When I Decided To Volunteer, Peru Cuzco Couldn't Have Been A Better Place To Go

When I first decided to go abroad to volunteer

, Peru, Cuzco or anywhere in South America had not been high on my list of places that I most wanted to visit. Come to think of it, Peru wasn"t on the list at all, because it hadn"t actually occurred to me to go there, and Cuzco wasn"t there because I had never heard of it. But, as I was looking at my various options on volunteers websites, I chanced upon a page about Peru. Of course I"d heard of Peru, and knew, like everyone else, that it was in South America, but I knew almost nothing about it. I read a short, interesting blurb about the country, with some pictures of the schools where it was possible to volunteer. It looked and sounded a really interesting place, so I decided to read on and find out some more.

The more I read, and the more photos I saw, the more I liked the idea of going there, and I became torn between the idea of going to Peru, and sticking to my original plan of going to teach in India. The thing is, I had already visited India before, just for a couple of weeks" holiday, and I had promised myself that I would return for longer in order to experience the "real" India. But perhaps now was not the time. It was a really tough decision, and for weeks I couldn"t make up my mind. In the end I think the deciding factor was that I was in the middle of a Spanish G.C.S.E., which I was doing along side my A.S. levels. My parents pointed out that going to Peru would be a great opportunity to put all that learning into practice, and come back speaking really good Spanish. So that"s where I decided to volunteer: Peru, Cuzco to be precise.

Cuzco is a city in the province of the same name in Southern Peru. Once I"d read more about it, I just couldn"t wait to see it in the flesh, so to speak. And when I arrived, I wasn"t disappointed. Actually it was quite strange, because it felt like I had been there before. It must have been all of those photos I"d seen, and the movies I"d watched where characters travel to Peru. The people there, mostly the distinctive looking indigenous Quechua people, were so warm and friendly, and made me feel welcome as I settled into the school. The kids were amazing. They were so enthusiastic to learn English, play games, and they were just so much fun. They were also very keen to help me learn Spanish! In fact, I"m not sure who taught who more during my stint as a volunteer. Peru, Cuzco, Machu Picchu: I learned so much from that place.

I really enjoyed learning about the colonial architecture and history of the city. It was the capital of the Incan empire for over three hundred years, from the 1200s up until half way through the sixteenth century. I absolutely fell in love with the city, and that is without considering Machu Picchu, which is definitely the most amazing, awe-inspiring and truly incredible place I have ever been! It will be very hard for me to top that experience.

In the end, I am so happy to have chosen to go to Peru. My experience there was so amazing, and eventually "" a year later, in fact "" I was able to fulfil the promise I had made to myself about returning to India to teach, which I did through the same agency which arranges for people to volunteer. Peru "" Cuzco, Machu Pichu, the people, the scenery, everything about that wonderful country "" inspired a passion in me for volunteering abroad.

by: Gus Caje-Medina

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