So much to write, so little time. I probably won't have the time to write a proper entry before I return to the States next Tuesday, but expect a really long one sometime next week.
All the best,
Adrien
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
La Última Semana
Well, I apologize for not writing in my blog since Tuesday. Basically I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday relaxing because I wanted to conserve my energy after being sick. I was still pretty exhausted for the rest of the week and didn't really do anything of note.
Friday night Jackie and I finally went out to town. I fell asleep around 8 o'clock on that night and was out like a light until 10 when Jackie pounded on my door telling me that she would not accept another night of boredom. So I had to get ready really fast so we could meet up with our friends in the Plaza de Armas at 10:30.
We were all out dancing and ran into a group of folks from the United States that we had met a week ago. Jackie and I were supposed to go out with them on Monday, but that was the day I was throwing up all my insides (you're welcome for that detail) so we didn't go. We didn't have any of their phone numbers at the time so they thought we had stood them up. Whoops.
Yesterday was wonderful. Jackie and I finally got to sleep in (we wake up at 7:00 every day, or at least I do) which was greatly appreciated. I ate about four bowls of cereal for breakfast because I was just so excited to have cereal and soy milk after eating toast every morning for seven weeks. Also, Peruvian children's cereal has some really wonderful stories printed on the back about superheroes and evil villains who want to rid the planet of flavor and joy.
In the afternoon, we went to Mercado San Pedro to go "mysterious fruit shopping," as I called it. Basically I just wanted to go to this giant marketplace and buy every kind of fruit that I had never eaten before. We bought chirimoya, lúcuma (suprising that I've only ever had the ice cream...), granadilla, granada (okay, so that's a pomegranate, but whatever), noni (which legitimately smells like garbage), pepino, and this weird alien fruit whose name I can't remember. The last one and the granadilla seriously look like slimy alien pupae when you open them up, but they are surprisingly delicious. I know food is a complete sensory experience, but if you can get over the off-putting appearance of both these fruits, they both valen la pena.
Afterwards, I hung out with my friend Kevin at his host family's house. They were all making fun of him to me because he doesn't speak Spanish as well as I do. Let me explain a little tidbit about Kevin. He was kind of randomly selected to be on the Food Network with Bobby Flay because he put on this big charity barbecue and an article was published about it in some newspaper, etc. So I basically have a minor Food Network celebrity friend now! Really the point of sharing that was to explain that it's great to have a fellow foodie in my midst. Last night we talked all night about our favorite meals (I went into great deal explaining the black mission figs, chèvre, white polenta, acorn squash, pomegranate quinoa and almond creme that Ajay and I ate at Leaf in Boulder) and it was great. Then we went downtown with his host family to watch fireworks and a concert in the Plaza de Armas. This whole week is basically the week of Cusco leading up to Inti Raymi (the festival of the sun) on Tuesday, so there are festivities every day. I should mention that I ate the best candy apple of my life last night. I LOVE CUSCO.
When I got home, Jackie and I stayed up til three in the morning talking about all sorts of wonderful nostalgia from elementary school. We woke up late again today and went to Jack's for brunch. I cannot even believe how much food I ate. Again, I think I was just excited to not have to eat toast and jam for breakfast that I went a little overboard. We each had a milkshake, a fried egg and toast, and separate orders of pancakes. Oh but these were no ordinary pancakes. We each had a stack of three pancakes covered in homemade whipped cream (normally I am not a whipped cream fan, but I made an exception), bananas, mangoes, strawberries, and honey. I had to be carted out of the restaurant essentially, but it was so worth it. It's my last week in Cusco and I have to go all out!
Today I think I am going to the boys' hogar to teach them kickball. Tomorrow night Jackie and I are going out to celebrate the day of Cusco and then we're going to wake up super early on Tuesday to stake out a good spot at Sacsayhuamán to watch the ceremony on Inti Raymi. This is going to be a great last week.
Felicitaciones,
Adrien
Friday night Jackie and I finally went out to town. I fell asleep around 8 o'clock on that night and was out like a light until 10 when Jackie pounded on my door telling me that she would not accept another night of boredom. So I had to get ready really fast so we could meet up with our friends in the Plaza de Armas at 10:30.
We were all out dancing and ran into a group of folks from the United States that we had met a week ago. Jackie and I were supposed to go out with them on Monday, but that was the day I was throwing up all my insides (you're welcome for that detail) so we didn't go. We didn't have any of their phone numbers at the time so they thought we had stood them up. Whoops.
Yesterday was wonderful. Jackie and I finally got to sleep in (we wake up at 7:00 every day, or at least I do) which was greatly appreciated. I ate about four bowls of cereal for breakfast because I was just so excited to have cereal and soy milk after eating toast every morning for seven weeks. Also, Peruvian children's cereal has some really wonderful stories printed on the back about superheroes and evil villains who want to rid the planet of flavor and joy.
In the afternoon, we went to Mercado San Pedro to go "mysterious fruit shopping," as I called it. Basically I just wanted to go to this giant marketplace and buy every kind of fruit that I had never eaten before. We bought chirimoya, lúcuma (suprising that I've only ever had the ice cream...), granadilla, granada (okay, so that's a pomegranate, but whatever), noni (which legitimately smells like garbage), pepino, and this weird alien fruit whose name I can't remember. The last one and the granadilla seriously look like slimy alien pupae when you open them up, but they are surprisingly delicious. I know food is a complete sensory experience, but if you can get over the off-putting appearance of both these fruits, they both valen la pena.
Afterwards, I hung out with my friend Kevin at his host family's house. They were all making fun of him to me because he doesn't speak Spanish as well as I do. Let me explain a little tidbit about Kevin. He was kind of randomly selected to be on the Food Network with Bobby Flay because he put on this big charity barbecue and an article was published about it in some newspaper, etc. So I basically have a minor Food Network celebrity friend now! Really the point of sharing that was to explain that it's great to have a fellow foodie in my midst. Last night we talked all night about our favorite meals (I went into great deal explaining the black mission figs, chèvre, white polenta, acorn squash, pomegranate quinoa and almond creme that Ajay and I ate at Leaf in Boulder) and it was great. Then we went downtown with his host family to watch fireworks and a concert in the Plaza de Armas. This whole week is basically the week of Cusco leading up to Inti Raymi (the festival of the sun) on Tuesday, so there are festivities every day. I should mention that I ate the best candy apple of my life last night. I LOVE CUSCO.
