Mi Ultima Entrada hasta Marzo!

I have finally returned back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. My flights went perfectly as planned (including a sweaty run through the Lima airport to make it onto the Miami flight...) and I am back with my family for Christmas. I'll be returning to Peru in late February so make sure you stayed tuned for more updates in the future! Feliz navidad y Un Gran Ano Nuevo!!

Ciao -

MB

AYER

Here's a play by play of yesterday.

I woke up at 8. Took a delightful shower in hot water and had a scrumptious breakfast in the hostel (plate of fruit, granola, and yogurt). It was the first time I have ever tried a prickly pear!! Quite exciting and yes, I did like it. From there, visited the Monastery of Santa Catalina - this gorgeous city within a city is over 400 years old and only opened to the public in 1978. The monastery is ENORMOUS and has streets inside it and orchards. 30 nuns still live there today. Small World note: I ran into Jonas (one of the German volunteers from Urubamba) there. What a crazy coincidence that we happened to be there at the same time. Next, I went over to the Museum that houses JUANITA! The mummy is absolutely incredible. She is in pristine condition and all of the garments that she was wrapped in are also on display in the Museum still retaining their original colors and patterns. We were lucky to see her because she is taken out of exhibition at the end of December and doesn't reappear until May every year so that she can be kept completely in the dark. Light deteriorates her appearance. Anyway, that was incredible.

After lunch, Elena and I went back to the shopping mall to look around (didn't find anything) and saw New Moon again. We then bought our tickets at the bus terminal for tonight and headed over to the Plaza de Armas to have a look inside the Cathedral. It is grand, stunning, and completely latin - filled with figures of Jesus and Mary with full heads of hair (which I find totally disturbing) and real clothes and make up. UGH. The organ at the back of the cathedral is UNBELIEVABLE and HUGE. I really wished it could have been playing so I could have heard what it sounded like, but, alas, this was not the case.

Anyhow, that's it for now!

ciao y besos.

INFIERNO, entonces el cielo :)

So, let me just reminisce on my busride to Arequipa. (And here's a hint to all you readers out there. That short, concise sentence means that I am feeling an extreme emotion. Considering it is not followed by a trillion exclamation points or in capital letters, I would brace myself for a minor explosion, filled with lots of sarcasm, and dripping with disdain.) Well, let's see... Started off with the bus arriving an hour and a half later than expected, leaving me, Elena, my host mom, and 3 year old host brother sitting on the side of a highway in the DARK until it pulled up at 7:15 pm. We then proceeded to file into a bus CRAMMED full of pubescent teenage boys and girls (aged around 16), who REEKED, by the way, and were stuck in the BACKKK when a group of boys decided to rearrange themselves around Elena and I to get a better look. I'm sure you're proably thinking ¨Awe, golly gee, and shucks! That's cute¨. Let me tell you something buddy, my idea of a good NIGHTTIME bus ride does not include, 16 year old boys giggling at me, poking me when they think I am sleeping, screaming OTRA MUSICA to the front of the bus at 2 am in the morning. OH! ANNNNNDDDDDD, I'm sitting in the back of the bus, gathering more and MORE bruises on my knees being squished by the seat in front of me (being 5'8 and one of the tallest people Peruvians have ever met) while 4 16 year old girls are sitting in the front with NO seats to cause them any discomfort in front of them who could only have POSSIBLY been 5'1! So, yes, I'm a little bitter. Alright, a lot bitter. It some of the worst 10 hours of my life thus far.

Let me talk about this ¨OTRA MUSICA¨ nonsense... So, I, being extremely open to most kinds of music was quite excited to be immersed into another culture with completely different styles of music. Let me tell you right now, I might pick Chinese water torture for a week than listen to WAINU or reggaeton or anything of the sort. It is horrifying and of course, the cherry on top of my life, it was playing FULL BLAST the entire 10 hours of the NIGHTTIME bus ride to Arequipa...yep.

