Eat Pray Love

I just saw a preview for the movie Eat, Pray, Love and I WANT TO DO THAT. Spend one year traveling to different locations in the world would be ideal. Actually, ideally that would be my profession. What do I have to do to do that? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've been helping Kate out with Lemon Tree Grocery store in Downer's Grove which should be opening up by mid-August. The space and concept are pretty neat. I think they will do well in DG. Also, I've been doing a bit of US traveling, participating in Weddings and just spending time with friends.

For those of you wondering about my Peruvian family - they are doing well and currently have a few volunteers. Janet keeps telling me that I was the best and that they miss me a lot. I would assume that's because I made it a point to have a good connection with my family and to not be constantly hanging out with the volunteers. Also, they keep calling the girl volunteer, "Eli" and she's getting a bit upset. And on top of all that, Janet said that the volunteers don't like Cusco. How could you not like Cusco? It's amazing. Oh hello, nostalgia.

Anyway, I've had a few requests to continue updating...thoughts? I don't know if my life is that interesting right now to write about - but I'll let you guys decide that.

Chau chau!

Mi Salida

I made my exit out of Ollantaytambo and I cried far more leaving than coming in. Today and yesterday were really sad for me. Yesterday, we had ceviche for my last lunch followed by an afternoon of heavy drinking. We drank into the night and I did a lot of dancing - Cumbia, salsa & wino. I had to say goodbye to Marco, Johanna & Mela and to my surprise Marco cried like a baby and told me how special I am for their family :(. Oy.

Today, I woke up with a bit of a hangover, finished packing and had my last breakfast. I pretty much cried through it all including attempting to drink my coffee and practically choking to death. I said my goodbyes to my family headed to Cusco with Jesus and Janet.

The ride to Cusco was rough. I cried at the beginning and then started feeling sick due to the multiple switchbacks, additional altitude and my hangover. However, It is quite possibly the most beautiful 2 hour drive I will ever experience. Saying goodbye to Janet and Jesus was once again really rough. I couldn't have been living with a more spectacular group of people.

My classes ended Wednesday both at the school and the Telecentro. The sixth graders were really sad to see me go and were asking why I had to go back to the USA. I did some teaching and a lot of Bingo with prizes in my classes as well as the Telecentro. In addition to that, I brought Micaela to the Telecentro and she asked if she could come next week with me. I don’t think she quite understood that I was leaving.

I’m excited to go home back to Chicago but I am sad to leave here. It’s sort of bittersweet...with a lot of bitter and a lot of sweet. However, I’m not excited to return to reality (aka – work, money, paying bills, etc) but I have a lot of awesome plans this summer that include my sister’s wedding, two different friend’s weddings and my cousin’s wedding. As well as the spontaneous trips to friend’s lake houses, spending time in Chicago, riding bikes with Derf (you can’t break you leg again), playing beach volleyball, beer gardens, festivals and the many other activities.

Enough of being sappy and sad! Jesus and I went to the Salineras and Moray at the end of last week on a little day trip. Salineras is an area with thousands of salt pans that have been used for salt extraction since Inca times. A hot spring at the top of the valley discharges a small stream of heavily salt-laden water, which is diverted into salt pans and evaporated to produce salt used for cattle licks. Moray is another popular Inca site with different levels of concentric terraces that are carved into a huge earthen bowl. Each layer apparently has its own microclimate in which the Inca’s used to the site as a laboratory to determine the optimal conditions for growing crops of different species. Those Inca’s may have been little guys but they sure were intelligent.

Conveniently I got bit by a zillion fleas just a few days before I left. Jerks. I hope they don't make it all the way back to the States with me....

If you’re wondering about my guitar playing: Epic Fail. I originally imagined having a lot of time to kill in which I would play the guitar, but that didn’t happen at all. Don’t lose faith folks, I plan to learn when I get home and hopefully recruit JT to teach me. Also, I’m really interested in seeing my running ability when I get home. Since I’ve been running at about 10,000 feet the past couple months in a mountainous area, I imagine I’ll be like the female Michael Jordan of running {Not at all – but a girl can dream, right?}.

I'm currently in Lima before my flight home tomorrow night and my family has recruited their relatives in Lima to take me around and see the sights. I'm having lunch with Miguel tomorrow and then heading off with Chriztian's family to the zoo (which has Vicunas and condors) as well as the Plaza de Armas of Lima. Lima is pretty dangerous and the cab drivers try and rip tourists off or steal their stuff so it will be nice to have some Peruvian company as protection.

There are far too many things I didn’t get to do while I was here and there are a zillion things to see in this country. Looks like I’m going to have to come back at some point and tackle the rest! Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few days, until then!

