Tis The Season

Oh the joys of the Christmas season! This week I learned that if you give disabled children lots of candy, fruit bread, and juice, they go insane just like typical kids! After an especially long and happy pre-Christmas junk food eating party, the kids went a little cuckoo. During lunch one decided that it was a perfectly acceptable lunchtime affair to roll his wheelchair over to me and pound on my back for a half-hour. While it was strange, he isn't very big so it felt a little like a miniature shiatsu massage, so I let him just keep at it. Today was yet another pre-Christmas party at the clinic, which involved dressing the kids up in ties and slacks or foamy pink princess dresses, and letting them sit around in their wheelchairs for 2 hours while the adults got their act together. Once the party commenced, we had a creepy grown woman dressed as a child's doll wearing underwear and a poofy top, big glasses, fake freckles, and blackened teeth - singing. Badly. For a long time. A really long time.

Lots of interesting things have happened this week. We had an entire city blackout one night as some friends and I were walking downtown. Some people freaked out, some kids tried stealing stuff and were hauled away by the police, and going against my adventurous spirit, I suggested getting a taxi and heading back home until the lights came on. As soon as we got home, the lights came back on, and we headed back to town.

One morning as I went to catch my usual $2 soles taxi, the taxi tried to tell me it was much more than that because the clinic was far. I argued that it wasn't far and that it is always $2 soles, and that he only trying to take advantage of me because I was a gringa. He angrily shouted, 'You have money and it is far!' I said fine, slammed the door shut, and the taxi waiting behind him charged $2 soles.

All my friends have gone home for the holidays, so I have been spending time with a local character. Carlos is my 21 year-old, emotionally sensitive (meaning, generally emotionally distraught), poet, musician, and romantic. He has been studying English so he comes over and we study together. The other day he claimed he had difficult homework and asked to come over. Once he arrived, he lamented for 2 hours that he met a girl in a bar from the States and only saw her twice but was in love, this was the girl of his dreams, and because they both had things in common (such as they both wear glasses and they both like the rain...), it was obviously meant to be, and now she was leaving. And he was in full mourning. Ahhh to discuss the things of love with young people, and in a foreign language nonetheless. Fortunately for my sanity, this Dreamgirl has sent him a happy email this week so Carlos is faring much better.

Things at the house are, as always, dramatic. Our youngest and most troublesome roommate, Gabriel, accidently left the gas on on the stove, and when another roommate lit the burner he was enveloped in flames! Fortunately he didn't catch fire, it was just a burst of flame that quickly went out. Supposedly one of our administrators is having a meeting with Gabriel today. Gabriel was also the one who left the water on last week and flooded the house. And the one who left the backdoor open during a rainstorm and flooded the living room.

Tomorrow I am helping out with a Christmas party in a town about an hour away. They call it a Chocolatada - we provide hot cocoa, treats, and gifts for the poor kids in town. Right now it's time to go to the local outdoor market to buy groceries, and then go work with my teen girls.

Island Living

Fashion Courtesy of Our Island Host Mom

A failed trip to Bolivia became a serendipitous adventure!

Three hours before Jana, Dana, and I were headed for Bolivia we found out that the new visa restrictions went into effect December 1st instead of January 1st. The new restrictions, only for the USA, are as follows:
1. $100 US
2. Color photo
3. Proof of hotel in Bolivia
4. Proof of the last 3 months financial statement to prove you actually have money
5. Proof of return ticket
6. Statement of Yellow Fever Vaccination

Not necessarily difficult to acquire, but three hours before the bus leaves and with a fundraising party left to prepare for, we decided we would go halfway, to Puno, Peru. Once there we would ask around and ask if it would be possible to bribe our way across the Bolvian border.

That decided, we went off to help with the fundraising. We have friends working on an after-school project where there is a playground with a 50' drop on one side. They wanted to raise money to build a wall since one kid has already fallen off during a rivetting game of futbol (he survived but only after 4 months of being in the hospital). They decided to host a big dinner party and ask for donations. Jana and I helped two Peruvian cooks fix all the food, which meant a LOT of potatoes and carrots to be scrubbed and peeled (we learned that professional chefs can peel a lot faster than we can, we even timed them - 15 seconds per potato), lots of basil and cilantro to be washed, and bin after bin of food to be transported from the house to the restaurant via mini Daewoo taxis! While we were cooking the bar the party was being hosted at was being nailed together. It opened 20 days earlier than expected, so as one might imagine, there was a lot of last minute stuff to be done. The fundraiser was a success and last I heard they raised $500 in profits for a wall. Hopefully that will be enough.

After the party, Dana, Jana, and I boarded our bus to Puno and slept all night, arriving in Puno at 5am just as the sun was coming up. A very persistant tour guide followed us to a restaurant and convinced us that we wanted to do a 2 day trip on the islands of Lake Titikaka. Indeed. We boarded a boat two hours later and went to the phenomenon that is the 'floating islands of Lake Titikaka.' Apparently many years ago some tribe decided they didn't like living on the land near their enemies, so they added layer upon layer of reeds on the water and created their own islands which really do float. They also make boats out of reeds. I noticed though that their reed houses had rooves that hid tarps and tin, and further away the people actually used motorboats and the reed boats were just for show.

