Mi Vida En Trujillo

 Entrance into the Conservatory

 Main Courtyard of the Conservatory

 Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas...the conservatory was just passed this.

 Governor's Palace / Main government building

 I loved all of the Spanish colonial wooden balconies

The place I've been living for the last 5 weeks.  I lived on the third floor (there were four).

This is what I saw when I walked in the front gate.

 First flight of stairs

 Second flight of stairs

 Three of my roommates had an additional flight to go up, but Elsa took pity on me the first day when she saw my two ginormous bags (most people only brought one).

 Bathroom

 Shower

 Do you see all the electrical cords around the shower head?  If you didn't turn on the water and then turn on the water heater switch then you shocked yourself.....

 Hallway from the bathroom.  My door was the first on the right

 Messy room

Messy closet

This is my last post from Trujillo and I am really sad about it.

Tuesday was the medical campaign in El Progreso, one of the roughest areas around Trujillo.  I spent the day making string bracelets for the neighborhood kids.

Thursday was a fun, we spent the day at the beach in Huanchaco and the sun was actually out.  That night we went dancing at a club called Ama.....only in Peru is there a major dance club AT THE MALL.  The music was great, and we had a huge group so it was fun.  It was also Peruvian Independence day so the place was packed.  After a shower and nearly 48 hours I can still smell the scent of cigarettes in my hair....ew.

Yesterday a few of us went to the mall for some last minute shopping.  I bought myself some starbucks, and bought the Spanish version of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter from the book store.  Mario Vargas Llosa is a nobel prize winning Peruvian writer....we'll see how I do with it.

We also went out for our final dinner as a family last night.  The five American girls, Elsa, and Douglas.  It was a really nice dinner and I definitely teared up several times.

I spent most of today resting and packing.  I said goodbye to my roommate Brigette this afternoon and I teared up again.  Tonight we get on the bus to Lima.  I'll spend the day there tomorrow and then Monday morning I get on a plane to Cusco for my final week in Peru...complete with a visit to Machu Picchu.

I've made a list of things about Trujillo that I'm going to miss:

The smell of fires.  People make would burning fires, they also burn their rubbish, I like the smell.

I'm going to miss getting on and off of the crazy micro (bus) wherever I want.  They don't have stops like in the U.S., you just flag them down and then tell them when you are ready to get off the bus.

Long road trips with lots of time to think and reflect, I think that is my favorite part of traveling.

Having to speak Spanish because there is no other option.  My Spanish still isn't great, but it's better than it was when I got here.

Maybe this is in my head, but when I traveled around Greece all I could think of was how ancient the land looked.  Here I feel like the deserts, roads, mountains, etc. all just look wild - like it's still the New World here.

I'm going to miss being fed three solid meals every day.  I'm also going to really miss mealtimes with my roommates and host mom Elsa.  There were some nights where we would just laugh hysterically about silly things.  

This trip has been very different for me.  In Greece I loved getting lost and finding things accidentally and just learning how to be independent.  Here its the exact opposite, which I think is closer to the Peruvian culture.  From what I could see, Peruvians are all about family, community, helping each other, and that's exactly what I've experienced here both with my host family and with my roommates.  I had to learn to depend on people when I was sick, for travel plans, to get me around the city, to translate.  I've been so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

I'm going to miss Elsa.  She is an amazing lady.  She welcomed us into her home as daughters, not just tenants.  She spoke slowly and acted things out for us.  She practiced her English with us and was always ready and willing to try and learn more.  She is very quick....and always ready with a joke and even sarcasm.  Last night on the way home from dinner we were all pretty giggly.  At one point Brigette decided to give Jenny a piggy back ride and run around like a crazy person.  Elsa said to us in English, "I don't know you!" Omg it was the funniest thing.

I originally meant to spend a little more time describing some of this weeks activities, but I'm tearing up as I write this and I really can't think about anything other than how sad I am to leave.  I feel like I just got used to being here.  

My next post will most likely be when I'm back in the States, and I will have Machu Picchu pictures for you all to see!

Much love,

Danielle

The Pensieve

I find that I do the most thinking while on road trips.  Unfortunately it is really hard to write a journal or blog entry while on a bus, so normally by the time i get around to writing all of my brilliant thoughts have disappeared :-p

I did manage to remember a few from this weekend that I had been meaning to share.

Before I go on, I'd like to add some more clarification to "the Italian incident" from my last post.  In hindsight, a more polite way to describe the "Peruvian whine" would have been to use "accent" instead of "whine," however the latter is more descriptive of intonation.  Furthermore, it is present in nearly every Peruvian's speech that I have met - not just the poor.  My host mom is very educated and was a teacher for a long time - she did the whine at dinner last night.  Rachel, the program director, is not a native Spanish speaker, but she has lived here for a few years (her husband is Peruvian) and you can hear the accent in her Spanish as well.  Maybe that is what my friend Fabian meant when he said that I would "mess up my Spanish" if I went to Peru.  Anyways....enough about the nasty Italians.

Thought #1
It's nice / weird to be in a place where my last name is common.  There are several people running / who ran for political office with the last name Acuña so there are billboards everywhere....and by billboard i mean their names are painted on walls.
          It's also nice to be in a place where I don't look like a minority.  I know that's kind of a weird thing to say, and it's not really something I ever noticed until now.  The women here are dark like me, they are short, and they are curvy.  It's nice to see a "norm" that isn't tall, blonde, and skinny.

Thought #2
There are a lot of gutted buildings in Peru.  They look like one of two things.  Either people started a building project and never finished, or the buildings are abandoned.  I'm not sure which, but I feel like most of them are just half started.

Thought #3
Traveling at night has pros and cons.  You save a day of travel, but if you can't sleep on the bus (I can't) then you're still losing some of the day because you have to sleep for real when you get where you are going.  A con is definitely the fact that you cant see the landscape change in the dark.  This weekend we drove through mountains and the moon light reflected on a few rivers and lakes but I couldn't see much because it was so dark.

Thought #4
Ancient cultures worshiped nature, the elements and mother earth.  They took care of the land that provided for them.  With all of the knowledge and technology we have as, "an advanced and developed civilization" what are we doing to give thanks and to protect the planet that provides for us?

Thought #5
There is a huge difference between the urban and rural poor, and for the life of me I can't decide which group has it worse - or is that one of those things I'm just not supposed to compare?  There are a couple of geography majors in the volunteer group.  They get pretty annoyed when people just assume that they study "maps and stuff."  However, they have a really hard time explaining what they study because it is such a vast, all encompassing field.  They said that my question about the rural vs. urban poor is the subject of an entire class in their major.  Interesting stuff I may have to check out some day.

