The Final Post.

Well today is the day. The day that I’m going to officially close out this blog, my little virtual journal of memories.

As of today, I’ve been home for exactly 20 days. And though that’s almost three weeks, I still have a whirlwind of feelings about being back in the States, much less the city. Though I try not to do it, I find myself subconsciously comparing San Francisco to Cusco at least eleventy one times a day (quick! name the reference!). And if my mind isn’t comparing, then it makes sure that one small thing will trigger a memory of Perú, and I go through a withdrawal again.

Now if you asked me before I embarked on my trip if I thought a mere two months could impact me so strongly, I may have said yes, but not with the degree of emphasis I feel I need to say it with now. Remembering my experience from Scotland the summer before, I went to Perú still fresh with wanderlust. I went with the expectation that I would be able to return and spout off facts about Peruvian history, and have the bragging rights of saying I had hiked Machu Picchu. I expected to return with great stories about the kids that I worked with, and hopefully motivation for pursuing a career in child psych. What I didn’t expect is to have my whole world outlook changed and enhanced, to develop new interests, to become so attached to a city or the people I lived with, or to return with such a hunger to learn more, to travel more, to meet more people, and to just soak up so much more of EVERYTHING.

But it did happen, and I can’t thank everyone enough for it. Of course to my parents, who didn’t stop me from taking this trip. I think we all realize that I sprung this idea on my parents at possibly the worst time, in probably the worst manner, but somehow, I was able to convince them to let me go. And if it weren’t for their reassuring voices over the phone, I probably would’ve just jumped on a flight home from Lima after missing that flight, never making it to Cusco, and never getting the chance to experience what I did.

I have to thank my kids at Madre Teresa de Calcutta center, for being my vivid inspiration to create change (however little) and my constant reminder that the world is bigger than this goldfish bowl of San Francisco, or even the United States.

And my Momma Yoco and Papa Marco, for being two of the most caring people in the world and the absolute best host parents I could have asked for. They opened up their doors to me, to their home, to their life, and into their family. For granting all of our meal requests, driving us around the city, and helping us with our Spanish, I’m forever grateful. Of course, I don’t think the fact that they had accepted us as their own kids, or their own family, actually hit me until they brought us to the cemetery on Día de los muertos, and trusted us enough to show us the altar of Marco’s sister, to tell us all about her and her death, and essentially, granting us access to their past.

Of course there’s also Jorge, whom I fully attribute my improvement in Spanish to. He was an absolutely amazing (and amusing) Spanish teacher. Spanish never flowed out of my mouth as easily as it did during our gossip sessions together. Now, I find myself mixing together Spanish with English, or other languages for that matter haha, and wanting to watch those crazy novellas on channel 14. Beyond that, I’d love nothing more than to major in romance languages in addition to psych once I finally end up at NYU, so long as my admin allows it.

Now I can’t forget my dedicated readers as well. Thank you so much for always visiting my blog, always encouraging me to keep it going. If it weren’t for you all reading and leaving me day-making comments, I most likely would’ve let this blog go. But because I always knew there were people waiting for an update, I continued, and now have all of my memories written down. It’d be a lie if I said I hadn’t already come back to my blog once or twice and read a couple of entries for the sake of reminiscing.

Finally, I have to attribute my absolutely unforgettable two months to some of the best friends I have ever come across. Going into my trip, I imagined my living arrangements as something similar to what my friends would be experiencing in college with their dorm mates. And yet I was lucky enough that there was such a large group of us moving in at the same time that we bonded instantly. I’ve had friends ask me many times if I knew any of the volunteers beforehand, if they were friends who I had decided to take this trip with. When I respond no, they’re always shocked, saying that judging from the pictures and my stories, you never would’ve known. And yet I understand what they mean, as we had many new volunteers move into our house and come off as standoffish, which we only later realized was because it seemed so intimidating to try and work their way into our tight knit group. And as I left, it was nothing like leaving your dorm mates behind, but more similar to leaving behind your childhood friends, ones who you had grown up with.

But I suppose that’s because I did grow up during my stay with them. Now I’m not trying to say that I consider myself a grown up by any means; Mom and Dad both know that I still procrastinate, leave my things around the house, and need to be nagged once or twice to go do the laundry. But I do feel that I’ve grown up a bit in the way that I’m more anxious to move forward with my life, such as going onto uni, wanting to live on my own (though I do love being at home), and to ultimately be, as my dad always puts it, a contributing member of society.

