All The Miles

"I looked to my right and took this last picture of the trip--
a beautiful way to end a beautiful experience."

-Quote from July 4, 2009 post

As I sit here reflecting on the miles I have traveled this year, I am reminded of my fortuitous birth. Simply by being born to two wonderful parents in Austin, Texas rather than in a place like, say, Ayacucho, Peru or San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, I was given opportunities that millions of people will never see. I am lucky. I am so very lucky. Not that I, nor my parents, have not worked hard for what we have, but simply by location of birth, I was given a lot.

However, also as a result of my birth, and perhaps as equally fortuitous, I am charged with responsibilities to these less fortunate people.

Shortly after returning to the United States, I was wondering to myself how I could best address these vast needs. As if on some cosmic cue, I received a phone call from a friend of 16 years, Pat. Another friend we had grown up with started a foundation to help promote education in Latin America and they wanted me to be a part of it! Noah set up the Rockway Foundation to raise funds, create programs, and sponsor projects based on mutual interest and mutual respect for education. What a perfect project for me to be involved in! It has been fun to work with them and I am looking forward to seeing the foundation grow.

I also reflect on the warm people and wonderful experiences I had in Peru this last summer. I think about the Cross Cultural Solutions Ayacucho staff. Marisol and Pancho. Rudy, Paulina and Alejandro. I think about the women and children in the prison I visited every Friday. What about the girls of Mercedes school? I wonder too, if they ever think of me. It doesn't really matter though. While I was trying to do good for them, mostly, they did good for me...without even know it.

All The Miles, Django Walker

4th of July

Somehow I was actually able to sleep late on my last day here. I made it all the way to 8:30 am, which is a full hour longer than I have been able to sleep all the days I have been here. I can't believe today is my last day here. I was catching a flight back to Lima at 5:00 pm, so I had much of the day to pack and celebrate the 4th of July.

I ate my favorite breakfast one last time (honey cornflakes and then a bowl of coconut yogurt) and then updated the blog a little. I picked up one last thing from the sandal lady at the prison market and made the mistake of wearing a tank top and shorts out of the house. I had packed everything else, so I had no choice. I got some loud yells and immediately regretted my outfit decision. Oh well, made it back to the house safely.

At about 10:30 am, it was time to start getting ready for the 4th of July cookout. We had asked Paulina, the cook, to get all the necessary food to properly celebrate the 4th. Hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and potato chips...all with a Peruvian flare of course. The corn was choclo, which has huge kernels. The hamburg meat was fried in little patties, like they fry everything else. The hot dogs were more of a reddish sausage and the potato chips were homemade. It was as good of 4th of July meal anywhere! We were excited.

Pictures-Frank cooking the hot dogs, no, not on a grill (none to be found),but fried in a pan. Elizabeth in charge of boiling the choclo. My favorite homemade potato chips being fried. Some gals getting ready to eat lunch right before I made everyone sing the "Star-Spangled Banner."

As Frank, Elizabeth and I "helped" Paulina get everything ready, we tried to fry some bananas. I say "helped" because it soon turned into us trying to fry anything we could find while she continued to work hard cooking. We decided to make it a real American (pronounced Uuh-muur-ii-cun) celebration and fry everything. I even got inspiration from the Texas State Fair and decided we should fry a candy bar. Sublime was the candy bar of choice, as it provided the Peruvian flare we needed (a popular candy bar here that is a chocolate bar with peanuts in it). We experimented with battering it and putting it in the pan of hot oil to fry. Somehow, it worked. Not the most beautiful presentation ever, but delicious none the less.

As we were sitting down to dine on the great American meal, the fireworks tower arrived. Amy and Danielle had gone to pick up the 7 foot tower that Frank had ordered for the celebration they would have tonight. It was so large that it would not fit in the front door, so we had to figure out another solution for keeping it safe until tonight. Thus, the sheet rope idea was born. In true old summer camp movie style, Amy and Frank tied a bunch of sheets together to make a rope to hoist the tower up off the ground (see above). On the ground, Danielle tied the "rope" to the tower and on the roof Frank and Amy pulled the end of the rope to hoist spinning tower of firework fun off the ground. I took pictures and laughed the whole time. It actually worked though. Feeling quite proud of the solution, we went back inside and ate our marvelous meal.

I enjoyed my last few hours of Peru by basking in the warm sun on the roof and reading, like I had done so many times before. Finally, I gathered my things and said my goodbyes. I tried to pretend I was just walking out of the room soon to return, but knew that I probably would never see these great people ever again. Instead of dwelling on that, I focused on the amazing experience we had shared.

Alejandro drove me to the airport and I enjoyed speaking my last conversation in Spanish (for a while anyway). Alejandro asked me about my past travels and if I would be coming back to Peru. He is interested in learning about and seeing the world, but confessed that he probably would never have the money to make the travels that he wanted. We arrived at the airport and he chatted with me as I waited for my flight. Near the end of our conversation, he told me my Spanish has improved over my stay here and that I am speaking much more. I smiled and felt proud as he unknowingly told me I had accomplished one of my goals for this trip.

He departed and I went through security to wait at one of the two gates in the Ayacucho airport. I silently basked in a sense of pride and accomplishment as I waited to board.

Soon the woman who checked me in (who was also the gate agent and the ground crew) came in rapidly speaking Spanish, clearly asking us something important. I quickly snapped out of my new found pride for my Spanish skills, as I didn't understand one word she had said, and looked at the closest person to me and pitifully said, "no entiendo." My neighbor explained to me that because of the temperature the plane won't be able to carry all of the weight, so we have to leave the bags here....Ugh, what?

This was going to be a problem for two reasons:
1)I am leaving the country tonight, so that was not OK.(No problem, turns out we can bring my one bag.)
2)I am not sure I want to put my body on a tiny plane that can't carry our bags too. (Oh well, I am sure these other people don't want to die either, so I guess I'll go for it)

Pictures-My view inside the plane (notice:one seat on either side of aisle, no overhead bins, and shadow of captain on the curtain.) View of my seat. There was a cute little snack box waiting for us in our seats with a sandwich and a juice box (no in-flight service on this one). Also,as a result of no overhead bins, my carry on is under my feet, so that explains the smushed, cross-legged position. My view out of the plane looking to the left.

I enjoyed the beautiful flight and reflecting on my last five and a half weeks. What an experience! No words can describe all I got from this once and a life time adventure.

I looked to my right and took this last picture of the trip--
a beautiful way to end a beautiful experience.

