Hello, Beautiful People, and a Happy Wednesday to all!
Presently, I am sitting in my frigid kitchen with the window open after having embarked upon a slightly scary adventure with Laura. This evening, we noticed a very strong smell of gas, which we thought was coming from the oven, but which then seemed to permeate our entire apartment. I am wondering if the blame belongs to me because I just recently commenced with my first attempt at baking cookies in a Celsius oven at 10,000+ feet above sea level (daring, I know), but --
Okay, so that hastily ended paragraph and the dash that follows it represent a break in my blogging, during which wonderful Eliza came to our apartment to see if our concerns were warranted. She also smelled the gas, and immediately diagnosed the problem. Apparently, in order to use our oven, we have to actually light a match and ignite it or only gas comes out. Now, the oven is on, my experimental high-altitude cookies are in the oven, and our minds are much more at peace!
So I've had several interesting adventures since my last entry a few days ago, and work has been keeping me so busy that I haven't been able to document all of them. That being the case, I'll share some of the major highlights!
- On Tuesday, the PITT kids, Lalo, Lauren, and I spent our last day volunteering in the community. I think that many of the students felt much more useful today than they had on other days, largely because the work had come to be more intellectual and less physical. We were using rubber cement to connect PVC tubes, and assembling sprinklers, and doing things that required a bit more of an engineer's mentality than simply digging out a canal or lifting heavy rocks. As the day drew to a close, I spent some time enjoying my last few hours with my pal Analie. While normally Analie is the only child brave enough to come and hang out with me (the "gringita"), for some reason, on Tuesday the children seemed less afraid, and I ended up becoming a babysitter for somewhere around 10 or 15 ninos. The children in the community are so beautiful and so sweet that it's easy to love them, and we spent some time chasing each other up and down the hills behind the work site and playing "follow the leader," which some of them couldn't quite understand, making the whole sight pretty comical. At the completion of the project, we had the exciting satisfaction of seeing the water flow through the PVC piping, and then watching as several sprinklers turned on from the pressure of the water, helping to irrigate the community's crops during dry season. It was such a neat feeling to actually see what we had helped to accomplish, and humbling to hear the praise of the community's president, who expressed such gratefulness and appreciation. I had a sad goodbye with Analie, as well as with the community members, several of whom I would miss particularly (my friends who taught me my first phrase in Quechua, for example). I hope that I have the opportunity to return to the community again before I leave Cusco.
- For PITT's last day of volunteer work, we had a celebratory dinner at a restaurant called Don Benito's. Despite the place's clear role as a group tour attraction, we enjoyed authentic performances of Peruvian and South American dances along with a reeeally tasty buffet of Peruvian food. Among the options were both ceviche and cuy--aka guinea pig--and in an act of bravery, I tried both! I think my motivation was simply to find out if either item would be worth ordering as an entree. My unfortunate conclusion on both counts is "no gracias." While the ceviche was flavorful and rather nice, I'd rather have a nice grilled piece of salmon. And the guinea pig--ooh, no no no. I probably could have enjoyed the roasted rodent, but wonderful Lalo thought it would be okay to tell me, as I chewed on a darker part of the guinea pig "meat," that I was actually eating its BLOOD. While I know that eating blood is, in some countries, perfectly normal (I believe the Irish eat some sort of pig's blood soup...yes?), blood consumption is not a normal activity for me, and I was quite distressed by Lalo's information. But for all those of you who give me a hard time for not trying strange and exotic foods, take heart--I did give it the good college try!
-After last night's dinner, the PITT students convinced the professors to go out for a bit of salsa dancing. Lauren and I obviously had to come along once we learned that the professors were going, and we ended up having a pretty great time! I didn't stay too long, but I did stay through most of the free salsa lesson, and Peter (my PITT student dance partner) and I became pretty darned smooth on the dance floor! While we managed to get pretty good at the moves themselves, the hard part was remembering the numbers that the instructor assigned to each move. He'd say, "Okay, number 3," and Peter and I would just look at each other and say, "Uuuh, what's number 3?" It just made things funnier, though, and we managed to dance through our confusion with reasonable success!
-Today, I was given the task of investigating restaurant locations for some of the ProWorld groups who will be arriving in the next several weeks. While this job is fun, it's also pretty challenging at times. While Cusco is full of interesting-looking restaurants, finding the right place for a ProWorld group requires a lot of thought and investigation. At each of the places I visited, I had to find out the menu options and whether there were items suitable for vegetarians. I then had to find out if the menu had enough variety and if it worked within our budget. Then there's the matter of whether the restaurant can accommodate a group of our size, and whether we need to call in the order in advance, and if so, when, and all sorts of other little details. Today, I visited a place located right near our regularly-used hostel as well as a place near the Plaza de Armas called Victor Victoria. Then, later in the day, I went out again with Laura to find a new dinner option because our normal restaurant was temporarily closed. I tend to get pretty nervous about having to do these tasks in Spanish, but I also feel very much empowered when I am successful. There are definitely moments when I realize how much I still need to improve with regard to my comprehension skills. A lot of times, I need people to repeat things to me so that I can fully understand what they're asking or saying. Luckily, I'm not afraid to ask for clarification!
-As previously mentioned, I made my first attempt at high-altitude cookie baking this evening. While I wouldn't say that I had a rip-roaring success, I'm fairly pleased with the results considering that this was a first try. Baking at a high altitude requires alteration in amounts of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. While I've been able to find some high-altitude adjusted recipes online, most of them aren't adjusted for an altitude as high as Cusco, so I think there will have to be some additional changes made. Today's recipe was fairly standard, though the blog writer who shared it claims that she added additional flour and less baking powder as compared to her standard recipe. There were also the complications of being in a country that doesn't have "brown sugar" as we know it in the US, OR chocolate chips (at least not in their grocery stores). Anyway, though the cookies tasted pretty good considering the circumstances, they definitely spread to the point of becoming almost a giant cookie blob, and I wouldn't say that they are anywhere as good as my US-made cookies. Attempt two will probably involve butter that's a little less fully melted and an additional half cup of flour. Wish me luck!
-Tomorrow begins a new bit of madness as PITT leaves and Duke arrives. In addition, St. Scholastica arrives early next week, and then groups from Missouri and Arizona State U as well as individual students here for internships and summer study abroad. ProWorld is going to be busy busy busy! To Laura's and my amusement, a good number of our "tasks" for the next several weeks involve accompanying student groups to lunches and dinners at various locations throughout Cusco. I guess that since Eliza has been here for a while, the novelty of dinners out has perhaps worn off a bit, but Laura and I are always up for a free meal! Our only joint concern is for the welfare of our vegetables, which we need to cook before they stop looking delicious and start looking rotten! I'm just going to have to concoct something delicious out of potatoes and green beans and half an onion. I'm thinking roasted veggies will do the trick--now that I know how to turn on my oven!
I'm off to finish a few last-minute tasks before bedtime! Goodnight!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
A Peaceful Sunday
Today, before anything else, I have to say that I am oh so very grateful to have one of the world's best mothers. Mom, if you're reading this (and you darned well better be, in case no one else is!), I am thankful for you today and everyday. You are one of the most compassionate, patient, and goodhearted people I know, and even if I bought you all the ice cream in the world, it wouldn't be enough to communicate how much I love you! :-)
To the rest of y'all, Happy Sunday, and to all the mothers who might be reading this, Happy Mother's Day to you!
Today was a lovely day--a just about perfect mezcla of sunshine and clouds. My thought last night was that I would get up early this morning and go to mass at Cusco's main cathedral. However, I ended up sleeping later than expected after having been up late watching the movie "Limitless" on my computer. (I give it a B...I don't think it lived up to the reviews.) I ended up going to mass at El Templo de la Compania, the same beautiful place where I attended mass last Sunday. Again, I had to convince the man at the door that I wasn't a turista, but once that battle was won, I was able to be in the church a bit before the start of mass to take in the place's beauty. Since photography is prohibited, I can't share pictures of the insides of La Compania, but I can tell you that the wall behind the altar is almost entirely gold, and filled with sculpted figures of the Virgin Mary and many other saints. There's also a chapel to the side of the main sanctuary, and in that chapel is a large, three-dimensional hanging crucifix. While I didn't get extremely close to it, from where I was sitting, I could see that the depiction of Christ on the cross was very much like the art I had seen in the Palacio Arzobispol yesterday--a fusion of Spanish-Catholic and Cuzqueno influences.
The mass was again beautiful and peaceful. This week, the gospel reading was about the road to Emmaus. While an interesting story, I was more struck by one of the earlier readings, which came from 1 Peter 1:17-21:
"Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."
In his homily, the priest spoke about money, and how it's often used to strike deals that aren't exactly "moral"...like when Joseph's brothers sold him to some Egyptians passing through the desert, or when Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, or when the tax collector cheated his neighbors. How awesome to think that we are redeemed and made whole not by something so shallow and superficial as money, but by the pure and selfless humanity of Jesus. I'm going to try and be more cognizant of this fact during my months here in Cusco. As I work among individuals from very different levels of financial wealth, I feel as though I have a unique opportunity to acknowledge the insignificance of money and the significance of our shared humanity.
After mass, I didn't have much of an agenda, so I strolled down side streets here and there and eventually found myself again in the Plaza San Blas. While yesterday the plaza was filled with artisans and tourists, today it was beautifully quiet except for the water falling from the fountain. I bought a piece of banana bread from a panaderia and then sat down with my copy of The Samurai's Garden. Even though I only started the book yesterday, I finished it while sitting in the plaza this afternoon. It was such a beautiful story that I couldn't put it down! As I sat and read, a few people milled through the plaza, and at one point a gentleman sat down on a nearby bench and began to play the cello. I was already feeling so very peaceful as I listened to the water falling and read my wonderful book, and once the cello playing began, the afternoon just flew by. (And FYI, if any naval aviators are reading this entry, the cello player did indeed grace the plaza with a sincere rendition of Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G!)
As the afternoon came to an end, I decided to stroll through some of the yet-unexplored backstreets behind the Plaza San Blas. I ended up finding myself in a delightful alleyway with lots of twists and turns that went upward toward some of the higher-elevated homes in Cusco. I also discovered the walkway that led to Christo Blanco (literally "White Christ"), a white crucifix that sits at the top of the city. I didn't venture up to the statue today, but I plan on going there someday soon. I also came across a beautiful overlook that allowed for a rather beautiful panoramic view of Cusco. Sitting on the overlook was a Peruvian woman who asked me if I wanted to take a picture with her llama. I was slightly confused, first of all because I didn't see the llama until she pointed him out, and second of all because I wasn't sure if she wanted me to take her picture or if she was offering to take mine. I also had the feeling that her offer was going to come at a price. Despite all that, I took the woman up on her offer. As she proceeded up the stairs with the llama, it became clear that she wanted me to take a picture of her with the llama, which seemed pretty lame-o to me because I can easily buy a postcard with a picture of the same kind of thing. So I asked her to take a picture of me with the llama and gave her my camera. Apparently, the whole "camera" thing was new to her, though, and her first attempt basically resulted in a very close-up picture of my face with a tiny bit of llama fur in one corner. After two more attempts, she successfully captured the llama and me, and then she made her request for a "propina," or a tip. I sadly realized that the smallest coin I had was worth five soles, which was quite a bit more than I wanted to give her for a mediocre picture. But give it I did, and I'm pretty sure she's right now sitting around drinking chiccha with her friends and laughing about how she cheated another American gringita out of five soles for a picture with one of her llamas. Argh.