So to anyone considering a gap year or taking time to travel for a bit, please do it. I’m not saying that it’s right for everyone, but I do believe that if you can formulate a good plan of action, it can be an amazing experience. There’s only so much time in life, so why put off exploring the world on your own terms while the time is still there? And contrary to the belief that when people take gap years, they don’t return to uni, I’m more excited than ever before to start my studies. So to anyone considering a gap year to either find themselves, explore the world, make a difference, or for whatever other personal reasons, I say do your research and do it.
And to anyone who wants to visit Perú, you won’t regret it. It is such a beautiful country, and it deserves to be seen. Yes, there’s the obvious reason: Machu Picchu. It’s one of the wonders of the world, and certainly an amazing sight to see. But even if you can’t make it out there, I still encourage you to visit Perú to experience their culture and enrich your own life. Tourism is one of Perú’s top two businesses, so go ahead and support their economy, which very much needs it.

Though I haven’t visited every city in Perú (actually, I’ve only been to Cusco, Lima, and Arequipa), I’d say Cusco has to be the first place on everyone’s list. You can never truly place your finger on it, but there’s something about the atmosphere there that is such a contrast to that of the city (which so many of us live in). There’s so much to see and do, and I’m sad I wasn’t able to check all of those things off. I cannot wait for my next visit back, which I certainly hope is sooner than later. Everyone knows it has a special place in my heart, and is one of the places I truly love.

In an effort to keep from rambling, here’s a goodbye for now. Thank you for your support, reading my blogs, and keeping me in your thoughts.

Until the next chapter of my journey, ciao*. =)

xxoo

P.S. If anyone ever does decide to visit Perú, let me know and I’ll give you restaurants to eat at, places to visit, what tours to skip, where to stay, etc.

* They say “Ciao” in Cusco, not “adios”. =)

Some pictures to end on:



















One of my last days in Cusco, in front of the waterfall on Avenida El Sol.

With Mama Yoco and Papa Marco at the cemetery.

Saying goodbye to Mama Yoco.

Liz, Jake, and I before heading off to the airport.

The splitting of the threesome.

Back in the city, and out to Indian food with Auntie May.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Horatio, where you at?

First off, that title will make absolutely no sense to anyone who doesn't watch CSI: Miami and know that Horatio is the lead boss man. It's basically just my way of saying that I'm here in Miami, bored out of my mind, but feeling the need to blog.

So my mental departure officially started on Thursday night, when I had my final dinner at Perez house. By special request, they had cooked all of my favorite items, which in retrospect, sound absolutely horrible as a complete meal. We began with Spaghetti, followed by pancakes covered in manjar blanco (the caramel spread), condensed milk, and strawberry jam, and ended with Mojitos. =) I know, absolutely no theme in there at all. It was such a great "Last Supper" though, because Marco, Yoco, Christian (our cook), and the kids (Tony and Monica) ate with us at the table, which they usually don't do. It was so awesome to have my final dinner be more or less compeltely in Spanish.

When dinner had ended, the Perezes went back to their part of the house, and we ended the night watching Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I have no idea why, but we were all way tired, and kept falling asleep through the movie. So we headed up, and I had my final sleepover in Perez house. =(

The next morning, I woke up (okay, fine, I was woken up) and went down for breakfast. Liz and Jake left to go buy their bus tickets for the Jungle, while I stayed home, doing some last minute packing before heading out to do the even more last minute souvenir shopping. It was nice to get out though, and get my last look at the city. (Of course, it wasn't really my last look, as we ventured out after lunch for our LAST last minute trip)

When I returned home, I found the two in the living room. I went up to my room and finished up my packing, which mostly meant putting away the toiletries and clothes I had worn the night before. I double and triple checked every drawer, closet and hidden space in our room, making sure I hadn't left anything crucial behind. I was sad however, to not find my sunglasses anywhere. They were only 10 soles though, so it's not too huge of a loss.

After my final lunch of chicken, papas fritas and vegetables, we cabbed up to pick up photos and buy friendship bracelets. And yes, friendship bracelets never go out of style if you have them with the right people.

So by the time we got back to the house, Marco still wasn't home to bring me to the airport. For some reason, today there was a huge parade going on, with people dancing in the streets and all that. (No really, they were doing their traditional dances in their traditional costumes, all while cars and taxis are trying to pass.)
It doesn't look like we'll be able to wait any longer, so Yoco helps us hail a taxi to the airport. The two help me load my luggage into the back, and off we go.