Chau,
Liz

The End is Near

I only have a week & a half left.... :(. As per usual, I've done quite a bit since I last updated – I’ll admit I’ve been slacking. Allie & Jessie "Mas Alto" left last week but not before we could go horseback riding up to the Pumamarca ruins. I always forget how much I STILL love horses. I think I might ask for one again this Christmas...The only problem is that I'm fairly allergic to them and unfortunately got asthma on the four hour ride. However, it was beautiful and really fun.

We went to Machu Picchu last Friday. Peru couldn't make it a much less enjoyable experience to get there. From here, you have to buy a train ticket but this includes the 30 minute bus ride to the train station. The train used to run from here but the railway got washed out with the floods (I believe they are restoring it). I had to buy a separate train ticket from Julia & Jessie “mas abajo” through Inka Rail which cost me a whopping $50 (that’s equivalent to s/ 140 which is a lot of money here). I arrived in Aguas Calientes only to find out that they had no returning tickets home for the following evening and the train is the only mode of transportation in and out of town. {Side note: Aguas Calientes is known as a tourist trap and a relatively unpleasant place to be.} We stayed in an overpriced hostel the first evening but were able to wake up very early the next morning to climb Wayna Picchu. Wayna Picchu is the tall mountain pictured in the standard photo of the ruins and has more ruins at the very top.

We woke up at 3:45 am to be able to buy tickets into Machu Picchu, the bus ride and to arrive at the gate of Machu Picchu within the first 400 people in order to climb Wayna Picchu. When we arrived at Machu Picchu, a heavy fog had settled upon the mountain and gave it a very mystical and majestic appearance. We were able to start climbing Wayna Picchu by 7:30 am and arrived at the top by 8:15 am. I climbed to the very top and waited for Julia and Jessie (Jessie broke her ankle about 3 months ago). While I was waiting, I climbed to the highest point, put my backpack down and turned around to find it plummeting down the side of the mountain…oops. I had to yell to the path below to watch out – thank god it didn’t come close to hitting anyone but it continued to fall below that path as well. I climbed down and peered around with a couple other people to see if we could see it. No such luck. For a few moments, I thought I lost anything relatively important (money, my driver’s license, credit cards, iPod, Peruvian cell phone). I found a guide at the top of Wayna Picchu, explained what happened and he was able to retrieve it! It had fallen an additional 20-30 feet below the path and was wedged in a tree. To my surprise, nothing was broken except for my deodorant and a case for some medicine. We spent the rest of the morning at Machu Picchu but were anxious to get to the train station to get train tickets for the following morning since it was the first day of the 4 day dance festival in Ollantaytambo.

Train Ticket to Machu Picchu: s/ 140
Bus ticket to Machu Picchu: s/ 40
Entrance into Machu Picchu: s/ 126
Food and Accommodations in Aguas Calientes: s/ 300
Watching your backpack plummet to its impending doom: PRICELESS

Saturday through Tuesday was the biggest four day festival in Ollantaytambo called Choquekillka. Senor de Choquekillka was some sort of Peruvian Saint that looks identical to Jesus Christ and did something miraculous here in Ollantaytambo. It involved 16 groups of traditional dancers, music, dangerous fireworks, food, and lots and lots and lots of cerveza. The biggest of the four days were Sunday and Tuesday. Sunday, we started drinking early in the afternoon through the evening. We watched the dancers for quite awhile…many of which whip each other in the legs really hard. After, we went to the bull fighting near my house, a cargo for one of the dance groups, and more dancing in the plaza. I was pretty drunk by the evening and as we were sitting down to eat dinner at the cargo someone set down a plate of hot peppers. In my drunken state, I thought they were bell peppers and shoved one in my mouth. A few seconds later, my entire family witnessed the Niagara Falls pouring out of my eyes. Jesus and Janet were running around demanding water, sugar, salt and anything that would help me. Ugh, stupid. Also, I was so drunk that I was in bed by 9:30 – lame. I also found out the next day that I refused to eat the meat that they served for dinner.

Monday I didn’t do much drinking but went back to the cargo for dinner and a few drinks after. Jesus was talking to his very belligerent uncle about joining their dance group – Qhapaq Qolla (they whip each other as well). Jesus mentioned that I wanted to return next year to see him dance and his uncle decided to give me one lashing in my leg. Thank you – I have a bruise.

Tuesday was another heavy day. Once again, we started drinking early in the day and headed out to lunch at the cargo. Jesus received his whippings in preparation for next year AND we were lucky enough to have cuy (guinea pig) for lunch. I tasted a very small bite and the taste was almost as foul as the appearance. After, we went to “La Pampa” for some entertainment, horses, fireworks and….cerveza. {Side note: there are absolutely no regulations on fireworks here. They were shooting off from this wooden toothpick tower straight into the crowd.} We ended up being out until about 3:30 or 4 in the morning which was really rough for me since I had to wake up at 7 am. The entire festival has been one of my favorite experiences here in Peru. And no, it wasn’t because I was served endless amounts of cerveza.