Thought #6
My weekend in Cajamarca was an intense lesson in listening / comprehending Spanish.  Sometimes I feel like I've made leaps and bounds in my comprehension, but inevitably after hours of near perfect comprehension I'll try to have a conversation with someone and end up understanding absolutely nothing.  It's also easier to understand when I'm used to someone's voice.  Rachel talks sooooo fast, but her voice is familiar now so it's easier to pick up what she is saying.

Today was my last day at the conservatory.  I said goodbye to my students and the orchestra.  The director, Francis, thanked me in front of the whole orchestra.  It was kind of embarrassing, but it also made me feel good.  I don't feel like I did that much, but he said that they really appreciated the fact that I came, and that I worked with so few resources (I didn't have a permanent room and had to constantly move around, I didn't have appropriate music for beginners and had to struggle to find something for them to do...including writing out my own exercises.)  I learned that the orchestra doesn't have a lot of funding and that they charge their students little to nothing for lessons and orchestra membership.  It is more important to allow kids to have music in their lives than to charge for it....unfortunately that comes with a price....mainly the lack of a flute teacher.  Learning that made all the cold showers I've taken seem like a small price to pay for being here and having the opportunity to share my gift.  Daniel was really sad that I was leaving and kept asking me not to go.  The director, Daniel, and several other people asked me to come back next summer.  We'll see.  I got pretty choked up when I left the conservatory tonight so I would definitely consider coming back ($ would be the only thing stopping me).

All in all I met with my students more or less twice a week for an hour each.  That's a total of 8 hours of individual instruction.  If you consider that some professional musicians give master classes that are a few hours....and then you never see them again....I think my students received some quality time.  I'm already thinking of things that I could improve upon if I were to come back (like i would leave behind all the shoes I ended up not wearing and bring a printer so I could make copies instead of having to go somewhere to do it.)

And now a plea on behalf of the orchestra.  If any of my TMB/ musical friends (specifically flutes) would like to spend a summer teaching in Peru and improving their Spanish let me know!  Also.....if anyone has any instruments sitting in their closets collecting dust....you should consider donating them to the orchestra!

Lost in Translation

And now my friends, a tale of Ugly Americans.  This is probably one of those things that I shouldn't tell everyone, but I really need to write it out and process it for myself.  

We had the morning off so we decided to walk around the downtown area of Cajamarca on our own.  Other than dairyland / products, Cajamarca is known for basically being the place where the Inca met their doom.  The picture below is known as the "Ransom Room."  The Spanish conquerors captured King Atahualpa, he told the Spanish that if they let him go he would fill the room up to the roof with gold and silver.  So he filled the room and of course they killed him anyways.  The second excuse the Spanish gave was that he had more than one wife, and was therefore a sinner and had to die.  Yeah for conquest, people are so wonderful aren't they?

 Mototaxi that we took up the large hill so we could check out of the hotel after lunch. 

 The women really do look like this when they sit.  Their skirts flare out and their shawls are wrapped around them.

 EVERYONE was watching the battle for 3rd place in the America Cup between Peru and Venezuela.  We watched a little of it during lunch and then walked around only to see or hear a tv in every little shop we passed along the way.

We headed back to the tour agency for our 3:30 tour.  The Italian couple from yesterday smiled and said hello to us as we all got in the tour van.  We went to another dairy farm thing, on the way to our next stop (a "botanical garden") we had a ridiculously hilarious conversation about how Brigette thought that cows were secretly an extremely intelligent alien species that had lulled us into thinking they were harmless but would one day take over the world.  As this was going on we passed a sign on one of the stall areas that said "bacalandia" (cow-land), which was the perfect name for the new world order of cow dominance.  We were laughing hysterically and just being super goofy. 

I was getting kind of annoyed because the part of the tour I wanted to see was at the end....and it was getting dark.  As we walked around the botanical garden the Italian man asked us a few questions (in Spanish) about hiking in Yosemite.  He wanted to know when the best time to go was, and if it would be hard for him to find someone who spoke Spanish to show him and his wife around.

We finally made it to the place I wanted to see: las ventanillas de Otuzco, which is a pre-Inca necropolis.  As we made the short trek up the hill we were surrounded by yet another group of Peruvian children begging us for coins.  They would sing for us in the hopes of being paid for entertaining us.  It was part sad, and part annoying because of their persistence.

 The wall had cactus on top of it, and the sign said no passing, I found it funny, didn't the cactus fence get the point across (teehee pun intended).

The ventanillas were sooooooooo cool.  They were carved out of volcanic rock and were a burial place for the upper class.  After the bodies were put in, the holes were covered with obsidian.  At the end of this tour the seven us were still being goofy and took turns climbing up onto this large rock.  Then we headed back down for some quick shopping and got back in the van.

On the ride back we talked about what an amazing trip Cajamarca had turned out to be, how beautiful everything was, and what we would eat for dinner.  We also talked about how what we call "the Peruvian whine" was starting to creep into our Spanish.  The "whine" is an elongation of certain syllables, you can hear it in nooooooooo, or graaaaaaaacias, or de naaaaaada.  The more rural and poor you get, the stronger "the whine" gets.  It's a totally natural thing to absorb the language and intonation of the people around you, and we are living with Peruvian families.  Two of the girls in our group were native Spanish speaking Mexican-Americans, and they were laughing at themselves because "the whine" was now in their speech.  So we were "practicing" our whines, which was really easy to do after listening to the Peruvian children insistently ask us for money.  All of a sudden the Italian man turned around and started screaming at us in a mix of Spanish, Italian, and English.  The funny thing is that I understood the majority of what he was saying....only I didn't realize he was speaking three different languages because it all registered in my head as English.  Then his wife joined in and started screaming at us too.  It all happened so fast.

Basically they were screaming that we were awful, ignorant, loud Americans, who had no respect for the poor or for the country that we were in.  They called us fascists (which is richly ironic considering Italy has a history of fascism while the U.S. does not) Yankees, cowboys, rich kids and even sluts.  The woman screamed that she had been a teacher for 40 years and that she had never met such ignorant, disrespectful young people, and that we need to go back to school and learn something.  They were screaming that they had to deal with our disrespect for the last two days.  The man also said (to me and the two other Mexican girls) that we were as dark as the Peruvians and that it was shameful that we were making fun of our own people (I missed that part but Brigette told us later).