Later that day we went to Amantani Island, a real island, and met our host families we were to stay with for the night. Amantani is very rural, there is no electricity or running water, and the people are vegetarians. Our host family consisted of Nikolas and his wife and their four children. Dana, Jana, and I had our own beds in a very pink adobe room, and the kitchen was another adobe room with a small fireplace and a table. That's it. We had great food - quinoa soup, potatoes, eggs, pancakes, and amazing tea made out of muña which is from the mint family. Later that night the wife dressed us up in traditional skirts and shirts and we went to the town center for a thrilling dance party! Wooohoo!

After an all night rain and lightening storm, we boarded our boat for a three-hour ride back to Puno. We slept on the bus during the night and arrived back in Cusco at 4am.

Urubamba!

This weekend 'the girls' and I went rafting down the Urubamba River. Nothing says A Girl's Day Out like class IV rapids!


After an hour and half class IV drive to the Urubamba, we arrived at a beautiful private house along the river with lush gardens, bounding St Bernards, and thatched roofs. We spent over two hours rafting down the Urubamba which is surrounded by lush, green mountains, lots of fat, dirty sheep, and curious old Andean men and women. When we arrived back at the cabin, the sauna was stoked, the sun room warm, and the showers hot. Lunch was cooking in the homemade clay oven, which was under the thatched roof, which caught the thatched roof on fire! Men started dashing to the river, filling buckets with water, while a more intelligent one got the hose ready! Unfortunately by the time they stretched the hose to the roof, the hose came apart in the middle and the roof kept burning. Yours truly dashed to the rescue, reattached the hose, and the fire was put out immediately. Lunch was forgotten enough to be only slightly burnt, and a good time was had by all. On the trip back to Cusco, despite crazy turns above crazy cliffs taken at even more crazy speeds, most everyone fell promptly asleep. Three days later and my abs still ache from the amount of paddling we did. It's a good pain.

I have discovered I live in a frat house without the university part. With the new arrival of two more guys, the boys in the house have decided our house is the perfect drinking game party house, and due to the amount of things they smoke, they have the delusion that Mom lives with us and cleans up after everyone. In turn this creates a lot of friction between the women and boys (I have to say boys because they are all between 18-22). Fortunately I just ran into one of my roommates on the street and she announced her mom is coming to live with us for two weeks!! I am anxious to see what kind of impact this has on everyone.

Saturday I went to see Grupo 5, the hottest music craze in Peru. What it actually became was The Hottest White Girl Craze in Peru! I was the viewing sensation, being the only white person at the concert, and I actually had men who wanted to pay me (or my friends) money to dance with me or to have their photo taken with me. While handing out rejection after rejection, I discovered I know more Spanish than I thought! All in all, the concert had about 2000 attendees and it was one of the most calm concerts I have ever attended.

A Joel update for those following my Trabajo Voluntario... Joel started using a walker today (with a little assistance - he truly does NOT need a walker with wheels, but you work with what you have), I taught him a sign in Sign Language which he is using (with a great big smile), and today while we were visiting the rabbit zoo, he used his voice to indicate he wanted something and when I asked him to use his voice again, he did! He laughs when he sees he is being understood and that this helps him get what he wants. Although he doesn't think I understand him when it is time for lunch and he wants to keep playing, and I start dragging his walker in a different direction!

I am off to Bolivia on Friday for a 'visa run' and to visit Copacabana and Lake Titicaca.

Canine Fashionista

As one can see by the canine representative, it is easy to live a posh and decadent life in Cusco.

This morning I enjoyed a late breakfast in a rather famed Swiss restaurant, Granja Heidi ('Heidi's Orchard-Farm'). I sat in a window balcony surrounded by geraniums (the geraniums here are more like geranium trees - they are so healthy), in a light filled adobe room. Breakfast: muesli (like mom makes it), fresh orange juice, coffee, and a chocolate-filled croissant. For $4.00 U.S. Sweet.

I have joined up on a new project now, so I am working with my kids at the clinic in the morning, and then on afternoons I don't already have Spanish class, I am working at a safehouse for girls ages 13-17 who used to be prostitutes (primarily it seems because their parents needed more money for the family). The girls are truly like typical rambuncious teenagers who want to know all the details about boyfriends and jewelry and makeup. We are teaching them English and mostly just hanging out with them. I am thinking about creating a little art studio for them to take part in while I am here, but I think I will wait until after Christmas because right now is prime craft making time - every time we go to their house we are bombarded with frightening foam angels, candles, wreaths, and other extremely cheesy Christmas decorations, all for sale.

Joel, my child project from the clinic - the one I have been helping learn to walk - has been silent since he first came to the clinic a few months ago. He doesn't make any sounds, he rarely smiles, and he hardly makes eye contact with anyone, and he also doesn't reach out to people, mostly he just looks serious and bored. Friday, after spending the morning playing with him and practicing walking, I put Joel in bed for a nap, turned away, and he started playing with his toys and making sounds! The first time in three weeks! Today was a big annual party at the clinic with music and dancing, and when I arrived at the clinic, Joel zipped up to me in his wheelchair and patted my leg to get my attention. Whoa. I took him out of his chair (I refuse to let him use it when I am there) and we spent three solid hours playing outside - truly groundbreaking play in my book. He is learning the concept of jumping, so we played a lot of jumping games (huge for a kid who just started walking about two weeks ago), and he also spent most of his time giggling loudly, smiling, and making eye contact with me and the other volunteers. When he was tired, I would hold him in my arms and he would wrap his arms around my neck and hug me hard, and sometimes he would just lay his cheek against mine and we would watch the dancing together. What an incredible difference in this child in such a short amount of time! I might see if he can fit in my backpack come February.

