Extranjera

Yesterday I went to work with the boys in the afternoon. There was another guy there from California named Alex who had been there for a couple months so the kids were really attached to him. I felt a little strange at first but I started playing un partido de fútbol with some of the boys and I think they loosened up a bit with me. Alex left for an hour or so and after that I think the kids figured they might as well talk to me since I was there. Ha, so they showed me around their school and asked me how to say certain things in English. Then a few of them taught me some words in Quechua (of which I remember no) and laughed every time I invariably mispronounced them. I got there around 3:30 and left at 6:30 and had a really good time.

After that, I walked to La Plaza San Blas to meet up with this Canadian girl so we could explore the city together. I was supposed to meet her at seven but she never showed up (ugh) so I ended up sitting there by myself looking ridiculous for an hour or so. I was sitting on the escaleras of the Cathedral when this guy approached me (brichero, for sure) and asked if I wanted to go to some cafe and listen to him play music. I told him I was waiting for someone but he was pretty persistent (Mom, don´t worry, I know better than to go out with someone I don´t know alone). Afortunadamente, this girl I met earlier at school walked by and I just started talking to her and pseudo-ignoring this other guy. Finally he left and the girl invited me to dinner with her and some of her friends. I figured by this point (it was around 7:45) that the other girl wasn´t going to show up, so I accepted. Lucky for me, they were all German. And they spoke German the entire time I was with them. So they took me to this weird hemp café and talked in German for two hours acknowledging me I think twice the whole time. Not that I can necessarily blame them for speaking German (even though they all knew English and Spanish), it was pretty rude given that girl who invited me hardly talked to me as well. Oh, and did I mention I didn´t have enough money with me to buy anything on the menu? Wonderful. Sitting in a hemp café in Perú with seven Germans, hungry and tired, listening to bizarre soft-rock covers of Beatles song. I feel like maybe now I can empathize more with Bill Murray´s character in Lost in Translation. But what´s more is that this isn´t even the first time this has happened since I´ve been here! On Tuesday, I went out with the coordinators for my project for a ¨welcome dinner...¨except they were all Dutch and spoke Dutch the entire time. Some welcome. But that was where I met the Canadian girl so it was a little less uncomfortable. And they paid for me, so it was considerably better.

Spanish lessons went well today. I´m not sure what I´m going to do tomorrow. I need to plan out when I´m going to do my ¨tourist-y¨activities (like visit all the churches, museums, ruins, etc.). I think tomorrow I´m going to take my first trip to the lavandería (laundromat), so that should be interesting.

Anyway, right now I should probably head back to my house for almuerzo. It´s really, really hot today in Cusco and I´ve already walked quite a few kilometers so it will be nice to go home and cool off.

Chau,
Adrien

P.S. Even in Perú, one cannot escape all the madness that constantly encircles Britney Spears.