Day 35: Madrid/London and home

Three hours of sleep and five films later (Harry Potter, Marley and Me, Black Swan, The King's Speech and Love and Other Drugs - I fell asleep halfway through The King's Speech, and the plane turned off the media a quarter of the way into Love and Other Drugs), we landed in Madrid. I got my rucksack, and got off the plane as soon as I could. I was fairly surprised that I wasn't sore or stiff, but I walked through security (I got frisked, joyous) and got to the gate just as the line was forming. There was enough time to buy some water and phone Mum (the price of water seemed extortionate - in Peru a bottle of water cost about 23p, here it cost about £1), before boarding the plane. I didn't mind not getting a window seat - I just read for the 2 and a half hour flight.

At 4.10pm local time, we landed in Gatwick. 20 minutes ahead of schedule! I got my rucksack, went through border control, then changed into clothes more appropriate for the rainy weather (typical! My travelling clothes tend to be an oversize penguin t-shirt and loose trousers, for the record). Soon I was waiting for my luggage to appear - and waiting. Soon it was clear that my cases weren't there, but I honestly didn't mind. I knew that they'd appear sooner or later, so I filled in a form (all 5 people who'd come from Lima were in the same situation, we assumed that since we'd arrived late in Madrid, the suitcases hadn't made the connection), then went through customs and into the arrivals area. And there was Mum - it was so wonderful to see her again after my month away. We hugged, then made our way to the car, where I'd tell her about my trip as we'd make our way back home, to where Dad and Christopher were waiting for me.

Day 34: Lima and goodbye

I felt quite sad that this would be my last day in Lima. I'd gotten used to being back in the house, to hearing the baker on his bike beeping his horn to sell his wares, to breathing in the humid air that fills me with childhood memories, to looking out of the window at the statue of the Virgin in the park, to watching TV with my grandparents. I got dressed quickly and joined them for breakfast. Then Tia Silvia told me the plan: she and Annabelle would be going with Tio Mañuco to a market (not much like the market in Huancayo, this reminded me more of the Sunday market we have at home) for their last-minute shopping, then he'd drop them off at the artesans' market. Then we'd have lunch, and take a taxi to the airport. Would I like to join them in the morning?

So we went - it was great to be able to see Tio Mañuco and Maria Gracia before we went home. And it was quite nice walking around the artesans' market, I spent most of the time mentally comparing prices (50 soles in Lima for a jumper, 35 soles in Huancayo for the same thing etc). One of the vendors mentioned that Annabelle and I were foreign, Tia said that we'd be heading back to Texas that afternoon. She later said that she comes up with a different story each time, I tend to stick with the same story (Martha the student from Miami. On a related note, sometimes people say that Mum and Tia Silvia don't seem like they're from Lima - Mum now says she's from Arequipa, and Tia that she's from Cajamarca. I guess the longer you spend living away from a place, the less you're seen as a person from that place by strangers).

We got a taxi back to the house, then Tia went with Tio Alejandro and Yessica to buy pollo a la brasa (I felt slightly guilty to be eating meat on Good Friday, since I'm supposed to be fasting) while Annabelle and I set the table (since there're so many of us in the house, it's not fair on Veronica to do everything for us, so we help out). Abuelo was feeling ill so he stayed in bed, but the rest of us shared the pollo a la brasa meal together. That was lovely.

The afternoon was a mad rush of packing - I'd nearly finished packing, but there were still a few last-minute items that needed to be squeezed in, and the suitcases needed weighing. Thankfully there were no issues there, and everything was packed. Then we discussed how we'd get a taxi: after many suggestions and a few disagreements, Yessica went out with Tia Silvia and Tio Alejandro to the main road to hail two taxis. The first one would take me and Tio, since my flight left first (40 mins before Tia and Annabelle - I thought this a little odd) - this arrived not long after, so Tio helped me put my cases in the car.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Mamamama and Abuelo. That was hard - who knows when I'll next see them? There's a quotation I often think of, that I saw in a Pokemon game: "'Goodbye' is the beginning of 'Hello'". That gets me through when I have to say goodbye to somebody.

Tio and I got to the airport with no hassle (he spent the trip talking politics with the taxi driver, I watched out of the window at Lima), then we got in the queue for my airline, and soon I bade godspeed to my suitcases as they disappeared out of sight. Tio and I saw Annabelle and Tia in their queue (I was with AirEuropa, they were with Iberia, hence different flights), then we went with Yessica to McDonalds. Tia and Annabelle joined us there, we chatted until my flight was called. Tia, Annabelle and I went through together - we said our goodbyes to Tio Alejandro and Yessica, then went through to customs. Usually I pay airport tax (about $35 or $40) at this point, but Tia explained to the guard that her ticket included airport tax, so he waved her through. Annabelle went with her - and I admit, so did I. I wasn't called back, so we carried on straight to security.

Ten minutes later, there we were in the lounge. I said bye to Tia and Annabelle, then went to my gate - the board announced the 7.40pm flight. 7.40pm? My flight was at 7.05pm... had I somehow missed it? I panicked a bit then - my watch said 6.30, so I should be okay... I asked at the desk, they assured me that it was the same flight, but it was a bit late. So why they didn't just put a sign saying 'Delayed' is beyond me. I wandered around a bit and found Tia and Annabelle in a cafe - we chatted a bit, then I checked the gate again. Nothing, so I went back and chatted some more. Then I went back - this time they were doing the last call, and people were in the line. So I sprinted back to Tia and Annabelle (not the easiest thing when you've a large rucksack on your back and are trying to not knock over other travellers), said goodbye to them, then ran back. Some minutes later, I was on the plane, and not long after that we took off. I had nobody next to me, so I stretched out a bit with my book and flicked through the films. Tia had given me earphones, so I spent the rest of the night watching film after film after film.

