Peru

        All this for 5 soles ( $A1.80)

Life in Peru - it is a hectic, ancient, unique, enchanting and desperate place. On arrival I was hit in the face by the hot desert wind and squalls of dust coating everything. I was in Lima for a quick surf ( which turned out to be really fun) then I was jetting up North my destination for the next couple of months. Leaving Lima I saw many hills covered by depressing, dusty, arid slums - apparently the result of when TV was introduced in the 50s - thousands migrated down from the Sierra and Amazonian regions chasing lives they saw on the box. Many of these communities are still without basic infrastructure (electricity and water) - and driving through them really makes your ponder.

 In the took - took heading to the volunteer ramp

 The poor sleepy community out the back of the tourist hub of Huanchaco

I´m now set up in the fishing and surfing town of Huanchaco. Huanchaco has a really Mexican vibe on the streets with bodegas on every corner playing regaeton and a really laid back vibe. Every morning I do my educational prac in the hectic little city of Trujillo 30 minutes away. It's a public boys school of 2 000 kids - where I help out with the English classes. It's such a crazy experience having 35 Peruvian groms screaming and fighting in front of you - but as a class clown myself - I get on their level and enjoy the challenge.
The kids are from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds though the real elitists go to schools like the British international school. I'm teaching in these temporary campuses as the main campus is under construction. It's real basic, there is no electricity and if teachers give out worksheets for example - the make the students pay for the photocopies.

It's great to see some of the groms frothing on skating up at the volunteer ramp

The volunteer ramp

The view from the huge church on the hill

Coming home from work I'm either surfing really long lefts, just cruising on the pushbike around town visiting or volunteering up at the skate ramp in the poor community. The town is full of amazing seafood dishes and for less the $2 you can get a fresh juice, an entre and a delicious meal of rice, fish, and sauced up vegies - I don´t understand how they cut a profit!

Easter mass on the street in Lima

NYL - New York Latina

Suenas no cuesta NADA!!!

Leo y Negro!

A really nice part of Recoletta

Apartment living...

Mate

Fruit salad

...And the Beast

Beauty...

Montevideo

You can find anything in an Uruguayan deli...

My other family...

Maria Catalina

The last couple of weeks in Uruguay were pretty awesome, Cata´s family came up for a week - meaning mate on the beach, asados everynight and plenty of dinner table laughs and loud disputes. I was lucky enough to score a secret spot I had been scoping, absolutely pumping and tubing with only one lad out! There was this super consistent left that could reele down the beach grinding and sneezing the whole way. The water was warm and crystal clear - it made all the average sessions dissapear from memory. There was a sick vibe in the water and me and the bearded local were hooting each other into every bomb. We talked a lot about surfing Latin America - and I wasn't surprised to hear that the last Australians he surfed with - ended up in a fight. Apparently they claimed control of a known point break in Mexico as they had "invested money in land there" - bullshit...
I hadn´t organised a lift back and hitchiking failed soI ended up walking almost 10k´s in the hot sun back to the bus stop. I just had enough change to buy some food - though I decided to reward myself with an ice cold cerveza instead, and the guy cut me a discount so I had enough for the bus!

We also cruised up to Punta Del Diablo and scored super fun waves with incredible backdrops similar to remote Western Australia. We spent an afternoon at this incredible 17th century fort built to defend Brazillian conquistadores. On the way back to BA we hung out with some of the hostel crew in their home city of Montevideo. They were really warm and generous and even gave us a full Uruguayo flag to take home. At Cobra´s house, they cooked us another tremendous Uruguayo Asado - in which I tried a few new additions, including intestines with lime.

Salted meat and wine heaven...

Montevideo is smaller and more manageable than Buenos Aires and opens up to a beautiful beach front where many people gather to swim, kick the football and of course - drink mate. We arrived back in Buenos Aires with a really warm feeling of Uruguay, and I felt like I really got to know the heart and sole of the place.

Back in Buenos Aires I started getting into my distance uni course while going on city missions with Cata and skating at night with Marcos (her little brother). I started going daily to a skate park in Nuñes and met really cool crew from Columbia, Venezuela, USA and Buenos Aires. I eventually shaved my head to not look so obvious - as the possibility of getting robbed seems to around every corner! recently though - I really started feeling comfortable geting around and doing things on my own in this ghetto ass urban metropolis...