Well this is well overdue but things have been crazy ever since I got back. Here are some excerpts from journal entries in the jungle.
Intro
After a 10 hour bus ride that could have qualified as some kind of karmic punishment I arrived in Puerto Maldonado. Hector was late to pick me up because of a flat tire, but eventually things got sorted out and I made it first to the Casa Ita offices and then to the little port on the Madre de Dios River. We took a boat about an hour and a half up river and after safely making it off the boat I promtply slipped in the mud! I was fine, but dirty which is in retrospect a fairly common state of being in the jungle. After getting settled in we went to some other volunteer houses up river where I rested and some of the others picked fruit to take to the resort.
27 Aug 2011
Today was a good day. After lunch we took a smaller boat up an off shoot and the boys went swimming. Everyon seems nice and there are fireflies and hammocks. So many things here remind me of Brazil! It makes me even more excited to go in November.
29 Aug 2011
Levin finally got here yesterday. He got lost in Puerto! Today we went to work on the Canopy house, which was a little bit lame because there wasn´t quite enough work to go around for all the people. It was fun though. It was lame because we would get an assignement for two people to paint a bathroom with only one paintbrush... Things like that.
30 Aug 2011
Today we woke up early to collect dead bugs (for scientific monitoring) and then go up to the canopy walk to look at birds. We saw some really pretty small ones that were black and blue with green faces and some of them had red under their wings.
Later I spent a long time washing clothes which wont be dry because it rained. Then we went to monkey island and fed monkeys! The only pictures I got are with my iphone because something is wrong with my camera, which isn´t charging right. Either way it was really cool, they ate right out of our hands.
When we came home it started to rain while we were playing volleyball and everyone got muddy. We got a lot of bug bites, especially Levin.
Haley will be here in the morning!!!
31 Aug 2011
In the morning it was windy so we couldy do anything because a branch could fall on you on the trail so Levin and I spent the morning reading to eachother while Diogo played games on my phone. We are reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and after we got tired of reading aloud we shared the book. It was pretty cool becuase I have never met anyone who reads at the same pace I do.
Haley finally got here with junk food from Kate! Then we went to collect seeds which was booring and buggy- but the company was good. I worked with Levin and Haley until it started getting dark. So we started going back but Jeorge couldn´t find the trail so we stumbled around in the dark for about an hour and a half. Luckily some in our grou had flashlights. Nobody panicked and there were really pretty fireflies. To entertain ourselves sometimes we sang. My favorite was when I sang Disney songs with Diogo. I sang in English and he sang in Portuguese (he is from Portugal). We did find the trail- we were almost home and it was a miracle that noone had tripped and fallen in the dark. So of course I tripped and fell!
Everyone cleaned up and after dinner we watched Cool Runnings which everyone liked.
Then Levin and Haley and I curled up on a matress that someone had pulled out onto the screened portch and we dozed off watching the fireflies blinking. It was perfect.
1 Sept 2011
Today we went to walk this new trail at a hotel that is being built. It was ok but I was tired and we went wading in a creek, but it was very rocky and I wished I had shoes I could get wet. Everyone had run out of water and we were sooo thirsty we drank river water, which at the very least was running clear and cool.
When we finally got home we played volleyball which isn´t my favorite, but is better than sitting out.
Tonight is our last night in the jungle.
2 Sept 2011
This morning I wasn´t feeling well so I stayed home instead of going to work on the house, where there is never quite enough work for everyone. Last time I held a can of varnish for Diogo while he painted. Again, at least the company is good. In the afternoon we packed up and took the boat back with everyone and got settled into Hostels. We went for Pizza and I fell asleep at the table! I was so tired. Then we went out dancing but I was so exhausted I wasn´t much fun.
3 Sept 2011
Happy Birthday Mom!
Our hostel wasn´t bad but we certainly had noisy neighbors. After several hours of trying to go back to sleep I finally just went out to scrounge up some breakfast. I asked around for a bakery hoping to find something like the bakeries in Brazil where we could always find something great and cheap for breakfast. I don´t know if we weren´t really in the right part of town or if bakeries here just aren´t the same, but there wasn´t much to choose from. It was better than nothing. I stopped at a corner store and bought some juice and then I borrowed a knife from a woman who worked in a restaruant next to our hostel.