During my last trip, I thought a lot about my experience, and what had happened. This time, I thought a lot about my experience and what could happen in the future. Strange thoughts have been coming to me since I spoke with Sonia about the kids she worked with, thoughts about what I wanted to do. The best way I can describe my thoughts is that it was similar to falling in love for the first time - an awful lot of denial, a lot of what-ifs, a lot of doubts and uncertainty and reluctance to do anything, just in case feelings turned out to be something else. This felt completely different to falling in love, but my thoughts went down pretty much the same lines. Having talked to Mum and Tia Silvia a bit about this, I'm now considering working with projects like these - not just in the holidays, but as a career. I felt more 'real' there than I've ever done - I felt the same in 2009, but didn't think much on that then. There're still a lot of confusing thoughts in my head about this - what about my psychology degree, what about the life I'd imagined for myself in the UK? While I was in bed with fever a few weeks ago, I wrote a few things down in a notebook - most of them are doodles of cats in honeypots or story-characters dancing (my mind does strange things when I'm ill), but one page has written on it "At home it's about what the country can do for me. Over here, it's what I can do for the country." I don't want to forget that. I want to do more to help, whether it's with Makikita or with another organisation. A few friends laughed when I described the children as 'my kids' - but they are, I feel that they are in a way that I can't explain. I still need to think and talk a lot more about this, but this is where my thoughts are now. And where my thoughts were as I failed to fall asleep on the flight back home.

Day 33: Lima and the creative trio

The morning was a lazy one - we watched TV, did SuDoku, and went out to the park. I went out with Veronica briefly to the supermarket - there I bought the last-minute things I wanted to bring home, and a few things that I hadn't expected to buy but were too good to resist (e.g. 100% bee's honey - we saw it in a health shop, I couldn't help myself).

Then in the afternoon, Tia Gloria's friends Jessie and Carmen took me out for lonche - we chatted, reminisced about Tia, and laughed. That was good fun. Carmen gave me a notebook she'd designed herself, it's amazing - she's very creative. All three friends were creative - Jessie's a great cook, Carmen's a great artist, and Tia Gloria designed jewellery - they told me about their weekly trips to buy supplies followed by a pastry, that was lovely to hear about.

When I got back to the house, Abuelo and Mamamama were in bed, and Veronica was locking up. Silvia and Annabelle weren't around - they came in a bit later, saying that we'd been invited to dinner by Zari. First, though, we went to Church for the Maunday Thursday - unfortunately the Chruch was very crowded, and we ended up in a side-room watching the priest on a projector. The sound was terrible - Tia Silvia said she had huge trouble understanding what was being said, Annabelle and I didn't understand a word, so we left early and went straight to Zari's. She took us out for lomo saltado, it's a beef dish with rice and soy sauce. Even though I'm not a huge soy sauce fan, it tasted brilliant - I had a great evening.

When we got back to the house, I was still relatively awake, so I started my packing. Soon I was almost done, so I decided to finish the rest tomorrow.

Day 32: Lima and visiting

I was woken this morning by Tia Silvia saying that there was a phone call for me - I ran downstairs and chatted on the phone to Pilar, a good friend of my mum's. She came to pick me up at 10am and we went to a cafe in the Jesus Maria district - we laughed over juice and cake, thus passed a fun morning with her.

I got back to the house for lunch, then we watched more TV and did more SuDokus. At 4pm my aunts Rossi and Ruth were due to come over, so we went to the living room to wait. By 4.45 we wondered where they were, so Tia Silvia phoned - there was some misunderstanding in that they didn't think that they were to come over then, but Tia Ruth came over anyway. So we chatted, then watched the slideshow that Annabelle had made for Tia Gloria's Mass (the projector was broken in the church, so she couldn't show it in the end), then Ruth went home.

I went over to visit my mum's friend Rosanna, with whom I'd did work experience back in Year 9 (she teaches in a British school in Lima - many lessons are in English), and spent a while with her and her little children. Angelina and Gustavo are now 6 and 5, they're so sweet! We chatted, then played a game with the children while they ate - each person around the table had to sing a song, so they were treated to my rendition of 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary'. Lucky them?

When I got back to Mamamama's house (it's only a 3 minute walk to Rosanna's, she lives on the other side of the next-door park), I waited for my friend Fiorella to come over. She got a bit lost when she arrived in Pueblo Libre, but eventually she arrived with her aunt Norita - the three of us had gone to the rainforest two years ago with Nora's late sister Maye, and a Swedish volunteer called Emma. So we spent the rest of the evening reminiscing, laughing, chatting, and generally having a great time. Ah, it was lovely seeing Fiorella again - she's the daughter of the host family I stayed with in Huancayo two years ago, she's now studying in Lima and lives in Jesus Maria with her cousin. They had to leave eventually because Nora's mum was waiting for her back in Comas, which is about an hour's drive away, so we said our goodbyes, then I went up to bed.

Day 31: Lima and Mass

When I woke up this morning, it felt as though I'd never left Lima, and I sleepily wondered if the last three weeks had been a dream. Then I got up and started my day.

The day was largely a calm one - we all had breakfast, then watched TV, then had lunch, then moved to the living room where I did some SuDoku. I admit it was hard to get used to this, having spent my time in Huancayo moving about and not being sat in one place for too long.

In the evening was the Mass held for my Tia Gloria, who'd died exactly one year ago. Tio Mañuco picked us up and took us to the church (Tia Silvia had given me a beautiful dress to wear, so I wore that with a jumper of hers and my 'ceilidh-dancing' shoes), then the Mass began. I did the first reading - I hadn't realised quite how long it was, and after what seemed like an age of trying to not trip over words, I reached the end. My cousin Maria Gracia read the psalm, then Tia Silvia read the petitions before Maria Gracia and I did the collection. It all went really well. At the end of Mass the priest blessed me and Maria Gracia when we went to take the collection to him, then we stood in the entrance of the church while family and friends lined up to speak to us. I admit that I recognised some faces but not others, and by the 40th "Thank you, Tia" I was getting a little tired. Still, it was lovely that my mum's friends came to pay their respects.

Tia Silvia, Annabelle and I got a lift back with Tia's friends, then a neighbour Srta. Christina came over to talk. An hour later she went home, so we said our goodnights and went to bed.

Day 30: Huancayo/Lima and family

I slept fairly badly, so I was quite glad when my alarm finally went off. I threw my last few things in my suitcase, then took my stuff downstairs and waited for Juliana. She arrived at 7am - it was hard saying bye to Hilda and Yesy, who's been like family for the last 3 and a half weeks. Then Juliana and I got in a taxi, and arrived ten minutes later at the street corner where the cars to Lima were. There was one leaving in two minutes' time, so we put my stuff in, then I said bye to Juliana - she'd been a mix of friend and aunt to me, so that was hard too. Then the car was full (two men, two women - I sat between the other woman and the door), and we set off.

