Round up before heading to La Hesperia

I went to see Felipe (the volunteer co-ordinator) yesterday and we had a little chit chat. I was supposed to be starting today but I pushed it back for one more day. The plan is to do 3weeks at one station and then 3 weeks at another. For those of you that are interested visit http://www.jatunsacha.org/ingles/home.htm - I´m going to La Hesperia until the 24th and then Jatun Sacha until 18th December - will be back in the capital just in time for my birthday :-)

Been here for two whole days now and the first thing I need to mention is the language barrier. I did Spanish with that Lunar bloke at school (some of you know who I mean!) up to GCSE and now I´m wishing that I carried it on. I feel like a bit of a tit and sometimes its really annoying not knowing how to say something. Don´t get me wrong, I´m getting by okay with my very basic Spanish but for example today, I went to the bus station to buy my ticket for tomorrow´s trip to La Hesperia. So, I´m stepping up to the ticket booth and start rocking the lingo........SLAP! No idea what she said. Nada. Nothing. I stood there like a melon for about 30s and decided to step out the queue. At this point I´m thinking ´Now what? Felipe has arranged for someone to meet me about a kilometre away from the bus stop and I´m not gonna be there. What the **** did she say?´ I was truly baffled cause I even pointed to the place I wanted to go to on a list stuck outside the booth. Still she denied me! I took a seat and like a proper tourist I pulled out my Spanish-English dictionary and worked out how to ask her if it was because the bus was full. Round 2, here goes: Head Butt (Chest Butt even) ! Didnt have the foggiest. Now shes looking at me like some degenerate and I feel like one! I was determined. Went outside the bus station and found some Non-latin american looking guy and asked ¿habla usted ingles? do you speak english? Result. He did. He told me it wouldnt be a problem if I just came by tomorrow and got my ticket before depature....I wasnt too sure and I was not going to wake up at 6am only to be splattered with some gibberish again. In the end, this guy got on his bus and I hung around the waiting area waiting for Felipe to return my call. After 5mins the ticket woman decided to come up to me and tell me basically the same thing that the bloke outside had told me...it was more reassuring hearing it from her.

On the flip side, I was in a cab at some point yesterday and when I told this cabby that I lived in London he - Mario - went off on one! He made me get out my phone and save his number. Then he went on to tell me about his cousin - Deigo - that has been living in London for 8 years and I got his number too. Mario wants me to hook up with Deigo when I get back home... For any of you that are feeling lonely his number is 07956846247.

I remembered walking past Chandani´s Tandoori during the day yesterday and was determined to find it again come hunger-strikes time. I needed to know what a curry in South America tasted like and whether it would be up to The Tank´s standard. Well, I can safely say it didn´t. I should´ve gone into the kitchen and cooked it myself. The place was packed and I was expecting some tasty food to remind me of ´da good sheet´ from home. It was so cheap $4 - just over 2 quid - for one curry and one naan and thats why it was packed. Will not be going there in hurry ... PS - ´Pump up the jam, pump it up...while your feet are stumping...and the crowd is thumping...something something....´ TUne! playing in this internet place right now.

My hostel is a bit dry. There´s a few Germans (i think thats what they are) and a few other random bods/groups. Will definately stay somewhere more lively when i finish volunteering. I know where the hustle n bustle is now and thats where I´m gonna be! The staff are friendly and there´s this security guard constantly walking up and down our street with his Rottweiler. Everywhere you go there are these security men...outside shops...outside ATMs...there´re not even the police. Its a good thing I suppose...visible presence makes you feel that extra bit safer.
(PS - this little runt just came up to me with her hands out and goes ´para comer...para comer...to eat´. She got blanked by everyone in here).

Today has also been a bit dry. Its some kind of national holiday and 9o% of the shops are closed...hardly anyone is roaming the streets. Came across a market though which was pretty cool. The usual wristbands, tattooing, nose/ear/lip/tongue/any-other-body-part piercings, cheap garms, bits of handicraft etc. I bought a jumper cause it gets freking cold here at night....didn´t think about that one when I was packing hey?!

I´m having some problems putting up pictures but will get round it soon. I´m not joking when I say that every button, every tab, everything I´m looking at on this screen - except what I´m typing - is in Spanish.

Got early start tomorrow......Going, going, gone.