Wednesday June 22

My stomach situation did not get better and in the middle of the night I had to go to the bathroom. However, our room is detached from the main house which is locked, so I would have to wake Katia and Uziel up to let me in. I got up but I found the two guard dogs sleeping right outside our room and they went crazy when I opened the door! Seriously those dogs are terrifying! I dithered for a long time in the hallway and then dashed to the next room down the hall. There, I climbed out the window, landed on a bench and ninja-hopped my way along, over things on the bench until I reached the door. As I re-traced my route I hoped I did not have to do that again!

I did not sleep much and by the morning was exhausted and overwhelmed by everything. I washed out my clothes and took them to the roof to dry but then sat there for about an hour feeling sad and alone, and summoning the energy to go back downstairs.

I could not eat any breakfast but Alison and I played a couple of games of chess against Uziel. We lost the first game but won the second! Although Uziel was going easy on us and even sacrificed his queen to make it more interesting!

Alison and I had decided not to go to the school this morning, but were hoping to pick up a morning shift at INABIF which started at 10am. By 9 I was starting to feel better and at 9:30 I even tried to eat a piece of bread with caramel spread - but that really upset my stomach.

I decided I would still go but as we began the long walk up the hill to the Plaza my condition took a steep dive and I could barely make it to the pharmacy where I bought a bottle of electrolyte drink you are supposed to drink over 24 hours to soothe your stomach.

While we were walking, a guy came up and started asking us questions in English! We (mostly Alison) chatted for a while and he told us he is an English major. He seemed OK but I was not feeling chatty. At the end he asked for our numbers and we flat-out refused. We don't have numbers and we don't know where we live!

At home I slept for two or three hours before waking up in time for lunch. Mama Dorris had prepared a special chicken and noodle soup for us poor sicklings. I managed to eat mine but Alison did not. She does not have the same symptoms as I do, but has waves of nausea.

A chicken foot! Joyce says white people dont eat anything but what's there to eat? It wasn't that bad (tastes like chicken!) but later we found out we WERENT supposed to eat it! Ah!

After lunch Alison went home and Joyce and I went to INABIF. I taught English to one of the kids and played with others. Someone called Roberto and ugly monkey and I was gobsmacked - how can such an innocent young child be so cruel? Roberto's hands are getting better as he has been putting vaseline on them at night, which is awesome.

For dinner Uziel made a gingery, starchy, citrus sludge which is usually a dessert but tonight was main course for us of poor health. It was pretty good!

After dinner we played poker for my starbursts. I did not do well and lost all my cash twice, while Joyce won so much she started to eat her money, but it was Alison who pulled out a surprise win at the end. When the candy started to be eaten I made the wrappers into cranes. It was really fun, but we missed Katia who was working and couldn't play - her job is very stressful!

Tuesday June 21

My least favorite fruit here is papaya. I don't know why, but to me it smells and tastes like vomit. We had fresh papaya juice for breakfast this morning, which is only slightly better than eating it straight. Then as usual we had to rush to work. We were super-late getting out the door and then couldn't find a mototaxi for a good 5-10 minutes.

Yesterday on our way in we saw Jacky and realised we had completely forgotten we were going to have dinner with her on Sunday. There is just too much going on! We hadn't talked about it since Monday but she had still prepared a meal. I felt so guilty! Luckily we could re-schedule to this Friday.

Today I taught a class of second graders adjectives about appearance, things like curly hair and glasses, but it turned out to be more a test of my Spanish vocabulary than an English lesson for them! In the next class Alison was also there. The class were split into groups and my group were so on top of the task and finished early, They used their new-found extra time to braid my hair. Alison's group on the other hand spent their time passing horrible notes to each other and not doing their work. How can kids be so different?

It reads "Available" in Spanish

At lunch Joyce recounted the story of a gall bladder surgery she had got to see. Seriously, she's not grossed out by anything!

After lunch we walked to INABIF where we had a pretty average day. Max showed me how to draw a bunch of guns and lots of kids wanted to know how to say zombies and dragons in English. I also had to try to teach a lesson on common English phrases like "Good morning" but unlike the kids at Gunter Grass these kids can be quite a handful and I just couldn't get control.