This journey was slightly more eventful - as we drove through the mountains, when we reached 3800m above sea level, I got hit by altitude sickness. So... on the plus side, the view at that height was wonderful. On the minus side, we had to stop for a few minutes so my stomach could leave its mark on the roadside. One of the other passengers got me some herbs to smell, that helped a bit, and the driver cleaned me up with an alcoholic rag (I briefly wondered if the line of 'appropriate contact' was blurred here, but by this point I was past caring), then he gave me a bag to throw up in and we carried on.

Five hours and three more throw-ups after leaving Huancayo, we pulled up in Lima. Tio Alejandro was there to meet me - one of Tio Mañuco's workers drove us back to the house. It was lovely seeing the family again, and seeing Tia Silvia and Annabelle, who'd come over from London. After a wonderful shower (Hilda's 'hot water' was very temperamental, and more often than not was cold - Mamamama's shower was amazingly warm), we ate lunch - Tio Alejandro and Yessica had brought over pollo a la brasa for me. Then I stayed with Mamamama for the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening, Tia Silvia took me and Annabelle out to Lima - we took the city bus tour, that was a wonderful three hours seeing the sights of Lima by night. We stopped off for a snack in the Hotel Sheraton, I felt rather posh! Then we carried on our tour, which included walking over a bridge without breathing so that your wish would come true, driving past the Palace of Justice, and seeing the sea. I had a wonderful time. Then we went back - Abuelo was waiting for us, and invited us for panetonne. I was quite hungry so I had a little, then went straight to bed.

Day 29: Huancayo/Ingenio and packing

I got to Juliana's house just before 10, and once all of the other volunteers but John had turned up (he was staying in this morning), we and Juliana got a taxi to Ingenio. It's about 10 minutes further than Concepcion, so it was quite nice seeing the familiar scenery. We stopped off briefly at Concepcion for ice cream - there's a dairy farm there where they make ice cream with just the cream from the milk, so that was an interesting but nice taste.

When we arrived at Ingenio, we walked around a trout farm. I'd seen one before in La Merced two years ago, but this one was a lot larger, and the size of trout ranged from the eggs and babies to ones as long as my arm. I fed them some pieces of my ice cream cone, they jumped up crazily trying to eat them. Then we found a stall selling pure honey, so we got some free tasters. I bought a honey chocoteja there to see what that was like - a prune covered in honey with nuts floating it, coated in chocolate. Heaven - later on I realised that eating chocolate was probably a very foolish idea, but hopefully walking and drinking lots of water would stop there being any bad effects. We then walked around a restaurant which offered views of some natural springs - unfortunately the path was closed for wet season, but the little that we could see was spectacular. Then we went to the restaurant next door to eat trout. It was great laughing with the other volunteers - Jesse joked that we should form a band, our first hits being "Straight from the Cow" (re. the ice cream from earlier) and "Canchis Canchis", a quechua term which Juliana told us translates as 'Hanky Panky' (I can add that to my quechua vocab, which currently has about 5 words in it). Afterwards we got a taxi back to Huancayo.

John, Danny and I went to the market in the afternoon - the Huancavelica market is about 1km long, this time we walked to the very end. We saw artesanal goods, and nearer the end there were animals (1 guinea pig for 20 soles) and computer games - I had a look, and bought a few gifts before we turned back. Then I wandered to the internet cafe while John and Danny went back to their house, then walked about town for a little.

At about 6-ish I went back to Juliana's - she wasn't in at first, so I waited about in her kitchen until she got back. I watched some TV until Jesse and Jenny came over, then John and Danny, then we all went out for pollo a la brasa to ccelebrate my last night in Huancayo. Juliana paid for me - she said that it was a gift from her mum, who was too ill to come tonight. Nelly came along too, with her brother Mario and her nephew Miguel. Hilda and Yesy joined us there (Juan Jose was with his dad for the evening), I had a really lovely evening seeing everyone together. We took photos, and exchanged gifts - Juliana got me a typically-patterned bag, her mum had gotten me a typically-patterned purse, and Hilda gave me a wall-hanging with an image of Huancayo on it. That was really lovely, I wasn't expecting that! I gave Juliana a 'Royal Wedding' mug and some earrings for her mum; for Hilda and Yesy, Mum had packed chocolates. Those went down really well.

Soon it was 9pm, and it was time to say goodbye. Bye to Nelly and her family, who'd been my family last time. Bye to Jenny, Jesse, Danny and John, the new friends who I'd have to leave so soon. Juliana said that she'd come over tomorrow to take me to where the cars leave for Lima, so I took a taxi back with Hilda and Yesy.

The next hour was spent frantically trying to pack everything - I hadn't even begun packing beforehand, but I'm generally a fast packer. Soon my suitcase and rucksack were bursting, but the room was empty apart from my pyjamas, clothes for the next day, and the doll I'd named Jaiyo was sitting on the bed where he'd been that first day. I said goodbye to Juan Jose in case he wasn't up in the morning - I'd be leaving just before 7am - then went to bed myself, praying that the journey tomorrow would be a safe one.

Day 28: Huancayo/Concepcion and concert

In the morning I went to the hairdressers, and 3 hours later walked out with slightly shorter partly-curled hair (the curls have now fallen out, but such is life). I stopped by John and Danny's on the way back - Juliana was there too, so we chatted until midday. Then we three volunteers walked into town and I bought a watch, then got a bus back for lunch at Hilda's.

After lunch, we'd arranged to meet up outside Juliana's house to go to Concepcion. I asked Yesy if Juan Jose could come too, so he came along. Jesse didn't come in the end because he felt ill, so only five of us went. After waiting for a while on the streetcorner for the bus, we ended up catching a taxi. Juan Jose and I ended up squished in the front seat for the half hour drive to Concepcion, but there was at least some lovely mountain scenery out of the window.

