As Anonymously Requested...

Some updates:

I recently spent 10 days in Chicago and St. Louis/Collinsville. It was a little quest to see if I really want to go to Chicago and to get a feel of the city as a living destination instead of a place to visit. (I also got to speak a little Spanish as Dora the Explorer at a fun cartoon-themed costume-birthday party!) I like that there are soooo many things to do in Chicago, that public transportation is much more readily available than it is here in Columbus, that I know several people already. So. We’ll see.

During my visit with Matthew, we kept busy and tried to avoid the hot, hot heat. We dodged killer wasps at a holy site, tried on paper mache hands at an art museum, celebrated his mom’s birthday, and danced our feet off during a wedding reception at the City Museum. (That's a photo of us looking awesome!)

I got back to Columbus Sunday evening in time to celebrate my “little” sister’s 20th birthday with a delicious [steak] dinner and ice cream cake. Lots of laughing, being loud, and funny pop-culture references from dad (thankfully, he’s been over the word “bling” for a bit...). It’s good to be home, back with my family, and events like the Sunday’s dinner are one reason I longed to come home to something familiar.

And now, more blogging on Peru:

I waited a long time to write about what we did in the classrooms in Oropesa, where we spent the final 2-3 months of our trip. Now that I have photos of the projects all together and I’ve been back in the US for about 2 months, I think it’s about time.

The first few weeks in Oropesa were tough. We mostly substituted in classes of very naughty kids until we had a regular schedule and assisted teachers however they wanted. Sometimes this meant covering cardboard boxes with wrapping paper to make them more aesthetically pleasing or sorting markers. Most times, though, we taught. Many of the teachers wanted us to teach English because Oropesa is near Cusco, one of the major tourist cities in Peru and English is a huge plus for the industry. (One teacher even told her kids that they needed to pay attention unless they wanted to grow up and be cart pushers. lovely, huh?) However, the kids got bored copying down vocabulary words and we didn’t make much progress there. We started giving the kids the choice between an art or English lesson and mostly ended up teaching art, which was fine with us!

Matthew and I brainstormed kid-friendly art projects we could teach in Spanish with few supplies. The first project was blind contour, which required only paper and pencils. It was basically teaching kids that art doesn’t have to look like real life. We made references to Picasso that flew over their heads then partnered the kids up and demonstrated the process ourselves. It doesn’t sound difficult: face your partner, draw him or her without lifting the pencil from the paper and without looking at what you’re drawing. It was difficult for the children, even after we demonstrated. They kept peeking at their papers and drawing legs and feet and things they thought were “supposed” to be there, though they couldn’t actually see them. From my experience, it seems that Peruvian children aren’t encouraged to be creative. For example, a young girl we knew was coloring animals from a coloring book and she was told which colors to use and was corrected when she wanted to use colors like purple for a monkey. We praised the kids who actually listened and created wacky lines, weird versions of people. This is my blind contour drawing of one of the students.

I should thank my 8th grade teacher for what I thought was our most brilliant project-the face project. It was brilliant because the supplies needed were minimal- paper, pencils and erasers, colored pencils, tape, and one half of a straight-on face shot from a mgazine. Finding the faces was the most difficult part, but we managed from old magazines Roxana had. When I did the project as a student, the faces we used were pretty much life-sized, but we just did what we could with any sized face. I cut each one in half vertically and we did a lesson about symmetry. I know faces are not completely symmetrical, but the students worked hard replicating the half face they were given; it was a concrete task they understood. For a "creative" bonus, I asked the students to invent five sentences about the person they drew. [Photos: 1.) A pile of the faces cut in half. Students chose at random, without seeing the fronts first. 2.) Examples that Matthew and I each drew using 2 halves of the same man. My recreation is on the left. As you can see, faces really aren't symmetrical. 3.)What I thought was the best job. 4.) I changed my mind about best job when we did this project with a second class. 5.) Another example.]

A teacher got word of a mosaic project Matthew did with another class and she wanted to do the same thing in her class, but didn’t have the same supplies. We modified the project using colored paper. The kids got into groups and had to come up with an animal/nature design they’d make in the mosaic style. I was doubtful about how it’d turn out, but it really took off. One particular group of boys who appeared to be disconnected and undirected developed an octopus/under-sea scene, complete with coral and fish that had eyeballs. Wow. [Photos: 1.) A pair works on their flower. 2.) Four girls work on their moon mosaic. 3.) The octopus design]

Matthew’s friend who worked at an art camp suggested we make flip books. It started off great, though explaining how cartoons/animation works was a little fuzzy. Unfortunately, we only worked on this project for one week before we threw ourselves into painting the two murals before flying back to the states. [Photos: 1.) Matthew counting out piles of 12 pieces of paper. 2.) We left a pile of started flip books with the teacher.]