After lots of walking, I eventually managed to get myself to the San Pedro Market, where I bought an onion and some celery for the soup I've been planning to make. There were lots of tents set up outside of the market where vendors were trying to sell various Mother's Day items. I bought myself a cookie (Mom, I ate it in your honor since you weren't here...heh), and then headed toward home. Once back in the apartamento, I began my lima bean soup adventure, which officially started yesterday afternoon when I began soaking the beans. Since they had soaked for over 12 hours, I didn't expect to have any issue softening them up in my soup, but for some reason, they didn't get as smushy as I would have liked them to. Other than that, though, the soup was very delicious, and I was surprised by how much flavor I got out of the broth, which was essentially water with a veggie bouillon cube and some salt. I keep forgetting to buy pepper, so my seasoning capabilities were rather limited. In any case, I'm glad to know that I have some nice, hearty soup to eat for a few dinners this week.
I'm now here in the apartment, resting a bit before I again expose my poor, red lower back to the elements at our work site tomorrow. I'm sure the PITT kids will be tired after having woken at 3:30 AM this morning to go on a one-day excursion to Machu Picchu, but they have such good attitudes that I'm sure they'll stay positive despite their exhaustion.
I've been having some difficulty uploading photos, which is rather a bummer because there are quite a few of them that I'd like to share, but I'm hoping to get them up here quite soon, for those of you who are more visually stimulated.
In Spanish, a typical goodbye phrase could be "Hasta luego" ("Seeya later") or "Hasta pronto" ("See you soon"), but for quite a while now, I've taken to just saying "Hasta!" and allowing the latter portion of the phrase to be "assumed." Apparently, though, this makes absolutely no sense to a Spanish speaker because the literal meaning of "hasta" is "until," so I'm really just saying "Until!" without hte "later" or "soon" or "tomorrow" or whatever it might be. But guess what? I think it makes lots of sense. Partially because I don't want to admit defeat, and partially because sometimes I'm not sure whether it'll be soon or later or tomorrow when I'll next see someone. Anyway, all this explanation just so I can now say to you all, without any judgment from the Spanish speakers out there, "Hasta!"
To the rest of y'all, Happy Sunday, and to all the mothers who might be reading this, Happy Mother's Day to you!
Today was a lovely day--a just about perfect mezcla of sunshine and clouds. My thought last night was that I would get up early this morning and go to mass at Cusco's main cathedral. However, I ended up sleeping later than expected after having been up late watching the movie "Limitless" on my computer. (I give it a B...I don't think it lived up to the reviews.) I ended up going to mass at El Templo de la Compania, the same beautiful place where I attended mass last Sunday. Again, I had to convince the man at the door that I wasn't a turista, but once that battle was won, I was able to be in the church a bit before the start of mass to take in the place's beauty. Since photography is prohibited, I can't share pictures of the insides of La Compania, but I can tell you that the wall behind the altar is almost entirely gold, and filled with sculpted figures of the Virgin Mary and many other saints. There's also a chapel to the side of the main sanctuary, and in that chapel is a large, three-dimensional hanging crucifix. While I didn't get extremely close to it, from where I was sitting, I could see that the depiction of Christ on the cross was very much like the art I had seen in the Palacio Arzobispol yesterday--a fusion of Spanish-Catholic and Cuzqueno influences.
The mass was again beautiful and peaceful. This week, the gospel reading was about the road to Emmaus. While an interesting story, I was more struck by one of the earlier readings, which came from 1 Peter 1:17-21:
"Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."
In his homily, the priest spoke about money, and how it's often used to strike deals that aren't exactly "moral"...like when Joseph's brothers sold him to some Egyptians passing through the desert, or when Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, or when the tax collector cheated his neighbors. How awesome to think that we are redeemed and made whole not by something so shallow and superficial as money, but by the pure and selfless humanity of Jesus. I'm going to try and be more cognizant of this fact during my months here in Cusco. As I work among individuals from very different levels of financial wealth, I feel as though I have a unique opportunity to acknowledge the insignificance of money and the significance of our shared humanity.
After mass, I didn't have much of an agenda, so I strolled down side streets here and there and eventually found myself again in the Plaza San Blas. While yesterday the plaza was filled with artisans and tourists, today it was beautifully quiet except for the water falling from the fountain. I bought a piece of banana bread from a panaderia and then sat down with my copy of The Samurai's Garden. Even though I only started the book yesterday, I finished it while sitting in the plaza this afternoon. It was such a beautiful story that I couldn't put it down! As I sat and read, a few people milled through the plaza, and at one point a gentleman sat down on a nearby bench and began to play the cello. I was already feeling so very peaceful as I listened to the water falling and read my wonderful book, and once the cello playing began, the afternoon just flew by. (And FYI, if any naval aviators are reading this entry, the cello player did indeed grace the plaza with a sincere rendition of Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G!)
As the afternoon came to an end, I decided to stroll through some of the yet-unexplored backstreets behind the Plaza San Blas. I ended up finding myself in a delightful alleyway with lots of twists and turns that went upward toward some of the higher-elevated homes in Cusco. I also discovered the walkway that led to Christo Blanco (literally "White Christ"), a white crucifix that sits at the top of the city. I didn't venture up to the statue today, but I plan on going there someday soon. I also came across a beautiful overlook that allowed for a rather beautiful panoramic view of Cusco. Sitting on the overlook was a Peruvian woman who asked me if I wanted to take a picture with her llama. I was slightly confused, first of all because I didn't see the llama until she pointed him out, and second of all because I wasn't sure if she wanted me to take her picture or if she was offering to take mine. I also had the feeling that her offer was going to come at a price. Despite all that, I took the woman up on her offer. As she proceeded up the stairs with the llama, it became clear that she wanted me to take a picture of her with the llama, which seemed pretty lame-o to me because I can easily buy a postcard with a picture of the same kind of thing. So I asked her to take a picture of me with the llama and gave her my camera. Apparently, the whole "camera" thing was new to her, though, and her first attempt basically resulted in a very close-up picture of my face with a tiny bit of llama fur in one corner. After two more attempts, she successfully captured the llama and me, and then she made her request for a "propina," or a tip. I sadly realized that the smallest coin I had was worth five soles, which was quite a bit more than I wanted to give her for a mediocre picture. But give it I did, and I'm pretty sure she's right now sitting around drinking chiccha with her friends and laughing about how she cheated another American gringita out of five soles for a picture with one of her llamas. Argh.
After lots of walking, I eventually managed to get myself to the San Pedro Market, where I bought an onion and some celery for the soup I've been planning to make. There were lots of tents set up outside of the market where vendors were trying to sell various Mother's Day items. I bought myself a cookie (Mom, I ate it in your honor since you weren't here...heh), and then headed toward home. Once back in the apartamento, I began my lima bean soup adventure, which officially started yesterday afternoon when I began soaking the beans. Since they had soaked for over 12 hours, I didn't expect to have any issue softening them up in my soup, but for some reason, they didn't get as smushy as I would have liked them to. Other than that, though, the soup was very delicious, and I was surprised by how much flavor I got out of the broth, which was essentially water with a veggie bouillon cube and some salt. I keep forgetting to buy pepper, so my seasoning capabilities were rather limited. In any case, I'm glad to know that I have some nice, hearty soup to eat for a few dinners this week.
I'm now here in the apartment, resting a bit before I again expose my poor, red lower back to the elements at our work site tomorrow. I'm sure the PITT kids will be tired after having woken at 3:30 AM this morning to go on a one-day excursion to Machu Picchu, but they have such good attitudes that I'm sure they'll stay positive despite their exhaustion.
I've been having some difficulty uploading photos, which is rather a bummer because there are quite a few of them that I'd like to share, but I'm hoping to get them up here quite soon, for those of you who are more visually stimulated.
In Spanish, a typical goodbye phrase could be "Hasta luego" ("Seeya later") or "Hasta pronto" ("See you soon"), but for quite a while now, I've taken to just saying "Hasta!" and allowing the latter portion of the phrase to be "assumed." Apparently, though, this makes absolutely no sense to a Spanish speaker because the literal meaning of "hasta" is "until," so I'm really just saying "Until!" without hte "later" or "soon" or "tomorrow" or whatever it might be. But guess what? I think it makes lots of sense. Partially because I don't want to admit defeat, and partially because sometimes I'm not sure whether it'll be soon or later or tomorrow when I'll next see someone. Anyway, all this explanation just so I can now say to you all, without any judgment from the Spanish speakers out there, "Hasta!"
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Festejando Un Pocito...
Dearest Readers,
What an activity-filled 36 hours it's been! Let me fill y'all in before I forget what I've been up to!
Yesterday (Friday) was our second day of water filter work with the PITT students. We expected the day to be much like Thursday, a day full of hard work alongside a whole bunch of community members. However, upon our arrival, we learned that most of the community members wouldn't be helping us, as they were only mandated to assist on the first day. (I don't mean to say that they went off gallivanting, but rather that they probably had other responsibilities to tend to--farm work and such). Having only 15 workers as opposed to 50+ definitely made things move a bit slower. On the positive side, it was nice to realize how much progress we'd made on day one, and to be able to add to that. Much of Friday was spent connecting PVC tubing and ensuring that it would fit in the canal we had dug without having to bend too much (which would put stress on the joints). Since we wouldn't actually be installing the tubing until Monday, there wasn't actully a whole lot of work that could be done, so the day was rather more social than our first day of work had been.
Amid the socializing, the PITT ladies (of whom there are four) gave me a helpful lesson on types of engineers. For those of you who are as clueless as me, here are the basics. Civil engineers work with structures like bridges and highways and canals and stuff. Electrical engineers work with things like the innards of our television sets. Biomedical engineers are at the top of the taxonomic engineering hierarchy, and work with pharmaceutical products and artificial limbs and such. Finally, the under-appreciated industrial engineers are often referred to as "imagineers," and they are the "idea people" who often move into management positions and come up with great ideas to make life easier and then delegate people to execute them. The PITT students are a mix of different types of engineers, so they all approach our project with a slightly different perspective. It's interesting to watch.
In order to get the PVC tubes out of the place where they were stored, we had to push my dear friend Maria through a window because the community's president was MIA and the door was padlocked. While I felt bad for Maria for having to contort her body repeatedly to get through a rather tiny window, it was also pretty hysterical, especially because Lalo, one of my ProWorld colleagues, had to serve as her ottoman as she climbed in and out. A very entertaining process.
