The Cat Sleeps In Clock

Being as that I’m not writing this from beyond the six feet pushing daisies, I survived Vegas! It was a blast of a weekend, it was such circus, so crazy it was Circus Circus (nudge nudge, wink wink, knowwhatImean?). On our first night we decided to start off at a buffet, because being a gluttonous American has its charms. The buffet was at the Paris hotel, however, as hard as it tired, I somehow knew I wasn’t in France. The idea of paiting the low ceilings like blue skies and clouds is insulting. For the designer to think that I’ll fall for that is just plane rude. (plane because I’m writing this from an airport) If anything, the horrendous ceilings make the space feel far more cramped. The line for the buffet was about 20 minutes, which wasn’t bad considering that we waited 45 for the lunch buffet at the Wynn two days later. I ate enough to make a saber-toothed tiger blush, and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one of dem STT eat, but it’s a sight that would make a wooly mammoth blush, speaking of mammoth, I don’t care what the ski and snowboarding conditions are…so don’t tell me…hugs! After hemos comido, we made our way grabbing free drinks and picking up free players cards (with free money to gamble away). At the Mirage I made about $70 off of a free tener, which was fun. Nothing too excited else happened that night, we made our way around the strip.

The next day, we started out with the breaky buffet, because waist bands should be in the triple digits. Then on to some thrift stores, of which there are many, and many of quality. We had been put on a guest list for Blush, a club at the Wynn, but I lacked the appropriate clothes to be let in and then become the light that all the beautiful moths are drawn to. I got a chance to go to the Circus Circus gym and we got delicious pizza for dinner. We spent the first part of the evening losing money…wait check that…winning money. We had put money on the Clippers both Friday and Saturday, and they won, because they’re great, both nights. After we left the bookie (I feel so grown up saying that…and a little scared that I might get my legs broken) we just sat at a couple machines getting money and drinks before the club. By the time we got to the club I was up $200!! Thank you Vegas. To read about what happened in the club you must be 18 years of age or older, have proof of citizen (anywhere, location isn’t important) and have a valid credit card.

In my winning of $200 the night before, I had also earned enough points for free lunch buffet on Sunday. This one was at the Wynn and was by far the best food, in the best casino. Even though it was only about noon I still had pizza, sushi and plenty of deserts. Friday had rained, but Nevada gave us a beautiful Saturday, but come Sunday, Neveda had changed its mind and decided to rain on us, even harder. It rained all the way through the entire drive. We even had to stop in Barstow to buy new wipers because Beau’s old ones weren’t doing a very good job.

Now though, I find myself on my next advantage…BOISE!! Whamp whamp, what it do? what it do? I’m super excited, my last trip to Boise was only 2 nights and 3 days but this trip is 4 nights, 5 days. That’s casi twice as long. I had to stop in Pheonix for a couple of hours, and just like what I remember of Arizona, it was hot and brownish red…ergo, not my favorite.

This Boise trip is especially meaningful because I get to see Hailey, since March 2009 when she left for the peacecorps, and Sarah, now childed, since graduation. Since I’m sure we’re all a tinsy bit growed up, I know that I’ve grown up a least one Kelvin, it’ll be great to meet the new us.

Random Factoid: I haven’t wanted a dog in a long time, but now I really want one.

La Cultura Cura

We Are The Initiators

Being as it's a day, I'm drinking coffee. My mug? Well, she's a beaut! Averagely crafted with a kitten sitting amongst some flowers watching a butterfly, a butterfly that happens to be on the inside of the mug. Can you imagine, a picture in stead a mug? Merica!

We are the initiators, a quote taken from the rally call of Sendero Luminoso, who terrorized the Peruvian Andes for almost 15 years. The speech was delivered by Abimael Guzman. I've been reading, Death In The Andes, By Mario Vargas LLosa. The story talkes much of average Peruvians living in remotes areas of the Andes struggling with SL's (Sendero Luminoso) violent reign. This sparked my interest in learning more about the SL. In reading Guzman's speech, I found myself to be conflicted from sentence to sentence. I would read a sentence that contained, words, phrases, and meanings with which I identified. He calls for positive action, a time to make voices heard. But then I am in strong opposition of what he is saying, a call to action, for bullets, for blood. A communist society in Peru. Guzman spent time in Mao's China, and he had, much to my imagination, the same reaction that I had in Cusco. He feel in love, everything over there just made sense to him. So, on that front, the xenaphoria, that would be the opposite of xenaphobia, Guzman and I are like brothers, we both saw a need for change, and a desire to institute that change...but his route is different that the one I am taking. Guzman: Massacres, Jason Moss: Education....I know mines better because it has more syllables.

I had the same conundrum while reading some of Ernesto Guevara's writings. I see myself as a good person who stills to see the best in people and help everyone, through education, to reach their full potential...to the moon!! When I read, and I believe and buy into what these communist revolutionaries are saying, I question my own beliefs. I've never been pretentious enough to claim that communism is "the way." For me the struggle I feel is the beauty of reading and the beauty of knowledge. Through reading, I am challenging my beliefs and growing a stronger more well rounded system of knowledge....makings mes alls smarts.

From the abstract to the pleasures of being 21. I will be making my first Las Vegas trip since I tenia 15 years. One week after that I will be going back to Boise. Both of these trips focus on night time activities that happen in buildings that look normal but play loud music, don't have waiters but do serve drinks, and require some form of age verification to enter. I haven't really had a good night on the town, painting the town yellow, I don't want to choose red and pick a side. Peace side!

10 days after I get back from Boise I will be starting my program at USC. Janurary 10th, I'm quick excited. Being as that the program is online, so was the orientation. And it's been a doosy. I've loved it. I've actually had assignments I need to complete before I have to start my first class. In fact, I'm still not done with them all. The 2 most interesting ones are, that I need to video tape a self interview and video tape me teaching a small lesson and then my thoughts about the lesson. My professors will not be in the classrooms with me so I will be video taping a lot of my work with students and uploading online. These 2 assignments were designed to get me used to that format. I'm glad they did too. It is strange to put myself in front of a camera. Like most people, I had the sound of my voice when it's been recorded, now I have to listen to myself...for school...gross. Luckily, I'm at my most confident when I'm teaching...so that should help. I bought a super awesome Sony Bloggie camera for my filming. It's just one button and shoots in HD...which is EPIC! I've loved all the work and time I've already put into the orientation at SC. I've gone a little bonkers and have bought 2 sweatshirts, 3 T-shirts, and 1 hat all with the SC logo. I really want some athletic shorts..but all in good time my readers. Good job Trojans on winning the crosstown showdown.

Random Factoid: Clipper nation unite!

