White Water Rafting

A week a ago Sunday, we went white water rafting. We had been trying to plan the trip for a while now and thanks to Marcin we finally booked the trip. However, due to a last minute sickness Marcin wasn´t able to come. Here we are in our wetsuits ready to start paddling.

Here´s the whole team suited up.

This is a picture of Tim in the water after he decided to jump in the freezing cold water to swim back to shore at the end of the trip.

Our guide was good and basically held the team besides Tim (seeing he was the only other one with experience). We enjoyed how our guide would wait to tell us about the people who died at certain passes after we actually accomplished the pass. You can see us paddling our way to shore after an exciting day.

Inti Raymi

The festival of the sun is one of the biggest festivals in Peru. It happens every year on Corinne's birthday (for those of you who are unlucky enough to have not experienced either one of Corinne's birthday parties or Inti Raymi, we're talking about June 24th).

The Inca's worshipped the sun and this holiday corresponded with the shortest day of the year. The fiesta and parties start about a week before.

We started off the week at the Grupo Cinco concert during the Fiesta de Huancaro. Here's us out to dinner with the professors before the show and a few pictures from the show.

And here's Jackie with a picture of Grupo Cinco. Carlos from Inti loves the band, so we figured we would buy him an autographed picture to frame for him.

We saw a number of children from Inti working the show (selling cigarettes). Here's us eating dinner with Rolando at the Grupo Cinco concert (one of the children from Inti).
Another night, we saw a laser show and fireworks in the plaza.

The night before Inti Raymi, there is a parade through the city that starts around noon and continues until late into the night. Everyone from Cusco comes out to party wearing their ponchos.
Inti Raymi begins at 9:30 am near Qorikancha (main ruins in Cusco). Hundreds of Cusquenans dressed in traditional clothing sing and dance waiting for the arrival of the Inca who comes out and sings to the sun and to the people. From there, they march to Plaza de Armas and then up to Sacsayhuaman (ruins overlooking the city). All along the way, there are more dancing, singing, and prayers to the sun.




The place was packed and it felt like a pilgrimage walking up to the ruins.
The most exciting part was when the Peruvians where able to overtake the police and watch from the rocks overlooking Sacsayhuaman. It was determined that people would be banned from watching the ceremony from the rocks (meaning far fewer people would be able to see it). Well, when the Inca came out, the people charged the rocks and overtook the area while yelling "Si Se Peude!" (Yes, we can!) It’s a common chant at soccer games. The police had no chance.
Here's us introducing Fluffanutta's to Inti Raymi

Here's our first attempt at adding a video to a blog . . . The ceremony was in Quechua so we didn't have a shot of understanding it, not that I would have been much better shape if it was in Spanish.

Anne´s Day Shopping

After spending the weekend buying things for Juliana and Mavel, we took Anne out on Monday. We met them at our apartment and her mom immediately began doing the dishes for us. She is so appreciative of everything that we are doing for her that she's looking for anyway possible to repay us.

At our apartment, we let Anne pick out some posters for their house. This was her favorite.
Just like in the states going shopping with a 15 year old can take more time than you would ever expect, but both Anne and her mom were very grateful.

We started out looking for shoes which took us to about 3 different stores, but we finally found a pair of sneakers and shoes for her. After that, we bought her a jacket, sockets, underwear, and jeans.
After, we moved on to Mercado San Pedro to buy food for the family. I can't possibly list all the food that we were able to buy for them, but we bought eggs, chicken, rice, spices, fruits, vegetables, pasta, bread, and much more. This is a family that lives off of soup alone and doesn't eat meat often.
You can't imagine how excited they were. We ended the day by getting a fruit juice at the market from one of their friends.
The next day, their mother brought us 20 empenadas to show her appreciation. Jackie and I had a few for lunch and then passed the rest out to beggars on the street during Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun).

Extreme Home Makeover - Peruvian Style

On Saturday, we took Juliana, Mavel, and their mother out to buy a few things. We started with new sneakers and shoes for each of the children and a new pair of sneakers for their mom who spends the entire day on her feet.

After, we purchased new jeans, winter jacket, gloves, and sweaters for each. After each purchase, their mother thanked us and gave us a big hug. We, also, over heard her thanking god a few times.



After putting on her new shoes, Mavel spent the next few hours staring at them as she walked. She skipped a few blocks in them too.