We actually ended up finishing our day's work earlier than expected, so 8 of the 10 PITT students and myself decided to take a quick hike up to the top of one of the mountains close to the community. While it wasn't a particularly long or steep hike, it was still quite difficult because of the altitude. Even a seemingly insignificant increase in altitude here results in much more difficulty breathing. I was coughing by the time I came back down because it had been hard to take in deep breaths. Despite that, the view was BEAUTIFUL, and I am continually impressed with the PITT kids for not only their hard work, but also their optimism and their appreciation for the beauty of this place. Many of them seem to have wisdom that goes beyond their 20 or 21 years. What a view we had at the top of that mountain! The sky was ridiculously blue and there were snow-capped peaks in the distance, and we had climbed high enough that there was no evidence of human existence beyond our simple presence. When we got to the very top of the peak, I suggested that we sing something. The Whitmans and friends always sing "God Bless America" on top of the Adirondack peaks that we climb, and I suppose I was feeling nostalgic. Mateo, one of the typically more quiet PITT volunteers, slowly began to sing, "Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low," and soon the nine of us were all belting out the famous words of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Tyrell. It was pretty awesome.
Coming down the mountain was much easier and faster than going up, especially as the air grew thicker and more satisfying. I led the way down, and received the most wonderful welcome at the foot of the mountain--a smiling Analee yelling "Sarita!" I had wondered if she would remember me after we'd become buddies the day before, and she had, and I have concluded that there are few feelings better than that of a joyful child running into your arms! Another great day in el campo, with the added bonus of no additional sunburn on the buttocks or anywhere else!
Since we got back to Cusco early, I took advantage of an extra few hours to walk home down the Avenida del Sol. I got myself an ice cream cone (half coconut, half chocolate) and then wandered through two different artisan markets. I ended up buying a very snazzy headband with a cool, Andean pattern on it as well as an awesomely beautiful belt. I was particularly excited about the belt because my dear friend Jayme (Hello there, Mistress Ewak!) has this awesome belt that I've wanted to steal for approximately five years, and now I have one that I like just as much as hers! A very worthwhile purchase!
After going home and showering, Laura and I headed to the Centro de Bartolome de las Casas, an Andean culture and Spanish language learning center in downtown Cusco. There, we met the (also cleanly showered) PITT kids for a lecture by the man who is in charge of Machu Picchu. I'm pretty sure the guy's a big deal, and he shared some images of Machu Picchu as it was prior to its discovery as compared to its appearance today, and talked about some of the challenges faced by the people who care for and help to preserve the ruins. The PITT students will be going there tomorrow, so it was good for them to get a bit of background. After the lecture, Laura, Maria, and I went to Lauren's house, where we planned to make ourselves dinner. Lauren had bought chicken and veggies at the market, so we made a stir fry, seasoned it with fresh ginger and soy sauce, and served it over quinoa. Maria kindly supplied a bottle of Malbec, and we were sit with a nice meal. After we'd eaten, Lauren's novio, John Paul, showed up along with two of his friends, all Cuzquenos. We had quite a few laughs trying to converse with each other in a crazy form of Spanglish. There was another guy at the house who was originally from Lima, and all the guys were arguing over whether Limenos or Cuzquenos where easier to understand. While Laura and Maria voted for the Cuzquenos, I voted for the Limeno. We concluded that this was due to the fact that Laura and Maria had been in Cusco longer and become accustomed to the Cusco style of speaking, whereas I was more accustomed to Castellano Spanish, which is more in line with the way someone from Lima would speak. After a spirited hour of conversation, we headed to the Plaza de las Armas where I was to go out "festejando" for my first time in Cusco. (Verb of the day = festejar = to party)
As most of my readers know, I am a party ANIMAL. Bwahahaha just kidding. Going out and partying has never been quite my scene, so I can't say that I typically look forward to staying out late in smelly bar-like environments. However, I was actually sort of excited about seeing what it was like to go out in Cusco, especially because of the salsa culture. While I can't claim any sort of expertise, I very much enjoy salsa dancing, and was excited at the prospect. As we walked to the Plaza, I ended up walking with one Peruvian guy whose name I think was William(?). He was very nice, and we had a friendly yet oh-so-cliche conversation about the weather as we walked to our destination. The first place we went to was called Mythology (Mitologia), and when we walked in, we were given a ticket for a free drink--just like that. No cover fee, a free bag check, and a free drink. Insanity. When we got inside, there were quite a few couples already salsa dancing with impressive skill. William asked me to dance, and he was a very sweet leader in spite of my lack of moves. I actually think that our awkwardness as dance partners was due only in part to my nervousness. I'm pretty sure that he didn't have a ton of rhythm, which kind of threw me off. The whole experience was pretty awkward since I didn't really know William very much at all. Dancing seems to me to be such an intimate thing that I feel much more comfortable when I am friends with my partner...otherwise, I tend to look at my feet and not into the eyes of my dance partner! That said, William was fun enough, and we just danced to one song together before I made my escape. Unfortunately, I didn't escape far enough, and Mr. Not-So-Sober, another of the guys we had met earlier, came over and insisted that I dance with him. He was a much more touchy-feely dancer, and seemed to be entirely unaware of my distaste for both his alcohol-breath and his attempts to swing me backward and pull me in close to him. I was very glad when that dance was over! I'm starting to think that I might be more cut out for waltzing or square dancing or something...heh.
Pretty quickly, Laura, Maria, and I decided to leave the guys we had met and go in search of the PITT students. It wasn't a difficult search--it turned out that they were right next door, and very adorably salsa dancing with each other like old pros! Mateo ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough" singer) actually had quite a few salsa moves learnt by the time we found everyone, so he was fun to watch. Freehart Freehart found himself a Peruvian dance partner, and Ryan had the shoulder shimmy down quite nicely. By the time we arrived, the salsa dancing hours were just ending, and the place turned into more of an American-style club with lots of popular dance music and strobe lighting. Usually, this is the point at which I am wont to leave, but I was actually having kind of a good time dancing with everyone, so I decided to stay for a while. I definitely continue to dislike bars and clubs simply because my ears hurt for hours afterward and I can't hear what anyone says and everyone has alcohol breath, however it was really nice to be with the PITT students and my ProWorld friends in a different sort of environment, and to just kind of let go and move around a bit! While it'll definitely be a while before I go out again, I'm glad that I went and had the experience, and I plan on making my entrance earlier next time so that I can partake in the salsa hours, which I prefer to the later hours when I have to actually come up with my own movements. :-)
I enjoyed sleeping in this morning after getting back somewhat late last night, and it was nice to have nothing pressing to wake up for. I did get myself together around eleven or so, because I wanted to find the Saturday market that I had been told took place in my neighborhood. It didn't take me very much searching to find said market, and it was AWESOME. I was definitely THE only white person there, which actually felt pretty awesome. I like finding places in Cusco that are off the beaten bath and not strewn with tourists. The market was huge, and every kind of vegetable, fruit, grain, and flower seemed to be there. Being the only rubia (blond) in the crowd, there were a few times when children would tug on their parents' sleeve and point at me, saying "Mama, una gringita!" which basically means, "Mom, look! It's a white girl!" I just smiled and walked through the aisles and aisles of produce, eventually buying some potatoes, some green beans, some oranges, a bulb of garlic, some wheat bread, and a half-kilo of lentils. All this for under $4! I also bought a bouquet of flowers for just one sole (about 40 cents) to brighten up our kitchen. It was a very successful market trip, and I'm going to try and make it there every Saturday now that I know where it is! I'm hoping that by the end of my time in Cusco, I'll have befriended certain vendors who will give me special bargains!
After my trip to the market, I returned home to put away my purchases. I then straightened up my room, and departed again, this time for a stroll to the Plaza de San Blas. I like the San Blas area of the city because it has an older, more colonial feel to it. The streets are very narrow and full of charming shops, and the plaza isn't as busy as the more centralized ones, where the tourists are everywhere and people approach me trying to sell me everything and anything! On my way to the Plaza, I stopped at an artisan shop, where I saw a BEAUTIFUL scarf hanging above the entrance. I didn't end up buying the scarf this time, but I did befriend the shop owner, whose name is Asunta. When she learned that I was here as a volunteer, she even gave me an adorable little pin to thank me for what I do! It was so nice, and I'm going to try and remember her location so that I can buy gifts there before I leave Peru.
My next distraction was a beautiful, 17th-century home called the "Palacio Arzobispal," of the "Palace of the Archbishop." The structure now serves as a museum of religious art as well as the office of Cusco's archbishop. I decided to pay the entrance fee, and was very glad that I did because the palace was BEAUTIFUL. The entrance fee included little headphones and an audio guide that played in different areas of the museum. It was interesting to actually see elements of the "Cusco School," which is the name given to the art form that came to exist when the Spanish came to Peru and fused their culture with that of the Andean people. Most of the art in the palace featured Catholic/Christian religious figures, but with distinctively Andean traits, as evidenced in styles of dress and artistic techniques. The art was diverse and beautiful, and a life-sized depiction of Christ on the cross was particularly moving to see. The palace itself was beautiful even without the addition of the art, and I loved its structure--essentially, a square with a beautiful courtyard and fountain in the center. It reminded me of some of the monastery gardens I had seen in Spain and Portugal. While very unlikely, if I am ever in a position in which I need to design myself a house, I think I will give it a structure that resembles the Palacio Arzobispol, though obviously on a much more budget-friendly scale! :-)
On my way to San Blas, I also stopped at an adorable bakery, where I bought a pie de pera (a miniature pear pie) that was super delicious. I then enjoyed lunch at an American-run cafe on the plaza whose proceeds all go to charitable works in the Cusco area, and then sat and basked in the sunshine on the Plaza San Blas while Andean music played and people milled about shopping and eating and enjoying the lovely day.
I only recently got back to my apartment, and am finally enjoying some time to rest! My eyes are having trouble staying open after such a busy week! I took some pictures of my apartment today, which I will post in a bit!
Hasta pronto!
What an activity-filled 36 hours it's been! Let me fill y'all in before I forget what I've been up to!
Yesterday (Friday) was our second day of water filter work with the PITT students. We expected the day to be much like Thursday, a day full of hard work alongside a whole bunch of community members. However, upon our arrival, we learned that most of the community members wouldn't be helping us, as they were only mandated to assist on the first day. (I don't mean to say that they went off gallivanting, but rather that they probably had other responsibilities to tend to--farm work and such). Having only 15 workers as opposed to 50+ definitely made things move a bit slower. On the positive side, it was nice to realize how much progress we'd made on day one, and to be able to add to that. Much of Friday was spent connecting PVC tubing and ensuring that it would fit in the canal we had dug without having to bend too much (which would put stress on the joints). Since we wouldn't actually be installing the tubing until Monday, there wasn't actully a whole lot of work that could be done, so the day was rather more social than our first day of work had been.
Amid the socializing, the PITT ladies (of whom there are four) gave me a helpful lesson on types of engineers. For those of you who are as clueless as me, here are the basics. Civil engineers work with structures like bridges and highways and canals and stuff. Electrical engineers work with things like the innards of our television sets. Biomedical engineers are at the top of the taxonomic engineering hierarchy, and work with pharmaceutical products and artificial limbs and such. Finally, the under-appreciated industrial engineers are often referred to as "imagineers," and they are the "idea people" who often move into management positions and come up with great ideas to make life easier and then delegate people to execute them. The PITT students are a mix of different types of engineers, so they all approach our project with a slightly different perspective. It's interesting to watch.