When we got to Concepcion, we waited a while for another taxi, which took us up to where there was a giant statue of the Virgin Mary. It was absolutely beautiful, we walked around and climbed up to the top of the statue, coming out of the top of her head. From there the view of the mountains was just stunning. We climbed down and saw small figurines of a battle fought here when the Spaniards came, then took a taxi back to Huancayo.

In the evening I went with John and Danny to the internet cafe, then John stayed there a while longer while Danny and I went out for coffee and juice respectively (the fruit juice with beetroot tasted as good as ever). Then all of us volunteers went round to Juliana's, and from there walked to the Plaza de Armas. There was a concert there, protesting against the planned construction of a mine in the glacier Huaytapallana (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Salvemos-el-Huaytapallana/181917309322), so we stayed for a while to watch. After that Juliana took us to a pub where a live band sang in English - that was good fun. I had a drink containing pisco sour (a national type of alcohol), lemon and aniseed tea - even though there wasn't much pisco sour in the drink, it was strong enough to result in me going red and constantly swaying to the music. Then Danny, Juliana and I got a plate of yuca to share, that was great. We left about two hours later - by the time my taxi got back to Hilda's it was nearly midnight, so I locked up as quietly as I could and went straight to sleep.

Day 27: Huancayo and "God is love"

I woke up feeling quite sad that today would be the last time I'd be with my littlies. We had a wonderful day though - first we played with jigsaws, then wooden bricks, then some of them rushed up to show me their toys and give me hugs. Then after breakfast, some special visitors came and we sang songs about how God is love, then they collected up all the yellow toys in their classroom, then a yellow glove puppet told us that God loves us very much. Then we had our next lesson of the day, rectangles, and played matching games of all the shapes we'd learned that week. Then came lunch, and after that Jenny went to talk to some of the parents while we stayed in the dining room and watched the Teletubbies. I spent most of the time with at least one child on my lap, and I was quite sad when the day ended. Edwin and Jenny had made me a card, and inside were printed all of the children's names. That was lovely! Ah, I'll miss my littlies.

In the afternoon I met up with Jesse and Jenny, and we mentioned the possibility of going to Concepcion the next day. Then we went round to see Danny (John was out), and the four of us visited Parque de la Identitad. That was good fun. On the way back we stopped by the shopping centre so Danny could get money out, then took a taxi back to Juliana's. The taxi driver took us by a complete different route, and I wondered for a moment if he was going to rob us, then he tried to drop us off on a different streetcorner. So I told him no, and gave him directions as to exactly how to get to Juliana's from where we were. I very much hope that this doesn't happen to the new volunteers while they don't know their whereabouts so well!

When Juliana came back from work, the other volunteers went out to eat, and Juliana and I went to run some errands in town. Afterwards, the two of us went out for broaster chicken (kind-of like southern fried chicken?) before heading back to our houses. That was a fun evening.

Day 26: Huancayo and hail

Today's shape of the day was the triangle. And a very important shape it is. I found myself thinking about the Grand High Triangle Lover from Sesame Street (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l_sN0P89S4&feature=player_detailpage), and wondered what he'd think of today's activities. We pegged up triangles on a skipping rope, then drew triangles in red crayon and punched holes in them with dead biros. Then in the afternoon Juliana came to film me with the kids - we did jigsaws, played with trains, and one of the boys put a ring of toys around my neck and said that I was a princess. How we laughed!

I had lunch at Nelly's house - it was great seeing her and the maid Dina again, who I hadn't seen since I was there two years ago. We ate with Nelly's father, then we went up to the rooftop. It was so strange seeing the room where I'd stayed before. It was really sunny, so Nelly brought me up a chair, and I stayed there for a while soaking up the sun. Then Hector came back from his office, so I went to say hi to him. Two minutes later, we saw that it was raining, so Nelly and I dashed to collect the clothes from the rooftop. Two minutes after that, hailstones the size of my thumbnail were falling. It was quite remarkable to watch. I stayed there a while waiting for the two new volunteers who were due to arrive at Nelly's that afternoon - an hour after they were due to arrive, I gave up and wandered to the internet cafe.

In the evening I went to Juliana's house - there I chatted with John, a volunteer who arrived on Tuesday (Daniel and I met him briefly before we went to Hualhuas yesterday), then we went to pick up the volunteers from Nelly's house. They're a couple, Jesse and Jenny, so we chatted on the way back to Juliana's. There Juliana's mum made a dinner of causa and some fruit salad for us all - me, John, Jesse, Jenny, Oscar, Sonia, and a new volunteer called Danny who also arrived today. It was Sonia's last day - tomorrow she and Oscar are off to Huaraz, then she'll go home while Oscar comes back - so we said goodbye. I said goodbye to Oscar too, since he'll come back when I'm already in Lima. It was a great evening chatting, then we all went back to our houses.

Day 25: Huancayo/Hualhuas and squares

Today we learned about squares. Unlike circles, squares have four corners, and four sides. Pretty much the same games as yesterday were played - some of the younger ones brought up circles instead of squares, which wasn't surprising. Then came the children's task of ripping paper up into little squares, and I'd stick them inside a big square, one square per group. This was much more successful - my little group of five all wanted to stick on the squares themselves, so with the proviso that I'd be the only one putting glue on the paper, I had no issue with this. We were all very proud of our square. Then came lunch (a few tears, a few refusals to eat, a few threats to sit at the 2 year olds' table), then an afternoon of jumping, building houses (I'm the official house-builder and jump-facilitator), cutting nails, doing up shoelaces, and brushing hair and teeth. The children leave the playschool very clean.

In the afternoon Juliana had said that her friend Daniel would take me to Hualhuas, a place known for its wool products. So Daniel and I set off - it was great chatting to him, and I had a nice afternoon. It was about a 45 minute journey by bus, which took us into more rural areas - I saw some pigs and cows munching grass on a train track, and we were fairly close to the mountains when we got off the bus. We looked around the artesans' market, then found a place where they sold alpaca wool, then walked around the town square for a bit before heading back.

