BINGO and parihuela!

i havent been writing daily, because ive been so busy. and im sure that my posts will probably come less and less frequent as time passes. but LOADS to tell as usual..

the other day i woke up and showered (my 3rd or 4th shower since my arrival). i cant seem to knock this cold, and the freezing water makes it worse. after my shower, my pops came up to me with a bottle of makers mark that was filled with pisco (the peruvian liquor). he poured me a small glass and told me that it would help with my throat and congestion. of course, even the thought of downing some pisco in the morning made me gag, so i immediately refused and made a puke face to show him my disinterest. he insisted i take at least a sip and said that he and my madre would even take some with me. after our shots of nastiness, i told my parents that i was in dire need of a hair cut. my pops jumped up with excitement and said he would be right back. when he returned, he had a pair of childrens scissors in his hand. so there i was - in my peruvian kitchen with my peruvian parents, taking shots of pisco for breakfast, as my pops cut my hair with mini-scissors.

i also went to a fiesta with my family. it was at my sisters school, and BINGO was the main event. we met up with my dads brother and 2 sisters. (i love my extended family.) there were hundreds of people there, and i was surprised that i only ran into one of my fellow PCTrainees. jim (-bo) was there with his family. after our lengthy familia introductions, i sat back down with the fam and my favorite aunt wouldnt stop talking about how cute she thought jim-bo was. “muy guapo!” she said. it was quite funny.

one of the more exciting things weve done in training was traveling to a school in tres de octubre (a small community outside of chaclacayo) to help some kids work on resume writing. my partner was carlitos (chuck), and we had two children assigned to us. one of the kids wanted to be a graphic designer and the other wanted to teach language in school. quite large aspirations for kids coming from an underdeveloped community such as this. it reminded me of my own goals, and my purpose for being here. very refreshing.

this morning, i walked with casandra through the old chaclacayo cemetery. its so historic, delicate, and beautiful. i was kicking myself in the butt for not bringing my camera and promised myself to take it with me the next time i decide to walk through it.

after our walk, we went to lunch in chosica. i ordered the infamous parihuela, which is a delicious tomato based soup with fish, squid, shrimp, and lord knows what else in it. we had that and ceviche. a lunch fit for a king!

i finally hung my world map and some pictures up in my room today. i got a little emotional when i hung the pictures of my sweet puppy, riley. i miss his unconditional love for me.

my new favorite spot is on my roof. its beautiful during the day, but its another world at night. i walk up the dark, dusty stairs of my unfinished house, headlamp in hand, up to the top of my home. i like to sit up there and look out at the lights of the surrounding towns. i listen to the noises huascaran makes after the sun sets below the mountains. it gives me such a feeling of peace while replenishing my soul..

will write more soon.