After work at INABIF Alison and I walked back to the restaurant where Katia was working, and chatted to Jonathan who also works there even though his parents cover his university fees. He wants to be an engineer. Katia joked he would have to marry either me or Alison so we would stay! People here are obsessed with love, significant other, and relatioships in general. On one hand it is a good thing as there is a real sense of community, but on the other hand it's hard to be independent, especially if you are a woman.

I started to feel pretty bad but had to do my course selection for UBC so went with Alison to the Plaza for wifi. I searched all the possible electives and settled on micoeconomics. I had to go inside the restaurant to call my mum to let her know. She was a little frustrated I had not got back to her sooner which I feel guilty about - so much is happening here I am always behind or forgetting something! Everyone is doing well in Colorado but it is over 100F!

We went home and ate spaghetti while watching the USA -vs- Argentina game on TV. We all had faith in USA except Katia and Uziel. Alison even joked she'd bet her house on a USA win. USA lost 4-0, it was embarrassing. The world's best soccer player right now, Lionel Messi, scored a killer penalty and another Argentinian broke his arm when he flew into a barrier and flipped upside-down while trying to head a ball. Yikes!

I was feeling worse and Katia and Uziel suspected the papaya juice I had had for breakfast. Darn that papaya!!! Hope I feel better tomorrow.

Helping make flags for an event Uziel has

View from our room - the car wash!

Monday June 20

It was sooooo hard to get up this morning!! I was with Katia and Alison the whole day, first in a class with another teacher who got the kids to discuss nationality. Everyone was surprised to learn I have four nationalities, and we did a lot of comparing cultures - I talked about the American school system and Thanksgiving.

Next we went with Katia to the kindergarten for some English lessons. The kids were learning body parts so we tried to teach the song "Heads-shoulders-knees and toes" but the kids didn't quite have the attention span needed to learn it. We taught three classes and by the third one I barely had the energy left to bend over and touch my toes. Something about the extremely high level of energy the young kids have drains your own energy! We taught mainly 5 year olds, but there were also 3 and 4 year old kids in the classes.

The view from the kindergarten

The kindergarten

At lunch with Uziel we showed him some photos of Boulder and he showed us where he grew up. It was so cool to kind-of--see where he grew up. We have all decided we are definitely going to return next year and see the great Amazon rivers. I really hope that actually happens!

Lunch with Katia, Alison, Joyce, and me

In the afternoon we went to INABIF and it was a pretty heart-wrenching day. One of the kids I've grown closest to, Roberto (Max's cousin), came in with hands so dry they had cracked open into huge sores that were an inch wide and spewing blood and pus. We were all horrified and couldn't imagine how painful it must be. We talked to one of the coordinators who said that although Max lives with his single mother, Roberto lives in an orphanage and doesn't go to school. He can't read or write even though he's eight years old! It's just unbelievable that he might never learn to read or write. What a hard start in life. Not only that but the other kids here pick on him and I can't imagine he gets much love at the orphanage either so he must just go unloved. How is that possible when he's the greatest kid ever??

Roberto's hand

Later I learned that there is a school he could go to but it has strict rules and for many street kids it's hard to give up their freedom so they don't go, or don't stay. His smile is heartbreaking, so loving and trusting, and he says we are his family which is too much for me to process.

When we got home we were all kind of in a state of shock. Uziel said there are a lot of kids like that, who grow up on the street without education and only other street kids to rely on. It used to be a lot worse with hundreds of gangs controlling the streets and more drugs and violence. Things are changing now but Peru does not have enough money to support it's growing population and everyone has to work harder for less money.

Uziel is actually up for a prize, awarded to people who are working to changer Peru for the better and support its economy. Uziel is a theatre producer and a teacher at a local school but he also volunteers a lot with outreach theatre programs. How cool is that!

We had a delicious dinner of rice with carrots, peas, and sausage, and afterwards Uziel told us a harrowing story of when he was 19 and went up to the roof of his family's house to fix a leaking spigot. The wall he was leaning on collapsed and he fell two stories, went through a skylight, and fell another story before landing on the ground. He was miraculously perfectly fine until a brick from the wall landed on his hand! What a crazy story! He was also caught in a landslide while mountain climbing and just saved himself. He has more lives than a cat!

Our house is the door just to the left of the black car, our room is just to the right

Front door to our house/car wash we've been joking Alison could wear a bikini and be like the blond on the poster

Sunday June 19

Today is Father's Day! And I'm on the other side of the world from mine. I didn't wake up until just before midday and was still feeling sick. We went to the restaurant for lunch, a soup called Mondongo which is made out of pig liver.