Once we got to Arequipa the tables started turning. The city reminds me of Rome, which makes me happy because Rome is very modern, but looks very classic. Arequipa is much of the same. The Plaza de Armas is gorgeous with a cathedral that takes up one entire block. The hostel Elena and I are staying at is only 3 blocks from the Plaza and is extremely cute (not to mention has free internet access for all guests 24 hours a day!). Oh, and Arequipa has a movie theatre. This may not seem like a big deal, but it IS. I have yet to encounter a movie theatre in all of my time in Peru and I have been to a few big cities during my stay. So anyway, watching New Moon in ENGLISH has brightened my day and I am happy to say that the bus incident has almosssstttt completely left my mind....mhmmmmm.

CIAO y BESOS.

By the way, tomorrow will be my ¨historical¨day in Arequipa so if you are reading this blog to learn about Peruvian culture rather than to hear my rants about my materialistic life, stayed tuned. I will try to be insightful.

Una Vacacion...

I'm headed off to Arequipa (an area of Peru on the COAST!) with my host-fam and Elena. Oh, and my host-dad´s class of high school freshmen which should add an interesting twist. Arequipa is said to be much more modern than Urubamba, and even Cusco. They have a movie theatre (that is currently playing New Moon in english with spanish subtitles! HUZZAHHHHHH) and a lot of expensive restaurants. They also have the museum that holds JUANITA - the mummified girl found in a glacier in the mountains of Peru. Historians believe that she was a sacrifice to the Incan Mountain god.

The bus ride there will be approximately 8 hours and as we are leaving at night, expected arrival time is 4 am. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep the whole way.

I'm sure my updates will be more interesting once I actually get there so, stay TUNED.

Ciao y besos.

FELIZ DIA DE GRACIAS! Y mas…

Recap of one of the most amazing weekends I've had in Urubamba to date…

Thursday – Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the volunteers and the proPeru staff. MUCH FUN! I spent the earlier part of the day creating an absolutely delectable pumpkin pie (or pye de calabaza as it's called here) in Elena's house. No oven and no ground spices meant I had to grind the nutmeg, cloves, and ginger myself as well as use the communal "horno" which no one has any idea about its temperature and caused me to have to double the cooking time of said pumpkin pie… But all things considered… THAT pie ranks with some of the best I've had in my life! I was quite proud of myself.

Friday – Worst of the days. Woke up very late, lounged around, cleaned my room, played guitar for a while, met people for dinner (received an upsetting phone call) and then tried to regain my excitement, but ended up going to bed fairly early instead.

Saturday – SHOWERED!!! In hot water which is always nice… Then went to a picnic at proPeru with ALL of the homestay families. The food was delicious (and very Peruvian!) and we played a few heated games of volleyball—volunteers vs. staff. Volunteers started off weak, but we ended up being quite the team and put ended strongly. It was a lot of fun. Still have some lingering bruises though… Saturday night was Maddie's going away party at the German's. I had great fun DJing with Brian and participating in the festivities. Everyone then headed over to Tequila (the club in Urubamba) for some dancing and a continuation of the party. I had a great dancing partner in Travis and thoroughly enjoyed myself whether on the dance floor breaking a sweat or conversing at the bar or on the sofas in the lounge area. Walked home at 5 am—back to my closet sized room and nonexistent mattress; nevertheless, I call it my Peruvian home.

Sunday – BBQ numero 2 with the Seminarios (a fairly well off Peruvian family due to their pottery/ceramics business which is so beautiful that it is sold in shops all around the world). Delicious food, great company, always a good time.

Anyhow, today I worked for the first time in over 4 days and it was great to get back into the routine of things. We drew self portraits in Los Valientes with the kids and now I have a rather large collection of drawings of myself that the kids did when they were finished with their own. Three of the girls were attempting to persuade me that I have blue eyes rather than green. They got quite a kick out of my response, "Que raro, he tenido ojos verdes para toda mi vida, y ahora son azules? No sabía que sea una bruja…" (English translation: How strange! I've had green eyes for my whole life and now they're blue? I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS A WITCH!!)

