Leg One: Complete!

Hello there from LIMA, everyone!

I have completed the first leg of my four-part journey home! Yesterday was a wonderful last day in Cusco. Laura, Brenna, and I did some MORE shopping (I know...as if such a thing could possibly be necessary!), and I got all of the final items I "needed," mostly gifts. I was very tempted to buy myself three particular items, namely a GORGEOUS yellow scarf that I saw in an artisan market, a new handbag, and a highly beaded hat (modeled below for your viewing pleasure!). Luckily (I think?), I resisted all said purchases and focused only on gifts.

 

After a brief dinner and internet break, Laura, Bren, and I reconvened in the plaza for a rather awesome noche. Every day, tourists walking through Cusco are greeted by a veritable chorus of women asking, "Masaje, senorita? Pedicure? Manicure? Waxing?" It had gotten to the point where it was just too difficult to keep saying no to treatments that would cost at least three times what these women were asking us to pay...so I convinced Laura and Brennan to say "yes." And so we found ourselves in a little massage room over top of one of the restaurants on Cusco's Plaza de Armas, preparing for a little beauty treatment. The whole experience was most enjoyable because the women who worked at the salon were super nice and funny, and though the three of us were separated by curtains, we decided not to pull them past our faces so that we could look at each other and chat and giggle throughout the whole experience. We emerged super pleased with our beauty bargain! After a sad goodbye with Brennan and the rest of the interns, whom we visited briefly at a bar off the plaza, Laura and I headed back to our apartamento for our final night as roommates!

Laura and I didn't have a teary goodbye, mainly because we know that we'll be seeing each other fairly soon when I go to the JMU Study Abroad fair in two months or so. It will definitely be weird, though, when I go to sleep the next few nights without hearing "Buenas noches, Sarita!" from my dear and lovely roommate! I'm glad to know that she and I will remain friends for mucho tiempo!

This morning, I woke up at the early hour of 5:30 AM and took a taxi to the airport, where I boarded my Peruvian Airlines plane to Peru with no fuss or frustration of any sort. I sat next to a handsome gent whom I briefly thought about attempting to seduce until I decided that sleep was more important. :-) Upon arrival in Lima, I took in a nice, gigantic breath of sea level air! I'm pretty sure that I could run two--maybe three--marathons right now with this new presence of oxygen. I'm also already feeling a pretty serious urge to bake something and watch it rise without any complications! What bliss!

Aware of the 15+ hours ahead of me in the Lima airport, I decided to investigate whether there might be a way for me to get myself onto an earlier flight somehow, and ultimately to manage an earlier arrival into Newark. This proved a rather complicated effort, and resulted in my being led to the Copa Airlines office, where I sat for a while while three intelligent airline representatives attempted to figure out whether my request might be possible. After much time spent in deliberation, they determined that it would be feasible for me to get on a flight leaving Lima at 1:58 PM (instead of my previously arranged 3:04 AM departure the following morning). Unfortunately, they waited until the end to tell me that this change would cost me a whopping $229. Luckily for me, I was able to whip out my Copa Airlines $300 voucher, earned after having been bumped on my way here, and they told me that I could use the voucher to pay for the change. I was pretty excited about all this, and I began to proceed with my bags down to the check-in to board my new flight. As I was walking toward the elevator, however, I Was stopped by one of the other Copa representatives, who told me that his colleague needed to speak to me again. I returned to the office, where she regretfully informed me that the flight had just sold its final seat. No more space for Sarah.

Since I hadn't exactly expected to have great success in my flight change attempts, I haven't been too super bummed by this news. I have come up with a number of lovely ways in which to occupy my time in Lima, which include responding to e-mails, blogging to all of you(!), looking up great recipes to try, reading, doing a bit of ProWorld work, and, once ProWorld intern Natalie arrives here for her layover, getting myself a nice little Peruvian massage with her using my remaining soles! Can't really complain about that!

Before commencing any of the above listed activities, though, I should mention that I went to an overpriced cafe called 4D and bought myself one of the best ice cream experiences of my life to date. I think it may actually have been a gelato experience, but whatever it was, it was BLISS. Worth visiting the Lima airport just to eat the gelato. I got myself a medium cup of the stuff, which allowed me to choose three flavors, so I had some sort of chocolate hazelnut awesomeness thing, some cookies and cream, and a reeeally delicious coconut. I am now quite satiated and quite pleased about it! It was my first truly high quality frozen dessert experience in Peru, and I shan't soon forget it!

I am now off to station myself at another cafe so that I don't become a mooch in any particular location. I don't know what exactly will be the future, if any, of this blog now that my Peru experience has come to its near end, but I have realized that I very much enjoy blogging for "sport," and I'm contemplating the start of some sort of themed blog relevant to food and love and quotes and music and all the things that I adore most. I shall do my best to deliver something of quality when the time comes for this blog to be born.