In order to get the PVC tubes out of the place where they were stored, we had to push my dear friend Maria through a window because the community's president was MIA and the door was padlocked. While I felt bad for Maria for having to contort her body repeatedly to get through a rather tiny window, it was also pretty hysterical, especially because Lalo, one of my ProWorld colleagues, had to serve as her ottoman as she climbed in and out. A very entertaining process.
We actually ended up finishing our day's work earlier than expected, so 8 of the 10 PITT students and myself decided to take a quick hike up to the top of one of the mountains close to the community. While it wasn't a particularly long or steep hike, it was still quite difficult because of the altitude. Even a seemingly insignificant increase in altitude here results in much more difficulty breathing. I was coughing by the time I came back down because it had been hard to take in deep breaths. Despite that, the view was BEAUTIFUL, and I am continually impressed with the PITT kids for not only their hard work, but also their optimism and their appreciation for the beauty of this place. Many of them seem to have wisdom that goes beyond their 20 or 21 years. What a view we had at the top of that mountain! The sky was ridiculously blue and there were snow-capped peaks in the distance, and we had climbed high enough that there was no evidence of human existence beyond our simple presence. When we got to the very top of the peak, I suggested that we sing something. The Whitmans and friends always sing "God Bless America" on top of the Adirondack peaks that we climb, and I suppose I was feeling nostalgic. Mateo, one of the typically more quiet PITT volunteers, slowly began to sing, "Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low," and soon the nine of us were all belting out the famous words of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Tyrell. It was pretty awesome.
Coming down the mountain was much easier and faster than going up, especially as the air grew thicker and more satisfying. I led the way down, and received the most wonderful welcome at the foot of the mountain--a smiling Analee yelling "Sarita!" I had wondered if she would remember me after we'd become buddies the day before, and she had, and I have concluded that there are few feelings better than that of a joyful child running into your arms! Another great day in el campo, with the added bonus of no additional sunburn on the buttocks or anywhere else!
Since we got back to Cusco early, I took advantage of an extra few hours to walk home down the Avenida del Sol. I got myself an ice cream cone (half coconut, half chocolate) and then wandered through two different artisan markets. I ended up buying a very snazzy headband with a cool, Andean pattern on it as well as an awesomely beautiful belt. I was particularly excited about the belt because my dear friend Jayme (Hello there, Mistress Ewak!) has this awesome belt that I've wanted to steal for approximately five years, and now I have one that I like just as much as hers! A very worthwhile purchase!
After going home and showering, Laura and I headed to the Centro de Bartolome de las Casas, an Andean culture and Spanish language learning center in downtown Cusco. There, we met the (also cleanly showered) PITT kids for a lecture by the man who is in charge of Machu Picchu. I'm pretty sure the guy's a big deal, and he shared some images of Machu Picchu as it was prior to its discovery as compared to its appearance today, and talked about some of the challenges faced by the people who care for and help to preserve the ruins. The PITT students will be going there tomorrow, so it was good for them to get a bit of background. After the lecture, Laura, Maria, and I went to Lauren's house, where we planned to make ourselves dinner. Lauren had bought chicken and veggies at the market, so we made a stir fry, seasoned it with fresh ginger and soy sauce, and served it over quinoa. Maria kindly supplied a bottle of Malbec, and we were sit with a nice meal. After we'd eaten, Lauren's novio, John Paul, showed up along with two of his friends, all Cuzquenos. We had quite a few laughs trying to converse with each other in a crazy form of Spanglish. There was another guy at the house who was originally from Lima, and all the guys were arguing over whether Limenos or Cuzquenos where easier to understand. While Laura and Maria voted for the Cuzquenos, I voted for the Limeno. We concluded that this was due to the fact that Laura and Maria had been in Cusco longer and become accustomed to the Cusco style of speaking, whereas I was more accustomed to Castellano Spanish, which is more in line with the way someone from Lima would speak. After a spirited hour of conversation, we headed to the Plaza de las Armas where I was to go out "festejando" for my first time in Cusco. (Verb of the day = festejar = to party)
As most of my readers know, I am a party ANIMAL. Bwahahaha just kidding. Going out and partying has never been quite my scene, so I can't say that I typically look forward to staying out late in smelly bar-like environments. However, I was actually sort of excited about seeing what it was like to go out in Cusco, especially because of the salsa culture. While I can't claim any sort of expertise, I very much enjoy salsa dancing, and was excited at the prospect. As we walked to the Plaza, I ended up walking with one Peruvian guy whose name I think was William(?). He was very nice, and we had a friendly yet oh-so-cliche conversation about the weather as we walked to our destination. The first place we went to was called Mythology (Mitologia), and when we walked in, we were given a ticket for a free drink--just like that. No cover fee, a free bag check, and a free drink. Insanity. When we got inside, there were quite a few couples already salsa dancing with impressive skill. William asked me to dance, and he was a very sweet leader in spite of my lack of moves. I actually think that our awkwardness as dance partners was due only in part to my nervousness. I'm pretty sure that he didn't have a ton of rhythm, which kind of threw me off. The whole experience was pretty awkward since I didn't really know William very much at all. Dancing seems to me to be such an intimate thing that I feel much more comfortable when I am friends with my partner...otherwise, I tend to look at my feet and not into the eyes of my dance partner! That said, William was fun enough, and we just danced to one song together before I made my escape. Unfortunately, I didn't escape far enough, and Mr. Not-So-Sober, another of the guys we had met earlier, came over and insisted that I dance with him. He was a much more touchy-feely dancer, and seemed to be entirely unaware of my distaste for both his alcohol-breath and his attempts to swing me backward and pull me in close to him. I was very glad when that dance was over! I'm starting to think that I might be more cut out for waltzing or square dancing or something...heh.
Pretty quickly, Laura, Maria, and I decided to leave the guys we had met and go in search of the PITT students. It wasn't a difficult search--it turned out that they were right next door, and very adorably salsa dancing with each other like old pros! Mateo ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough" singer) actually had quite a few salsa moves learnt by the time we found everyone, so he was fun to watch. Freehart Freehart found himself a Peruvian dance partner, and Ryan had the shoulder shimmy down quite nicely. By the time we arrived, the salsa dancing hours were just ending, and the place turned into more of an American-style club with lots of popular dance music and strobe lighting. Usually, this is the point at which I am wont to leave, but I was actually having kind of a good time dancing with everyone, so I decided to stay for a while. I definitely continue to dislike bars and clubs simply because my ears hurt for hours afterward and I can't hear what anyone says and everyone has alcohol breath, however it was really nice to be with the PITT students and my ProWorld friends in a different sort of environment, and to just kind of let go and move around a bit! While it'll definitely be a while before I go out again, I'm glad that I went and had the experience, and I plan on making my entrance earlier next time so that I can partake in the salsa hours, which I prefer to the later hours when I have to actually come up with my own movements. :-)
I enjoyed sleeping in this morning after getting back somewhat late last night, and it was nice to have nothing pressing to wake up for. I did get myself together around eleven or so, because I wanted to find the Saturday market that I had been told took place in my neighborhood. It didn't take me very much searching to find said market, and it was AWESOME. I was definitely THE only white person there, which actually felt pretty awesome. I like finding places in Cusco that are off the beaten bath and not strewn with tourists. The market was huge, and every kind of vegetable, fruit, grain, and flower seemed to be there. Being the only rubia (blond) in the crowd, there were a few times when children would tug on their parents' sleeve and point at me, saying "Mama, una gringita!" which basically means, "Mom, look! It's a white girl!" I just smiled and walked through the aisles and aisles of produce, eventually buying some potatoes, some green beans, some oranges, a bulb of garlic, some wheat bread, and a half-kilo of lentils. All this for under $4! I also bought a bouquet of flowers for just one sole (about 40 cents) to brighten up our kitchen. It was a very successful market trip, and I'm going to try and make it there every Saturday now that I know where it is! I'm hoping that by the end of my time in Cusco, I'll have befriended certain vendors who will give me special bargains!
After my trip to the market, I returned home to put away my purchases. I then straightened up my room, and departed again, this time for a stroll to the Plaza de San Blas. I like the San Blas area of the city because it has an older, more colonial feel to it. The streets are very narrow and full of charming shops, and the plaza isn't as busy as the more centralized ones, where the tourists are everywhere and people approach me trying to sell me everything and anything! On my way to the Plaza, I stopped at an artisan shop, where I saw a BEAUTIFUL scarf hanging above the entrance. I didn't end up buying the scarf this time, but I did befriend the shop owner, whose name is Asunta. When she learned that I was here as a volunteer, she even gave me an adorable little pin to thank me for what I do! It was so nice, and I'm going to try and remember her location so that I can buy gifts there before I leave Peru.
My next distraction was a beautiful, 17th-century home called the "Palacio Arzobispal," of the "Palace of the Archbishop." The structure now serves as a museum of religious art as well as the office of Cusco's archbishop. I decided to pay the entrance fee, and was very glad that I did because the palace was BEAUTIFUL. The entrance fee included little headphones and an audio guide that played in different areas of the museum. It was interesting to actually see elements of the "Cusco School," which is the name given to the art form that came to exist when the Spanish came to Peru and fused their culture with that of the Andean people. Most of the art in the palace featured Catholic/Christian religious figures, but with distinctively Andean traits, as evidenced in styles of dress and artistic techniques. The art was diverse and beautiful, and a life-sized depiction of Christ on the cross was particularly moving to see. The palace itself was beautiful even without the addition of the art, and I loved its structure--essentially, a square with a beautiful courtyard and fountain in the center. It reminded me of some of the monastery gardens I had seen in Spain and Portugal. While very unlikely, if I am ever in a position in which I need to design myself a house, I think I will give it a structure that resembles the Palacio Arzobispol, though obviously on a much more budget-friendly scale! :-)
On my way to San Blas, I also stopped at an adorable bakery, where I bought a pie de pera (a miniature pear pie) that was super delicious. I then enjoyed lunch at an American-run cafe on the plaza whose proceeds all go to charitable works in the Cusco area, and then sat and basked in the sunshine on the Plaza San Blas while Andean music played and people milled about shopping and eating and enjoying the lovely day.
I only recently got back to my apartment, and am finally enjoying some time to rest! My eyes are having trouble staying open after such a busy week! I took some pictures of my apartment today, which I will post in a bit!
Hasta pronto!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
SPF 100+ : Works Like A Charm Except When You Miss A Spot...
Hi there, friends!
I am so ridiculously POOPED from today's day of work. It was a doozy! I wanted to share some of the highlights before I go to bed (and yes, it is 6 PM here in Peru, and yes, I think I am pretty seriously close to bedtime). I like lists, so I'm going to make a lil' list of today's triumphs, pitfalls, joys, and sorrows for y'all. Ready, set, here we go!
1. One of my recently developed life goals is to age beautifully, and I believe that a good bit of that comes from developing only beautiful "age lines," as opposed to sun-induced wrinkles. With said goal in mind, I brought along not one but TWO aerosol cans of SPF 100+ sunscreen from the US. And I applied it to pretty much every exposed part of my body, repeatedly throughout today. In fact, I believe that I have applied it every single day since my arrival in Cusco. Today, though, I neglected a certain lovely spot that one might politely deem the "small of my back" but which actually translates to "lower back/upper buttocks." Little did I know that a small bit of my back was open and exposed to the sun as I bent over with a shovel or a pickax, allowing a rather thick line of sunburn to appear, and become increasingly red as I repeatedly neglected to care for it. My problem is this. Can I achieve the goal of aging gracefully if I have a wrinkly upper buttocks? I rather think not. A travesty indeed.