I'd arranged to go to the cinema with Yesy and Juan Jose in the evening, but when I got there half an hour late, they weren't there. I called Yesy, no reply. I wandered around the shopping centre for a while, eventually she called me while I was munching some KFC - she was inside the cinema now, a horror film was about to start, would I be joining them? I'm not the hugest fan of horror films, so I said I'd see them back at the house. I wandered about town for a little, bought some churros, then got on a bus to Juliana's (I'd left my shopping from Hualhuas there earlier). I chatted to her mum for a while, then Juliana and Nelly turned up, and the four of us chatted until it got dark. Juliana's mum made us a dessert of peaches in jelly, she says that during Holy Week it's custom to eat this dessert in her hometown of Tarma. Then when it was dark, I grabbed my shopping, then headed back to Hilda's.

Day 24. Huancayo and circles

This morning we learned about circles. Circles are round, like wheels, they have no corners. So the littlies played a game of finding circles in the room - a few of them got confused and brought over their books or toys, others decided that batting together two squares was good enough. Bless! Then they drew over a circle in crayon, then rolled up tissue paper into balls and gave them to me to glue onto the circles. Well, that was the plan - the result was mainly strips of paper being glued on, some of the littlies getting glue on their faces, and I ended up with some in my hair. I still don't quite know how that happened...

In the afternoon I went round Juliana's - we chatted for a while, then I helped her translate a few things, then she said that Nelly, the woman whose house I'd stayed in two years ago, was still in Huancayo. So of course, I went over to visit. It was lovely seeing her again! We chatted over grapes and coca tea, then I went with her as she ran some errands in town. Then back to the house for a 'lonche' (afternoon-tea?) of bread rolls and manjarblanco. We had a lovely time, and she invited me over for lunch on Thursday. Then I hopped on a bus back to Hilda's - I managed to miss my stop while the conductor was getting my change, so I ended up in another part of Pio Pata. Fairly interesting, I just crossed the road and took a bus in the other direction until I knew where I was and could walk back. I'll probably explore that other end of Pio Pata another day.

Day 23: Huancayo and my littlies

It was so wonderful seeing the littlies again, I'd missed them since Thursday! We crawled and jumped and coloured in and sorted toys into piles of yellow, green and blue. The day's activity was parts of the body - stretch the arm, wave the leg, show your middle finger (that one always makes me laugh). Ah, my littlies! After they ate their lunch, we went upstairs to the playground. Health and safety would have a field day here: concrete floor, relatively low wall. But the children were happy playing in the sun; chasing, going on the slide, on the seesaw (although little Allison fell off and cried).

After lunch, I did a bit of work at Juliana's, then internetted (I've somewhat given up on the idea of getting my coursework done here, it's kind of hard to concentrate on writing a report when there're trucks hurtling past every few seconds) then at 5pm met up with Mum's friend Doria. We had a great evening, We went for milkshake and cake in town (she invited me) and we chatted for a good hour and a half or so, until we saw it was getting dark. Then she put me on a bus, and I headed back to my house. I chatted for a while to Hilda's mum, who tells such wonderful long stories, then went for a relatively early night.

Day 22: Huancayo and elections

In a way it feels like I've been in Peru for less time than three weeks, and in a way it feels like I've been here for longer.

I went for a walk in the morning, just around town. It was fairly sunny, but I was still wrapped up warmly since I don't want to risk getting ill again. Then I met up with Yesy and Juliana for lunch in a seafood place - I dislike seafood as a rule, so I got ceviche (raw fish left to cook in lemon juice - it's quite nice, if very lemony). The three of us then went to visit Oscar and Sonia for a bit, then back to Juliana's to watch the prelim results of the presidential elections.

As Hilda later explained to me, voting closes at midday, and the results of the polls are shown at 4pm (not the actual results, although Yesy said that there's a very small margin of error). If nobody gets more than 50% of the vote, then a furhter election is held later on between the two most popular candidates. So... in early June, it'll come down to an election between Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13027410)

In the evening I went out with Juliana and her friend Daniel - we ate hot dog and chips - 'salchipapas', it's called over here. On a side note, did I mention how cheap food is here? A good plate of salchipapas (I couldn't finish them all) in a cafe in the shopping centre cost the equivalent of 1.75 pounds or so. After dinner, we saw Rio in the cinema, that was good fun. We smuggled in drinks (strictly speaking we can't bring in food from outside of the cinema - there are attendants to check bags for food and cameras, but so far I've been lucky), at one point in the film mine fizzed out of the bottle and the people in the neighbouring seats turned to stare - joyous... other than that, I really did have a great evening.

We came across Hilda and Yesy while trying to get a taxi back, so the five of us got a taxi together - Juliana and Daniel got off outside Oscar and Sonia's, then the rest of us made our way back to the house.

Day 21: Huancayo and a reverse-day

This morning I woke up just after 8, feeling ready to greet the world. I'm still on antibiotics for the next few days by order of Hilda and Mum (she rang twice yesterday when I texted her to say I was ill), so after breakfast I went out to the pharmacy to stock up on meds. For some reason most people here buy individual tablets, so I wasn't able to get a complete box, but I was able to get enough of everything except for paracetamol, and that I have in my first aid kit anyway. I ended up in a different area of town while searching for the pharmacy, on a side-note there I saw for the first time a statue of the Virgin Mary. I wonder if she's not venerated quite so much in Huancayo as in Lima? Or if their veneration is shown in other ways?

I got a call from Tio Alejandro's girlfriend Yessica, to say that she was in Huancayo, and would I like to have lunch with her? So after finishing my laundry and quickly checking my emails, I waited for her in the house. She called just after 12 to say that she was nearby and couldn't find the house - in all fairness you can't see it from the road - so I went outside, and saw her in a taxi by the park. It was great seeing her!

From there, the day was almost the opposite of my first Saturday in Huancayo back in 2009. We went to the Parque de Identidad, a beautiful park of statues and a favourite haunt of couples (we saw a newly-wed couple still in their dress and suit), where we saw some people in their costumes doing dances typical of the Jauja area. We climbed up a 'for children only' area, and the park keeper blew a whistle at us until we came down... Then we went to a small artesans' market in the park, where Yessica bought us both necklaces with our star signs on them (she's Virgo, I'm Sagittarius), and I bought a lovely jumper that I've been wanting for a fair while.