La Cultura Cura

Mighty Morphin Mascots Marathon

As a lowly youth I was a leaf...from a mighty sycamore tree.
For a brief stint the leaf attempted a transformation to a shark but because of a lack of water that idea didn't float.
From the humble leaf, I grew into a panther. Might and bold, the panther reigned for 2 years.
One animal wasn't enough to contain the epic beast within. A magic spell and a couldren stiring sesh later and I was a whole wolfpack. For four years the wolfpack ran the I.E. with iron grips....but California wasn't big enough to handle the rambunctious animal within. A lone wolf emerged from the pack, but wasn't discovered, upon entering the state of Idaho that he was in fact a coyote in wolf's clothing. The yote enjoyed a fun and prosperous life span of 4 years, making many friends and experiencing so much. However, for 2 years after that my spirit was only a witness to the rider and the roadrunners. In the fall of 2010, I emerged, without any really difficultly, as a leopard...but the leopard wasn't the right mascot, but the leopard didn't exist too long before it reached it's full potential was a might man of troy, my trojan spirit is strong and is a dream manifestation for all I want in my education.

Random factoid: I don't get tired of reading or hearing people say, "Welcome to USC."

La Cultura Cura

Fight On!

De Colores

No invoco tu nombre en vano
"Soy y estoy en la luz que me produce,
Vivo en la sombra que me determina" (Neruda)

Para hacer un efuerzo a escribir los versos mas felices
recientemente solo escribo los versos mas gloomy

Puedo oir las voces de mis 2nd graders
De colores, de colores
Se visten los campos en la primavera.
De colores, de colores
Son los pajarillos que vienen de afuera.
De colores, de colores
Es el arco iris que vemos lucir.

Una cancion para los niños
Pero, para mi es un aviso para recordar los colores de mi vida

Mis ojos, verde y azul
Miran el amarillo del atardecer
El brillo de mi Ipod
blanco de cada sonrisa, es imposible a odiar una sonrisa
Azul, anaranjado, y amarillo de mis pulseras
Verde, de los arboles


Puedo escapar de vida hasta una tierra de colores
Tambien puedo tomar unas clases que puede enseñar me a escribir en español

Random factoid: Neruda described autumn as the "yellow dance"

La Cultura Cura

Breathy Pianist

It's not easy to be able to justify, within myself, the seperation between my dreams (goals not the one about the space crab eating Hariet Tubman's head) and the things that I can control. A vezes pienso que yo soy jugete, un marioneta de my dreams and also de my day to day world. When I let dreams be the way I see the world, I get let down when each day isn't what I expected from my dreams. On la otra mano, I find myself getting too into my day to day life and let my goals slip out of my sights. In a world of a short man traped in a mind of too many metacuartos, I myself thinking that while I have lived "the good life" where I was in a school everyday and I was in Peru, I was in the branches of a great tree, but it wasn't my trip, I shared it with many others. In the past two months I considered myself to be an acorn (remember, that's the long A sound, the one where A says it's name) drifting from the branches until the forest flower....where in the future my tree will grow. It's not easy being an acorn, I am falling, but while I fall I can understand that I can neither go back up to the branches, but I watch them as I fall, uncontrollably, towards the forest floor. I am starting to deal with this transitional phase, really I need more distractions...that help my goals. I need to make my reality to work for my goals...but that ain't no easy thang to do. I'll find a way, but until then, deja me pensar

Random factoid: Shakira wears Silly Bandz!

La Cultura Cura

Heart, Hazing, and Horcruxes

Manifesto for my discontent and disappointment with School A: 1. Heart and 2. Hazing....not so much Horcruxes...they're evil...mustn't touch. Lets start with heart before we move onto hazing (p.s. I wish I could find a font that will cross my "z"s like I do when I write on papers) At school A, I have no connection between my heart and my classes. I didn't start my classes with the intent to be disheartened....nah nah says he. This process evolved week in and week out when I wasn't challenge and wasn't taught with the assumption of intelligence, which a graduate program should have. I felt, I feel, as if I'm not being taught as someone who has completed four years of undergraduate education and hold a degree already. If I knew a 16 year old who wanted to get on the path for teaching I would put them in the classes that I am in now. I, by no means, am gifted or overly intelligent, nor do I claim to want to be educated on my heels with my back against the wall. I want a program that assumes I'm intelligent. I want professors who will challenge me with new and interesting ideas, but I feel as if this semester at School A has been comparable to the two weeks training that I got in AmeriCorps. It has just been watered down and stretched to last an entire semester. But week seven weeks in and I've leaved the amount of information I've received has been about two days worth of AmeriCorps training. At this rate, SERVES could give someone a masters in three weeks.
As for hazing, school A didn't offer any. I would've longed to have had been stripped down and beaten with a fig plant...but that's not what I mean. I mean, the way a personal feels more allegiance to something group or org. that they had to earn membership for. I am currently applying to school B, and they are a big awesome school that not a lot of people get into...so, if I get in I'll be part of a club...But, at school A there was no challenge to getting acceptance. My interview consistent of showing up...there were no questions asked. As I drive around town, the #1 most seen license plate holder is the one that says, alumnai of School A...I'm not part of a special club, I'm not special...I don't feel like I belong, because there doesn't seem to be a process of acceptance other than a pulse.

Well, I've rambled enough....P.S. I'll take 80K if you're giving it away.

Random Factoid: My calves are sore, I really need to stop trying to compete with Henry VIII's calves...his calves are royal.

La Cultura Cura

Heaven Knows I'm Treading Jello

I am getting to be quite well verse in the art of sitting around my house doing nothing, well that’s to my obligations as an American citizen I was given a break in the heart pounding sitting around action in the form of jury duty, dum dum dum!!!!! However, this turned my sitting around and doing nothing from a home game into an away game. I reported to duty at the courthouse on Tuesday. When I hear, since I was reporting for the government to do my civic duty I kept saluting everyone…and I got plenty of weird looks. Sadly, this isn’t true, but I think that if I had arrived at the courthouse and walked up to the security guard and saluted saying, “Jason Moss reporting for jury duty, at your service,” I’d be the coolest person ever. Next time. While I didn’t salute they must’ve liked something about me because I was actually put on a jury…as an alternate. As an alternate I got to be witness to everything about the trial…except the deliberation. Me, and the other 2 alternates, spent the deliberation time on the computers facebooking and reading the news…but this was the day that I discovered that Mario Vargas LLosa had won the Nobel Prize for literature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Vargas_Llosa, He is a Peruvian author and I was actually reading one of his books during my time in Peru. I have yet to finish it but my next book is to be a Spanish book, I think I’ll pick up where I left off in Travesuras de La Niña Mala or I’ll start La Ciudad y Los Perros. I am currently reading Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas, it is an easy read because I know the story, and it’s not on the same literature level as Vargas LLosa. To read real literature in Spanish is much more challenging meaning that I will need to bring a dictionary with me every time I go to read in a park or coffee shop.