Later we met up with everyone else and had peruvian chinese food for lunch. It was pretty good. Then we used the slowest internet in the world! It has since been suggested to me that it was not infact the slowest internet in the world, but regular internet on Peruvian time.
We got ice cream and then visited a little square that had a nice view of the river and the bridge before Levin and I had to leave and catch our bus. It was sad to leave all the new friends I´d made and to say goodbye to Haley, but we´re facebook friends now and I hope to meet up with them when I go to Lima to get a visa for my trip to Brazil.
The busride back was better than there mostly because I had company, and then partly because the bus had a bathroom and we had the seats right at the very front. Since the first level of the bus was for luggage and the drivers our seats were right up against huge windows and we could put our feet up. I had brought a bag of peanut lovers chex mix and we got some crackers and cookies four our 'dinner' from the bus company.
Although I was initially grateful for the bathroom on the bus the ultimate results fell somewhere between comic and disasterous. As we were making the extremely curvy ascent back into Cusco I went to use the restroom. For obvious reasons there was no way I was going to touch any part of myself to the toilet seat. As I awkwardly positioned my self above the seat (which was a bit too high for me) we took a sharp turn at a rather high speed and I lost my balance a little bit. Needless to say things that are not meant to be wet were wet and I had to go with out. Either way we managed to get home safe, and the altitutde sickness, which for me is just a headache, went away much faster than the first time I arrived in Cusco.
There is still more to be accounted for which I will work on more this week. Also I will work on getting pictures. Hope this gives you an idea of what the jungle was like! I would go back in a heart beat!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Random Stuff
Well I haven´t posted since Machu Picchu because not much has happened that seemed to compare. However I´ve been having a good time. I made friends with three Japanese volunteers who were only here a week. I took them to the black market and to the market at San Blas, where Mom will definitly want to go look at jewlery. When I bought some snacks for my upcoming 10 hour bus ride to the jungle I couldn´t resist buying some reeses peanutbutter cups and a giant pixie stick for them to try. I think they were well recieved.
Last night we tried to go to a karaoke bar. We got there only to realize that it was the sorriest excuse for karaoke the world has ever seen. All of the songs they had in English were either really old or really slow and sappy. I would have been fine with singing something from before I was born if it had happend to be one that anybody had ever heard of. Ryota (Japanese med student) told me as we were getting home that it was not karaoke and that I have to come to Japan to go out with them and get it right.
Today I took the three of them to Jacks where we met up with my friend Haley and her mom, and Syndey who is new to the house. I had a steak sandwich which was ok, but then I had what was basically a mint lime slush which was out of this world.
Now I am off to run my last minute errands before I´m off to the jungle. I think I´m in for an adventure.
Last night we tried to go to a karaoke bar. We got there only to realize that it was the sorriest excuse for karaoke the world has ever seen. All of the songs they had in English were either really old or really slow and sappy. I would have been fine with singing something from before I was born if it had happend to be one that anybody had ever heard of. Ryota (Japanese med student) told me as we were getting home that it was not karaoke and that I have to come to Japan to go out with them and get it right.
Today I took the three of them to Jacks where we met up with my friend Haley and her mom, and Syndey who is new to the house. I had a steak sandwich which was ok, but then I had what was basically a mint lime slush which was out of this world.
Now I am off to run my last minute errands before I´m off to the jungle. I think I´m in for an adventure.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
WhyMe Picchu
The last few weeks here have been really busy with friends coming, going, and adventuring. Two weekends ago I went to Moray with Kate, Haley, and Thomas. We saw the famous tiered rings that the incas used to for agricultural experiments and we also saw the salt mines that are still in use today. The salt there is all natural and is exported all over the world. That was a bit of an adventure because we did it with out a guide, we just took a bus and then found a taxi to take us around once we got there.