After that, we got in a taxi to her house - she lives about 5 minutes' walk from Nelly's house (Nelly being the head of the family I stayed with in 2009), and her house overlooks the orphanage where Oscar works, the one that I visited with Juliana. Such a small world! We had lunch with her mum, a really funny woman who insisted that I come back even after Yessica returns to Lima on Monday. Then Yessica took a short nap while I watched TV, then we went to the zoo by bus. The bus was quite small - I was reminded of Hilda's cactus, which is just outside the front door: it's bent over in a strange shape, with the top of it brushing against the ceiling of the porch area. Get rid of the spines and change the colour, and that's me on a bus. Many of the people who live in the mountains are short compared to me - Juliana's fairly tall here, and I'm easily another 2 inches taller than her. Occasionally I have to stoop down quite a bit to enter a doorway of some of the buildings here. I'm digressing, so I'll get back to the day with Yessica.

The zoo's improved quite a bit since I was last here, in that the animals now have more room to walk and climb. There were some leopard-like felines the size of domestic felines, and I saw 'Paddington Bear' and thought of my uni friends. Then we went for anticuchos, Yessica told me afterwards that I'd just eaten heart (I'm almost glad I didn't know this before eating them, I'm not a huge fan of the idea of eating organs for some reason), followed by picarones (doughnut-shaped, but with a nicer taste) and a type of chicha typical of the mountains. I say that whis was a backwards day, in that in 2009 I went with the other volunteers to the zoo first, then to the park.

Yessica went with me in a taxi back to my house, where I called Juliana (I'd missed a call from her in the afternoon). She said that she was in the cinema - oops! On a side note, of the times I've been to the cinema in Peru, not once have I seen a 'Turn your phone off' advert, and many times someone has a phone conversation while I'm trying to watch the film. I'll give her a ring later, hopefully tomorrow we'll do something.

It's 7.30pm now, and I have ten minutes left before my time in the internet cafe runs out. It's a 3 minute walk to the internet cafe from Hilda's house, so I felt perfectly safe, even though it's dark now. I quite liked walking in the evening here: there's a small party outside a neighbour's house, with music and neighbours sitting around and lazily drinking. There're children playing ball games in the street, and mothers chatting in the park while their children chase each other. When I was in Lima when I was younger, Mum and I would often go to the park near my grandparents' house, sometimes with my cousins. There we'd play, or run, or I'd do handstands, and just enjoy breathing the night air, before praying at the statue of the Virgin before returning to the house. I thought about that as I watched the children play, and thought how much I enjoyed those evenings in the park.

Right, I'll pack up in a bit, then take my second dose of antibiotics before bed. I feel nearly-fine though, hopefully I'll keep recovering.

Day 20: Huancayo and bedbound

I couldn't get up this morning. I heard my alarm go off, but after turning it off I couldn't get up. At 8.15 Hilda came to check on me, I was able to get out of bed and open the door for her, but she took one look at me and sent me straight back to bed, and offered to ring Juliana to say that I couldn't work today. I just felt too ill.

I was able to get down for some bread and camomile tea, then went back to bed. When I woke up, Hilda had bought me some antibiotics from the pharmacist - an hour after taking them, I felt more alive, and I could speak again (my throat had packed up on me). I spent the rest of the day sleeping and doodling cats with wings, and reading and even trying to do some revision! At one point I was woken up by a band playing outside, while usually I love the music of that they play, today I just groaned and tried to get back to sleep. I ate about half of lunch, then slept some more until Hilda came with more medicines. 3 tablets cost about 1 pound in total - I had a flashback of being about 11 and having very bad sunburn, and Mum wishing that she'd thought to bring calamine lotion since many healthcare products are expensive in Peru - but they're really effective. By 7pm I felt almost fine, and stayed reading a little more until I fell asleep.

Day 19: Huancayo and radio

I spent most of the night awake, sneezing and hearing the dogs outside (I don't think I mentioned the dogs here - there are so many strays here, Sonia and I seriously wondered whether there are more dogs or internet cafes here). To that end, I wasn't feeling too great when I went to the playschool, but it was still a good day. The littlies were trying to get from one end of the room to the other using only two mats, the idea being that you lift up the first one and put it in front of the second one - many of them picked up the first mat and put it down in the same place, then just hopped between the two mats. Ahh!

In the afternoon I went into town with Juliana, we mainly just browsed. Then I went with her to her job at the radio station - it was fairly interesting seeing how the controls worked, and from where she gets her source material. Afterwards we went for pollo a la brasa - it was great chatting over a meal that we both love. Through the windows we could see the main square, and there were some concerts in honour of the forthcoming elections.

I'll quickly explain the elections over here, as I understand them. Each person returns to their hometown to vote for the individual they wish to be president, and of the other elects of that party, who they wish to be in congress. There're concerts and bands and many many flyers and billboards everywhere with the faces of the presidential and congress elects, Juliana said that by sponsoring concerts they hope to get in the votes of the young people. Mum told me that in Peru everyone is obliged to vote, otherwise they could be fined. I think that makes sense, since then the president should in theory represent what the people want. The elections are on Sunday 10th, so a lot of people will be coming back to Huancayo soon to vote.

After that I went straight back to the house, knitted a little more, then went to bed.

Day 18: Huancayo and research

Edwin was away for most of the morning, so it was just me and Jenny until just after lunch. So I got the oh-so-fun tasks of fetching stuff from the kitchen and emptying potties as well as playing and trying to get the littlies to eat. We played a matching-cards game - at one point Jenny's mobile rang and she took the call, so I stepped in with "Where is the partner of the hippo?" while fifteen 3 year olds were jumping out of their seats to show me. Bless them! Lunch was fairly normal . one boy cried because he didn't want to eat his caomte, so I mushed it into something vaguely resembling a cat, which helped a bit. Another girl cried because she didn't want her banana - I tried making it into shapes, singing, ignoring her, the aeroplane game - then she threw up. I felt quite bad then. Afterwards we went back to class, where I stuck in more worksheets while two of the girls 'helped' me until it was time for me to leave.

I was planning to go out to town with Juliana, so I left the house straight after lunch and went to the internet cafe first. I ended up spending all afternoon there, chatting and working and researching. Story short, there's a lot of poverty here, especially among families of disabled children (a cause very close to my heart) so I spent most of the afternoon researching the laws and statistics of the region. I was quite disappointed with how few useful things I could find. I stayed internetting until about 7pm, then gave up and went back to the house.