Fiddlesticks, I’ve been sidetracked…I blame the Nazis. So, I was picked for a case in the courtroom S, for Special, so says Ted, our bailiff…who seemed to leave a lot to host lectures and put them online…he he, ha ha I is funny. The trial didn’t actually start until Wedneday, where we began by being read to…dear Heyzuez was that boring. The judge read us basic instructions for being a jury…which I’m sure he’s read thousands of times before. I wish he had taken some liberties and added random words and phrases just to spice it up, like some pilots do for their speech before takeoff. “The presumption of innocence states that the defendant is innocent until the prosecution can prove him guilty, which is unlikely because I had the tie the prosecutions shoes this morning…things are looking up for the defendant,” Or something funnier. We heard all witnesses on Wednesday and then heard from the defendant on Thursday. Finally deliberations started on Thursday…ergo the one of facebook started on Thursday. Around 430 on Thursday, the judge called us all back in and told us that we had to come back Friday, I think he just really wanted to make sure that we got all of the facebooking done that we could…I must’ve known that facebook is how I communicate with my international amigos ( I really wanted to make an alliteration there…too bad, yes, I’m rambling). It was getting on lunch on Friday and we were worring how much longer we’d be stuck in the amazing luxurious couthouse in Pomona. Around 1130 we got called in and finally the verdict was read…we got out of there around 1230. I rushed over to watch my dad in a concert put on by Pomona College. I hadn’t seen one in probably ten years and it was nice being there.

Jury duty paid…and it has actually doubled my bank account in the three days that I served…gross I know. I got a lot of reading done, I raced through George Saunders’ Civilwarland In Bad Decline in three days, it was a great read but I still would like to memorize his story, I Can Speakä, I can’t get enough of that story. JD, not the scrubs guy, really messed up my work out schedule…I actually didn’t work out one of the days…a first in about a month….luckily I had done a double workout the day before…I mean I’ve already run 4 miles today and I’ll probably go to the gym later today too….why, because I have the time.

So, I still have homework that needs to be done by tomorrow. The Internet tells me that my homework will take me just about an hour. How does the Internet know how long my homework will take? Well, because my homework is to make something for a multicultural potluck. Being that I have no culture, I have decided to make something Peruvian, a culture that I am forcing my way into. I am going to make Lomo Saltado, which is quite simple…I’m not a great…lets face it, I’m a bad….cook. The dish is really just meat, veggies, french fries, and rice…I’ll find a way to make it taste not the best. Oh well, I have to stay connected with my Peruvian experiences. I have been noticing a curious thing. I walk by many meaningful objects in my room 10+ times per day. There are my flags on my way, with all their signatures, a ltter from a study right by my TV, my amazingly technologically advance cell from Cusco, and countless other things. Each day though, I focus on them longer and the memory becomes stronger than the object. This is completely nature, however, at times, I do feel as though that parts of my life are atrophying. I haven’t used my Spanish since I’ve been back, I haven’t done any teaching, and I haven’t done any community service, major staples of my life seem to be just distant memories…I suppose this is normal. My mind is always thinking of countless, and most ridiculous, metaphors for me to get a better understanding of the way things are unfolding. One example being that I’ve been off to the races but someone has put a big chunk of Jello in the middle of the track and I find myself treading Jello.

Random factoid: USC really needs to get their D sorted out

La Cultura Cura

3500

What is 3500? Well, a quick google search tells me that Nokia makes a phone with the serial number of 3500, but no, that's not it. "Yes, you in the back, what do you think?" The teacher asks (hint hint, wink wink, nowhatImean?) Maybe it's the Dodge Ram 3500, available with an 8L engine which produces 310hp? A mighty beast, but no!!!! No ! NO! ño! 3500 is the amount of hours I have working with students in the last two years. That's 1700 in Salinas, 1700 in Federal Way, and another 100 in Cusco. Of course, that doesn't cover all the work I've done with students. I have coached gymnastics for years, another set of hours and not to mention all other random volunteer work with students that I've done. I consider myself quite qualified to work with students, not only because it is something I am comfortable with, but because I'm bloody good at it.

Lets put away the record books and take a look at what's going on right now. Right now, I find myself watching many movies and TV on DVD. I have read a fair amount, the best thing I've done in the past month, and I work out about 9 times a week, also a perk, but all in all, I do a lot of nothing. Nothing leads to boredom and boredom leads to a desire to spend money, however, I'm bored because I'm desempleado, ergo, no money, ergo, I can't do things that cost money, ergo, I'm bored.

I have an idea, that's advance my life plans. Dear god, can you hear me, it's me Mar...Jason, I want a shiny toy spaceship and to be a teacher. Well, to be a teacher one, me, needs their, my, certification. To get this certification one has to earn it. That is why, twice a week, I go to classes at a local private university. I spend 5 hours in two different classes, learning....nothing. These classes have been disigned for people who are completely new to education and schools. Yes, there are people who are currently observing in classrooms, have helped in their child's class, or who are subbing, but they don't truly know what it's like to be at a school, each day, working with the same students, and working within the system of a school...but I do. I'm sure that I sound quite arrogant. I find myself sitting in my class thinking that I am wasting my time. I know that these classes will lead to other and then I will be all certified, which is definitely what I want. But there has to be a better way, I can't see anything worthwhile in what I'm doing. The last thing that I did that fits with my lifestyle was saying goodbye to a student in Peru. I personally went to her house and made sure that I was able to say goodbye. Those were the days, eh? I miss having students, I miss doing something with my time, I miss doing the things that I love. It wasn't easy to figure out what I cared about in this world, but I figured it out, and now, after two straight years of doing things I love, I find myself, stagnant, stalled, and starving to find an outlet for my passions.

Random factoid: I ran a 5k last week and I got 3rd place for my age group...wow, 20-24 year olds are slow if I got 3rd.

La Cultura Cura

Restless Landscape

I don't really have much to write about...which is what I'll write about. I feel like I've stalled. Class and coaching are a chance for me to do something, class even helps my future, but I just keep applying and not hearing anything from other jobs. I feel like all the things I've done since I've left college have no impact on my current life. I am not suggesting that they weren't great experiences, they were lo mejor, it's just I am sad because my life now is not based on anything that I've done in the last 26 months.

