charlas with a splash of water park.

greetings! (as my pops would say) time for another “my-life-in-peru” update! i’ve got loads of good news and a couple little pieces of bad - - -

we’ll start with the good...

i came back to Catache the other day. i was in Lima for about a week - attending the english teaching seminar with professor guido. we got so much out of the classes! they lasted 3 days, and they were jam-packed with information on different english teaching strategies. we came up with a plan to implement when the school year starts back up, and both of us are excited for the changes to begin!

one of the nights, we had dinner at the home of the director of the university that hosted the seminars. she was the hostess with the mostess - INDEED! her home was beautiful! there were servers clad in tuxes bringing us pisco sours and the best guacamole on the planet! and the dinner was probably the best food i’ve had in peru!

after our last day of charlas, the university got a “Mirabus” for all of us, and we got a tour of all of Lima and Miraflores while sitting on the roof of the bus! we ended the tour at a water park, where there were grand fountains of water, and a light show that danced to the music of Peru - so breathtaking!

as for the bad news - i came home, excited to see my little gatito. but, my family has started some sort of construction on the roof where my kitty had made his home. and mi gatito was nowhere to be found! i can only hope that he is okay.

the other half of the bad news happened this morning. i FELL on my morning run today… right onto my left knee. i was all the way to where i normally turn around (in Munana) when i fell, so i had to limp all of the way back to Catache on my bad knee. no moto-taxis, buses, or people in sight! i called the peace corps doctor when i finally got back to my house, and she told me to go to our centro de salud (health post). there, the doctor cleaned up my knee and examined it. he stays i should be fine, but its really swollen and HURTS!!! but, i am following-up with the “real” doctor in Chiclayo on friday, so i’ll keep you all posted.

i guess that’s about it for now - will write more soon!

Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood y mi gatito.

Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood y mi gatito.
4 Febrero 2011

i have really learned to love my once-dreaded morning runs. i’ve perfected a playlist for my routine - the beat to all of the songs go to the pattern of my feet hitting the mountain floor on cue. i have it so where the music picks up at the moment i am ready to run at a quicker pace, which helps to push myself harder. and i put some speed-walking songs towards the end for my cool-down. it’s become the soundtrack to the start of all of my days.

not to mention the beautiful scenery - the drastic cliffs and mountains are sure to take one’s breath away, even if they weren’t going for a morning run.

i usually rotate my journey - some days i go up to Piccuy, but lately i’ve been running to Munana because it’s the perfect distance and elevation for a good run. the road to Munana is frequented by the buses and local moto-taxis. my friends - the bus and moto-taxi drivers - they all wave, smile, and give me a thumbs-up as they drive past. and the farmers who tend to their chacras around the road to Munana look up to say hello to me every single morning. it makes me feel as if i’m living in Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood… it’s rather nice.

so, back in the real world, there’s this kitten that somehow found its way in my house about a week ago. he lives upstairs on my floor - the third - towards the unfinished roof. i feel awful for him. he’s nothing but skin and bones - and extremely skittish. he won’t let anyone get anywhere near him. probably because when the family discovered him, my host sister started screaming and my host dad ran after him with a broom. you can hear him meowing all through the night, and i just know he’s slowly dying of starvation. we talked about him at dinner 2 nights ago - apparently my whole family hates cats. which makes me think about the cobbs incident… before training, the cobbs’s host family had a couple of cats. they found out that ellen was allergic to them, and they poisoned them right before we all moved into our houses for training.

today, i decided to take matters into my own hands. i drowned some bread in canned milk and water, and i snuck it around the corner of the roof to feed the little guy. well, now i have myself a new best friend. he won’t leave my side. i want to bathe him, but i know it would be the safe thing to do to take him to a vet first. maybe i’ll sneak him to the campo vet tomorrow and see what can be done for him. and maybe i’ll name him too. :)

mi gatito:

yet another fiesta.

yet another fiesta.
3 Febrero 2011

this week, we had yet another fiesta in Catache. any excuse to celebrate something, right? so, it goes without saying that my class was canceled again - until the following week.

the fiesta brought castillos (firework towers) and dances until the sun came up. i, unfortunately, was sick with “gripe,” and was stuck in bed for the past 2 days. despite the fact that i couldn’t partake in the festivities, i could hear all of the madness from my bedroom… the crazy fireworks and la banda - who played in the rain until 4am at the colegio.

carlos is in my town to help out, so i got to hear all of the crazy stories from the comisaría (police station). apparently last night at around 3am, some guy got hit in the head with a broken beer bottle, and it gashed his face - from his mouth to the top of his cheek. gross. other than that incident, things were pretty tranquilo.