Day 17: Huancayo and playing games

This morning we raced to build towers and train tracks out of duplo, then we did our stretching exercises before lunch. Somehow I've unofficially become the one to wash the children's hands before lunch - it's fine until the children who claim that they can do it themselves come along. Cue about a minute with the soap, then much splashing of water - we all end up slightly wet. I just try to not laugh while hurrying the little ones. At lunchtime the teacher for the class of 2 year olds was ill, and only the aide was present, so I helped out there instead. The little ones just sat and munched their fruit - a few times the aide shouted at them for not eating fast enough, and a few of them cried. I missed my cheeky 3 year olds, plus I like how the teacher Jenny can convey authority without shouting. I felt bad for the 2 year olds. After lunch I stuck a few worksheets in the homework books (I asked Jenny what I could use to spread the glue with, she looked at me blankly, so I used my finger), then jumped on the bus back to the house.

In the afternoon I went with Juliana to the park again - this time after giving out the remaining sweets, Juliana went to talk to some of the helpers about renting out another building for the children who aren't supported by the large company. I stayed on the grass playing clapping games, running games, volleyball, and talking - I'd forgotten how many questions the children ask! Questions about my family, about the necklace I was wearing, about the scar on my wrist, about my hair, about my individual friends... it was great fun, though. I didn't want to leave when Juliana said that it was time to go! We stayed a while longer talking to the mother of three of the girls - her brother rented out a nearby house next to the park, she'd ask him if he'd be willing to let it to Juliana to use for the children. I hope that he says yes.

In the evening I went round Gustavo's again - I chatted to him and Michelle, and we went for pollo a la brasa. Then we saw the film 'Rango' - it's hilarious, so I didn't at all mind seeing it again. It was Michelle's last night in Huancayo, and she and Gustavo would be going back to Lima late that night, so I said my goodbyes and took the bus back to Hilda's.

Day 16: Huancayo and old faces

I was quite surprised to not feel at all sore this morning, since I don't often hike. I got on my bus, and a morning playing with the little ones was pretty much all that was needed to make me feel good again. We coloured in flowers, raced to put pegs on a washing line, counted to five using our fingers (when Jenny asked everyone to show their middle finger, I nearly burst out laughing at the sight of sixteen 3 and 4 year olds waving their middle fingers about), and sang the teapot song. I love the kids.

In the afternoon I went round Juliana's - she was surprised that I'd tired within an hour of hiking. Then we talked more, and I learned that when she did the hike, their tour guide had made sure that they kept together, and they'd gone along a near-flat road to the foot of the glacier, and only those who were really fit had gone on to climb. What we'd done was take a route that would've lef straight to the summit. She wasn't happy at all with the story I told of our tour, and I soon felt better about it.

Then we both got on a bus with a box of donations, and got off near the centre where I volunteered two years ago. We walked over to the park - then the children came. Children aged 8-16 came running from all directions - some of them I recognised from last time I was here! It was so wonderful seeing them (the centre's been taken over by a large company, so while the children get more help, the charity I'm with can't work there anymore) - we gave them some donations that one of the previous volunteers had brought, and the sweets that I'd brought. We could only stay a short while, then we headed back into town.

I got in touch with Michelle, my friend from back home who'd come with me last time - she's in Peru now, so we arranged to meet up. I turned up at the house I stayed in last time, where she is now (she's engaged to Gustavo, the son of the host family who became like a brother to me) - it was strange seeing her so far from home, strange to see Gustavo for the first time in 2 years, and strange to be in the house again! It was all great, though - we chatted, then went out for a meal (Burger King - it's about half the price as it is at home, and tastes the same) with Gustavo's grandfather. We had a great evening.

Day 15: Huancayo and a not-to-plan hike

All the signs pointed to a bad day. Being the superstitious person I am, I should've realised this and not been so disappointed when things turned out not-so-well.

Firstly, I'd had little sleep, and kept waking up every few hours. In the morning, I'd agreed to meet Sonia and Oscar at 7.40 outside a particular building - I got there at 7.50 due to leaving the house slightly late and having to wait for a bus. Then Oscar phoned - they were already at the tour agency building. So I started walking down that road - but I went the wrong way, and had to wait ten minutes for a taxi. Then Oscar phoned again - they were on the bus, waiting. Eventually I reached them, so I got on the bus. Still, it was another 30 minutes or so until we set off.

Our tour guide, Reese, spoke of numerology, of spirituality - I initially liked him, since I'm really interested in that sort of thing. We stopped off at a shop to buy bananas and coca leaves (I was reminded of a t-shirt that I got when I was 16, translated it said "The Coca Leaf is NOT a Drug") to help with the altitude. Then came our first hurdle - the bus got stuck in some mud. Even when we all got out, it wouldn't budge. Some locals came along with a spade to dig the bus out, but even then it could only go backwards. 20 minutes later, Reese came and gave us two options, either we could return to Huancayo, or we could take a different route up to the top of the glacier. This would take 4 hours each way. He then added that if we took this route, we could come back to the bus more easily. This made me agree - a 2 hour hike would be difficult, a 4 hour one impossible, but if there was the option of returning, then I was up for trying.

So we walked - Reese had said that we'd all walk together, but he set off quickly while we 11 hikers stretched out over about a half-mile of road. We walked up the road, then into some countryside, then past a trout fishery, then up into the mountains. It was getting relatively steep, and I started to feel ill - I'm not great with altitude change. Then we crossed a river, then struggled through marshland, and scrambled up a few rocks, then climbed up a hill. About an hour in, after many short rests, sweets, coca leaves, puffs of my asthma inhaler and some energy drink, I had trouble breathing, and soon I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep this up for another 3 hours. By this point i'd fallen right to the back of the group - Oscar and Sonia waited for me, and when I reached them we saw that I couldn't keep going. So Sonia went to fetch Reese. Ten minutes later neither she nor Reese had returned, so Oscar went to have a look.

So there I was, sitting alone on the mountain side, overcome with exhaustion. I've had my fair share of lonely times, but with not even a cow or sheep in view, the five minutes I spent alone on a mountain ranked among the most lonely.