Now we get there, and the LAN worker tells me that I'm too late, and my flight is closed. I'm told I should've been here two hours before, instead of one, but I insist that he's absolutely ridiculous. This is the smallest airport I've ever been to, I don't see why two hours is needed, and my ticket only said one. Not wanting to deal with me, or Liz and Jake (who are also looking pretty pissed off at this point), the guy tells me to hurry up and head over to the counter. So my celebrity card begins, and my name is being walkie talkied to each checkpoint. Of course, as I try to get into the departure lounge, the lady unkindly reminds me that I haven't paid my tariff yet, so we run all the way back downstairs to do that. And then up again we go, this time making it successfully past the woman, as I frantically hug Liz and Jake, and blow them kisses and run through security and towards Gate 4.
"Morgan Ashley?" the girl at the gate asks, as I nod, mostly because I'm out of breath. "Hurry," she tells me, and I oblige. I still can't understand why this all had to happen this way, when I still had about an hour, and when the plane left at 1520 instead of 1400.

Of course after all of the adrenaline rush, silly little me ends up bawling the moment I sit down in my seat. The sadness of leaving what had come to be my second family, a city I loved, and a life I had adjusted to, mixed with the anxiety of being denied passage onto my flight, with the pinch of annoyance in knowing the long layovers that waited ahead for me, ended up being more than I could contain, so I just let it out. Soon after, the snack cart came by, and I was consoled by some familiar Peruvian snacks such as chocolate with peanuts, and my last legal can of Cusquena. =)

The flight was quick, and I soon landed in Lima, unsure of what to do with my time. So I take a taxi over to Miraflores, and end up using the phone and internet for a couple of hours, before ending my little moment in Lima with a sausage, mushroom and onion pizza at a little joint called Piccolo's. The pizza was probably the closest I had had to American style pizza, and only 2 bucks. The whole Lima thing was a bit sketchy, being so far from the airport, it being nighttime, and having images of my friend getting mugged here two months earlier the entire time. Still, I held my own, convincing myself that my inner city upbringing had prepared me for this, and remembering an Oprah episode where they talked about self-defense for women, and just told myself that if I didn't act like a target, I wouldn't be one. The scariest moment was probably the fact that my taxi kept stalling out, and I was convinced I wouldn't make it back to the airport.

Somehow, my Lima layover had escaped from me, and it was time for me to head on over to Miami. Now this flight wasn't as great as the Cusco-Lima flight, but still quite problem-less. Except for a good five-ten minutes of scary turbulence, I slept like a baby for a good deal of the flight, not even making it through Mamma Mia. And the food! MMMMM. I had a mushroom tortellini in cream sauce as my main dish, with a great little salad, followed by Tres Leche for dessert! How amazingly satisfying does that sound?

Well, I've been here in Miami now for about 5 hours, and I don't think I'll be leaving. The problem is that though I had wished to go out, it's looking like it'll be 20 bucks taxi ride just to leave this place. Gosh darn it, I miss Cusco already. Still, I've had a good 5 hours, managing to:
- Raise suspicions at customs again, where I had this stimulating conversation:
Security: "Where are you coming from?"
Me: "Peru."
Security: "How long have you been there?"
Me: "Two months."
Security: "What were you doing there?"
Me: "Volunteering..."
Security: "Volunteering for what?"
Me: "A children's center."
Security: "What was the name?"
Me: "Madre Teresa de Calcutta..."
Security: "Keep going, what'd you do there?"
Me: "Feed babies."
Security: "Feed babies and what else?"
Me: "Feed babies and change diapers?"
Security: "Alright, you can go."
- Get a Chicken Caesar Salad and Pomegranate Iced Tea for breakfast at Starbuck's at 7 in the morning.
- People watch outside in the little smoking courtyard.

Anywho, I'll update again with what will be the final update once I get back home to the city. Until then, missing you all.

xxoo Morgan

Almost home!

Hey. Guess what? Obama won! I'm guessing it means that all of you got your little USA-dwelling butts out there to vote. What is up with Prop 8 though? =/ I can't tell you how much it pained me to return home yesterday, still in goosebumps over Obama's speech, only to go to SFgate (Yes, I still do know what's up back home =]) and see that Prop 8 was leading and probably about to pass.

