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!