The bigger adventure however was Machu Picchu which was absolutely beautiful. However, getting there, and getting started was a trial. The travel agency was more than 30 minutes late picking me up and when I finally got to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu where everyone stays) there was no one from the hostal to pick me up. This wouldn't have been a problem except that my friends were arriving later that day from a five day trek and Kate was the one who had organized everything. Naturally I had also forgotten my Peruvian cell at the house. So I just figured out where they were supposed to come down from the mountains and I waited for them.
As the luck of the day would have it I missed them and they, not realizing that I was already there, assumed that I would arrive later that afternoon. The agency told me that they wouldn't arrive until sometime between 4-5 so I thought nothing of it until it started getting late. By this time I had made friends with a man who had a shop right by where the trekkers come off the trail and a waitress at a restaurant where I ate dinner. The waitress, Edith, introduced me to another tour guide who knew of a hostel where large trek groups often stayed and after I had eaten he walked me down to the hostel. By this point my friends had realized that something obviously was not right and were frantically searching for me at the places I had indicated in my facebook messages. We were reunited and everything worked out great.
The next morning we got up at 3:30 to get on one of the first busses to Machu because I had a cold and the hike up is takes about an hour and is more than 2000 stairs. We ate our breakfast and on the bus ride up, I thought it would be smart to take some IB profen because I hadn't gotten much sleep and I knew the sun would be bright and I didn't want to get a headache and ruin the day. I was being careful, I had used both my inhalers, the preventative and the regular one and been taking my claratin. I wanted this to be a great day. What I didn't think about was the fact that ever since I had some stomach issues a few weeks ago my stomach hasn't handled pills very well.
So we arrived at the gates of Machu Picchu and hiked up the steep steps to a beautiful view of the ancient city. I needed to use my inhaler once more on the steps up, but other than that I was feeling good. We took some pictures and kept wandering around when my stomach started to cramp and feel weird. After wandering around like that for a few minutes, certain that I could walk it off I sat down and threw up. I was sure that the day was ruined and my money, time and stress had all be a waste. I walked around a bit more and had to sit down again for about 15 minutes. I just kept thinking that I was going to miss everything. Then I felt better, found my tour group and friends, Kate, Levin and Haley and enjoyed the rest of the day. I'm not sure that could really be described as anything less than a miracle.
I did decide not to hike Wayna or Huayna Picchu since even though I was feeling much better I didn't feel like scrambling up the steepest stairway ever. Apparently at least 24 people, including a few guides familiar with the trail, have plummeted to their deaths. I wasn't willing to press my luck. So I waited at the entrance chatting with the many Brazilians who were there that day and even one of my English students, Mario, who is a tour guide. He is fluent in French and since there aren't very many guides who are, I suspect he does pretty well for himself. He offered to show us around Cusco in November.
I mentioned that I wasn't sure if Dad would like Machu Picchu because of the heights and Mario assured me that there were things to see even if you had to skip some things in order to avoid the parts near the cliffs. I didn't take any pictures on the bus ride up but even that seemed like it would be asking a lot.
The bus ride is 24 soles each way, so we decided to walk down. Everything in the town, and everything on the trek along the way had been very expensive. Since there was nowhere else to go everything along the way to Machu is possibly the biggest tourist trap I have ever experienced. The steps were intense and about half way down (since I essentially hadn't eaten all day) I got a bit wobbly and we walked the normal road down hill the rest of the way. When we finally got back to Aguas Calientes we stopped for lunch at the pizza place where Edith worked and I put lunch and snacks for the train on the credit card. We were all broke, dehydrated and starving. We mostly ordered liquids, two jars of limeade, 2.5 liters of water and a sprite to make some of the limeade fizzy. We also had a tomato salad and two pizzas. We were just about as happy to be sitting there and drinking cool water as when I finally arrived at the Marriott in Zurich. My friends were profusely grateful and tonight plan to email Mom and Dad and thank them personally for saving their lives.
We wandered around a little bit but were so tired we ended up going to the waiting room at the train station early and waiting. We slept for most of the train and bus rides back to Cusco, but since it was dark there wasn't much to see anyway. It was an amazing trip, even though the beginning was a little rough.
I'll try to get more pictures up this week, but sometimes the internet is soooo slow!
