In Sickness and in Health

I've had a mixed couple of weeks since I last wrote... A standard week following the chincha trip at school was ended by what I hoped would be a relaxing weekend at the beach. Saturday was perfect - we went to a club with a 50m outdoor pool and the beach just meters away. It has a gym and what not too so I had a bit of a workout and then spent the rest of the day sunbathing and renewing some artcic monkeys love.

But then, as we ventured a little futher out of town on Sunday in search of some hill scenery, wanting nothing more than a good breakfast and some more sunshine, I managed to throw up in this lovely place over some nice flowers and felt very silly as beautiful women in bikinis watched, peering over their sunglasses and waiters hurried to bring me water, tissues and slyly covered up the evidence with some nearby soil. So, I was hurried home by a comcerened uncle (concerned about his car that is) and lept into bed. It wasn't too long before I was sick once again however and was moved from bed to bath and then back to bed for the rest of day, night, following day and following night.

I managed to make it to school for the rest of the week. A week that became one of the best really. My Spanish was feeling slightly improved - I was no longer embarrassed to talk to taxi drivers and waitresses at least and our social life became a bit more active! I saw Harry Potter before any of you lot in England as it came out on the Thursday for some reason here, with Beatrice - a teacher in school who had stayed in Wem with us a couple of years previously - and she took me for dinner in Chillis - the South American version of Nando's. Friday night there was a staff party in upper school where the marracua sours flowed and so did the conversation. Met a couple of interesting people - some people even went to durham uni - and ended up joining them afterwards for a night out in Barranco. It's a wierd though when you come home at 4 am that people in England are getting up and starting their day after a nights sleep!

Saturday, only slightly hungover and up for an adventure, we headed back to the beach for a bit of a fly. Stopped off for a lunch in a lovely fish restaurant first where we could watch other paragliders give it a go. Luckily you're not on your own and the guy I had was an absolute joy.His English was perfect and he was so calm and interesting that I had an amazing time. It took a while for us to actually get up in the sky (which was slightly off putting...what if the wind dropped while we were in the air? would we just crash onto the motorway below?!) but once we were up and floating over the beach, the sea and overlooking the city it felt nothing but peaceful. The harness was actually fairly comfortable and all you could hear really was the soft breeze as you floated around. Lima's population is 9 million but the city looked so small and quiet it was hard to believe! The guy actually steering the thing said he does races on them all over the world where you have like 7 days to get from point a to point b and you get given a satnav! sounds like a great way to make a living! So we landed safely in almost the exact place we took off - this guy really was a pro - and all too soon and headed off home where i discovered more good news. Some lovely person has put misfits on youtube! (4OD won't work here) so i had a good time catching up before we went out to a birthday party later on....

But then this week hasn't been so wonderful once again. I had managed to weasel my way on a very exclusive school trip to Tamboplata, which is in the heart of the jungle up north. It's very remote - you have to take a plane and a boat and a bus and all sorts just to get there and then you're in among all this greenery surrounded by crazy sounding birds and animals and what not. But anyways I managed to get sick again.... Not vomit sick like last time but Sunday/Monday night I was getting headaches and finding it difficult to sleep. By Tuesday afternoon I could barely hold a conversation and on Wednesday I couldn't get out of bed. And so it remained until Friday (day of the trip). Just some badtimed virus sort of flu type thing - hot/cold/sweaty/exploding head feel sick at the thought of food sort of jazz. And today is Saturday - I'm feeling a lot better have even managed to go outside to the corner supermarket to get myself some juice and a croissant! And so am a bit gutted that I'm not currently face to face with a gorrilla or anything like that (maybe that would have been a biit optimitic) but I'm sure an 8 hour boat journey with 60 kids would have done more harm than good so perhaps its all for the best.

So, here's to good health and a completely positive entry next time!
Hope you're all very well and surviving British winter. If it's any help, its maybe a little too warm midday here :)

Love R