and if he's willing to take the fare we jump in.  He may then tell us his price, and if it's more than s/3 we jump out and send him on his way.  I think our record so far is ..... 2 times jumping into a taxi and jumping out before we got one at the right fare.  Our instructions are 'not to ask the price' - jump in, say our destination, and at the end of the journey, pay what we have been told is the fair price.  It works sometimes.  Zac does all this really well - and often sets us on our way each morning to school - like a good boy!  But on other trips, we have done the negotiation ourselves - and have been known to jump out and dismiss the driver - standing up for a cause. 

Price of fuel here is between s/12 - s/15 per gallon!!!!!  (not per litre) - as explained by my communication teacher. 

When in Iquitos, our moto-taxi pulled into a service station to refuel.  We were asked to hop out while this happened.  We had no sooner hopped out than we were asked to hop back in .... he had put s/2 of fuel into his motorbike!!!!  About s/3 to a $1!!!  But off we went again.  It's all an experience..

And I only thought I would be making a fool of myself in front of Lex.....

Planned trip to the museum today for our practical lesson didn't eventuate.  Apparently we needed more vocabulary practice.  Well I now appreciate how ESL students feel - firstly converting the question into their preferred language, considering a response, then converting the response into the language being learnt.  That's hard enough, but even that doesn't work when asked to provide an example (definite article and noun) - personal, feminine, plural.  Takes some thinking about!!!  Yes, nouns have gender, and although there are some rules, there are also many exceptions (excepciones).

More vocab needed - so instead of the museum, we walked and talked ... along the streets to the super mercado - where we went in with out teachers.  Items were identified, in Spanish and we wrote them down and attempted to copy the pronunciation .... and identify if the word was masculine of feminine- and convert it to the plural.....  Did draw a few wry smiles from other shoppers.  I'm sure they have seen it before.  But it certainly beats walking around on my own (or with Lex) trying to work out names and pronunciation - that would look stupid.  Didn't seem to bother our teachers at all.

And like a good parent, Zac asked me if we had homework!!  Good question (maybe we should have asked him that more often) - but to be honest I really don't know.  There was a great deal of really intense dialogue about the exercises in our study book, and the word, manana, but I'm not sure if we have to do the work for tomorrow or we will be doing it tomorrow.  Yes Zac, I did try to ask, but made no more sense of the answer ... so will have to see what happens.

Watched a class practising dancing ... not sure what for, but we were told the moves were from jungle dances...

In all, another exhausting day, time for a siesta.

Learning another language is exhausting!!

It takes all our conscious effort to listen for words/phrases that we are familiar with to gain an understanding.

Our teachers speak almost totally in Spanish - don't understand every word, but we generally get the message. Sometimes with my communication practice teacher, I just have to say - 'No entiendo' - and leave it at that.  Because we are out places, there's lots of pointing - and telling us Spanish words for things.  Today we went to San Pedro market - a local market area.

 I managed to buy some fruit and flowers to bring home - and we all enjoyed a juice.  It's 2 full hours of talking and thinking in Spanish - even in a taxi back to school, they are still communicating with us - asking us questions, going back over things they have told us during the morning, quizzing us on our vocab.  Exhausting!!!

Tonight we joined other language students for a cooking class.  Turned out to be more of a social get together - where we all pitched in with the preparation, than a cooking lesson.  But we all enjoyed Lomo Saltado afterwards.

Tomorrow we're off to a museum with our communication teachers.

Spanish lessons begin

What an exhausting day - takes loads of concentration to think in a second language.

We started early - 8am, for our 2 hour grammar lessons.  Went through Spanish alphabet - letters, sounds and words.   Then on to questions - how to ask who, what, where, when and why type questions.  And of course we had to come up with responses in Spanish.  I think we managed to keep up OK.

Then we headed out for our communication practice lessons - Lex and I each have separate teachers.  For these sessions we go out into the community - but need to converse in Spanish and practice the work from the grammar lesson, so lots of questions!!!  Both ways - were were asked and expected to ask.  Having only been here 6 days, and still adjusting to the altitude, walking is an effort, particularly if there's any incline.  But, walking AND talking at the same time .... had me gasping for breath at times.  But our teachers were very considerate.

In all we walked and talked for 2 hours - and ended up at our front gate!!  Think we'll take a taxi tomorrow morning!!!  Only 3 soles.