On the bright side I am working out a lot, which is cool. Plus, I coached on Friday and it was so much fun being back with students. One of my girls only spoke Spanish and I really hope she keeps coming back because I have been researching gymnastical words in español. I won't have a full coaching schedule until octubre but I'll be doing a couple classes and a couple of private lessons...don't let me forget to call those privates tomorrow.

Random factoid: I like the look of my posts better with pictures so I'm adding one on here, it's from Peru, which I know isn't all that current.

La Cultura Cura

Worst Metaphor Ever

"If nothing is done immediately, many cohorts of students will miss their educational opportunity and sink into poverty." A quote from the final paragraphs of the book in front of me. It is a World Bank Country Study, Peruvian Education at a Crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century. Written in 2001 the book has five chapters that only take up 68 pages of this 281 page book. The remaining pages are all taken up by the appendix and background notes. Por ejemplo, for the chapter that most intrigued me, the one about teachers, there was a background note last 15 to 20 pages explaining how teachers become teachers. Why this couldn't've just been part of the normal chapter I'll never know. I just finished this book not but an hour ago...and when I say "finish," I don't mean that I read every page, cover to cover. It means that I "finished," all of the chapters and only read the background notes that appealed to me...like the one about teachers.

This book is just one book from the stack of books I have about education in Peru in my room. Combine those with the education books I have to read for my classes then I'm doing to major learning about learnering. I am going to start coaching at BV again in the afternoon but I still I'm longing to find work for the morning/early afternoon and weekends. I would love to have a job in a school because I miss being around students all of the time, I miss the lil' scamps.

My reading is a nice way for me to stay connected to Cusco. I sit here now with the TV off and no music...ergo, no distractions. This is when my longing is the strongest. My life is so connected to Cusco that it will truly never leave my mind ( don't worry Cusco you'll always be on my mind when I am living in you again...not creepy, I promise) I am choosing not to build a bridge and get over it (here comes the garbage metaphore) but instead to build a dam and channel that energy towards making my all my decisions focused and I am able to live up to my dreams.

Random factoid: Peruvian teachers make roughly $3,000 a year

La Cultura Cura

The Teacher Becomes The Student

There are 168 hours in a week. I spend roughly 56 of those hours sleeping. I had planned to spend 10 hours each day working and a couple hours a week in school. I now spend roughly 5 hours a week in school, a start, but I still need to find a job(s). I've applied to be the guy who drives the food from the central kitchen to all of the Claremont schools, a sub in Chino, and a job at Edible Arrangements...no go. I'll keep looking because I NEEEEEEED to occupy my time with work. I need to save up money and I need to go home.

I am super glad that I've started school. I've have one class so far and it was all about ELL, it reinforced a lot of things I already knew but that's only be I've worked with my share of ELL kids. I have class on Monday too. That means I won't be super busy, but now I'll be less bored too. I am still not registered at the school but while I get all of my paper work together they let me go to class.

I miss Cusco, but I've been talking to some people. Emails from students and I've been calling friends. I also got an email from a student from Salinas and another from Federal Way. I truly love hearing my students...my life=my students. My life on track, location...still working out the bugs.

Random factoid: I just finished my cup of coffee

La Cultura Cura

Concerned Cycles

I am afraid I'll fall into traps. Traps that I always fall in when I'm living in California. Cycles of the unemployed. Traps of a generic American coming back from time abroad.

Hopefully I'll be starting school real soon, but I am still unemployed, something I would like to fix two times over. My goal to be so busy that I don't realize I'm living at home has had the opposite happen. I am not busy at all. I do what I always do when I'm home for xmas, go to Klatch and work out...both great things, but neither a footing for a worth while life, that works towards my goals. I've had some communication with my future home but have only dreamt and hoped about how to get there. Frustration is fueled by inactivity and boredom. Hope is fueled by memories and imagination. I need to find a way to live more in the realm of hope and hold on tight to memories and imagination and parry all negative activities that come with inactivity and boredom.

Random Factoid: None of the school districts around me are hiring subs.

La Cultura Cura

Transition

Let me preface this post by saying that it is not anticonsumerism or antiUS…got that Washington….get out my grill! I’ve been back in the States for almost three days. To my surprise I have not wrestled with being back as bad as I did my first trip. I hated everything my first time back…the fat people, the food and the malls…all of it. I was at the mall today and I didn’t have the urge to set it on fire. I have no problems with malls, at least not any more than I did before my trip. Here’s the thing…I have just about zero dollars…I want a lot more…I need a lot more…but without money it is quite hard to leave your house in Claremont. Even if I want to go to the village I have to sit on a bench and either stare at a storefront or a nondescript road. The only parks are super small and tucked away in weird parts of town and lack any usable seating. The colleges aren’t a bad though, so there is that option.
All places where people gather here on the raggedy edge of the Inland Empire are shopping centers. The coffee shop I went to today was right next to a target and cleanest and brightest non-shop in the area was the newly paved parking lot. Take the Claremont village, a place design for people to gather and spend some time, maybe a car show or a just a walk around but to expand the village they added stores. There is no place in the village where you can come and sit and read, without buying anything. However, you are surround by shops and soon just want to buy something. The plazas in Cusco are much bigger and are centered about just being a plaza, a place where people meet, sit, take pictures, and yes spend money. There are businesses in every plaza…but they are not businesses are not all that you notice when in a plaza, but the village isn’t the village, it becomes 21 Choices, Yogurt Land, The Grill or Rhino. (Sorry if these names don’t mean anything) I’m not declaring one better than the other, only making an observation...interesting, eh, by?

I went in for my writing sample today at ULV and it seemed easy…hopefully I didn’t mess it all up. I have my interview next Wed. which means I have nothing to do for a week…which sucks…that means I’m going to want to spend money and I have nothing. I’d rather have no time to spend money because I’m too busy working and making money. I think I applied for a subbing job in Chino but I don’t know if I’ll get it or not….

Random Factoid:The Brits don't use a Z in the word organization...they write organisation...wierd!