The bigger adventure however was Machu Picchu which was absolutely beautiful. However, getting there, and getting started was a trial. The travel agency was more than 30 minutes late picking me up and when I finally got to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu where everyone stays) there was no one from the hostal to pick me up. This wouldn't have been a problem except that my friends were arriving later that day from a five day trek and Kate was the one who had organized everything. Naturally I had also forgotten my Peruvian cell at the house. So I just figured out where they were supposed to come down from the mountains and I waited for them.
As the luck of the day would have it I missed them and they, not realizing that I was already there, assumed that I would arrive later that afternoon. The agency told me that they wouldn't arrive until sometime between 4-5 so I thought nothing of it until it started getting late. By this time I had made friends with a man who had a shop right by where the trekkers come off the trail and a waitress at a restaurant where I ate dinner. The waitress, Edith, introduced me to another tour guide who knew of a hostel where large trek groups often stayed and after I had eaten he walked me down to the hostel. By this point my friends had realized that something obviously was not right and were frantically searching for me at the places I had indicated in my facebook messages. We were reunited and everything worked out great.
The next morning we got up at 3:30 to get on one of the first busses to Machu because I had a cold and the hike up is takes about an hour and is more than 2000 stairs. We ate our breakfast and on the bus ride up, I thought it would be smart to take some IB profen because I hadn't gotten much sleep and I knew the sun would be bright and I didn't want to get a headache and ruin the day. I was being careful, I had used both my inhalers, the preventative and the regular one and been taking my claratin. I wanted this to be a great day. What I didn't think about was the fact that ever since I had some stomach issues a few weeks ago my stomach hasn't handled pills very well.
So we arrived at the gates of Machu Picchu and hiked up the steep steps to a beautiful view of the ancient city. I needed to use my inhaler once more on the steps up, but other than that I was feeling good. We took some pictures and kept wandering around when my stomach started to cramp and feel weird. After wandering around like that for a few minutes, certain that I could walk it off I sat down and threw up. I was sure that the day was ruined and my money, time and stress had all be a waste. I walked around a bit more and had to sit down again for about 15 minutes. I just kept thinking that I was going to miss everything. Then I felt better, found my tour group and friends, Kate, Levin and Haley and enjoyed the rest of the day. I'm not sure that could really be described as anything less than a miracle.
I did decide not to hike Wayna or Huayna Picchu since even though I was feeling much better I didn't feel like scrambling up the steepest stairway ever. Apparently at least 24 people, including a few guides familiar with the trail, have plummeted to their deaths. I wasn't willing to press my luck. So I waited at the entrance chatting with the many Brazilians who were there that day and even one of my English students, Mario, who is a tour guide. He is fluent in French and since there aren't very many guides who are, I suspect he does pretty well for himself. He offered to show us around Cusco in November.
I mentioned that I wasn't sure if Dad would like Machu Picchu because of the heights and Mario assured me that there were things to see even if you had to skip some things in order to avoid the parts near the cliffs. I didn't take any pictures on the bus ride up but even that seemed like it would be asking a lot.
The bus ride is 24 soles each way, so we decided to walk down. Everything in the town, and everything on the trek along the way had been very expensive. Since there was nowhere else to go everything along the way to Machu is possibly the biggest tourist trap I have ever experienced. The steps were intense and about half way down (since I essentially hadn't eaten all day) I got a bit wobbly and we walked the normal road down hill the rest of the way. When we finally got back to Aguas Calientes we stopped for lunch at the pizza place where Edith worked and I put lunch and snacks for the train on the credit card. We were all broke, dehydrated and starving. We mostly ordered liquids, two jars of limeade, 2.5 liters of water and a sprite to make some of the limeade fizzy. We also had a tomato salad and two pizzas. We were just about as happy to be sitting there and drinking cool water as when I finally arrived at the Marriott in Zurich. My friends were profusely grateful and tonight plan to email Mom and Dad and thank them personally for saving their lives.
We wandered around a little bit but were so tired we ended up going to the waiting room at the train station early and waiting. We slept for most of the train and bus rides back to Cusco, but since it was dark there wasn't much to see anyway. It was an amazing trip, even though the beginning was a little rough.
