First off, I'm sorry I haven't had consistent internet for a while. This entry roughly correspondes to Jan. 29-Feb. 8.

Before beginning the actual note, I should update you on the progress from last week

1)       The water from the rains two weeks ago has been draining well. When we went to Maras last weekend to build more stoves everything seemed to be in order, but Maras is also higher in the valley than Urubamba, where we were two weeks ago. I hear that the worst of the rain has moved on to Puno, and they’re experiencing now what we had last week and the week before, though it did rain most of yesterday and the day before, though today’s gorgeous… so we’ll see.

2)      My leg is fine, thank you J I think I’ll have a pretty sweet scar, so if anyone has suggestions for stories more interesting and less embarrassing than ‘I ran into a parked car’ I’m all ears.

 

Right, so the last week has been pretty good, if a bit lazy… we have so much class here it’s driving me a little crazy. However, I did learn that there’s a café nearby where Pablo Neruda used to write, so I’m looking forward to going there and writing. It’d be cool to sit where he sat and be able to journal... I also like being able to blend in here since I’m short and brown.

 

We finally got ceviche!! Pictures are up, and it was delicious. Cost? 13 soles for two people = about $4.50. Cost in the US for one plate half that size = $8. I am happy J If you don’t know, ceviche is a kind of seafood ‘salad’ with fish marinated and ‘cooked’ in lime juice, spices, salt, onions, and LOTS of cilantro. Sometimes it has tomatoes, potatoes, or other veggies too.  It was served with rice, seaweed, a soup, and some breaded, fried fish on the side. Absolutely delicious. It’s slightly cheaper in the markets, but regardless of how tasty market food is, it’s definitely sketchier.

 

Karaoke has not yet happened, but it will. I’ll just have to pull a few peoples’ legs to make it a reality. Until then, I will continue to sing along to songs that I may or may not know in various bars around Cusco.

 

Anyway, last Friday (the 5th) , we went to Maras to build stoves. (am looking forward to returning and seeing the salt pans! We’ll see if that can actually happen…) The house we were working in was way better prepared than the first time we had to build something, so it went more smoothly… until we got to the chimney and realized that we were going to have to hack a hole through their concrete roof and chip away a good chunk of their wall. It’s always awkward to take a pickax to the wall of someone’s house… especially since our Spanish isn’t really good enough to say “I’m sorry I’m putting holes in your home… but I have to install a chimney and this wooden beam is in the way, and if I cut the beam the roof will collapse, so I have to take this bit of wall out. Don’t worry though, I learned how to do this in about 15 minutes two weeks ago. I got it.” Actually, we can say that in Spanish… but generally the explanation doesn’t make the homeowners feel any more comfortable.

 

It was a good experience though, since the family was while we were working, and we discovered how terrible the old stoves really are. I also learned that taking an inhaler from sea level to 11,000 feet drastically decreases the concentration of my medication… common sense, yes, something you consider when you’re packing your life into a backpack, no. (Speaking of which, I am happy to say that I did not underpack! 22lbs for a month has been more than enough) They gave us each a boiled potato as a snack and to thank us when we were done, and we were all so hungry that we didn’t miss butter or cheese or beans or anything. They were amazing all by themselves.

 

So that was fun. Friday night there was a visual art and photography exhibition at a place that we casually as ‘The Inka Palace’ because back in the 1500s, it really was one. Now it’s called ‘El Convento Santo Domingo’ or ‘La Iglesia Santo Domingo’, even though it’s not really a convent or church either… I guess it used to be. The building itself is awesome because the foundations are Inka, but you can see where the Spanish started building on top of the ruins. The photography was brilliant, especially since I enjoy composing photos myself, but I definitely got the most out of the modern, multimedia displays. The primary medium was oil on wood or canvas, but they had metal work, some wood and plaster sculptures, and a bit of glass.

 

Outside the palace, there was some kind of ceremony, festival, something. It was pretty small, less than 80 people I’d say, but it involved chewing coca leaves and a drum circle and ended with people placing three coca leaves and a tiny flower in the fire and inhaling the smoke… I have no idea what it symbolized or why, but it was exciting to see and take part it. I didn’t have my camera that day, but Lauren took a few pictures without flash, so we wouldn’t disturb the ceremony. They barely turned out, but I’ll get them up when I can.

 

Saturday the 6th was actually Pisco day (pisco is a popular liquor in Peru, and the most popular drink is a ‘pisco sour’. I liked it until I found out that it contains a raw egg… then it got significantly less tasty) I didn’t really take advantage of it since I was completely exhausted (Friday = get up at 6am, build a stove, dig out some wood from mud, shower, eat, go out all night, sleep at 2am). Man! It was supposed to rain all weekend so we didn’t go to Puno like we wanted to, but it ended up barely raining at all! Apparently you can spend a night on an island in Lake Titicaca for fairly cheap… hopefully that’ll happen if we have another weekend off soon.