2. I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty sure I provided a good deal of the entertainment during today's project. To quickly outline what we were doing, we (the PITTers, Lauren, one PITT professor, Lalo, and I) traveled to a rural community about forty minutes outside of Cusco, and worked with the community members to dig a series of lines in which we will later insert tubing that the community can use to more thoroughly irrigate their farmland. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a divide between the community members and the volunteers, largely due to the fact that not many of the PITT students speak very much Spanish. To try and facilitate a bit more interaction, I joined a group of local women in their digging spot and proceeded to become the unintentional class clown for a good portion of the day. It all began when I thrust my pickax into the ground and the women all started snickering. I looked at them and it really was rather amusing. They were all so much stronger than me when shoveling, yet most of them wore sandals and skirts, and some even had babies on their backs. I, on the contrary, wore snazzy rubber boots and had a classy water bottle attached to my beltloop (which probably weighed down my pantalones a little and exacerbated my sunburn). Anyway, the women started snickering, and I turned to them and said, in Spanish, "Are you LAUGHING at me?" And they all CRACKED UP. I guess they thought I was clueless about the fact that I was their entertainment, but I was quite aware, and when they realized that, it all just became even funnier. I continued on and said, "You know, ladies, you can laugh at me, but I'm not accustomed to this altitude and I am going to get huge muscles from all this work and go home to the US looking like superwoman!" At this point, they were seriously roaring, and I was roaring myself at how much I was amusing them by my inability to use a pickax! Once they realized that I spoke enough Spanish to understand them, we started talking a bit more, and our digging session actually turned into a partial language lesson. I taught them how to say, "I'm tired" and "I'm hungry," and they taught me how to say "I'm tired" in Quechua, the Andean dialect spoken here. For the intrepid reader who may wish to learn Quechua, your phrase of the day is..."I'm tired." "Zai coruni." That spelling is probably totally off, but after quite a bit of practice, I have mastered the pronunciation--it sounds like "zah-ee cor-oo-nee." I have also come up with a mnemonic device to remember this phrase. When I am tired, it is nice to have a Corona, which sounds much like "coruni." "Zau coruni." And that's your Quechua lesson for today, folks. Get ready for tomorrow! At the end of our work day today, I was telling some of the local men that I had learned a phrase, and I said "I'm tired" in Quechua, and one of them responded in Quechua, saying "Canda munani," aka "I love you" or "I want you." When they told me what it meant, I just laughed, which again cracked everyone up. Apparently, I am funnier than I thought! :-)
3. In the mid-afternoon, we took a break from our work to eat a snack prepared by the local community members. They cooked us pachamanca, which is Quechua for "earth pot." According to what I've read, pachamanca is typically served for special occasions such as festivals, fiesta days, and harvest celebrations. When I reflect on it, today actually felt like a harvest celebration--sort of like the Andean equivalent of an Amish barn-raising. There were women preparing the food while children ran around in the hills and the men and the ProWorld volunteers got down and dirty with the shovels and pickaxes! Anyway, the translation of pachamanca is significant because the method of cooking basically involves making the earth into a cooking pot. Potatoes are the usual base for the dish, but other foods, including corn and beans, go into the pot as well. The items all go into a hole in the ground that was earlier filled with hot stones, and then the whole mixture is covered with aromatic leaves. The method of preparation is seen as an act of respect for "Pachamama," or Mother Earth. Not only was it an honor to be able to sit and eat beside the community members, but it also tasted pretty darned good! I sat and peeled my warm potato in the sun and just ate it like it was a piece of bread, all the while holding my sweet new friend, a little Andean girl named Analee, and resting after a hard day's work. It was a pretty authentic experience, and I'm excited about joining the community again tomorrow and on Monday and Tuesday, despite the hard work and the laughter at my expense!
4. On the way back to Cusco, I sat next to my pal Peter, a Pittsburgh junior(?), and made him tell me his life story. The poor guy wasn't sure what hit him at first, but eventually he played along and another PITT student, Grace, joined in. I made them tell me one defining moment in their lives for each year of their existence. It made the van ride much faster, and was also quite interesting. Had I not forced them into the conversation, I wouldn't have discovered, for example, that Peter had an evil nun as his preschool teacher, or that Grace traveled to Italy twice with her high school a capella group. Pretty awesome!
So that was today. It is truly fascinating to see the way that these people live and how incredibly different it is from what I have come to know as "normal." It was such a joy to find that in spite of our differences, we could still share in a good meal, the completion of a difficult task, and a good bit of laughter! Of all the reasons for which we travel, this one is, to me, one of the most crucial and wonderful. What a wonderful thing to see, even for a moment, that we are all living this same life even though some live it in the Andes, others in the jungle, others in countries covered with snow, others in the tropics, and others in a small suburb in New Jersey.
Thanks for tuning in, readers, and now I must make dinner before I become unable to keep my eyes open! Photos coming soon!
I am so ridiculously POOPED from today's day of work. It was a doozy! I wanted to share some of the highlights before I go to bed (and yes, it is 6 PM here in Peru, and yes, I think I am pretty seriously close to bedtime). I like lists, so I'm going to make a lil' list of today's triumphs, pitfalls, joys, and sorrows for y'all. Ready, set, here we go!
1. One of my recently developed life goals is to age beautifully, and I believe that a good bit of that comes from developing only beautiful "age lines," as opposed to sun-induced wrinkles. With said goal in mind, I brought along not one but TWO aerosol cans of SPF 100+ sunscreen from the US. And I applied it to pretty much every exposed part of my body, repeatedly throughout today. In fact, I believe that I have applied it every single day since my arrival in Cusco. Today, though, I neglected a certain lovely spot that one might politely deem the "small of my back" but which actually translates to "lower back/upper buttocks." Little did I know that a small bit of my back was open and exposed to the sun as I bent over with a shovel or a pickax, allowing a rather thick line of sunburn to appear, and become increasingly red as I repeatedly neglected to care for it. My problem is this. Can I achieve the goal of aging gracefully if I have a wrinkly upper buttocks? I rather think not. A travesty indeed.
2. I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty sure I provided a good deal of the entertainment during today's project. To quickly outline what we were doing, we (the PITTers, Lauren, one PITT professor, Lalo, and I) traveled to a rural community about forty minutes outside of Cusco, and worked with the community members to dig a series of lines in which we will later insert tubing that the community can use to more thoroughly irrigate their farmland. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a divide between the community members and the volunteers, largely due to the fact that not many of the PITT students speak very much Spanish. To try and facilitate a bit more interaction, I joined a group of local women in their digging spot and proceeded to become the unintentional class clown for a good portion of the day. It all began when I thrust my pickax into the ground and the women all started snickering. I looked at them and it really was rather amusing. They were all so much stronger than me when shoveling, yet most of them wore sandals and skirts, and some even had babies on their backs. I, on the contrary, wore snazzy rubber boots and had a classy water bottle attached to my beltloop (which probably weighed down my pantalones a little and exacerbated my sunburn). Anyway, the women started snickering, and I turned to them and said, in Spanish, "Are you LAUGHING at me?" And they all CRACKED UP. I guess they thought I was clueless about the fact that I was their entertainment, but I was quite aware, and when they realized that, it all just became even funnier. I continued on and said, "You know, ladies, you can laugh at me, but I'm not accustomed to this altitude and I am going to get huge muscles from all this work and go home to the US looking like superwoman!" At this point, they were seriously roaring, and I was roaring myself at how much I was amusing them by my inability to use a pickax! Once they realized that I spoke enough Spanish to understand them, we started talking a bit more, and our digging session actually turned into a partial language lesson. I taught them how to say, "I'm tired" and "I'm hungry," and they taught me how to say "I'm tired" in Quechua, the Andean dialect spoken here. For the intrepid reader who may wish to learn Quechua, your phrase of the day is..."I'm tired." "Zai coruni." That spelling is probably totally off, but after quite a bit of practice, I have mastered the pronunciation--it sounds like "zah-ee cor-oo-nee." I have also come up with a mnemonic device to remember this phrase. When I am tired, it is nice to have a Corona, which sounds much like "coruni." "Zau coruni." And that's your Quechua lesson for today, folks. Get ready for tomorrow! At the end of our work day today, I was telling some of the local men that I had learned a phrase, and I said "I'm tired" in Quechua, and one of them responded in Quechua, saying "Canda munani," aka "I love you" or "I want you." When they told me what it meant, I just laughed, which again cracked everyone up. Apparently, I am funnier than I thought! :-)
3. In the mid-afternoon, we took a break from our work to eat a snack prepared by the local community members. They cooked us pachamanca, which is Quechua for "earth pot." According to what I've read, pachamanca is typically served for special occasions such as festivals, fiesta days, and harvest celebrations. When I reflect on it, today actually felt like a harvest celebration--sort of like the Andean equivalent of an Amish barn-raising. There were women preparing the food while children ran around in the hills and the men and the ProWorld volunteers got down and dirty with the shovels and pickaxes! Anyway, the translation of pachamanca is significant because the method of cooking basically involves making the earth into a cooking pot. Potatoes are the usual base for the dish, but other foods, including corn and beans, go into the pot as well. The items all go into a hole in the ground that was earlier filled with hot stones, and then the whole mixture is covered with aromatic leaves. The method of preparation is seen as an act of respect for "Pachamama," or Mother Earth. Not only was it an honor to be able to sit and eat beside the community members, but it also tasted pretty darned good! I sat and peeled my warm potato in the sun and just ate it like it was a piece of bread, all the while holding my sweet new friend, a little Andean girl named Analee, and resting after a hard day's work. It was a pretty authentic experience, and I'm excited about joining the community again tomorrow and on Monday and Tuesday, despite the hard work and the laughter at my expense!
4. On the way back to Cusco, I sat next to my pal Peter, a Pittsburgh junior(?), and made him tell me his life story. The poor guy wasn't sure what hit him at first, but eventually he played along and another PITT student, Grace, joined in. I made them tell me one defining moment in their lives for each year of their existence. It made the van ride much faster, and was also quite interesting. Had I not forced them into the conversation, I wouldn't have discovered, for example, that Peter had an evil nun as his preschool teacher, or that Grace traveled to Italy twice with her high school a capella group. Pretty awesome!
So that was today. It is truly fascinating to see the way that these people live and how incredibly different it is from what I have come to know as "normal." It was such a joy to find that in spite of our differences, we could still share in a good meal, the completion of a difficult task, and a good bit of laughter! Of all the reasons for which we travel, this one is, to me, one of the most crucial and wonderful. What a wonderful thing to see, even for a moment, that we are all living this same life even though some live it in the Andes, others in the jungle, others in countries covered with snow, others in the tropics, and others in a small suburb in New Jersey.