If we weren’t teaching art, or had some time to fill, I was singing crazy songs with the students. I explained the words of the songs and sang in English and they participated with the motions (even the naughty kids!). I used “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” to teach body parts in English. I also sang “I’m a Little Tea Pot” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” with the younger children. All of the students loved the baby shark song that I learned as a camp counselor in Florida. It’s about going swimming and ends with a shark attack and loosing a leg. They also liked my favorite little birdie song that ends in kids making “beaks” with their arms and chirping like baby birds. The shark song was by far the favorite.

where will life go?

I feel I have made full circle now. I am writing to you all from a St. Louis Bread Co. (Panera) in Collinsville. A little over a year ago I was working for Panera to fund my trip to Peru and now I have returned, not to work but to borrow their internet to find work. And what a grueling task it is. How can you take experiences and knowledge gained from travel and apply it to measurable and employable skills? How can you transition from having your own work schedule and being your own boss while traveling to succumbing to the social norms and expectations of a professional world? Let me tell ya, it's hard. I am basically experiencing the same emotions I was a year ago knowing that my year of volunteering was coming to a close. I suppose life is just a series of changes and the willingness to adapt and accept the change is just one challenge life offers.

Now I know the last time I was in this situation people thought I was dreaming a bit. Some of the things they said was "How are you going to afford going to Peru? Shouldn't you start thinking about grad school or a job?" But here we are a year later and I have been to Peru and am now full of new world views and ideals. Really all I did was allow myself to go with the flow and now is no different.

One thing Peru has taught me is that I really enjoy travel, being in strange surroundings, meeting interesting people, and sharing the experience with others(writing/blogging). It has opened my eyes to new global topics and made certain opinions swell up inside of me. It has lead me to challenge the views of American ideals. So right now I think the clear path forward is to keep traveling. I return to the States (a country full of opinion) confused about how we choose to live life, wondering why, since day one, people have been criticizing our leader. I find myself asking the question "Who are Americans?" What are the fundamental believes that fuel our existence as a nation? Why is our educational system declining? Is it really declining? Why is it that 100 years ago, The U.S. of A was patenting things left and right, but now most new breakthroughs come from outside of our borders? I think the only way to find the answers to these questions is to meet some strangers spanning our massive country and search for some answers.

If you are thinking that one idea I have for life would be to go on a road trip to all 50 states to see what this country is like, you are crazy, but correct. If I was to go with the flow, I think I would start a domestic adventure to learn about the country I live in, visit every state, see what binds us and what separates us. Blog about it and if the stars are perfectly aligned make a book. Right now I will call this Plan A. I just have not removed my travel bug, and I think this adventure would put it to rest, for a bit anyway, and answer some questions (and create new ones I'm sure).

Some slightly more traditional ideas are grad school for art administration, which would help me start my own business sometime in the future (which is already formed in my head) Find a salaried job somewhere in the US dealing with art, youth and/or community (this idea is why I am currently sitting in a Panera). Apply to artist residencies. I think that covers most ideas at this point, if anyone wants to throw some more ideas into the mix, let me hear them, I am pretty open. And if you know of a way to make Plan A a reality, I am all ears.

Well back to writing cover letters. Argh.

P.S. For those interested here is one job I am applying too, bikesfortheworld.org to give an idea of what I am looking for.

You're Invited . . .

Dear Reader,
I fondly remember fill-in-the blank invitations for parties when I was younger. Here's one for you.

You're invited to a party!

Where: Sara's house 

When: Friday, June 25, 6 p.m.-?

Why: To party (sort of) Peruvian-style to celebrate Inti Raymie, our safe return to the US, and Matthew's golden birthday.

R.S.V.P. Please send a note to sara.wells2@gmail.com so we know how much food to make.

Although many of our friends are far away from Columbus, for those of you who are nearby and want a psudo-Peruvian party experience, come on over! We'll be serving delicious non-meat foods (no guinea pigs or chicken feet) and the famous Pisco Sour. We have plenty of party music that we bought in Peru for about $1 at what Matthew claims was the black market, so dancing will be encouraged.

We hope to see you there!

Home, again

As Matthew said, the posts will keep coming. I don't feel compelled to write as often as I did when I was in Peru, probably because I can share stuff easier than before. Anyway, there is more to write about, so here's my turn:

Towards the end of our time in Peru, I surprised myself by how homesick I started feeling. Because I was excited to return home to my family, I didn't put much attention towards leaving our small community with some closure.

Matthew and I spent our final week painting furiously with our new English friends (and I fought a stubborn migrane), instead of volunteering in the classrooms. We tried to take advantage of the sunlight as much as possible because it was dark by 6 p.m. Aside from talking with curious children who constantly checked in on the mural status, we didn't hang out with the students very much. Late Friday night I realized that we didn't make any official announcement about our leaving and Saturday morning was particularly difficult for me because our sobrina Dana didn't have a clue we were leaving that afternoon. I felt awful.

Before heading to Cusco for the 21 hour bus trip to Lima, we made our way around Oropesa taking photos of important places. Eventually we headed to school to photograph the murals. As we walked closer, we heard the familar sounds of recess. What? On a Saturday morning? Apparently I hadn't understood the conversation that had taken place the day before among the teachers. The students had to make up a day of school that had been canceled earlier in the month.

