Help The Aged..

Yesterday I spent my 35th birthday in Cusco. It´s too hard to write down exactly how my day was: more plastering in the morning interspersed with playing with the kids who attend the school. They are all between 4- 13 years and starved for attention, so when a few gringos are persuaded to play piggy back they act like all their Birthdays have come at once; to the point where you have to physically detach them from your legs when trying to go home. As the project involves building a toilet block, when current facility involves taking a walk to find a bush and I have to say one of the nice things about this project is the spectacular view of the Peruvian moutains rolling out in splendid silence in front of me as I spend a penny. The kids dont bother taking the walk and just pee away happily in the yard where they play, so you have to keep your wits about you when walking around. In the evening I was delighted, embarrassed and extremeley touched by the generosity of the Peruvian students who went to the trouble of cooking a traditional meal for the whole class in honour of my birthday. The project coordinator dropped over a chocolate cake and I had the best Birthday meal I can remember in a long, long time. The woman who cooked gave me a pair of earring s which remain my only present, and one I´ll treasure as it came from someone who really has nothing to give away. We wrapped up the night by going for a few beers and sneaky sambuca shot in a tourist bar and I´m struggling with the contrast of the easy lifestyle of the Plaza des Armas , bars, restaurants rich tourists, and the broken down shacks I see on the way to work every day just a few blocks away.