If you've been reading this chronicle from the very beginning, thank you so much for your continuous loyalty and prayers and encouragement and interest! I am so very blessed to have so many dear friends who care about me enough to read through my rambles and provide me with the support that has meant so much over the last few months!

What an experience it has been! And yes, Machu Picchu. It has been OH so nice to meet you. :-)

A Lovely Day of Staff Bonding

Greetings, Faithful Readers!

Today has been my second to last day of work, and while I've managed to get approximately nothing done, it has been a lovely Tuesday. Mila, the Peru Program Director for ProWorld, arranged for all of the Cusco staff to take a little jaunt to the Sacred Valley today to lunch and relax for a bit with the Urubamba ProWorld staff. This required us to pile into a bus for the 1.5 hour drive, which was both beautiful and entertaining (the latter the result of my teaching Lalo how to play "Hangman"!).

Being in Urubamba was a breath of fresh air, as it's a much smaller city than Cusco, and less polluted by vehicles puffing out black smoke. The ProWorld office there is the first ProWorld office that ever existed, and it's a pretty cool place. Very spacious and lots of places to sit outdoors.

I had thought that our lunch was to be something simple cooked in the office kitchen, but it turned out that we had reserved space at a rather swanky/touristy buffet called La Alhambra. We ate some darned good food, including some really yummy fava beans with a tomato and onion sauce and a banana cream pie that just beat all!

After lunch, we returned to the Urubamba office and enjoyed some nice conversation during which several staff members shared humorous stories from their summers. Eliza presented Laura and me with thank you gifts for our work this summer, and my gift was the BEAUTIFUL purple poncho that I've been watching now for weeks! I probably wouldn't have bought it for myself, so it was a super nice surprise, and I'm excited to wear it!

At night, Laura and I made an impressive effort to eat some pizza with Colleen and Max, and also attempted to make pisco sours for the four of us. This was rather harder to do than I expected, but I think I've gained some valuable experience now, and will be able to make them for my family using the pisco I'm transporting home in my bag. :-) The real obstacle will be making the drink without having Peruvian limes. I think that the US should consider cultivating these fine fruits on our home soil so that we don't have to fly on four airplanes to get to them! I would bring home some seeds and plant them myself, but I'm pretty sure that's grounds for them to arrest me, and I don't want to delay my trip to the Adirondacks!

It is now Wednesday, and I am finishing this blog during my last morning of work here in Peru! Tomorrow and Friday are feriados to celebrate Peru's independence, and I plan on frolicking in and around Cusco before I leave this fine country and return home! Tomorrow, Laura, Brennan, and I are off to Pisac for what will hopefully be our final day of shopping!

And since I've been slacking on pictures lately, here's a beautiful view of the mountains from Ollantaytambo...

 

Until very soon, amigos!

Una semana mas...

Hello there, Readers!

It seems like only yesterday that Maura and Gabi arrived in Peru, but they’re already back on US soil! Here's a picture of my cousin Maura with little Tomas, the son of Luz, one of our ProWorld staff colleagues...

 

In exactly one week, I will be in Lima, awaiting my 3 AM flight to Orlando, followed by a quick flight to Newark, a train to Philadelphia, and a ride home to dear NJ! The journey will be long, but full of joyful anticipation as I look forward to seeing my family and friends! Tonight, I’m feeling a little under the weather, which makes the thought of going home all the more appealing, but I still know that I will miss certain lovely qualities of Cusco that just can’t be found at home. The historic architecture from all the way back to the time of the Incans, the fresh produce markets in easy walking distance, the beautiful, Peruvian children so full of laughter despite living so simply, and the wonderful interns and colleagues I’ve come to know during my time here.

I’ve had a number of high points over the past week, and now, while I’m feeling sick, I think it might help to reflect on the positive by sharing it with all of you!

On Thursday night, Laura and I hosted a little dinner party for a few of our intern girlfriends—Meredith, Udani, Brennan, and Katie. Laura and I were pretty floored as to what we could make other than fajitas, but then we decided to investigate the possibility of a vegetable casserole. This turned out to be an excellent plan, even as we abided by my stipulations of no creamy sauces and minimal, if any, cheese! We found a recipe on a blog, and decided to give it a go. In a pie plate, we layered thinly sliced potatoes, baby spinach, garlic and sautéed red onion, zucchini, chicken (we decided to add a bit of protein), and tomato. We then sprinkled the mixture with salt and pepper, bread crumbs, a teensy bit of parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil. Not only was our final product beautiful, but it was also delicious! 40 minutes in the oven and we had created a masterpiece! The girls all enjoyed our concoction, and we had a fabulous time chatting and just enjoying each other’s delightfulness. I am truly blessed to have met these young women during my time in Cusco. While I had certainly hoped that I would meet some great students here in Peru, I had no idea that I’d meet ones that I’d want to stay in touch with after I left. They are such a positive, intelligent, well-rounded bunch.

