For most of the time I have been out here I’ve been the only volunteer. We had a group from Germany come out for about a week in October and there were a couple of Spanish girls who I met briefly before that, but for the majority of my time here I’ve been the only one staying in the volunteer accommodation above the families house. From the start of February however I had some company.
Natalya arrived in the first week of January and Laia (whose name I’ve almost certainly misspelt) arrive a week or so after that. Both are from Spain, Natalya is a 30-something chef from Valencia and Liaia has just finished her psychology degree in Barcelona. Neither speaks much in the way of English which means my Spanish has certainly had a work out this last month!
It’s been a little strange sharing my room with two other people (especially as they are girls) after having the run of the place for the last four months but it’s been nice to have some company. Part of my role here supposedly was to help volunteers get settled into the city and so I’ve been showing them some of the different places in Arequipa and feeling like a bit of a tour guide.
Another good thing about having other people here is I’ve had an opportunity to get to know some of the bars a bit better and see some of the night life in the city. Not really things you can do quite so easily when you’re by yourself.