4th of July, Shooter Jennings

Adios Days

Tomorrow I will have to say "adios" to my days Peru, so I tried to soak up all that I could today. For placement this morning, I went to the prison again to take the kids to the plaza. This has become a favorite thing here. This is the front of the prison.This is me and Milagros (they call her Chinita). The kids were as cute as ever. We were supposed to watch a parade to celebrate the university's anniversary, but they must have been running on Peruvian time because it never did happen the whole time we were waiting in the plaza.

Lunch was another good meal made by Paulina. Afterward, I walked into town with Brittney and Jenna and we took a few last minute pictures....the main streets we always walk on, the bakery that makes beautiful cakes, the pedestrian walkway we always go on, our favorite ice cream store, the favorite ice cream cones (zambitos-chocolate cover ice cream cones that are pre-made so it is always a surprise what flavor you will get--which is part of the excitement).

We continued on around to the plaza and I waved adios. As we walked passed one of the colonial mansions, we noticed a big celebration going on in its courtyard...so we stepped right in. Passed the nicely dress Peruvians, still carrying our ice cream cones, we emerged to the courtyard and saw several men and women dressed in bright traditional outfits performing a traditional dance. Lining the courtyard were rows, and rows of chairs filled with important and dignified looking people. The onlookers were wearing suits and the ones in the front row had some sort of medals tied with wide pretty ribbon. I wondered who they were??

We watched the dancers and noticed their "dance" looked more like the men assaulting the women than it did any type of dance I had ever seen. The dancers moved to the music. The men sauntered up to the women and pick them up to carry them away while others would be rolling around with each other on the ground. The women would playfully hit the men with their scarfs to "try" to keep them away. It was quite interesting. Kiley and I saw a "dance" like this when we were in Puno and thought the dancers were just goofing off. Turns out, I actually read about this traditional "dance" in a book about the region and confirmed that it was actually legitimate.

More Ayacucho to soak up, so on to my new favorite bakery, the one we visited on Tuesday with Pancho. I wanted to get another fresh chapla still warm from the oven. When we arrived at the bakery, there were two guys working quickly baking the chapla. However, they would not sell us any. They wouldn't even sell a cute old Peruvian woman any. I'm not sure what what going on, but we decided to head to another bakery. It was interesting though to watch them slide the raw dough into the big oven, then watch it bake quickly and rise, and then see the guy (above) slide them out of the oven into huge baskets.

Next bakery, I got some delicious sweet bread with cinnamon and sugar on top. I just discovered this bread this week, which is probably good because I really could have eaten a lot of it.

One last stop at the old prison market for a final look around at all of the handmade goods. This market was once a prison, but now each cell has been converted into a little stand for each merchant to have a place to sell their goods. We frequent this venue. I got some great custom made sandals and moccasins from a woman who works here. I also got some beautiful alabaster dishes. This stone seems to be abundant here because there are many stalls that sell all sorts of alabaster things. Various textiles also made their way into my possession.

For dinner tonight, I went out to eat at a nice (well, by Ayacucho standards for sure) restaurant named Nino to celebrate the last night here (this was really only the 3rd time I had been out to eat in Ayacucho). Logan, Amy, Sope, Danielle, Jenna, Frank and I dined on a balcony table and I enjoyed the last supper...I'll have in Peru. I had a big plate of papas fritas and an avocado salad. They have the best avocados here! I tried a bite of Jenna's llama steak. It was quite tasty. Like mild beef I guess and pretty lean. I tried a bite of Frank's cow heart kabobs and they were shockingly good (though I just didn't think about what it was I was eating). (Really sounding like the "vegetarian" that I am tonight, huh!) I made everyone go around the table saying there favorite and least favorite moments of the trip. We sat there talking for a long time.

After dinner we came back to the house and got excited to play Catch Phrase. Charades was such a hit earlier this week, we decided the games must go on. This is one of my favorite games, as it was a lot of peoples, but we didn't actually have the game at the house. Instead, being the smart people that we are, we made our own game of Catch Phrase. Everyone had been working throughout the day to write down little phrases or random words on little white pieces of paper. The object of the game is to get your teammates to guess what is on the paper by giving them any kind of clues you want (besides saying rhymes with or starts with, or the word in a different language..etc). We passed the little jar of papers around the circle, alternating teams, and the team left with the jar when the buzzer (Elizabeth's watch timer set to count down different lengths of time) went off, lost that round. The other team would receive a point. We had another fun night of screaming, laughing, panicking competition. By the end, all of us were exhausted and ready to go to bed.

Can't believe I leave tomorrow! How the time has flown!

Adios Days, Pat Green

Take Me Out to the Dancehall

Today started out like any other. Woke up. Ate my delicious breakfast (honey cornflakes called Gold). Went to placement at Mercedes School. I spoke with the assistant director of the school for over an hour about educational theories. He wanted to know my opinions and it was slightly difficult to express them in Spanish. But I tried.

I got a marriage proposal, ugh, rather plea, from an old Peruvian man. Ugh. He told me I wasn't too young (that was fine with him, I guessed probably even preferable). However, I insisted that it was NOT OK with me. Ugh. Then, I walked away. Luckily, Alejandro came early to pick us up today.

Lunch and some laying out. Spanish lessons--last one of the trip. Took pictures with Gustavo, the teacher. Dinner, a new one and my favorite one of the trip. It was a traditional Peruvian dish. Papas Rellenas-Mashed potatoes are formed in a ball about the size of a regular potato around marinated meat, part of a boiled egg, and an olive (I picked that little guy out though). Then, the whole thing is lightly fried (not breaded, but still fried). Scrumptious!

After dinner the real adventures began! There were 9 of us--8 girls and 1 Frank. Being the one guy, he became the bodyguard/"keeper" (as one Peruvian man later told him) of our group. He lived up to the title well. We set out for one of the two bars we've been to, the one we call Tortellini's (certainly not the name, but something with a T that sounds long like that...I never actually know the names of the places we go here, just how to walk there).

As we walked down the street, we heard loud music and soon ran into a parade! The street was filled with college-aged Peruvians and they were celebrating the University's anniversary. We ran down the street to catch up and I broke into one of the circles of people running down the street. Holding hands with a young Peruvian guy on my left and a Peruvian girl on my right, I ran and followed the line down the street. Our line snaked down the street and I saw the other girls I was with later down the line. As I danced around, I passed other familiar American faces and saw that everyone from our group had joined the celebration. We were running, yelling, laughing, smiling and holding on tight to the hands next to us. Another line wound around and danced by us and I saw three more faces from our group flash by. They were having a blast too. We ran like this for several minutes and I thought about how this was one of the most fun moments I have had on the trip. I tried to keep my eyes on the people in my group and felt safe if we were all together. Soon we became out of breath and decided to break out of the crowd and continue on our way. We broke out of our lines, yelled a thanks and gave a wave. The Peruvians waved and smiled back. I think they were happy to have us as part of their celebration.

