Life in Cusco was so much different for me during my teaching months compared to the months of June and July where I was in school and doing alot of sightseeing. I was settling in to my new profession in teaching and was finding that it was not as easy as I had thought! A 1 1/2 hour lesson actually took some time to prepare so I was busy most of the day! I had 4-5 classes/day and each was 90 minutes long. And the school required that every other Saturday, teachers would be required to have tutorial hours for the students that needed more help from 11-1. The weather was now entering into the "rainy season" so Sept and Oct were occasionally windy, cold and dreary. I was thinking ahead to the Christmas holiday and was not looking forward to spending it by myself! I would drop hints to my son, Peter, that he should come for a visit then and never dreamed that he would actually seriously consider it. So I was very shocked and pleasantly surprised when he sent me a few itineraries of scheduled flights to Peru! He would arrive on Dec. 26 and stay for 10 days! I was ecstatic! So I began planning and planning our excursions and trips! It would be a great Christmas!
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, I was invited to have dinner with my bosses at their home which was so nice of them!
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| Enny playing with their pet turtle |
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| Enny and daughter Nicole preparing a bird that was 1/2 chicken and 1/2 turkey(?) She's mixing a red marinade in the blue container. By 9PM, the bird was still not cooked through so she had to slice off pieces and fry them in a pan... |
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| Dinner table with Daniel in the middle, Enny on the right and son Netty. |
Christmas Eve at the Plaza de Armas there was a festive array of vendors selling all kinds of things from food to pottery.
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| When the rain came, they would cover their things with a tarp |
Peter's 1st day in Cusco on Dec. 26:
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| Peter at one of the Pollo vendors at the Mercado Wanchaq. I often bought chicken breasts here since it was very close to the school. |
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| Cow heads for sale. (I bought beef 3 times here) |
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| A popular Pub |
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| Peter behind the waterfall. |
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No animal control in Cusco either. Dogs were everywhere including running loose in the streets.
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(Most of the pictures of Peter's trip to Peru are on previous posts...)
When the time came to say Aloha to Peter at the airport in Jan., big "turtle tears" swelled up in my eyes. They were a combination of "I wish I was going with you, I miss my family, and I completely enjoyed having his company"!
By the beginning of February, and now having been in Peru since May, I was really ready to get out of the wet, cold, and dreary weather of Cusco, tired of living in the 3rd world, and was also missing my family! I was supposed to stay on at the school until the end of February, but I asked Daniel one day, " If you REALLY don't need me to stay, I'd REALLY like to go home!" He said he would think about it and get back to me which took about a week...he finally agreed that I could leave early so I booked my trip back to the US and couldn't wait to return to the US, visit my daughter and see my grandson who was already 3 months old!
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| Henry Wakefield Self at 3 months old |
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| Shea on her deck. It was cold but it was beautiful being on the river and so comfortable in their spacious, new home! |
Before I left Cusco, I had been deciding where I wanted to go to teach English next. My plan was to see the west side of the continent of South America and then make my way to the east. So the logical place for me to look for work would be Chile(according to my plan). I had set some resumes out and had an interview on Skype in December with a company in Santiago: Bridge Linguatec and was offered a 6 month position teaching Business English that would start at the end of April. I could spend 2+ months in Alabama with my grandson and daughter! And my son, Peter, would come for a visit while I'd be there, in April!
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| Peter and Wakefield; they communicated very well together |
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| Peter and Shea at the Rattlesnake Saloon is Tuscumbia, Alabama. Peter forgot to bring his ID so was not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages and was carefully watched the whole time! He managed to sneak in a few sips though when the "saloon police" were not watching him! |