La Cultura Cura

9 Hours...Just The Begining

It's true, the rumor mills can finally rest...I've left Cusco. Just writing those words sucked....blerg. I guess this is what it's like being a responsible grown up or something. My sadness doesn't not reflect the excitement to see all of my friends in EEUU. I'm just being a grumpy pants. Of course I am sad on the day I leave...if I'm not then the trip must've sucked or I'm a cold soulless meany-face.
I am super glad that my flight was the early afternoon. When I first left Peru in 2007, my flight was something like 9 in the morning. Today I didn't get in the airport until 1230. I was able to get a lot accomplished this morning. Starting around midnight I was able to throw up a few times....before you assume anything I can promise that I wasn't drunk. I was lucky enough to be among the majority of travels in Cusco and get random stomach bugs. I had quite a few my first time but this time I came out okay, I even ate crazier things this time around. But, I wasn't left out of the fun and got attached by the stomach military last night...so that was fun! After a few hours of bad sleep I was able to shower and get on with my day. Since my stomach still didn't love me I didn't have to worry about eating anything, this saved valuable seconds for the morning. I was supposed to me Kathy, my favorite student, at 830 this morning. Her mother had came to my house the night before to try and set up a time because her daughter really wanted to say bye. Of course, they're Peruvian so they were late...and by late I mean I left after waiting 20 minutes and then meet up with another friend, Shella. Shella is a really fun Columbian girl that I really started to hang out with in my last week in Cusco. We hung out for a little over an hour and then she had to go to work. I had promised to meet Ursula, a bartender at The Crown, a bar where I knew all the employees, but I stayed out late with Soriada and Rossmery...not to mention the vomit sitch....so I made sure to say goodbye this morning. I just sat around in the Plaza for a while reflecting and watching a parade of some sorts. I decided to walk home and finish my packing...which I didn't really have time to do...but I did it anyway....in your face father time! When I finally made it back home I had only just barely started packing when 7 year old Ana-Luz showed up asking me to follow her...um, small adorable latin kid...how can I say no. She is Kathy's cousin so I finally got to say bye to Kathy...after I did some chores. Her mom put me to work right when I got to their house, they are having a pollada....well, as I type this, so I had to take the chicken to the oven to be cooked. finally I got my stuff ready and set off for the airport. My main flight from Cusco to Lima was delayed in Lima so the lady put me on an early flight. Now I'm in Lima. I bought the Peruvian equivalent of an energy bar so I wouldn't have to buy anything here in the airport to eat...but I'm still hungry and the Papa John's looks delicious.

Random Factoid: I only took 200 less pictures this trip than the first, and this trip was only half of the time and I didn't leave Cusco.

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Nah dawg

I sit here typing on my computer after taking my second to last second to last shower. Like normal the water was freezing….oh wait, false! You might expect cold showers, but my shower is scorching hot…so hot I don’t stand in the spray of the water I have to splash it onto myself. I know that if I try to cool down the shower then it will just be like an iceberg is jumping out of the showerhead and punching you in the gentlemen’s reign…all over your body. Nonetheless, I would have an iceberg shower or a flame shower everyday because they it would mean that I didn’t have to leave. Today, the Canadian girls left, Laura, Andrea and the other one…what was her name? Oh yeah, Hayley Smith….(wow, I hope I didn’t make you rotted by that, at least you’re finally in it.) I told myself that if I was offered a job I would stay in Cusco…forever…but sadly, no job offers have arrived. I don’t know what I was expecting but yeah, a boy can dream.
I had my last day at Uriel Garcia today. I went to recess in the morning to say goodbye to students who I wouldn’t see in my class in the afternoon. I did not see one student, Sandra, and I feel terrible. Kathy, my fav, came to my afternoon class for the first time…it really made my day. She brought a letter from Sandra saying goodbye. This is the fourth time in three years that I’ve grown close to people and then moved away…it doesn’t get any easier. It sucked when I left Caldwell, I miss Salinas more than you want to read, I’m leaving so many people behind in WA, and now I am leaving my favorite city in the world and the first high schoolers I ever taught. I learned so much from them….I just prayed they learned something from me too. I really need to stop moving around…it’s really hard on the emotions…. not to mention my love life...I mean, COME ON! I will be heading to CA for an undetermined period of time…at least 2 years for school…most likely. I guess I do it to myself though. I mean, I have lived in three different states in the past three years, meet amazing people, and have gained experience I never would’ve gotten if I hadn’t do all of that…I’m reaching the point where I’m ready to start my life and I need to just stay somewhere and do it.
I wish I was more adventurous however, 99% of me wants to just not go to the airport on Sunday. 100% of me misses my friends but I really want them to just come visit me. The other 1% of me feels a sense of obligation to go home. I sabo that I’m not being original or unique with this thought, “oh, I love being abroad lets never go home.” And that’s fine, I’m okay with that. I could rant about why I’m different, but really…I’m probably not, I’m just a guy trying to figure things out. I’ve got a career path all there but I’m still figuring out the rest of it…hey, what’s the rush?
Humph!

Random Factoid: I'm going to miss the daily stomach ache

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Shucks, smucks and suckers(i.e. lollipops)

Tear…sad face…pout! I have entered my last week of my second trip to Cusco, but this mos def is not my last week in Cusco. I will return, stronger and more powerful!
I have been trying to fit as much stuff in as possible. I wrote last on Saturday after I watched a cool parade, well after that, the culture just kept coming. I came home to a traditional offering to the Pachamama (Quechua for mother nature). My roommate Mike and I also took part in the ceremony. While we don’t know much, any, Quechua we still really enjoyed the whole process. One offering was made for the family business and the toher was for important people in their lives. Apparently this is done only once a year so I only had a 1:365 chance of witnessing this. I also got to chew some coca leaves….I’m still coming down…NOT!, la hoja de coca no es una droga. Then I went to a fun party held by Maximo Nevil where they had free soda. I hung out with my site supervisor Mila, who is this super tiny 22 year old Peruvian with blue hair and I met her best friend, Shella, who is Columbian. After the soda ran out, Mike, Shella, and I went dancing until 330 in the mañana. Needless to say, Mama Africa will never be the same!
On Sunday, I went with Mike and the house Chef, Erlio, to fly kites up near Cristo Blanco, the big Jesus statue in my pics. There wasn’t much wind so we only fly kites for un rato. After, we went and got some chicha, which is a homemade Peruvian moonshine type drink made from corn. I was petrified to try it, but I really wanted to, so I did. It wasn’t bad, it was much sweeter than I expected and I didn’t get sick!!!!!!! I got a stummy ache from a pollo sanwhich but dirty handmade chicha is just like drinking water for me…yeppers!
Things I’m doing my last week:
-I bought a big Peruivan flag and I am having all of my students sign it. I am going to miss my students so much. I have been spending extra time at my school just to see them.
-I am going to buy a large Cusco flag to have all my house mates sign.
-Say bye to fun Canadian ladies
-Spend too much money
-get married