We photographed the murals and made our way to see what was going on with the students and their athletic-themed make up day. We were fortunate enough to see the preschoolers play a kindergarten class in a 10 minute soccer game, and to have the opportunity to talk and visit with some of our favorite students and teachers. The realization that Matthew and I were leaving without finishing the murals or really saying goodbye made me feel like we were abandoning our volunteer positions in the middle of the school year, although I had planned to leave in early June when we started our journey in January. I am thankful we got to see the students one last time.

So here I am, home again after a crowded combi, a taxi, a long overnight bus ride, two flights, a short train trip, and finally a megabus.  I'm back where I started, in the house where I grew up, living with my parents and one of my younger sisters.

I made it to Marie's graduation (the reason I wanted to come home at such a specific time), where I saw both of my sisters and all four of my grandparents again for the first time since January. It's to be expected that I have been experiencing mixed feelings about being back. I cried saying goodbye to our family in Oropesa and got teary seeing my family again. It's been nice to have hot water just by turning a faucet, to have an immense amount of reading material at my disposal, and to have a coffee pot in the kitchen. It's been strange to flush my toilet paper (or to have a toilet seat at all), to be able to drink water that comes from fountains and faucets instead of buying bottles, and to be able to put on functioning seat belts.

I'm working on adjusting my whole thinking process. The other day I didn't realize that if I bought a gallon of milk (non-evaporated, actual cow milk!) at the gas station on the way to the library, I'd have to take it home to refrigerate it. What? Refrigerate the milk? Oh yeah, refrigeration, and it's summer. I also couldn't wrap my mind around the need for a can opener, much less an electric can opener. Wow. In Peru (this is how I begin many of my sentences now), the only cans that were opened contained evaporated milk and we opened them with a knife, most often one missing its sharpened tip.

I'm back in Columbus, where the scenery is exceptionally flat, reflecting on my crazy experience in Peru, reconnecting with people I haven't caught up with in a long time, and deciding how to live my life. Not surprisingly, I'm drawn towards work with children. Poco a poco, I'm making progress and figuring things out.

last day in Oropesa

Matthew, Matthew and Matthew painting the Ocean (Matthew 1 failed to get the memo of blue shirt grey pants)

Today was our last day in Oropesa. It feels sad to know that our time here is over, mainly because now that I have finally started on my mural projects, I feel useful here and part of a community. I love the feeling when I walk into school, paint brushes at the ready, and nearly every kid who walks by says "Hola Mateo, ¿Que estas haciendo?" They all know my name and are throughly interested in what I am painting. I feel the mural of the world (now labeled with every country) is the most useful and touching painting I have ever created. Nearly every kid walked by after school, stared at the map, and wanted a geography lesson. Many times I walked back to the mural after cleaning my brushes and found Sara or one of the Matts (we met 2 volunteers from England, both named Matt, and they have helped greatly with the two murals) with their arms stretched out telling the students where one country or another was located.

Sara giving a geography lesson.

My idea for painting a map of the world as accurate as possible, with labels for every country, came from seeing that there was not a single current map in the school, and very few extremely outdated maps. And also some kids were unaware of which country they lived in. They now have a 11ish feet (I measured the map in centimeters) by 9 ft map of the world painted on the wall as they enter and leave school. With another mural facing it on the opposite side with the theme of cleaning the earth.

Our World completed. (Though I now hear its missing a few minor countries)

A week has passed since I wrote these first two paragraphs. Blogging is a bit difficult at times because keeping the mood and feelings of a week ago is so difficult now that I am in a setting so very different. I am now sitting in Glenview Illinois, in an air conditioned house, wearing shorts and using a very sluggish internet that barely works. (I have also taken three hot showers and brewed my own coffee) A week ago we were saying our tear filled good-byes to teachers and students at our school and to our Peruvian family in Oropesa. We were also lucky enough to talk to them on the phone before our flight. I knew this trip was time well spent when I heard the voice of Dana our niece say very cheerfully "Hola tio Mateo!" It is odd to think that right now on this same earth, the same land mass (though now split by the Panama canal) is a landscape 12,000ish feet high containing a lifestyle so very different than mine now.

Our Peru family. Yes I am wearing a cowboy hat, it was a departing gift. 

A quick game to play as my internet connection is so poor I might loose it at any moment. Can anyone guess what was the first thing I noticed upon arriving to the States? No it was not diversity (though there is quite a lot when compared to Peru), it wasn't the lightness of peoples hair. It was the obesity of Americans that I noticed first. My goodness our younger population is LARGE.

And a brief note, just because we are now home, does not mean the blog updates are going to stop. They might be a bit more infrequent, but we still have a lot of writing about cultural exchange, differences and grievances to do. As well as talking about how a simple trip to volunteer in a foreign culture can change your views for life.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I´m coming home in 6 days...count ´em...SIX!
And it´s not even that far, right?
43.5 centimeters, according to my giant ruler.
Love you and see you soon <3

Coming Back, and Answers to Some Questions

After leaving Columbus and before departing for Peru, Matthew and I spent a few days in Chicago doing last-minute errands before the big trip. I was nervous. I was scared to go through customs and thought I didn´t know enough Spanish to survive. The way my body decided to cope was by letting a giant rash break out on my neck that didn´t go away until we landed in Lima. Great.