Anywho, here's what I've been up to lately since my last post, and probably not in any particular order. =) Life's been so frantic here I'm having a hard time keeping up. =)

- First of all, I should have been home by now. And yet, here I am, typing to you. However, I am typing from a safe and secure state of mind, after changing my flights around at the LAN office. So the new itinerary is that I arrive Saturday night at 10:40, and hopefully see a good deal of you at Maddie's party on Sunday.
- Yoeun left for Brasil on the 29th, bringing our house down to three people. And so we began having sleepovers in Jake's room. Liz and I commandeered the queen bed from Jake and have slept there every night since. (It's quite nice really, cause it means we get to leave our beds unmade and use them as extra storage space. =)
- Liz and I pulled last minute costume ideas out of our butts for Halloween. The two top contenders were devil and angel costume to be Jake's conscience, or dress up in overalls and veils, with pillows in our stomach, to be a trailer trash wedding. =) We ended up going with the angel and devil/id and superego (woo! Who paid attention in Lit?), though Jake stayed home, so we just looked like an angel and a devil. Still, we had fun going out and meeting up with the other house, and dancing the night away. We stupidly tried to look around for pizza at 2 in the morning, not realizing that it's not like the US where 24 hour EVERYTHINGS exist.
- On Saturday the 1st, it was Day of the Living, or the celebration of life, so Marco and Christian cooked a HUGE lechon and plenty of tamales. I can't even explain how much it made me miss home to see a dead pig staring me in the face. By the way Auntie May, all I kept hearing in my head was, "Wilbur! Wilbur!"
- On Sunday the 2nd, Marco and Yoco brought us to the cemetery where we got to see all of the Día de los muertos/Day of the Dead festivities going on. They showed us his sister's grave/memorial site and told us all about her. It felt so amazing to celebrate it with them, rather than having gone on our own, looking like lost Gringos.
- After the cemetery, Marco and Yoco dropped us off at Jack's, for what was probably my last meal there. And boy was it a good meal. My staple orange, pineapple and banana juice accompanied by green tofu curry. Best believe I cleaned that plate up. =)
- Deciding we needed to walk off the fattening Jack's meal, we walked down to Molino the purchase a whole bunch of DVDs to entertain ourselves with. When we were done, Liz and Jake headed home and I went to go return my angel costume to CCC. It was there that I found the El Dorado of food deals. How I had never seen it before I have no idea. =( But I could get Lomo Saltado with a fried egg over rice for...wait for it...2.50 soles!!! That's not even a darn stinking dollar! Oh sigh...cheap food, how I'll miss thee.
- Tom from the other house and his friends moved in for a bit starting Sunday, though they left this morning for the jungle. They're a group of six 30 something year olds on their mid life crisis type thing. =) They were extremely funny to talk to, so it's too bad I didn't get to know them better.
- Monday we started the dining out for Morgan's last week ordeal, and headed off to our favorite Indian restaurant. Of course, we went to the gym first (which is conveniently on the first floor of the same building), as to get rid of our guilt. (You know that my partial Catholic upbringing has me guilt-ridden all the time.) ;) And after Indian, we headed over to McCoy's for my final pub quiz. We won (we joined up with the other house), yet it didn't feel the same, as all of my favorite people who defined pub quiz for me are now gone. =( Jake and I walked home in the rain, but had a good talk nonetheless. We dried off, and then watched Arrested Development for 2 hours. =) (That's become our nightly ritual by the way. Nothing like ending the night with Jason Bateman and Michael Cera.)
- We woke up yesterday morning (tuesday) around 7:30 to watch election coverage, and basically watched the entire day. The only breaks we took were to go to the gym (I souvenir shopped), go out to dinner (more to come in the next bullet), and head over to the other family house to watch with them.
- Last night, we went out to this 100 percent organic restaurant greens, and I almost died of satisfaction. I ordered a beet and Brazilian nut ravioli with goat cheese. Liz had the Spaghetti with mushrooms and cream sauce, and Jake did the "Magic Table" or buffet option. It was so bad because Liz and I kept making Jake go up for certain items we really liked. And half of the buffet was cleared by the time we were done, though Jake was the only person who had done the buffet option. Oops. =) Plus, we topped off the night with gooseberry cheesecake and a chocolate tart with Brazilian nuts and caramelized oranges. MMMMM MMMMM GOOD. So expensive, yet so worthwhile. =)
- OBAMA WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had to slip it in here. =) I can't explain how amazing it is to experience the election outside of the country. Ironically, I honestly have never felt so involved in my own country's politics as I have here in Cusco. It was just so amazing watching the results come in though. I can't wait to be talking with my children or grandchildren however many years down the line and get to say that for my very first election, I saw history being made. Sure Obama may not be perfect, but he is the inspiration and motivation that so many of us need right now, and I can't wait until Jan. 20th. =)
- Today I went to my first (and sadly, last) Cienciano game. For those that don't know, Cienciano is the fútbol team here in Cusco. I still can't really describe it, because though I enjoyed myself, the team isn't very strong. Don't get me wrong, they won, but only because they sucked slightly less than the other team (Universitario de San Martín). It was kind of like watching the Niners back home. You have to stay faithful just cause they're your home team, but you're in constant frustration at their bad plays.
- And tonight, (actually, T minus 1 hour), we're getting ready to go dine out at Incanto, which is some fancy shmancy place here. It should be nice, and a great final out-on-the-town dinner. (Tomorrow Marco is making my pancakes by request, and the whole Perez family is going to eat with us. I can't wait.) =)