I’ve uploaded some pictures and plan to get more of Choquekillka up. Hope everyone is well in the States and is prepared for my highly anticipated arrival in about a week and a half!
Much Love, Liz

Los Doltons

We plagued Cusco again over the weekend. The ladies headed out on Friday afternoon for an evening at the “Los Dolton’s” concert. Los Dolton’s are my “grandpa’s” band and they’re quite popular here in Peru. My entire family went to the concert as well which made for an interesting night out.

We started off at the lovely Hotel Ninos for some deliciously warm showers and cute accommodations. I met my family outside of the concert venue and got in for FREE in the back way with the band. Yup, I’m famous. Lito, the pianist asked for my information and I was relatively confused during our exchange…partially because he was a bit of a creep. But, little did I know that I would get the biggest shout out during the concert. Seriously, you’re reading the blog of an up & coming Peruvian star. The concert was fun and they had some interesting renditions of American songs. After, we went to our typical hot spots in Cusco and stayed out drinking and dancing salsa until five am. Ugh, tiring. Side note: when I was being spun around during my sensational salsa moves I accidentally elbowed some chica in the head….twice. Whoops.

Saturday, we went to see a Sexy Woman. Ok, it’s Saqsaywaman (A Qechua word) which are more Inca Ruins in Cusco. Despite my hangover, it was a beautiful walk and an amazing view of Cusco. We unsuccessfully attempted to sneak in the back way and now I’m writing you from Peruvian Jail.

Just kidding, I’m not in jail. But we did get kicked out. Later, we headed out for the evening and took the town by charge. At one point, I found myself dancing with our Spanish teacher and since he is not much taller than 5 feet I felt like I was dancing with a 3 year old child. It was awkward especially because my hands engulfed his. Yet again, another evening of drinking til 5 am.

The following day, I arrived home to find my family drinking at 1 o’clock in the afternoon for Mother’s Day. Apparently for my family, Mother’s day includes drinking festivities and dancing salsa in the main room. It was fun and a very unique experience for Mother’s Day.

On the volunteering front: I have another 3.5 weeks left here. Yikes, I know it’s going to go fast. I’ll be finishing out the last few weeks of English Class at school by myself as well as English Club at the Telecentro. Also, I started teaching Jesus English tonight in exchange for salsa classes. I plan to be a Salsa Pro by Sarah’s wedding.

Hope all is well in the States. Chau.

"Vacation"

Vacation was a saga. Problem after problem after problem, literally.

Alli and I both got sever food poisoning on the 10 hour bus ride to Arequipa. I threw up for the entire time and we had an A$$hole of a steward to deal with on top of everything else. We arrived in Arequipa and spent the day in bed due to lack of energy or the ability to really consume food (for me at least). The following day we took a bus to Cabanaconde which is a little pueblo next to one of the deepest canyons in the world - Colca Canyon. This six hour bus ride was once again hell. The bus had no bathroom and Julia ended up getting her purse stolen due to a brief lapse in judgment. Her purse included her credit cards, passport card (not her actual passport, thank god) and 25 USD. Clearly, the majority of this really has little use to a Peruvian because most places do not take credit cards and she was able to cancel everything when we reached Cabanaconde. Oh and I threw up again, YIPPEE. Thankfully, Carlos from our hostal in Arequipa set us up with his friend Carlos (yes, Carlos again) in Cabanaconde. Carlos took us around to the look out point to see the Condors and to other look out points for the Canyon. The Condors were probably one of the most magnificent animals I've ever seen. The pictures don't do justice. I also posted a couple others of the canyon and the three of us. I think it's pretty obvious I still wasn't feeling 100%.

We left Cabanaconde that night and headed back to Arequipa....once again on a hellish bus ride. For some reason, they decided it would be a great idea to cram as many smelly Peruvians in the aisle as possible. On a positive note - we had an entire day and night in Arequipa to do the touristy bit.