Now that I´m only a few days away from making the return trip, the migrane that started last Friday and decided to make itself known more forcefully for the better part of the following 5 days has finally gone away. I think. Who knows? Maybe it´ll be like the fickle water situation we had in our house and it´ll come back. Maybe I´m stressed about transitioning back? I know it´s going to be tough to buy stuff after spending the equivalant of 30 US cents on a soda, or on a small tube of toothpaste. I don´t know what I´m doing "next." I do know that I´m excited to see my family again.

Here is a list of interesting questions I received the other day, and my responses.

What do you miss about US cities that Peru doesn't have?
Trash cans that are conveniently located.

Do you miss anything?
Things to read that are in English! At home, I have the newspaper, magazines, and a huge shelf of books I have been "too busy" to read. Here, Matthew and I share English books that we carefully choose at book exchanges. I´ve read a few good things, but am holding off on our last book until our 21+ hour bus ride and the plane rides. I haven´t been reading enough.

Also, coffee drinks and regular sized sidewalks without random holes/broken concrete/drop-offs.

Are you turning into Mark Twain and now that you know all about other cultures, you're not nearly as enamored by them?
I didn´t know much about Peru before coming, except for what I learned looking at some library books. I don´t know what I expected. I can say that I´m absolutely still amazed by the Incas. Although I´ve seen enough old rocks for a while, the technology that the Incas incorporated into their architecture is incredible. The current lifestyle in Peru is tough. I´m so impressed with the work that people do day-to-day without complaining. For example, on my way to school today, I saw 3 donkeys strapped with giant bundles of reeds and a woman with her own enormous load tied to her back walking to who knows where. People work so hard. I do want to learn about other cultures, but am ready to return to my own for a bit.

How hot is it RIGHT now?
It´s cold, but that´s because it´s night. It sounds obvious, but in the sun it´s really hot and in the shade it´s really cold. I was sweating painting one of the murals today, but in the late afternoon the sun disappeared and we got a little sprinkle. I was freezing!

What is the temperature at night?
Really cold. My bed has a sheet and 3 heavy blankets. When I get into bed, it does not feel warm enough, so sometimes I sleep in my hat, gloves, and socks. Always with socks. If I leave my room to walk to the bathroom or kitchen (or anywhere), it´s outside. Peruvian house structures have an interesting combination of indoor/outdoor architecture, which is really cool, except when it´s the middle of the night and I need to use the bathroom.

How much does it cost to live on a weekly basis?
Oropesa is pretty inexpensive because it´s a small town, but Cusco is much more expensive, especially now that it´s tourist season. However, our experience is that Peru is generally much less expensive than the US. I don´t know how much I spend each week, but to give you an idea of what things cost here (divide by 3 to get the US price)...
 · Lunch (includes soup, main course, and a drink) s/3
 · Internet (one hour) s/1.50
 · Three eggs s/1
 · Five pieces of bread s/1
 · Ice cream s/1-2.50
 · Bootlegged Beatles 2-disc CD s/7
 · One month´s rent for a large, fully furnished room s/200

Are you excited to come home?
Yes. For reasons already listed, and additionaly because it´s summer in the states.

Are you ever going back?
Maybe. Lots of people are shocked that we´re leaving and ask if we´re coming back. (Today one girl told me I should go home and come back in 10 days. I told her I´d think about it.) We didn´t take any trips to the jungle, which has it´s own wonders. There´s definitely plenty more to see and do here and lots of kind people we´ve met.

How tall are you in comparison with average women your age?
Taller. Except sometiemes when they´re wearing giant hats. And even though you didn´t ask, I´m taller than lots of the men too.

Our Life in Ruins

We have been having a whirlwind of a time these past couple weeks. Started working on a mural, were visited by some friends from Boise, did a lot of last minute shopping, met and befriended some Brits who assisted in painting mural (both are named Matthew) and purchased a tourist ticket to see 16 sites (we visited 14). I could write about everything but then Sara would get mad at me for hogging all the fun stories so this will only be about the ruins, and trust me, that is plenty.

So Cusco makes you purchase a Boleto Turistico to visit the sites, it cost S/.135 and is good for 10 days. So we were hardcore tourist for 10 days. The good news is during these 10 days we were visited by my friend Dan Broockmann and his girlfriend Diane Kenski. Dan is a couchsurfing friend I met in Idaho, the most fascinating thing I can say about him is he has a bathtub in his backyard (surrounded by an amazing garden) which is great to soak in while watching a meteor shower.

 A disclaimer, because of the amount of sites visited and the attention span of most individuals, I am only going to include a small tidbit of information about each ruin visited.