When I got home, Jackie and I stayed up til three in the morning talking about all sorts of wonderful nostalgia from elementary school. We woke up late again today and went to Jack's for brunch. I cannot even believe how much food I ate. Again, I think I was just excited to not have to eat toast and jam for breakfast that I went a little overboard. We each had a milkshake, a fried egg and toast, and separate orders of pancakes. Oh but these were no ordinary pancakes. We each had a stack of three pancakes covered in homemade whipped cream (normally I am not a whipped cream fan, but I made an exception), bananas, mangoes, strawberries, and honey. I had to be carted out of the restaurant essentially, but it was so worth it. It's my last week in Cusco and I have to go all out!
Today I think I am going to the boys' hogar to teach them kickball. Tomorrow night Jackie and I are going out to celebrate the day of Cusco and then we're going to wake up super early on Tuesday to stake out a good spot at Sacsayhuamán to watch the ceremony on Inti Raymi. This is going to be a great last week.
Felicitaciones,
Adrien
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Enfermedad, parte dos
So, the reason I have been neglecting my blog for a few days is that I have been very sick. Yesterday I could hardly leave my bed, but luckily Jackie was there to keep me company. I feel a hundred times better today, although I'm still pretty short on energy. I have no idea what my illness is/was (though I have some ideas, which will be explained later), but it was pretty nasty there for awhile.
Saturday morning, Jackie and I went with a bunch of other people from United Planet rafting on the Urubamba. Being the incredibly intelligent people that we are, neither of us considered the fact that we would be wearing wetsuits. Therefore we did not bring bathing suits or a change of underwear. AWESOME. That meant we had to strip down to our skivvies and wear the wetsuits over that. How stupid can we be?!
Anyway, the whole voyage down the river was incredibly fun if not extremely cold (hence the illness?). At one point, our raft got stuck on a giant rock and we all had to cram ourselves into the front of the boat like sardines and flail madly about to get some momentum going. It was so, so funny.
When we got back to base camp, all of the instructors told us to strip down right there in front of everyone because they were in a hurry to store all of the equipment. Jackie and I just stared at them incredulously until finally she made a break for it to the lockers to grab our clothes. All of the guides were screaming at her as she ran away, but neither of us cared. There was no way I was about to strip down in front of everyone in the freezing cold. Unfortunately, because I had to take off my life-vest and jacket so quickly, I forgot that I had left my favorite earrings in one of the pockets of the jacket. So now those are lost forever. Fantastic.
Jackie and I also lacked the foresight to bring a change of shoes and we both wore sneakers on the river. So we had to walk around base camp barefoot. Luckily we got some hot chocolate and soup once we got back, but still. The whole situation would have been made much better had she and I just thought for one minute about what rafting on the Urubamba in the middle of the Andes actually entailed.
After eating lunch, we all piled onto the bus to get back to Cusco. The entire bus ride, the instructors were showing this ridiculous montage of top 40 music videos and I got a huge kick out of it. They even played a video by Robbie Williams! How cool.
Once we got back to Cusco, I decided to go directly to the boys' hogar because the other volunteers and I were planning on cooking a spaghetti dinner for the boys and I was already an hour late. This is probably why I got sick. And I know it's disgusting that I didn't go home first, but I was clearly not of sound mind at that point.
So I went to the boys' hogar and played with them for a few hours. I really didn't help at all with the cooking process because the other five seemed like they had it under control. Instead, I played chess with Saddam and BEAT HIM. I was so excited. I think I was in just as much shock as he was when I said jaquemate. That was probably the crowning achievement of my trip to Perú.
After dinner, I went home and took a much needed shower and then crashed into bed. Jackie and I were planning on going out that night, but once I got home we both looked at each other and decided that would be a terrible idea.
Sunday morning, I woke up and went to the boys' hogar to meet up with Saddam (he's the one who is the same age as I am). The director of the orphanage said he and I are allowed to hang out, so we went on a ridiculously long hike to a place called The Devil's Balcony which is probably an hour and a half walk outside of Cusco. The scenery was remarkably beautiful as always. When we finally got to our destination, we climbed down into this little cave that was probably 100 feet above a quiet stream in the middle of a meadow in the Andes. It was incredibly beautiful. After that, we climbed down the path that lead to the stream itself and hung out for awhile. Then we passed through another cave and spent an hour and a half or so sitting on a hill taking in the landscape. After that, it started to sprinkle so we started our trek back to Cusco.
I got home and hung out with Jackie until dinnertime. While she and I were sitting at the table, one of the family's drunk relatives came into the kitchen and started talking nonsense to us which was kind of awkward. Then the señor the family, who I think is around 65, came in giggling and pointed to himself and said, "Día del Padre...hehe." Then he grabbed a lime and told us he need it to make a Perú Libre (pisco and soda). It was really funny. Jackie and I decided to sit with the rest of the family for a little while which was pretty awkward given how intoxicated they all were. When I called my dad, I could barely hear him over the ridiculous chatter and obscenely loud salsa music playing in the background.
Yesterday morning I woke up and felt absolutely terrible so I didn't go to work. I had to take my clothes to the lavandería but when I got there, it was closed (at 11:00 in the morning...?). So I walked back home, waited for half an hour and went back (luckily it was open that time). I walked another block or so to the grocery store to buy some Sprite and soda crackers for my stomach. By the time I got home, I had no energy left. I tried to eat lunch but I found a piece of meat in it and immediately lost what little appetite I had. I went to my room and slept for a few hours.
Jackie came in and kept me company for a little while but I was just feeling so bad I didn't even want to talk. So she let me sleep which I desperately needed. I woke up this morning feeling a little better, but not fully recuperated, so I decided to skip work again today. As much as I wanted to go, I know I have to get better. So I have been taking it really easy today. I still don't have a lot of energy, but nothing really hurts on me and I haven't been throwing up, so I am going to take that as a good sign.
Hope all of you are doing well. I'll see some of you in just two short weeks.
