Hillside to the west of Cuzco. This is the insignia on the Peruvian flag(I think)

The cakes and baner at the center where the anniversary was held. The kids were pretty stoked about the cakes(tortas)

Kids playing on the playground before the ceremony. Over 200 kids were we at this event. All from the streets or orphanages.

One of the ceremonial dances, the kids and teachers put all these costumes together from local merchants and also made many by hand. Keep this in mind as you see some of the others.

This is Renee, he is moody but a good kid.

This is Yamely, she is one of my favorites. She is so well behaved and helpful. She doesn't smile much but when she does it lights up the room.

Traditional dance with a little rock n' roll twist.

Great costumes and these older boys and girls were really good

Great masks

This kid has a career ahead of him.

These girls danced for like 15 minutes and were tired as heck after.

These older boys were really good and the costumes moved in a really cool way.

One more view of the costumes.

Today was a great day! I had to be at the market at 8 to open the classroom and get some of the kids together. We played bingo while we waited for Marta and I gave out lollypops as prizes, the kids had a blast. When Marta arrived she had some clothes to pass out to the kids and they really get nut for new clothes. They wrestle and push eachother around, but in a friendly way, just to try and get what they want most. We then took two taxis(I said I could walk thinking I knew where we were going) to near the city center where the largest orphanage is and got the kids ready. I brought my camera and video camera so I had Hugo(one of the kids) taking pictures while I filmed. Needless to say he didn't take one picture he just zoomed in and out on the girls so the opening third of the ceremony I only have video. The kids all did such a great job and they fed everyone a ton of food and wine. I onlty had a sip of wine because I really don't want to drink while I am here except for in Lima I will try pisco.I met some other volunteers/students that are here for their universities in Europe. There was 1 guy(Patrick) and 2 girls(Christina & ?) from Germany, 2 girls(Nika and Corrine) from Holland and 1 girl(?) from Houston, Texas. It was nice to speak english but I am sure that I knew less spanish then everyone there so it was kind of embarassing. I left after a ton of food(chicken ;-)) and started my walk home. I stopped at the bookstore to buy a english/spanish dictionary and at the store for water, tea and marmalade for the house(the water is for Machu Pichu). When I got home I packed a bag to run up one of the mountains(highest peak surrounding the city that I can see) and stay in my tent but figured if I screwed something up and couldn't meet at 10am for Machu Pichu I would hate myself. So I will do it another day. It is also kinda nice to not have to rush through the blog and also get a few other things done on a computer. This place has a 2 hour time limit but Since my first day coming here I have been giving the girl behind the desk cany with my payment so she lets me stay. ;-) I am going to find a hostel in Lima for the 26-28 so I don't havce to scramble later, close to the beach preferably. Thank you all for reading my indecipherable drivle and take care of yourselves. I wil be gone until monday and I am not sure if I will have access to a computer so please be patient. Adios! Machu Pichu here I come!!