Apparently they thought that we had been mocking the kids asking us for money.  At first Brigette tried to explain that they had misunderstood what was going on (they didn't speak English) but when they started getting nasty with the name calling she just turned away.  Deanna just kept asking the man (in Spanish) to stop and just leave it alone.  We were all just so shocked and everyone's reactions were so different.
- Brian was "blissfully" ignorant of everything that was said since his Spanish isn't very good.
- Deanna was just shocked that she was being yelled at this way
- I thought it was kind of comical how grossly they had misunderstood us, but I was also really frustrated that we were not given the opportunity to explain ourselves.  I was so shocked that I could barely think of the right words in English let alone Spanish.
- Meredith was absolutely pissed.

We were all pretty angry and shaken up and couldn't really talk about anything else for the rest of the night.  We did go over to the tour guide to apologize and try to explain to her that we weren't making fun of the poor kids, and she said everything was fine, that sometimes things get mixed up with the different languages.

Some witty things we wished we had said later:

Brigette's friend had taught her how to say (in Italian), "You are a smelly old man get the *eff away from me"
I wished I had said, "You're welcome for our Yankee, cowboy help against the Fascists in WWII"

In the end pretty much the only thing they got right was that we were loud....we had been REALLY loud that day, but only in the van, and only when the tour guide wasn't speaking.  They had given no indication that they wanted us to quiet down at all.  I have no idea what they meant by two days of our disrespect, we had barely spoken on the previous tour with them.  The little Peruvian girl spoke more than we did.  We really had to tell ourselves that we knew who we were and that these people knew nothing about us.  We felt that it was really unfair to be labeled "ugly americans," especially because that is how most Americans are generally perceived abroad.  They didn't know that we were volunteers working in poor communities and living with Peruvian families, and that was the most frustrating part: that we weren't given a chance to explain.  The girls thought it was ironic that they were complaining about us being loud Americans while THEY were the ones YELLING at US.  It was kind of an unfortunate way to end our trip.

We got dinner and then made our way to the bus station for a six hour trip back.

What Are Men Compared to Rocks and Mountains?

Coqueta (that means flirt)

I really didn't mean to write another blog today....but this was just too good to not share right away. 

Tonight was the semi-final of the America cup between Peru and Uruguay.  My lessons ended at 8pm and then I needed to hop in a taxi to go to the mall where a bunch of volunteers (and several hundred Peruvians) were all watching the game in the food court.  It took me 25 minutes to catch a cab! I was so annoyed, I swear all the taxis were too busy watching the game.  I finally flagged a guy down and asked him how much it would be to the mall (FYI starting from this moment our conversation was entirely in Spanish) he told me it would be 5 soles...I asked if he would go any less and he agreed to 4.50 so I got in the car. 

he had the game on so i clumsily asked what the score was and he said 0-0.  then he asked who i was routing for....i lied and said i liked both teams (i actually REALLY like uruguays team...more on that later) but that it didnt really matter to me who won cuz i'm from the States.  So then we started talking about what I'm doing here, how long I've been here, how long I will be here, how I like it, how it's different from the U.S. blah blah blah and then we finally arrived at the mall. 

That's when he told me he would only charge me 4 soles!!!!!!! :-D HAHAHAHAHHAHA  I kind of flirted my way into taking off an additional 50 centimos.  The money isn't important, it's pennies in the U.S. but just the fact that I did it IN SPANISH.  OMG totally made my night. 

The game didn't go well for Peru, but I honestly expected that.  Uruguay was one of my favorite teams to watch last summer during the world cup.  I'm completely in love with Suarez (because he's beautiful....even though he's a big faker on the field) and he scored both of tonight's goals....one of them assisted by the amazing Forlan (who has a talent for scoring from well outside the 18 yard line).  Uruguay just had such an amazing game, with some really beautiful plays.  I was very happy. 

so that's my story.  ;-)

Photo Day

Saturday I got up pretty early.  I headed over to the beach in Huanchaco with pretty much all of the volunteers.  We went to surf, and by we I mean the group - not me.  I really had no desire to surf, I think I used up my boarding adventure for sandboarding, I also REALLY did not want to get in the freezing water - wet suit or no.  So I hung out on the beach and took pictures, it was pretty relaxing, especially since I wasn't the only one who chose not to surf.

 These are called caballitos (little horses).  They are traditional fishing boats made out of reeds, and have been used for centuries.  When the Spanish Conquistadors came to Peru they saw the natives sitting on them like you would a horse.....which is where the name came from.

 It was so cool to see all the men come in on the boats.  The women and some children were waiting to help unload the catch (fish, and lots of crabs).  The beach was really rocky - not really much sand - and you could tell it was a fisherman's beach because there were pieces of fish, crab claws, and octopus tentacles all over the place (ew).

 me with the caballitos

 there were so many!

this photo is for my dad (he hates holes).

after everyone finished surfing we split up into smaller groups for lunch.  I had ceviche mixto, it was really good, although a little heavy on the lemon.  After lunch the group got smaller still.  I stayed a while longer to look around at the souvenirs.  Then headed back, showered, took a nap, watched a show, and then got ready to go out again.

I'm pretty spoiled in terms of my international clubbing experiences, and by spoiled I mean I have the ability to say that my best clubbing experiences have been outside of the U.S. - and let's not forget that I spent 6 years living close to Hollywood.  I was really looking forward to getting dressed up and going dancing with a small group of volunteers.  Unfortunately it wasn't written in the cards.  We showed up to the club and the line was ridiculous, we waited for a while and then gave up and went to this rock bar.  At first they just showed classic rock music videos and segments from concerts.  We got some drinks and just chilled.  Around midnight a live band stated playing - words cannot express how amusing our night became.  If you have young children in the room I suggest you ask them to leave now, for those of you staying.....prepare yourself for some interesting images.

The band was a classic rock cover band.  We mostly couldn't understand anything the lead singer said, even though we recognized most of the songs.  We were also highly amused / confused by his choice of outfit.  

That would be his "crotchal" region on display.  Classic Rock meets West Hollywood gay bar.

 How did he even get into those paints!?

We laughed so much, and cheered so loudly for like every song.  He kept coming over to our table and giving us special attention.  We had a really great time. 

 Group Shot!

At the end of the night we walked out of the bar and saw that THIS was the name the band had chosen for themselves! HAHAHA!

Jenny and I had agreed to not be out too late - 2am was quitting time.  We ended up staying out until 4am!

