Machu Picchu and Christmas trees

I don't mean to alarm anyone but I LOVE Christmas. I never used to like it, not after my parents announced on Christmas when I was 14 that yes, they were indeed going to get divorced. Since then I've held a sort of grudge against Christmas and this year I made a conscious decision to fight that dislike and replace it with full on, Christmas-jumper-wearing, carol-singing love.

The best part about Christmas is the art classes I get to plan around it.

On Friday I returned to school and conducted a 2 hour art lesson, with the same magical combination of glue, colouring in and cutting. It was again a flurry of red crayons, child friendly scissors and stencils of snowmen. And each kid, including Laura (the lovely American coordinator), now has a stocking with their name on it, hung up in the classroom.

Since I've started 'teaching' I have learned that one's downfall lies in the disruptive potential of the super fast kids. If they are left unstimulated you can lose a whole class in a matter of minutes. So, to adapt I have a more plan B's than James Bond.

At one point I stood back, there were kids making stockings, and those that had finished were colouring green patches to stick onto the outline of a Christmas tree. Others colouring in decorations for the Christmas tree. And best of all, there was that silence that accompanies busy hands and minds. Even Laura was engrossed in colouring in her stocking.

It felt so good to finish the week on a high. To top it off on a last minute whim, Sam (an Australian volunteer) and I decided to go to Machu Picchu for the weekend (when in Rome, right?). It was all a bit rushed, we walked into a little travel guide place in the afternoon and by that night we were on a 10 hour bus ride to Cusco. By Saturday morning we had arrived in cold Cusco, found our hotel (and no we are not married, but yes he is my weekend husband) and started to wander the streets, taking in some of the 22 beautiful colonial Spanish churches.

We had a day of playing tourists. We visited 4 ruins in the misty rain. On our walk to the ruins we were offered countless times the services of horses (even though I didn't actually see a since horse all day) and various guides. Our guide at the first ruin was lovely, he was kind, spoke good English and pointed out that without a guide these ruins would just look like a bunch of rocks.

At the second ruins we didn't have a guide, and it really did just look like a bunch of rocks. And for the final two we had a guide in Spanish. It was great. I learned so much. These Incas were really onto something. By the end of the day I was basically frozen. We wandered the town, ate (best bread and butter pudding I've ever had), warmed up, and I was nearly robbed (some guy just 'bumped' into me, and magically the back pocket of my bag was open, but I figured it out and when I went to glare at the creepy guy he was gone) and we settled in for a relatively early night.

At 2am on Sunday morning we rose to meet the bus at 2.30. By 5am we were waiting for a train to Aguas Calientes. The train ride is an hour and a half long, and cuts through beautiful mountains and corn fields. The clouds roll parting for a second to reveal high peaks with scree littered down its side, only to shift again, hiding the hills. The tracks run parrallel to a rolling river with rapids. The landscape is so different here, so moist, so misty.

We arrive at Aquas Caliente and are ferried onto a bus up to Machu Picchu. The road carves up, zig zagging through the cloud forest that hugs the ruins, and finally we arrived.

We are met by a guide and we set off. I am so out of my comfort zone, not only is the guide speaking Spanish, but there are tourists everywhere (I know I'm a tourist too, but not your Peru t-shirt wearing, mobile tripod). For the first hour I had such a sour look on my face. What were all these people doing here? And no I will not get out of the way of your photo?

I was mortified. This is the 'slow' season. In the peak season 2,500 people visit Machu Picchu per day. I was at one of the Manmade Wonders of the World and all I could do was scowl at the tourist who was filming our guide scratching his fat gut. Sadly it really impinged on my enjoyment of the site. To be fair, I did think it was beautiful, and fascinating.

But I wanted to capture something different, sure I got my typical tourist shots but I wondered, did people see the little lizard sunning himself overlooking the ruins- his ruins? Did they notice the morning dew on the grasses that now grow between the rocks?

I don't know, but I did, and it calmed me right down. There is something beautiful everywhere you look, you just have to keep your eyes and mind open.

So after a couple hours of playing 'follow the guide' Sam and I split from the group and joined the line to climb Wayna Picchu, a peak that overlooks the ruins.

After a 30 minute hike straight up you arrive, and what a stunning view to reward you for your efforts. It was amazing. The sun was on my back, Sam was off scrambling rocks and my eyes drank in the view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains.

I sat there for an hour. Feeling that sense of calm wash over me. There, atop that peak, my heart rate slowed and mind wandered. I was happier among the green peaks, close to the curving river, among the grass and wildflowers.

But we had a bus, a train, another bus, and another bus to catch so after gulping in the memorable view we set off again. As we wandered through the last of the ruins I was reminded of how lucky I am and how short life is.

So after an epic journey home we arrived in Arequipa at 6 am with just enough time to get home, shower, eat and head in for a day at school. Yesterday, Monday I taught an English class, reinforcing the names of various classroom items (the kids get such a kick out of saying backpack).

And today I took another art class where we decorated the tree, which included a little ritual of lifting each child to put their last ornament at the very top of the tree. It was great fun and again I walked home a better, happier, and kinder person.

So, this year I love Christmas.

I love the kids who are reminding me that its a holiday of celebration and love.

I love the joy on their faces as they make these festive decorations and most of all I love that I get to learn this lesson among their sticky hands...

and curious faces, here in Peru.

Machu Picchu and Christmas trees