UNA GUITARA NUEVA!!!

I finally bought her. and she is a BEAUTY, if you ask me (although I know nothing about guitars...) Made out of cedar, gorgeous design, perfect fit. I can't wait to start taking guitar lessons so that I can actually learn some new techniques rather than just the simple strumming and chords that I know. Today all of the volunteers went on an adventure in Cusco with our spanish teacher, Reyner. We first stopped at a "Cebicheria" (disgusting. raw seafood with citrus dressing) and my green salad was more than satisfactory. Then a tour of the first book store I've seen in all of Peru, a trip to the guitar making man to pick out my guitar, next to a Pasteleria for some desserts and then finished with some organic coffee from the Cusco coffee place. YUM. It was an extremely fun outing and as it is wednesday and thanksgiving is tomorrow, we will all be heading out tonight for some evening festivities with the german volunteers.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT MY GUITAR!!! Pictures to follow...

Ciao y besos.

It's been a while...

This past week was extremely busy. Tuesday was possibly the busiest day - woke up at 6:30 to shower, Spanish class from 9-12, volunteer work ran 2 hours longer than expected as Leah and I discussed goals on how to further the environmental program in Ollantaytambo, returned to Urubamba around 6 - did some last minute shopping with Agnes before the volunteer dinner. The pasta I prepared turned to mush, but it was rather good mush atleast. Anyway, a taste of the day to day as a proPeru volunteer.

Interesting cultural note: the sale of illegal movies and Cds is unquestioned and simply a part of everyday life. Agnes, David, and I visited Cusco this morning and went to "El Molino" which is a market almost entirely devoted to the sale of illegal copies of any item or replicas of brand name shoes and clothing. Let me tell you, quite the collection. I have yet to see a store that sells legal copies of anything. My host family's CD and DVD collection attests to the fact that it is harder to find legal items than illegal ones.

Haven't purchased my guitar yet. Maybe next week.

Ciao y besos.

BBQ mezclada

I went to a BBQ on Sunday with a bunch of proPeru volunteers, German volunteers, Peruvians, and random other "conocidos". First of all, the best food I've had in Peru was definitely served there by way of a grilled veggie sandwich with homemade guacamole as well as camote (sweet potato) chips. It was absolutely delicious. Second, it was a really great immersion experience because we had americans, germans, and peruvians all in equal numbers laughing and chatting together! It was such an idyllic day.

I Tried Blogging, but the damn internet keeps shutting off…

I feel like I'm in Brazil what with the rolling blackouts that are occurring here. Although, I'm not sure whether the blackouts are occurring on a schedule (just as the water in all of Urubamba shuts off from 10 pm to 4 am) or not. I've just discovered that I can blog from Microsoft Word, so this will make my blogging life much easier as I can type in the comfort ( or rather discomfort since my mattress is made out of wood…) of my room and then submit my post as soon as I get to the proPeru office or some place with wireless connection. That is, if the wireless is working.

I'm at the half way point of my 3 months here and I can NOT begin to fathom how time has flown by so quickly! I suppose it has just been the fact that every day is so different from the next and you never know what to expect. I have no sort of daily or weekly routine and as I become more and more comfortable around the volunteers, we find new and exciting places to explore or people to hang out with. Yesterday, I had 15 girls attempt to braid my hair at ANIA (the environmental after-school project I work at) and the wonder at the color of my hair and the fact that I do not dye it to achieve this color was incredible. These 9 and 10 year old girls already dye their hair to try and appear different from the same Peruvian mold that gives them the same features as everyone else here.