Well I certainly hope I'm able to update one final time before I leave, but if not, I can't wait to see you all this Saturday!

All my love, Morgan.

P.S. Get your final souvenir request in NOW, or forever hold your peace.

Eternally stuck in Perú. Or at least airports.

First of all, some responses to some past comments, which I never actually do.

Ian: Thank you for that suggestion, though I think Oprah's book club is a bit too out of reach. Though I have decided that if I ever did decided to take this all and spice it up a bit, it would be called, "Young, Dumb, and Looking for Fun: How to Survive in Perú at the Ripe Old Age of 18".

Uncle Gerry: Yes, I should've listened to you. And therefore, we may be looking at Spain for a next trip. Spanish will still be utilized, and yet, the safety will be a lot higher. After all, how can the locals be angry when they take siestas every afternoon?


So I'll open with saying that this post will be shorter than normal, considering how much I have to catch you all up on. And the reason why is because Harry (my laptop of course. Harry Potter, HP computer, get it? heh heh...) decided to go caputz on me, and will not start up. Henceforth, I can't type up my blogs at home the night before as I usually do, and can only update from internet cafes, which I have to pay for. SIGH. I try to update from home, but our monitor is dying a slow death, along with our router. Oh the shenanigans!

Still, I come to you right now from some janky internet café across from Máximo with a super abridged version of my past week.


Wednesday:
- We all called our respective projects and teachers and told them we wouldn't be in for the whole week. I can assure you that after 52 hours of terror, wanting to stay close to homebase is all one can think about. Lounging in your pjs in a familiar place all of a sudden takes priority.
- I finished Harry Potter finally. =) I'm finally somewhat in the loop lol.
- Jake went to go fill out his police report for insurance purposes today, and went to the tourist police. Before he left, we agreed I would be his witness. We decided to say that the theft happened on Tuesday, so that it would fit within the 24 hour limit of reporting a theft. So Jake comes back home as I'm reading, knocks on my door, and tells me the police officer is here. Shocked that he came back with Jake, I go downstairs, a little nervous. The officer starts to question me, and I go along, telling him exactly how I remember hearing it from Jake. However, when we get to the time that it happened, he reveals to me that Jake eventually told him it happened on Monday, and that lying about that sort of thing can be considered fraud. Jake starts to feel really bad, and starts pleading with the officer, telling him that he asked me to lie for him, and to please keep me out of trouble. Now I suppose that at some point of growing up in the "inner city" lol, my wires got crossed, and my common sense isn't totally in tact. Instead of being scared about the fact that I could go to jail or anything, I'm more offended that the guy could even suggest sending Jake and I to jail for fraud. So I start giving him a mini attitude, raising my eyebrow as I speak, and all of these things, completely unknowingly. Only after the police officer goes up to Jake's room and starts going through his things (making sure he's not just hiding the camera) do I start freaking out to Luke. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I just gave a police officer so much attitude! What if I prevent Jake from getting the police report signed? What have I done, Luke?" But Luke assures me that I reacted naturally, and that the officer was merely doing his job as well. The police officer and Jake return, heading off to the police station. Oddly enough, the officer tells us that in another circumstance, he would love to practice his English with us.
- We go out to lunch at Jack's as a farewell to Luke, who left later that afternoon. I indulged in bean and cheese tortillas with guac, sour cream and pico de gallo. Trust that it was finished quite quickly, and finished off with a chocolate cake shared by all. Jake arrives to lunch late, as he had to fill out more things at the police station. I profusely apologize at the fact that I may have diminished his chances at success, but he assures me everything was settled, and apologizes for making me lie. In the end, we're all okay because the officer signed the papers, and we're all still free women and men.
- When we got home, I dyed Liz's hair, which she wanted darker than her current red auburn. She's planning on getting some dreads here, and thinks a dark brown would be a safer bet. We made Jake sit in to watch, as he may have to do it when Liz needs a touch up and I'm back home in the states. It was real funny actually at how intent he was at learning, making sure to clarify each step.
- Later that night, we head out to Pub Quiz as always. However, the only available spot is the couch that everyone always warns us about. But there are no more open spots, so we sit down. We all are nearly passed out by the end of the fourth round, and can barely keep our eyes open. I'm pretty sure that one of us has a picture of Jake, Yoeun and I in a sleep train on the couch, each person's head on another's shoulder.
- When the quiz is over, we all want to head home, but Liz reminds us that we agreed to go out for Thai food. Grudgingly, we follow her to Indigo, and grab a couple of different curries and noodles. We couldn't even Jenga tonight, because we all agreed we didn't have the fine motor skills necessary with this level of sleepiness.
- We walk it off on the way home, and crash IMMEDIATELY.