Sunday morning was rough, let me tell you lol.  I did manage to get up and pull myself together in time for the Women's World Cup final.  I had been telling people that i was going to find a way to watch it on my computer....so Sunday afternoon we crammed about 10 people into my tiny room to watch the game.  It was really fun and kind of reminded me of freshman year when my friends and I would cram into each other's rooms to watch shows like Grey's Anatomy.  It felt nice that I was also kind of the maker of the event.  

The game was boring for the first half....and well...I don't really want to talk too much more about it.  Afterwards we went to the pizza hut at the mall and ate way too much.  I was very thankful to finally get some grease into my stomach.  My traditional "recovery" (how's about that euphemism hmm?) food is Jack in the Box breakfast - about as greasy as you can get, and I was definitely hurting most of the morning without the grease to soak up everything I drank the night before.  

Closing thoughts for last week.  A friend of mine commented that she was happy that I seemed to have made some really good friends here, unlike when I was in Greece.  She's totally right.  The volunteers here have been really great.  I trust them, and connect with them better than most of the kids I studied abroad with.  The other important thing though, is that I am in a much healthier (and less depressed post-traumatizing break up) state of mind - so I actually made an effort to make friends here lol.

Things I miss:

* Having a desk to sit at - my back hurts from sitting, laying, and propping myself up on my bed all the time. 

* Real milk - I'm convinced people here would be taller (even if by only a few inches) if they drank real (instead of canned / powdered / condensed) milk.

It's All Relative

Thursday I went right back to sleeping until noon, and it was beautiful.

I headed over to the conservatory in the afternoon to meet with my flaky kid for the first time.  This was the kid I had scheduled at 9am - who didn't show up.  I made him change his time to the afternoon and he finally showed up.  We didn't get much done, but it was nice that after two weeks with my other students I knew what questions I needed to ask, and what I wanted to have him do.  Juan's lesson went from 4-5 and then I had an hour before Elizabeth was supposed to show up, so I just did my own practicing.  I waited, and waited, and Elizabeth did not show up - which has never happened before.  So I just waited until 7 when Ester was supposed to show up.....only she didn't show up until 7:25.  It was kind of annoying, but at least I was out of the house, and I got to do a lot of reading (currently reading: Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks).  When Ester finally showed up I apologized and explained that I had to leave at 7:30 that night.  There was a ballet show that I and a bunch of other volunteers were going to, which started at 8.

I met up with everyone and we headed over to the theater for the ballet.  On our way there we found out that the star of the ballet had been robbed that morning and was injured, so they had canceled her appearance.  We learned that we were now going to a children's dance recital.....ugh.  We got there and saw all these little girls running around in tutus and sequins, they were actually all adorable.  We watched a little of the recital, they always remind me of my best friend Amanda's recitals that I went through from elementary through high school, so that was kind of nice.  The theater was a really cool venue too.  Intimate setting, but way to small for this kind of event - people were standing - but it was cool to see an old style theater - complete with private boxes (think Phantom of the Opera).  Most of us didn't stay long, we ended up going to a bar, grabbing some beers and just hanging out.

Friday I had nothing to do all day.  I had originally had only one student on Friday, but I made him change in case I wanted to travel and leave on a Friday.  Since I had nothing to do I decided to go with the teaching and social work volunteers to the social work campaign that afternoon.  We drove over to a super poor neighborhood - I'm talking unpaved roads and thatched roofs over brick buildings kind of poor.  Our mission for the day was to hang up posters about the medical campaign we are doing next week, and to be a presence in the neighborhood.  As soon as we got there kids started coming our of the woodwork to look at the gringos.  The kids were pretty dirty, kids are normally dirty, but add in all the dust from the unpaved roads and well....enough said.  Some of them were walking around barefoot over the rocky ground with pieces of broken glass here and there. 

I immediately went into that neighborhood with a Westerner's / American's eyes.  I felt sorry for the people living there and tried to imagine how hard their lives must be.....and then I mentally slapped myself.  The worst thing a volunteer can do is pity the people they serve, that feeling gets you no where, and quite frankly I think it is disrespectful to pity the people you are trying to help.  They are people, and this is their way of life, and they are doing the best they can, and they don't want my pity.  The best thing a volunteer can do is respect the human dignity of the people they serve.  Freshman year of college I took two general education classes, one in sociology and the other in anthropology.  The thing that stuck with me the most from these classes is the idea of cultural relativism, which states that that an individual's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture (for more info see the wikipedia page on cultural relativism). I think arranged marriage is a good example.  For those of us in the West an arranged marriage would be a horrifying situation, but imagine it the other way around.  If you grew up in a culture that only did arranged marriages, and then met a Westerner who got to choose.....how weirded out would you be?  Serving others means constantly keeping things in perspective.  With that in mind I focused on other things. 

The kids were all amazingly well-behaved this day.  They didn't fight over crayons or paper.  Older kids took care of younger kids.  Everyone was included in the soccer game regardless of age and ability.  They seemed so different from American kids more community oriented as opposed to focused on themselves....and they were all OUTSIDE.  There were no video games or indoor distractions, all these kids had to do was outside.

 Hopscotch

 coloring table

 i thought this dog kind of looked like Dobby with his floppy ears.  there are stray dogs everywhere.

this girl was good.  i always had to tape my bracelets to a table, or pin them to my pants.  I wasn't coordinated enough to do it this way lol.

We set up a coloring station, and a bracelet making station, and then got a game of soccer going - which I was very happy about.  A couple of the neighborhood men and women watched our game and cheered along.  At one point during the day Rachel explained to me why the roads were unpaved.  Apparently the land belonged to a man who then sold the land to the individual families....only there were no official documents to prove the sale....so occasionally the man would come back and demand more money from the people and would threaten to kick him off "his" land if they didn't pay.  Corruption is a major problem in Peru.  This situation has been in the courts for like 20 years, and in the mean time people are living on the land and being exploited.  It's just awful.  Despite all this it was a nice day being outside and moving around.

After dinner I met up with a bunch of people at the mall to see the final Harry Potter movie at 10:30.  The only English version they had was in 3D.  I don't really like 3D movies - they make me dizzy - but I had to deal with it.  I thought the movie was really great.  I haven't read the 7th book since it came out, so that helped because I didn't notice all the details they left out.  I pretty much started crying when McGonagall took back the school and started putting up the protective charms.  Some people don't understand why/how I get so emotionally invested in books and movies, but I feel like that's what they are for.  There are universal themes and books give us insight into the human experience, things that we all share.  People are capable of terrible destruction, but I get choked up when people work together to do something amazing or brave.  I love the idea of people believing in and wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves, which is what all the kids did when Slytherin House wanted to hand Harry over.  Sometimes people can be really beautiful.

