Kyra was a kindergarten teacher in Australia and her friends were happy to help buy not only food, but also school supplies for the children of Chahuay. Henry did all the work of shopping and bargaining for what we bought for the 75 children of Chahuay. The total for all of the school supplies came to only $85 USD.
Today I was woken up by the sound of construction out my window. The past few weeks, the obnoxiously loud construction out my windows has woken me up every morning and distracted me from just about everything all day long. Sunday was the only day they didnt work. Even all day Saturday was fair game. I woke up this morning with the realization that I have lost my one day of peace and quiet.
I have to get out of this apartment. This will be a four story building, which means that soon it will not only be the sounds of cutting rebar and mixing cement right outside my windows. It will be construction workers up at the level of my second story bedroom and living room - then looking down into my bedroom and living room. Ive started keeping the curtains closed all day, which makes my room so dreary.
Also, the noise from the construction has driven away the birds I used to watch outside my windows. No more Sparkling Violetear hummingbirds, blue and yellow Tanagers, Flower Piercers, Crowned or Golden Billed Saltators. Bird watching got me through the first
Every time we go to a village, we notice that more and more people are wearing masks and also getting better at social distancing. People in Peru have adapted to all of the new Covid protocols pretty well.
ten weeks of quarantine, back when I really couldnt leave the house. Back when police and military were allowed to arrest anybody who wasnt leaving the house for food or medicine. Back when only pharmacies, grocery stores and markets were open. Back when I could be arrested for hiking up to the Temple of the Moon.
Its much easier to leave the house for a hike now and even possible to leave Cusco to go for a hike in the Sacred Valley. Still, I dont have a job to go to every day and as cases of Covid rise in Cusco, I want to spend as much time at home as possible.
This Saturday I am going with the rest of the Covid Relief Project team to the of Chahuay. This is our fifth day taking food to families in need and every time I get increasingly nervous about the risk of taking the virus with us from Cusco. None of we have visited have had any access to a hospital, clinic or pharmacy. We absolutely cannot expose any of these people to the virus. Our efforts to help cannot cause harm.
The kids all loved their coloring books and colored pencils, but the biggest smiles were for the man.
Today I went to meet Yesi, the accountant from the trekking agency I used to work for. She helped me though all of the paperwork to get my permanent resident card and work visa and has been unfailingly helpful since I started work there last September. Since she called me at the end of June, to tell me that my last day of work would be June 30th, I have been waiting to hear if is actually totally bankrupt or if they just have to stop paying everybody for a while.
I had been the last employee left, working half time in April, May and June. Then, not working at all in July. After talking with Yesi, I called the boss, Saul. He reassured me that he would be able to hire me back part time in September. I learned to live on half of my usual salary April through June, so even at part time, I can get by financially. However, he always sounds so optimistic when I talk to him that I really dont trust him. He reassured me all through March and April that August would back to
Yesi had both good and bad news for me in terms of my health insurance. Since Im still technically on contract, even if Im not being paid at all, she still has to pay for my health insurance. Having health insurance during a global pandemic is a very, very good thing.