 

Sunday was spent beating Guillermo in chess, uploading photos (yeah, first album is up!), and hunting down and conversing with parents and various other family members who helped me figure out where in the country said parents were at the time (mum was until recently visiting ohio while dad was in texas without a phone… that was strange). My headset works again! That’s so exciting.

 

Monday was probably my best day in the last week, definitely the most exciting. We had classes in the morning and our Spanish professor got mad at us because we couldn’t answer a question right… not for laziness or lack of trying though, she just said the same thing 20 times, and that is NOT helpful. After a yummy lunch I headed out to run some errands and otherwise pass the hours until 6pm. (Kim threw Cleo a 21st birthday party starting at 6…) I left the house at 2, and got to the post office area on Avenia del Sol at about 2:30. I finally bought a purse (8 soles = approx $3) so I can stop using my jacket as an all-purpose container, mailed a couple letters/postcards, bought another chirimoya (aka custard apple or shareefa? Is that right Abhishek?), and located Café Extra (where Pablo Neruda wrote) though I did not get a chance to go in and journal L that will be later this week.

 

For some reason, as I was wandering around, I began going uphill. This might not seem like a big deal, but climbing up a couple hundred meters at this elevation is a lot harder than it is in Florida. Plus, being a bum for the last week didn’t help any. On my way to wherever I was going, some hippies hanging out in an alley asked me if I had pierced ears… and then if I wanted any… that was weird. No, I would not like you to use a long, curved, disease carrying anything to poke a hole clean through any part of my anatomy. Thank you for offering.

 

I found La Iglesia de San Cristobal, which is currently being renovated, and vaguely remembered something about there being something near by, so I started climbing the stairs just north of the church. 20 minutes later, I found myself in Sacsayhuaman, the Inka ruins closest to Cusco. I couldn’t actually go in because I didn’t have my student ID so tickets would have been twice what they are with the student discount, so I kept going uphill. Why not? Plus, I still had time. The view from the top of wherever I was is amazing. I’m sure that’s helpful if you’re ever in Cusco, but if you are, climb the hill just east of Sacsayhuaman’s entrance and find the giant Jesus! The view is absolutely awesome. I have a 30 second panoramic video and awesome photos, but I’m afraid those will just have to wait.

 

So the trip down was less eventful (though I did find out that you can take a horse tour for 4 hours for about 25 soles which made me really happy) until I tried to locate the birthday party … So the easiest way to get around Cusco are the combis – miniature busses that make having a car here more of a hindrance than a help – and rather than taking a taxi to get from the plaza de armas to my destination in Santa Monica, I decided to try to figure out the combis. That was all very well and good until someone got pushed out of the combi while it was moving. I’m still not exactly sure how it happened, but there was a fistfight in the middle of the street, an emergency vehicle that looked like an ambulance but wasn’t, several police cars, and basically resulted in a waste of 30 minutes and 60 centimos. Being the stubborn.. I mean adventurous person that I am, I took off walking… yeah… bad idea. Another 30 minutes later (by now I was running VERY late and it was almost dark) I took a taxi to the place. Dinner, we went out, yet another good night. 

 

Of course I found out the next morning that our excursions to Sacsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, and Pisac have been rescheduled for this weekend, not canceled after all, and my trek up to the ruins was a mostly useless adventure. If it’s possible for an adventure to be useless. Apparently we’re driving to the ruins though, which I still maintain is moderately silly.

I also just realized that this giant spider has made its home in the stuffed animals on the bookcase across from my bed… but considering my moderately unhealthy, comparatively recent arachnophilia, I can’t say I mind. It’s only the size of a small elephant.

 

Hm… that’s about it so far. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for almost a month. I just had my first Spanish exam (exciting of course) and I have an interview coming up for a program to teach in Hong Kong for about 6 weeks this summer, which should be pretty awesome, and I hear back from most of my other programs in March. I’m looking forward to that! It looks like the chances of getting something are decent, so we’ll see. Since I’m pondering taking a year or two off after college and researching or teaching something or the other abroad, it’ll be nice to pilot before making a longer term commitment. Mum’s still trying to convince me to go to India for Anmol’s wedding in March, but there’s no way I’ll be able to get there and back in a week and actually be able to enjoy the wedding, I’ve also gotten over my first bout of homesickness. I have about 12.5 weeks left here. Do you realize that I was in India for that long?!

 

I hope all’s still well wherever in the world you are.

 

-Geeta

 

P.S. Coming soon: working in an orphanage in El Capital Mundial del Pan, visiting Sacsayhuaman for real, Ollantaytambo, and Pisac, writing in ‘Café Extra’, and with luck, more pictures next week!