I'll try to get more pictures up this week, but sometimes the internet is soooo slow!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Saturn Looks Like a Sticker
Well alot has happened since last time I posted, including a really cool trip to the planetarium. The planetarium is pretty small, but it is run by a retired astronomy professor and was really cool. We got a general tour of southern hemisphere constelations, info about the importance of star gazing in Inca culture and some close up views through a telescope. We got to see some brightly colored stars, a close up of a star that is actually more than a million stars and saturn and its rings. It was really cool, one of the girls in our group said it looked like a sticker, and it kind of did!
Then we had a massive weekend of going out because Felicia from Denmark, Felicia from Baltimore, Stephanie from Alaska and Jaime, our cook, all left the house. It was fairly emotional. This morning I was facebook chatting with Felicia from Denmark and I showed her a video of the Dirty Dash and she said she wants to save her money and come! So I have been tenativly planning an awesome trip for her, but it depends when school dates start and when next years race dates are. All we know so far is that we will definitly do the mud run and Disney land. So far everyone in the house says they are coming. Maybe I will be surprised! Anyone who wants to see the video can look at http://www.thedirtydash.com/
Last week we also booked Machu Picchu. We went through this agency and the process was insane. There were these three Peruvian women who kept yelling back and forth, and talking on two phones at the same time and things like that. The booking process for Machu Picchu tickets reciently went online and everyone has to use it. The process has apparently been stressful. I am pretty excited to visit and do some hiking.
My roommates and I are also planning a week in the jungle except that Kate can only go one week and Haley can only go the week after Kate and I don't know who to go with! They won't be alone because our friend Levin will be there for 2 weeks, but I don't know if I will like the Jungle enough to want to stay there 2 weeks. I've heard that there is a canopy walk there too, which sounds fun.
I'm organizing a talent show at my project this Friday. I'm really excited to see what everyone comes up with. There will definitely be pictures. I haven't done anything really photo worthy recently but I will look through my pictures for a few silly ones of us to post too.
Then we had a massive weekend of going out because Felicia from Denmark, Felicia from Baltimore, Stephanie from Alaska and Jaime, our cook, all left the house. It was fairly emotional. This morning I was facebook chatting with Felicia from Denmark and I showed her a video of the Dirty Dash and she said she wants to save her money and come! So I have been tenativly planning an awesome trip for her, but it depends when school dates start and when next years race dates are. All we know so far is that we will definitly do the mud run and Disney land. So far everyone in the house says they are coming. Maybe I will be surprised! Anyone who wants to see the video can look at http://www.thedirtydash.com/
Last week we also booked Machu Picchu. We went through this agency and the process was insane. There were these three Peruvian women who kept yelling back and forth, and talking on two phones at the same time and things like that. The booking process for Machu Picchu tickets reciently went online and everyone has to use it. The process has apparently been stressful. I am pretty excited to visit and do some hiking.
My roommates and I are also planning a week in the jungle except that Kate can only go one week and Haley can only go the week after Kate and I don't know who to go with! They won't be alone because our friend Levin will be there for 2 weeks, but I don't know if I will like the Jungle enough to want to stay there 2 weeks. I've heard that there is a canopy walk there too, which sounds fun.
I'm organizing a talent show at my project this Friday. I'm really excited to see what everyone comes up with. There will definitely be pictures. I haven't done anything really photo worthy recently but I will look through my pictures for a few silly ones of us to post too.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
A Little Too Much Adventure
So last weekend I was supposed to go to this awesome dance festival but I got sick and stayed home. My friends had a great time, but they were going to stay up all night. This was mostly because the small town would be so full of people that there wouldn't be anywhere to sleep. I was sad to miss out on the fun with Felicia and Kate, but I knew that with my cold I would have been miserable.
Then this week was Ollie's last week in the house, he left on Thursday morning for Bolivia. So on Wednesday we made cookies for him, and his friend Morgan. I used a chocolate cake mix to make the cookies and then I made cream cheese frosting. They were a huge success. Later that night we all went out to give them a good send off. We had a good time until some guy got really aggressive and wanted to fight someone, anyone, even Stephanie. We ended up leaving the club because we didn't want any trouble and then Levin remembered that when we first got there that guy had offered him coke in the bathroom. That explained a lot, but it was a pretty tense few minutes. I was glad that all of my friends were so level headed.