The next morning we went to Puno but not without bus problems. We arrived at the bus terminal with about 5 minutes to spare. Grabbed our "embarking" ticket and went to get on the bus but were told that we were at the wrong terminal....great. We speed walked to the other terminal, once again attempted to get on, were told that we did not have the right embarking ticket. So, we ran to buy the embarking ticket which of course took FOREVER. Went to get on the bus and it left...missed it by 2 minutes. What a nightmare. Thankfully, we found another bus for 30 minutes later with the luxurious Cama Seats. We got to Puno in the afternoon and the first thing we did was try to get to the island we wanted to stay at for the evening. We made a deal with some fisherman to drive us to a peninsula a 1-1/2 hour away and to get us to the Island Amantani for the evening. They drove us to the peninsula, stopped at someone's house in the middle of nowhere (it was dark at this point) and were told that we were going to stay at this woman's hospedaje for the evening. The woman who owned it smelled like she hadn't showered in 3 months, the rooms and beds were really dirty with lots of bugs and not to mention the cold. I pretended I had asthma and we got a taxi back to Puno for the evening and the returned to this woman's house AGAIN in the morning so she could take us in a rowboat (there are pictures for proof) to get to the island. We spent the day on the island but began to be concerned that we wouldn't make it back for our bus to Cusco because we simply didn't trust the guys we had paid. Thankfully, they showed up and we got some money back for their lack of communication and crappy service tactics.

We were on time this time for our bus to Cusco. However, we paid and expected the cama seats but received the same kind of bus we took to Cabanaconde aka no bathroom and crappy seats for what ended up being a 9 hour ride.

Needless to say, we were all happy to arrive back in Ollanta. On a positive note, we got to see a lot and learned the following:

-Don't eat salad. Just don't.
-Don't trust the bus systems - they suck.
-Don't have expectations for Peruvian vacation.

I'm heading to Cusco on Friday with my family to see my dad's dad play in a band. I think it'll be fun and interesting as per usual.

Chau for now.

Arequipa y Puno

Allie, Julia & I are going to Arequipa & Puno. Yeahhhhh boiiii (I’m pretty sure no one says that around here). We’re leaving Friday night for Cuzco where we’ll do some partying and grab an overnight bus the following day to Arequipa. Arequipa is known as “The White City” because it was built in the Colonial period. And from what I’ve heard, it has a large assortment of FOOD!!!!! It is sad how my life has boiled down to hot showers & good eats. I’m sure we will do other activities but that’s about all my mind & belly can look forward to for the time being. That and Cerveza.

After Arequipa we’ll head to Puno which is on Lake Titicaca {what a silly name}. It is the highest navigable lake in the world {don’t quote me on that} and is supposed to be really serene with some remote islands.

Don’t worry; I’ll get some pictures with me in them, as requested. I’ll be sure to update when I return.

La Vida de Cuzco

I was in the midst of updating yesterday when the power blew out in the internet cafe, the glories of living in a small Peruvian town. Cuzco was spectacular. I´d like to go back right now but I do have responsibilities here in Ollanto.

The weekend started off with a bang with an Awamaki pizza party followed by excessive drinking with my family in celebration of Marco´s car. I came home from the pizza party to find my family drinking outside next to the car (which was covered in flower petals) and jamming to some salsa music or something of the sort. The drinking continued until about 4 am or so which made for a rough ride to Cuzco the next morning....or the same morning, rather.

We (Julia, Allie & I) arrived in Cuzco and found an amazing hostal (seriously - it was amazing). It included our own bathroom, hot & long showers & it was adorably quint. We found a cute place to eat in the Plaza de San Blas filled with delicious vegetables & salads. Did some wandering, exploring and shopping in the afternoon followed by showering, blowing our hair dry & looking cute for the first time in a month (my standards of living have seriously decreased here). We returned to San Blas for some vegetarian pizza & Pisco Sours until we met up with Fernando, our Spanish teacher, and his friends at a bar, Siete Angelitos. We finally got to meet the highly anticipated, Phuru, whom was playing in his band that evening at the bar. He was quite possibly one of the funniest people I have seen & met in a long time. After, we went to a bar in the Plaza de Armas called Ukuku´s (it´s a Qechua name) where I did some serious salsa dancing until about 4 am. It was a fun night and we didn´t want to leave the next day but were forced to return to our meat filled reality in Ollanto.

We are thinking about going to Cuzco & Arequipa next week and hopefully Lake Titicaca as well. The weekends of indulgence have become necessary at this point and we have also penciled in Wednesday lunches to escape the meat.....and maybe a dinner too.

On the volunteering front - things are going well. I´ve picked up an hour of English Club at the Telecentro on Monday & Wednesday evenings. The kids there are pretty cute there - and it´s basically an hour of English games.

More to come later this week.

Cusco

I'm going to Cusco this weekend. Things I look forward to:

-Eating veggies all day long at delicious restaurants
-Shopping for some relatively cute clothes
-Drinking mass amounts of Pisco Sours
-Going out and dancing
-Being hungover & getting to eat some more delicious food

I'll update after the weekend.

Spaghetti con carne con papa fritas

Food. I couldn't possibly want vegetables, fruits and deliciousness more now than ever.