Con cariño,
Adrien
Saturday morning, Jackie and I went with a bunch of other people from United Planet rafting on the Urubamba. Being the incredibly intelligent people that we are, neither of us considered the fact that we would be wearing wetsuits. Therefore we did not bring bathing suits or a change of underwear. AWESOME. That meant we had to strip down to our skivvies and wear the wetsuits over that. How stupid can we be?!
Anyway, the whole voyage down the river was incredibly fun if not extremely cold (hence the illness?). At one point, our raft got stuck on a giant rock and we all had to cram ourselves into the front of the boat like sardines and flail madly about to get some momentum going. It was so, so funny.
When we got back to base camp, all of the instructors told us to strip down right there in front of everyone because they were in a hurry to store all of the equipment. Jackie and I just stared at them incredulously until finally she made a break for it to the lockers to grab our clothes. All of the guides were screaming at her as she ran away, but neither of us cared. There was no way I was about to strip down in front of everyone in the freezing cold. Unfortunately, because I had to take off my life-vest and jacket so quickly, I forgot that I had left my favorite earrings in one of the pockets of the jacket. So now those are lost forever. Fantastic.
Jackie and I also lacked the foresight to bring a change of shoes and we both wore sneakers on the river. So we had to walk around base camp barefoot. Luckily we got some hot chocolate and soup once we got back, but still. The whole situation would have been made much better had she and I just thought for one minute about what rafting on the Urubamba in the middle of the Andes actually entailed.
After eating lunch, we all piled onto the bus to get back to Cusco. The entire bus ride, the instructors were showing this ridiculous montage of top 40 music videos and I got a huge kick out of it. They even played a video by Robbie Williams! How cool.
Once we got back to Cusco, I decided to go directly to the boys' hogar because the other volunteers and I were planning on cooking a spaghetti dinner for the boys and I was already an hour late. This is probably why I got sick. And I know it's disgusting that I didn't go home first, but I was clearly not of sound mind at that point.
So I went to the boys' hogar and played with them for a few hours. I really didn't help at all with the cooking process because the other five seemed like they had it under control. Instead, I played chess with Saddam and BEAT HIM. I was so excited. I think I was in just as much shock as he was when I said jaquemate. That was probably the crowning achievement of my trip to Perú.
After dinner, I went home and took a much needed shower and then crashed into bed. Jackie and I were planning on going out that night, but once I got home we both looked at each other and decided that would be a terrible idea.
Sunday morning, I woke up and went to the boys' hogar to meet up with Saddam (he's the one who is the same age as I am). The director of the orphanage said he and I are allowed to hang out, so we went on a ridiculously long hike to a place called The Devil's Balcony which is probably an hour and a half walk outside of Cusco. The scenery was remarkably beautiful as always. When we finally got to our destination, we climbed down into this little cave that was probably 100 feet above a quiet stream in the middle of a meadow in the Andes. It was incredibly beautiful. After that, we climbed down the path that lead to the stream itself and hung out for awhile. Then we passed through another cave and spent an hour and a half or so sitting on a hill taking in the landscape. After that, it started to sprinkle so we started our trek back to Cusco.
I got home and hung out with Jackie until dinnertime. While she and I were sitting at the table, one of the family's drunk relatives came into the kitchen and started talking nonsense to us which was kind of awkward. Then the señor the family, who I think is around 65, came in giggling and pointed to himself and said, "Día del Padre...hehe." Then he grabbed a lime and told us he need it to make a Perú Libre (pisco and soda). It was really funny. Jackie and I decided to sit with the rest of the family for a little while which was pretty awkward given how intoxicated they all were. When I called my dad, I could barely hear him over the ridiculous chatter and obscenely loud salsa music playing in the background.
Yesterday morning I woke up and felt absolutely terrible so I didn't go to work. I had to take my clothes to the lavandería but when I got there, it was closed (at 11:00 in the morning...?). So I walked back home, waited for half an hour and went back (luckily it was open that time). I walked another block or so to the grocery store to buy some Sprite and soda crackers for my stomach. By the time I got home, I had no energy left. I tried to eat lunch but I found a piece of meat in it and immediately lost what little appetite I had. I went to my room and slept for a few hours.
Jackie came in and kept me company for a little while but I was just feeling so bad I didn't even want to talk. So she let me sleep which I desperately needed. I woke up this morning feeling a little better, but not fully recuperated, so I decided to skip work again today. As much as I wanted to go, I know I have to get better. So I have been taking it really easy today. I still don't have a lot of energy, but nothing really hurts on me and I haven't been throwing up, so I am going to take that as a good sign.
Hope all of you are doing well. I'll see some of you in just two short weeks.
Con cariño,
Adrien
Friday, June 13, 2008
Dos y media
So, I apologize to those of you who read my blog who thought I had dropped off the face of the earth (my mom). I swear I am always running in a hundred different directions and I never have time to slow down!
Sunday I went to the boys' hogar to give one of the boys lotion for his face because it is incredibly dry. I walked to the center to meet up with my friend Amber because we were going to bake cookies. After she got off work, we went to El Mercado San Pedro to buy cookie ingredients. I seriously can't explain all that went wrong once we got back to her apartment to bake these cookies, but it was incredibly hilarious. I had to do metric conversions to figure out at what temperature Celsius to set the oven, which didn't even work for twenty minutes because we didn't realize we had to light it from inside. Then we bought cinnamon sticks because ground cinnamon apparently does not exist in Cusco and Amber was wrong when she told me she had a mortar and pestle, so she ended up "grinding" cinnamon in a plastic bowl (which later broke) with a jar of strawberry jam. Then, we had accidentally bought drinking chocolate which is essentially 100% cacao and incredibly bitter, so once the cookies finally came out, they were horrid (although Amber and her roommate's friend really liked them). I can't wait to do some legitimate baking when I get back to the States.
Monday morning was Ephraim's birthday (he's one of the boys at the hogar) and so I went to buy two cakes at a bakery in Limac Pampa (not that I expect any of you to know where that is). It was closed when I got there, so I figured I would just make a big loop around and look for another bakery on the way to the hogar. I seriously could not find one and so I went back to Limac Pampa. Luckily the one there had opened, so I bought two cakes for the boys. I had to wait around for the woman there to decorate them and when I finally got to the hogar, it was almost 10:30 (I usually get there at 9:00...whoops). Luckily the boys hadn't gone to school yet. Ephraim was really, really excited and the other boys were going insane about getting cake. They were being little heathens and so that kind of made me mad, but oh well.