Tonight is a big concert at the Jardin de Cerveza (Garden of Beer). Grupo Cinco is the biggest music craze in Cusco at the moment, and they are playing tonight for about $5. Jana and I are debating our attendance as tomorrow we are going river rafting! At 9am we are heading out to the Urubamba River for a day of rafting with four other girl friends. The woman at the tour guide office signed me up for an XL wetsuit but quickly said it wasn't because I was big, it was because I was tall. I will also mention that when I was riding in a taxi yesterday, in the front seat (the taxistas require you to wear a seatbelt if you sit in the front seat, whereas there are no seatbelts in the backseat...), I had to put the seatbelt on but it was locked in the fully unfurled position. I had a hard time getting it on because I had a backpack on and a raincoat, and the woman riding with me said I was too big. I quickly corrected her: no grande, alta! I am not big, I am tall!

The Market

I guess there are only certain parts of the alpaca needed for wool...

I've been intending on buying a cell phone for a couple of weeks now, but my friend's Peruvian boyfriend 'Norberto' kept insisting I needed to wait until the 'special' Saturday market. I have been feeling a bit jaded about the racket that is Commercial Stores because the prices are generally jacked up for touristas and all the locals insist you can get things cheaper.

Before we left for the special market yesterday, Norberto said that Dana and I should dress 'thuggish' and don't wear jewelry, bring purses, or wear anything that has many pockets. My week-long worn Prana cargos (and thusly, very stretched out and baggy) and best dirty t-shirt had to suffice for thug-attire. I hid my money in an old chewing gum packet (thanks Rachel) and put on my best thuggish sneer. The market was located in a ramshackled, dodgy, dirty part of Cusco (as opposed to the main square where women with face masks go around sweeping up individual cigarette butts all day long). Envision an American swap meet with absolutely no space, lots more creepy people (just smaller), and even more things you don't want or need. And as soon as I got there I realized why everything was cheaper: everything is either stolen property or was found in someone else's garbage can. When I bought my cellphone I instantly felt like I had many more friends in Cusco as my list of friends on the phone is quite long (Daphne, Rodrigo, Diana, Alex...) - I even discovered that I have a grandma (abuelita) right here in Peru! I can call her up anytime! And this new sparkly phone with all my new friends cost about $15 U.S.! Granted, I pretty much held onto Dana's hand (and she held on tightly to Norberto) the entire time we slithered through the packed market, and rest assured that I will never visit this market by myself.

Here are some things you can buy at this market: old, creepy, dirty, naked dolls missing various body parts, flat screen televisions freshly swiped from someone's house, pickaxes, freshly shorn and very dirty clumps of wool, batteries (lightly used), broken faces for cell phones, chicha ('beer' made from human-chewed-spat corn), police vests (I assume these were for sale, otherwise old men in their dirty sweats with vests were actually the police), underwear (fortunately not used), bearings of all sizes, and dead and dried baby llamas (to ensure longevity of your house). My friend asked one vendor for some tissue to blow her nose, and when she was done and asked for the garbage can, the woman laughed, waved her hand and said 'the peruvian way' - which means: throw it on the ground. On the way back we stopped at a slightly cleaner market and had cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and pan con nata - nata being some kind of cream the texture of sour cream. A coffee and bread was about $0.50 US. I purposefully did not look to see how the cups and dishes were cleaned and instead optimistically focused on the bright smile of the cook.

All that being said, you can now call or text me if you wish at 011-51-84-930-4963.

Also, the coffee here sucks. There is seriously other stuff mixed in with the coffee none of which is caffeine. So if anyone would like to send me some coffee or even some cool music to listen to while I drink my coffee, or postcards, or anything that shows how much you truly love me you can send it to:

Tonya Pepper, Estudiante

Escuela Amauta

Calle Suecia 480

Cusco, PERU

Dio en Peru

Ahh the way life opens up sometimes. This entry may be a little too existential for some (I did, afterall, go to a Buddhist university), view at your own discretion or skip it and wait for the next issue of Peruvian Dreams.

Two days ago I was sitting in our picture window, looking out on the neighborhood and heard a vicious fight going on below. Something I noticed above the screaming, shouting, and crying was the most beautiful songbird I have ever heard sitting and twittering left of the fight house. Would it have been as beautiful if it were not for the fighting too? With a whole lot of magical thinking and prayer, I hoped that whatever created that bird could also change the situation at hand. At that very moment, the mother looked out her window, saw me, and instantly the fighting stopped. Whoa, that was really cool.

Later that night I took a taxi home, and instead of outrageous flirting and business as usual, the Taxista asked me what I was doing in Cusco and when I told him I was working at La Clinica San Juan de Dios with disabled children, he immediately began thanking me from the bottom of his heart and on behalf of the children for my help, and when he dropped me off he waited until I had unlocked my door and was safely inside before he drove off.