Our tourism kick starts with Ollantaytambo, a massive ruin about 2 hours north of Cusco, located in the high rainforest or Peru and the hardest to reach from Oropesa. The highlight of this site is the massive stones located in the temple of the sun. What is impressive about the site is that all the stones came from a quarry on the OTHER side of the river below. To get the stones to the site the Inca would divert the river around the stone. CRAZY, right? There are a lot of carved stones left stranded along a path which are called "the tired stones." This is also a site of an Inca victory over the Spanish. The Spanish horses could not climb the high tarracing walls, and in addition to the high walls, the Incas diverted the river to flood out the Spanish once they attacked. Brillant! (I am sorry to say I do not have photos of this site because we forgot to bring the camera card, we left it in our USB to upload photos for folks stuck at home. If you would like to see photos, you will have to wait ´til we return.)

A view of terracing on the 2 hour walk down from Pisac

Enjoying the stone couch at Pisac.

The next day we met Dan and Diane in Cusco with the idea of seeing four sites in one day. We were successful! This day started with a long cab ride from Cusco to PISAC, a town and ruin about 1.5 hours northeast of Cusco. The site is massive! I had the idea that we would climb to the site from the town but once we saw the site we all descided to cab it to the top, which was a good idea as it took 2 hours just to climb down! Pisac is a bit lower in elevation than Cusco and it was a HOT day. The site was impressive, though. There are two parts to the site, one is the resident section and the other is the sun temple, with terraceing everywhere. Hard to desribe in a short description...look at the photos, we remembered our card for the rest of the sites.

The total site of Tombomachay

After Pisac we took a cab back with the barganing skills of Dan and had the driver drop us off at TAMBOMACHAY, this site was so small all you need to do is look at the photo, because thats the whole site. Its only 7 Km from Cusco and was most likely a weekend retreat from the Inca.

Pukapukara

Right across the street and only 6 Km from Cusco (yeah, somehow in the info packet Dan was reading to us in his best archaeologist voice said that by crossing the street we were 1km closer to Cusco) is PUKAPUKARA. This is where the servants of the Inca would stay when he visited the retreat 1km away. It too was a small site but is unique because of the 2 door entrace. The name means "the red stone."

This is one massive rock that has passages carved into like a maze. This picture does not do it justice.

After crossing the 1km street we were in high hopes that the walk back to Cusco would not be very far at all. But it took a good hour or so to reach Q´ENQO about 4km from Cusco. Right now I am laughing a bit inside because I know probably somewhere around 100% of the people who just read Q´enqo mispronounced it. You have to click your toung at the begining. The name means "zigzag" and the site consist of a massive rock that has walkways carved into it. The site was probably used to sacrifice animals or maybe for Chicha (it is the drink of the gods, afterall) Q´enqo completed our 4 ruin day. Afterwards we had a bit of a walk back to Cusco where we got dinner and rested from our day of productivity.

The huge bowl of Moray, the bottom is planted to give the idea of what it was like.

Dan and Diane buggered off to Machupicchu and left Sara and me to fend for ourselves. Our next site was MORAY, about 2 hours from Cusco. It is a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the visit. We had to take a bus to Urubamba, get off early then catch a cab to Moray. Our cab broke down after dropping someone off so we got another cab. The most interesting thing about the ride out there was that our fellow passenger had a vest from Idaho. He worked for a program from the University of Idaho. Interesting, huh? And has a friend who lives in STL. Our cab dropped us off and we told him not to wait for us becaue we did not want to pay the extra money.

Ok the site. The site is a massive bowl carved into the earth with plenty of flagstone steps to help you climb down. It is thought to have been used to experiment with crops, as each terrace has its own microclimate based on the elevation of the terrace. The Incas used this site to see which crops grow best at which elevation. After we finished exploring the site we were without a cab to we started hiking it back the 13km or so Maras, the closest town. Lucky for us we flagged down a car passing by and made it back to Cusco in no time. We chose to skip Chincerro because it is only a church built on top of a ruin. Which church in Peru isn´t built on top of a ruin? Not many.

Relaxing on a wet Inca bench at Tipon. A zigzag wall is in the background.

Carved fountains at Tipon.

More fountains at Tipon. Can you spot Sara?

Inca Canal, it keeps going and going and going.

Next site, and closest to Oropesa, is TIPON. This was a massive site and so very close to our home. But it was a stiff climb to the top (Dan said the road up there is extremely bad and not worth using, so we hiked up an Inca road. Dan saw this site before us, but it was dark and they had only had 10 minutes to see the site.) This is my favorite Inca site. It has an extensive canal system, with one canal that appears to split the earth in half it is so large. Above Tipon is the site of Pukara, not part of our ticket, but free with the climb. So many tarraces and waterfalls. Que Bonita.

The pre-Inca site and place of the flea, these are all stone built homes.

Our next site was PIKILLACTA which was the only Pre-Inca site we saw. This place was also massive and had skeleton of a dinosaur and armadillo at the museum. The name meas the "the place of the flea" which is kinda a ironic. More on that later in June. There are huge walls everywhere because the Wari culture that built the site had entrances to their homes on the second level. Close by was the Incan Gate, another site not on our ticket, but still fascinating. After we saw the Inca gate we stood on the side of the road and waited for a bus to take us to Cusco. One did.

