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