Yesterday I was working with a boy, Joel, who at about 4 years old spends most of his days either in a crib or in a wheelchair. He doesn't speak and most of the time he looks really bored and goes so far as to lean his head on his hand and sigh. But Joel has exceptionally bright and alert eyes, and I was told he was very 'stubborn' (which, in the world of disabled children, I tend to see as a strength rather than a problem). I wheeled him out onto the playground and it was clear he didn't want to sit in his chair. I got him out and held his hands and he flopped his legs over to the slide area. One old-time volunteer was adamant that Joel needed full assistance and she tried to divert his attention from the slide area to something he could do with his wheelchair. I ignored her and instead taught him where he could put his hands and hold onto the entire slide toy and walk himself over to the steps, climb up, and slide down on his own. This was quite a trek for a boy who hasn't had many opportunities to walk, and when he had practice, was taught he had to rely on holding an adult's hands with his own. Two times around he needed full assistance because he was pretty tippy. After that, he made about 20 rounds independently! Not only did he learn how to hold onto things to help steady himself, but he also generalized this skill and went around the other side and went down a different slide! I will mention that the entire time his legs were shaking from the exertion, but he had the biggest grin on his face ever! I noticed today he was getting around exceptionally well on his own, and when it was time to go to lunch he refused to use his wheelchair and instead chose to walk and push his chair into the lunchroom.

Yesterday a young man of about 15 with severe cerebral palsy asked to take a 'walk' with me (in his chair) and had me wheel him to the rose garden. We picked roses and put them in a secret hiding place, and he called me his 'little one' which is exceptionally sweet considering I am twice his age and three times his size! The kids at this clinic are the happiest most ready to smile kids I have seen. People see the clinic and think they must have terrible lives because they spend a lot of time in their beds and most can't walk or talk, but truly, you have never seen a gigglefest like these kids can put on every day.

More lovely things to be thankful for? Last night I had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in an British pub in Cusco. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, veggies, wine, pie... and when I got home, an English friend of ours had made two honest to goodness pumpkin pies, of which there was plenty leftover so this morning I had pie for breakfast too!

My two closest friends in Cusco officially have boyfriends. I told Jana I was going to sit out in the plaza for the rest of the day until I had a boyfriend. I better get started!

From the Ghetto

Oh the friends we will meet

This weekend marked my passage into the working world of Cusco. Or rather, the paying to be in the working world in Cusco. I moved into my new digs on Saturday, and much to my horror I was living in a small bedroom with a girl I had never met, and I shared a bathroom and kitchen with the whole apartment complex. Also, the front door (located in a not very nice area) had two locks that you have to click your heels together, spin around, push in all the right places at all the right times, and say the alphabet backwards to unlock it. It took me 20 minutes to get it unlocked, and that was with some tutoring from one of the neighbors. This was not the 'shared flat with private room' I had paid for.

Fortunately, Spanish women are like most women anywhere. All I had to do was complain to one girl at the apartment, and by the next morning at least 4 women at the school heard, and by noon on Sunday I moved into my Real Place. Now I live in a gorgeous, 3-story house with a big open kitchen, a dining room, vaulted ceiling living room with adobe fireplace, cable tv, a DVD player, three bathrooms, a marble spiral staircase, a big sunroom-patio, and a big garden full of roses, mint, chrysanthemums, apple trees, raspberries, and also three functioning compost bins. I have 4 roommates (mostly they haven't been around much), and the guy who lives on the third floor plays.... drums. And what he lacks in skill he certainly makes up for with enthusiasm. Think Real World (the show) and you will understand my house. My house is about 4 blocks from the Plaza de Armas, and I have two ways to get downtown - one is a meandering, longer downhill trek through two parks. The other is straight down hill and then, while you may think you are looking at a 300´stone wall, you are actually facing an old stone staircase that drops me off about 30' from my school. Who needs a Stairmaster?!

Yesterday I was leaving my house with my bag of laundry to go to the laundromat on the corner, when an old lady (Carmela) stopped me and asked if I had laundry. Umm. Yes...? Turns out she owns a laundromat downtown but actually does the wash at her house. She led me down a deep, dark tunnel of a staircase into a courtyard with dogs and chickens and probably some of the poorest people I have had contact with since I have been here. But she truly did have washers and (!) dryers (rare here), and by that afternoon my laundry was fresh and folded.

Today was my second day working at the clinic. I was actually able to do therapy with some of the kids today (physical therapy, but technically that's therapy) instead of just play on the playground and shovel food into their mouths. Well... hmm. Yesterday I made a comment to my fellow volunteers, 'Did you see the way that nurse shoveled food into Benjamin's mouth??' I envisioned lawsuits in the U.S., but guess who ended up with Benjamin at lunchtime today.... mmmhmmm yours truly. Within two minutes I was shoveling soup spoons full of food down his throat because I got to discover that he is merely obstinant, and when it was dessert time, he had no problem opening his mouth and eating. Ahh children, they are the same everywhere, truly.

Time to go cook dinner! I went shopping in the 'market' and came away with a whole big bag of veggies and fresh bread and the biggest ripest mangoes ever for about 5 soles, which is about $1. Ahh Peru.

Japanese Profanity Alive and Well in Cusco

I now realize that for every one of the pictures you see of traditional Peruanans have been paid for with tourist dollars. Dressing up for pictures is their livelihood, and if you attempt to take a picture of anyone even semi-traditional looking without paying them first, they will wag their finger at you and cover their faces with their hats.

(A side note: Our family dog, Achilles, has decided to follow me the 172 mile to the internet cafe and is happily lazing on the cool tile floor next to me. No one has kicked him out, which is interesting considering that he is a pretty ragged, flea-bitten St Bernard mix.)