Our group of gringos pushed our way down the crowded street. There were hundreds of young Peruvians filling the street, more there than I had ever seen in one place. The majority guys. We received more whistling and yelling in these next few moments than we had the whole trip combined. We raised our arms up and cheered back.

The street proved too crowded to make it all the way to Tortellini's, so we stopped at the much closer other favorite, Black Magic Tavern. The bartender, that Frank knows well by now, gave us a last night of the trip celebratory drink. We talked in the back room of the bar that had long wooden tables, big flat baskets covering the ceiling, and warm yellow walls. We got a little loud, as big groups of Americans tend to do, and had a great time.

Next stop, the new hottest dance club in all of Ayacucho--"Killa." It would be a 4 sol (about $1.30) taxi ride up to the top of the city....you know that is far away because taxi rides here are usually about 1 or 2 soles. We piled into two different taxis and proceed to wait it traffic from the parade for a least 10 minutes. Honking, somehow, didn't help the traffic move faster, though all the taxi drivers thought it would.

Finally, our taxi sped up the hill into a darker, quieter neighborhood. We pulled up to a dark, huge two-story warehouse looking building. Frank informed us this was it. Clearly, it was not open. Amy poked her head out of the other taxi (that had somehow arrived before us though left after us) and yelled, "it's not open" as their cab realized the same thing we did. All of our faces slowly went from a smile to a frown of disappointment. We sat in quiet shock for a minute, not really expecting this, so not sure what to do. It was only a minute though, and a new plan was made. Frank asked the taxi driver and he confirmed that "Killa" was closed on Thursdays. "Why didn't you tell us that before you took us here??!," was of course Frank's next question. Supposedly, it is sometimes open on Thursday, but not today...duh.

Our taxi coasted back down the dark hill and we decided to go to the next best club-"Hot." (yes, it is called "Hot," not "Caliente") Prior to tonight, I had walked by this place and decided I probably never wanted to go there, but since this was a night for celebration-why not! The taxi driver told us a much too high fee for the drive (like many prices people here tell gringos--I call it the gringo surcharge), so we quickly gave him a more appropriate amount and got out of the car. That was fine with him.

When we arrived at "Hot," Frank bribed the guy at the door with a group of gringas, and we got to cut the long line. We paid our 3 sol ($1) cover charge (they have cover charges here?) and walked inside. Oh, wow, it was an experience. The room was dark and the music was loud (just like any other club). I didn't recognize any of the songs, but the base was turned up so high you could feel the beat in your chest. There was a green and red laser light show flashing on the crowd. Little circles of light would shine on us and then break apart in to hundreds more little lights. There were also, of course, some flashing white strobe lights.

The real shocker was the smell. It was utterly overpowering and unlike anything I have smelled before. It was sort of a stale combination of old sweat and rotten parmesan cheese. Eww. I crinkled my nose. Didn't help. Sope had to cover her nose with my green scarf as we walked. We pushed our way through the crown of dancing Peruvians to the second floor balcony that lined and overlooked the whole first floor. Somehow we were able to go to the DJ booth/VIP area on a balcony above the main dance floor. It was a great perch from which to watch the crowd. We danced and had a ball.

Soon, it was getting close to 11:00pm--curfew at the house. So Elizabeth, Sope, Sarah, Bri and I walked back to the home laughing about the fun time we had. Amy, Danielle, Frank and Jenna stayed to have more adventures which we would hear about the next day.

Check Peruvian nightclub off my list of things to do in my life!

Take Me Out to the Dancehall, Pat Green

We went to a Peruvian dance club-whoa!

Who's to Say

Happy Canada Day! Turns out today is a very important holiday for our Northern neighbors. I learned about this holiday from the several Canadians in the house, one being my roommate. I coincidentally put on a red shirt this morning and Amy told me that it was great that I was wearing red for Canada Day. Exactly why I had planned to wear it. I made all the Canadians sing their national anthem at breakfast. Oh Canada!

I found this map online showing Ayacucho and thought it would be great to show where I actually am in Peru.

School today was great. Logan and I planned a game of Jeopardy to help the older classes review some English topics they have studied. Fruits, Vegetables, Adjectives (and adverbs), Important Questions, and Forms of To Be were the categories. This was a new game for the students and teacher and they actually understood my Spanish directions! The girls liked it and we all had a lot of fun playing.

This afternoon we visited the traditional medicine garden at the university. Traditional medicine is a class and topic that nursing students at the university must take. Because most people here visit a traditional healer before they seek modern medical attention, the nursing students must learn about these beliefs. We walked around to the back of the nursing school building to the small garden. Each plant was labeled with a big white sign. Marisol, our volunteer placement director, showed us around and told us about the different plants.

She told us how her mother used to put these trumpet shaped white flowers under her pillow when she was a kid to help her sleep better. She said it worked very well. Marisol pointed out several different plants that help with cramps. Apparently, there are lots of plants that help with various women problems. She mushed up some leaves from a tree and told us how it is natural bug repellent. Marisol is allergic to repellent with DEET so she has to use these leaves. Some girls tried it and we could smell it from several feet away. We saw a eucalyptus tree, some oregano, rosemary, prickly pear cactus and many other plants I didn't recognize. It was quite interesting. Marisol said it was important to know how to use these various plants because if prepared incorrectly, then some can be poisonous or hallucinogenic. Yikes!

After the garden, me and 4 fun girls who are in college went to aerobics again. Different instructor this time. Not quite as exciting as Monday (see that entry if not already!), but still a good workout. After dinner, we were out of movies to watch and were all eager to do something, so we started a game a charades. Yes, we played charades. So fun! The first round we played acting out movies and TV shows. One team was considerably better than the other. My team was on the losing end (despite my extreme enthusiasm and Amy's tremendous charades skills).

The next round we switched up the teams to make is somewhat fair. There were about 10 people playing and we each got two small pieces of white paper and had to write names of different people on them. We wrote famous people as well as people we know in the house. Each round each team got 30 seconds to get their teammates to guess as many names as possible. The first round you could talk and say whatever you want (except the name, obviously). We got quite into it. As soon as someone on your team guessed the name, the person giving the clues would throw down that paper and scramble to open a new one. It was intense.

The next round we put the same names back in the jar and when we drew the little papers we couldn't talk and only do charades to get our teammates to guess. It was hilarious. By the third and final round you could only do one motion. This was even more funny. The names had been repeated each round so we were able to guess what our teammates were acting out surprisingly quickly. We were screaming the names and laughing so hard. It was a very fun night!