Sara hugging a stone. She loves the old rocks. This is one of the medium sized stones at Saqsayhuaman.

the 20% remains of Saqsayhuaman.With a massive Jesus in the background. No boundaries.

In Cusco we saw SAQSAYHUAMÁN again. It was worth seeing in the daylight. The site is massive with stones that weigh 3000 tons. WOW! It was used as a fortress to train troops and for religous practices.

Sorry this post has taken so long but as the days dwindle we are trying to sqeeze everything we possibly can into our trip. We also saw some museums, some better than others. Some had rocks in them and some had art and some had both.

OK, one more cumpleaños

Theresa,
A parade of children carrying balloons and a momma

with a baby on her back to celebrate your birthday!

They should make it to your neighborhood sometime next month.

(Sorry for the delay, but we´re on "Peruvian Time")

Water Wars

Have you ever lived in a third world country?

Just before I left for Peru, I met a customer at work who had spent a lot of time living in Lima. After having met a potential Spanish conversation partner from Columbia who warned me against all the "danger" in Peru, I was thrilled to meet someone who had actually lived there before, someone who could give me the "real story" about what to expect. But I was uncomfortable when she asked me about living in a third world country. I don´t know whether Peru technically qualifies as a "third world country" or not, but thinking of my destination as a country much less-developed than my first-world U.S. home was something I hadn´t really done before hearing this question.

When I thought about a trip to Peru, what came to mind were things like seeing Machu Picchu, learning to speak Spanish better, and taking an adventure of a lifetime because I have the freedom at this point in my life to explore and see a different part of the world. In January, I was ready to have my ideas of simplicity shaken; however, I didn´t imagine things like 22-hour/never-ending bus rides with seats that didn´t recline, curves that were intolerable for my stomach, and un-crossible flood waters. I didn´t imagine waking up in the middle of the night gasping for breath because I wasn´t adjusted to the altitude. I didn´t imagine lighting a gas stove with a match every time I wanted to make tea or cook an egg (a task that sounds simple, but left me afraid of blowing up the kitchen or loosing my eyebrows the first few times). I didn´t imagine going more than 24 hours without running water.

Matthew´s last post was about how easy it is to go on with our daily lives when the electricity randomly goes out. We loose our lights, television, and internet access (which we have to walk down the block to use anyway), so we just find a flashlight or light a candle and go on with whatever we were doing before. Living without running water is a completely different story.

Tuesday afternoon, we came back from school for a quick stop before lunch and found that there was no water. Matthew had a toilet emergency and decided to use the restroom, even though flushing was not a possibility. When we came back much later, the water was back on and all was well, or so we thought. I boiled water for tea and put the excess in our thermos, not knowing this was to be our last water gathering opportunity for more than a day. We went out to eat pollo a la brasa with our Idaho friends Dan and Diane (our first visitors!) and when we came back, had the enjoyment of discovering we were again without water.

It wasn´t a big deal to me at that point because we had gone a night without water before. The last time, we just had to brush our teeth using bottled water and the water was back on in the morning, without any major lifestyle changes. This time, it was a bigger deal for Matthew, who was still experiencing some uncomfortable stomach action and was worried he´d have to use the toilet again during the night. And guess what? He did.

In the morning, we had no functioning toilet and a lovely smell developing in the bathroom. Also, it was the "other" day in my "every other day" shower routine, so I had to skip that. I just applied more deodorant and hoped for the best in our long day to come.

Matthew and I had been asked to be the "padrinos" of a fifth grade class for the school´s olympic day, and had to be at the school early to deliver the new volley and soccer balls that we had bought as their gifts. When we ran back to the house between gift delivery and the torch lighting ceremony to grab some last-minute things for our day at the stadium, I locked the key in the room. Great addition to an already annoying situation. We left for the stadium and joined the parade of students/athletes, got decorated in streamers and I was given a boquet of roses (complete with thorns, thank you very much), and stayed as long as we could bear the sun, which was until about 11:30. (Approprately enough, the kids were playing in an empty pool during a break between olympic events, and yes, sliding down that slide and jumping off before the drop into the deep end.)

Luckily, the kitchen that we share with the other family who lives in our house is unlocked during the day, so we relaxed there until our sobrina, Dana, came home from preschool and could crawl through the tiny window in the closet next to the room and unlock the door from the inside (of course, no copy of our key exists). Matthew took a nap on the couch while I jealously watched our neighbor wash her clothes in her courtyard.

After Dana saved the day, Matthew and I gathered all the empty plastic bottles we had acquired from buying drinkable water and headed to the school to collect as much water as we could. I loved the look on one of the student´s faces as he tried to figure out what we were doing. After several puzzling minutes, he asked if we were going to sell the water. He was astonished to find out that we didn´t have any water in our house. We headed back to boil some of the water to have some that would be safe for drinking and finally flushed the toilet using a great portion of our supply (did you know it takes more than 2 liters of water for one flush??).