I did briefly think about the last movie being the end of an era.  I received the first three books from my Uncle Donald (most of you know about my "book uncle") for Christmas back in like 6th or 7th grade.  I had no idea who Harry Potter was, but when my cousins saw the books they all excitedly freaked out....and the rest is history.  I found myself thinking about what it might be like to share Harry Potter with my kids someday.  I think I've decided to hide the movies until after they have read all the books (or I have read the books to them).  Part of the fun was the anticipation of the movies...wanting to know if it would be how I had imagined them...and I think that is important.

La Vampira

As I've said before, I work in the evenings.  This naturally means that I fell into my normal sleep schedule of staying up late and sleeping until noon. (My dad calls me a vampire/vampire bat/bear).  I did this on Monday and Tuesday last week and then started to feel guilty.  I felt like maybe I wasn't making the most of my time here, and that I should be out attempting to use/learn/absorb as much Spanish as possible.  I also felt bad because my medical and English teaching roommates have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 6am (I'm still not sure how I plan on being a teacher sometimes). 

So Wednesday I decided to brave the light of day (it's mostly cloudy here so i didn't have to worry about sparkling in the sun - yes that is a Twilight joke) and go to work with my roommate Julia.  I got up early and we went to her school.  First we worked in a third grade classroom.  Julia lead a lesson on vocabulary words for the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms.  Each kid was given a handout / drawing of each room and was asked to copy down the English word above the Spanish equivalent that was already on the handout.  At first the kids were really well behaved, quiet, cooperative, receptive.  About half way through they started getting restless - and then the teacher left and all hell broke loose.  I found it really interesting how my training for the last year turned on as soon as I stepped into that classroom.  I observed that the walls were bare, there weren't a lot of resources or teaching materials.  There were several images of Jesus (weird to see that in a public school).  All of the desks were in three rows facing the front of the classroom - which immediately told me that these students are likely passive learners - little receptacles that the teacher is "trying" to fill up with knowledge - instead of active participants.  As soon as the kids started getting out of hand I went into teacher/leader mode.  When you enter a classroom you need to bring your A game or you will quickly lose control of the situation.  I was easily able to call the kids back to attention - but I lacked the language to take the next step and my attempt basically fell apart.

The next class we went to was 2nd graders.....and there were 34 of them!!!!! It was actually really sad and super frustrating.  They were packed into the room like sardines.  The kids in the back couldn't see the board, and between the distance and the constant talking, they couldn't hear either.  "Naturally" the children who were slower in general and needed more attention were seated in the rear of the room...where they could receive the "benefits" of not being able to see, hear, or be close to the teacher.  Poor Julia was basically screaming over the kids trying to teach them these English words.  It was at about that time that I turned off and decided I wouldn't be going back, I would go crazy having to deal with that every day.  That class in particular would have benefited from being divided into three smaller groups - with a volunteer teaching the lesson to each group of 10-12 students - instead of trying to scream it to the whole group.  It's hard with little kids anyways.  They need to move, it's hard to sit still for more than ten minutes without a break.  The attempt to teach English was basically futile, and I was really glad that I was placed as a music volunteer, instead of as an English teacher (which I also applied for).  I think it may have even been better if volunteers were placed in the classroom as teacher's aids or tutors.  That way they could help the teachers control their over-crowded classrooms and help real learning to actually occur in a smaller teacher-student ratio.  The kids would benefit from more quality attention.

We got home around noon and I managed to find the Women's World Cup semi-final between USA and France online.  I watched that until lunch - great game!  After lunch I had to get ready for my actual work and then made it down to the conservatory.  I had a student from 4-5 and then I practiced from 5-545 and then I read until orchestra rehearsal started at 6:45.  It was about that time when my fear became reality.  In addition to wanting to sleep until noon, the other reason I hadn't volunteered to do anything in the morning was that I was afraid of over loading myself and then being too tired to do my real work in the evening - which is exactly what ended up happening.  We sight-read a famous Strauss waltz.  I had to play these super high notes - very quietly.  For those of you who don't know - the higher up you get on the flute, the harder it is to play quietly.  Between my busy day and the fact that I had practiced before the rehearsal - my chops were basically dead the entire rehearsal.  I haven't been practicing enough and my endurance is gone.  As I've said before, I'm not a great sight-reader, and it didn't really help that the director didn't really map out how we were going to make it through the multiple endings and repeats between waltzes, so I got lost a lot, and I basically missed all of my solo entrances - he had to sing my part a few times.  Over all it was pretty embarrassing, but not at all unexpected.  At least my fears coming true about overloading myself proves that I know myself, my body, and what I am capable of doing.

I made it home for dinner and then the girls and I went out to this place down the street, Buena Pulpa, for some fresh juice.  It's kinda like Jamba Juice, but not cold.  It was nice hanging out and getting out of the house.  I also finished reading Twilight that night....and bought the movie.

Beware the Groove

Currently listening to: The soundtrack from Eclipse (Twilight Saga)

I love writing, but it takes so much energy to sit and organize my thoughts, especially after an eventful few days.  Once I sit and get into a groove it's fine, it's just the starting that is the hardest part.  This post is just going to be super random so that I just have somewhere to start.  Feel free to skip around.  Those of you who don't like Twilight should just skip the next paragraph.

Random fact:  I have been on a ridiculous Twilight streak.  Last week I finished reading Twilight in Spanish.  Every day I hear or use at least one word that I learned while reading that book, it really was a great idea.  Now and then I get these random and intense cravings to watch the movies.  This really makes no sense because the first movie was absolutely awful and I was so pissed that they didn't trust the fan base enough to spend money to make a decent movie.  I've avoided buying the movies all these years but finally enough was enough.  I bought all three.  Surprisingly the first one gets better with each time I watch it, and the movies get progressively better (3>2>1) because they finally had the money to make the effects look decent.  Anyways I finished the third movie last night and now I'm moving onto the soundtracks - I really like the mix of music they put on there - and it's not really stuff I would have thought to listen to on my own.

