Igaar maatte vi sige farvel til familie og boernehave i Urubamba. I boernehaven blev der baade sunget for os, spist kage og drukket cola i lange baner, og mange knus og kram blev givet. Endnu haardere var det at sige farvel til vores fantastiske dejlige familie Salas, som paa alle maader har vaeret en dejlig varm og aaben armet familie. Turen gik ud paa eftermiddagen til Cusco, hvor vi krydsede fingre for at vi kunne faa en natbus videre til Arequipa. (tro det eller lad vaere, men der har soerme vaeret strejke i Arequipa, der naesten forhindrede os i at komme nogen vegne). Men det lykkedes. I morges kl. 5.30 ankom vi traette til en dejlig, stor by, Arequipa. Og sikke en by. Den er meget forskellig fra de tidligere byer vi har vaeret i. - Her i Peru, er naesten ingen by ens, hvilket goer det fantastisk at rejse her! Dagen idag har vi ikke brugt paa meget andet, end vores egen lille sightseeing tour rundt i byen og paa at arrangere morgendagens begivenheder. Imorgen drager vi imod verdens maaske stoerste kloeft (canyon), Colca Canyon. Turen vil tage os to dage, med overnatning paa hostel undervejs. Vi kommer til at se kondoer (de der store fugle som inkaerne vist godt kunne lide), og skal bade i varme kilder. Paa tirsdag tager vi en rigtig sightseeing tour her i byen, og besoeger nok ogsaa byens fantastiske katedral. Derefter gaar turen ellers tilbage til Cusco.

Vi er nu endelig ude paa egne ben, og skal opleve nogle vilde ting. Derfor faar jeg nok ikke skrevet en masse blogindlaeg de naeste 14 dage, selvom jeg vil forsoege saa godt som mulig. (Isaer efter vores Inka trek - Yay ). Indtil jeg faar skrevet igen, faar i da lige et overbliv over hvad jeg skal ud at lave:

Vi er tilbage i Cusco onsdag morgen, hvor vi skal se en stor ruin fra et slot, taet ved byens plaza. ...

Voorbereidingstraining

Vandaag ben ik bij een voorbereidingstraining over vrijwilligerswerk in het buitenland van stichting Muses geweest. Het was een training gegeven door mensen die zelf ervaring hebben met vrijwilligerswerk in het buitenland en deze ervaring door wilden geven aan mensen die voor het eerst zoiets ondernemen.

Tijdens de training werden er veel verschillende aspecten behandeld. Je kreeg een reis dagboek waarin je alvast aantekeningen en nuttige informatie op kon schrijven. Ook deden we opdrachten over wat jouw sterke punten waren en wat jouw valkuilen konden zijn tijdens je reis qua persoonlijkheid. Ze vertelden ook dat je een cultuurshock kunt krijgen en daar helemaal uit balans van kon raken, lieten je nadenken over hoe jij je voelt als je uit balans raakte en ook hoe je het voor jezelf weer op kon lossen. Met alle deelnemers gingen we halverwege gezellig lunchen, om daarna door te gaan met het tweede deel van de training. Hierin werd je aan het denken gezet over jouw motivatie om vrijwilligers werk te gaan doen, wat je wilt brengen naar het land (bijvoorbeeld jouw kennis over bepaalde zaken) en wat je wilt halen (bijvoorbeeld ervaringen). Dit moest je ook allemaal opschrijven zodat je het later nog eens terug kon lezen tijdens je reis.

Bij deze opdrachten dacht je echt na over je doel en je motivatie. Ik wist van tevoren natuurlijk al waarom ik wilde gaan, maar door het zo concreet op te schrijven werd ik er weer helemaal enthousiast van. Zo had ik bij mijn motivatie opgeschreven dat ik graag vrijwilligers werk wil gaan doen om een totaal andere wereld mee te maken, waar alles niet zo vanzelfsprekend is als in Nederland. Zo waardeer je alles wat je zelf hebt veel meer en krijg je een andere blik op veel dingen, zoals

school. Wat ...

Back again. Crikey I spoil you lot. That is now three blog posts in three days. Does it seem right...