Who's to Say, Pat Green

Let Me

..have some more of this delicious bread!"

This afternoon we visited a bakery where they make the traditional bread from this region called chapla. The bread is round with about a 6-inch diameter. It is about 4 inches high and hollow. It is light tan with darker brown on the top and is a tougher, crusty bread. We have this bread in baskets every morning for breakfast.

The walkway to the bakery was lined with huge piles of firewood for the oven. We saw the three- hundred-year-old wood-burning oven and huge baskets filled with the big rolls. The biggest baskets I have ever seen. We are talking round baskets with a diameter as big as my arms spread wide. There was a little old man in charge of the money and a young woman in charge of filling the orders. We walked passed the giant oven to the back room where four Peruvian men were rolling out balls of dough. The mint green colored room had stacks (piled higher than my head) of huge bags of flour. I started craving fresh bread when I smelled the great smell of baking bread.

.

After hearing about the process of making the bread, I treated the group to fresh baked chapla. One nuevo sol (30 cents) for 5 big rolls. Great price. We all savored the flavor of the warm bread and agreed that this was a good outing.

Let Me, Pat Green

Here We Go

Today is another holiday in Peru. I think it is the Pope's Day, so we are not going to placement.

Funny side note story--When Logan and I were talking to a teacher about this on Friday, she told us it was "Dia del Papa." We asked her about Fathers' Day, but then we realized that had already passed. Then, we asked her if it was the "Day of the Potato" (because papa means potato too)...thinking that there are a lot of potatoes in Peru, so it could be possible. She said no. Finally, Logan remembered that Papa also means Pope. When we realized what had happened, we all laughed really hard.

Anyway, it was nice to eat breakfast slowly and enjoy a second cup of tea. I spoke with Ann, a woman who is from Scotland but lives in California and is in the importing and exporting business. I discussed the business opportunity for exporting my new favorite chocolate treats from Peru to the States. She helped Elizabeth and me formulate our plan of attack.

We headed down to the plaza about 10 am to watch a procession. We weren't exactly sure what kind, but assumed it was something religious to do with Pope's Day. Upon our arrival to the little plaza closest to our house, there were no signs of a procession. Thus, we decided on a trip further into town to the big plaza. I wanted to stock up on Kiwilocos (my new favorite chocolate treat), so we went to the grocery store. I bought 10 packs, and would have bought more but didn't want to clean the store out.

The doors of the big cathedral were open, which I have yet to see in all of my trips to the plaza, so I insisted we go in. The pews were filled with students in their school uniforms which look slightly military-esque. Lining the full pews were students standing holding various school flags. There were hundreds of small triangular flags around the nave. The priest was speaking in Spanish and we quietly walked around to the right side of the church. I looked at the huge gold altars to various saints along the wall. Two women were praying and pleading in front of one of the saints. I wondered what was happening in their lives. We stood respectfully for a few minutes and looked around at the cathedral and the ceremony. After we were satisfied, we walked back to the small plaza. I was happy to have finally seen the inside of the cathedral.

We arrived back at the small plaza just in time. The small church there had its doors open too and we peeked inside. Mass was going on and we saw a huge white altar/shrine for St. Peter and St. Paul. There were lights and flowers all over the big white rectangular box. There was also a ceviche festival going on in the plaza. Lime green and blue tents were set up all over the plaza and several stands were full of people clambering to get some ceviche. It definitely looked good, but I wasn't about to risk trying any. Delicious, I'm sure, but raw fish in rural Peru didn't sound like the best idea.

Soon about 10 men started carrying the gigantic altar out of the church and I was amazed they could even lift it. Little figures of Peter and Paul rode proudly on top. Five men made up a brass band and played some slow music as they followed behind the procession.

After a busy morning of sight seeing, we walked back to the house for lunch. A few hours of laying out in the warm sun made for a lovely afternoon.

About 4:45pm, I and about 5 other girls set out for the gym. We were going to aerobics and I was hoping it would be as exciting as spinning had been last week. And it was!! Aerobics in Peru is my new favorite thing!

Power Gym was the place and we paid our two soles (60 cents). The aerobics room was an enormous room, probably big enough to hold a basketball court in both directions and the ceiling was at least 20 feet up. The walls were covered with mirrors and there was big cement platform at the front of the room that was as high as my shoulders. I got the feeling that this place could turn into a night club later because there was a long winding bar on one side of the room. We each found a spot facing the platform and put our old red aerobics steps in front of us. The instructor was an average looking Peruvian woman with a gray and orange tank top and matching orange tights. She took her place on the platform and started leading us in some stretches. She moved slowly through the stretches and added a dancer´s touch so I felt we were doing more interpretive dance than we were stretching. My muscles were cold so the stretching didn´t do that much good.

Just as I thought we were warming up slowly, she turned on some really fast music and all of the sudden broke into the fastest grapevine I have ever seen...and I have been to a lot of aerobics classes over the years. I mean this came out of nowhere and I did not think it was humanly possible to keep up (come to find out this will be the theme for the class). I was worried I was going to pull something in the first two minutes into the class. I did my best to keep up and looked around at the other girls--they were struggling as much as I was-- and we could hardly contain our laughter and kept exchanging looks that said, "here we go." The rest of the class followed this same trend.

The dance remix of We Will Rock You came on next, but it was THE CHIPMUNKS SINGING IT!! Oh, wow! For the first fifteen minutes of the class at least, we could hardly workout because we were laughing so hard. We continued to do a variety of moves that proved to be impossible to keep up with...but we tried hard. My years of aerobics, kick boxing, and hip hop dance (well, actually only 8 classes of hip hop) training aided a little. Squat down, shimmy up, squat down, shimmy up, faster, faster. We were pouring with sweat.

The instructor kept yelling at us to keep up. We were breathing hard and trying to keep moving. She would show us a move a few times, then take a break to come down off her platform to walk around the room, so of course she was having no trouble with this workout. It seemed impossible for her to believe we couldn´t keep moving at warp speed...which we could have, had we taken as many breaks as she did. At one point she walked by me and yelled, ¨mas rapido¨(faster) like I was the laziest person in the world. Elizabeth later describe the instructor as looking at us with ¨hateful eyes,¨ and I laughed because that is exactly what it was.

One of the most impossible moves she showed us (which is quite a title considering how many difficult moves she had) was the "crossing her foot over the step" move. Standing on one side of the box, crossing one foot over it, touching the ground on the other side and back. Sounds easy right? No. Try doing this after 45 minutes of this tiring class at a speed that wouldn´t have even been possible at the start of the class or ever really.

