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

La Cultura Cura

Unas fotos

Here are some pictures.

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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