Being around college students has also served to make me feel kind of old, and also to reflect on my own experience of being 19 and 20 and 21. I don’t exactly regret having been as much of a goody-goody as I was, but I do sometimes wish that I had allowed myself to have more experiences of the typical college student than I did. Really, though, I’m kind of an “old soul,” and drinking and late nights out never really held the appeal for me that they held for many of my peers. I sometimes wonder, though, if perhaps I missed out on something important. This sort of speculation has ultimately driven me to prayer. I pray that God will remind me that I’m not like everyone else, and that while it may be nice to be on the same “life development schedule” as most people my age, my timing is not as perfect as God’s. My idealistic side imagines being 25 and knowing exactly where I should be in my career, and being in love with some super study Mr. Awesome character, and knowing many more of the answers about my future; but I have been prompted to pray for God to remind me that my ideals aren’t necessarily His ideals, and that being 25, footloose, and still waiting to know His will isn’t exactly a bad thing! This is no easy task, praying for this sort of acceptance and patience, but I have hope that it will help me to live with a higher level of faith and gratitude.

Another word on prayer. I wrote an entry a while back about my efforts to be more consistent about praying, regardless of whether skies are gray or blue. I would just like to say that this remains super challenging! I continually find that it is during the times when I feel sick, or when I am lonely or sad or fearful, that I think to pray. And while those times of sickness and loneliness and sadness and fear are pretty craptastic, they may just be God’s way of reminding me that I need Him. It’s easy, when things are bad, to promise God that you’ll pray more regularly and be more consistent about your faith, but it’s so easy to indulge in self-righteousness and self-dependence when things get easy and happy again. I would be thankful for any of you readers who pray to encourage me and pray for me in this regard, that I might seek the Lord first in all situations. I will pray the same for all of you.

Yesterday (Friday, as I write this), Laura, Lalo, a professor on a site visit, 7 interns, and I went to the community Yunqanpi to build stoves. I was pretty super exhausted after having been up late with the girls the night before, but I fairly successfully gathered the energy to help supervise the stove-building process and speak with some of the families in the community. I also had the opportunity to actually get a little dirty building a stove with Caroline and Laura. We had a pretty fun time, and made a pretty beautiful stove. I also went to the house I’d visited the week before with a Cal Poly pair. In the house lived an elderly lady, her husband, their daughter and her husband, and their three granddaughters. I had spoken a bit with the granddaughters the week before, and promised to bring them an Andrew Whitman CD. When I arrived to deliver it, no one was home, but I left it in the door to their home, and I’m hopeful that they’ll become new fan club members!

Here are some of the Cal Poly students with the girls who wanted Andrew's CD.

 

After our project day was complete, I was super tired. Unfortunately, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while because of the busy night ahead. First, I rushed to the apartment and mixed the batter for a carrot cake to bring to Eliza’s house for dinner. After placing the cake in the oven, I contracted Laura to watch it like a hawk while I took a study abroad student, Meghan, to visit the Yanapanakusun Orphanage. Meghan is apparently a big fan of poetry and creative writing, and she’s going to lead a workshop for the girls at the orphanage to encourage them to express themselves in rhythmic poetry. I’m excited for her to share something that the girls have very probably not encountered before. After touring the orphanage quickly, I made a stop at the grocery store, hoping to find a nice container of ready-made, Betty Crocker icing for my carrot cake. Alas, no such thing was available in the Mega, so I had to buy a box of confectioner’s sugar, some butter, and a container of cream cheese to make the icing from scratch. Upon finally getting back to the apartment, I had an hour to shower and make myself presentable, as well as ice my carrot cake. My hopes for a nap were dwindling rapidly!

