Landed in Arequipa

After an intense four (five?) days of transit, I´ve finally arrived at Casa Intiwawa in Arequipa, Peru. Six cities, four planes, four time zones and one overnight bus. A small bout of altitude sickness, an epilipetic fit (not me, the girl next to me on my flight from Mexico to Lima, she ended up being fine), a lost phone (we´ve been reunited) and for some reason an uncontrollable impulse to respond in French every time I´m spoken to in Spanish. I´ve also survived two 24 hour periods of no meals, as I struggle through explaining gluten-free in Spanish and discover why some airlines are so cheap.

Day one at Intiwawa has been very relaxed, meeting the other volunteers, the landlords and having a delicious lunch and a little look around the city. I´m pretty sure I know how to get the bus into town now. I´ll start Spanish lessons tomorrow, and some of the projects next week. School was meant to start a couple of weeks ago, we help with English and Computer classes at some of the schools around Arequipa, but the kids have been slow to arrive. Different pace here. When they get into the swing of things, we´ll also start the after school projects.

I´m heading off to Lake Titicaca tomorrow night for the weekend with some other volunteers. In my jet-lagged/altitude weary state, I do vaguely remember handing over money and my passport to someone for a bus, but I was asleep. Now I´m awake and more coherent, it turns out we are booked on an overnight bus at 11pm tomorrow, and then spending one night at Lake Titicaca. Actually, that is about all I´ve figured out at this point, but I´ve been assured they´ll look after me while I continue to struggle through this fog. We´ve also planned a trip to the beach for the following weekend. I´ve put the word out for some cooking classes - I think this will be the easiest way to find out what Peruvian foods are gluten-free. I´ve also been recommended to take Salsa classes. Why not?

Oh, and Peru is beautiful. I haven´t taken photos yet, I´ve been a bit awe-struck. On the bus down from Lima I woke to a bright orange sunrise over the west-coast. Think I left nose-smudges on the glass. The main square in Arequipa, Plaza de Armas, is all white stone (The White City) with the Catedral on one side (my landmark for getting the bus!), and the monastry behind. The Plaza itself is actually quite peaceful, although very busy, and is all green public space in the middle, surrounded by the chaotic Peruvian roads. The only road rule seems to be that there are no rules, and I´ve nearly been run-over many times already.  There´s two snow-capped mountains behind us, which at first I thought were just part of the clouds, but the sky is clear. With no high-rises, the city is lit with hundreds of orange street lights at night - and from the rooftop of Casa Intiwawa this is quite the view. Tonight, it is very quiet. Although, when some sirens took up earlier, all of the dogs in Arequipa joined in harmony.

Tomorrow, my first Spanish class, grocery shopping and then Lake Titicaca.

Buenos noches xxx