Yesterday for lunch, I had Spaghetti with steak meat and homemade french fries IN the spaghetti. Not only do I have meat for both lunch and dinner every single day but they feed me huge proportions of bland tasting food. The steak meat around here is tough and relatively chewy and even more so when reheated. I knew I was going to have to eat spaghetti again when I got home for dinner and I was right.

My favorite meal has become breakfast. Because all it consists of is coffee or tea and a piece of bread with jam. And I can eat as much or as little as I want.

Also, my little sister likes to eat the feet of the chicken in her soup. It is quite disgusting to see and they keep telling me that it's good for your intestines. Right now, the only thing I can think of that would be better would be not eat meat anymore.

OK, I'm done griping. On a positive note-I'm going to Cusco this weekend for some dancing, drinking and better food. Yessssssss

Chicha

Hola Amigos,

Sorry for the serious slack in an update, I´ve had a busy & interesting week.

Monday was the start of English classes at the school, Virgin de Fatima. I have a total of five classes with Julie between Monday & Wednesday so it´s a relatively easy schedule. It´s grades third through sixth and the kids have been fairly excited to learn English. Classes thus far have been OK....Julie and I decided prior to the start of the week that we would do the majority of the class in English with some instruction in Spanish. But it ended up that she spoke in Spanish 98% of the class and I felt like her assistant. I´ve been a little frustrated about it but I´m trying to keep in mind that it was the first week and possibly necessary. More to come on that later this week.

Thursday and Friday were a bit more relaxing & I hiked up to a cross on a mountain near my house. On my way back down I managed to get into the back of the main Inca ruins here that cost tourists 70 soles to get in. Cha-ching. I didn´t do much walking around since I get in for free with Awamaki anyway.

Thursday evening, I managed to narrowly escape eating cow stomach for dinner and went to dinner with Julia. I ordered a ridiculiously delicious vegetarian burrito and couldn´t get over how fantastic vegetables tasted. Side note-I literally eat rice, potatoes & meat for every meal, it´s gotten reallllllly old.

Friday night I watched a Japanese horror movied dubbed over in Spanish with Jesus. It was quite terrible but entertaining none the less. After, Janet asked me if I would be Micaela´s Godmother...I couldn´t figure out if she was serious but I accepted anyway. Now Mica refers to me as ¨Mi Madrina¨....I´m still not sure if it was serious but sweet none-the-less.

Saturday, Jesus and I went for a run in the morning which was the first good run I´ve had since I´ve been here (first of three....). I need to start busting ass. Later in the day, there was a ceremony in the soccer arena in our neighborhood for my host family´s cousin, Elvis. He´s the new mayor of Ollantaytambo. And of course it involved drinking cerveza allllllll day long. Also in alcoholic form, was a traditional Peruvian beverage called Chicha. I´m still unclear on how it is created but it´s basically a homemade corn beer that is gauranteed to put in you in bed for a couple days if not accustomed to it. Although not practiced much anymore, I believe the original way it was created was by chewing corn kernals & spitting them into the beverage. There were multiple Qechua women selling it in barrels & I tried a sip...not sure what the frenzie is about, I would much prefer beer. Later in the evening, I went to another pizza party for the new volunteer followed by Pub Inglais & the very classy Ollanto discotech until 3 am. The discotech was like a 7th grade dance with the girls seperated from the boys. It was quite comical.

Time for an intense game of Monopolio. Wish me luck.

Caio

Urabamba & Lares

This week has been interesting. We've had the week off in terms of work because of Holy Week. On Monday, I went to Hearts Cafe (where I currently am) and returned to my house to find that I locked the key to my room IN my room. I never lock the door or carry the key so I must have hit the lock when I walked out. Oops. Jesus, Janet & I tried to pick at the lock for awhile and failed. I ran around town to try and find one of the guy volunteers to pick the lock. I found Frederick, he tried and also failed. Damn Peruvian locks. So there are three panes of glass between my room and the next room. I left for Spanish class and apparently Jesus knocked out one of the panes & got in. They cleaned up the glass and all that before I got home but that just lead to another stupid adventure.

In order to get the glass replaced we had to go to the next town over, Urabamba, which is a half hour ride away. We got a collectivo taxi to Urabamba which is 1 sol but they pack it with like 15-20 people which makes for a crappy ride. We got to Urabamba around 8 am and went to the market which is much bigger than Ollanto's market. At one point, I questioned AGAIN why I eat meat. The meat section was gross- meat hanging everywhere with saws & pigs heads displayed like a prize on the table. So we got a bunch of stuff....some for Suzanne's shop & her sister's shop. We probably had like 50 eggs, a sack of flour & a bunch of other stuff including a chicken with the legs and head, yuck. Then we went to get the glass. We got the piece cut, walked back with it to get another taxi back to Ollanto and....ccccrrrrackkkk. It broke once we were settled in the cab. I had to squeeze back out, walk back up to the store with Janet, get a new piece cut and grab another taxi back home. What a pain. Needless to say, I found the key in a pair of pants and it is in the door now & will stay there for the duration of my stay.

