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.

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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.

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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

La Cultura Cura

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