Random observations about Peru:

They are ALWAYS painting downtown.  I know I still haven't taken pictures of downtown, my house, or my work, but I promise I will before I leave.  Downtown is all Spanish colonial architecture, and it is painted in very vibrant colors.  Unfortunately the pollution (mostly from all the car exhaust) means that the building get really dirty, really fast, and bright colors tend to fade anyways.  I go to the downtown area every day for work and no joke - someone is always putting on a fresh coat of paint.

My host mom sets breakfast out for us every day, and then the cook shows up.  As soon as breakfast is over they start planning for lunch.  Marita goes out and buys all the groceries and then they cook until lunch.  I can't do it.  I'm not a huge fan of cooking.  It just doesn't make sense to me to spend four hours to make one meal - I don't care enough about food and there are other things I'd rather do with my time.  I don't know how these ladies do it every day, and it's not even just them, women everywhere do this.  Uh-uh - not for me.

I thought of another travel tip: go for depth not breadth.  Here is an example: When I studied abroad in Greece we had 10 days for spring break.  A bunch of my classmates did CRAZY vacations and crammed London, Paris, Madrid, and maybe even Rome into all ten days.  I, in contrast, spent the whole ten days on the West coast of Turkey - Starting in Istanbul and making my way south through all the ancient ruins.  I'm not a fan of short trips - you see everything but absorb nothing.  I'd rather do an extended stay in one country/place and really get to absorb the culture and feel of the place.  I realize that's not really practical for most people who only have time for short vacations, but even staying in one country and visiting different cities is better than hopping around multiple countries crazy style.  I also hate backtracking - I'd rather make sure I see everything there is to see so that I don't have to go back and can just concentrate on where to go next.

I'm officially at my half way point here and I have really mixed feelings about it.  I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of things here and it's already time to think about going home.  This is my last official week of work.  Next week we have wrap up activities and Peruvian Independence Day weekend/festivities.  The week after that I leave Trujillo and make my way to Machu Picchu.  The four months I spent in Greece were long enough.  I was SO ready to come home at the end and I was super annoyed with the Greeks' general lack of efficiency.  I suppose the bright side of staying in Peru only six weeks is that I won't be as annoyed when I leave here as I was when I left Greece.  The downside is that it took half my time here to get adjusted, and I didn't explore as much as I would have if I had four months.  What is the perfect amount of time in a place?

Ok, I think I might be ready to write about what I actually did last week.  I'm sure I will throw in some other random thoughts and observations.  I always remember another one I meant to share after I click the publish button.

Avoid Extremes

‘Seek not to be happy, but rather to escape unhappiness; strong happiness is always linked with pain; therefore hug the safe shore, and do not tempt the deeper raptures. Avoid disappointment by expecting little, and by aiming low, and above all do not fret.’ - Epicurean belief.


So I'm not sure if I totally agree with the above quote, but I am definitely trying to get away from the extremes while living here.  An extremely amazing day is followed by an extremely awful one.  At this point, I just want a nice steady balance.  Having said that, I have now had three level days here and I am feeling pretty good (I hope I don't jinx myself).


Tonight I had lessons with Daniel, Elizabeth, and Ester.  Daniel drove me nuts as usual, dragging his feet and protesting the whole way.  However, I realized tonight that I am really grateful for him.  I think I speak the most Spanish, and also feel the most comfortable speaking Spanish, when I am with him.  He is so curious about the U.S., and his constant protests about practicing give me time to think of the words to explain WHY I am asking him to do the things I'm asking him to do.


I realize now that I haven't really talked about the Peruvian people yet, and I feel bad that I haven't.  Now that I'm in a level state of being I can confidently say that the Peruvian people are very warm and welcoming.  My host mom, Elsa, is so great and she really does treat me and my roommates like we are her daughters.  I'm just starting to get used to the way people greet each other here.  There is no hand shaking like we do at home, instead when you meet someone you kiss each other on the cheek and do a kind of hug (although not a full hug...maybe just a half hug).  Everyone at the conservatory has been fantastic.  There is one guy, Julio, who has saved me a few times.  First he told me where to get off the bus last week, and then he helped me find a room to hold my class in one day last week as well.  The great thing about Julio is that he basically anticipates what I need, and I find that amazing.  I just have to be careful not to encourage him in any kind of romantic capacity lol.  Today one of the girls from orchestra saw me, came over, said hello (the Peruvian way) and chatted a bit.  I've never had a conversation with this girl - ever - but because I was a familiar face she greeted me in a warm and friendly way.  I also get smiles and acknowledgments from the mothers around the conservatory.  It's really nice to feel so welcome and appreciated here.


Random thought before I end this post.  I am DYING for real coffee.  There is a starbucks at the mall - but it's not really on my way to work or anything.  They use Nescafe here, which isn't very strong, or they use coffee extract, which is VERY strong and you just add it to water, but no one really uses ground coffee.  I found this REALLY hard to believe.  I mean everyone knows that Columbia has coffee (and is close to Peru) and Costa Rica has coffee (and is a little farther from Peru) so where the heck is all the real coffee!!!??  Apparently it is possible to buy real coffee, but people just don't.  The other thing to think about is that coffee is a major export for places like Columbia and Costa Rica.  Apparently it is really only for export and not for domestic consumption.  I had a conversation with some of the volunteers about how sometimes things that grow in abundance for export become too expensive for the people who produce them.  That's really sad.  I saw or read something about how Quinoa used to be a staple for the poor agrarian society (where ever Quinoa is grown) but now that Americans are so into it (Trader Joes is all about the Quinoa) it is too expensive for those poor farmers to eat.  

Interesting things to think about.

Packing and Travel Tips from Danielle

As I mentioned before, I over packed, but other than the shoes I honestly thought I would need, I have used absolutely everything I've brought.  I thought I would share some of the weirder things that I've gotten laughed at for bringing.

#1 when you pack for a long trip with limited space you should roll your clothing.  My meme told me this years ago.  I don't really know why it works, but if you roll everything instead of just putting it in a bag neatly folded - it will fit better.

#2  I really am surprised by the number of people who DON'T know this.  When you travel you should NEVER carry your passport on you.  If you are staying in a secure place (hotel with a safe or a strong locked door, or a hostel with lockers) you should always leave your passport there.  If you must have ID on you carry a copy of your passport when you walk around.  Here is why:  If you are mugged or if you forget your bag somewhere, you are absolutely screwed.  Don't chance it. 