On Monday night, we had the most amazing hour dance class at the office with most of the volunteers. We learned the basic steps for salsa, meringue, afro-peruvian infused hip-hop, and atleast 3 other traditional dances that I cannot, for the life of me, remember what they are called. Aima, the woman in charge of ANIA at Ollantaytambo, kindly offered to teach us for a mere 11 soles (about $3.50) an hour. All the volunteers agreed that we need to do this more often as we could not keep up with her for more than a minute at a time! What an aerobic workout.

Still haven't bought my guitar, but I'm hoping that will happen sometime this or next weekend…

Ciao y besos.

A Not So Feliz Ending to el Dia de Urubamba...

The Plaza de Armas was literally out of control. Drunken men (borrachos) were stumbling around grabbing onto any moving object they could find. Two men in gold glittery jumpsuits were bounding around on the massive stage in front of the Cathedral apparently trying to infuse pop culture into traditional music - this just turned out looking like N*sync without practicing and coordinating their dance moves... La Policia were wandering around attempting to keep control of the masses (and I MEAN masses...I have never seen this many people in Peru at one time). The horrendous music was so loud that it penetrated your skull even blocks away from the fiesta. Apparently, the festivities lasted until around 5 am, although, i wouldn't know as my mood had flipped from appreciative to disgusted/frustrated around 11 pm.

As I was dancing around, I decided I needed to run back to my house to change my flip flops into more appropriate exercise attire. I pushed my way through the crowd and felt a hand go into the pocket of my sweatshirt - in the knick of time, I swatted the hand away and held on to the cell phone that was inside. Literally 30 seconds later someone SPITS on my neck and when I reached my hand up to wipe it off, the man puts his hand back in my pocket, grabs the cell phone, and runs. It was UNBELIEVABLE. I am not one to put up a huge fuss about something getting pickpocketed, especially since the cell phone costed about 30 dollars BUT the simple fact that he went so far as to SPIT on me to get it? NOT OK. Lesson learned. If someone spits on you, immediately grab on to anything you could possibly have of value.

Feliz dia de Urubamba!!

Sitting in the upper room of Agnes' house. It's impossible to escape the music resounding from the Plaza de Armas in celebration of the anniversary of Urubamba... It has been quite the cultural experience though. Everyone is drinking cervezas and eating local foods and dancing to the local jams and wearing traditional clothing. I think we're about to join the fun though so UPDATE later!!!

Macaroni and Cheese Americana style.

I finally prepared the Kraft Macaroni and cheese for my family! (with broccoli of course) Parents loved it and Andre (the 3 year old) threw a tantrum because it was not papas fritas (french fries). I took pictures of the creation and my homestay mom trying it... So cute. Apparently she wants me to make it again sometime, which I have absolutely no qualms about considering any break from rice and potatoes is just DANDY by me.

Cleaning the computer/resource/library room in the proPeru office as I type. It is absolutely filthy and each folder we open contains something completely random. Wish me luck!

Ciao y besos.

che'vere

For the past few days I've just been taking it easy on my stomach - letting my health get back up to speed so I can continue immersion as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Last night we had a movie night with all the volunteers at Agnes' little cinema room and watched Quemarse despues de Leerse (Burn After Reading). God that movie gets funnier and funnier each time you see it.

Went to Cusco today with Elena and bought my rainboots! FINALLY! We had to go to a special street to find them, but now I have them and that is all that matters. No more racing around in disgustingly muddy, soaking running shoes. I also bought more yarn (hot pink) to knit another chompa (scarf). I'm giving it to David because he bets that he is manly enough to pull off a feminine scarf. We'll see about that...

A few of us are supposed to be painting one of the locations that we volunteer at, but it seems like that is never going to happen because every time we try to get it together too many other things are happening simultaneously.

Ciao y besos.

Para estar enferma, necesitas estar RICA.

Last night I literally thought I was going to die. If you've never had a parasite, you probably have NO idea what I'm talking about (although, hey, can't say that I've birthed a baby, so maybe somethings are more painful)... I mean, heck! I've had my fair share of pain - appendicitis and the following procedure in Venice, Italy, reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccine... Anyway, enough reminiscing on that subject.

