Super Mario and The Clash

Today is a beautiful day here, but the wet season is not far away now. Starts in November for real. We have had a bit of rain recently which was nice.

I have been busy with last minute organisation and visits so not much time for my blog. I will try to do one more posting at the weekend before I leave here on Sunday.

The only disappointment in my time here has been Fernando going missing. He has not shown up yet anywhere that we have looked. I strongly suspect that he is in Lima. I just hope that he has been found there by the police and is safely in an orphanage there. The police don't co-ordinate nationally over kids who have run away, so even if he is in Lima the police in Cusco would not necesarily be told. Elena will keep looking for him after I have left. So hopefully she will eventually send me good news about him.

Marco and Basilio are safely settled in their children's home. I am taking them both out again before I leave. I took Marco to Maximo Nivel on Saturday, after we'd bought some clothes for him, and been for a meal. He had never been on a PC before. He quickly got the hang of it though. He had never heard of Super Mario, which is one of the first games that I managed to get up for him. He loved it. I couldn't get him away from the PC after that. I wanted to show him other games but Mario got his imagination and he was soon getting up to higher levels. I took a brief video clip of jim on my camera, but cannot send to my blog.

I am taking Basilio out today. He is coming with me to Colibri to say good bye to the kids there, and then to a nice cafe near Plaza de Armas for eats. Tomorrow will be Marco's turn, and I hope to be able to watch him play football, before we go out.

Ever and Robin have been moved from the PF. As far as i can make out their mother has not agreed to take them back so they will be in an orphanage some where. Elena will try to find out which one and I will try to visit them on Saturday, and maybe take Ever out for a while. I don't think I could cope with Robin as well.

There were 28 children in the PF when I went up there on Monday. Which makes it very difficult to do anything with them. Just to be there and try to talk to the ones who are willing to talk for a bit. They like to know all about where I come from. They mostly have little or no knowledge of geography. Which is why I always carry a world map with me. One of the boys likes opera. He lives in Lima and seems to know about music. I dont know why he is in Cusco, but he has no family to care for him except brothers and sisters. Lots of talent seems to go to waste in this place.

Taxi drivers are still playing dodgem with me in the back. I used to sit in the front but gave that up as it seemed too dangerous altogether. Last week a taxi driver was playing The Clash, "Police & Thieves" on his tape player. I asked him about it but am not sure he quite understood the lyrics. Maybe he did, but it was a pleasant surprise anyway.