On Thursday morning, 14 people from the Awamaki crew decided to hike to Lares where there are some hot springs. It's an all day hike, so we grabbed a collectivo at 7:00 am for a one hour ride to the starting point in Patacancha. The first three hours were up-hill but great & beautiful & a little chilly at higher altitudes. Right before we hit the peak of the climb it began raining. And it had rained a bit this past week so the down hill portion was really muddy, wet & really cold. Needless to say, it was miserable. Everyone was so cold that our hands weren't functioning and at one point I was thinking - where the hell is a car to pick me up and take me to these hot springs immediately? But there was literally nothing but llamas, alpaca & mountains in the distance. I had also fallen in mud at the beginning so I was covered in mud. We didn't even really stop for lunch because we were so cold we all just wanted to get there as fast as possible. The last hour was a little more bare able and we finally arrived at the hot springs....which were closed.

Kidding, they weren't closed. They were spectacular and did an excellent job of returning my body to a normal temperature. However, everyone's backpacks had gotten wet and so did a lot of the stuff in them - including the dry pair of clothes were were all looking forward to wearing. So we were all cold again and some people didn't bring an additional pair of shoes so they had to put on their wet and muddy shoes from the hike. We grabbed dinner- which was the same as what I eat at home....rice, potatoes, meat. And everyone just wanted to crawl in bed to warm up & go to bed. I think we were all sleeping by 9 pm....the earliest I've gone to bed here. I slept in my jeans & coat and thankfully there were 4 heavy blankets on the beds to keep us warm.

Of course, when we arose yesterday morning it was a beautiful day. A great day for a hike. Funny how life works. The ride back took 3 hours and was beautiful. I got a few pictures but I don't think they do justice to the views here. It is quite spectacular.

When I arrived yesterday, I went over to Suzanne's for Jesus' birthday (my house brother-ish, not Jesus Chris :P ) We had ceviche and Pisco Sours for lunch and then drank ALL afternoon til about 11 pm. Zack, another volunteer who eats with my family, & I were pretty drunk. Jesus had to have been drunk too. That's the most drunk I've been here and going to bed is pretty fuzzy. The result - I've got the shakes today.

Tonight, there is another pizza party for the new volunteer who arrived yesterday. I look forward to pizza and not more rice, potatoes and meat. I'll post more pictures soon.

Caio for now.

I think I have fleas.

This is a serious statement. I might have fleas or more realistically, flea bites. All the dogs that roam around here have fleas and it eventually becomes unavoidable that you touch them or they touch you. Although, on Friday evening on two separate occasions I had dogs coming at me & barking. Good thing I carry rocks for protection. I have yet to be seriously threatened by them.

Friday evening we had a pizza, painting & cerveza party at the new office / volunteer house. I walked home with my flashlight & rocks (& oreos!!) and found my family drinking since Jesus was home from Cusco for the weekend. They usually share 1 liter of beer and pass the cup around. But for whatever reason, they always give me my own cup and every time the cup is passed, I'm filled up as well. So, I end up drinking a lot more until 2 am.

Saturday, we had Ceviche & Pisco Sours for lunch. Pisco Sours are a traditional Peruvian alcoholic beverage made of whipped egg whites and Pisco (an alcohol). They sound gross but they're actually quite delicious. After lunch the entire family went to the next town over to a very small cemetery where they have family buried. We literally sat on the grave and drank 12 liters of Cusquena (a Peruvian beer) until 5 pm. Later in the evening I went to a local hostel owned by an American & drank on the roof top with everyone from Awamaki. It was fun & a gorgeous view of the mountains in the dark & stars which are quite brilliant out here.

Today is Palm Sunday and the start of Semana Santa aka Holy Week. This week would have been our first week of teaching but there is no school this week. I think there might drinking this week for the occasion & added free time. Silly me for thinking I would abstain from alcohol for 3 months.

Enjoy the pictures of Ollantaytambo. Caio.

Black Out!

Today is Viernes. Friday. Yesterday & the evening before it rained quite a bit which is apparently a problem in the small town of Ollantaytambo because we had no power all day yesterday. And when there is no power & rain, there is very little to do. So, I hung out at the Awamaki office in the morning and did some lesson planning for our first week of classes with Julie. Then I returned home around noon to tune my guitar which I completed successfully & study up on my spanish a bit. Had some lunch & went off to Spanish classes which ended around 6:15 pm & the town was REALLY CLOSE to being pitch black. The power finally returned at 7:30 after we had a candelit dinner.