Fandom Ractoid: I never really ever want to visit Lima

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Y dice

“Good afternoon sir, what would you like?”-Cusco
“Ooh, how’s the culture?” – Me
“Fantastic, how much would you like?” – Cusco
“As much as possible please” – me, with vigor
The last 24 hours have been jammed packed with cultures, both new and old. I have loved it. It all started last night when I went to a concert and I saw Olga Tañon and Maricarmen Marin. The former is from Puerto Rico and the latter, Peru. I loved Ms. Marin the most. She preformed in the style of cumbia, while Olga preformed in the style of merengue. I had never heard of either artist before but I went because I love music and wanted to hit up a concert in South America. I did not know what to expect. The ticket said it started at 8, but since we’re in Peru, I decided not to leave until after 9. I had to wait in line for 45 minutes just to get in the door and then another half an hour in the beer line, but I couldn’t help it. I had to get a beer because the venue is called El Jardin de la Cerveza. In Los States, when you go to a concert you normally find yourself cramped up against everyone else at the show. But here, dance is almost mandatory so no one stands very close. I went alone so I felt too strange and lonely, jk dawg, to dance. But I was bumped and danced next to a lot. So, by the transitive property of dancing I totally danced my tail off. Honestly though, I think my favorite part about the concert was that no matter where I stood I could see. Peruvians are short and I was able to always have a good view, but I was asked to move a couple of times. I am a giant.
After a good night sleep where I dreamt about beautiful women and beautiful music I wen to get a breakfast buffest at one of my fav fav spots, I ate enough fruit to feed a badger for a century. On top of the fruit I had 7ish cups of coffee. So the best thing for me to do after was enjoy my second helping of culture. I entered the Plaza and saw a parade happsening…yes please. I took about two hundo fotos and love every minute. There were styles from all over Peru, preformed by people of all ages. I loved seeing them all dressed in traditional dress but with their white nikes on. I never want to leave.

Random factoid: Hitting people is stupid

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Two Things

There I am, sitting, chillanxing, and just reading a book. Next thing I know I hear sirens, look up, and I see everyone just standing around in the main Plaza. Yes, color me confused. After a woman sits next to me as says, in Spanish to her baby, "lets sit and wait for the earthquake to pass." Exsqueeze me? I look down and my feet and there doesn't appear to be a quake, I know I'm not in Rancho watching a baseball game. Finally I ask someone what is happening and I am told that the city is doing a quake drill...wow, that's interesting and once the traffic starts moving a van pulls up and a bunch of people jump out the back with a bunch of bags and start assembling emergency tents in the Plaza. It was amazing to watch them go, and comforting to know that the whole city does drills and not just the schools. I just had to write about it.

After the commotion I meet up with a Peruvian friend for lunch and had a great time, a really great time, then I had great class. Yay for Peru!

Random factoid: I even mumble in Spanish.

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Confieso que he vivido

Allow me to put four letters together and say, "ouch!" I have started running here and have experienced a whole new realm of discomfort. I'm used to the aches and pains on my body from running not at 11,000 feet, but those don't compare to the feeling of your lungs desperately struggling for oxygen when you're heart beats 180 times a minute. I am glad that I waited a whole month to start running but I wasn't ready for this feeling. I understand that my body will get used to get but after only 10 minutes I'm wiped. But oh, it'll all pay off when I get back to EEUU. I should be able to run home from Seattle on the 31st instead of take a flight. I think it would be awesome to train for a marathon here and then run it at sea level...I think I'd be able to run two in a row.

School is better now because we are finally following the schedule of one level per day instead of a cluster of all the levels. Today is level 2 and they is cra cra so that'll be fun. I got a new little helper in my class. I used litter as a joke because he's huge and 36. I wish it was Thursday and or Friday because then I'd get to sees my fav students....not that I have favs

Random factoid: Don't go to a cafe here called the meeting place because it's run by yanks and they don't let you read in peace, I didn't come to Peru talk to gringos and speak English

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Canadian Invasion

Holy smokes am I tired.
I worked my firm little booty off today. If anyone has seen any pictures of Cusco you might have seen some giant letters that read Viva Peru Glorioso. I had been wanting to climb onto one of the letters for quite sometime, and today, in honor of Andrea's birthday, I did. We started out around 930 in the EHEM from our house and just walked towards the side of the hill.
Our first stop was a large statue of Pachacutec and a large Incan style door frame. We had to climb A LOT of stairs and with some help from some construction workers we found the road that lead us up to the statue. Once at the statue, we discovered that they used to be a place were people would come visit look out at Cusco but now it was covered in graffiti, trash, and old booze bottles. There still was amazing view of the city, and we were only about 1/3 of the way up the hill. We took pictures and explored a little. At one point, we somehow climbed up the side of the statue and Mike and Andrea couldn't get down, so me and Laura did our best to encourage them and laugh at them equally.
Once we had all stately come down from there we headed out towards the letters. To get to the letters we had to walk through this tiny little community that we did not even knew existed there. As we walked through, most of the people were very nice but one may would not respond to our "buenos dias" and just grumbled at us in Quechua. We all certainly felt like we were trespassing, slightly. After the village, we were right below the letters. Andrea and I sat on some giant Os and then decided to make our way up up and up the mountain. Insert heavy breathing because that mountain kicked our bottoms. It was an amazing climb where we were not sure if a man was trying to tell us to leave or helping us. Finally we got to the top and were surround by no less than 5 butterflies. Look at the pictures on my facebook. It was a great way to enjoy a nice Sat. morning!!! What what!

Random Factoid: I have meet far too many Canadians

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Treebranch Applesauce

Written in the AM: My first stint teaching English took place during my students’ midyear vacation. This means that the students were coming to class for 3 hours a day on their break…which is awesome. Their normal classes have recommenced and sadly mine have not. I begged, pleaded, prayed, and sacrificed a llama or two to be able to have my same place for the reminder of my time here. Did I get it? Nopecity! I have 5th level students, all around the ages of 15-17, but I will only get to see them on Friday. The other days I get to work with all of the other levels. Yesterday, I had the 2nd level, meaning I had to deal with too many 13 year olds with too much attitude. Blerg! It was awful! Of course, our support from Maximo Nivel is unorganized and convoluted. If I had the same class, I could be able to learn what they need most and they tailor my teaching to fit these needs, or even better if I solely worked with my same class from before then I would already know what they needed. But since I have a different level each day, I can’t accurate plan what to do with my students because I have no idea what their abilities are.
There is also the boys...I teach an all girl class and when the boys are outside they sick their heads through the window and whistle at the girls and do cat calls. It’s unbelievable how disrespectful they are. I need to find a way to get these boys to back off. Most of the girls yesterday were really good at ignoring them but some of the girls were egging on the boys. I am missing windows and I must find a way to close them off or put the girl sin the area away from the windows. I did not have fun yesterday. I need to alter my teaching style to better work in these situations. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that today goes a little better. I might ask if there might be another classroom where we can have a safer learning environment.