Found Barney!

Alison has turned into a bird

About 3pm we moved to a different restaurant for tea and wifi. The tea was delicious! We all called our dads, mine like always, said he was tired from work and had too much on his plate. My cat is fine and it was over 100F in Boulder! It was a short but nice conversation and made me miss my parents.

Katia told us she was raised by her mother after her father went to Japan and re-married. She lived near the coast. Uziel grew up in Lima with three younger sisters. Two of his sisters live in Ayacucho and are often around the restaurant, and also their children.

After our tea we went to get some dinner! While waiting for pizza Alison, Joyce, and I went to get Uziel his first Father's Day gift. He had told us earlier that he wanted a red Ferrari so we went to a nearby toy shop and got the equivalent of a Hot Wheels red car for him. It was hilarious! We took lots of pictures on the way home of us walking in the formation we would have been if we were in a car, and we tried to take a photo to make the car look real but couldn't get the focus right.

Uziel waits at a red light in his new Ferrari

Uziel drives us home

Uziel parks his car

When we got home we had coffee and played chess. I played Uziel who said he was an amateur but he was actually pretty good! He won both games even though Joyce was advising me during the last game.

Game night!

We also played a game similar to Sorry which Uziel also won. He said he was controlling our minds and maybe he was - he is tricky! Another game was a version of Jenga where each block is numbered and you roll dice and have to remove a block with that number on it. I pulled off two awesome moves, removing load bearing blocks! Finally off to bed.

Alison's ankle. She is the most delicious thing bugs here have ever seen!

Saturday June 18

We were supposed to wake up at 7 this morning, but since we had got to bed so late (or early) we completely missed that mark and woke up at 9 or so. We missed a parade for Gunter Grass' sports day but made it in time for the actual event.

It was a good length walk to the covered artificial field and when we got there it was already crowded with students and their parents. There was a field for football and a field for volleyball. Here the guys play football and the girls play volleyball. It was a lovely atmosphere and all the kids were there. I said hello to another Adrian from the seventh grade - a ridiculously tall 15 year old.

Alison and I joined the team of parents of kids in Katia's home class. When Alison was on the team they won, but with me they lost. It was definitely my fault! Uziel played football and won one and lost one.

Alison plays volleyball

Alison wins! I do not. Uziel said if we lost we were out on the street! He also won his football match

We had lunch at the event from a relatively sketchy outdoor grill. We then started talking to the dad of one of the girls we knew and he offered to buy us lunch. With a miscommunication by Uziel we ended up eating twice - whoops!

Uziel says that everyone here is so nice to Gringos that he can't even leave us alone in the lunch line without someone buying us lunch! It is kind of a weird thing actually, I only had to pay $1000 to go to a country where I'm basically treated like a superstar just because of my skin color. I'm so popular not because of who I am or what I am. At one point Katia, Uziel, Alison and I were all lying on top of each other, exhausted from the previous night and I realized how quickly I'd become comfortable with these people!

I was starting to feel a bit bad so did not end up eating much lunch and left the event a little early to go home.

Joyce and I went out again at 4 to meet Eleonora, but of course we didn't quite make it in time. However, like last time Eleonora was even more late!Alison ran back from her volleyball match and arrived at 4:30. The match had been scheduled for 12 so this was late even by Peruvian standards!

All four of us walked back to our house and moved our mattress and camping mats to make room for the yoga mats. The two hour session was actually easier this time which was encouraging but I couldn't focus on my breathing since I was feeling worse.

After yoga we got ready to go to a concert. We were supposed to meet some friends of Eleonora's but they were not there so we went to the restaurant as Mama Dorris had made everyone dinner. Eleonora called to say she had to babysit her 1yo nephew so could not come. We took a taxi to the concert with Uziel and his friend Luis.

At the concert there was a huge line. While standing in line we joked we should be able to use our Gringo superstar status to get to the front of the line!

The venue was a steep, sloping, grassy hill that lead down to a huge stage. There were thousands of people there and we were in the middle of three sections. The opening band was more blues than rock, then the second band was the one Katia was most excited to see. They looked like a 90s band and three had crazy huge manes of curly black hair which we joked was like Katia's hair, though actually hers is actually a little tamer.