Spanish lessons are coming along...I guess. 3 hours a day, 5 days a week = a lot of information. So, I think I´m going to try and sit down for a couple hours this weekend and get some vocab & all that jazz under my belt. I can understand a lot in conversations but I am not comfortable speaking it.

Bad news- I found more puppies to feed at the same house as Skinny Dog. I fed Skinny Dog an entire pack of crackers yesterday, she seemed to enjoy them.

I might be going to Urabamba today which is the next town over with my house mom to the market. If not, I will be helping painting at the new Awamaki Office in town & hopefully running. There is a pizza & painting party at the new office tonight with some CERVEZA. Mmm.

Caio for now.

Buenos Dias!

Each day is getting better and better! I´m really starting to like it here. My ridiculious sunburn is still extremely red and inflamated. My forearms were the most burnt and swollen to the point that you couldn´t see my wrist bones which is unusual. And I´m not exaggerating at all - this is by far the worst sunburn I have ever experienced in my life. I guess my lesson was learned with the Peruvian sun & high altitudes. I showed my host family my birth mark arm and although my birthmark did look a little odd they thought that it was some adverse reaction to the sun. So I had to quickly look up Mole in my English/Spanish dictionary. And say, ¨No, esta un lunar!¨.

I went running this morning for the first time which wasn´t easy. I´m obviously in higher altitudes that I am not accustomed to as well as the hills/mountainous terrain. There are a lot of dogs around here just wandering and they appear to be strays but are most commony owned by a family & are friendly. On the outskirts of town there was a mother dog with two little puppies and the mom was horrendously skinny. So I walked back later with my breakfast that consisted of a flat piece of bread with some steak and fed it to the dog since I didn´t want it. I´m guessing this will become somewhat regular for me as I have a soft spot for animals.

I started Spanish classes yesterday which have been good. I´ll definitely have to do some studying on my free time but being submersed in the language and culture will help me pick up the language quickly. I found out yesterday afternoon that I will be teaching English & Environmental Ed with another volunteer at one of the schools. Neither of us have teaching experience but Julia is relatively fluent in the language which tends to make me feel dumb.

Tonight we have a volunteers meeting and & quiz night at the pub. My computer crashed last night which really sucks so I am going to see if one of the volunteers can fix it. We´ll see. Keep the e-mails coming, I would love to be updated on everyone´s lives....wait I guess I haven´t been gone that long, ha :).

Hola

Hola! Today has been better as was the end of yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, I hiked up to the ruins called Pika Una - I think my spelling is way off but that's how it's pronounced - with a girl from Awamaki. And then we walked around town a bit and checked some stuff out. We found some cute looking restaurants that I plan to eat at during my stay here (some that serve roast guinea pig - a common Peruvian delicacy). After that, I arrived at my house & they had built 2 small plywood walls in the common room and got INTERNET. Then had dinner & went over to my host mom's mom's house (aka my "grandma") where the entire family was -- my host mom's two brothers, the one's wife & 3 year old daughter, and the grandparents. They were drinking 1 liters of Pilsen and passing it around. Every time Suzanne (the grandma) got the liter she made sure to fill my cup up. So I drank quite a bit of beer since we consumed 12 liters between about 5 people. Oy.

This morning I woke up and went hiking at 8 am with two other volunteers - Hayden & Kaitlyn. We went up to these huge stone quarries at the near-top of a mountain. It took about 4 hours to get there. They stopped to eat and were planning on going to the Sunshine Gate at the very top in the clouds which was another 2 hours beyond where we stopped. So, I turned around and it took me two hours to get down and I encountered quite a few cows on the path. I had to pick up a rock and hit it on a rock wall so they would move. I was quite parched and exhausted by the time I even got down near town and was having to take breaks just walking up a small incline. So sad. But I got very burnt on my back, chest, back of my calves and forearms. I need to watch out for that next time.

Tomorrow is my first day of helping with English classes in the elementary school & taking Spanish classes (mucho importante). Wish me luck.

PS - I'll try and post some pictures soon but right now blogspot is being volatile.

Ollantaytambo

Well, I've been a bit overwhelmed to say the least. I left Lima yesterday morning and flew to Cusco where I met an American who hitched a ride with me to Ollantaytambo. And a few seconds before we found my ride he tells me he's a missionary. I was OK with this until he preached to me the ENTIRE 2 hour drive to Ollantaytambo (which was extraordinarily beautiful by the way). Even got into the discussion of the Big Bang Theory v. Evolution and I couldn't help but sit there and think that the majority of the crap that came out of his mouth was ludicrous. But it was comforting to be able to speak to someone fluently.