Went to the clinic this morning, fainted when they drew my blood (probably because I haven't eaten anything in 5 days), and got the results - stomach infection and amoeba parasites in my intestines. GREAT! I am on a strict diet of rice (plain), COOKED carrots and peas, and GATORADE. If I was "observing" the Peruvian culture as a historian or an anthropologist, I would SWEAR that Peruvians thought gatorade was a God. Headache? Gatorade. Twisted ankle? Gotta get those electrolytes. Parasite eating away at your intestines?? You guessed it.

My most profound revelation here is that in order to be sick, you better be rich. No insurance (it's basically unheard of), and every single item is billed to you. Blood sample? 15 soles. Needle used to draw blood? 20 soles. Cotton ball used to stop bleeding? Nah. Just kidding. But who knows, the receit is a bunch of gibberish to be, especially since it's in SPANISH MEDICAL VOCAB. I don't even understand english medical terms... Basically, my account is draining and so are my bodily fluids. What a loverrrrrrly combination.

Oh, and if you are either my father or mother, a call to my cellular device would be greatly appreciated.

Ciao y besos.

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

No blogging yesterday? Hmmm.... let's seee. I woke up with a 102 degree fever, absolutely no energy, diarrhea, vomiting... RESULT? GIARDIA!!!!!!!!!!!! HUZZZZAHHHHH. actually not. I haven't taken this many pills at once in my entire life. I'm feeling slightly better today, stomach still kills, but I suppose I'll survive.

Apparently my costume was too unbelievably fantastic because every time I walked into the street EVERY SINGLE PERSON had something to say about it. It was quite the night!

I'm at Agnes' house right now and we're about to watch Madagascar for a little bit of comedic intervention so I can forget the misery that encompassed yesterday.

Ciao y besos.

Dia de HALLOWEEN

"Yes, the time has come,¨ the gringa said, ¨to talk of many things - like weekends, illnesses, and concerts, but especially of Halloween!¨

Today is the day! Halloween is here at last! My costume is a rather extravagant Caperucita Roja (Little Red Ridin Hood). My cape is being handmade as we speak. I bought a red dress and altered it myself. Also have, a cute little apron, makeup, and I am still looking for a basket and black shoes. All of the proPeru volunteers are heading over to the headquarters of the German NGO and we´re going to hang out with them tonight. I am quite excited and hopefully my stomach will be feeing slightly better by tonight.

Recap of yesterday-- Went to Cusco with Agnes, David, and Tugce, where we all went to the Eva Ayllon concert! She is a famous criolle Peruvian singer with a deep raspy voice. Much fun to see. The best part was this drumming duet in the middle of the concert. Both of the drummers were absolutely fantastic and were hitting box-like things that don´t resemble drums at all...

I wasn´t feeling well (stomach issues) and so I decided to call it a night around 12:30. David followed shortly after, but the rest of the girls stayed out til 5 in the morning. I have no idea how they are planning on staying awake tonight, but only time will tell.

I am quite anxious to see what the festivities will be during Dia de los Vivos y Dia de Los Muertos. Spending it in an actual South American town will be an experience!

Ciao y besos.

Un Poco Triste

Today was the last day for Jenny and Rhiana. Goodbyes have never been my forte, and it was truely depressing to see them go.

Last night = not as fun as expected. No karaoke, melodrama with some of the volunteers, gah. Leave me out of it. I ended up going home pretty early (midnight) and just sleeping the night away.

Anything of interest? Not really. I started reading "The Peru Reader" which is this massive collaboration that Duke puts out in order to provide people with background for a country/culture through the eyes of its inhabitants. It's actually pretty good so far.

Need to find a halloween costume... Any suggestions?

Ciao y besos.

Dolor del Estomago...