Ollie was a great guy to have around and the house feels empty without him. However my roommate Kate and our housemate Levin still manage to have a good time. Last night we went out with some people from my project, who we managed to loose rather quickly with the exception of Yvonni, who is from Greece. She is an engineering major and might come to a big convention in Houston in November. We are facebook friends now, so that if she makes it we can meet up for dinner or something. We were looking for her roommates and ended up at a club called Mythology. It's been closed for construction so we hadn't been there before. I liked it, there seemed to be less people who were super drunk, less cigarette smoke and fewer creepy guys starring.
I am looking forward to church tomorrow. Last time I was there one of the Sisters wanted to know if I could teach them to decorate cupcakes at a relief society activity. I didn't think I'd need anything, so I didn't bring any supplies. I'm not sure they'll still be interested once they see how much you really need to get started. Maybe someone in the ward already has some of the stuff though, that would make things much easier.
One of my roommates Nivea went to the planeterium here and she said it was really cool. It was one of her favorite things that she did while she was here and we want to go do that soon. She said that it was really awesome because they pointed out a whole bunch of constellations that you can't seen in the Northern Hemisphere. The only ones I can find here are the Southern Cross and an upside down Orion.
I have been really bad about remembering to bring my camera, so I haven't taken any pictures all week. I will try and be better about that!
Then this week was Ollie's last week in the house, he left on Thursday morning for Bolivia. So on Wednesday we made cookies for him, and his friend Morgan. I used a chocolate cake mix to make the cookies and then I made cream cheese frosting. They were a huge success. Later that night we all went out to give them a good send off. We had a good time until some guy got really aggressive and wanted to fight someone, anyone, even Stephanie. We ended up leaving the club because we didn't want any trouble and then Levin remembered that when we first got there that guy had offered him coke in the bathroom. That explained a lot, but it was a pretty tense few minutes. I was glad that all of my friends were so level headed.
Ollie was a great guy to have around and the house feels empty without him. However my roommate Kate and our housemate Levin still manage to have a good time. Last night we went out with some people from my project, who we managed to loose rather quickly with the exception of Yvonni, who is from Greece. She is an engineering major and might come to a big convention in Houston in November. We are facebook friends now, so that if she makes it we can meet up for dinner or something. We were looking for her roommates and ended up at a club called Mythology. It's been closed for construction so we hadn't been there before. I liked it, there seemed to be less people who were super drunk, less cigarette smoke and fewer creepy guys starring.
I am looking forward to church tomorrow. Last time I was there one of the Sisters wanted to know if I could teach them to decorate cupcakes at a relief society activity. I didn't think I'd need anything, so I didn't bring any supplies. I'm not sure they'll still be interested once they see how much you really need to get started. Maybe someone in the ward already has some of the stuff though, that would make things much easier.
One of my roommates Nivea went to the planeterium here and she said it was really cool. It was one of her favorite things that she did while she was here and we want to go do that soon. She said that it was really awesome because they pointed out a whole bunch of constellations that you can't seen in the Northern Hemisphere. The only ones I can find here are the Southern Cross and an upside down Orion.
I have been really bad about remembering to bring my camera, so I haven't taken any pictures all week. I will try and be better about that!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Russian National Ballet
So Monday night I went with three friends from the house to the ballet. Kate, Levin, Felicia and I were treated to a compressed version of Swan Lake that was about 45 minutes long, followed by selections from other shows. Overall I thought it good, but the male lead in swan lake was almost completely expressionless and at times he almost seemed to waddle, rather than dance. He gave off the impression that he was only there to stand behind the ballerina except for a few specific times when he tried to look happy. I decided that his expressionless death mask was better because his "happy face" was creepy and forced. Other than that the show was very good, although the audience had interesting ideas about conduct. Everyone had snacks, one woman took constant photo, and one man answered his phone! There was a cute kid behind us who oohd and ahhd when there were lifts or impressive dresses.