Well, this has certainly been an interesting day so far. If I need an adventurous day, all I have to do is dress very girly. Taxis were practically fighting over who got to take me to town this morning, and they also only charged me about a 1/3 of the price to get their. Even if I didn't need a taxi, the taxistas would still pull over and honk - just in case I needed one, they let me know they were available! I arrived in town a little early, so I went to the main plaza and had a seat in the sunshine next to the fountain. Within 10 minutes I had two visiting teenaged boys from southern Peru ask to have their picture taken with me, as if I were a tourist attraction. It's not like I was wearing a bikini in El Centro... I am wearing jeans, tennis shoes, a tank top and a frilly coverup, and a necklace. . As soon as they leave, a Japanese tour guide sits on the bench with me even though there are about 20 other empty benches in this plaza. He starts chatting me up, and within minutes he is chastising me for not knowing enough about American or South American history and politics. After he finishes his glowing praises of Hilary Clinton, he begins to go off about Angelina Jolie: "Now take a look at Angelina Jolie - she tries to take a political stance against her own government, but how is she one to talk? She is a naughty, naughty girl - she used to smoke and even smoke marijuana once! Naughty, naughty girl! And Britney Spears and Paris Hilton - now they are just fucking crazy, fucking crazy!" Keep in mind this was all said in a very strong Japanese accent, which makes it even better. He also adamantly told me he didn´t hate me or the people of the USA, only the government. And he also said that Japan is what it is because of the USA and the Japanese people celebrate a Thanksgiving day in honor of the USA every year. I told him I didn't know that, which I was chastised for not knowing.

After this little friendly chat, I went off in search of some museums. Tourists buy a ticket called the Boleto Touristico, which gives you entry to about 15 different sites in Cusco and the surrounding areas. Due to an unfortunate double-funeral for one of the ex-staff at our school, classes were canceled today, so today became my Museum day. I discovered a very interesting artist in the contemporary art museum, Oskar Olazo, who uses extreme points of perspective in his paintings yet they remain quite sweet and inviting. One museum was full of old pottery, weavings, and mummies - which was a little creepy. Apparently the pre-Incans sometimes used boards and padding on their skulls at a very young age in order to slope their heads (similar to the Flathead Indians in the US). There were also several skulls showing the brain surgery of the day way back when. Again, creepy.

It is about 80F and sunny today, so I decided to walk home. I had about 50 taxistas attempt to stop for me, one man tripped over himself, and at least 5 men whistled, and 5 women glared. The guys here, especially the young ones, attempt to crowd attractive touristas off the sidewalk hoping the tourista will not budge and the men will be 'forced' to brush arms with them.

Sunday my friends and I went to Pisac for the big Sunday mercado and to visit the ruins. We took the bus there, which for approximately 75 cents US, was the most exciting and cheapest scary hour-long bus ride I have ever had. The buses, much like the taxis, attempt to go as fast as possible and rarely slow down for turns. At least for the ride there I got to sit down, but the ride back there were 20 people standing in the aisle (this is about 1/2 the size of a normal metro bus). This means you really got to lean into the turns that, of course with Peru being the mountainous place it was, took place always over sheer drop offs of several hundred feet. And you also got to rub butt-cheeks with the person next to you which could be a pro or a con, depending. Being as tall as I am, I only had butt-cheeks rubbing my legs, but my poor friend Dana is quite short and she noticed that every time she would move away from an older man's cheeks, he would immediately move back so they could keep rubbing. Ugh. Public transport. Never dull. While my friends spent several hundred soles at the market, I only purchased a CD/DVD of a popular band here. And you don't get the original CD when you buy music here, pirated copies are rampant and cheap - my CD was only $1 US.

I am attempting to spend as much time as possible in this internet cafe. Half of the interior of my house is getting painted today - all the doors are off their jambs, and the paint smells extremely toxic (maybe you need to use different paint on adobe?), and of course, more importantly, there are 3 semi-creepy guys painting and if I went home it would just be me and them. So much for an easy day with napping and studying involved.

E-town Takes on Cusco

The biggest highlight of this week was the arrival of one Joseph Greenberg from Edmonds, Wa. I found Joseph in a dark, castle-like hostel - complete with police guards, two giant dogs (despite being gigantic and german shepard-esque, the dogs were complete loafers), and a handful of random, old drunk guys sitting around watching sports. After big hugs and hi-5´s, we all headed over to the salsa club. Joseph and my friend Dana made quite the entertaining dance couple - not nessarily for their expertise, but for their creativity! Jana and I were waiting for the moment Dana would kick over a glass or a chair while being dipped by Joe. Alas, everything remained intact. Dana was very impressed.