That afternoon I went to my Spanish class and my professor was so wonderful. His name is Michael (I think) and he kept saying to me, "I never thought I would meet someone who knows so much about Juanes! And you're from the United States and you know all these songs that no one in South America has heard!" From that point on, we got along famously.
I apologize, but I have gotten to the point where I can't remember half of the things I've done this week! Luckily I am writing in my diary so I can remember. Tuesday morning, some of the boys thought it would be a good idea to tie me and some of the other volunteers up outside which just resulted in my falling down a few times. It's funny because even when the boys do somewhat jerky things such as that, I still love them.
Tuesday afternoon, I went to the girls' hogar with Jackie (she accompanied me for moral support because I really did not want to go). I told the director there that Thursday would be my last day. I needed to stop going because I really did not feel good whenever I was there and never felt like I was helping the girls in any way. So she seemed kind of upset, but they're so used to people coming in and out that she understood.
I cannot remember what I did with the boys on Wednesday, so flash forward to my Spanish class. That was really wonderful because all we did was joke around and hang out listen to Juanes for two hours. My Spanish classes can't even really be called classes because it's more like spending time with my Peruvian friends. I always laugh when other people I know tell me they have Spanish homework because I am so accustomed to just talking and occasionally reading stories with my teachers. Why would they give me homework?
Yesterday was a really nice day with the boys because we got to spend a lot of time outdoors playing. Two new volunteers came on Monday so it's been nice watching the boys get to know them better. One of them, Olivia (who goes to American, Adam!), was a gymnast for a long time and tried to teach the boys how to walk on their hands. It was so funny. Some of them were actually pretty good and learned how to do back bends!
In the afternoon I went to the girls' hogar for the last time and gave them all my old Beanie Babies. It was another volunteer's last day as well so we got to say good-bye together. They gave us some parting gifts which was really sweet. I felt kind of bad because I hadn't forged anywhere near the same emotional connection to them that I have with the boys. I am absolutely dreading my last day with them. I can't even think about it.
Last night Jackie and I went out with a bunch of people (I mean A LOT. I literally invited everyone I knew and I think we had around 20 in our group. Ridiculous.) to this really dumb gringo bar. I hated it and pretty soon left with Ashley, Danielle, Jackie, Arend (one of the new volunteers) and Olivia's friend Chris. We went to dance and there was this 60-something year old man dancing in the middle of the floor like he thought he was 25. If only he could have seen how ridiculous he looked...
This morning hardly any of the boys were there as some of them had gone to the Sacred Valley with their schools. So the other volunteers and I just played with the boys who were there and had a very relaxed day. I totally destroyed this ten-year-old boy Alberto in chess which I thought was kind of funny. He didn't understand the concept of jaquemate so I had to explain it to him three times. Then he challenged me to checkers and he suffered the same fate. Little kids are so funny sometimes.
This afternoon Jackie and I went shopping downtown. Oh, and I apologize to anyone expecting a postcard, but they are insanely expensive to send from here and I can't really afford to send as many as I had planned. Anyway, we went out for ice cream (chocolate and lúcuma, a match made in heaven) afterwards. Tonight we're going to go out and dance with some friends. Tomorrow morning we're going rafting on the Urubamba (I think) so that should be fun. Next time I write I'll try to be a little more detailed (and I little more prompt).
Cuídense,
Adrien
Sunday I went to the boys' hogar to give one of the boys lotion for his face because it is incredibly dry. I walked to the center to meet up with my friend Amber because we were going to bake cookies. After she got off work, we went to El Mercado San Pedro to buy cookie ingredients. I seriously can't explain all that went wrong once we got back to her apartment to bake these cookies, but it was incredibly hilarious. I had to do metric conversions to figure out at what temperature Celsius to set the oven, which didn't even work for twenty minutes because we didn't realize we had to light it from inside. Then we bought cinnamon sticks because ground cinnamon apparently does not exist in Cusco and Amber was wrong when she told me she had a mortar and pestle, so she ended up "grinding" cinnamon in a plastic bowl (which later broke) with a jar of strawberry jam. Then, we had accidentally bought drinking chocolate which is essentially 100% cacao and incredibly bitter, so once the cookies finally came out, they were horrid (although Amber and her roommate's friend really liked them). I can't wait to do some legitimate baking when I get back to the States.
Monday morning was Ephraim's birthday (he's one of the boys at the hogar) and so I went to buy two cakes at a bakery in Limac Pampa (not that I expect any of you to know where that is). It was closed when I got there, so I figured I would just make a big loop around and look for another bakery on the way to the hogar. I seriously could not find one and so I went back to Limac Pampa. Luckily the one there had opened, so I bought two cakes for the boys. I had to wait around for the woman there to decorate them and when I finally got to the hogar, it was almost 10:30 (I usually get there at 9:00...whoops). Luckily the boys hadn't gone to school yet. Ephraim was really, really excited and the other boys were going insane about getting cake. They were being little heathens and so that kind of made me mad, but oh well.
That afternoon I went to my Spanish class and my professor was so wonderful. His name is Michael (I think) and he kept saying to me, "I never thought I would meet someone who knows so much about Juanes! And you're from the United States and you know all these songs that no one in South America has heard!" From that point on, we got along famously.
I apologize, but I have gotten to the point where I can't remember half of the things I've done this week! Luckily I am writing in my diary so I can remember. Tuesday morning, some of the boys thought it would be a good idea to tie me and some of the other volunteers up outside which just resulted in my falling down a few times. It's funny because even when the boys do somewhat jerky things such as that, I still love them.
Tuesday afternoon, I went to the girls' hogar with Jackie (she accompanied me for moral support because I really did not want to go). I told the director there that Thursday would be my last day. I needed to stop going because I really did not feel good whenever I was there and never felt like I was helping the girls in any way. So she seemed kind of upset, but they're so used to people coming in and out that she understood.
I cannot remember what I did with the boys on Wednesday, so flash forward to my Spanish class. That was really wonderful because all we did was joke around and hang out listen to Juanes for two hours. My Spanish classes can't even really be called classes because it's more like spending time with my Peruvian friends. I always laugh when other people I know tell me they have Spanish homework because I am so accustomed to just talking and occasionally reading stories with my teachers. Why would they give me homework?