Anyway, I managed to avoid the snakes and scorpions of the Desert. My time came to an end. The last night was here and to celebrate, we ate under the stars of the Sahara. I then took off on my own, found a wall in the Desert, and I played the Ukelele whilst gazing up at the millions of stars. I am not a sentimental person but it was bliss. A memory I hope to never forget. I bid the Tamazight Family a fond farewell. As a leaving present I gave one of the boys a pair of socks. Before you accuse me of being cheap, he loved them and plucked up the courage to ask for them.

I spent my last weekend with my second host family. I had become that attached to them that I was dreading leaving them. I remember vividly arriving at their door last Saturday. It was blazing hot, I needed a shower badly, and I felt all icky and sticky. I was then told that we all would be going back into the Desert for a picnic. I nearly fainted. We went in a pickup truck. On the way back, there was no room for me in the cabin so I had to sit on the end of the truck with a massive umbrella sticking over me. It was like something out of Wacky Races. All the Moroccan cars beeped their horns at me and gave me the thumbs up. It was hilarious.

If Marie is reading, I did get to hang around with some camels. I assure you though that I viewed them from afar.

And that was the Nomad project finished...

The Mother of the Family walked me to the Coach. It was extremely difficult to think of how I could say goodbye in a sincere way. In badly broken French I told her that whenever I would think of Morocco in the future, I would always think of her family and the kindness shown to me. I admit that, when I got on the ...

It feels so good to be finishing my stay in Ghana at the place where I started, I remember my first day here as if it were yesterday and it really feels like home. I have so many friends in Kasoa that it's good to be back among them, although I didn't realise how much I would miss my friends in the hills, especially my lovely 'niece' Merel. The lifestyle of a volunteer is a strange existence, for a short time you are living and working with people who start out as complete strangers and quickly they become your world, just as quickly they, or you, move on and that process begins again, after a period of time this can become harder to adjust to and you yearn for a bit of stability, maybe that's when it's time to go home! I'm reminded of the quote (and I'm probably going to misquote it here because I can't remember properly!) 'Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same' During my stay here this has been true time after time, there are people who read this blogwho will know that their footprints are firmly stamped on my heart! :-) I'm happy and comfortable being here and I've moved back from being Aunty Jane to Mama Jane, although I now have a street name which seems to have appeared since I left, 'gunshot woman'! Aka Jane, Jane. Mr Kontor is away at the moment and I do miss him being around, he phoned Mrs K the other day and spoke to me, he was very enthusiastic and said “welcome, welcome home Jane, I love you!!!!” I finally saw Victoria from the shop on Monday after work, she was busy chatting to someone in the street so I sneaked into the shop and sat down, waiting for her to spot that I was there. When she finished chatting she turned round and headed back to ...

Wednesday I went to the school and took care of one of the 1-year-olds Dora who was crying and upset when her mother left. I enjoyed hanging out with her for the day. Today all the children brought their chairs outside and we all sang songs in a big group under the tree. I had fun and it was nice to sit outside in the shade. The teachers wanted to use my song book that I had brought from home, but I had forgotten it. It is just a book full of songs my mom and I printed off before i left. I think the school will make good use of it.

After school I headed home for lunch and did some laundry. I took a shower because I always feel dirty after a day of playing with the children and because of the heat. Then I layed in bed reading and fell asleep until dinner.

After dinenr, I watched some TV with my host family and my host mother gave me some advice on places I should travel to in Ghana. She suggested I go to Mole National Park to see the elephants, The Volta region to go to the monkey sanctuary and the Wii falls and to the stilt village. I am hoping to visit all of these places but I will have to see if I have time and people to travel with. My roomates are leaving in 2 weeks to travel around Ghana for 2 weeks and many of the other volunteers are going home. I am not comfortable going to these places without a group so I will have to see if any of the remaining volunteers are interested.

Thursday, I went to the school and worked with the 3-5 year olds outside. The teacher and I sang songs with the children. I enjoy the children's presence, but they can be  energy straining. Usually my three hours with the children goes by quickly, but today it dragged on. I thought I was just hungry because I forgot my lunch, but I think it was more than that.

At 12pm Yasmin and I ...