Speaking of intact, or lack thereof - The next day a bunch of us (3 Americans, 1 Irishman, and 2 Hollanders) went to Sacsaywahman which is the largest group of ruins in Cusco. This was a giant fort built by the Incas, which like most ruins, was ransacked by the Spaniards and the 'small' stones (probably weighing anything from 100lbs - several tons) were taken to build houses in town for the Spaniards. Thus, most of the remaining stones are as big as small houses. All of these stones are carved perfectly to fit into one another, like puzzle pieces, which interestingly, have also been carved and set at such angles and fit as to be earthquake resistant. All of Peru is fairly seismatic, and just the fact that these walls are still standing is proof of how intelligent their construction was. Unfortunately my camera cord was stolen (just the cord), so I can't show you pictures of it just yet. People here are quick, let me tell you. I will have to make a stop at Radio Shack (yes, they have one. What they don't have, which is amazing, is MacDonalds or Starbucks). Our guide apparently also works in a restaurant, so I offered him my pen to write down where it was at, and subsequently Javier fell in love with my pen. He was adamant about buying it from me, which I refused - it was just a normal ink pen. I insisted that he just have it, and now my friends and have an invite somewhere for free beer. Oh yeah. After hiking for several hours, we piled into a dark Irish pub and had Shepards Pie, Cottage Pie, chips and beer. Nothing like a little bit of Ireland in Cusco. And for the sake of being, at one time, Joseph's 'niñera' (nanny), it was very gratifying to wipe some ketchup off of his pants when his eating got a little out of hand.

The next night, my friend Dana has decided she is in love with a guy named Norberto. And you are certainly able to go ahead and wonder (romance = n-o-r-b-e-r-t ? ). Anyways. Dana, Joseph and I grab Norberto from off a street corner and ask him to lead the way to a cool club and cheap beer. Norberto starts leading us down an abandoned street for several blocks. Dana is wearing spike heels and is clinging to Norberto, Joe and I are walking ahead and Joe panics, 'Uhm where are we going? Should we get a taxi?' I remind him of my Skills and tell him that it's all going to be okay. After 15 minutes we walk into a liquorstore - now drinking on the street just for the sake of cheap beer was not what we had in mind. Norberto insisted. He lead us into the back of the store which was this crazy cool ghetto room with a table of old gnarly Peruvians drinking beer and smoking. Seriously folks, we were suddenly in a movie. The clerk pulled out a handful of stools and a liter of beer, and we all sat around chatting. Nothing at all happened, so I suppose that the setting was from a movie and not necessarily the content of the night. Afterward Norberto took us across the street to the most amazing club I have seen (aha! That's why we went to that particular drinking establishment) - the stairs were clear acrylic, and at the bottom was a giant koi fish tank you can actually walk on top of. There were waterfalls, and VIP booths, and DJ's who would play your requests within minutes of making it. Unfortunately it was also a highschool night out, and the drinking age here is 18, so the entire dance floor was all 18 year-olds and their chaperones. I hi-5-ed Joseph after he managed to dance with one of them. He resisted asking the girl if here parents were also at the dance. The night ended with Dana and Norberto dancing on the bar, Joseph jumping off speakers, and me dancing with a security guard.

(After many references to beer in the last couple of entries, for the sake of my family, I think I need to add that the alcohol content in beer here is really low - it's like the Peruvian version of Bud Light except it actually tastes good.)

Zapatos Policia!

"Geometria Catedralica" by Oskar Olazo, Peruvian Artist

11 days of a cold and I get to discover how the Peruvian medical system works. Doctors work behind the counter of the pharmacies here, and they ask you some questions, you tell them about your allergies (fortunately I am far enough along in my Spanish that I know how to say, `Soy alergico a la penicilina.') And voila!! For $20 U.S., you get antibiotics. Again, fortunately I know enough Spanish to understand how to take the antibiotics. And I also know a good internet cafe to research said antibiotic to make sure I wasn't just given crack.

Despite needing an entire box of kleenex with me at all times and not being able to taste my food for a week, I have been having a great time this week! My host mom continues to tell people who come over to the house that I caught my cold because I didn't wear shoes or socks to lunch one day two weeks ago. The part in her lecture about me not wearing socks for 30 minutes has evolved I don't wear socks at all, and now whenever I receive a phone call and start to go downstairs, she leaps at me and points at my feet to make sure I am wearing my shoes and socks. I had no idea I could catch a respiratory infection through my feet.

Friday night I had my first Peruvian salsa lesson at school - within 5 minutes we were all twirling and looping and swirling - along with whacking our heads against elbows, stepping on toes, and getting tied into knots with our partners. My partner was lovely, tall 19 year-old Vincent from Holland, so I will admit I honestly didn't mind the getting tied up in knots part. Afterwards my friends and I went to a salsa club to try out our new skills, which ultimately meant Tonya sat wide-eyed on a chair drinking beer and watching what appeared to be professional salsa dancers, which were really just average Peruvians who have been salsa dancing since they were 2. These people were quite possibly the most amazing dancers I have ever seen in my life, and I had absolutely no intention of jumping in.

Sucrose In My Brain

Apparently today the entire nation of Peru is on strike. Something about the government stealing from the people - but isn't that always an issue in strikes? We were warned that taxis would be unavailable, and if we DID choose to take a rare taxi that was out and about, we should consider ourselves forewarned because a local out working doesn't sit well with the strikers.

Fortunately this morning was very tame - on strike days, kids do not go to school and most people stay home because they can't get to work (it is rare for people to own cars here, and if they do, they are a little psycho about it - for example, I swear my neighbor washes his minivan two times a day, it's like a family bonding experience right in front of my room twice a day). Anyways, four of my friends were jubilant to see taxis even running this morning, so we took our chances and got in and arrived at school on time. On our way home this afternoon, the entire Plaza de Armas (the central spot in Cusco) was brimming with people chanting, waving signs and flags, groups of police were stationed around wearing full on riot-gear and looking totally sexy in their military berets. Quite honestly, this was the tamest strike crowd I have ever seen (not that I have seen many). My friends and I walked right behind the main speakers, and a woman wearing traditional clothing came up to us, plopped a baby lamb in my arms, and asked for money for us to take her picture with me holding the lamb. Business as usual in El Centro. Two soles less, we walked home.