Yesterday was a really nice day with the boys because we got to spend a lot of time outdoors playing. Two new volunteers came on Monday so it's been nice watching the boys get to know them better. One of them, Olivia (who goes to American, Adam!), was a gymnast for a long time and tried to teach the boys how to walk on their hands. It was so funny. Some of them were actually pretty good and learned how to do back bends!
In the afternoon I went to the girls' hogar for the last time and gave them all my old Beanie Babies. It was another volunteer's last day as well so we got to say good-bye together. They gave us some parting gifts which was really sweet. I felt kind of bad because I hadn't forged anywhere near the same emotional connection to them that I have with the boys. I am absolutely dreading my last day with them. I can't even think about it.
Last night Jackie and I went out with a bunch of people (I mean A LOT. I literally invited everyone I knew and I think we had around 20 in our group. Ridiculous.) to this really dumb gringo bar. I hated it and pretty soon left with Ashley, Danielle, Jackie, Arend (one of the new volunteers) and Olivia's friend Chris. We went to dance and there was this 60-something year old man dancing in the middle of the floor like he thought he was 25. If only he could have seen how ridiculous he looked...
This morning hardly any of the boys were there as some of them had gone to the Sacred Valley with their schools. So the other volunteers and I just played with the boys who were there and had a very relaxed day. I totally destroyed this ten-year-old boy Alberto in chess which I thought was kind of funny. He didn't understand the concept of jaquemate so I had to explain it to him three times. Then he challenged me to checkers and he suffered the same fate. Little kids are so funny sometimes.
This afternoon Jackie and I went shopping downtown. Oh, and I apologize to anyone expecting a postcard, but they are insanely expensive to send from here and I can't really afford to send as many as I had planned. Anyway, we went out for ice cream (chocolate and lúcuma, a match made in heaven) afterwards. Tonight we're going to go out and dance with some friends. Tomorrow morning we're going rafting on the Urubamba (I think) so that should be fun. Next time I write I'll try to be a little more detailed (and I little more prompt).
Cuídense,
Adrien
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tres semanas me faltan
Thursday morning I went to the boys´hogar ready to play some awesome games with them. Unfortunately, when I got there about half the boys were gone to a school reunion so we didn´t play. They got back around 11:00 which is an hour or so before they all have to eat before some of the boys go to class. Instead of playing games, we just played jump rope for a really long time. Seriously I have no idea where they get their energy sometimes because jumping rope for an hour in Cusco heat would probably kill me.
After leaving, Ashley, Danielle and I walked to Jack´s which is this hang-out for ex-pats in Cusco who want a taste of home. We went there because Sarah came back to Cusco Thursday from La Paz because her flight to France left Friday from Lima. It was really nice to see her again. I told her the entire story of what happened last Saturday night with Floy and Armando, including the new development that Alex told me. She was really upset about it as well, naturally.
From there we walked to the Plaza de Armas so that Sarah could interview Ashley and Danielle for a documentary she´s making (she interviewed me last week as well). After finishing the interview, Ashley started dancing in the middle of the Plaza to some random man´s drumming. I really wish I could put into words how completely hilarious it is to see her dance. She was attracting the attention of everyone within a hundred-foot radius. Awesome. What was unfortunate was that after about 15 minutes, the brichero that asked me to hang out last Wednesday (whom I stood up) sat down with the man who was drumming. So we walked away pretty soon thereafter. We walked over to another part of the Plaza so Ashley could chase some pigeons. She made friends with a three-year-old girl who had the same objective. It was really adorable.
From there, Sarah and I left and walked up to San Blas so she could give me some quinoa chocolate (sooo delicious-a chocolate bar with puffed quinoa and honey in the middle). I decided not to go to the girls´hogar because I was so exhausted and knew that if I went, I would just feel worse. There was no way I would have been able to help the girls with their homework. So I went home to have dinner with Jackie and the family.
After resting most of the night, Jackie and I met up with Ashley, Danielle and Sarah at Mama Africa (where they played "Stronger" for me which I greatly, greatly appreciated) to say our final good-byes to Sarah. Jackie met this incredibly attractive Spanish man with whom she has a date this evening, so that´s exciting for her. Last time we went the only people who talked to her were really creepy middle-aged men. Her luck is improving!
(Sidenote: The guy working the internet café where I am right now is playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Gorillaz. Oh hilarious.)
Friday morning I went to the boys´hogar absolutely sure we were going to play games with the boys. Unfortunately, Ashley and Danielle never showed up and they were the ones who had all of the game materials. So all the boys seemed even more disappointed than they had been the past two days and I overheard Edberzón mumble something about how we always tell them we´re going to do something fun but we´re just liars. Great.
Anyway, as I was about to leave, Saddam and one of the profesores told me about a fútbol game on Saturday and wanted to know if I wanted to come/buy a jersey. I told them I would if I could since Jackie and I had planned to go to a pub downtown to watch the Portugal/Turkey game in the EuroCup. But obviously I was more inclined to watch a fútbol game that involved boys from the hogar than that dummy Cristiano Ronaldo (for shame on those of you who didn´t watch the World Cup in 2006).
After I went home and ate lunch, Jackie and I went to Molino to go shopping. Perú doesn´t having shopping malls or anything, but Molino is probably the closest equivalent. It´s kind of like this underground labyrinth with at fewest a hundred kiosks selling anything imaginable (except, incidentally, tank-tops which were the one thing I was trying to find). But, I just want you all to know that if you want any dirt cheap movies I can get them for you. I can buy the first six seasons of Seinfeld for around US$40 total, so that should give you an idea of just how cheap stuff at Molino is.
From there, we went downtown and ate dinner at this vegetarian restaurant called El Encuentro. We split this chocolate crêpe which was exactly what I had been craving and it was delicious. From there we went to various nightspots but were both pretty tired so we decided just to take a bus back home. However, I did buy this jacket that I´ve been wanting since I got to Perú. It´s a play off of the Puma logo, except for that it says Perú and has a picture of a llama on it. The one really tourist-y item I just had to have.
