Day 5: Lima/Huancayo and cats

Today I woke up at 6am, excited but somewhat nervous about travelling. For one thing, I'd be completely on my own in a car full of strangers, travelling along roads where cars overtake at 100kph, while I could instead just stay in Lima safe with my grandparents. That though lasted about 3 seconds - I love my grandparents dearly, but I'd come to Peru on a different mission. So after some last-minute packing of nightgown and forgotten socks (I think there's still one hiding under the bed...), I had breakfast with Mamamama and Abuelo. Tio Alejandro turned up just as we were about to eat, saying that we had to hurry, so I wolfed down my bread and juice, said loving goodbyes to my grandparents, then we went with Veronica to get a taxi. Once Tio and I were in the taxi, Veronica said goodbye and went back.

I'll take a short break to write briefly about what I've encountered regarding taxis. Normally there are no complete seatbelts, or the rules regarding them are very relaxed (I was surprised when the driver insisted we put our belts on). There is little regard for other drivers - while Peru drives on the right, taxis overtake each other and drive in the left lane like nobody's business. Many drivers have a small figurine or picture of Jesus or Mary, I sometimes find myself praying for a safe journey. I think it sums it up when Tio suggested a different route, and the taxi driver asked "Do you want the quick route, or the safe route?"

After about 20 minutes, there we were at the bus station in Lima. Instead of taking a bus like last time to Huancayo, I'd be taking a 'collectivo', a car with four other passengers. Tio and the driver squeezed my bags into the boot, then I sat in the back beside two old ladies, and behind a young man who spent the whole journey listening to his music. Then at about 8.20am, I said goodbye to Tio, and we were on our way.

The journey was, thankfully, uneventful - I watched the landscape change as we drove further out of Lima, from urban housing to shanty towns to fields to mountains, and could feel my ears popping and my breathing change as we steadily went higher. At one point I dozed, and woke up when we stopped briefly for a toilet break in La Oroya. Other than that, I read my book, and politely answered the ladies' questions about me (I'm Marta, I'm from Miami, yes it is very sunny there, I'm visiting my aunt and uncle in Huancayo. I usually make up a story when I travel.)

Four and a half relatively short hours later, there we were in Huancayo. Rather than being dropped off at a bus station, as I'd originally thought, we were just dropped off on a street corner. I tried to call Juliana, the program director, but no luck. I texted her to tell her where I was, she texted back to say that she was in a taxi. So I waited. One of the ladies waited with me, since she was worried that my bags would be stolen (I'm so much paler than most people over here, anyone can tell that I'm not local, and foreigners are often rich). After 15 minutes she said that she had to go, so I waited a while on my own. I wasn't worried though, I knew that Juliana would come. I was slightly anxious about my bags, but I was opposite a bank, so I reasoned that I could wait in there more safely. Just as I considered this, a taxi drew up and Juliana came out. It was wonderful to see her again! She was so apologetic, she's been taking a volunteer to the bus station to go home just as she got my text, and came as quickly as she could, and her phone had run out of credit so she couldn't call me back. It didn't matter, I was just glad that she was there.

A few minutes later, we got out of the taxi, in a small quiet neighbourhood, and we rang the doorbell of the house where I'd be staying. I'd chosen to stay with a family, since then I'd get meals, have more opportunity to practise Spanish, and learn more about the culture.

The family with whom I'm staying seem lovely. Hilda is about 60 years old, very friendly, she told me to treat her as I would my mum, and her home as if it were my own. Her daughter Yesenia (Yesy) looks about 30 or so, I only met her briefly since she was on her way to collect her son from school. I later met her son, Juan-Jose, who's 12 years old. The family have a dog called Caramelo, two birds in a cage, and nine cats. I first saw two, then another, and when I asked Hilda how many she had, she said nine. Wow. It's a good thing that I like cats!

Hilda gave me some coca tea to help with adjusting to the altitude (I feel okay, though), then we had lunch of chicken soup, then some fish and chips and rice, and some corn on the cob that her sister had grown in her field, washed down with maracuya (passionfruit) juice. It was wonderful. Afterward I went to rest and unpack for a while, then Juliana came to take me to the office. There I gave her the donations - she's certain that the children who loved them (to all readers who donated, thanks so much! I'll put some pictures up when I get back to the UK, since I don't have my card reader here) - then I paid for my lodging, then she took me to the new volunteer house. She showed me around, then we went and bought cake before returning to the office. While munching on cake, I met two of the other volunteers - Sasha's from the US, and is staying with the family I stayed with last time (I'd have stayed with them again, but since most of them now live in Lima, I wanted to see what staying with another family would be like. I'll be sure to visit them, though!), and Oscar's from Sheffield. I gave him his ipod (he'd been robbed in Lima, his mum wanted to send him a new ipod, so she sent it to my parents' address and I brought it with me, since that would be more reliable than airmail), then we all chatted, then Juliana and I took a bus back to my new house.

I stayed a while talking with Hilda and Yesy (Juan-Jose was in his room - his room's right next to mine), then some visitors came over with their little girl. She has the exact same facial features and mannerisms as the character Karen from Outnumbered, she was adorable and made us all laugh. We all had some tea and bread rolls, then at about half 8 I started feeling tired, so I went upstairs to read for a bit before bed. I have a room on the second floor to myself, between Juan Jose's room and Yesy's room. There was a dool on the bed when I arrived, Hilda joked that he was my roommate. He's now sitting on a table in the corner of the room, in my mind I've named him Jaiyo.

I phoned Tia China for her birthday, it was lovely to speak to her. I phoned the house in Lima and my mum to say that I'd arrived safely, that I was with the family, and that I was happy. I'm really glad to be here again, I'm sure things will go well. I can't wait to see the children soon!