It was a nice sunny day today. I woke up to the sound of the church bells ringing in the distance. As it was Palm Sunday, there was a procession around the main square (Plaza de Armas). A brass band was playing and there were lots of people about. All were coming from or going to mass, holding their palm crosses.
The tradition is here for the families to place the cross (made from palm, leaves and even rosemary) outside their front doors. I decided to buy one and was able to get one for 1 sol from an old lady who was selling them on the side of the street.

Its not unusual to see these ladies selling their bits and pieces here in Cusco. Everything from food, jewelry and even hand-woven belts, scarves and hats (some made of Alpaca) are delicately laid out on blankets for all to come and have a look at on the side of the streets.
This week, being Holy Week (“Semana Santa”) is quite important in the Peruvian calendar. Masses and processions continue all week and I’ve been told that on Thursday, its the tradition for most Peruvian families to have a look of twelve dishes!(I presume symbolising the twelve stations of the cross) That’s one day I’m looking forward to!.

On Monday I start my first day of the volunteer programme. I’ve now been in Cusco for eight weeks - when i first arrived I was at an intermediate level of Spanish and after the eight weeks of classes I reached Superior level! Classes are quite flexible and can be suited to everyone’s needs.
During the time that i was attending the classes, I stayed with a Peruvian family. They live literally less than 15 minutes walking from the school so it was quite central. I’ll miss living with them to be honest. I got to be quite close to them and they made me feel like I was part of their family.
But for the four weeks that I volunteer, I’m staying in a single room in the student residence. In some ways its very handy because the residence is in the same building as the school itself. Its pretty much in the centre of Cusco and there’s loads of restaurants, bars and places to go out in the evenings.
Cusco completely changes at night! Its like another world! There’s so much activity around the plaza - especially with people handing out flyers for their respective restaurant or bar - all trying to persuade you to go in and have a free ‘pisco sour’ or ‘cuba libre’!! Let’s see what happens tonight…