Saturday morning, Jackie and I went to some more of the sites featured on our boletos turísticos. We went to three museums in two hours (they´re really tiny). We went to one of the municipial art museums, the house where Garcilaso de la Vega was born (he´s a really famous historian who documented a lot of the Spanish conquest) and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo. Afterwards I took her to the mercado in la Plaza San Pedro because it´s a really cool place in Cusco where you can buy a lot of food and clothing for dirt cheap. I bought some mini-bananas (the best I´ve ever had) and then we started walking toward the hogar. We happened to run into Floy and so we all walked back together. He is still kind of distant because I think he´s still kind of embarrassed about all that happened.
From there, we went with Saddam, another boy whom I´ve only seen a few times, and one of the profesores to pick up the jerseys and then head to the fútbol field. Unfortunately, the team that our team was supposed to play never showed up, so they didn´t even get to play. But we stuck around and watched another game and then walked back to the hogar (on the way back, the profesor bought us all ice cream! I got chocolate and lucuma and it was sooo good. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that I actually hadn´t had before, but it was seriously the best ice cream ever).
Once we got there, Saddam challenged me and Jackie to a game of chess. Really he challenged Jackie and my role was to offer her moral support as I knew he would absolutely destroy her, which he did. It´s kind of embarrassing really to play against him because he´s just so good.
Afterwards, Jackie and I had to return home because her date with the aforementioned Spaniard was initally planned for last night. However, she was pretty drained from spending all day in the sun, so she rescheduled for tonight. So, we went to the café by our house and the creepy owner gave us free tea because he has a crush on her (when we walked in, he said ¿Cómo estás? to just her, not ¿Cómo están Ustedes? to the both of us. I thought that was really, really funny). So maybe her luck isn´t improving given that this guy has to be in his 40's at least.
Today Jackie is in the Sacred Valley, so I´m left to my own devices. I´m going to spend some time outside and try to even out this very strange tan I´m acquiring (with sunscreen, of course. Don´t worry, Mom). I´m going to go to the boys´hogar later to give one of the boys lotion for his face. Then my friend Amber and I are going to bake cookies together! I´m so excited. I haven´t had a chance to bake in over a month! How unfortunate.
Con cariño,
Adrien
After leaving, Ashley, Danielle and I walked to Jack´s which is this hang-out for ex-pats in Cusco who want a taste of home. We went there because Sarah came back to Cusco Thursday from La Paz because her flight to France left Friday from Lima. It was really nice to see her again. I told her the entire story of what happened last Saturday night with Floy and Armando, including the new development that Alex told me. She was really upset about it as well, naturally.
From there we walked to the Plaza de Armas so that Sarah could interview Ashley and Danielle for a documentary she´s making (she interviewed me last week as well). After finishing the interview, Ashley started dancing in the middle of the Plaza to some random man´s drumming. I really wish I could put into words how completely hilarious it is to see her dance. She was attracting the attention of everyone within a hundred-foot radius. Awesome. What was unfortunate was that after about 15 minutes, the brichero that asked me to hang out last Wednesday (whom I stood up) sat down with the man who was drumming. So we walked away pretty soon thereafter. We walked over to another part of the Plaza so Ashley could chase some pigeons. She made friends with a three-year-old girl who had the same objective. It was really adorable.
From there, Sarah and I left and walked up to San Blas so she could give me some quinoa chocolate (sooo delicious-a chocolate bar with puffed quinoa and honey in the middle). I decided not to go to the girls´hogar because I was so exhausted and knew that if I went, I would just feel worse. There was no way I would have been able to help the girls with their homework. So I went home to have dinner with Jackie and the family.
After resting most of the night, Jackie and I met up with Ashley, Danielle and Sarah at Mama Africa (where they played "Stronger" for me which I greatly, greatly appreciated) to say our final good-byes to Sarah. Jackie met this incredibly attractive Spanish man with whom she has a date this evening, so that´s exciting for her. Last time we went the only people who talked to her were really creepy middle-aged men. Her luck is improving!
(Sidenote: The guy working the internet café where I am right now is playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Gorillaz. Oh hilarious.)
Friday morning I went to the boys´hogar absolutely sure we were going to play games with the boys. Unfortunately, Ashley and Danielle never showed up and they were the ones who had all of the game materials. So all the boys seemed even more disappointed than they had been the past two days and I overheard Edberzón mumble something about how we always tell them we´re going to do something fun but we´re just liars. Great.
Anyway, as I was about to leave, Saddam and one of the profesores told me about a fútbol game on Saturday and wanted to know if I wanted to come/buy a jersey. I told them I would if I could since Jackie and I had planned to go to a pub downtown to watch the Portugal/Turkey game in the EuroCup. But obviously I was more inclined to watch a fútbol game that involved boys from the hogar than that dummy Cristiano Ronaldo (for shame on those of you who didn´t watch the World Cup in 2006).
After I went home and ate lunch, Jackie and I went to Molino to go shopping. Perú doesn´t having shopping malls or anything, but Molino is probably the closest equivalent. It´s kind of like this underground labyrinth with at fewest a hundred kiosks selling anything imaginable (except, incidentally, tank-tops which were the one thing I was trying to find). But, I just want you all to know that if you want any dirt cheap movies I can get them for you. I can buy the first six seasons of Seinfeld for around US$40 total, so that should give you an idea of just how cheap stuff at Molino is.
From there, we went downtown and ate dinner at this vegetarian restaurant called El Encuentro. We split this chocolate crêpe which was exactly what I had been craving and it was delicious. From there we went to various nightspots but were both pretty tired so we decided just to take a bus back home. However, I did buy this jacket that I´ve been wanting since I got to Perú. It´s a play off of the Puma logo, except for that it says Perú and has a picture of a llama on it. The one really tourist-y item I just had to have.
Saturday morning, Jackie and I went to some more of the sites featured on our boletos turísticos. We went to three museums in two hours (they´re really tiny). We went to one of the municipial art museums, the house where Garcilaso de la Vega was born (he´s a really famous historian who documented a lot of the Spanish conquest) and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo. Afterwards I took her to the mercado in la Plaza San Pedro because it´s a really cool place in Cusco where you can buy a lot of food and clothing for dirt cheap. I bought some mini-bananas (the best I´ve ever had) and then we started walking toward the hogar. We happened to run into Floy and so we all walked back together. He is still kind of distant because I think he´s still kind of embarrassed about all that happened.
