After we finally made it down the mountain, we drove towards Matinga, a village several miles away. Matinga is a tiny little village, but it does have a school. Unfortunately, the teachers, like the taxi drivers, were also on strike, so they weren't having actual class that day. However, they knew we were coming, so the kids that lived nearby and a few of the teachers met us there anyway. What a welcome they gave us! It was like being
in a parade. We parked our bus outside the school walls, and when we walked through the gate, there they were, lined up on either side, ready to play with us. Oh, they were so cute. They seemed a little bit better dressed than the kids in Salkantay, but it was still very obvious that these people didn't have much. Our group split up so that there were about four or five of us leading each age group in games.
My group, which was all boys but me, was in charge of the primary kids. They were so shy and didn't understand a word of English, so this proved quite challenging. We tried to teach them games like red light green light, but aside from being so small, they were also kind of
afraid of us. And rightly so, since Zack suggested we have them play Gladiator games! He's such a goof. We tried duck duck goose and sharks and minnows, but the game they ended up really loving was tug-o-war. In fact, they liked it so much, they ended up breaking the rope! It may have had something to do with the fact that those boys in my group cheated and tried helping one side or the other. I certainly didn't start that... eh hem, anyway, after the games, we read some books we had brought for the kids. I speak absolutely no Spanish, and the kids I read to got a kick out of
my attempt to sound out the words. I made them help me with the harder words. So cute. We were only there for a few hours, but it was so much fun, and felt so good to just spend time with kids like them. After Matinga, we drove back to Cusco and had some free time. I desperately wanted to go to the cathedral in the plaza, but it closed just as we got there. It broke my heart to miss that, but it was still so fun to be out and about with everyone. It got a bit ch
illy, but it was worth braving the cold. I could hear a band playing somewhere, and on the steps of the cathedral there was some sort of protest with candles and signs that I couldn't read. Little kids kept shoving postcards and finger puppets in our faces, trying to get us to buy them. Also, if I remember right, this was the night a few of us went to this incredible little ice cream parlor and I got vanilla ice cream with strawberry syrup and coconut shavings--in the shape of Spaghetti! Oh, and I forgot one of the best parts of the day! I got to SHOWER!
After we finally made it down the mountain, we drove towards Matinga, a village several miles away. Matinga is a tiny little village, but it does have a school. Unfortunately, the teachers, like the taxi drivers, were also on strike, so they weren't having actual class that day. However, they knew we were coming, so the kids that lived nearby and a few of the teachers met us there anyway. What a welcome they gave us! It was like being
in a parade. We parked our bus outside the school walls, and when we walked through the gate, there they were, lined up on either side, ready to play with us. Oh, they were so cute. They seemed a little bit better dressed than the kids in Salkantay, but it was still very obvious that these people didn't have much. Our group split up so that there were about four or five of us leading each age group in games. 
My group, which was all boys but me, was in charge of the primary kids. They were so shy and didn't understand a word of English, so this proved quite challenging. We tried to teach them games like red light green light, but aside from being so small, they were also kind of 
afraid of us. And rightly so, since Zack suggested we have them play Gladiator games! He's such a goof. We tried duck duck goose and sharks and minnows, but the game they ended up really loving was tug-o-war. In fact, they liked it so much, they ended up breaking the rope! It may have had something to do with the fact that those boys in my group cheated and tried helping one side or the other. I certainly didn't start that... eh hem, anyway, after the games, we read some books we had brought for the kids. I speak absolutely no Spanish, and the kids I read to got a kick out of 
my attempt to sound out the words. I made them help me with the harder words. So cute. We were only there for a few hours, but it was so much fun, and felt so good to just spend time with kids like them. After Matinga, we drove back to Cusco and had some free time. I desperately wanted to go to the cathedral in the plaza, but it closed just as we got there. It broke my heart to miss that, but it was still so fun to be out and about with everyone. It got a bit ch
illy, but it was worth braving the cold. I could hear a band playing somewhere, and on the steps of the cathedral there was some sort of protest with candles and signs that I couldn't read. Little kids kept shoving postcards and finger puppets in our faces, trying to get us to buy them. Also, if I remember right, this was the night a few of us went to this incredible little ice cream parlor and I got vanilla ice cream with strawberry syrup and coconut shavings--in the shape of Spaghetti! Oh, and I forgot one of the best parts of the day! I got to SHOWER! 
1 comment:
pictures are good...
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Melvin
Getting a Payday advance is just a few steps away
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