The concert

Then the main band, Los Rancheros, came on and the crowd went nuts. Even Uziel who is usually an ice-man, started jumping up and down and banging his head like someone had pushed a magic button. This was especially impressive as earlier in the day he had fallen down the hard concrete stairs that lead to the next storey and bruised his arms. Other guys were also throwing themselves against each other and pumping their fists violently into the air. At the end of the concert the lead singer was draped in a Peruvian flag as a cape.

Uziel is definitely the most excited!

The crowd

Alison

We spilled out onto the empty streets and the few taxis were quickly lapped up by the thousands who needed them. We wandered around, Uziel sore from his earlier fall and then the jumping around. Finally we managed to hail a taxi and headed home, with me in the footwell of the back seat.

June 17

We barely slept - or it felt like it when my alarm went off at 6am - as we hadn't got to sleep until after midnight. Being so tired, I decided to take a morning off work and sort out my life here. The first thing I did was take a much-needed shower. There is only cold water in the tap, but I boiled a pot of water and used a cup to pour it over myself. It was actually soooo nice!!! Then the washing which is no small task. Joyce was also home so together we carried the laundry in a basin up one flight of stairs to an outdoor sink. We put water in the sink with a little laundry powder and rubbed them to get them somewhat clean. Then a rinse and we carried them up another flight of stairs to hang them out on the roof of the complex.

Joyce does laundry

The terrible view

The puppy at the car wash is only a few weeks old and is soooo adorable

It was actually so nice and relaxing! Joyce and I talked about skiing and our experiences here in Peru. I then organised my stuff in my room and by then it was already basically work time! Alison arrived home and had a quick nap before we went to lunch at the restaurant. We had a delicious soup and then rice and meat and were in such a food coma walking to INABIF! We were, as always, late, but today was a special event for Fathers Day which is Sunday. All the kids' fathers were told to show up or face a fee of 20 soles. Still not a lot of the dads did come, and if the kid did have someone it was most often a grandad.
While waiting for the event to start I showed Roberto and a kid whose hands were so dry they were cracked and bleeding my one magic trick which is to make a coin disappear from one hand an appear in the other. I do this by throwing it while flipping my hands over which is surprisingly extremely difficult to notice. Everyone was hypnotized and loved it!
The event began with a game where the kids ran to give balloons to the dads and grandads for them sit on and pop. One poor grandad fell off his chair! Then there were music performances, more games, a little bit of food was handed out, and everyone was happy.

Dia del Padre celebrations at INABIF

Another day, another awesome hairstyle by the kids

After it finished in a huge dance some of the girls walked out to the plaza with us. On the way we played tag and ran screaming down the streets. I felt like a little kid again! When we arrived at the plaza one of the girls, Janet, asked us to braid her hair so we did our best although our skills are far below theirs.

Alison, me, Naomi, Janet, and her little sister Lizbet at the bottom

We walked back to our new home and the girls taught us some of their games. One is where you name a color and then try to tag someone before they find and touch something of that color, or another hard one is where you sit in a circle, sing a song and do a certain clapping routine, and then try not to be the first one to laugh. It was so fun and I didn't want them to go!
We went to the restaurant to watch Peru in the Copa America. They have been doing really well and even beat Peru which is the third time Brazil has been beaten at this stage in the entire history of its football team! Crazy! Today Peru was up against Colombia and the entire restaurant was packed with guys and beer. The atmosphere was awesome, and you knew all of Peru was united in watching this one game, that's how strong the culture of football is here.
At full time there were still no goals and it went to a penalty shoot-out with Peru losing to perfectly scoring Colombian team. The restaurant was devastated.

Peru plays Columbia and suffers a devastating defeat in penalty shootouts. This after they won against Brazil marking the third time in the history of Brazil's team that they have been knocked out in this round at the Copa America

After a delicious dinner of tamales we went with Katia and Uziel to the barrio San Juan where there was a festival celebrating the type of dance Katia and Uziel had taught us on our first night with them (Cumbria). The event turned out to be massive! The line to get in was an hour long but it was worth the wait. The music was awesome and we all had so much fun dancing! Uziel knew some friends there and we all united in a big group. We stayed towards the outside of the thousands of people as it was dangerous to go in, even where we were, we were careful to stay together. I danced with Uziel who said I danced like a gringo, but the best for a gringo, which was actually so nice! I like the dance which is like the salsa with lots of hip-swinging but there is more variety in the types of steps you can do.
Finally we took a taxi home. A night to remember!