From there, we went with Saddam, another boy whom I´ve only seen a few times, and one of the profesores to pick up the jerseys and then head to the fútbol field. Unfortunately, the team that our team was supposed to play never showed up, so they didn´t even get to play. But we stuck around and watched another game and then walked back to the hogar (on the way back, the profesor bought us all ice cream! I got chocolate and lucuma and it was sooo good. Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that I actually hadn´t had before, but it was seriously the best ice cream ever).
Once we got there, Saddam challenged me and Jackie to a game of chess. Really he challenged Jackie and my role was to offer her moral support as I knew he would absolutely destroy her, which he did. It´s kind of embarrassing really to play against him because he´s just so good.
Afterwards, Jackie and I had to return home because her date with the aforementioned Spaniard was initally planned for last night. However, she was pretty drained from spending all day in the sun, so she rescheduled for tonight. So, we went to the café by our house and the creepy owner gave us free tea because he has a crush on her (when we walked in, he said ¿Cómo estás? to just her, not ¿Cómo están Ustedes? to the both of us. I thought that was really, really funny). So maybe her luck isn´t improving given that this guy has to be in his 40's at least.
Today Jackie is in the Sacred Valley, so I´m left to my own devices. I´m going to spend some time outside and try to even out this very strange tan I´m acquiring (with sunscreen, of course. Don´t worry, Mom). I´m going to go to the boys´hogar later to give one of the boys lotion for his face. Then my friend Amber and I are going to bake cookies together! I´m so excited. I haven´t had a chance to bake in over a month! How unfortunate.
Con cariño,
Adrien
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Bien criados
Yesterday I went to the boys´hogar as usual in the morning. Floy was a little bit more receptive to me, Ashley and Danielle than he had been on Monday (more on that situation later) which was nice. I stayed longer than usual because the one seventeen-year-old boy who lives there asked me to play chess with him so I did. He destroyed me. I thought I was reasonably good at chess but he definitely showed me otherwise. I want to keep playing now so I can get better, and then when I come back to Perú I´ll find him and challenge him to a re-match in which I´ll actually stand a chance.
I was late getting to the girls´hogar in the afternoon because my bus didn´t pass for almost 20 minutes! There is no such thing as a "bus schedule" in Perú but they usually pass pretty frequently, so I was pretty surprised that I had to wait so long. I´ve taken the buses so many times here that now I recognize the cobradores in a lot of them (a cobrador is someone who stand at the door of the bus and yells to the driver whether or not people are getting on or off at certain stops and is also the person who takes the fare from each passenger). So I got there about 45 minutes later than usual. Three new women from the States were there to help out. I kind of have the reputation of being the only one who is "fluent" in Spanish, and so I get a lot of volunteers coming up to me with a child dangling from their neck saying something unintelligible asking me what on earth is happening. Everything at the girls´hogar is so hectic! I never feel like there´s time to just relax like I do with the boys.
I was supposed to hang out with one of my Peruvian friends last night, but I wasn´t really feeling up to going all the way to the center, so I told him I wasn´t going to make it. Jackie and I spent time relaxing because I was so tired and she was feeling sick. All of our conversations usually end up with her speaking in English and me speaking in Spanish, telling her that she can speak English anytime she wants and she should take advantage of the fact that she´s in Perú by speaking Spanish. Then she usually speaks to me for about 15 minutes in Spanish and then goes back to her comfort zone. I wonder what she´s going to do after I leave (she´s here for another month after that) and she doesn´t have anyone with whom to speak in English!
After we ate dinner, the family left to go to Hermelinda´s and Edgar´s son´s house, so Jackie and I went on a mini-excursion to find chocolate (there is no really good dark chocolate in Cusco which is probably the single most unfortunate thing about this city). We ended up stumbling in to this café/bakery on Avenida de la Cultura (the main drag by our house) and one of the guys working let us sample some free chocolate. Then I bought chocolate chip cookies! I haven´t had the opportunity to bake since I´ve been here, although I think one of these days Ashley, Danielle and I are going to bake cookies with the boys. But those cookies were such a nice reminder of home.
This morning at the boys´hogar was pretty unpleasant. First, I got there and all the teachers had me draw the entire human from the front and back to show all of the muscles. This is something I would spend hours on in the States if I were doing it for figure drawing because the human body is so detailed. And they wanted me to do it for multiple boys in an hour. Super. Usually when the teachers ask me to something like that, the boy whose homework I´m doing is nowhere to be found. I absolutely hate drawing for the boys because the teachers guilt me into doing it, plus it doesn´t help them learn in any way especially if they´re not even around.
Then, Ashley, Danielle and I had arranged to have a field day, so we had planned a three-legged race, an egg-spoon race, a sack race etc. Typical "field day" activities. Well, there´s a new woman who works there who is really terrible and mean and told us we couldn´t ever have a game day (even though we´ve had them before and it hasn´t been a problem) because all the boys were behaving poorly etc. Which, granted they were a little bit insane today but nothing bad. Just energetic. She was really stressing me out because she kept yelling at random boys and I had no idea why. As if there were a shortage of unpleasant woman at that place...
Anyway, I talked to the director and she told me that it would be wonderful if we had a field day tomorrow, so after we told the boys that we had rescheduled the festivities, they mellowed out a little. But whenever the aforementioned witch lady was not around, all the boys started talking about how much they dislike her. I just feel so bad that all of these women and men come to this place who don´t even get along well with children. And it´s not like I can prevent them from working there. All I have the power to do is treat the kids like the wonderful people that they are to at least let them know that they are cared for and loved.
After that, I was walking to meet up with one of my friends for lunch and I ran into one of the guys who works with the boys in the afternoon. We got to talking and I asked him if Floy had mentioned anything about what happened on Saturday night. He said, "Oh yeah, about the people in the restaurant?" I had no clue what he was talking about, so he told me that apparently Floy said that when he went to the bathroom, some of the waiters asked him where he was from (probably because he was out with three gringas). He said he lived in an hogar on Avenida Grau and apparently they responded by telling him that was probably because his parents didn´t love him etc. Floy is really close to Alex (the guy I was talking to) and so it seems like he would tell him the truth. It would make sense that that´s what affected him so badly because he went to the bathroom right before we left the restaurant. Alex told me that Floy said he had a great time with the three of us and it was only at that point that he felt bad. I just don´t understand exactly why he didn´t say anything to us about it because he knows that we think we did something wrong. I´m sure he´s ashamed and embarrassed to say anything, but I don´t know why he´s still acting a little bit distant. I hope that by the end of the week he´s back to his usual self with us. I obviously don´t expect him to tell us what happened and there´s no way I can indicate to him what Alex told me. So that just complicates an already unpleasant situation.