We took the 3 out to lunch and Marcin met us too. Mavel was looking for Alpaca (she had tried some of ours the last time we went out), but unfortunately they did not have any. We'll need to take them out again.


Marcin is in town visiting for two weeks. He spent an afternoon playing with the kids at Inti and had a great time. He came out on one of his only 2 saturdays to help move new furniture into Juliana´s house. Thanks Marcin!!!

The most exciting part of the day was getting them the new bunk bed, sheets, blankets, and mattresses. Stores in Peru maximize their space. The 8 by 14 foot store had about 50 mattresses in it stacked 20 feet high. The owner tossed the 4 mattresses down to me to catch and then we loaded everything onto one taxi and drove up the mountain to their house.

We had a bit of trouble putting the bunk bed together but hired a carpenter nearby to drill a few missing holes for one $1. He, also, fixed the door as well. Here's a few pictures and us celebrating with empenadas and coke.

Here´s a picture of Mavel celebrating her new bed!

Here´s a family photo:

Here´s the family going loco (crazy)!

The oldest sister Anne did not get a chance to go clothes shopping with us, so we decided to meet her and her mom on Monday since we only had to work in the morning due to the holiday. Stay tuned for the update.

Sponsoring Juliana and Mavel's Family

We are using some of the donation money to sponsor some of the poorest families at Inti. The first family that we are sponsoring is Juliana (age 14), Mavel (age 9), Anne (age 16), and their mother. We wrote about Juliana and Mavel a few weeks back on how impressed we were that they helped clean Inti all day without complaining.


Their older sister, Anne, works on a Collectivo all day and goes to school at night while their mother works all day selling empenadas. Jackie and I usually see her mother 2 or 3 times a week. She always looks tired, but always greets us with a big smile.

They rent two rooms (a bedroom and kitchen) that are detached in an old school building.


They have one light in the bedroom, no heat, no bathroom, and no running water (they use water from run off in the mountain).

They share one bunk bed between the 4 of them with only a single foam mattress on the top bunk. They sleep on the springs on the bottom bunk.

These are only facts about where they live and what they were born into, but certainly does not describe who they are. The more we are around the family, the more impressed we are.

Here's a few questions that we asked Juliana and Mavel, which will give you a much better idea of who they are. We've certainly learned a great deal from them. We are just starting to get to know Anne and their mother.

What Jackie and I will remember about them?
Their work ethic and positive attitude makes them unique.

We spent this past Saturday cleaning Inti with the other professors. Mavel and Juliana both volunteered to help and worked diligently for 5 hours without once complaining.

Impressed by how hard they worked, we took them out to lunch. Their excitement for chicken and ice cream was incredible. At home, there meal is usually soup, so we had to teach them both how to use a knife to cut the chicken.

What is your favorite subject in school? Both Juliana and Mavel's favorite subject is Math.

How many languages do you speak? Both Juliana and Mavel speak Spanish and Quechua.

What is your favorite game? Juliana likes soccer and volleyball while Mavel's favorite game is jump rope.

What is your favorite food and drink? They both love chicken (pollo) and ice cream (helado). Juliana's favorite drink is Coca Cola and Mavel's favorite is Inca Cola, which has even more sugar than Coke. I've been able to introduce Mavel to mustard too and since, she's introduced me to putting mustard on rice.

What is your favorite color? Juliana's favorite colors are purple (morada) and light blue (celeste) while Mavel loves the color green (verde).

What is your favorite book? Juliana's favorite books are Clifford and Dora the Explorer. Unfortunately, we were unable to get answers from Mavel for all the questions as she only attends Inti when she has homework as it is difficult for her to make the hour walk home at night.

What is your favorite day of the week? Juliana's favorite day of the week is Sunday, because she is able to spend the day with her mom going to church and helping her sell empanadas.

What is your favorite place in Cusco? Juliana's favorite place in Cusco is Qorikancha, ruins near the city center. Qorikancha is in the background of the picture of Mavel and Juliana.

What is your favorite thing to do at Inti? Juliana's favorite activity at Inti is cross-stitching.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Juliana wants to be a tour guide when she grows up and Mavel wants to be a lawyer.

Do you have a job? The two help their mother sell empanadas in and around Cusco sometimes.