A little mirror, I don't mean a compact - those things are useless when you need both hands.  My mirror has a kind of stand on it so I can put it on a table or hang it from a nail or something like that.  This mirror is really good when there are a limited number of bathrooms (specifically in hostels or when sharing a bathroom with several people).  Honestly ladies - you only need the sink to brush your teeth and wash your face - all of your make up can be put on using this mirror in another room so that other people can have a chance to get ready.  Super handy.

Daily facial wipes.  This is the first time I've used them instead of my normal face wash.  OMG, I'm in love with them.  It is SO nice to have these - again because of limited bathroom time - but it's also nice when I want to freshen up on the go.  As I've mentioned before, the showers here are freezing, so these facial wipes are also nice for in between showers.  Finally, they are disposable!  So your suitcase gets lighter and has more room as you progress through your trip - which is super important because you need room for souvenirs!

A flashlight.  I brought my book like with me (I had to, this is me we're talking about) but other practical variations include a headlamp, a keychain flashlight, or a small hand held light.  You never know when you're going to need it, and I have used mine several times - for other things besides reading.

Plastic Ziplock bags.  These are definitely one of those things people looked at me funny for having.  These are great for when your bathing suit isnt dry but it's time to pack up and go, or for when your shoes get muddy, or when one of your shampoo bottles explodes, or when someone gets carsick.....The possibilities are endless.  I brought a few large ones and a few small ones.

Hand sanitizer and toilet paper.  I'm amazed by how many places here do not provide toilet paper or hand soap.  enough said.

Different sized bags.  I know these can take up a lot of space, but there is nothing worse than not having something that specifically fits your needs.  I have a large backpack that holds my computer or is good for short weekend trips.  I have a smaller backpack for walking around all day.  I wish that I had brought my sling purse (my sister convinced me it was ugly so I didn't bring it and I have really missed it).  This is good for just walking around, shopping, whatever.  Ladies these are the best kinds of bags while traveling - they sling across your chest and shoulder, which makes it harder for someone to snatch it off you, and it MUST have a zipper to guard against pick pockets.

A coin purse.  I always forget that other countries use coins more than we do.  Here they have 1, 2, and 5 soles and the smallest bill is a 10.  Luckily coin purses are a pretty touristy thing to make, so the nice thing about this is that you can totally buy one wherever you are going.

Snacks!!!!  You will usually have to buy these once you get where you are going.  Many of you know that I am NOT a very nice person when I'm hungry.  As a result, I always need to have snacks on me.  My favorite is trail mix.  It's great for in between meals, and easy to carry around in a purse as you explore wherever.

There is some debate among travelers about whether you should bring ALL of your favorite things, or NONE of your favorite things.  I myself support the former but I will begin by explaining the benefits of the latter:

If you bring none of your favorite things then you can leave stuff behind.  Think of this as ballast (cargo/weights of little or no value loaded on a ship to keep it upright that is then discarded when cargo of real value is added).  YOU NEED ROOM FOR SOUVENIRS!!!! Normally my "ballast" includes towels, socks, underwear, hygiene (shampoos, conditioners etc.)  All of that stuff can be left behind if you don't care about it, no one wants to pay fees for overweight bags.

The alternative is to bring all your favorite things.  I cannot plan out exactly what I am going to wear every day of my trip.  I'm sorry, my mood changes, my activities change, and my body changes on a day to day basis.  I'd rather just bring all the clothes I know I like and look good in.  The first time I ever went to Europe with my family my sisters and I were only allowed to bring one pair of jeans.  That was fine while we were in Southern Spain in the month of July, but as we went farther and farther north (we ended in Paris) it got colder and one pair of jeans was not enough.  There have been trips where I've planned on kind of "roughing it" but lo and behold something happens where we need to look nice for some dinner or event and I had NOTHING appropriate to wear.  Basically I like options.

I think this just about covers all of the less obviously useful things that I like to travel with.  (Obvious things include sunblock, a camera, chapstick, etc). 


What do you consider essential packing and travel tips?  Leave me comments!

Porque es Necesario

Sunday

Sunday was a pretty relaxing "family" day.  We had breakfast around 10 and then hung out for a few hours.  At one we met downstairs to go to lunch at a Creolla style restaurant.  The food was really good, the day was absolutely beautiful, and it was nice to be outside and out of the house.  After lunch we went back to the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna for a little shopping, and then we went to this grocery/sears kind of store where there was a little dessert and coffee bar.  It took me a while to realize that this is the typical Sunday family day for Peruvians.  It made me think about my Sundays.  I think the best Sundays I had were back in high school.  I would roll out of bed for church and then we would come home and have brunch (chorizo and eggs mmmm) and then spend the afternoon watching NASCAR, doing laundry and little things around the house.  It wasn't really official time, but it was nice and relaxing.  July is a big month to be away from home, normally I'd be watching le Tour de France.  I was really able to get into the race last year, but I haven't watched as devotedly since leaving Norco.

Monday

I got smart this time.  I was up for breakfast at 8am and ready to go to my 9am lesson.  Only this time I sent the kid a text at 8:15 asking if he was coming.  I waited until 8:45 and when I still hadn't received an answer I went back upstairs and back to bed :-D  I sent the kid another text asking if we could change our lesson time because he is the only one i have until the afternoon.  Half an hour later I get a text from him saying "no, no, I can't, sorry, sorry"  (but in Spanish of course).  So that just makes me ask myself, "he can't come to lessons this morning? or he cant change the time?"  I dunno.  Whatever, he's wasting his opportunity.  The program officially ends July 27 (July 28 is a holiday that goes through the whole weekend, and then I'm traveling to Cusco and Machu Picchu.  I get home August 6th). 

I hung out around the house, did some reading, watched some Ghost Whisperer, had lunch and then headed to the conservatory around 4.  I met with Daniel at 4:30.  Ay that kid.  I made him go through this long tone exercise that should have taken 5 minutes, but because he kept stopping and protesting it took 20!  I wish I had the fluency to make him understand that his sound would be better if he had the air support to make his phrases longer, and that the fuzzy sound he gets in the higher registers would go away with time and increased muscle control.  He kept saying long tones and scale exercises are boring, and I agree, they are boring, but they are necessary - and that is what I kept telling him for lack of other words, "because it's necessary."  Oh well, I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is only 14.  I relied on my "talent" until I got to college, and only then did I really start practicing, to be fair though - I didn't really know how to practice until my professor taught me in college.  It really is about coming up with a routine.