June 16

Not enough sleep seems to be my new normal but it still isn't fun! I had to wake up at the horrible time of six o'clock and could barely drag myself out of bed to eat breakfast with Uziel, Katia, and Alison (Joyce, the lucky duck, gets to sleep in until 7:30 - or later!). Uziel made us some fried eggs which we had on chapla which is traditional Peruvian bread that we've been having all this time. It is super puffy but not actually that fluffy.
At the school we helped the music teacher. We sang "Try Everything" by Shakira and I also played Fur Elise on the keyboard. The kids loved it! We ended up following the music teacher to the next class as well and we taught them "Twinkle twinkle" in English and the Cups song from Pitch Perfect. It was so fun and the kids loved it so much! The music teacher also said we can visit his parents house and play their violins which would be awesome!

Teaching "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

After lunch with Uziel we went to INABIF where we taught the kids to make crocodiles with their hands. We also let them ride on our backs and also grabbed their hands and spun them around with their feet off the ground. It's superfun for them but such a workout! And after you do it once there is no stopping the relentless mob of eager kids! By the end my hair was like a bird's nest from all the kids' hands.

The kids at INABIF pull out another fantastic hairstyle

We went back to the restaurant and helped the family shelling peas. When Mama Dorris saw my hair she practically fainted, but then committed herself to straightening it out. She was still working on it when we had finished with the peas! I chatted to a woman from the restaurant, Soledad, and tried to speak some Quechua but I just couldn't get my tongue around the words! Alison could say the words really well.

Alison, Joan-Pierre, Katia, one of the restaurant worker's kids, and Mama Dorris

The biggest carrots EVER

Soledad accompanied us to the market to buy some food for dinner and some pom-poms for Katia's class, and we saw one of the children from the school which was really nice. The market was packed and noisy and the smell from the meat stall was pretty bad. The markets here are more rustic than those in Cusco.

We dwarf Katia. She calls us her kids even though we are all sooo different.

Alison and I are ALWAYS matching, it's becoming a thing.

Us and Soledad

A cool arch

Yet another church

Market!

We get locked into the market...

Supermarket with Katia and Uziel

Joyce finds her soulmate

Smells like home

For dinner we made hamburgers which took a while because Katia and Uziel have only one two-burner camping stove at the moment. Our patties turned out a bit cumbly but we added lettuce, tomato, squeaky cheese, egg, and fried platino which was delicious! Even though it was hard to eat it was soooo good! We went to bed feeling full and happy.

June 15 and we move

Today is moving day to the new host family. We wouldn't move until the afternoon but I packed up in anticipation in the morning and went to work. The teachers here are much more strict than in the US! The students have to follow strict rules even in my art class. I also got to help out in the kindergarten which was so cute! The kids were adorable! One boy named Thiago asked me to make a crab out of clay, and once I figured out that cangrejo meant crab, I did, and he made up a whole story about a crab and a turtle which was so cute!

The three year olds

My crab

Alison gets her hair braided. The kids keep asking why her hair is such a strange color!

We had lunch with the family, which was awkward, then went to INABIF. I made the mistake of letting one of the kids ride on my back and then for the rest of the time mobs of eager kids followed me around wanting me to "Cargo yo!", "Cargo yo!" Carry me! Carry me! By the end I felt like an old grandma with a broken back and my arms were really sore!

Then we went home and said our goodbyes, said thanks for having us, and nervously we got a taxi to our new home.

The view from our new house

Our new home is a car wash. Literally the building that houses our new host family, Katia and Uziel, is right next to where they wash the cars. It's a two story house with no wifi and cold water, but Katia and Uziel are soooo nice! We live in a detached bedroom, but eat all together.

Joyce decends the hellish stairs

Our door doesn't close! Yikes! Not even Uziel (our new host dad) can get it closed

For dinner we went to the restaurant of Uziel's mother, which is called Mono Sazon where we met one of his four sisters, her two kids, his nephew, his nephew in spirit, and Mama Dorris, the matriarch of the family and owner of the restaurant. Everyone was incredibly nice and I already feel like part of the family!

After dinner we went home and had coffee in the small kitchenette and Uziel and Katia taught us a local salsa-like dance called Cumbia which was so fun! Joyce who's been taking ballet classes for 12 years also taught us the basics of ballet which was so fun!