Woke up this morning feeling slightly under-the-weather. Mi estomago me esta molestando (my stomach is bothering me). I hope it's just something that'll pass quickly without turning out to be Giardia or something of the like! NO! STAY AWAY PARASITES! Speaking of Giardia... one of the volunteers has decided that he is going to be the parasite for Halloween. I wonder how well that will go over with the rest of the foreigners. Good luck, David!

Anyhow, I will not be participating in the Dia de los Muertos festivities because I will be travelling to Puno and Lake Titicaca - it borders Peru and Bolivia and the islands in the center are FLOATING! Meaning no attachment whatsoever to the bottom of the lake and it's supposed to be absolutely stunning. I'm bringing my camera along to take pictures of the whole shabang. Fun fun fun.

Before I went to bed last night I told myself that there was something that I absolutely HAD to include in this blog, but, of course, now I don't have the slightest idea what it was. I suppose if it is important it shall resurface again.

Tonight is the last night in Urubamba for 2 of the volunteers (Jenny and Rhiana) and I am rather depressed about it, but as our goodbye fiesta we are going to a Karaoke bar! I am having an out of body experience due to the excitement this has created within my soul! YAY

Ciao y besos.
M

Blogging Frenzy

I have no idea what is causing this vigorous blogging habit that has lately been instilled in me, but I rather like it. I just got back from my only project that is outside of Urubamba. It ia an environmental organization that works with children on sustainability and the importance of treating our environment with respect- set in an elementary school in Ollantaytambo (a generally more touristy town in the Sacred Valley). We were making signs for their festival on Thursday. It was too cute to watch all of the kids go from distrusting me as a foreigner and a new volunteer to crawling all over me asking if I could teach them how to draw trees and butterflies. It's not that ANIA (the organization) really needs volunteers to help them, but it's fun to be with the kids and watch them begin to get comfortable with the idea of diversity and cultural differences. I tend to forget how pure other cultures are...Most of the world is not blessed with the melting pot that makes up the United States.

Machismo. I've had it.

I left my closet-sized room this morning with a little jump to my skip or whatever that phrase may be to only be placed in a foul mood when a 30+ year old man decided to follow me on his bicycle to the proPeru office. I have completely had it with the catcalling and the sound effects made whenever any extranjera walks down the street. Excuse me, but there is NO WAY your 30 year old, boracho, 5'5" self is going ANYWHERE with me. So, for your own good, just walk the other way amigo.

La Temperatura.

Alright, we have reached the point in our blogging relationship where I am obligated to discuss the weather and let me tell you, Peruvian weather is BIPOLAR. There is no other way to describe it. For example - a few minutes ago I was enjoying solar rays penetrating my skin and creating a wonderous feeling of warmth throughout my torso. Now, I am chilled to the bone, sitting under an overcast sky, with winds of about 20 mph rattling every window and article of clothing on the laundry line. It will probably start raining and last for about 30 minutes before becoming sunny again and repeating the pattern atleast 5 more times before the day is over.

Ciao y besos.

Me looking at Incan coins. In the RAD pre-colombiano museo.

A little Peruvian boy peeping around a table outside of Jack's Cafe. His hat is precious!

Recuperando de Oktoberfest...

Last night turned out quite differently than expected... Instead of salsa-ing and playing pool at ¨Mushrooms¨a local lounge in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco, Elena and I ran into the volunteers from the German NGO in Urubamba. They were, of course, heading off to the Cusco/Cusqueña (local beer) sponsored Oktoberfest and wanted us to join them. WHAT A SIGHT! The band on stage was in full Andean regalia playing Andean music...not exactly what the Germans were expecting that´s for sure. Eventually the German national anthem came on and I was hoisted up on top of the wooden table with the rest of the volunteers to (pretend, atleast for me) sing and dance to the national anthem of ¨our¨ homeland. We were also being filmed so look out for something on the national news! Hardly. Anyhow, it was quite the fiesta, but Pancho (Franz) kindly explained to me that this is not ACTUALLY what Oktoberfest is like in Munich. Apparently, he´s going to take me there someday... Now, that is an experience I cannot wait to have!

