January Shinnanigans

 News bulletin from the mountains:

• We now have two new little boys here at AW - Franco (6) and his brother José Carlos (8). We aren't sure of their backgrounds but they are taking a while to settle in, with bed wetting, chores, and are really clingy to me and Tanya but poco a poco they're learning the ways and rules. 
• A couple of nights ago, Anastasia and her four children left for a months trip to her home town Livitaca. Will really miss them, we're short on girls and Carmen Rosa and I had just created a new game: I wear my Dad's big green and blue fleece from Inglaterra and she climbs in before I zip it up so I look very heavily pregnant and two little feet stick out the bottom. Then we just walk around like this for awhile - me cooking, feeding the ducks, sitting, talking to the neighbour, and her almost asleep but every now and again she unzips to see where we are.
• Project Trust have come and visited us, kindly paying for a GREAT meal in Tipón and a cake slice in San Blas. It was really good to see them and have been really encouraging. They were stunned with the scenery here, reminding us of it again too! Funny how you can get accustomed and used to things.
• Giardia has been a problem :/ the doctor said next time just go straight to the dispensary "botica".
• I have some work experience every Wednesday at a street hospital in Wanchaq district of Cusco in return for teaching the doctors English! It will be challenging but enjoyable... eek...
• Tanya and I have moved rooms. It was a very sudden affair but our new one is smaller and warmer with no animals underneath. We don't have any electricity plugs, closing windows and a broken lock means we climb in through the window (so it's a good job you can just give it a whack and it swings open) which is worrying from a burglar point of view but we're working on it.
• Tanya says I dream in Spanish... generally the language aspects seems to be going well and we can get so much more done now we talk it without thinking too hard.
• Tanya and I went to Pisac market which was awesome but meant getting up at 5.30am to arrive there at 9ish (buses are so slow) but when we did it was worth it. We bought lots of beads very cheap and I also bought an old manta (traditional blanket).

Lots of love to all

Rach x

Making the advent calender before Christmas with Rambo's help.

Cooking...

Funny faces

The youngest one, Franco, aged 6.

Sneaky shot from the window with a long lense of the typical farming methods here!