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)