Friday, December 19, 2008

I'm dreaming of a green christmas...

Spent the day in the District of Huerta, Anta Province, outside of Cusco
(Cuzco/Qosqo). The family I'm staying with here has been funding a
school out there for the local kids, and they had a Christmas
celebration for them today.

I got a lot of pictures of the incredibly cute local kids. I'll post
them in my Picasa account, and I'll put a link in the sidebar. There
are also a couple of poor-quality videos.

Most of the pictures I took, but the best ones were actually taken by a
couple of the kids who were really interested in playing with my camera.

Among other things, the day included a (creepy) clown, cake and other
snacks, hot chocolate (the real stuff), and a fair share of games and a
lot of getting kissed on the cheek.

One of the things that amazes me about these kids is how poor they are,
and yet how little they seem to act disadvantaged. Kids that don't have
shoes, can't afford school uniforms, and don't get fed regularly. Also,
kids that have never had cake before and have never seen a clown.

Admittedly, that last one is probably a positive thing, if my experience
is any guide...

Another thing that amazes me is the fact that they have no problems
eating marshmallows coated in powdered cheese from chee-to-like snacks.

A third thing that I find amazing is the fact that they just stick the
chee-tos in their pocket for later consumption. Hilarious watching them
pull a handful of mostly-crushed cheese puffs out of a pants pocket.
Also hilarious watching these kids eat the aforementioned cheese puffs.

Weird being in a place that's so green at Christmas time. Beautiful,
though.

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