This is my typical day: I get up at 7, shower if I dare but generally the water is freezing because I am probably one of the last of about 12 people in my house to use hot water in the morning. I run downstairs, eat my breakfast of bread (we have an old-school bakery behind our house - adobe oven I am sure), coffee, smoothie, and either cooked plantains or eggs. I meet 3 of my friends and we flag down a taxi about the size of a SmartCar. 15 minutes of sheer terror (I think because the taxis are so small they think it is okay to turn a two-lane road into a 3-lane road) and we arrive in once piece at the Plaza. We then climb a horrendously steep hill to school and nearly die of heart attacks by the time we get up all the stairs to class. We have one teacher for the early morning session and different teacher for the late morning session - it is about 5 hours of Spanish in total. Yesterday we learned two different past tenses, and of course each form has about 50 irregular verbs, which means we really learned about 300 words. Spanish has 6 different tenses of verbs. We don't have that many in English, trust me. Then it is a long walk back home, dodging all the kids getting out of school and the taxis who don't pay attention to the street lights. Lunch is a giant affair - the biggest meal of the day here. Lots of meat, lots of soup and rice. I can´t honestly tell you what animal I ate at lunch today. Then the afternoons are for sleeping, studying, going for coffee and pastries. Dinner is small and late. Bedtime is very early for us students since we are burning so many more calories studying and translating translating translating. But most Cusquenas stay up until around midnight at least, it seems.

Lost in Paradise

Here are two perfectly wonderful examples of the people of Cusco -

One night my friends Dana and Jana and I went to a fabulous cafe (The Bondiet) and ordered cake and espressos (it's a hard life, I know). We asked the friendly and handsome (and very young) waiters for their suggestion of a dance club, and before we knew it, we had 6 amazing escorts to a nearby dance club! It was a fabulous club - full of people, good music, and a lot of dancing. Despite stereotypes, not all of our guys could dance, but most of them could and patiently danced with us and taught us some moves! I swear most Peruvians learn to dance when they learn to walk.

Two days later, Jana and I took a walk up some nearly vertical steps for about 500 feet into a forest above my house. The sky was dark with an oncoming storm, so no one else was in the park. By the time we got to the top of the stairs and entered the woods, hark! What is that we hear? But a Peruvian man yelling something at us, motioning us to come over. What we didn't realize is that we had entered the Land of Ruins. Apparently this park area is not well known because it is difficult to get to and at the end of town. Joel decided he was done studying his engineering homework and instead took me and Jana on a 3 hour private tour of the most amazing ruins I have ever seen! Old castles, caves, bridges, and aquifers... surrounded by lush green grass, trees, rivers, old farmers bent with heavy baskets on their backs, sheep, cows, etc.

Just two great examples of the generosity and care here. Speaking of which, my host mom has taken it upon herself to make me her sixth daughter - at least in regards to lecturing me about my health! I have caught a cold and have endured 4 lectures (although I will admit that I am happy that I can actually understand most of what she is saying) - it essentially comes down to the fact that she believes if I take one barefooted step anywhere in Cusco, I am tempting fate. In fact, this morning she came into the bathroom to give me my shoes so I wouldn't have to take one step from the door to the shower without protection. I am soothed by the fact that my OWN mother emailed me today saying she doesn't believe you can catch a cold by going barefoot. Thank you.

Oh the Adventures We Will Have...!

A Taxi

On the second night I´m in Cusco, I end up getting into a taxi with the only Taxista in Cusco who doesn't know where 'Urbanizacion Quispicanchis' is! My 10 minute drive turned into about 45 minutes, and my Taxista tried telling me the abandoned dump of an alley was the Avenida Brasil I lived on. Now, while I really didn't know the area AT ALL, I knew that my house was NOT in an alley full of garbage. Indeed, my street is quite beautiful with many gardens and 'vigilantes' (police). Eventually after some very bad Spanish and plenty of exasperation, we found the house. The next morning I took a walk and got my bearings, and I also made sure to learn how to give directions in Spanish!! My Spanish has increased 400 fold.

Speaking of taxis, they are very cheap. A 10 minute ride is somewhere around $1.00 US. Everything is 'muy barato' - my friend Jana and I have found our favorite lunch spot up a hidden alley - it's gorgeous inside, always full of Peruanans, and for $1.50 US we get a giant bowl of fresh vegetable soup, a main plate of rice, a vegetarian casserole, some vegetables, a dessert, and tea. Whoa!! And it´s amazing food, too!! For about $50 US, in one week I´ve had about 5 lunches, drinks at a bar, 15 taxi rides, laundry service, 2 espressos, ice cream, snacks, a donation to a clinic, and entry into a dance club!

muy Muy alta!

In Peru, I'm not simply tall, what I hear instead is that I am very, VERY tall, complete with hand gestures and facial expressions.