By the time I excitedly yelled "Hay agua!" ("There´s water!") around 9 p.m., resourceful Roxana had already gathered several large tubs of water over a period of hours by waiting for a bucket to fill with the sink downstairs that, for some reason, let out water in drips. I felt such joy to be able to brush my teeth with running water, to flush the toilet and wash my face without a problem. By the time I woke up the next morning, Roxana had already cleaned the entire bathroom, showered, bathed Dana, washed all the dishes that had accumulated over the past day, and cooked breakfast. Super Mom.

It was great to continue life as normal. I showered, with a little fear that the water would go off as I was all soapy, but no problems for me. A little later, the water was off again as Matthew was about to shower, but luckily came back on in about 10 minutes.

It´s the fact that I had no control over whether the water is on or off that bothered me the most. It´s not that I used up my supply and the water ran out; some external force had control over whether we had running water or not. The whole lack of water ordeal was probably caused by some accident associated with the new road that is getting "installed" here in town. Having the water turned off is not a typical thing here, or probably in most of Peru. But it didn´t seem like people were fazed by it, just annoyed at the extra work to get water. I just kept thinking about how different things would be in a similar situation in the U.S. (which, as you might imagine, isn´t the best thing to do in a situation like that). For me, it was another harsh reminder of how fortunate I have been, and that I shouldn´t take running water for granted.

Someone told me that it has been predicted that the next big wars are going to be over water. I can completely imagine and understand this. Water is so important for daily life, much more than electricity. In this past experience not many people were without water, so we could gather water from the school and from the drippy sink downstairs. But what if the majority was without water? Who would be as willing to share?

Even though the water is icy, I´m happy I can shower again. And you can believe I´m not the only one!

Note (Saturday 22 May): I returned to the house last night after publishing this post and learned there had been a flood in the kitchen! Roxana had come home during the day to find the water turned off again. She left for Cusco and accidentally left the faucet on full force without knowing, as no water was coming out at the time. The owner of the house came upstairs later in the afternoon to find several inches of water covering the entire kitchen after she noticed some water leaking through the ceiling downstairs. Although some things are still drying out, nothing was ruined, not even the projector that was sitting in a box on the floor. Feast or famine. Flood or drought? AND btw, the water went off this morning again. Haven´t been home all day, so we´re crossing our fingers that it´s back on by now.

Note (Tuesday 25 May): The water was not back on Saturday night when we got home, and hasn´t been turned on since then. We´ve been surviving with a giant tub full of water from a hose connected to the roof next door. The reason we´re without water is because they´re installing new pipes downstairs, and as it´s already late, I have no hope that it´ll be done today. Today the landlady told me that the water was going to be turned on very soon when I asked to fill another bucket so I could flush the toilet. Hardly anything is ever finished "on schedule." sigh. Maybe tomorrow?

some thoughts and ranting.

Recently, Sara and I have been talking about how our lives will unfold with new experience and ideas about the world once we return home. I must admit I start to feel a little stressed and depressed at the thought of returning to the States. (I had this same problem when I was retuning from Europe.) Once I start traveling, I want to keep exploring to see what is out in the world; to see other views of life and broaden my world view. After traveling abroad, it is impossible to view home (the States) in the same way. I was challenged a bit in my world view when I was in Ireland, walking to school and back and having to line-dry my clothes for the first time in my life, and learning who has the right of way when a herd of sheep is coming at you. Ireland has a slower pace of life which let me see how the States has a culture of  "I need something and I need it now."

Before I start this rant, I want to say that part of what adds stress to my thinking process is that now I have to figure out my next step in life and I have no idea where it will take me. I don´t even know where I want to live. If anyone has some ideas, or job connections let me know.

I can look back at my time in Ireland and think "that was nothing (in terms of culture shock)." Now, I am a bit concerned about reverse culture shock. Here in Peru, there is not really a way of living simply; everyday-life is simple. Hot water, dish washers, washing machines...any machine in concidered a commodity. I have gone several months without hot water, washing machine, microwave, or refrigerator and I have had no problems at all. In the states, I feel a lot of the mentioned machinery is a nessisity for many Americans, but really they just add stress and headaches to life. For example, "Oh no, the fridge is broken and my month´s rations of food is going to ruin." Or, "Oh no, the power is out. How are we going to survive without our microwave and electric stove, I am going to starve." When the power goes out here, we light candles and life continues, hardly missing a beat. No problem. It has been a blessing to live without my robot assistance. No car that can break down and require a $400 repair (more than a teacher´s monthly salery at our school).

Does this mean I will come home and cut the addiction of electricity? Probably not, but I will be aware that doing things by hand, like washing clothes, allows time to slow down and reflect. I probably will not have that much reflection time while washing clothes once I return (I also won´t have back pain from using a sink designed for someone a foot shorter than me), but I will be aware of the energy I use.