Thanks for tuning in, readers, and now I must make dinner before I become unable to keep my eyes open! Photos coming soon!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A Moment's Peace
Just wanted to interrupt this workday to say that God is good. I woke up pretty tired this morning after yesterday's 14-hour run of various shenanigans, but I got into the office and got a few things done and then went to lunch with the students who are finishing up their semester at the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola. We went to this super delicious sandwich place called Juanito's, where I ate the first thing that I can legitimately describe as DELICIOUS in Peru! It was a sandwich called the "Cuzqueno con pollo," and consisted of a thick ciabatta-style roll with lettuce and tomato, herb-seasoned chicken, and two tamales (basically little pieces of spicy-ish corn bread). Delish.
After lunch everyone was sitting and chatting about the past semester, and since I hadn't been there for most of that time, my mind began to wander...and I began to think about the fact that I am going to be here for quite a good while, and for the most part without my family and friends from home, and with significant likelihood of getting sick at least once from some sort of flesh-eating bacteria or other. The thoughts started making me feel slightly woozy and dizzy, and I walked back to the office in a bit of a daze. But once I got back and sat at my desk, I was able to take a few deep breaths and to return to the present moment. I don't know whether it's just me or if many people fall prey to the tendency, but I find it so easy to dwell on the future and all of its possibilities, in a way that can be extremely negative (like the experience I just described) or extremely positive (like my Prince Charming who perfectly complements me 100% of the time...?). I think that in doing all this futuristic dwelling and pondering, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, can be harmful to our appreciation of the present.
So I have decided to share with you a moment of the present--the moment of peace that I am experiencing right now. I am sitting in my office by myself, and there is just enough of a breeze to rustle the long, white curtain hanging from the window across from my desk. Outside my window, the sun is shining, and beaming on an intricate, hidden window in the next building over, causing the etched flowers in the window panes to share the warmest yellow of yellow glows. It's beautiful, and as I quietly sit and drink in the lovely, worshipful music coming from my headphones, I feel, for the moment, safe and at peace.
Sadly, it's not easy for me to live in appreciation of the present, but I would like to use Cusco as a big, giant stage on which I can practice living mindfully each day, and even in the little minutes of each day, as I remember to do so. And for those moments when I fail, I will forgive myself and try again. And for all of those idealistic Prince Charming-type expectations I build up in my head...I think I should probably consider exchanging them for the equally beautiful and non-idealistic state that some would call "reality." Quite the notion.
Perhaps most importantly, I will try to keep remembering the one idealistic expectation that will never let me down. (Y'all know who I'm talking about!) After all, He's the one who said, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Oh so very true. I am glad for this day, and I will breathe it in and smell it and taste it and love it the best I can.
I hope you'll do the same!
After lunch everyone was sitting and chatting about the past semester, and since I hadn't been there for most of that time, my mind began to wander...and I began to think about the fact that I am going to be here for quite a good while, and for the most part without my family and friends from home, and with significant likelihood of getting sick at least once from some sort of flesh-eating bacteria or other. The thoughts started making me feel slightly woozy and dizzy, and I walked back to the office in a bit of a daze. But once I got back and sat at my desk, I was able to take a few deep breaths and to return to the present moment. I don't know whether it's just me or if many people fall prey to the tendency, but I find it so easy to dwell on the future and all of its possibilities, in a way that can be extremely negative (like the experience I just described) or extremely positive (like my Prince Charming who perfectly complements me 100% of the time...?). I think that in doing all this futuristic dwelling and pondering, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, can be harmful to our appreciation of the present.
So I have decided to share with you a moment of the present--the moment of peace that I am experiencing right now. I am sitting in my office by myself, and there is just enough of a breeze to rustle the long, white curtain hanging from the window across from my desk. Outside my window, the sun is shining, and beaming on an intricate, hidden window in the next building over, causing the etched flowers in the window panes to share the warmest yellow of yellow glows. It's beautiful, and as I quietly sit and drink in the lovely, worshipful music coming from my headphones, I feel, for the moment, safe and at peace.
Sadly, it's not easy for me to live in appreciation of the present, but I would like to use Cusco as a big, giant stage on which I can practice living mindfully each day, and even in the little minutes of each day, as I remember to do so. And for those moments when I fail, I will forgive myself and try again. And for all of those idealistic Prince Charming-type expectations I build up in my head...I think I should probably consider exchanging them for the equally beautiful and non-idealistic state that some would call "reality." Quite the notion.
Perhaps most importantly, I will try to keep remembering the one idealistic expectation that will never let me down. (Y'all know who I'm talking about!) After all, He's the one who said, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Oh so very true. I am glad for this day, and I will breathe it in and smell it and taste it and love it the best I can.
I hope you'll do the same!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Adventures with Pitt: The Fun Has Begun!
Beloved readers, WHAT a long day this has been! Long, but pretty excelente!
It all began at 7:50 AM, when Lauren and I headed to the airport to meet our first summer group, 10 students and 2 professors from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering. This is the second year that the program has run, so the professors, both originally from Colombia, kind of know the drill. For many students, though, this was their first time in a developing country, and for a few it was even their first time out of the US!
I have decided that one of my best skills is making people feel warmly welcomed when they come to a new place. Not to brag, :-) but I think I have a knack for noticing when someone needs a friendly smile or a conversation partner or some encouraging words, and I try and provide them. I felt particularly well-equipped to do this with the Pittsburgh students because I'm practically in their shoes, having just arrived five days ago myself. Therefore, I was able to answer a lot of their questions because they were things very familiar to me--things that I had often just learned or mastered myself (food fears, altitude sickness, the dangers of people selling fake alpaca at super-low prices...you know, the usual...). Anyway, the students arrived right on time, and we all hopped into a big ol' van with ProWorld's driver, a very nice gent named David. Lauren and the students were first brought to the hostel where the students would be spending their first night, and I continued with the professors to their more extravagant lodgings. :-) They were staying at the Hotel Garcilosa, and it was pretty classy, with a nice plaza inside the entrance and a little room with a buffet and lots of mate de coca. I sat and chatted with them briefly while they filled out their reservation information, and then left them to rest.
I have to admit that I was sort of secretly hoping that I would get to "go home and rest" like the PITT students for the next few hours, but sadly 'twas not in the cards. Lauren needed me to compile orientation folders for the students, and once I finished that task and responded to some e-mails from US university contacts, it was time to meet the students and professors for lunch. I somehow became the professors' personal tour guide, which was a little intimidating because they've both been to Cusco before and both speak much better Spanish than me. But I managed to collect them and hold up a decent conversation as we walked to Los Toldos, a restaurant selling primarily rotisserie chicken and french fries. One of the semester students, Barb, pretty well freaked me out about the chicken in Peru, telling me that she had had three separate episodes of food poisoning, all chicken-related. That said, this chicken was pretty tasty, and I removed the skin, which made it feel somehow a little bit safer.
Lunch with the students was fun. I really liked talking to them and finding out where they came from and what they were thinking about Cusco and the whole experience so far. I was especially excited to meet a student named Kyle. Kyle's last name is Freehart, and somehow on his original ProWorld application, his name came up as Freehart Freehart, which we in the office just found hysterical. At least in my case, the amusement came from my association between Freehart and "Braveheart," and my subsequent image of this kid named Freehart riding into Cusco shirtless on horseback with a bow and arrow. Luckily, Kyle was quite good-natured about our amusement, and agreed to let us call him Freehart. (And thank goodness, because I don't think I'm going to be able to keep from saying it!)
After lunch came orientation, which was mostly led by Lauren. While orientation was going on, I had two Spanish-intensive tasks to complete. First, I had to call our dinner restaurant and tell the lady over the phone how many of each menu item we wanted. I was pretty afraid of messing this up, but it went off without a hitch, and the woman was very easy to understand. Task numero dos was to go to this office (in the most random location above a massage parlor and a restaurant) and get all of the PITT students International Student Identification Cards (ISIC cards). This required bringing the office a copy of each student's passport, as well as a miniature photo, ten dollars, and a student ID with a date on it. The students were rather unprepared to provide most of these items despite our request for it a few weeks ago, so we went on a fun little journey to the photocopy shop and the ATM and the money exchange counter, and finally I had everything I needed from every student...except Freehart, who forgot his student ID. After spending quite a bit of time in the office (the ISIC card woman and I became pretty serious BFFs), I emerged with 9 cards and a sense of empowerment for having successfully completed my task! While perhaps not particularly difficult, it was very new, and it was, of course, all in Spanish!
By the time I finished these lovely jobs, it was just about time to meet the students and professors for dinner at a placed called El Dorado, a few blocks from the plaza. For my first course, I ordered "sopa criolla," which had an English translation below it that said "noodle soup." This seemed fairly safe, but, as I should know by now, things are not always as they seem! I was pretty much given a bowl of sea water. Salty, fishy...might as well go to the Jersey shore and take a slurp or two. The upside to this is that I provided some serious amusement for the two PITT students on either side of me, who first just watched as I repeatedly attempted to eat tiny spoonfuls of the soup, and later became comfortable enough to tell me that it looked like "a bowl of Ramen noodles made by a five-year old and gone terribly wrong." No more sopa criolla for me! The main course, at least in my case, was much more appetizing. I had grilled trout served with cooked vegetables, rice, and--of course--french fries. A number of students went for the alpaca entree, and a few others had the lomo saltado. Cuy (guinea pig) wasn't a menu choice for this meal, but apparently one of the professors is a serious fan, so I'm sure that one of their meals will involve the delicacy. As we were finishing dinner, a group of four Peruvian men came in and performed for us, singing and playing reed flutes, guitars, and other small string instruments. They sang some traditional Andean music, most of which was about "Pachamama," the Quechua for "Mother Earth," and also some more American songs, like "Hey Jude," which sounded pretty funny when played on a reed flute!
After dinner, we headed home, but on the way about half the group was distracted by a very good-looking pastry shop. Lauren went on to the hotel with group one, while I stayed with the pastry party. The lady in the shop was really sweet, and did her best to explain each dessert in Spanish as well as English as her abilities permitted. I haven't actually experimented much with Peruvian desserts myself, so I decided to try a piece of pound cake, which turned out to be lemony and a bit dry, probably due to the altitude. Most of the students decided to try the specialty of Cusco, which was called the "empanada de Semana Santa," or the "empanada of Holy Week." It pretty much looked like a poptart, and was a flaky, sugary bar of yumminess. I don't know that I would buy it with any regularity, but definitely worth tasting.
Once we made it back to the hotel, it was finally time to say goodbye to the PITTers and head home. I believe it was probably 9:30 PM by this point, which means that I "worked"/"played" (it's all about perspective!) for nearly 14 hours! I am tired and ready for bed, but glad that the first day was generally a success. I really like these students, and I think they're in for a pretty jam-packed but awesome 10 days!
Tomorrow will be a little quieter, as the group will be visiting a number of sites in areas surrounding Cusco. I think it will be nice to have a day at the office after so much running around today!
I'm still missing home quite a lot, but I think that having the distraction of group program coordination is going to be a very good thing, and I'm legitimately excited about building reservoirs starting on Thursday!
Hasta pronto!
It all began at 7:50 AM, when Lauren and I headed to the airport to meet our first summer group, 10 students and 2 professors from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering. This is the second year that the program has run, so the professors, both originally from Colombia, kind of know the drill. For many students, though, this was their first time in a developing country, and for a few it was even their first time out of the US!
