Friday morning i woke up feeling just as ill, a high temperature and couldn’t really cope with the sounds coming from the girls downstairs. I was just too cold to stay in bed and knowing i have 3 days left i had to make myself go and spend time with the girls.
Mamita took one look at me and said i was going to the clinic, it was just the flu and there was no chance they would be calling an ambulance to get me to the clinic and seeing a doctor, although i had heard he was quite the handsome doctor, i just didn’t want to go and see anyone because the idea of them keeping me in hospital as ‘a precaution’ would have not gone down too well with me, given i have so few days left.
I convinced mamita all i needed was to go to the pharmacist and get some medicine from there, so i asked if i could take Roxanna and Sol with me, now i thought i said i would go at 14.00 but it turns out i had actually said i will be taking them for a couple of hours. Now i was a little worried i had said this because i wasn’t sure my legs would be able to carry me around for 2hours, but it was warmer outside than it was inside and just had to bite the bullet.
So we started off at the pharmacist and i got some Peruvian lemsip and throat numbing lozenges, the most vile lozenges i have ever had to take but they seem to calm my coughing down even though i felt quite sick from the lack of taste. We walked across to the little market and i bought them some meringues which did actually look rather nice but not as chewy as i had hoped, the girls on the other loved them and i even treated them to a bottle of Fanta, as there was much walking to be done. I then asked the girls if they would like to go the market with me, there is this great market of all things Cusco Peruvian which i have looked around many of times and i just knew they would love the real Llama fur that i fell in love me and got great enjoyment from just standing around feeling the extremely soft Llama fur. We started off in what looked like a black market stalling and we walked around there for a little while before asking for directions to this market i love so much. I knew where it was but they wanted to know just how far it was and i was unable to say the exact distance to them in Spanish, ‘just over there’ didn’t quite do it for them.
We finally made it and they had the expression of ‘oh this one, yes we love this one’, so we all held hands and we went from one stall to the next literally ooh’ing and aar’ing at everything we saw.
We managed to take quite a few sisterly snaps and even though i was feeling so rough i didn’t actually feel it much, we shopped, we joked around and they of course they laughed when i copied them speaking Spanish but probably because they thought i was mocking them and then would ask what it meant in English. It was a lovely day but i just think i pushed myself a little too much. We were like 3 college girls who didn’t have to go into school and decided to just browse around the shops and try things on and ask how much things were. I did buy a few things and they insisted they carried the bags for me which was real sweet, they also help pick out a few things and made me take pictures of certain things they really liked and we all got into pictures together in random places or because they liked what was in the background.
It was a lot of fun and it was nice spending time with Roxanna and Sol, they are eldest of the girls who currently get home schooling i believe, due to circumstances before joining the orphanage they are behind in their reading and writing so they will eventually be sent to school, just not yet.
I had made them walk quite bit and they were pretty tired, but i kept saying we were nearly home and they would show me their happy faces before realising we still had about a 20mins walk. We played silly games as you do when you are walking home, just to keep yourself amused and they kept testing my Spanish but would also test their English by saying something to me and asking if it was correct. They pointed out the school in which some of the other girls go to and and where mamita Carmen lived too, which was not so far from the children’s home.
We were finally around the corner, we sat on the bench in the park just across the road from the orphanage and started listening to a few Shakira songs i had on my phone, the favourite was the Fifa 2014 soundtrack and we sat and swayed our heads whilst they sang the song in Spanish, i probably have not done the moment any justice but it was just a moment, was silly yet fun.
We then decided we should head back in as it was close to lunch and mamita would need help preparing food, we walked in and sure enough mamita Remi was already working away making lunch for the girls. I spent a bit of time time with the younger girls, before it all got a bit too loud and i needed to take the medicine i had brought from the pharmacy. Mamita brought up some hot water to my floor which i didn’t actually realise she was doing, she watched me pour the lemsip powder into the mug, she stirred it and walked me into my room held the mug whilst i got into bed, then handed me the mug, told me to drink it and rest. It was an awful medicine and tasted foul but i had to have something and so i drank it all.
After what felt like an hour but was actually 3hrs, i heard knocking on the door, i just didn’t think to open it as i was a bit dazed, but then i heard a little voice from Maria call my name ‘sister saima’, and i got out of bed and she stood there with a plate of food. The last thing needed was food and i thanked her and kissed and hugged her but had to leave it on the table before getting back into bed. The Jeremy came up and he kept apologising for me being so ill, it wasn’t his fault and i am glad t happened at this time when i due to fly back home then at the start and miss out on so much. Again they were contemplating sending me to the doctor as my fever wasn’t going down, i just said i needed sleep and i would be fine.
So a few more hours must have passed and i just didn’t even realise it, i made my way downstairs to see the girls as it didn’t seem too late but clearly it was as they were getting ready for bed. I stayed with them for about 30mins, but it was far to cold and they all pretty much hugged me and kissed me, asked me about ten times if i was feeling better before whisking themselves to their room for bed.
It really will be these times i have spent with the girls, in groups, on their own or in pairs i will miss so much and will be so sad to leave behind, i am so glad i have captured the moments because these really are so special to me.
SaimasCharityTravels 