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.