Laura and I made it out the door by 7:25 to be at Eliza’s for a 7:30 dinner gathering. She and Jenny had graciously invited us over to their apartment, and we eagerly accepted not only because they are awesome, but also because we knew we’d get to play with their puppies and sit by a warm fireplace! Jenny made the best arroz con pollo that I have yet had in Cusco, and Eliza also prepared a salad and some bruschetta. Dinner was delicious, and complemented by homemade pisco sours. I wish I had been present to watch the preparation process, but I’m just going to have to force Jenny to write everything down for me! My carrot cake proved tasty, though nothing like the carrot cake that I make at home. My mom’s carrot cake is the very best, but I had assumed that I would produce something reasonably similar using her recipe at 11,000 feet. Not exactly a replica, but definitely rich and decadent!
After hanging out at Eliza’s for a bit, Laura and I took a cab to the Plaza de Armas, where we had agreed to go out with the interns. I was only 50% excited about this plan, as I was tired, older than most of the goer-outers, and not excited about having to dance in public. It turned out, though, that the group had gathered at a more mellow, hookah-bar type establishment. I had my second pisco sour of the night (I know—whooooa baby), and actually really enjoyed being out with Meredith, Brennan, Udani, and Katie, as well as the rest of the group. Brooke, Marcelo, and Audrey came to the bar directly from their Machu Picchu trek, which made them the most impressive guests of the night, but I will award myself the next highest award for being past my late-night prime! Around 12:15, we all dispersed to head home, though the lovely ladies and I made a quick stop at a store by the plaza to buy some much-desired chocolate! By the time we had finished gallivanting and arrived back at our apartment, it was 1:15 in the morning!

Crazy Laura was expected to be on the project site again this morning, but I, thank God, was not, and enjoyed a lazy morning of sleeping in! When I finally woke, I ate a quick breakfast and then decided to go for my first run in Cusco! This ended up being quite exhausting, so I did an alternating series of three-minute runs and two-minute walks. At first, I felt pretty good, but by the end, it was hard to catch my breath. I would say that this is largely due to the altitude, but my lack of cardio exercise is very likely an added factor. Once back at the apartamento, I did some yoga and then some straightening of the house, and finally got a much-needed shower. My plan for the rest of the day was to stroll over to San Blas and do some shopping at their Saturday market, but this was around the time that I started feeling a tad under the weather. I decided to abandon my plan and instead take a snooze, which turned into a long nap. I am now back in my bed after a short trip to the grocery store to buy bread and ginger ale and saltines, just to be safe.
Another important reason that I am in my bed: I am frigid cold, and our gas-powered stove is very much out of gas! This is the first time that this has occurred since Laura and I moved in, and I have no idea what to do about refilling it. I’m also rightfully scared for my life after my last experience with gas-powered things at our prior Cusco apartment! I called the daughter of the man who rents out our apartment, and she pretty much said that we have to go and buy the gas and replace it. She apparently didn’t realize that she was talking to a household idiot, who doesn’t know the first thing about replacing a gas tank! Being in Peru has made me realize that there are some things that I really ought to learn to do—such as changing gas tanks, changing tires, breaking locks, and doing basic electrical wiring things. Paul Whitman, prepare to give me some lessons upon my arrival home!

Another highlight: I just finished watching a movie that I bought at El Molino called “Facing the Giants.” The movie isn’t exactly the best display of acting skills in the world, but the message is beautiful and I would highly recommend watching!

Finally, I had a really lovely conversation with my dear friend Meredith last night, during which she spent some time telling me about her freshman roommate at Notre Dame. This roommate, Annie, encouraged her friends to think, each night, of three things for which they were grateful that day. Having kept gratitude journals during a number of periods during my life, I immediately knew that this Annie character and I would be friends. Anyway, being reminded of these gratitude practices made me want to write down some things for which I am grateful myself…and here they are!
1. The friendships I’ve been able to forge with my roommate Laura, and also with the interns here in Peru, especially Brennan, Meredith, Katie, and Udani
2. The generosity of Eliza, and her commitment to doing good work in South and Central America
3. The strength that I have been given to walk and run and be active
4. The majesty of snow-capped mountains
5. The joy that always comes from beautiful music
6. Chocolate!
7. Warm slippers and a warm bed, especially in a cold place!
8. My Uncles Jim and Tom, who both kindly offered to help transport me to various places upon my arrival back in the USA
9. Great books
10. The comfort of the Psalms
11. The opportunity to be in Cusco for a while, and to realize how much service there remains to be done and how much love needs to be spread both not only in this country, but in this continent, and in the world! Mother Teresa said, “Find your Calcutta,” and I’m excited to find mine!

I am also so very grateful for you, Readers, who remind me of the love that I have waiting for me when I arrive home! God is good.

Hasta pronto!

A Few Highlights

Greetings, Readers, and Happy Tuesday!

I am still in the office and ready to go home, so this will be short, but here are a few highlights of the past few days...