After Daniel I finally got to meet my other beginning student, Maria.  She already knows how to read music because she plays piano, so she basically just took off with the flute.  I was really impressed.  I think the hardest thing about learning flute is figuring out how to move your air to make a sound, but it seemed like she had already been practicing a little because she had no problem making a sound.  This is all good news because I didn't bring any music for beginners.  I think I'm just going to make copies of a fingering chart, some intermediate scale exercises and let her go to town.

Orchestra rehearsal last night was fun.  This time we worked on excerpts from the opera Carmen.  I had played some of these with concert band, but it was a new (and fun) experience with orchestra.  The thing that always scared me about orchestra is the fact that there are really only a few flutes (in my case two flutes and a piccolo) - which means that there is only one person playing each part.  I'm used to playing with like 12-20 flutes, so if I mess up chances are someone else will make sure the part gets played right.  Well, I was playing the first flute part, to be fair to myself I was sight reading (which is not one of my strengths), and I definitely messed up my entrances for a few solos.  It was kind of embarrassing, but not too much.

The Moment of Truth

Friday

I had a lesson with Daniel at 2pm.  I asked him to pick a different time for our future lessons.  It really makes no sense for me to go all the way down town on a Friday when I don't have any other students.  I also need to do this with my 9am student (hopefully I see him this week).  Daniel is an interesting character.  I like him because he's chatty, so I get to practice my Spanish.  At the same time he's kind of ADD during lessons.  He doesn't really want to focus (it didnt help that I forgot to bring his music) so I'm not really sure what to do with him.  Although, I definitely remember not being prepared for some of my lessons and just having a 30 minute chat session with my flute professor (shout out to Gary if he's reading :-)  )  

I came home and had lunch and then had a few hours to chill.  At 6pm all of the Trujillo volunteers piled into a van and a car for the hour and a half drive up to Otuzco where the other volunteers are.  Otuzco is a little town deep in the mountains in Peru's northern highlands.  The road up the mountain had a lot of twists, turns, and switchbacks.  Of course our driver did this all in the dark - and at a speed much greater than was comfortable.  I can't help but feel that my body has kind of betrayed me on this trip.  24 years old and I'm falling apart.  Normally I have an iron stomach, but since coming here I had stomach issues, an awful cold, and a very uncomfortable car ride up the mountain.  I have NEVER been car sick before.  I ALWAYS read in cars and buses, but this drive was just awful.  Luckily Jenny had some Dramamine to share with me on the ride back.  We got up to Otuzco and it was very cold.  The streets were super tiny - people don't really have cars there - and the streets were all cobblestone.  We had dinner at a place near our hostel and watched the Peru vs. Mexico game.  Peru won and I was happy - that's right - I cheered for Peru - not Mexico.  I really can't stand the poor sportsmanship that Mexico's team has exhibited in the past. 

Jenny and I went to bed pretty early.  The next morning we were up and ready to go by 8am.  We all piled back into the van for a 20 minute drive even farther up the mountain.  There we were lead on a hike by a 9 year old boy.  He showed us around his farm and even let some of us "harvest" some corn and potatoes.  The air was pretty thin up there and the hike pretty much kicked my @$$. 

I am constantly amazed by the responsibility, independence, and muscle control that kids outside the U.S. have.  These boys were between 9 - 12 and were confidently wielding a sickle to cut down stalks of corn.  I don't know any parent in the U.S. that would hand their 9 year old a sickle (large curved blade for cutting things).  The boys were also amazed that we had no idea which corn was ready to be picked and which ones weren't.  When I visited Costa Rica the muscle and ball control that the 5-9 year old boys showed while playing soccer amazed me too.  I guess these things develop better when there is no tv or video games to play.

I have never seen the patchwork pattern of crops carved into the sides of mountains.  "Normally" the patchwork pattern is flat.  I've seen vineyards and orchards on the sides of mountains but never oats, corn, potatoes, carrots, etc.  Of course pictures never do this kind of landscape justice, but take my word for it, it was amazing.

These people don't have electricity, but they do have running (cold) water.  They don't have cars, and they continue to farm as they have for numerous generations.  I took video of the sound of the wind running through the oats and corn....but I realized tonight that I had my camera on the wrong setting so it didn't come out :-( I'm seriously so sad.  The sound was absolutely amazing, beautiful and peaceful.

Well, here you have it.  This my friends, is Cuy.....guinea pig...can you see its little claw? :-\   I did in fact eat this.  It tasted like chicken I suppose, but I couldn't really enjoy it because I couldn't stop thinking that these things are sold in pet stores in the U.S.  This was a delicacy eaten by Inca kings.  I still don't really know how I feel about the whole experience, but I don't think I'll be eating cuy again any time soon. 

Here is a shot of one of the little streets in Otuzco.  You know how each country/region has its own traditional dress?  Well, in my experience "traditional dress" is really only ever worn during cultural events and shows and things like that - not every day.  I've seen pictures of traditional Peruvian clothing in my travel guide but I didn't think people really wore those things.  I was wrong.  It was really neat to see women walking around in country hats, ponchos, and with babies strapped to their back with cloth sling things.  I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I didn't know how to take a picture of random people without being obvious and looking like a creep.

This is la Virgen de la Puerta.  Otuzco is kind of a pilgrimage site, people come to see the Virgen in the photo above.  There is a big feast day festival for her on December 15th.  From what I could gather, the Virgen has been here for 450 years.  Apparently she just appeared. First they tried to move her to the altar, the next morning when the people went into the church she was back at the door, then they moved her to a window....next day she was back at the door....and on and on until finally they were like, "ok, you can stay in the door" lol.  There was a little museum next to the church that houses all of the gifts that people have given to the Virgin.  It was while touring this museum that I FINALLY put my finger on what was so different about the statues in Peruvian churches.  The statues are very life-like...to the point of being scary...and the reason for this is that THEY ARE CLOTHED.  Thing about it: in U.S. churches the statues are all one piece, and the clothes are painted on.  Here the statues are more like dolls.  They have clothes made out of cloth, and they even have wigs - sometimes from real human hair.  The detail is beautiful, but it can be kind of freaky.

We left Otuzco around 3:30, the drive back down was much better thanks to the dramamine.  I spent the rest of Saturday just resting.  I have one more post to catch you all up with Sunday and the random thoughts that have popped into my head this week.  These range from the beauty of my Catholic faith to travel / packing tips.  Right now I need to go to sleep.  I have a student at 9am....maybe.  This will be the last time that happens though.  I'm not going to keep waking up early and going down town for one student when I don't see the others until like 5pm.

Oh and let the record show that I have now survived two weeks without a hot (or even a warm) shower.