Things have been going well at my project. We moved into a new room which is bigger. Both of the girls I was working with last night had terrible colds and were having a hard time but one of them couldn't say would. She could only say good. I think she needs to move down into the beginner class and I felt bad because I was loosing my patience a bit with them. Mostly because they came to class too sick to really work.
Last night when I got home from my project several people were going out and so I went with them. I didn't think we'd be out that long but I ended up staying out with Ollie and Levin until almost five in the morning. We had a good time though, some girl thought they looked like The Beatles and took a whole bunch of pictures. She definitely wasn't interested in me, apparently I was cast in the role of Yoko because every time they talked to me she would get a little annoyed. We danced and Levin and Ollie even got up on the bar for awhile. Their dancing was very entertaining but since I didn't realize we were going dancing, or how late we would be out I didn't bring a camera! I did get some pictures from before the ballet which I will get posted ASAP. Next week is Ollie's last week and when we go out I'll be sure to have my camera with me!Thankfully there wasn't anyone being obnoxious like last time. The last time we went out I kept having to elbow this drunk guy who wanted to lean on me. Last night there was just a polite Peruvian who offered me some beer and then left me alone when I declined.
This weekend we are supposed to go to some dance festival a few hours away where we would camp in the middle of the city. I'm not sure if it's going to work out, and the idea of carrying around everything I bring with me all day definitely doesn't sound fun as my sleeping bag is neither small nor light. If my house mates get the tent rental worked out I'll go anyway.
Chao
Things have been going well at my project. We moved into a new room which is bigger. Both of the girls I was working with last night had terrible colds and were having a hard time but one of them couldn't say would. She could only say good. I think she needs to move down into the beginner class and I felt bad because I was loosing my patience a bit with them. Mostly because they came to class too sick to really work.
Last night when I got home from my project several people were going out and so I went with them. I didn't think we'd be out that long but I ended up staying out with Ollie and Levin until almost five in the morning. We had a good time though, some girl thought they looked like The Beatles and took a whole bunch of pictures. She definitely wasn't interested in me, apparently I was cast in the role of Yoko because every time they talked to me she would get a little annoyed. We danced and Levin and Ollie even got up on the bar for awhile. Their dancing was very entertaining but since I didn't realize we were going dancing, or how late we would be out I didn't bring a camera! I did get some pictures from before the ballet which I will get posted ASAP. Next week is Ollie's last week and when we go out I'll be sure to have my camera with me!Thankfully there wasn't anyone being obnoxious like last time. The last time we went out I kept having to elbow this drunk guy who wanted to lean on me. Last night there was just a polite Peruvian who offered me some beer and then left me alone when I declined.
This weekend we are supposed to go to some dance festival a few hours away where we would camp in the middle of the city. I'm not sure if it's going to work out, and the idea of carrying around everything I bring with me all day definitely doesn't sound fun as my sleeping bag is neither small nor light. If my house mates get the tent rental worked out I'll go anyway.
Chao
Monday, July 4, 2011
The First Wave
So since last week a lot has happened. One of the boys in the house had a birthday, I tried to bake, the first group of volunteers has left, and I played the piano in church (poorly).
The baking incident was, as some of you know, related to the birthday. We tried to make Fancy Birthday Brownies for Ollie (the Aussie) but we encountered a host of problems in our attempts. First of all we didn´t have a decently sized pan, and in guessing we (ahmm, I) chose one that was much too large. We left about a 4 inches of empty pan, instead of spreading our brownies too thin. Then, I didn´t know how to turn on the oven. So I asked for help, and one of the ladies who works at the house, Margo, turned it on for us. The brownies had only been in the oven about 5 minutes when I smelled burning. Alysen said it was probably just something that had fallen into the bottom of the oven that was burning but I checked them anyway. The broiler had been turned on! To be completely fair to Margo, she is not one of the cooks and it really was not her fault. Our Fancy Birthday Brownies were burned on top and liquid on the bottom. We scooped out the burned layer and reset the oven. We renamed them the Disaster Brownies despite their eventual salvage.
To make matters even worse, Ollie only got one piece! Everyone else ate them before he really even had a chance. How rude.