1. Maura and Gabi arrived safely in Cusco, and though I haven't seen a ton of them, I've enjoyed their presence here and there. On their first day in Cusco, I took them for a little city tour, which included stops at several artisan markets and all of the main plazas. Gabi has a pretty interesting appetite, which is composed almost entirely of white foods--potatoes, rice, chicken, cheese, and bread, to be specific. Luckily for her, Peru is full of all of those things, so she'll be able to eat without much of a problem! I made the girls an information sheet with instructions on how to get to some interesting places in and around Cusco. Yesterday, they managed to get themselves all the way to and from Ollantaytambo via a colectivo, which I found quite impressive. After they got back, they joined Laura, Colleen, and me on a trip to El Molino, where we all bought some DVDs. It's been kind of an unexpectedly rainy day today, so I am going to watch one tonight, though I'm not yet sure which.

2. On our walk from Molino to the combi stop, Laura spotted a bootlegged copy of the last Harry Potter movie! She, Colleen, and I were super excited about this find (which cost us 2 soles), but made an immediate pact (in the middle of the sidewalk where we happened to be standing) that we wouldn't watch the movie if it was a) or horrible quality and/or b) not in English. We arrived home, did a test drive, and were suuuper excited to find that our requirements were met! I was not looking forward to spending the equivalent of 36 soles on a movie ticket, and now I don't have to! Wooot!

3. Tomorrow, Maura and Gabi are headed to Machu Picchu, and I have a rather busy day of meetings and things before a delicious dinner with Cal Poly at Pachapapa Restaurant. I enjoyed my last meal there so much that I have decided to order almost exactly the same thing, except that I've changed my dessert from fruit salad to ice cream. Last time, the ice cream looked super delish.

4. I introduced Laura to sporcle.com today, which pretty much made her life complete. :-) Once she had properly figured out the site and how the games work, we spent a brief period of time having timed sporcle competitions, which was a bundle of fun. Sporcle provides just the short respite from work that makes the day that much better! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the site, I highly recommend a look-see.

5. Yesterday morning, I went to Centro Yanapanakusun, an orphanage for girls in Cusco. I visited with Brennan, a current intern there, who kindly gave me a tour of the facility, introduced me to the director, and gave me a taste of what she's been doing there each morning. I knew the place would be interesting, but I didn't expect to love it. It is AWESOME! The girls I met were so sweet and selfless, and so eager to learn! I spent much of the day with a dear 14-year-old named Sucy, and she and I practiced doing math problems in English (an ingenious idea of Brennan--why not integrate math problems with language learning?!). I didn't want to leave when 1 PM came around, and I wish that I could be a regular volunteer there. Such sweet girls. I am sending them a copy of Andrew's CD because they were super excited to hear that my brother is a cantante and that he can tocar la guitarra! I think they'll be super excited to receive it from Brennan tomorrow.

Here's a picture of Brennan, me, and sweet Sucy, one of the girls at the orphanage.

 

That's about all I've got for now, folks! I could say more, but I'm pretty hungry and pretty ready to head home and make some popcorn!

My time in Cusco is quickly winding to a close, and I am excited to see some of your faces in the very near future!

Hasta luego!

Things To Think About...

Dear Friends,

It’s Saturday night, and though I’ll probably ending up posting this on Sunday or Monday, I wanted to get my thoughts down on paper while they’re still fresh. I’ve had much to do, and much to think about, today.

This morning, Laura and I again headed to the ProWorld office at 8:00 AM. Laura went with the current interns to Occoruro to paint the inside of the community center, and I went with the Cal Poly students to the community we had visited yesterday, to continue building stoves. Today felt much more productive than yesterday because we got an earlier start and we didn’t need to have an orientation since we’d had one yesterday. When we arrived, there were several community members waiting for us, so we quickly divided and dispersed the students to various households. While they began to build, Eliza and I went to some of the other homes in the community to find out which of the other families were adequately prepared for their stoves to be built. Each community member is expected to have prepared barro (thick mud made with dirt, water, and hair from humans, cows, pigs, and cuy), gathered the required bricks and ceramic pieces, and built a foundation upon which their stove will be constructed. At one of the houses I visited, there were about four vicious and territorial dogs, one of which tried to take a bite out of my leg. Although there are tons of stray dogs in Cusco and the outlying communities, I hadn’t considered them a threat until today. Apparently, it’s not uncommon for dogs in the rural villages to be more defensive of their turf—a good thing to know! Luckily, the dog bite wasn’t nearly as painful as the bump on my head from the day before!

At one of the houses that I visited, there was a man who was nonverbal and appeared to have Down’s syndrome. I had a brief conversation with his mother, who introduced him and informed me that he was one of her five children, and that he had “had an accident” and “fallen on his head.” In Peru, it’s unfortunately common for people to believe that certain disabilities require excuses and apologies. In fact, I recently learned that there are places in Peru in which families take the lives of newborn children who are born with disabilities because they see it as the most logical course of action. As I listened to this woman explain her son’s condition, I was saddened to realize that she had no information to inform her about what Down’s syndrome is, and how to best interact with a child who has it. I was simultaneously comforted to think about the presence of schools like Manos Unidas. Though Manos Unidas and places like it are not exactly commonplace quite yet, I hold onto the hope that they represent a movement among Peruvians toward greater understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities.

