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