Monday, 8th March - Day 2 - Getting settled in

Marisol, one of the CCS organisers in Ayacucho, took us on an orientation tour of Ayacucho including another small village close by where nearly all the residents are some kind of artisan - sculptors, weavers and handicrafts.  The city of Ayacucho is built in a valley surrounded by the Andes so wonderful views from the top of a hill.

Marisol with a sculpture

Views across the city

Ladies knitting in the 'prison' market

Alpaca wool died with natural dies from plants and trees

This morning we had a really interesting talk on Ayacucho and its history and then went off to see all the different placements that we will be working in.  The Wawa Wasi is a tiny house with a back yard and in the yard there was a black sheep tied up and a few hens running around and also a couple of day old kittens and a litter of puppies.  At one corner of the yard, there is a small dark room, much like a small stable in which 8 little children were playing with the 'Mama'.  They all came running up to the gate on the doorway to have a look at us and when we left, they all shouted Manana Vikki - tomorrow, Vikki - so this is going to be my placement.  However, later that day we went to see the prison and it turns out that there are no volunteers at all at the prison at the moment and they need help badly, so it seems that I and the Australian girl will be going there tomorrow and possibly each week but also the Wawa on occasional days.  At the moment, we all just want to have a go at everything.  It is actually all quite amazing and I cant wait to get properly started.  We visited the market and other local artisan workshops - carpet weaving in amazing designs, mainly religious sculptures, pottery, embroidery  -  which were all really interesting.   The top picture is a view over the whole city from the top of a hill.  We had our first spanish lesson which was good and now off to town for ice cream with the gang!  There is a talent show at the prison tomorrow so that could be fun!