Oh, but this was a good workout and so fun. Yelling and cheers came from various girls in our group at many moments of this class. I am not sure the other Peruvians appreciated it (nor the instructor), but we sure did. Though, it looked like the Peruvian women were having just as tough time (if not tougher) keeping up, which vainly made me feel better.

Toward the end of the class (what I thought would be the cool down, but proved not to be) another familiar song came on. It was the dance remix of Stand by Me. We did a twisting motion and all had lots of fun singing along. I could hear Elizabeth´s voice behind me belting out the words and my laughter spurred me on. There were some slower moves--which is what led me to believe this was the cool down--but then Peruvian Superwoman would kick it into high gear again every few moves. Couldn´t figure her out. Also toward the end, we flapped our arms like birds to a song with some Andean flute music (dance remix of course) and I enjoyed the Peruvian influence. Our arms flapped lower and lower the more tired they got.

We were still going strong at 6:15 (after an hour of this), and we had to make it back to the house so as not to be late to dinner. Making Paulina, the cook, mad was never something any of us wanted to do. We rounded up our group of gringas in a military style move of one arm circling in the air and then pointing to the door and put our steps away. We were at the front of the room, so when I turned around to go I realized how full the room had become. I also noticed the Peruvian men watching this aerobics class. Creepy.

We gulped our water and enjoyed the walk back to the house recounting our hilarious experience. I knew I wanted to come back later this week and I couldn´t believe I just discovered this fantastic workout on my last week here! I have been missing out on so much!

After dinner and freezing shower, the movie of the night was Transformers 2 (the first Transformers movie was the matinee showing, but I missed that and as a result had a hard time knowing what was going on). This was by far the worst quality bootlegged movie we have seen. The sound quality was bad and the screen went dark a few times or people stood up in the theater where it had been filmed...all of which just added to the real bootlegged movie experience. Several people left the living room because they couldn´t follow, but I stuck it out to the end. Though I did have to keep asking Sopé to pause it and have her and Frank fill me in on what was going on. I was amazed at the plot details they were able to catch when I had heard/understood nothing. The movie filming cut off several minutes before the real ending, and we all yelled with the frustration of having watched the whole movie only to be deprived of seeing the final minutes.

Can´t believe this is my last week here! The time has flown by as will the rest of this week, I´m sure.

Here We Go, Pat Green

You Know That´s Cold

My weeks of cold shower training finally paid off today! I stood underneath a freezing waterfall in the mountains outside of Acyacucho.

A little before 8:00 am, I finished my hot tea as I spread strawberry jelly on a traditional roll. I added two slices of white cheese to complete my sandwich, which would later by my lunch. Seven girls were heading out for a day of hiking in the Andean terrain. Pancho loaded us up into his van and we drove to the plaza for him to pick up some last minute snack items. I searched for my seat belt, but wasn´t surprised to not find on. Not that it would have help all that much if we drove off the winding road on the edge of the cliffs like I feared.

We drove about an hour through the mountains to a town on a hill called Quinua. People were coming to the Sunday market there as we piled out of the van. Pancho explained the driver would drive down the mountain and pick us up at the end of the day. I was slightly relieved to find out we would not have to hike back up this mountain.

All of us happy to be out of the house and doing something active, eagerly followed Pancho down the dirt alley. After the one minute walk to the edge of town, passed a few donkeys, we came upon a group of Peruvian men and women resting in the shade. They asked Pancho what in the world we were doing because they didn´t understand why we would want to walk when, being gringas, we could easily afford a taxi to take us anywhere we would want to go. Interesting observation.

We continued down the dirt path, over a creek, passed some eucalyptus trees, to a view over looking the valley. We could see Ayacucho far in the distance and Pancho told us it would take us four days to walk back. Glad we had the van to pick us up instead. The sun felt warm and the shade felt cool. The fragrant breeze blew gently and we could smell the freshness of the mountains as we hiked on. We went up and down some steep trails, the sand and gravel unstable under our feet. There were two bridges we had to cross that were solely a log or two. I felt like I was balancing on a balance beam. Exciting. Luckily, the creeks below were small and the logs were not too far off the ground.
At one point, Pancho told us we were going to take a short cut, so we followed him off the path down the mountain. Apparently, he didn´t really know where he was going, but it was OK because we could see the target of houses where were aiming down the valley. Brianna and I agreed we were glad we were not in a forest so we could actually see where we were going. We found a small path and followed it. We saw herds of sheep and several people leading donkeys. A small crumbling colonial house and huge red rock made a good stopping point for some pictures.
Finally, we arrived at our lunch stop. The eight of us plopped down on some grass under the shade of a tree. We each pulled out our sandwiches we had prepared this morning and Pancho presented the treats he brought. As he pulled them out of his stuffed backpack, we all cheered a little as if each were a great new surprise. Bright orange sweet-potato chips. Yay! Lay´s potato chips. Yum! Olé Olés (chocolate covered marsh-mellows). Hmm! Packets of chocolate sandwich cookies. Yipee! Cake. Wow! We ate until we were stuffed.
Next stop, a small swimming pool full of "therapeutic" waters. We walked up a small hill to the pool. The pool had a smooth rock deck surrounding it and the water in it was a dark green, blueish, black. We decided it would be nice to dip our feet in and rest a while. The water was cool and felt good on our tired feet. With our feet in the pool, we laid back on the warm stone deck. It would be difficult to get up now being so full, tired and warm in the sun.
After about 20 minutes, we decided we must push on. We dried our feet and headed down the field to an old colonial house. Pancho led us to a fence that appeared to be an electric one. Skeptical, the first girl climbed through the middle of the three wires as Pancho held one. After she made it safely through. Pancho jumped back quickly. Apparently he touched another one of the wires and confirmed that the fence was, in deed, electric by receiving a little jolt. The rest of us climbed under the fence as he held the bottom wire up with his plastic water bottle. What kind of adventure would this be without an electric fence?!

Two old rock walls covered with moss and cactus lined the path to the old colonial estate.
We walked up to the crumbling porch of this once great property. The landowner met us there. He was an old man maybe in his 70´s (it is very hard to judge age here because of the sun exposure, lack of dental attention, and years of hard labor). Pancho told us this man was once very rich, but as time has gone on and his land has been given away, his wealth deteriorated. I wondered what he and this estate were like back in their glory days. We walked through the house to a courtyard with a big white private church (complete with the old bell towers I love). Pancho told us they used to have small bullfights in this courtyard.After many pictures, we marched on to see the much anticipated waterfall. We weren´t far now. We walked another 30 minutes through the eucalyptus trees and red dirt paths. I was getting fairly hot and sweaty by this point and was ready for a swim in a cool mountain stream. Finally, we arrived!

