Happy Friday, Readers!
It's been a tiring day, and Laura and I are both ready for long naps that might just turn into bedtime! Last night, we hosted a little dinner shindig with some of the wonderful interns who are currently here in Cusco. Colleen and Nicole are two University of Iowa students who extended their trip for a few extra weeks after their classmates left. Colleen stayed with us at our apartment until this morning (when her boyfriend arrived), and Nicole is with us for a week while interning at a local health clinic. In addition to the four of us, we invited Udani, Katie, Meredith, and Brennan, a delightful bunch of ladies who came over with vino and big appetites, which we satisfied by way of some seriously yummy fajitas. Followed by chocolate cake, obviously. :-)
I would also like to announce that I have officially become awesome at making rice in Peru. And by that, I mean that the rice I made last night was a SERIOUS improvement over the attempt I recounted a few blog entries ago. We ended up with quite a bit of leftover rice and black beans at the end of the night, which we promptly mixed, and will now be eating for the next several days.
This morning, I woke up early, along with Laura, to meet the students of Cal Poly and some of the interns for a day of work. Laura accompanied the interns to Occoruro, where they finished a lot of the painting that Cal Poly had begun the week before. I went with Cal Poly to another community, called Yupaquay (I think), where we began building stoves. We got a bit of a late start to our day, so we didn't end up constructing as many stoves as we had hoped, but we will return tomorrow to continue the good work. I spent much of the afternoon with two students, Rachel and Aubrey, who realized after almost completing their cocina that they had forgot to place the three metal reinforcements underneath the top part of the stove. As a result, we had to do a bit of deconstruction and reconstruction. Though the girls were slightly frustrated, they remained optimistic and put in the extra time to build a stunning stove. The home where we worked was inhabited by an adorably sweet older man, his daughter, his son-in-law, and his granddaughter. It was really nice to work with the family, and "Grandpa" was both sweet AND quite the perfectionist! He kept looking critically at the stove and then suggesting that we add a teensy bit of mud to the top left corner, or shift the chimney piece a slight bit to the right. His advice was well-given, though, and the final work was quite an accomplishment.
The only unfortunate part of the day came when I bumped my head pretty seriously on the doorway of the house where we were working. (Just goes to show that Peruvians really are pretty short if someone of my stature can't make it through the doorway!). It was rather a painful experience, and I'm pretty sure I've developed quite the attractive bump, but my memory seems to remain intact, so I think that all is well!
On the way back to Cusco, I read some of Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save, a book that has become more interesting to me with each chapter. For any of you who are interested in world poverty and global wealth and how we can improve the lives of our fellow human beings all over the world, I would highly recommend reading Singer's book. It's both well-written and inspiring.
This Sunday, my cousin Maura and her friend Gabi will be arriving here in Cusco for a brief visit of about six days. I'm very excited to show them my city, which I've come to realize that I will miss when I leave. It hit me a few days ago as I walked to the market with Laura...Cusco is pretty darned awesome. I'm still super excited to get home and be at beautiful Friends Lake with beautiful family and friends, but I think maybe a little bit of my heart will stay here. (Luckily, Laura plans on moving here permanently in the not-too-distant future, so I'll be able to come back and visit with good reason!)
And now, dear friends, I am off to buy some tortillas and some water, fix myself some dinner, and then cover myself in blankets for a good night's sleep before another workday.
Hope that all of you have a most delightful weekend!
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