Written in the PM:
I have just come back from my second day on my new teaching schedule. My first class from 3-415 only had six students, and they are wonderful students. A perfect class you might say. During my second class, which tragically is longer than the first, after I have 15 students I sent the other 15 to a different class that only had 5 students. This decision made my day so much better. Instead of struggling to get them to shut up and work, I was able to get to know them better. I also started implementing some rules and structure and it was defiantly a big help. They still have a long way to go...but they are only kids and they can handle it. I know they can. I have some very smart girls. I was pleased that two of my students from last week ask if they could join and I said only if they got there on time, so they said they’d arrive early to make sure they’d be in my class. That meant a lot to me.

Random Factoid: I bought a cell phone. I got the phone and a month of service for $24

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HOW TO MAKE A PHONE CALL TO A PERUVIAN

Step 1: Ask your Peruvian for their number
Step 2: Ask which service they have, Claro or Movistar
Step 3: Walk down the street until you see someone in a neon green vest
Step 4: Ask for the phone from your desired company, Claro or Movistar
Step 5: Make phone call
Step 6: Pay on you time you will pay based on a system of S/. .50 for 30 seconds
Step 7: Walk home
Step 8: Be unreachable if your friends need to call you back and change the plans
Step 9: Be super upset when they don’t show up
Step 10: Try to save the relationship not having a cell phone has thrown a wrench into
Step 11: Buy cell phone

I have currently completed steps 1-10, and step 11 will be completed within the next few days if the price is within $50 (US).

Chevere

Que Chevere la vida! After a hiccup or two with my personal life I have abandoned the situation that was frustrating and now am living clean and clear and under-control. My Peruvian friend base is not only going larger in terms of quantity but also in strength, meaning that what Peruvian friends I tengo are closer. I had coffee with Soriada today and will be meeting up with Katy tonight. We have a new addition of three Canadian chicks and they are a blast. We all click really well with our senses of humor, and once they learn to love my mumbling they won’t be able to get enough…claro.
My walk on Sunday was amazing; I went to Saqsaywaman and Q’enqo as planned but diverged off the main road a bit and found myself on a bueatiful road. Cars haven’t drive on this road in years, if even, because it is coated in beautiful brownish green grass. It was amazing. When I got back into the city I stumbled upon a culinary festival and fun parade for one of the million saints in the world. I got some great pictures. I had been meaning to get pictures of a parade, but luckily Cusco loves parades and they have them almost hourly.
My Spanish feels great, but I am still awares of my limits. I am talk without pausing much but I am consisting jumping forms but eventually, with help, I get there. I found though that when a Peruvian corrects me I’m fine with it, but a fellow gringo corrected me and I was annoyed…I guess it’s just one of my little quirks, of which I have plenty.
Teaching English is going great; I’m so in love with my students. They are so amazing. They have so much personality and so much to teach me. Me and Jerome, a frenchy who is also teaching in my room, that’s right MY room, get along really well with the students. Career path: Best plan I ever done made. I love being a constant source of positive energy with the whippersnappers. They make my day brighter, and I wouldn’t want to teach if it wasn’t for my first trip to Peru. I wis I was better at words but simple I’m happy and it’s because of Peru, then and n

Fav City Del World

I love Cusco, I love the dirty streets, I love the people bothering me to get a massage, I love how I’m getting sun burns in winter, I love my watch tan, I love my students, I love the little snack stands every ten feet, I love their non sweet hot chocolate, I love all the stairs, I love how much walking I’m doing, but most of all I love the people.
I have officially befriended the entire waitress staff at The Crown, a bar in the Plaza de Armas looking out towards the Cathedral. They are amazing people, and they have been quite helpful in my romantic endeavors as well. I am probably going to be getting a cell phone for the month of August. I guess the phone doesn’t cost much and I can do prepaid. I am really tired of having to watching 3 blocks to find someone who is wearing a neon vest who rents out cell phones for as I can make a phones call. Not to mention, none of my Peruamigos have any way of calling me. I’ll have to do some research but hopefully I can get a phone; it’ll make my life so much easier.
So, last night I had the craziest encounter. I was walking home, down Av. Del Sol, and I ran into Estella Rodriqeuz, a kinder teacher from Frank Paul. I worked in her class during my first year of AmeriCorps. Here she is, just walking around my favorite city in the world. She tells me it was her last night in town and then invites me out to dinner, a fancy dinner…her treat. Of course I accepted, so I went to dinner with her and her two friends, they combined ages hovers just around 200 years old. I put on my best and most charming face for talking to grown ups and had a great dinner. Then I showed them how to get to their hotel, because they don’t know the city that well and Estella gives me S/. 50! Hot damn! I had a couple drinks with some friends and I paid, it was a blast. Yesterday has probably been one of my big highlights so far. Oh, I almost forgot, Estella gave me her tourist pass to all of the ruins. Now I can go to the ruins near Cusco and not have to pay a dime. I wasn’t going to go to any but now I can, I’m going to try to hit up three of them, Tambomachay, Q’enqo, and Sacsaywaman.

Profe

After my week with 3 year olds I knew that I never wanted to work with any kid under the age of kinder, unless they were my own… and only maybe. After some frustration with the administration not being timely with their communications and instructions for my next project, I finally got to go to my site for the next two weeks.
Imagine this scene, you walked into a room and you see a 16-year-old girl, scary I know! Well, times that by 43 and you have the number of 16-year-old girls I met today…that’s right, that’s almost 1 million teenage girls…terrifying. Why did I walk into such a hostile environment? I’ll tell you, I am charged with the task of making them listen, not only listen…. learn. I am there to teach them English. Here’s the thing, they want to listen, to want to be there, and most importantly they want to learn! It’s like a dream, all educators wish, hope, dream, and/or sell they souls for a classroom full of eager students. This means the students have already done half of my job for me. These are cognizant teens meeting me half way, how could I be so lucky. I came away from my morning with a new glow to my demeanor, which was something I really needed this morning. We had a half an hour recess at 1015 and I was immediately grabbed by some students to come play volleyball, keep in mind they had only known me for less than an hour. I had a great time, every time I did something well they were all very supportive, or course when I messed up, they made sure I knew that I had messed up. The icing on the whole morning was when I had to improve a small lesson and it went over perfectly. They were amazing, my goal is to learn all of their names, and so far I know a Jenny.
This afternoon I started an intercambios program where I meet with a local who is studying English and we spend half of our time practicing Spanish for me and the other half with English for her. We were paired by aged so we have many similar things to talk about. Our first meeting so today so we mostly only talked about this like how many brothers and sisters we have, our jobs and what we do on the weekend. I was able to help her practice a presentation she has to give for work, which is in English because she works for a tourism agency. I have asked her to take me to some of her favorite spots in the city for our meetings so I can practice my Spanish while also exploring the Peruvian side of Cusco.