Thursday:
- Thursday was Pisac Market day, so Yoeun, Jake and I took the bus there. The market was pretty nice, though the prices were so much more expensive than Cusco, which is the exact opposite of what I had heard. Still, I was able to squeeze in some souvenir shopping, which only reminded me that I'm leaving way sooner than I'd like to.
- We had a fantastic lunch at this little café there, all for 8.5 soles. It was the "house menu", and included a soup or salad, plus ají de gallina with rice, plus a dessert. We also threw in a brownie cheesecake in the end, whch was to die for. Oh how I love Peruvian prices!!!
- When we got back home, we just relaxed until getting ready to go out for dinner. Again. Tonight was deemed Korean BBQ tonight, which ended up being closed. However, we weren't deterred, and just headed to the Indian restaurant instead. And oh, am I happy we did! It turns out that for some Indian Christmas holiday...they cut all of the prices in half. Each main dish was only 10 soles, and each bread dish was only 5 soles. I got the chicken curry, which was so bomb over rice! I know, shocker, yes? Me eating rice? But with Indian food, it became my best friend. We all played it family style, sampling each other's dishes here and there. The night ended with our stuffed bellies walking home.

Friday:
- Today I meant to make it out of the house, but instead I stayed home all of the morning, making phone calls home. By the way, everyone's envious that I'm able to talk to my parents for a whole 4 or so hours. I just tell them that the closeness can't be achieved by anyone outside of my family, haha.
- After lunch, it was bungee jumping time, and Marco and Yoco drove us over. The place was kind of random though, and not at all what I expected. I suppose since it's referred to as an action theme park, I was expecting a mini Great America. This wasn't the case though, and it sort of disillusioned me from the jump. Still, the boys went, and enjoyed it a whole bunch. I ended up chickening out though because it was super cold and windy, and not the conditions I want to jump into. I'm still thinking of doing it before I leave though, if for nothing more than bragging rights. After all, it IS the 4th highest jump in the world at 122 meters.
- Post jumping, the boys went home, while Liz and I roamed around, wanting to scout for good shopping places. We didn't buy anything, and eventually just went home, where the shower and internet were both out.
- Our dining out choice tonight was Fallen Angel. Super expensive, but worth every penny. Or centimos actually? I had this Andean Ravioli which was to die for (filled with crunchy noodles and sweet potatoes in a cream sauce). Jake had a fettucine covered in peanut sauce, Liz a Vegetarian Lasagna, and Yoeun a steak covered in mole sauce. MMMMM. Talk about indulgence.
- We meant to go out dancing afterwards, but we were all too tired, and home again we went.

Saturday:
- I woke up Saturday with one mission only: Take a shower. The only way to do this with a spastic shower in my room was to head to the gym. So out I went, and worked out I did. It was actually really satisfying after not working out for so long. An hour of the iPod, stretching, and mind-clearing exercise was exactly what I needed. And when I though I couldn't feel any more relieved, it was time for my shower, which I soaked up (no pun intended).
- I walked around for a bit afterwards, getting some more souvenir shopping done, and just enjoying the feeling of being clean. I was super happy with my purchases, though I can't say what they are for fear of the person reading it!
- When I got back home, we left for Jack's as a possible farewell lunch to Yoeun. However, he told us that he'd had his flights changed, and would be with us until Wednesday. I bet you all can't guess what I ordered. Hint: Breakfast item usually topped with butter, syrup and cinnamon.
- The Máximo party was that night, but not until 10:30. You should've heard how depressing of a person I was that night. The thing was that I had fallen asleep before the party, and therefore, woke up really grumpy, and not in the party mood at all. The whole time I was getting ready, I kept making man grunts in protest to going out, which my friends reminded me wasn't the most feminine thing in the world. Somehow, I made it out of the house, dress and heels, make up done, and jewelry on.
- The party itself at Máximo was not fun at all, and you can believe we left as soon as we possibly could to hit up our normal dance spots. The night got better as it went along, and I was actually quite sad when it ended. After all, we pulled an early night, rolling in around 3:30.

