We made our way to Peru.....

We finally made it to Peru, our home for the next month.

The first few days were spent in the capital Lima. We met up with other volunteers and explored the city.

Cusco is our home for the month of March. It is a beautiful city at 3400m, surrounded by lush green mountains at this time of year. We immediately felt the affects of altitude once stepping off the aeroplane but this didn’t last long as our bodies accustomed to the altitude.

Peru’s Challenge is the agency that we are working with. Our time is spent teaching kids at a village school, construction projects, and community development. The rest of the time is spent learning Spanish, touring around the historic area, and spending time with the other volunteers.

We have already seen beautiful scenery and Inca ruins. We will do a 4 day trek to Machu Picchu at the end of the month which we’re really looking forward to.

It is nice to stay put for a while, unpack the suitcase and spend time with some great people. We have an upstairs apartment of five, and ten others live downstairs. We definitely have the best deal with a great view of mountains out of our bedroom window.

Miami

On our way to South America we needed to pass through Miami. After some extra attention from US customs (as we had been to Cuba), we made it to Miami Beach.

Tyson lived a childhood dream of seeing an NBA game live. The Miami Heat vs The Phoenix Suns. It was a great experience.

The rest of our time was spent predominantly window shopping, due to the weak Aussie Dollar. We attempted to eat a plate of ribs at the Outback Steakhouse.

Miami Beach was quite nice, especially compared to the Jamaican beaches we had visited. We found it amusing to see lots of people sunbathing in the 16 degree weather, while we rugged up in jumpers and jeans.

Miami is a bit like the Gold Coast on steroids. As with other US cities that we have visited, the class gaps and social problems are all too evident in such a materialistically rich society. 

Jamaica

Next we found our way to Jamaica.

In so many ways Jamaica is just like all of the stereotypes – dreadlocks, reggae music and questionable cigarettes. But at the same time it was nothing like we had expected.

We spent a night in Kingston and visited the Bob Marley museum. This was really interesting. On the property is his herb garden, which included his “herb” garden.

We then spent the rest of our time at Montego Bay. This is a place for American tourists and the super-rich. We had a nice break, but did not find this place to be the tropical wonderland that we had hoped. Due to the price of things we also regressed to our fall back meal of chip sandwiches.

It is funny why Australians bother to holiday at beach locations. Mo’Bay has a 150m stretch of coast that costs you $5US to visit. Not exactly the Australian dream.

One love…..

Tyson and Talitha X

Cuba

Well here is our first update. We are back in the realm where conversation seems to revolve around what is going into your body, but more importantly, how it comes out.  First stop Cuba, following epic flights against the sun and a night in Mexico.

Cuba is an amazing place to visit. It is a bit like walking around in a movie set. The crumbling buildings, old cars, people of all different skin colours, revolutionary propaganda, and the absence of any advertising make it a unique place. It is unlike anywhere else we have seen before.

We spent most of our time in Havana, but we were able to travel around a fair bit of the island.

It was really interesting to see many of the Revolutionary sights and to try and gauge how politics affect everyday life in Cuba.

One thing that seems evident is that the Cubans are a united and proud people. They admit to the limitations of their situation, but at the same time they are proud of their independence and self-sufficiency following fifty years of ups, downs, isolation and crippling foreign policies from big neighbours.

The government allows foreigners to stay in locals homes (those who have a permit), so it was great to live with people in everyday accommodation. Talitha has a good ear for Spanish, which helped us quite a lot.

We explored old towns and streets, frolicked in tobacco plantations, learnt about intriguing people, and smoked fat cigars (and then felt sick).

Love Tyson and Talitha X

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Ramblings from the confused……

It is interesting that Cuba remains to be the devil of the Caribbean. This little island continues to be on the receiving end of stringent US foreign policy. Some examples include the long running trade embargo, the fact that it is illegal for a US citizen to visit the country, the immigration policies and even the fact that all broadband internet connections purposefully bypass Cuba (by about 35miles) to service the rest of the Caribbean.

So why are the US finding it so hard to forgive Cuba?

Surely this couldn’t be solely due to their political persuasion. The US has found it within their hearts to start trading with China (who killed large numbers of US citizens in both the Vietnamese and Korean wars). They also trade with Vietnam (who, like China, is a leftward leaning country).  Throughout history they have also forgiven countries - the Germans, Japanese, English, etc. depending on how far you want to go back.

It couldn’t be due to the fear of military aggression. Cuba would not dare even contemplate aggression towards the US. They would be crushed in a moment. In fact all terrorist activity and military action has only ever come from the US. The Cold War is well and truly over so it can’t be that either.

So what is it?

This is why I find this little part of the world so interesting. I have my theories, but wont go into them.