I´m heading back to Urubamba in a few minutes to leave the chaos that envelops every excursion I take into the ex-capital of the Incan empire. I´ll be back in a few weeks to stock up on some US goods...

OH! I found Kraft Macaroni and cheese which I will be cooking for my host family (with some broccoli) so they can try a ¨traditional¨ American dish.

Ciao y besos,
MB

Estas muy caliente...

It would probably be more interesting if I posted after my night out tonight in Cusco, but I have nothing to do at the moment so might as well blog... Left Urubamba in a ¨combi¨ at 11 am this morning and checked into a hotel with HOT WATER! yes. Anyway, showered immediately for like 20+ minutes and then headed out for lunch at the renowned tourist attraction-Jack´s cafe for some absolutely spectacular non peruvian food (It strikes me as odd that people who are only here for a week or so, don´t eat solely peruvian meals. I, on the other hand, am allowed to splurge on a salad since every single meal I am served here consists of rice, potatoes, fried egg, potatoes, rice, rice, potatoes, etc. Even for breakfast and dinner...). The waiter quickly became Elena and my FIRST Peruvian friend! (don´t tell me he´s a brichero...it´ll ruin all the fun. by the way, bricheros are latin men that feed on tourist women. Talk to my ¨amigo¨ Salvatore and he´ll tell you all about it.)

Went to El Molino which is really a Peruvian market (not completely swamped with tourists) to try and find some rainboots. Apparently, Peruvians don´t believe in rainboots despite the fact that their rainy season-and I mean RAINY SEASON as in rains every single day-goes on for 5 MONTHS. so, my flip flops will have to do. for now. before I get my feet cut off due to frostbite.

I promise to upload some pictures eventually. Hopefully in the next week or so!

Ciao y besos

CANSADITA? that's an understatement...

I just returned from a 4 hour hike (STRAIGHT UPHILL) to Marcuray- a village in the mountains surrounding Urubamba Valley currently home to 39 families who only speak Quechua (the native language). We went to the small, two classroom school and taught the 9 children "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" as well as "Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas, Dedos" and then had a heartwarming game of kick the ball to the gringas to see how far they can kick it. (I am glad to say that as unathletic as I am, I held my own, thank you VERY much.) Despite the horrendous ascent, we descended upon one of the most gorgeous waterfalls I have ever seen which made me extremely nostalgic for the beaches of California and just plain water. True, my house is about 5 blocks from the Urubamba River, but it looks more like a garbage dump than a river anyway...

I went out partying with two of the volunteers (Brian and Leah) on Wednesday night and came upon a group of extremely awkward Peruvians dancing in a circle. So I took it upon myself to jump into the middle of the circle and start a REAL dance party, meanwhile screaming "Mi amigo no va a bailar porque ustedes estan en un circulo!" They had a nice laugh at the gringa ordering them around, but hey. I sure did break the ice since from then on the floor was actually a dance floor.

Last thing, I feel it is necessary to explain the title of my blog (gringita bonita). Not that it's very exciting, it's just that one of the kids from my ex-1st grade class in Urubamba started calling me that and from then on I couldn't shake the name.

Ciao y besos.

La Primera Entrada

I seriously considered blogging in Spanish, but then I realized that the few people who would actually track my blog would be turned off by that so here I am - this will be my little English haven in a world made up entirely of "Castellano".

I figure my next post will be comprised of snippets from the journal I've been keeping for the almost 4 WEEKS that I've been inhabiting this strange, yet wonderful culture. Hopefully I'll be able to supplement most things with pictures (although, there's always facebook!) and a few interesting stories here and there.

Anyhow,

CIAO! Hasta Luego!

(quick side note: ADIOS is never used to bid people farewell. Everyone says Ciao and kisses on the cheek are mandatory to give to everyone when entering or leaving a room... so... MWAH)