Sunday:
- Sunday was a pretty chill day. We all woke up around 10:30, walking down to breakfast with eyes half open. The boys went to the Cienciano futból game, but Liz and I accidentally fell back asleep and missed it. We weren't too disappointed though, and were happy when we saw the boys yawning later that afternoon.
- Today was the day that we went in to the tattoo shop to get Liz's hair dreaded. I didn't really want to go as it was raining, but she needed moral support.
- While she was still there, I made a Molino run and bought a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. Trainspotting, Snatch, American History X, Love Actually, Entourage seasons, Arrested Develoment seasons, and more seasons of Weeds.
- When we got home for dinner that night, we were happy to see that we had pollo a la brasa waiting for us! We popped in Snatch, and ate dinner while watching the movie.

Monday:
- Yesterday I woke up to a call from one of the mamitas, saying that only two kids were going in that day, and I didn't need to go into work.
- So I stayed home, and cleaned my room, reorganizing my clothes, throwing out trash, and ultimately making it a more desireable place to live in.
- I went to class with Jorge for the first time in a while, which was really nice. We caught up, and he kept gasping at the details of our Arequipa bus ride of horror.
- Afterwards, I shopped for about 3 hours until it was time to meet up with the gang for Indian dinner again. (We had to go before today to get the Christmas prices!) I found some really great shops, which I'm extremely happy about, and in which I hope to get a lot of souvenirs out of the way. Sadly, I also had a super creepy taxi ride. The guy wanted to take a picture with me, kept asking me about my love life, attempted to touch my leg a couple of times, and "missed" my spot to get dropped off at. When I told the group later, they told me that that reason alone is why you're supposed to sit in the back of the taxi when you ride alone.
- Post dinner, Jake and I headed to quiz night, where Yoeun facilitated. We joined the other family house's team, not wanting to be the pathetic pair of two. It was actually really nice though, and more pleasant than we expected. Sure, it could never compare to our house, but it was a start. "An olive branch in the right direction" as Yoeun put it. Also, as a group of 10, we won trivia, which the other house was really happy about. Apparently, they had never won before, which was a shocker to Jake and I. Spoiled and conceited as it sounds, our house has come in the lead many times, so the glory was a normal and welcome feeling for us.
- When we returned home, we continued our movie marathon by putting on Love Actually. Boy, I can't wait for Christmas now! And I always feel so warm and fuzzy after watching it. The boys even teared up, though "eye allergies" was the explanation. SURE.

And here I am today, writing to you from the aforementioned internet café. By the way, here are the highlights of today, which inspired my title for this blog.

- I got a call from LAN, my airlines, saying that due to the weather and the fact that my flight out of Cusco is an afternoon flight, it's been cancelled. I say okay, not really able to do much else. So I head over to the LAN office, and try to change my flights. It's all working out, and I've got a morning flight now, which is more likely to be able to fly out. Of course, the cost comes up, and kills it all for me. To change the LAN flights is 80 dollars, which I nod at. 80 dollars to be able to fly out safely? Sure, why not? But then the girl checks the price to change the American Airlines leg, and it comes to 150 dollars. I tell her it's much too expensive, and that I'll have to pass on the change. She assures me that sometimes, a flight will become UNcancelled if the weather holds up, and I should just go to the airport anyways.

So on Monday, I will head out, and hopefully be able to catch some flight home. Of course, there's always the poor lost little girl shpeel as Dad puts it, which will be whipped out if necessary. But as of this moment, I officially have no flight home, which is a pretty crazy thought. =)

P.S. Hope you all got your postcards!

Three clicks of the heel, there's no place like home.

Hey all. I realize I haven't updated in exactly a week, but boy what a week it's been. Let me begin by saying that I had my first genuinely out-of-the-comfort-zone experience here in Peru over this past weekend. And as of right now, it's still all that's on my mind, and therefore, the only part I'll be updating about in this particular blog.

