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March 2015 - Teotihuacan - nr to modern day Mexico City

I had the chance to tread a path built by the Aztecs over 2000 years ago, with a visit to the ancient Mayan city of Teotihuacan (which means ‘birthplace of the gods’. 

I’m told this was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas.  The grand scale, design and carefully planned symmetry I found fascinating.  The city is made up of the imposing Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, a smaller Temple of the Feathered Serpent, merchant areas, a court building and residencies all purposefully arranged around the central Avenue of the Dead.  The whole city met its demise around the 7th or 8th century in mysterious circumstances which archeologists are still debating. 

I felt overwhelmed with a sense of history and wonder - from practical things like how on earth did they construct on such immense scale, what beliefs inspired the intricate stonework and murals, what were the city dwellers like and what did they care about, what would they think if they saw me clambering up the Pyramid today, how were their ceremonies (apparently they worshipped 8 deities including the Netted Jaguar, the Great Goddess and the Feathered Serpent and also practiced human sacrifice, yikes), what brought such a sophisticated and well-planned settlement to its demise?

A day to spark the imagination and provide another reminder that we only get a brief moment in time here on this planet..!

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MORE IMPRESSIONS OF DELHI.

The Gandhi flower display was part of the Modi-led government's big campaign to clean up India within five years.  They used images of Gandhi in adverts around his birthday time, to encourage people to dispose of rubbish more carefully.

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QUTAB MINAR

An amazing masterpiece of Mughal architecture, I loved learning all the stories of various rulers who have made their stamp on these buildings over the centuries, and seeing where renovations, restorations and additions have been made following earthquakes and changes of hands over time.  

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Sikh temple, Delhi This place was amazing- the atmosphere, the crowds, the sense of community, the huge dining room where anyone could come to eat for free every day and the industrial kitchen next door where people give their time to prepare the food. And so welcoming- they even let me have a go at rolling a dozen or so chapatis towards the lunch supplies.

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Lotus Temple, Baha'i House of Worship  - Delhi

One of seven buildings around the world 'inviting people of all religions and race to worship the Creator of the Universe and to express the love between God and man'.

A slice of calm and tranquility in a crazy busy city.  

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Qtub Minar, New Delhi

Two days in Delhi with no plan... I started by checking out this place - a minar built by the first Sultan of Delhi in the 1100s.  All sandstone, marble and ancient Parso-Arabic and Nagari inscriptions.  Loved hearing all the stories about the happenings, disputes, rebuildings and new parts added as different rulers have come and gone over the centuries.  I got pretty snap happy on the beautiful brickwork - especially the parts where it's half way through being reconstructed.

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SANTA MOUNTAIN DASH

We decided to hold an event to raise money and awareness for the escuelita... the first event of it's kind - the Huaraz Santa Mountain Dash!  The 5 (ish) km route took participants up to the Cross and back down to a fiesta in Parque Ginebra, where ex-student Wily cooked up a storm and we served ceviche, chicken and beers.  The kids looked amazing in their costumes, and they all managed the route with no trouble whatsoever!  We raised a great sum for the charity, supported by sponsorship from people around the world and some fantastic local business sponsors.  Lots of fun on the day made all the preparation work worth it!

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Classroom days, happy times!

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CHRISTMAS PARTY AT SEEDS

On the Sunday before Christmas, all the children of Seeds were invited to the annual Christmas party.  We transformed the school into a party zone with the help of a full club sound system.  All the kids received a present thanks to donations from ex-volunteers  We played LIMBO, danced like loons to Daddy Yankee and ate PANETON with CHOCOLATE.  A great day and night!

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LEUCADIO'S PROMOCION

One sunny day in December I had the privilege to go along to Leucadio's 'promocion', or graduation from primary school.  In Peru, children have to pass exams each year in order to progress into the next class.  In many cases children are held back if they don't meet standards - this is often due to challenging home lives rather than lack of application.  To say Leucadio has had a difficult personal life these past few years is an understatement. 

Despite everything, he's a kind, thoughtful and intelligent boy - a little bit shy but that's not too unusual for a teenage boy!  He is 15 years old and in December finally it was his turn to graduate from primary school.  I've got no doubt with the continued help of Seeds he will do well at secondary school.  The other primary kids at Seeds are going to miss him as he's always happy to help them with their homework and play with them.

I was so proud of Leucadio on this day.  I'm only sorry I didn't know in advance that I would be called up on stage as his waltzing partner - I would have done some practice.. sorry Leucadio, I hope it wasn't tooo embarrassing!

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STREET ART

Huaraz isn't known for art, but if you look hard enough you can find some beautiful street paintings - I really loved stumbling across these scenes on suburban back-streets.. the mountains make the most perfect backdrop.

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A beautiful sunny morning horse riding with the Lazy Dog Inn

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Great day climbing up to Lake Churup with Wily, Kathy and Yuri.

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Nothing like a sunrise hike to start the day well. All this before 9am school start!

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School days. And the week when Josui decided to give his pjs a few trips out!

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Out and about.. Hikes, sunshine, mountains and mountain dogs

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Mask making, apple bobbing, pumpkin carving. Halloween fun!