No volunteering or intercambios tomorrow because it is a national holiday, Peruvian Impendence day. I am excited for all of the celebrations. I’m going to make sure I act as American as possible

Random factoid: I impressed my house chef because I went to an all Peruvian dance club and was the only gringo there it was a ratio of 300:1

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Unas fotos

Here are some pictures.

Random factoid: Toms are not good shoes for walking about on old cobblestone roads...very slippery.

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Inka Fe

I am beging to hit my stride. My excitement has truly begun. I remember why I love this place and what it means to me. Every time I turn the corner and see one part of the city, my heart starts beating faster and my breath shortens. Today I turned one corner and saw a fountain that I walked by at last 100 times in my first trip but with the water, the hills and the buildings in the background I was forced to take a second to really let it all set in.

As I sat on a balcony, drinking hot chocolate, and watching a family a tourists walk by unawares that two young boys were urinating not 10 feet behind them I remembered the phrased I coined three years ago, Gringokuna. Which is a mix of the words gringo, white person, and runakuna, which is the quechuan word for humans or people. When I left Peru in 2007 I fancied myself somewhere between a tourist and, not a Cusqueña, but someone more natural. I am not a native but I want to believe that I have a sense of belonging that others might not. I am glad that I have done all of the tourist things, visit the ruins, nightclubs, and a visit to Lake Titicaca, I plan to spend this trip doing none of those things. I’m giving my self a S/. 10(soles) limit each day, which amounts to $3.54. It only cost me S/. 1 to get to my site and back, I walk to Spanish class and bottled water is usually around S/. 1. This leaves S/. 8 for coffee or email a good filling meal at Antojitos where for S/. 8 you get an appetizer, a soup, a main course and a drink. I will make exceptions when I am out with people and once a week I will splurge and buy myself a nice meal somewhere. Also, when things like laundry, mailing a post card (Katie, it’s in the mail), buying a phone card, a notebook, toothpaste, etc… exceptions will be made.

I am still not in a complete rhythm. I have felt home sick for the first time in my life. Washington, you really did have an effect on me. I was unsure how I fit in within my program because they are all doing all the tourist trips like the Scared Valley and Machu Picchu. However, things are becoming clearer. I am realizing that I need to occupy myself and keep focused. I am going to create a list of questions that cannot be answer in one day to struggle with through the time of my trip. I need to kick my can into hear and integrate myself within groups of Cusqueñas, and not just those connected with Maximo Nivel (http://www.maximonivel.com/, the group I am working with here in Cusco), but other “independent” residents, hopefully Rossmery will be my in. I do know however that I can’t truly understand my time here this early in my trip, but it helps to have a plan. Coffee, think, book, think, book in Spanish, occasional beer….

Here is a picture, it's kind of dark but it's a view from where I'm staying.

Random factoid: The price of a cappuccino con crema from Inkafe has gone up one S/. 1

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Fate, Friends, and French Toast...well maybe not French Toast

Hello everybody! I am writing to you from my first full day in Cusco. I woke up in Cusco, I ate breakfast in Cusco and today I visit my volunteer site and start Spanish lessions. I am not quite sure what my site is, school, orphanage, circus training facility, but I know that it will be in the realm of childcare. I also got placed in advanced Spanish. I´m defiantly nervous about it. I feel the most comfertable in conversation but when it comes to the names of all of the verb forms and tenses then I´m as lost as a ferret jumping over the moon...I just don´t know how. It´s only for a week and there are tutors available.

I am living in a family home/hostel near the area wher I lived with my family before, near the Marcado Confranternidad. It is a nice 20 minute walk to Maximo Nivel, the organization I work with, office and another 3 minutes to the Plaza de Armas, Cusco´s main center. I have a roommate, Christopher, from Canada for three weeks and then he leaves. At that point I would like to see if they could place me in a more central housing arangment. Christopher has never been here before, and I´ve been taking him around to some of the places I knew before. We had lunch at Antojitos which gives you mucho food for under 3 dollars. I had a very pleasant suprise on our walk yesterday when, on my way to see if my old waitress friends Hannah and Rossmery still worked at Inka Fe, I practicially walked into Rossmery working at a resteraunt in the Plaza de Armas. I had pipe dreams about running into her, but I didn´t really expect it to happen. Well, I got her number and it looks like I will get to actually hang out with Peruvians. I´m super excited. Now, with my better Spanish, I´ll be able to communicate much better and our relationship won´t be based soley on my apperance.

Random factoid: The resteraunt 3x2, on of my favorties, seems to have closed...just kidding, I saw it was open today....my b

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10.000 Feet

The forecast for today, Excited with scattered nerves.

Well, I'm finally on my Peru journey. I have learned a lot in the three years since my last encounter with El Umbligo Del Mundo (Cusco). I'm more mature, more focused, and more better at Spanish. I get to return to the place to work with kids, that made me want to work with kids under the umbrella of service. The mathematical proof looks like this Jason+Peru 2007=2 years with AmeriCorps.

I am currently playing on a plane and wifing...Cra cra! I am at 10,000 feet...almost just like Cusco, at this rate we won't have to change course to land perfect in Cusco. However, I feel that the passengers heading to LAX would have a few words to say about that. My heart got a good workout when I tried to use a self check in machine box and it said that I didn't have a reservation...Yikes! I had to wait in line and talk to someone to make it right. Since I'm on the plane right now it must've worked.

I would like to thank everyone for their kind departing words for the past few days. I miss you already. I wish you could all come with me. I love you all, August 30th (a Monday) We must do a big dinner. Life goes on, but I will always hold you in my heart.

Random Factoid: I am wearing a clip top of my front right pocket of my pants. Those of you who went to Peru with me before might remember this. It's a tribute.

La Cultura Cura

Blog?

So, I'll be chronically my viajes in Cusco through this blog to try to keep people in the loop-dee- loop. I'll try to be coherent and make as much sense as possible. If I can figure it out I will put up pictures too. T-minus (the bear) 4 days until I fly out for my six week adventure in the Incan capital nestled in the Andes. It has been just over three years since my last expedition to the foreign country that most resembles California if you were to draw them both. I can credit many of my life choices over the past three years to my travels in Peru. I built relationships with people because of the mature and knowledge gain during my time abroad. I spent two years working with AmeriCorps and discovered a talent and passion for teaching...I really can't put into words the gargantuan effect my previous time in Peru has been to me.

I go back, to give back. I will be working with the Global Volunteer Network, http://www.globalvolunteernetwork.org/peru/, and will be doing some form of childcare...though the details are to be disclosed upon my arrival. Sorry I don't have much to share yet..but I am only just sitting in my room in Tacoma.

La Cultura Cura