His birthday party was quite the success and everyone had a good time out on the town for the evening. Australians have a "speech" tradition at birthdays which consists of some gentle hazing by friends, and was quite revealing.
We went out again on Friday night because Ian, Alysen, and Chris were leaving. It was fun, but not quite as energetic as Ollie´s party. We got home late and they left Saturday night. On Saturday Levin and I tried to make them cookies, snickerdoodles, but we couldn´t find all the ingredients so we settled for Betty Crocker instant cookies. Apparently snickerdoodles are not well known. None of the Canadians or Australians had ever heard of them. It´s weird because I didn´t know them very long, but the whole dynamic of the house seems to have changed.
I am trying hard not to compare Kate, my new roomate, to Alysen. Kate seems very nice and chatty and I´m sure that before long everone will have adjusted to having new people around.
Yesterday I went to church three hours early. Somehow I had gotten the time wrong and church was starting at 2, not at noon. I got there early to practice the piano before everything started, which I had plenty of time to do. So I played for them... I don´t exactly measure up to anything I´ve ever heard before, so I´m not sure if it´s worth it. On the last hymn I only played the melody! If nothing else I can at least say that it keeps my pride in check.
Today is back to normal, spanish classes and project. I am taking in the books that were donated little by little and today I am taking the Dr. Seuss books. I hope that they will provide a new dynamic to the English studies at the school. I think we will go out tonight, to some tourist retreat, to celebrate the 4th of July. However I heard that our cooks are making tacos tonight and despite what some people might think, that sounds pretty American to me!
The baking incident was, as some of you know, related to the birthday. We tried to make Fancy Birthday Brownies for Ollie (the Aussie) but we encountered a host of problems in our attempts. First of all we didn´t have a decently sized pan, and in guessing we (ahmm, I) chose one that was much too large. We left about a 4 inches of empty pan, instead of spreading our brownies too thin. Then, I didn´t know how to turn on the oven. So I asked for help, and one of the ladies who works at the house, Margo, turned it on for us. The brownies had only been in the oven about 5 minutes when I smelled burning. Alysen said it was probably just something that had fallen into the bottom of the oven that was burning but I checked them anyway. The broiler had been turned on! To be completely fair to Margo, she is not one of the cooks and it really was not her fault. Our Fancy Birthday Brownies were burned on top and liquid on the bottom. We scooped out the burned layer and reset the oven. We renamed them the Disaster Brownies despite their eventual salvage.
To make matters even worse, Ollie only got one piece! Everyone else ate them before he really even had a chance. How rude.
His birthday party was quite the success and everyone had a good time out on the town for the evening. Australians have a "speech" tradition at birthdays which consists of some gentle hazing by friends, and was quite revealing.
We went out again on Friday night because Ian, Alysen, and Chris were leaving. It was fun, but not quite as energetic as Ollie´s party. We got home late and they left Saturday night. On Saturday Levin and I tried to make them cookies, snickerdoodles, but we couldn´t find all the ingredients so we settled for Betty Crocker instant cookies. Apparently snickerdoodles are not well known. None of the Canadians or Australians had ever heard of them. It´s weird because I didn´t know them very long, but the whole dynamic of the house seems to have changed.
I am trying hard not to compare Kate, my new roomate, to Alysen. Kate seems very nice and chatty and I´m sure that before long everone will have adjusted to having new people around.
Yesterday I went to church three hours early. Somehow I had gotten the time wrong and church was starting at 2, not at noon. I got there early to practice the piano before everything started, which I had plenty of time to do. So I played for them... I don´t exactly measure up to anything I´ve ever heard before, so I´m not sure if it´s worth it. On the last hymn I only played the melody! If nothing else I can at least say that it keeps my pride in check.
Today is back to normal, spanish classes and project. I am taking in the books that were donated little by little and today I am taking the Dr. Seuss books. I hope that they will provide a new dynamic to the English studies at the school. I think we will go out tonight, to some tourist retreat, to celebrate the 4th of July. However I heard that our cooks are making tacos tonight and despite what some people might think, that sounds pretty American to me!
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