After investigating houses with Eliza, I joined Francesca and Cody as they followed a twelve-year-old girl, Diana, to the house of her grandmother. Diana led us across a field, over a brook, and along a path to her grandmother’s house, where her family excitedly awaited a new stove for their kitchen area. Diana has two younger sisters, Leticia and Silvana, and the three girls are so very dear. I enjoyed chatting with them, and learning that they have aspirations of becoming a police officer, a professor, and a doctor, respectively. I also met their mother, who told me that she is currently going to school in Cusco to become a pharmacist. She asked for my e-mail, which I gave her, and I hope that she and I can stay in touch.

As Cody, Francesca, and I worked on the stove, the two men of the house (grandpa and dad, I assume) took on the rather difficult task of cutting a hole in their roof for the new chimney. I was impressed not only by their manpower, but also by the fact that they trusted enough in our not-yet-built stove to cut a hole in their roof! It is incredible to see how resourceful and strong these people can be. Equally incredible is their hospitality. Most families in the campo live on about 100 soles, or 33 dollars, per month. It’s worth thinking about—living on a little over a dollar each day. And yet, as we worked, Diana’s mother left the house briefly and returned with a bottle of Coca-Cola and a bag of fresh fruit—for us. As I drank my mug of Coca Cola, my mind wandered a few years back to my time in Albania. When my friend Jayme and I visited the Roma (gypsy) community near the capital city of Tirana, we visited “houses” made of thin metal and cardboard, and spoke to young, single mothers with five and six children. When we came into their homes, they, too, would send their children off to buy us Fanta or Coca Cola or some other luxury that was clearly not an everyday expense. What a humbling and heartwarming experience to be given so much from people who have so little. We have much to learn from the way these people live—from their resourcefulness, from their simplicity, and certainly from their generosity.

After helping Francesca and Cody for a while, I headed back to our group meeting point. As I walked across a little log bridge over a creek, I stopped and took a moment to absorb my surroundings. As I took in the majesty of the mountains and the blueness of the sky, I felt called to thank God for the beauty of this country and the people I had met in the community today. It is so easy to become oblivious to the glory that has surrounded me for the last two and a half months. So many people talk of feeling small beside the ocean, but there’s something equally powerful about standing among mountains. In those moments of clarity, I thank God that I am here and that I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet my brothers and sisters in Peru. Being in the center of the mountains also reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: “Stop telling your God how big your mountain is, and start telling your mountain how big your God is.” Pretty cool, eh?

At lunchtime, I witnessed another great bit of generosity. As the Cal Poly students and I sat in a field with our sandwiches and water bottles, we were joined by a large group of community members, who arrived carrying a pile of glass plates and a large tub covered with a cloth. Inside the tub were about 40 oven-roasted cuys, prepared especially for us. Cuy is a source of income for these community members, and the preparation of such a prized and expensive dish for a group of 30-some volunteers was remarkably generous. I can’t say that it was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, but I did my best with the serving of cuy that I received, and was actually rather impressed with how flavorful the meat was. As we ate, I also spent some time playing with one of the most precious babies I have ever seen. The sweetheart, whose name I can’t remember, had a very full head of hair for a ten-month-old, and was such a giggler! His mom and I chatted, and then she let me play with him for a while, and I pretty much fell in love. Each time that I lifted him above my head, he would giggle and the most beautiful smile would appear on his chubby face. So much joy.

After lunch, I joined team “Chad and Brad” on a stove-building venture for a family living down the road a ways from our starting point. The boys were fun to work with, and were clearly very talented mud throwers. They had turned the slapping of barro into something of an art, and though I wouldn’t say their stoves are always the prettiest, I have no doubt that they are durable! Working with the two of them made the afternoon fly by, and soon it was time to return to Cusco.

On the bus back to the ProWorld office, I read some more of The Life You Can Save. Truly, the more I read of this book, the more I realize just how much more I can, and ought, to do for people in need all over the world. I have so much to say about this book that I am going to reserve my thoughts for a future blog entry!
When I got back to the office, I logged onto my computer to check my e-mail. As per usual, my inbox was filled with a few personal e-mails and lots of advertisements from shopping websites. A while ago, I signed up for several websites that send along “daily deals” and “final clearance markdowns” and the like. I subscribed to them innocently enough, and haven’t bought very many things since having signed up, but here in Peru, I feel so guilty when I look at things like leather bags marked down from $350 to $90, and dresses “on sale” for $400. When I think of the difference that even fifty dollars would make in the life of a family in Occoruro or Pinancay, I can’t even consider buying that bag. (And, being a Whitman, I wouldn’t consider the $400 dress under any circumstances unless it were my wedding gown!). I hope to bring this “need vs. want” perspective home to the United States with me, and to consider the often superfluous items on which I spend my money. More on this when I tell y’all about The Life You Can Save.