Afterwards I went to my Spanish class and we read a bit of Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude). This only served to remind me of the fact that it´s been a year since Profe. Alpert gave me a copy of that book and I haven´t even touched it. It´s just so large and daunting. I´m sure if I read it in English it wouldn´t be all that difficult, but I would really like to give it a shot in Spanish first. We´ll see how that works out for me...
Tonight some bricheros invited me and Jackie to go out, but we´re not going to go (obviously). Tomorrow Sarah gets back to Cusco so I´m going out to lunch with her, Ashley and Danielle. I´m excited to hear about all she´s done in Bolivia this past week.
Hasta la próxima vez,
Adrien
I was late getting to the girls´hogar in the afternoon because my bus didn´t pass for almost 20 minutes! There is no such thing as a "bus schedule" in Perú but they usually pass pretty frequently, so I was pretty surprised that I had to wait so long. I´ve taken the buses so many times here that now I recognize the cobradores in a lot of them (a cobrador is someone who stand at the door of the bus and yells to the driver whether or not people are getting on or off at certain stops and is also the person who takes the fare from each passenger). So I got there about 45 minutes later than usual. Three new women from the States were there to help out. I kind of have the reputation of being the only one who is "fluent" in Spanish, and so I get a lot of volunteers coming up to me with a child dangling from their neck saying something unintelligible asking me what on earth is happening. Everything at the girls´hogar is so hectic! I never feel like there´s time to just relax like I do with the boys.
I was supposed to hang out with one of my Peruvian friends last night, but I wasn´t really feeling up to going all the way to the center, so I told him I wasn´t going to make it. Jackie and I spent time relaxing because I was so tired and she was feeling sick. All of our conversations usually end up with her speaking in English and me speaking in Spanish, telling her that she can speak English anytime she wants and she should take advantage of the fact that she´s in Perú by speaking Spanish. Then she usually speaks to me for about 15 minutes in Spanish and then goes back to her comfort zone. I wonder what she´s going to do after I leave (she´s here for another month after that) and she doesn´t have anyone with whom to speak in English!
After we ate dinner, the family left to go to Hermelinda´s and Edgar´s son´s house, so Jackie and I went on a mini-excursion to find chocolate (there is no really good dark chocolate in Cusco which is probably the single most unfortunate thing about this city). We ended up stumbling in to this café/bakery on Avenida de la Cultura (the main drag by our house) and one of the guys working let us sample some free chocolate. Then I bought chocolate chip cookies! I haven´t had the opportunity to bake since I´ve been here, although I think one of these days Ashley, Danielle and I are going to bake cookies with the boys. But those cookies were such a nice reminder of home.
This morning at the boys´hogar was pretty unpleasant. First, I got there and all the teachers had me draw the entire human from the front and back to show all of the muscles. This is something I would spend hours on in the States if I were doing it for figure drawing because the human body is so detailed. And they wanted me to do it for multiple boys in an hour. Super. Usually when the teachers ask me to something like that, the boy whose homework I´m doing is nowhere to be found. I absolutely hate drawing for the boys because the teachers guilt me into doing it, plus it doesn´t help them learn in any way especially if they´re not even around.
Then, Ashley, Danielle and I had arranged to have a field day, so we had planned a three-legged race, an egg-spoon race, a sack race etc. Typical "field day" activities. Well, there´s a new woman who works there who is really terrible and mean and told us we couldn´t ever have a game day (even though we´ve had them before and it hasn´t been a problem) because all the boys were behaving poorly etc. Which, granted they were a little bit insane today but nothing bad. Just energetic. She was really stressing me out because she kept yelling at random boys and I had no idea why. As if there were a shortage of unpleasant woman at that place...
Anyway, I talked to the director and she told me that it would be wonderful if we had a field day tomorrow, so after we told the boys that we had rescheduled the festivities, they mellowed out a little. But whenever the aforementioned witch lady was not around, all the boys started talking about how much they dislike her. I just feel so bad that all of these women and men come to this place who don´t even get along well with children. And it´s not like I can prevent them from working there. All I have the power to do is treat the kids like the wonderful people that they are to at least let them know that they are cared for and loved.
After that, I was walking to meet up with one of my friends for lunch and I ran into one of the guys who works with the boys in the afternoon. We got to talking and I asked him if Floy had mentioned anything about what happened on Saturday night. He said, "Oh yeah, about the people in the restaurant?" I had no clue what he was talking about, so he told me that apparently Floy said that when he went to the bathroom, some of the waiters asked him where he was from (probably because he was out with three gringas). He said he lived in an hogar on Avenida Grau and apparently they responded by telling him that was probably because his parents didn´t love him etc. Floy is really close to Alex (the guy I was talking to) and so it seems like he would tell him the truth. It would make sense that that´s what affected him so badly because he went to the bathroom right before we left the restaurant. Alex told me that Floy said he had a great time with the three of us and it was only at that point that he felt bad. I just don´t understand exactly why he didn´t say anything to us about it because he knows that we think we did something wrong. I´m sure he´s ashamed and embarrassed to say anything, but I don´t know why he´s still acting a little bit distant. I hope that by the end of the week he´s back to his usual self with us. I obviously don´t expect him to tell us what happened and there´s no way I can indicate to him what Alex told me. So that just complicates an already unpleasant situation.
Afterwards I went to my Spanish class and we read a bit of Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude). This only served to remind me of the fact that it´s been a year since Profe. Alpert gave me a copy of that book and I haven´t even touched it. It´s just so large and daunting. I´m sure if I read it in English it wouldn´t be all that difficult, but I would really like to give it a shot in Spanish first. We´ll see how that works out for me...
Tonight some bricheros invited me and Jackie to go out, but we´re not going to go (obviously). Tomorrow Sarah gets back to Cusco so I´m going out to lunch with her, Ashley and Danielle. I´m excited to hear about all she´s done in Bolivia this past week.
Hasta la próxima vez,
Adrien
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