Eventually Reese turned up, he spoke to me for a bit, admitted that it was a tough hike, and said that he'd get the group to come back and we'd go back. I argued that that wasn't fair, he said that the group would travel together. So he went back to fetch them, and soon we were back together. We went back the way we came, then when we crossed the river, Reese had another suggestion. It would take the same amount of time, he said, to take another route around the mountain to a town, as to go back to the bus. He took my rucksack for me, said that I should take as many rests as needed, and tell him if I needed to stop - then he walked off as quickly as before.

I spent most of the walk up - not around, up - the mountain with a Peruvian-American called Charlie, he was good about me needing to rest every few minutes. The views must've been stunning, but to be honest I was too busy trying to walk without collapsing. I'd have taken photos, but my camera was in my bag which Reese had, and he was long gone. At one point I realised that my inhaler was in the bag too, and panicked a little. Eventually after an hour, we reached the top of the mountain - this had involved more climbing and stomping through marshland, which I can just about do when I feel fine, and can barely manage when I'm exhausted. We walked a little along the top of the mountain, and finally began the descent. We could see the other hikers, and Reese was about a half-mile in front of us - so much for the group staying together. My breathing eased up on the descent, and fifteen minutes later I was almost back to normal.

The walk down the mountain was quite fun - Charlie and I talked in English and Spanish, the views were stunning (I wished then that I'd had my camera) - patches of sun hitting the mountains, streams trickling down the mountainside, little clay houses, children helping their mothers collect the corn from the fields, a youngster hauling in a batch of fish with a small net, a herd of llamas walking past us while their owner brandished a stick at them - it was quite good. A few times we got confused when we came to a fork in the road and had to ask locals which way the young people had gone, and a few times we had to walk right by the edge of the cliffs when a truck went past, but other then that the next hour and a half passed quite smoothly. By this point I was quite hot though, since I'd wrapped up warm expecting to be on a glacier.

4 hours after we'd set off, we got back to the bus - by this point the patch of mud it had been stuck in had become part of a mudslide - we could see the mud streaming down the hill off the side of the cliff - and at one point we had to move out the way of a falling rock. That was quite exciting, if a little nerve-wracking! Then finally, I was back in the bus. I felt exhausted, rotten that I hadn't been able to complete the original hike, and worse that the rest of the group had had to change plans too. And quite angry with Reese - I almost wish I'd told him that.

Half of the group got off the bus in Huancayo, the rest of us carried on to a restaurant. The proptions were absolutely enormous - Sonia and I shared an individual trout dish, and there were leftovers. There was a live band playing, Charlie gave them a message to read out, welcoming us the foreigners to Peru. I felt almost embarrassed.

At about 5pm we got back to Huancayo - I stayed in town a little longer, then took a taxi back to my house - Juliana says that the safest taxis are 242424 and 212121, so I had to wait a while until a 242424 came along. Then after a quick email-check, I went back to Hilda's house, munched a little on bread, then fell asleep almost straightaway, still not feeling too great about the day. At least I tried, though.

Day 14: Huancayo and a bright sunshiny day

The sun was shining, the clouds were drifting softly over the mountains, so I decided to go for a walk. I walked into the centre of town, then decided to walk a bit further to the shopping centre. I spent the morning wandering around, enjoying an ice cream while walking in the sun. Then I walked back in time for lunch. On the way back, a gentleman stopped me, and ranted about one of the president elects. He then asked me who I'd vote for, I said I didn't know, he ranted some more and spoke highly of another candidate, and said that everyone should vote for that person, didn't I agree? I just said that I didn't know, he ranted some more, then shook my hand and kept on walking. I walked back to my house feeling slightly dazed.

In the afternoon I went to Juliana's house - she's feeling a lot better now. I did a bit of admin stuff, then Oscar and Sonia turned up, and we discussed plans for tomorrow. They're thinking of going to the glacier Huaytapallana - Juliana says it's a 2 hour hike each way, and the glacier looks absolutely beautiful. We talked it over, and we agreed that we'd all go tomorrow.

So... I've packed my rucksack with energy drinks and bread rolls, and I've borrowed Juliana's hat and gloves, and I have all my warm clothes. Hopefully tomorrow'll be a good hike.

Day 13: Huancayo and much red paint

Juliana had said that this would be the last day she'd take me to the playschool, and after that I'd have to take the bus by myself. So at 8am, I waited. And waited some more. At 8.15 I went to wait outside since it was sunny, then at 8.25 I walked to the corner where we take the bus and waited some more. Eventually she called at half 8 - she was ill with flu, could I go and come back on my own? So I waited some more on the street corner until a bus came by - it ignored me. So did the second bus, even when I stuck my arm out. When the third bus came I stepped a little into the street so it had to stop - and finally I managed to get to the playschool just after 9.

Today we worked by rolling on mats, and jumping and crawling on cushions. Then we painted pictures of apples red - somehow the little ones ended up with paint in their hair (even getting it off their hands was a challenge), and I got paint up my arm (Hilda later worried that a cat had scratched me). At one point some the little ones noticed the scar on my wrist and asked how I got it - I told them that I'd been in an accident while playing in the road, even though my mum had told me to not play in the road, so for this reason they should always listen to their mothers (the truth is that I broke my arm while on my skateboard, but that seemed a bit less exciting). Then came lunch - by the end there were three children who hadn't finished, so Jenny asked me to stay with them. When they'd finished, we made our way to the classroom, then two of them ran the other way up the stairs. Joyous. A few minutes later they got bored and came down, then we went back to class, where I read a book about trains and planes until it was time for me to go.

In the afternoon after lunch, I did some laundry, then knitted in the sun. Then knitted downstairs. Then just knitted in the kitchen. I was tempted to go out, but the weather was on-off rain and sun, so I just stayed in. I went to the internet for a bit, then in the evening went to the park with Yesy and Juan Jose. The presidential elections are in a week's time, so there's lots going on, and one of the congress elects was talking in the park. We watched for a bit to see if anything else would happen (there've been concerts and parades and typical dances in honour of the elections), but when it was clear that nothing else would happen, we went back to the house.