Since returning to Cusco, I’ve prepared and eaten dinner, gone to the grocery store (which I was too tired to do yesterday), watched a movie, and written this blog! It’s just about sleepytime! My final comments:

1.My cousin Maura and her friend Gabrielle arrive in Cusco tomorrow! Good times ahead!

2.I have realized the food item that I will miss upon leaving Cusco, and it is, unsurprisingly, a cookie. I think that part of my love for this particular cookie is its dense, crumbly texture, which may not appeal to some. But I find it delicious, and I’m pretty sure that it will be hard to recreate such a cookie in the US. It’s called a “condesa,” and I recommend that anyone who travels to Peru find one and eat it and experience its crazy yumminess!

3.Tomorrow (which, by the time I post this, is probably “today”) is the 25th birthday of my dear, dear amiga, Jayme Ewanichak! For those of you know Jayme, you know that it’s worth celebrating that a person as awesome as herself has been here on the earth for 25 years! And for those of you who don’t know Jayme, you should meet her. I will make it happen for those who request an introduction! 

4.The final film installment of the Harry Potter series was released yesterday. Laura, Nicole, and I are all pretty super disappointed to have missed this premiere, and the three of us are all planning on seeing the movie promptly upon return to the US. As we discussed our shared excitement, Laura brought up the fact that movie tickets in the US cost a whopping 12 dollars these days, which amounts to 36 soles, or about four three-course dinners in Cusco. I am already having some serious anxiety about letting US dollars back into my life. Is Harry Potter worth it? Or should I wait for the video? The inner dilemma has begun…

For those of you who made it through this rather uber-long post, congratulations, and thanks for loving me enough to keep reading! In just over two weeks, I will be back in the United States! “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!”

Cocinas Mejoradas with Cal Poly

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!

The Adventueres of "Maizito"...

Happy Monday, Dear Readers!

It has been an eventful weekend! It's only Monday, and I'm already tired, but content. Yesterday, I slept in a bit and then attended my normal mass at La Compania at 11:30. The Gospel reading recounted the parable of the sower and his seeds. The priest reminded us that we represent the soil in Jesus' parable, and that we are the ones who determine whether we will be the sort of soil that bears fruit or the sort that dries out or has shallow roots. I think the analogy of soil is a really clever one because soil can be cultivated, and so can human beings. Pretty neat that God has put our spiritual nourishment under our control. When we actively seek God's grace to replenish our dry soil, we give new meaning to "Miracle-Gro"!

After church, I decided, on a whim, to go to the town of Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley. I had been there only for a very short time in the early morning (while waiting for the train to Machu Picchu), and I wanted to spend some time traipsing through the place. With my destination chosen, I headed to Cusco's Paradero Pavitos, where it's possible to take a colectivo (a group taxi) to various destinations a bit further from the city. I joined a pair of Spanish lovers and a random guy in a taxi, and made some serious progress in my reading of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo while we drove into the Sacred Valley. The day was beautiful, and as we got close to our destination, I stopped reading and enjoyed the incredible view of the mountains and the bluest of blue skies. The colectivo dropped us off in the Plaza de Armas of Ollantaytambo. My first stop was Hearts Cafe, a British-run cafe that donates a significant portion of its proceeds to humanitarian work in Peru. While I wish I could say that their social awareness was my motivation for visiting, it was actually the fact that I had read about their scones. For those of you who are unaware, I am a scone monster. Scones = joy. Unfortunately, I have to say that I was underwhelmed by the quality of the scones at Hearts Cafe. Feels sort of blasphemous since the place is British-run, but I think I will place the blame on the altitude and the "butter" used in Peru.

After my lunch, I wandered around the city a bit, enjoying the old, stone streets and the awesome system of waterways that runs through the city. The Incans are geniuses. Seriously. I don't really know why the waterways are important, but I have no doubt that there was some genius behind their construction, and they now serve as a beautiful sight in the city, if nothing else. Another highlight of my walk through the city was the view of the mountains and the ruins. People who buy a boleto turistico can actually hike up to the ruins, but I didn't have the time (or the boleto), so I just viewed from below. There were also some interesting views of Incan agricultural terraces as well. Pretty super cool.