The US culture really forces us to use machines. How many people reading this live close enough to his or her work to walk, or can take a bus. I probably just described more than 90% of Peru. Even some of the teachers at our school commute one hour to work by bus, and that bus ride only costs 1sol (or 33 cents). Let me also tell you that gasoline costs the same here as it does in the States. Yeah, the rides might be a little uncomfortable at times and an old guy might try to stick his hand in you pocket to get your wallet, but rides are available. 

Whenever I travel, I realize things in the US that are extreamly outdated in comparison to other countries. The US just passed a bill for some sort of universal healthcare, while Peru has had more affordable healthcare since before it had widespread electricty. Peru also has public trasportion available to the masses. I am not saying the US sucks and Peru rules; Peru has its own problems, like unsafe working conditions and not supplying a livable wage (wage is something else lagging behind when compared to Europe, Canada and Australia).

The other day I stumbled upon some stats of the Human Development Index and the US is ranked 13th. The US ranks 83rd in the Peace Keeping Index. Seeing how hard it has been for the US to change and how upset some people got over this change makes me think that maybe the population of the US is just too large. We have a democracy (majority vote government) meaning that when there is a vote, potentially 149 million people are left unhappy. Peru has an estimated population of 22-24 million (its hard to count those who live in the jungle). That is roughly the population of Illinois.

One money fact that is a bit shocking to me now: back in January in the Miami airport, Sara and I purchased a small mocha from Starbucks to break some large bills. That small mocha cost $3.90, which means that just 8 of those small mochas would pay for my half of each month´s rent. Wow.

El Último Cumpleaños

Matthew and I celebrated Elias´ birthday Wednesday with him and his family, including his brother Roberto (dancing fiend in red) who had his birthday just a few days earlier.

We brought Elias bread from Oropesa (our town is nationally famous for its bread) and some no-bake "cookies" that didn´t turn out as well as I had hoped. After I re-formed the delicious blobs to sort of resemble cookies on a plate after our long trek to his house, I walked around offering them to guests who had the funniest looks on their faces. Many accepted and tried out my strange looking sticky cookies, but one man refused! After I have tried so many things including a cuy that still had a claw and nails, he says "no gracias"! Woah. I served most of the cookies, or tried to, and then sat down to dinner.

Although I was a champ finishing my cuy the last time we were at Elias´ house, I couldn´t quite plow through my plate the same way the other night. Matthew and I arrived later than a lot of people, so only one other guest was still eating when we got there and I felt like everyone was watching us eat and waiting to start dancing. We were served a special dish from Cusco that is only served during this time of year, which included a mountain of food- a special grilled corn, a piece of chicken, a piece of sheep, a quarter cuy, some sort of deep fried vegetable goodness, sea weed, and fish eggs. I tried, I really did. I wanted to be grateful and not refuse the hospitality, but I couldn´t do the eggs (have you ever had the crunchy treat?) or the seaweed. Wasn´t sure what the sheep was, just looked like a scary piece of meat, or some part of an animal and when I couldn´t bite into it on the first try, it went into my pile of bones, eggs, seaweed. I shamefully turned in my half-eaten plate after I did my best.

The rest of the night was filled with lots of cerveza and lots of dancing. Due to the shortage of female guests, I was asked to dance many times. I didn´t mind dancing and wasn´t made fun of too badly this time for my gringa dance skills. PLUS, while I was dancing, it was less likely that I´d be handed a cup full of Peruvian beer! My most frequent partner was Roberto and he had some mad skills. I just tried to imitate him and all was well. I didn´t care too much for one particular partner who liked to dance a little too closely for my comfort, but all I had to say were some magic words, "ayudame, Mateo!" and my partner would move back to a safe distance.

Because my Peru trip is winding down and I´m heading home in June, this may have been my last Peruvian Party and I´m ok with that. I just can´t do it like they do, partying until 5 a.m. on a school night.

Happy Birthday to everyone celebrating today, especially you, Miss Jenny Popp! And may your tomorrow be nothing like our yesterday.

 

¡El Dia de la Madre!

Congratulations, Graduate

Hello Erin,

I know you are probably pissed because this is the second graduation of yours that I have missed because I have been exploring foreign countries. I just want to say Congratulations, Graduate. ¡Te Felicitas!

There are some others who want to congratuate you as well. All of these photos come from the town where  I currently live, in no particular order.

Bugs Bunny says congratulations! He is a sign for a shop called Bugs Bunny.

This cow says congratulations.

This sheep says congratulations, so did three others, but they did not
want to pose for the camera and kept showing their back ends.

These caged birds say congratulations.

This kitten says congratulations.

This rooster says cockel-doodle-do.

These field geese say congratulations.

(Look hard, they´re there. If we believe they´re there, they´re there alive and true!)

This dog says congratulations.

This blured donkey says congratulations.

(After he said congradulations, he rolled around on the ground to scratch his back.)

I am missing a few things: a scary bread woman statue said congratulations, and so did a Jesus statue, but he was from Cusco. We were also going to have a drink in your honor but never made it, some other day maybe. Just know that I did eat a chocolate donut to celebrate your graduation. It had been was cut in half and lathered with custard filling. It was delicious.