I could feel the cold air near the bottom of the waterfall blowing toward me. We were in the shade now and I could see the huge waterfall pouring down from the mountain above. The water fell from maybe 100 feet (I am so bad at estimating) straight down the side of the flat rocks. It wasn´t very wide, but fell with a lot of force. Soft, green moss and a few ferns lined the wall closest to the water. I was eager to stand underneath it.

Sarah and I were the only ones brave enough, so we quickly changed into our swimsuits. I stepped my bare foot into the freezing water onto the sharp rocks and walked quickly into the knee-deep pool of water before I could change my mind. I had not been swimming in water this cold in a long time. Sarah followed as we walked toward the waterfall, using our hands to steady us against the rock face of the mountain. I was first to go under the waterfall and the cold water was surprising as it sprayed on me. Before I could think about it I was under the waterfall, letting the cold, powerful water hit my shoulders and head. I laughed, screamed and smiled all at once. I made sure the other Elizabeth was getting lots of pictures. My body was somewhat numb from the cold so I stepped out of the waterfall to let Sarah have a turn. My arms tingled, but I wasn´t really thinking about the cold anymore. A few more pictures with Sarah and me under the waterfall and we hurried out of the water the fastest our numb feet could take us over the rough rocks. Part of me wanted to lay down in the pool of water and swim, but I didn´t.
It felt so good to get out of the water for two reasons. 1)The cold water had been so refreshing. And 2) I was so proud of myself for actually doing something like that.

I wished Katharine had been there because she is usually the freezing-water-swimming-twin. I know she would have loved this!

Sarah and I stood in the sun and marveled at our accomplishment. We were so proud.

Finally, we changed back to dry clothes. That felt good too and our group headed back down the mountain to meet our car. We all enjoyed walking, but Pancho was getting hot, so he asked a few random guys to give us a ride in their van. Again, not something I would normally do, but since Pancho said it was OK and there were seven of us, I figured it would just add to the adventure. The drove us a few minutes down the red dusty road (which would have been many more had we been walking).

We piled out and completed our walk. I was happy to see our driver from this morning walking around a curve with a huge bottle of water. Apparently, a bridge was not finished, so he could not drive all the way to meet us. We walked over the cement bridge that couldn´t yet hold a car and piled back in the van. It felt good to be sitting down, heading home, after such a full day. We enjoyed the left over snacks from earlier as we drove. I couldn´t get enough of the sweet potato chips.

Upon our arrival back to the house, we found the new group of volunteers. About 14 new people had arrived during the day we were gone. I was happy to have new people and get to know them, but it felt a little strange having these unknown people come into the house and group to which had become so comfortable. I suddenly understood much more what the old volunteers felt when we arrived. I was too tired to greet them properly, so I headed upstairs for a cold shower. I was really hoping for a hot one, but after today´s waterfall the cold water felt like nothing. Clean and refreshed, I headed downstairs for some small talk. I met a few of the people. A college student and two med students from Canada. A girl from Florida.

We had dinner in the much more crowded dining room and I enjoyed the pasta with creamy tomato sauce. A woman originally from Scotland now living in California. A mother and daughter pair from the States.

After dinner, I helped organize a "welcome party" for the new volunteers. We went up to the open air roof deck of the house and started a fire in the stone fire pit. Someone had bought stuff to make smores and we cheered as each new person entered the party. With the fire going full force and most people roasting marshmallows, I offered a toast to the new group. We raised our warming marshmallows in the air and cheered.

We admired the black sky and tiny white stars above us. I pointed out the Southern Cross constellation to one of the new volunteers. We use chocolate covered soda crackers instead of chocolate and graham crackers to make the smores. Still delicious. You know how much I love smores, so you can just imagine what a night it was.

You Know That´s Cold, John Hammond

Back in Black

Tonight we were sitting, lazily enjoying our after dinner movie. There were about 4 girls in the common room watching the little, old TV with its colors slightly off. The rest of the volunteers had gone out for a night on the town.

All of the sudden, the movie shuts off and the screen goes blank. Great, what happened to the TV? Then we realized all of the lights had gone off too, even the bright street light outside had shut off. The house and the street were completely black and quiet. The power had gone off...on the whole street! No storm or anything. I ran upstairs to look out of our bedroom window at all of Ayacucho. The power in the whole city had gone off! The normally covered in little yellow lights valley was dark. There was one little patch of lights, but the rest of the town had disappeared. I thought about the Shining Path terrorist talk we heard this afternoon and for a minute thought of a terrorist attack. That was silly, so I pushed the thought out of my mind.

I went back downstairs to see that Walter, the doorman, had turned on some portable bright lights at the bottom of the stairs meant for an occasion just like this. Us four movie-goers sat with the other three remaining girls at the bottom of the stairs and wondered what the people that were already out were doing. I was glad I didn't have to be in the middle this Peruvian town in complete darkness. I wondered how long the lights would be out. We wondered when we would get to finish our silly movie (bootlegged 17 Again, I'll embarrassingly admit).

Well, about 15 minutes later the lights came back on and we all cheered. Nothing to worry about, but still a city wide power outage was exciting.

Back in Black, AC/DC

All I Can Do

I went to my first ever spinning class today, and wow, was it an experience. Chelsea, Danielle and I arrived at the gym at about 5:30 this afternoon. We walked in and payed our 5 soles (little less than $2) to the man sitting behind the counter. I was surprised by the big weight machines they had and the numerous cardio machines. It looked like a real gym. I guess when I pictured a gym in Ayacucho, I pictured a tiny dark, dusty room with two rickety treadmills, one of which probably wouldn't work, and a few hand weights. Nope, I was wrong. There was a big room with lots of equipment and there were about 20 huge posters of body builders flexing their much too large and certainly chemically enhanced tan muscles. I mean we are talking posters high on the wall where the men (and women) are at least twice actual size people. It was pretty funny.

We could hear the music blasting in the spinning room. We opened the door and walked in. I thought I had entered a discotheque. The room was dark except for three flashing strobe lights (a red one, a white one, and a green one). A muscular Peruvian man was the leader and his bike was stationed on a platform at the front of the room. He was wearing a yellow tank top, blue hat and pants. He must have been using some sort of muscle growth/enhancement something because he was the most muscular Peruvian I have seen all trip.