Finally, I spent some time in the artisan market, where I bought a gift for one of my friends and a gift for myself. :-) I have been looking for some time for a silver pendant with a painted hummingbird on it. While that may sound like a ridiculously specific request, silver painted hummingbirds are actually quite easy to find in and around Cusco, as hummingbirds have significance to the Incans. The term they use for it is the "colibri," and I've been keeping my eyes out for one that is painted with particular care. Yesterday, I found it, and I'm excited to have a bit of Peru to wear with me when I'm back at home!

By the time I'd finished walking through the market, it was time to head back to Cusco to meet roommate Laura for our date to the Russian ballet! I walked to the Ollantaytambo train station, where it's possible to find colectivos headed to Cusco. As I walked into the parking lot where the cars wait, a minivan was on its way out. There were two young Peruvian guys in the front, and the driver looked at me and said, "Cusco?" I nodded, and did what any normal traveler :-) would do--I hopped on into their car. When I got inside, the van erupted in laughter and cheers. In addition to the two Peruvians I had seen from the front window of the van, there were five more in the backseat. They were all tour guides returning from having led treks over the Inca Trail. As soon as I was seated, I began to wonder if my instincts had failed me, but the officer manning the gate to the parking lot didn't seem worried, so I stayed put.

Some "highlights" of my drive with the boys:
-the attempts to get me to drink the super strong mix of pisco and Sprite that the boys were passing around in the backseat (the driver wasn't drinking or I would have jumped ship immediately).
-the bestowing of my new nickname, "Maizito," which means "little corn," and refers to the fact that "Sarah" means "corn" in Qechua
-Daniel, definitely the class clown and the class drunk, asking me out on a date. No thank you.
-the pee break that all of the passengers took about midway through our drive. They pulled the van over and then stood in a line and peed over the side of a cliff. Oh so classy.
-the chanting of "pisco, pisco, pisco" to the rhythm of pretty much any song that played on the CD player
-my lesson on what to say to perverted men who whistle at me on the streets of Cusco (I looked up the guys' recommended response today on Urban Dictionary, and I will not be using it because it is quite inappropriate)
-The discovery that the tour guide sitting next to me just finished the Inca Trail with a group of students who just happened to be........the Iowa State group here with ProWorld! Crazy coincidence!

Needless to say, I was delighted upon our arrival in Cusco, and amused by my experience of what the guys referred to as "Peru profundo."

By the time we got back, it didn't make sense to go home and then turn right around to go to the ballet. I ended up shopping at a bunch of artisan stalls set up in the Plaza San Francisco, where I bought a very soft and warm scarf (mostly because it was a case of immediate need, but it happens to be quite pretty!). I met up with Laura a little before 7:30, and we took our seats in the theatre where the ballet was to take place. We were immediately impressed by the incredible strength and beauty of the dancers, but also somewhat confused by the program. We were expecting "Swan Lake" and a few extra little pieces, but it turns out that "Swan Lake" was somewhat misleadingly advertised, and we only got to see one dance from "Swan Lake" and a variety of other dances. Laura and I were both rather disappointed, as "Swan Lake" had been our number one motivation for attending the performance in the first place, but we did enjoy the evening anyway. We were going to go out with Eliza and Jenny and Kate (the Urubamba site director) after the show, but Kate ended up having to go back to Urubamba to take care of an issue on-site, so we ended up heading home and going to bed. Not a bad thing, as we had both had fairly exhausting days!

This morning, I had the lovely job of bringing one of our interns, Michelle, to the Santa Teresa de Calcuta orphanage, where she'll be spending her mornings for the next few weeks. It was nice to see the sisters again, as well as the sweet patients who live there. On my way out, I stopped to say hello to some of the women who were sitting outside in their wheelchairs, soaking in the sun. I was particularly taken with one woman, who, upon taking hold of my hands, wouldn't stop kissing them. Unfortunately, her speech was very garbled, so we couldn't really converse. Even so, it was humbling to see the joy that she took simply from holding my hands in hers. I returned to the center in the afternoon to introduce two additional interns to the Santa Teresa sisters, and one of the interns commented on how peaceful the place seemed in spite of the many patients with disabilities. It was an interesting and accurate observation, and I think that the sense of peace comes in large part from the prayerful, patient nature of the sisters, all of whom have such love for the patients under their care. It is always a learning experience to be at the Santa Teresa center, even if only for a brief while. I am pleased that we have been able to help them by sending more volunteers.

And that, dear friends, concludes my adventures up to the present. This evening, I am going out to dinner with the Iowa girls for their farewell meal. While I'm sad to have to say goodbye to them, I'm excited for a fun night of delicious food and lots of laughter!

Hasta pronto!