I have arrived in Peru! My host family is a grandma and her 4 daughters (all somewhat older than me), and all have children of their own, and all live in the same household. What worries me a little is that in 3 days I have not seen a single man in the house... so I am surrounded by doting, sweet ladies and screamingly joyful and dramatic children. My host mom-grandma makes me very good things to eat, although I don't always know what kind of meat I am eating, which is a big leap for me! But she makes very good strawberry smoothies and hot chocolate! That's important. I didn't realize that the gifts I brought with me would require so much explanation in Spanish - I brought some smoked salmon and tea, which took about 30 minutes to explain adequately. My host mom-grandma (Alicia) is pleased that I understand so much Spanish and says that usually her students only know hello/goodbye! I think she is the Peruvian equivalent to the head honcho Avon Lady.

My room is small and is pink, blue, yellow, and white. I am on the 2nd floor and overlook a mountainous park and the neighbor's laundry room. I think I live in a very nice, more upper class area as we have a garden plaza in the middle of the house, we have a large shower, and my roof does not consist of just wood beams and tile shingles as many houses have. Also my neighbors seem to have a guard shack in the front yard, and we have police who are there and regularly patrol our neighborhood on bicycles and blow whistles in codes. Who needs walkie-talkies or cell phones when you can essentially whistle the morse code!? At first though I thought maybe my neighbors were druglords and had private security! No such excitement. I think my family actually arranged to have a guard shack 15 feet from my house.

I have made friends with 'Camila' - Alicia's 4 year-old granddaughter - she sits in my lap and we watch Clifford the Big Red Dog on TV together, and she makes me change the channel if I have The Discovery Channel on. I think giving her candy was a good bribe toward friendship. And despite rabies warnings from my Dr, I also have petted the family St Bernard, Achilles, and now he seems to like me too.

Today was my first day of classes - and I have made my first friend (cheer)! She is, of course, from Denver. We walked around downtown and this is what was successful and not so much - buying a calling card = successful, using the calling card = at least 30 times unsuccessful. Finding an authentic place to eat = unsuccessful, finding a really good Chinese place after 2 hours that we could afford = successful. Using the ATM = successful, receiving bank notes under $100 = unsuccessful. Finding a computer with internet that actually works = three time's a charm. My next test will be trying to tell a taxi driver tonight where I live when I don't even fully understand where I live.

Pre-Trip Trip: Because the Road There is An Adventure in and of Itself

Teton County, Wyoming

For those in the know, I took a road trip home to Seattle and will be flying to Peru in a week and a half.

My first stop on the road trip was the Wind River reservation (see Rez Blog Dog from first entry). If you're willing to dig in as soon as you arrive, you'll become an instant multi-tasking pioneer. Within less than 24-hours, I had cooked dinner for 10, remedied a dog's swollen eye from a horse kick, pulled porcupine quills from a dog's chest, kept my eye on a toddler bent on playing in a full corral, pulled errant wire from a pen so horses and dogs wouldn't get hurt, chased 11 dogs off from a horse (one was biting the horse's tail and was literally flying in the air from the horse spinning around), ran two loads of laundry, assisted in a sweat lodge ceremony, and went hunting for ceremonial wood... At some point I was riding in my friend Stan's pickup and when we crossed through a barbed wire fence and onto some kind of preserve he says, "By the way, it's illegal for you to be here unless you're enrolled in the tribe, so you need to decide now which one of us you're married to. And if they ask where your wedding ring is, tell them you had to hock it for gas money, otherwise you'll go to jail." Uhhhh. Great, my choice is between a guy nearly 50, a 20 year-old punk, or a 17 year-old kid. I said I would make my choice if the game warden actually found us. He never did.

On my way out of Wind River, I drove through the stunning and desolate Wind River Canyon. The only people I saw on the rest of my trip were hunters and guys on 4-wheelers. Good times. As I wound my way to Jackson, I came across torn up roads and snowy mountains. Because of this, I didn't make it to Boise on time and instead had to camp out in my car in Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument. I'm glad I slept in my car because it began to downpour and by morning had turned into a good 3-4" of heavy snow. I was asking myself why I had put my snow tires in storage. The tetons were clouded in, but I had decent weather the rest of the way and made it from southern Idaho to Seattle in one big push. Yakima was amazing (wait, wait, don't roll your eyes yet) because it's apple-picking season and the air was thick and hot with the scent of apples - it was dizzying! The rolling hills of vineyards and apple orchards were glowing and gorgeous in the golden glow of pre-dusk sunlight, making Yakima the most picturesque city on my trip.

Pacific Northwest

Ahh Seattle... I am typing at a Starbucks that is literally right across the street from another Starbucks.

Rough waters and stormy skies on Whidbey Island this weekend made for time spent cozied up in a Lazy Boy with the family chihuahua instead of kayaking and salmon fishing! Fie. My intrepid parents *did* go fishing and dad caught a salmon in less than an hour. Dusty (the chihuahua) and I caught some Z's instead.

Pre-Peru Preparations

Setting up my first *sigh* blog... and my first entry...

Preparations are underway - I just got back from participating in an ancient fasting ceremony at the Wind River Rez in Wyoming (1 of 10 rez dogs at left)! Last night was my send-off fiesta, complete with tequila-soaked mangoes and pastries from my local Mexican bakery! Change-of-address forms are being filled out, boxes are being packed, and anti-malaria and anti-diarrhea prescriptions have been written! In about one week, I'll be en route to Seattle for a family send-off complete with care packages (hint, hint), and soon off to Cusco. Arriba, arriba!