I got to Ollantaytambo and Hallie (a volunteer coordinator) picked me up to meet me host family and go to their house. I'm staying with a 33 year old woman, Janet - pronounced Yanet, and her 6 year old daughter Mikaela who is adorable. They speak very little English and I speak very little Spanish so we speak a mixture of the two together with some added sounds and motions.

The standard of living here is substantially lower than what we're used to. My house is about 4 rooms - the common area, the two bedrooms and a bathroom. They have very little furniture because they just renovated the inside of their house. So in the "kitchen" area is a range, a table and a couple side tables to put things on, and a computer table. My room has a bed & a night stand. And the bathroom has an electric shower (yikes), a toilet and a sink. However, you can't flush toilet paper here because their plumbing system is basic. On a positive note, my house mom mentioned this morning that she might be getting WiFi. YIPPEE.

I had a bit of a breakdown this morning. I had breakfast and then my dad called and the second I picked up the phone and heard his voice I started crying. It's become quite difficult to think about home, family, friends and my cat. At this point in time, it's hard to imagine being here for 2-3 months. I just hope I adjust relatively quickly and start to enjoy it. It is truly a beautiful area.

On a positive note - the other volunteers are great. There are 19 of us and 3 other new ones that came in yesterday at different times than me (one named Forest). We had a pizza dinner last night with drinks and then did a little salsa dancing. I've gotten the impression that I have not been the only one who has been overwhelmed but that everyone ends up loving it. And it is a step above Lima without a doubt.

Send this lonely girl e-mails. Muchos Gracias.

Lima

OK, so here I am in Lima. I'm experiencing a bit of culture shock. I'm currently sitting in the hostel on a hard board, also known as a bed. Granted I've only been in Lima for no more than 2 hours but there are a lot of smells, traffic, & grimy aspects in my travel from the airport to the hostel. It also didn't help that I started feeling car sick on the way here.

I'm looking forward to less traffic in Cuzco & Ollantaytambo tomorrow but I'm not going to assume or hope that the accommodations are any better (I am only paying $8 so I really shouldn't complain).

I killed a spider in my room. I'm just glad it wasn't a gigantore spider.

A Little Letter to A------- Airlines

March 18, 2010

Dear A------- Airlines (I’m not naming names on this one):

How could you possibly call that “dinner” you just served me actual food? The mashed potatoes were the same consistency and shape as a cylinder of goat cheese. The salad was a few pieces of soggy iceberg lettuce, an equally soggy slice of tomato and a couple shreds of parmesan cheese. Not to mention the chicken that I refused to even look at. Sub-par.

What happened to the soggy McDonald’s Happy Meals you used to serve when I was a kid? Or the meal that my dad cleverly coined “Crap in a Sack”? Those were still terrible but at least a step above what I just nibbled on. Not to mention the smell that was highly offensive and infiltrated the entire plane. I welcome you to do the cooking up in first class.

One last note: Is there anything that can be done about the horrifying noise when you flush the toilet? It hurts my ears and makes me feel like I am about to get sucked out of the plane with other people’s doo-doo.

A safe arrival in Lima would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Cynical Me

Day Prior to Departure

Well, here I am blogging. I'll have to admit, it's a little bit weird. It's kind of like the internet has a special password to the thoughts in my head which could not be a good thing.

I'm leaving for Peru for three months tomorrow morning. I'm starting to get pretty excited about everything. I'm really looking forward to being surrounded by amazing views and a new culture. However, I'm apprehensive about my inability to speak Spanish but there isn't much I can do about that at this point. I'll just deal with it as it comes.

This is my itinerary for the next couple of days:

-Fly to Miami & then Lima and arrive tomorrow around 9 pm.
-Pick up by youth hostel taxi.
-Fly from Lima to Cusco the following day & arrive at Cusco around 1 pm.
-Pick up by private taxi for trip from Cusco to Ollantaytambo.

The rest is an adventure. I'm still not positive where I'll be placed to volunteer and I know nothing about the family I will be staying with. This is a perfect example of the fact that I am not a planner. I simply don't care and look forward to the experience. I do know that I will be taking an intensive 40 hour Spanish class when I get there.

I bought a guitar! It's a black acoustic Fender (my mom still doesn't know....I imagine she'll find out tomorrow morning when I walk out of the house with it). It was relatively cheap and nothing special but I'm planning to teach myself over the next three months since I won't have a piano to play with anymore. Now everyone can anxiously wait for my inevitable fame (kidding).

I'm going to miss my cat. Whether this makes me a cat lady or not, it is a true statement.

More to come in a few days.