I have decided that one of my best skills is making people feel warmly welcomed when they come to a new place. Not to brag, :-) but I think I have a knack for noticing when someone needs a friendly smile or a conversation partner or some encouraging words, and I try and provide them. I felt particularly well-equipped to do this with the Pittsburgh students because I'm practically in their shoes, having just arrived five days ago myself. Therefore, I was able to answer a lot of their questions because they were things very familiar to me--things that I had often just learned or mastered myself (food fears, altitude sickness, the dangers of people selling fake alpaca at super-low prices...you know, the usual...). Anyway, the students arrived right on time, and we all hopped into a big ol' van with ProWorld's driver, a very nice gent named David. Lauren and the students were first brought to the hostel where the students would be spending their first night, and I continued with the professors to their more extravagant lodgings. :-) They were staying at the Hotel Garcilosa, and it was pretty classy, with a nice plaza inside the entrance and a little room with a buffet and lots of mate de coca. I sat and chatted with them briefly while they filled out their reservation information, and then left them to rest.
I have to admit that I was sort of secretly hoping that I would get to "go home and rest" like the PITT students for the next few hours, but sadly 'twas not in the cards. Lauren needed me to compile orientation folders for the students, and once I finished that task and responded to some e-mails from US university contacts, it was time to meet the students and professors for lunch. I somehow became the professors' personal tour guide, which was a little intimidating because they've both been to Cusco before and both speak much better Spanish than me. But I managed to collect them and hold up a decent conversation as we walked to Los Toldos, a restaurant selling primarily rotisserie chicken and french fries. One of the semester students, Barb, pretty well freaked me out about the chicken in Peru, telling me that she had had three separate episodes of food poisoning, all chicken-related. That said, this chicken was pretty tasty, and I removed the skin, which made it feel somehow a little bit safer.
Lunch with the students was fun. I really liked talking to them and finding out where they came from and what they were thinking about Cusco and the whole experience so far. I was especially excited to meet a student named Kyle. Kyle's last name is Freehart, and somehow on his original ProWorld application, his name came up as Freehart Freehart, which we in the office just found hysterical. At least in my case, the amusement came from my association between Freehart and "Braveheart," and my subsequent image of this kid named Freehart riding into Cusco shirtless on horseback with a bow and arrow. Luckily, Kyle was quite good-natured about our amusement, and agreed to let us call him Freehart. (And thank goodness, because I don't think I'm going to be able to keep from saying it!)
After lunch came orientation, which was mostly led by Lauren. While orientation was going on, I had two Spanish-intensive tasks to complete. First, I had to call our dinner restaurant and tell the lady over the phone how many of each menu item we wanted. I was pretty afraid of messing this up, but it went off without a hitch, and the woman was very easy to understand. Task numero dos was to go to this office (in the most random location above a massage parlor and a restaurant) and get all of the PITT students International Student Identification Cards (ISIC cards). This required bringing the office a copy of each student's passport, as well as a miniature photo, ten dollars, and a student ID with a date on it. The students were rather unprepared to provide most of these items despite our request for it a few weeks ago, so we went on a fun little journey to the photocopy shop and the ATM and the money exchange counter, and finally I had everything I needed from every student...except Freehart, who forgot his student ID. After spending quite a bit of time in the office (the ISIC card woman and I became pretty serious BFFs), I emerged with 9 cards and a sense of empowerment for having successfully completed my task! While perhaps not particularly difficult, it was very new, and it was, of course, all in Spanish!
By the time I finished these lovely jobs, it was just about time to meet the students and professors for dinner at a placed called El Dorado, a few blocks from the plaza. For my first course, I ordered "sopa criolla," which had an English translation below it that said "noodle soup." This seemed fairly safe, but, as I should know by now, things are not always as they seem! I was pretty much given a bowl of sea water. Salty, fishy...might as well go to the Jersey shore and take a slurp or two. The upside to this is that I provided some serious amusement for the two PITT students on either side of me, who first just watched as I repeatedly attempted to eat tiny spoonfuls of the soup, and later became comfortable enough to tell me that it looked like "a bowl of Ramen noodles made by a five-year old and gone terribly wrong." No more sopa criolla for me! The main course, at least in my case, was much more appetizing. I had grilled trout served with cooked vegetables, rice, and--of course--french fries. A number of students went for the alpaca entree, and a few others had the lomo saltado. Cuy (guinea pig) wasn't a menu choice for this meal, but apparently one of the professors is a serious fan, so I'm sure that one of their meals will involve the delicacy. As we were finishing dinner, a group of four Peruvian men came in and performed for us, singing and playing reed flutes, guitars, and other small string instruments. They sang some traditional Andean music, most of which was about "Pachamama," the Quechua for "Mother Earth," and also some more American songs, like "Hey Jude," which sounded pretty funny when played on a reed flute!
After dinner, we headed home, but on the way about half the group was distracted by a very good-looking pastry shop. Lauren went on to the hotel with group one, while I stayed with the pastry party. The lady in the shop was really sweet, and did her best to explain each dessert in Spanish as well as English as her abilities permitted. I haven't actually experimented much with Peruvian desserts myself, so I decided to try a piece of pound cake, which turned out to be lemony and a bit dry, probably due to the altitude. Most of the students decided to try the specialty of Cusco, which was called the "empanada de Semana Santa," or the "empanada of Holy Week." It pretty much looked like a poptart, and was a flaky, sugary bar of yumminess. I don't know that I would buy it with any regularity, but definitely worth tasting.
Once we made it back to the hotel, it was finally time to say goodbye to the PITTers and head home. I believe it was probably 9:30 PM by this point, which means that I "worked"/"played" (it's all about perspective!) for nearly 14 hours! I am tired and ready for bed, but glad that the first day was generally a success. I really like these students, and I think they're in for a pretty jam-packed but awesome 10 days!
Tomorrow will be a little quieter, as the group will be visiting a number of sites in areas surrounding Cusco. I think it will be nice to have a day at the office after so much running around today!
I'm still missing home quite a lot, but I think that having the distraction of group program coordination is going to be a very good thing, and I'm legitimately excited about building reservoirs starting on Thursday!
Hasta pronto!
Monday, May 2, 2011
First Day of Work
Hello there, beautiful blog readers!
Happy Dia de Trabajadores! The "Day of Workers" was actually officially celebrated yesterday, but many workers are given the day off today as an act of appreciation. Apparently, we at ProWorld have far too much to do to merit a day off, so "heigh ho, heigh ho," it's to work we went!
Laura kindly led the way to the ProWorld office so that I would know how to get there in the future, though I'm hoping that I'll be able to follow her the next couple of times. The ProWorld office in Cusco is quite nice, and a lovely shade of purple! On the first floor is a bathroom, a common area with some couches, a table with fruit, coffee, and tea, and a kitchen. On the second floor are three offices. One belongs to Nico and Lalo, two Peruvian employees, the former our "tech guy" and the latter a coordinator of many of our on-site projects. Another belongs to Milagros, called Mila, a very sweet lady who's the Peru Country Director. She's a pretty big deal, but also super nice and friendly. And the third office belongs to...drumroll, please...Laura and me! We have a cute little space with two tables and lots of outlets for our various electrical items. I'm glad that I like Laura so much, because it looks like we're going to be spending quite a bit of time together! On the third floor are three more rooms, one of which is an office shared by Eliza and Lauren. I'm not sure what the other rooms are for, but I'm sure I'll find out sometime soon.
When we first arrived at the office a little before 10 AM, we all sat down and had a meeting regarding the groups arriving in May. There are a LOT of groups coming to Cusco this "summer," so we really have to stay on top of things. One of the ways that we're doing this is by having certain people serve as "point persons" for certain groups. Tomorrow, a group of engineering students arrives from the University of Pittsburgh, and Lauren and I will be heading up most of their activities while they're here. Our first job is a 7:50 AM airport pick-up. Woot!
Amusingly, a lot of my responsibilities also involve taking students out to restaurants for group lunches and dinners. I can't complain too much about that. I'm hoping that I'll come across a few places that will become favorites. Outside of the lunch and dinner excursions, I'll be helping to lead, and eventually leading myself, arrival orientation sessions, in which students get the lowdown on what's okay and not okay to do in Cusco. Eliza and Lauren both kept unconsciously referring to the session as "don't drink the water, don't flush the toilet paper," which was pretty funny, but those are actually two very important pieces of advice! I've managed to go all the way until today without flushing any toilet paper, but this afternoon I forgot and flushed a tiny bit of it. I'm hoping I didn't ruin Peru's sewage filtration system or anything. :-) I'll also be going with student groups on their project excursions. For the Pittsburgh students, this will involve traveling to an indigenous community and helping to build a reservoir that will provide better water filtration for the people. For my next big group, PT and OT students from The College of St. Scholastica, I'll be working at a school for children with special needs. I'm especially excited for the education-oriented project, but I think the reservoirs will be cool too. I'm also really excited about meeting the students and getting to know them and find out what brought them to Cusco!
After our meeting and the dispersal of various responsibilities, we separated and got to work. My tasks for today were mostly administrative. I had to use our company sales software to compile student flight information, homestay lists, and such. Since I travel so often for work, I actually appreciate an easy day of doing computer tasks with my music playing and a cup of tea by my side. THANK GOD that I found Global Pandora. Such a lifesaver! I made a radio station based on the music of Ginny Owens, and I am pretty much blissful! Poor Laura got the rather unfortunate job of making 100+ copies of the handouts we'll be giving out for the summer students. As you might guess, things sometimes move a little slower in Peru, so Laura ended up spending almost the entire afternoon waiting for the copies to finish! She's a positive little bugger, though, and she kept a smile on her face!
At around 1:30, I went to lunch with Eliza, Lauren, and Eliza's roommate Jenny, who's super sweet. Jenny is originally from Chinchero, in the Sacred Valley, but has been in Cusco for a while now. Her first language is Quechua, but she also speaks excellent Spanish and pretty high quality English too! I'm pretty super impressed with her for that! We went to a restaurant that had the menu del dia for 5 soles. For those of you who find large portions for small prices impressive (cough*Paul Whitman*cough), 5 soles is about $2.00. So for $2.00, I got a three course meal consisting of an appetizer, a choice of two entrees, and a dessert. It's sort of frustrating to only have one option for most menu del dia options, but I guess for the price, they have to limit things somewhere. (Things could get crazy!) At this particular place, the first course was a sopa de semola, basically a soup made of semolina, the tiny grain often made into a flour and used in Italian cooking. The soup was topped with french fries, which was a weirdly yummy garnish, and I very much enjoyed it. For the second course, Eliza and Lauren bravely went for the albondigas (basically a meatball dish served with some kind of puree...potatoes maybe?), and Jenny and I went for the safer option of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). The arroz con pollo was very good, and very flavorful, though unfortunately a tad bit cold. It was flavored with cilantro and peas and probably some other spices that I can't identify individually. The dessert looked like jello that had yet to set, and Lauren was the only person brave enough to try it. Her reaction was enough to keep the rest of us from even a bite! On our walk back to the office, I was feeling super full, even though I hadn't finished my soup or my arroz con pollo, but the other girls decided to get ice creams. It's very strange how much my appetite has diminished since I've arrived here, and I'm interested to see if it will last considering the amount of walking that I'm doing. I feel like I ought to be much hungrier than I am! For about half an hour after eating, I felt pretty nauseous and uncomfortable, but I just sat and did some work and slowly started to feel better. I'm hoping that I won't feel that way every time I eat Peruvian food, but at least the feeling passed. Maybe I should count that as another victory...?