Tim's Parents Visit

My parents were in town two weeks ago (sorry for the delay in postings) and we were able to show them around Cusco and travel to Arequipa for the weekend. They also visited Inti the first day and Mantay later in the week.

No surprise the children at Inti welcomed them with open arms. Just about all of the children gave my parents a hug. We spent the day giving them candy, making a collage of the most recent birthday party fiesta, playing cards, and reading with the children.






Averlino (a person with special needs sitting next to my Dad) won the game of Uno. He was so excited and the children gave him a round of applause.

Here's my mom reading with Joseth.


Here is the largest game of Memory that I've ever been a part of. Inti Memory is a little different. Instead of trying to find matches and then returning the cards to the same spot. The children added the twist of continually mixing up the cards as the game goes on and not necessarily showing the other players the card that they picked.


The children had a great time with my parents and have continued to ask about them since. Including Joseth demanding that I buy my father a regalo grande y caro (a big and expensive present) for father's day.

They were able to use some of the donation money to bring an additional 3 suitcases stuffed with over 700 vitamins (more than a year's supply), games, posters, and more Scholastic Spanish reading books. Thanks again for your support. These supplies were in critical need for Inti to be able to open its second location. At this point, your generosity has been able to fund the purchase of all the furniture, books, and games for the new location. Jackie and I only hope that we can be there to witness its actual opening (now scheduled for mid July).


My parents made a quick visit to Mantay where we were able to give each of the children that we work with a picture book of themselves. The children love looking at the pictures of themselves.

We also successfully converted all of the children to Red Sox fans by giving them hats and bibs. We've noticed that there are way too many Yankees hats here. However, when you approach them to ask about the team, they seem to know very little. The Yankees fans here are very similar to the ones back in the states.


We spent the weekend traveling to Arequipa and taking a tour of the Colca Canyons (noted by Peru as the deepest canyon in the world). We've heard for some reason that the rest of the world says that there is a canyon deeper in the Himalayas.

El Misti - a volcano that overlooks Arequipa . . .


Just another form a transportation in Peru . . .


Jackie soaking it all in . . .


Missing summer . . .

Fiesta de Santiago

We were busy this weekend helping Inti get ready for their opening of a new location in Santiago, but the most exciting news of the weekend is that we found one more jar of Ragu sauce, so we can have pasta again. It seems that Mega (the supermercado) buys one jar per location. We've scouted out 2 Megas at this point, so after we ration out this jar, we'll need to find a new supermarket.

On Saturday, we went to the market in Molino to help buy furniture for the new Inti location. Molino is one of the biggest markets in Cusco and has just about everything from pirated CDs to toys to household goods to fast food restaurants. About a month ago, we were able to get 3 keys copied for about $1.50. Not a bad deal - the only problem was not one of the keys worked. Anyways, its basically an outdoor Walmart. Here's a picture of the furniture section. The train tracks run through it, so when a train comes through the the market moves 6 feet to the left.



With the donation money, we were able to buy 2 bookshelves, 6 small tables and benches, and a long table with shelves, which will be the kitchen counter. I thought I had lost weight here, but when I was carrying the shelves, I ended up breaking the glass with my estomago (stomache). Once the Santiago location is set up, we will be sure to send pictures. After taking all of the furniture to Inti, Jackie and I returned to Molino to buy board games for the kids.

On Sunday, we got up early to help out for the parade in Santiago. Santiago is the largest neighborhood in Cusco and apparently this weekend was their turn for a fiesta. Ten children from Inti would be dancing in the parade. Well, most of the parades in Cusco remind me of the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade. A bunch of bands, music, random floats, and random people that your not sure whether or not they are part of the parade or just joined in. This one was pretty similar. Here's the weedwacker brigade finishing up.


The children worked hard and were extremely excited. Here is Alabado - he is extremely excited about his first parade.


It turns out that this was the shortest parade that I've ever witnessed (maybe a 1/2 a block with about a 1/2 mile of people in the parade. Anyways, the children were so excited that when we got to the Judge's table, they danced encore after encore even though nobody asked for one. Finally, Jackie and I had to round the children up and get them to keep moving. The announcer saying "Gracias, Inti Runakunaq Wasin, por bailar" for the 10th time did not seem to clue the children in that it was time to move on. Here's some other pictures from the day.







After the parade, we celebrated their success with ham sandwiches, chocolate, and soda (gaseoso - what they call it in Peru and I believe is a far better name).