We navigated our way past the other people already biking hard and each found a bike at the back of the room. There were 18 bikes in three long rows placed end to end (no room to spare) nearly touching the end of the long skinny room. We hopped on and started pedaling to the strong beat of the music. I was dripping with sweat quickly and wished I had brought a towel. It was a tough work out and I was glad there was no clock in view. Pedal faster. Va, va (go, go). Danielle and I started making, "oh my gosh, I can't keep up," faces at each other. I increased the resitance on my bike. I pedaled standing up. I pedaled sitting down. Stand up, sit down. I loosened the resistance. Sweat was pouring out of my forehead. The skinny seats were uncomfortable. Super Peruvian kept yelling at us to pedal faster.

Out of breath, I turned around to see it getting dark outside. I also saw the fake McDonalds directly across the street. McBolas it was called and definitely stole the Mickey D's logo. Kind of ironically placed so close to a gym.

Finally, I passed my wall and started getting into the class. I was actually enjoying it. We saw Marisol, our volunteer placement director, pedaling in the front of the room. The smell of sweat and old gym filled my nose. My small silver St. Christopher necklace kept slapping me in the chin as I pedaled side to side. Chelsea and Danielle couldn't take any more. They left the room to do some abs outside. I thought, "all I can do is keep going." I wanted to finish strong.

I kept pedaling enjoying the feeling of a good workout. I also thought about how I am really glad I don't have epilepsy, as these flashing lights at the front of the room would certainly induce some sort of epileptic seizure. Finally, Super Peruvian turned on the main lights and slowed down the music. I think it was close to the end. I had survived. A familiar song started to play. It got to the chorus, "Don't want to loooose your luuuvvv toniiiight." I had flash backs to nights of karaoke or fraternity parties. We stretched and cooled down. What an experience!

All I Can Do, Jack Ingram

Another Day

After three weeks of being here in Ayacucho, I have settled into my daily life here. It is a nicely simple life free of cell phones and having to be anywhere or get things done by a certain time or date. I like it.

During the week, I wake up at about 7:00 am. Amy's little alarm clock beeps politely and I quietly pull my warm blankets off. It is quite bright at this point, and light fills our room. Many people say they can hear a roster crowing next door, which wakes them up, but I have yet to hear it. Our big window looks out to all of Ayacucho, as well as right into the house next door. Only one morning have I woken up to two men standing on their balcony several feet away from us with only the glass of the window in between. I put my feet on the cool tile floor and get out of my bottom bunk bed (it is a little like being back at camp). My jeans have become my uniform as well as my trusty gray New Balances. T-shirts and my black fleece complete the look.

I head downstairs to breakfast after packing my little bag with my wallet with about 10 soles (slightly more than $3) in it, my plastic water bottle, my miniature Spanish-English dictionary, and my sunglasses. It is nice to need so little. The dining room has two large wooden rectangular tables with 10 places each and a smaller table that holds an extra 8 people when the house is full (right now it is home to the tea, coffee machine and toaster). I have some hot tea, of course, and usually some cornflakes (boxed cereal is apparently a luxury here) with a banana on top. Though, yesterday I tried the big rolls that are always set out in a basket (but I've never bothered to try them until then). They are the traditional bread from the area. The round rolls are a toasted brown color, about 6 inches across, and are mostly hollow. Warm and toasted with a little of the salty butter from here and they are wonderful. Can't believe I have been passing on them this whole time. I have also discovered the amazing coconut yogurt. So delicious!

At about 7:45, Alejandro drives about 8 of us to our placements in the white van (the other volunteers either walk, ride with a different driver, or go later). Logan, a blond-haired senior at Alfred University in New York (state), and I get dropped off at Mercedes School. I have since found out that our school is actually a public school, not private, which I originally assumed because of the order, facilities, and uniforms.

I have come to love this placement. We help two different English teachers teach various middle and early high school classes. The students all stand up when we (or the teachers) come into the room and sometimes sing a greeting song. We smiled and tell them they can sit down. They also usually stand up when asking a question or giving an answer. How respectful!

The students have English workbooks that keep us on track and Logan and I usually conduct the lessons, helping a great deal with pronunciation. We did a fun lesson about vegetables the other day. We drew different vegetables on different sheets of paper with their names labeled in English. After reviewing them, we made different girls come up and hold the papers and everyone practiced saying the names and we cheered. They laughed and had fun.

I am able to speak to the classes in Spanish, explaining directions and translating what I am asking them to do. The students are very timid about speaking English (except like 3 per class) and I try to encourage them to practice. I tell them that while I can't speak Spanish well, I still just go for it. When I am speaking to them in English, I look at their faces of concentration and slight confusion. Then, it is funny when I translate what I am saying to Spanish and they all smile and say, "aahhh" and then seem to understand what I am saying. The teachers usually sit quietly at the back of the class, as we are able to manage things by ourselves. I think they are learning from us too. I feel like I am really helping.

During the 20 minute recess break, Logan and I walk around the school's big courtyard and the girls dressed in their navy and white uniforms are eager to come up to us and either talk or a lot of times they just stare, content with being next to us. We are certainly different than everyone else in the school. Sometimes we visit one of the two little stores inside the school to get a lollipop or a piece of fruit, which usually costs us about 10 centavos (like maybe 3 cents).

Logan and I wait outside the main gate and cement walls of the school for Alejandro to pick us up at about 12:00 pm. We hop in the van full of volunteers coming home from their various medical clinics and schools and ride back to the house. The little bell signifying lunch usually rings a few minutes after we walk in the door. All of us starving, eagerly rush into the dining room and sit down at our places.

Paulina, the cook, does a great job and fixes a variety of meals (only a few have been repeated since I have been here). There is usually rice, potatoes and some sort of meat. She carefully makes soy meat prepared like the other meat for me every meal too. There are a lot of vegetables and we have salads a lot. We have had soups and different veggie patties. One of my favorite meals has been the fried potato chips that she makes. I also loved the huge bowl of guacamole she made. We had that with big fried wonton chips (because they don't have tortilla chips here) which was a surprisingly good combination. At every meal there is also fruit for dessert. We have pineapple or watermelon a lot and at dinner usually a basket of assorted fruit. Kiwis are the hot item and I have to claim one early before they are gone. I also love the mandarin oranges.

After filling up on lunch, the afternoons are mostly free. A few days a week I lay out in the warm sun on the roof and read my book. I am averaging a book per week. I'd be lying if I said that doesn't usually turn into a nap too. Other days I spend the time after lunch blogging at the little internet cafe next door. Sometimes I walk with someone the 10-15 minute walk into town. We run various "errands" like getting money from the bank or buying a plane ticket back to Lima. I have also enjoyed walking around the markets looking at the various handicrafts or food. The rows of fruits and veggies are fun to walk around and the rows of meat sort of make me nauseated. There are slabs of beef and pork and whole chickens (with yellow feet and sometimes heads still attached) exposed to the open air. Piles of bread and cheese line other aisles.