Tomorrow we're in for a double treat - after our grammar lesson, we're headed for San Pedro market.  Been there before but not with a guide to try to help us understand.  Teachers don't have a lot of English, so will be an interesting experience.  And secondly, we have a cooking lesson tomorrow night back at the school, along with other students. I think 'lomo saltado' is on the menu.  

We're doing our language through Fairplay  http://www.fairplay-peru.org/en/Volunteers/Spanish_Courses/

What a discovery!!!

Couldn't believe it - Zac took us to a new hardware store, right here in Cusco.  Last visit here we spent ages walking streets past all these over-crowded small hardware shops looking for simple items, like clothes airers, or timber to construct one.  Couldn't find these things, and of course we didn't have the language to ask.  What an impossible task. 

But now - what does this look like????

 BUNNINGS .... first difference was - the car park was almost empty.  Did see people loading their purchase into and onto small taxis. 

Inside looked similar - Boys had fun 'browsing'!!  Some areas were much bigger here - ceramic tiles for instance.  And security items, eg spikes to go on top of courtyard walls... Others were much smaller - plant area was very small.

 Considering options - just cant do that in the usual overcrowded hardware shops.  We spent most of the morning there - not quite up to Lex's record, but interesting all the same.

And of course, once home, the 'odd jobs' started. 

First day in the plaza, Cusco - first parade!!! Who would have guessed!!!

Taxi ride into the city .... and Zac and Milka are both telling us off.  Not for taking a taxi, but for paying too much and in doing so inflating prices!  Ooops - we paid s/3.50 and it should only be s/3.  So our instructions are not to ask the price - just pay the usual amount.  We can expect to pay more than that at night, but not otherwise.  Lesson learnt - will try it today!

Visited Zac's office, and got a little more information about our trip to Rio - going to be another Zac and Milka adventure!  And I thought we were only going to Rio.  Milka has also told me about the shopping area she has on out plan.  We are apparently booked in for Sunday night at Carnival ... into the party area.  Another adventure for sure.  We also got some info on a trip to Patagonia - possibly in November. Looking at options - and how to get to the starting point, and possibly some time in a mid-point, Buenos Aires. 

Zac's office is the window above the brown balcony in the yellow building (centre) - great views from his office!!!

Then on to the Plaza ... long the way we came across a small gathering parading along the street, with their own band.  Followed them to where a large crowd gathered, and a much bigger parade was happening.  Day 1 in the centre and our first parade in Cusco.   Some would say, seen one seen them all - but I find them so engaging - colourful, energetic, loud music.  Great atmosphere. 

We watched for about an hour then headed for a rest - sit down spot.  An hour later the parade could still be heard in the distance and a smaller lantern parade was taking place through the middle of the plaza.  Norton's balcony is the top viewing spot, for sure!!

Getting high ... not so much fun!

Altitude sickness - I know it's going to hit me but it doesn't make any difference.  Cusco's altitude is 3400m whereas Mt Koscuiscko (Aust's highest peak) is 2230m.

Initially we both struggled to breath - just don't seem to get enough air.  And walking up a single flight of stairs in Zac's house is cause for a sit down.  Headaches hit me worst .... but I am following Dr Zac's advice and drinking PLENTY of water.

Their new house is a gem .... a house with front and back yard, outside line for laundry (Lex is on the ball and done that already!!) and a nice neighbourhood.  The 'watchey man' (aka local security guard) called in this morning to see Senior Zac.  Lex didn't understand any of the words, other than Senor Zac, and Buenos dias, but we think he was there to collect his monthly payment - s/40

We managed a small walk yesterday to the MegaMart to get some bananas and yoghurt - 2 blocks, but we passed several little stores and restaurants along the way.  Can notice some differences on the shelves in the supermarket - seem to be more pre-packaged and single serve items.  Times are a-changing.

And we've been reunited with our luggage.  Zac managed to get our 3 BIG bags here via transport, so we didn't need to lug them around for the past week.  It is really weeks since we originally packed them to leave Clermont. 

The cleaning lady has been - so the place is nice.  Ready for Milka to return home today.  I feel so spoilt!!  BTW no more polished floors - for those who will remember Milka polishing them in the previous house.  Ceramic tiles that look like timber.