After lunch, I finished my tasks, and headed out to the street. San Borja, the neighborhood where the office is located, isn't exactly the picture of safety, so I was a little nervous walking around, especially because it was pretty isolated. But I headed to the nearest busy street, where I hailed a cab to the grocery store on the Avenida del Sol. There, I bought some bleach (to decontaminate fruits and vegetables from the market), some cereal, some toilet paper, and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. It's interesting to see what items are expensive and inexpensive here in Peru. Shampoo and conditioner are definitely on the expensive list. I think they cost upwards of $6 a bottle for standard-sized Pantene Pro-V! Other things, though, like laundry detergent and beans and cab rides and nuts, are quite cheap. Go figure!
After my trip through the grocery store, I headed home, where I proceeded to cook (and partially burn) some popcorn. I also decided to risk using the laundry machine, which was giving Laura some issues a few days ago. Thankfully, I think that having watched her suffer made me something of an expert, and I've had no troubles so far (knock on wood!). I have to hang the clothes to dry, as dryers are very uncommon here, which is no problem except that I'm not sure if our little patio has a light or if I'll be hanging my clothes in darkness. I shall find out shortly! :-)
The highlight of my day came at 8 PM, when I got to Skype with my parents! I'd been avoiding it a little bit for the past few days because I knew that I would likely break down in tears if I spoke to them, but I'm feeling better each day and our conversation was so nice. It was wonderful to hear their voices, and Gram's voice too! They also spoke briefly to Laura, and the parties all became quite enthralled with each other, as is to be expected when two lovely groups of people meet!
Currently, I'm half-watching "Titanic" en espanol, and preparing to hang my laundry and enjoy a nice cup of tea before an early day tomorrow. I'm hoping to find some time tomorrow to get to a cafe called The Meeting Place. I actually came across it by chance on the internet, while looking for high altitude baking recipes. One of the results came from the blog of a missionary here in Cusco! It turns out that she works for a missionary group that runs a cafe providing American fare for people who might be a tad bit tired of the local cuisine. Their website also boasts an extensive tea collection, and I'm most drawn to it for that and for the chance to meet some of the missionaries who live and work in Cusco. In a country that considers itself 90% Catholic, I'm interested to know about the sort of outreach in which they engage and what their particular goals are. Judging by my conversation with the pedicurist of a few days ago, many (most?) Peruvians don't go to church regularly, but still consider themselves very religious because of their regular reading of the Bible and their attempts to live moral lives. While I wouldn't call this ideal, I also wouldn't call it horrific, so Cusco seems to present an interesting environment for a missionary. Anyway, I'm excited to get there and see what's up!
It's going to be a busy week with the Pittsburgh students, and I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you!
Sleep well!
Happy Dia de Trabajadores! The "Day of Workers" was actually officially celebrated yesterday, but many workers are given the day off today as an act of appreciation. Apparently, we at ProWorld have far too much to do to merit a day off, so "heigh ho, heigh ho," it's to work we went!
Laura kindly led the way to the ProWorld office so that I would know how to get there in the future, though I'm hoping that I'll be able to follow her the next couple of times. The ProWorld office in Cusco is quite nice, and a lovely shade of purple! On the first floor is a bathroom, a common area with some couches, a table with fruit, coffee, and tea, and a kitchen. On the second floor are three offices. One belongs to Nico and Lalo, two Peruvian employees, the former our "tech guy" and the latter a coordinator of many of our on-site projects. Another belongs to Milagros, called Mila, a very sweet lady who's the Peru Country Director. She's a pretty big deal, but also super nice and friendly. And the third office belongs to...drumroll, please...Laura and me! We have a cute little space with two tables and lots of outlets for our various electrical items. I'm glad that I like Laura so much, because it looks like we're going to be spending quite a bit of time together! On the third floor are three more rooms, one of which is an office shared by Eliza and Lauren. I'm not sure what the other rooms are for, but I'm sure I'll find out sometime soon.
When we first arrived at the office a little before 10 AM, we all sat down and had a meeting regarding the groups arriving in May. There are a LOT of groups coming to Cusco this "summer," so we really have to stay on top of things. One of the ways that we're doing this is by having certain people serve as "point persons" for certain groups. Tomorrow, a group of engineering students arrives from the University of Pittsburgh, and Lauren and I will be heading up most of their activities while they're here. Our first job is a 7:50 AM airport pick-up. Woot!
Amusingly, a lot of my responsibilities also involve taking students out to restaurants for group lunches and dinners. I can't complain too much about that. I'm hoping that I'll come across a few places that will become favorites. Outside of the lunch and dinner excursions, I'll be helping to lead, and eventually leading myself, arrival orientation sessions, in which students get the lowdown on what's okay and not okay to do in Cusco. Eliza and Lauren both kept unconsciously referring to the session as "don't drink the water, don't flush the toilet paper," which was pretty funny, but those are actually two very important pieces of advice! I've managed to go all the way until today without flushing any toilet paper, but this afternoon I forgot and flushed a tiny bit of it. I'm hoping I didn't ruin Peru's sewage filtration system or anything. :-) I'll also be going with student groups on their project excursions. For the Pittsburgh students, this will involve traveling to an indigenous community and helping to build a reservoir that will provide better water filtration for the people. For my next big group, PT and OT students from The College of St. Scholastica, I'll be working at a school for children with special needs. I'm especially excited for the education-oriented project, but I think the reservoirs will be cool too. I'm also really excited about meeting the students and getting to know them and find out what brought them to Cusco!
After our meeting and the dispersal of various responsibilities, we separated and got to work. My tasks for today were mostly administrative. I had to use our company sales software to compile student flight information, homestay lists, and such. Since I travel so often for work, I actually appreciate an easy day of doing computer tasks with my music playing and a cup of tea by my side. THANK GOD that I found Global Pandora. Such a lifesaver! I made a radio station based on the music of Ginny Owens, and I am pretty much blissful! Poor Laura got the rather unfortunate job of making 100+ copies of the handouts we'll be giving out for the summer students. As you might guess, things sometimes move a little slower in Peru, so Laura ended up spending almost the entire afternoon waiting for the copies to finish! She's a positive little bugger, though, and she kept a smile on her face!
At around 1:30, I went to lunch with Eliza, Lauren, and Eliza's roommate Jenny, who's super sweet. Jenny is originally from Chinchero, in the Sacred Valley, but has been in Cusco for a while now. Her first language is Quechua, but she also speaks excellent Spanish and pretty high quality English too! I'm pretty super impressed with her for that! We went to a restaurant that had the menu del dia for 5 soles. For those of you who find large portions for small prices impressive (cough*Paul Whitman*cough), 5 soles is about $2.00. So for $2.00, I got a three course meal consisting of an appetizer, a choice of two entrees, and a dessert. It's sort of frustrating to only have one option for most menu del dia options, but I guess for the price, they have to limit things somewhere. (Things could get crazy!) At this particular place, the first course was a sopa de semola, basically a soup made of semolina, the tiny grain often made into a flour and used in Italian cooking. The soup was topped with french fries, which was a weirdly yummy garnish, and I very much enjoyed it. For the second course, Eliza and Lauren bravely went for the albondigas (basically a meatball dish served with some kind of puree...potatoes maybe?), and Jenny and I went for the safer option of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). The arroz con pollo was very good, and very flavorful, though unfortunately a tad bit cold. It was flavored with cilantro and peas and probably some other spices that I can't identify individually. The dessert looked like jello that had yet to set, and Lauren was the only person brave enough to try it. Her reaction was enough to keep the rest of us from even a bite! On our walk back to the office, I was feeling super full, even though I hadn't finished my soup or my arroz con pollo, but the other girls decided to get ice creams. It's very strange how much my appetite has diminished since I've arrived here, and I'm interested to see if it will last considering the amount of walking that I'm doing. I feel like I ought to be much hungrier than I am! For about half an hour after eating, I felt pretty nauseous and uncomfortable, but I just sat and did some work and slowly started to feel better. I'm hoping that I won't feel that way every time I eat Peruvian food, but at least the feeling passed. Maybe I should count that as another victory...?
After lunch, I finished my tasks, and headed out to the street. San Borja, the neighborhood where the office is located, isn't exactly the picture of safety, so I was a little nervous walking around, especially because it was pretty isolated. But I headed to the nearest busy street, where I hailed a cab to the grocery store on the Avenida del Sol. There, I bought some bleach (to decontaminate fruits and vegetables from the market), some cereal, some toilet paper, and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. It's interesting to see what items are expensive and inexpensive here in Peru. Shampoo and conditioner are definitely on the expensive list. I think they cost upwards of $6 a bottle for standard-sized Pantene Pro-V! Other things, though, like laundry detergent and beans and cab rides and nuts, are quite cheap. Go figure!
After my trip through the grocery store, I headed home, where I proceeded to cook (and partially burn) some popcorn. I also decided to risk using the laundry machine, which was giving Laura some issues a few days ago. Thankfully, I think that having watched her suffer made me something of an expert, and I've had no troubles so far (knock on wood!). I have to hang the clothes to dry, as dryers are very uncommon here, which is no problem except that I'm not sure if our little patio has a light or if I'll be hanging my clothes in darkness. I shall find out shortly! :-)
The highlight of my day came at 8 PM, when I got to Skype with my parents! I'd been avoiding it a little bit for the past few days because I knew that I would likely break down in tears if I spoke to them, but I'm feeling better each day and our conversation was so nice. It was wonderful to hear their voices, and Gram's voice too! They also spoke briefly to Laura, and the parties all became quite enthralled with each other, as is to be expected when two lovely groups of people meet!
Currently, I'm half-watching "Titanic" en espanol, and preparing to hang my laundry and enjoy a nice cup of tea before an early day tomorrow. I'm hoping to find some time tomorrow to get to a cafe called The Meeting Place. I actually came across it by chance on the internet, while looking for high altitude baking recipes. One of the results came from the blog of a missionary here in Cusco! It turns out that she works for a missionary group that runs a cafe providing American fare for people who might be a tad bit tired of the local cuisine. Their website also boasts an extensive tea collection, and I'm most drawn to it for that and for the chance to meet some of the missionaries who live and work in Cusco. In a country that considers itself 90% Catholic, I'm interested to know about the sort of outreach in which they engage and what their particular goals are. Judging by my conversation with the pedicurist of a few days ago, many (most?) Peruvians don't go to church regularly, but still consider themselves very religious because of their regular reading of the Bible and their attempts to live moral lives. While I wouldn't call this ideal, I also wouldn't call it horrific, so Cusco seems to present an interesting environment for a missionary. Anyway, I'm excited to get there and see what's up!
It's going to be a busy week with the Pittsburgh students, and I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you!
Sleep well!
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