Once a week we have a speaker come to tell us about various topics. Last week's topic was coca leaves. The older professor told us about the amount of coca leaves produced in Peru and how people use the leaves in legal ways. He spoke in Spanish and Rudy, our program manager, translated to English. Many people chew the leaves which helps with altitude sickness, gives people energy and helps with a variety of medical needs. Others are used for tea. Some for Coca-Cola. These coca leaves are also important in offerings to the apus (mountains) and Pancha Mama (earth). I remember Pancho scattering some coca leaves on the mountain when we were on the llama trek. The professor said there is an enormous discrepancy between the amount of leaves produced and how much are accounted for. Thus, the rest makes up the cocaine industry. He did not talk as much about this as I had hoped, because it seems so interesting that such a large "industry" goes so unregulated or unaccounted for.

The speaker this week spoke about the Shining Path terrorist movement that lasted twenty years. He told us about the history and how another terrorist movement was active during this time. What a terrifying era...so many murders, power outages, bombs and chaos. It was quite an interesting talk but it lasted about two hours by the time the translator told us everything in English.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I got to intermediate Spanish lessons at 5:00. Gustavo, our twenty-six-year-old Peruvian teacher, is really friendly and speaks nice and slowly so we can all understand. We usually speak for the first half-hour and then he helps us practice some sort of skill. Last week we worked on speaking in the past-tense and this week we practiced the subjunctive. We also ask him various questions about things we have encountered or heard during the day. It is actually quite fun. I am enjoying improving my Spanish (a New Year's Resolution 2009). By the time Spanish ends, it is usually dark outside.

Dinner is at about 6:30 and the little bell rings again. Everyone rushes into to the dining room like at lunch. Meals are similar to lunch, but we more often have some type of pasta. I enjoy sitting around hearing about people's days. It is funny how a lot of our days here revolve around meals.

After dinner, I usually brave a cold shower. It feels good to be clean, but it is usually more refreshing when I am hot and sweaty in the afternoon. At night it is just a little painful. Sometimes I luck out though and the water verges on warm. We have also started watching movies before bed. They are all new movies--thus, boot legged of course. You can buy the latest releases here for the bargain price of something like $1. Confessions of a Shopaholic and Star Trek are among two recent viewings. I also like to read a lot before going to bed. I finished a autobiography of an autistic savant and am now working on a novel about a guy who dies and relives his life over and over again.

I usually go to bed about 10:00pm, but the first two weeks I was here it was more like 9:00, exhausted. My bed is warm and it usually doesn't take long to fall asleep.

Another Day, Django Walker

Not a Drop of Rain

This morning we woke up in Paracus and celebrated D'Ann's birthday. Pancho surprised her with a big caramel covered cake. He bought it yesterday at Plaza Vea and kept it hidden from us. It was so nice of him. However, D'Ann in gluten intolerant, so she couldn't really even eat her own cake. She didn't say anything though and just enjoyed some of the rich icing. Birthday cake for breakfast, what a fun way to start the day!

Today we were boarding a boat to see the Ballestas Islands. These are know as the "Galapagos of Peru" or more amusingly called "the poor man's Galapagos" by my Lonely Planet guide book. We met our guide Luis at the small office on the water. We joined a group of about 10 more people and stepped on board the open top motor boat. We put on our over-sized orange life vests and set off into the ocean. I spoke with a father/son pair from California behind me, a girl from Colorado next to me, and a guy from Mexico in front of me. Luis was funny (which can be particularly hard when you are speaking a language that isn't your own) and he kept us entertained.

The air was cold, the sun was bright, and the water was blue. There were small mountains that looked like smooth, tan sand dunes that dropped off into the water. Soon we stopped to looked at an unusual carving into the side of one of these mountains. It is called the Candelabra and looks like a three pronged candelabra (or cactus) drawn into the ground. As with the Nazca lines, there are several theories as to how,when and why it was made. It is a huge drawing in the ground, but apparently is only about 30-50 centimeters deep. The reason it is so well preserved is that it never rains here. And when Luis told us it never rains, he meant it never rains.

We sped up and continued on to the islands. Along the way we saw a swarm of birds (seagulls and cormorants) feeding in the water and some huge pelicans. When we arrived to the islands the rock formations were beautiful. There were caves and big rock arches. Birds covered the rocks. We saw gray cormorants, Peruvian boobies, pelicans with brightly colored beaks, and penguins! The cute little black and white Humbolt penguins waddled along the rocks. There were even some high above walking along the top of the rock arch.

While driving around the islands, the strong scent of bird guano whirled around us. My nose wrinkled with the stench and I tried to concentrate on my conversations with the people around me. The rocks were covered with the white droppings and Luis told us how the guano was sold as fertilizer. I pictured the awful job of being the guy that has to shovel that stuff into containers for selling. Despite that thought, the scenery was gorgeous.

As we came around another curve, we saw two sea lions perched on a rock above the water! Luis informed us they were pregnant. We wondered how he knew. Then, he revealed his secret way of knowing that. Turns out, these sea lions are almost always pregnant. Two hours after giving birth they get pregnant again. Thus, they are almost always pregnant. What a life.

This tour was over all too quickly too, like so many of the amazing tours I have been on here. The driver put it into full gear and we sped back to our starting point. I enjoyed talking to the college student from Mexico in front of me as we drove. He and his brother were traveling all over South America.

Before our long drive back to Ayacucho, we stopped at a sea front boardwalk for some shopping and some lunch. I loved all of the beautiful and unusual seashells for sell. There were purple ones, pointy ones, white ones, peach ones, big ones, little ones. It was hard to restrain from buying them all. We enjoyed our lunch with great view of the ocean right in front of us and the sun shining down on us. Several of us got the famous ceviche and it was delicious. Fresh and light. Satisfied and fully, we waved good-bye to the coast.

Our drive back to Ayacucho proved to be just as death defying as my other driving experiences. HUGE trucks and double-decker buses sped to pass us and each other on the winding two lane road on the edge of the mountains. I tried to keep myself occupied with my book and not think about it. I pushed thoughts of careening down the side of the mountain in our little van out of my head. After many pages read, naps taken by everyone else, and several hours of driving, we all became bored. We got good laughs out of playing a story-telling car game. Each person had to add a sentence to the story and each story got funnier and more unusual with each addition.

The sun setting over the mountains was gorgeous. I reflected on what a great experience this is and how happy I am. Once it was dark we came over the mountains to see the lights of Ayacucho spread out in the valley. The rows of little yellow lights snaked through the city. The town was much larger than I thought. It was good to be back "home."

Not a Drop of Rain, Robert Earl Keen