After a wonderful weekend in Arequipa with the group (Liz, Jake, Matt, Yoeun), we boarded a bus (without Matt, who was on his way to Chile) at 8:00pm for a 9 hour ride back home to Cusco. We were all ready for a night of sleeping, a dubbed over movie, and a questionable dinner. Our seats were dispersed across the entire bus, but I suppose that was our fault for buying the tickets only 5 hours earlier.

But 2 am rolled around the next morning, and our bus was stopped. Still too early in the morning, we went back to sleep, figuring we'd be in Cusco soon enough. However, when I woke up again at 8am and asked Liz if we were in Cusco, I learned we hadn't moved at all. Apparently, there was a landslide up ahead and we had no way to get around it. Lame, I thought, but then again, we were on a random Peruvian bus, whose ticket we purchased for 40 soles; travel complications were to be expected. So back to sleep I went, not too disturbed at all.

And yet how scared was I when I later found out that the rock barricade was in fact man made, and the result of a protest we had wandered our way into. The length of the protest was uncertain, and it was unclear at what time we'd be able to leave.

Around 9:30, the boys and I headed down to try and find a telephone to call Marco for advice, and perhaps to come pick us up. Still, it was the sole telephone in the unnamed town. So we waited a while, only to not get through to Marco. We decided we'd try back in another hour, and returned up the mountain to our bus.

As the day went on, the locals got more hostile, and on the second walk down to the telephone, I had rocks thrown at me. I've never had anyone throw anything at me with the serious intent of injuring me, so I was getting a little frazzled. Still, I was far enough away to avoid being hit, and escaped unscathed. Our second attempt at calling was unsuccessful again, and so we decided it might be time to search for food. Liz and another person she had met told us about a corner store they had found about a 20 minute walk away, so we headed in that direction.

It was quite a walk, and I can't tell you how many farms we walked through, or offbeaten paths we took. We finally reached a store, though probably not the one described to us, and went in.

The place looked as if it hadn't been opened in at least a year, with boxes everywhere, and no method to any madness in the ordering of food. The place was dusty, and I would've never bought anything from there except for in that moment. The boys bought some crackers, and I some Limon Cremasitas, and we were soon back on the road towards the bus.

As we were walking back, police passed us, and we were excited to see the action that was about to unfold. Hopefully, everything would go smoothly, and we'd be able to go home. Like I mentioned before, besides the locals that were selling food and snacks to the tourists, the townspeople were not happy with our presence. So when we were on a rural road and Jake was taking some photos of the craziness, some locals ambushed him and chased him down the road. He tried to outrun them but they ultimately chased him into a larger group of guys, and he made the smarter choice of just handing over the camera. I couldn't believe that something like this had actually happened right in front of me, to one of my friends. It's the things you get warned about when people don't want you to travel to another country, but not something that actually happens within your own realm of travel.

Not wanting to go towards that direction any longer, we turned back until we saw the police up the hill gesturing for us to head that way. We figured that staying near the police would be the safest bet, and sat with them for a good deal of the day. We didn't dare go near the buses, where there was tear gas and angry locals, pelting rocks through bus windows. And though we were safe with the police, it was disturbing to just watch them sleep on the side of the mountain and eat ice cream, assuring us to just be patient.

Around 5 pm, we headed back to the bus, in need of food and a comfy spot. How we made it through the mob of protesters I have no idea, but I'm thankful nonetheless. When back on the bus, we simply ate, read, listened to music, and tried to pass the time. When night fell though, reality kicked in again. It was pitch black, and rocks were being hurled at our front window. We all rushed to the middle of the bus, stuffing blankets into the window curtains along the way, protection for our heads in the case that a rock should make it through the glass.

It was such a scary part of the night, and I don't think I've prayed so hard until that night. At some point in that night, we found a way through, and were able to drive off a bit until the next blockade. Knowing we would be unable to get through, we parked in a gas station for the night. At that point, our driver, Liz, Jake, Yoeun, John and Tash (friends we made on the bus) went in search of food. They forbade me from going along, insisting that one of us needed to stay behind, and after pulling the age card, deciding it should be me.

I could not stop worrying until they returned, which seemed like hours to me, though I had no actual means of measuring the time. It helped to talk to the other group of Canadians and Brits we met, though they still weren't the same as my friends. When they returned, they had brought me food for dinner, which was basically some crackers, bread, jam, and some cookies. Already Monday night, we were completely tired and made an attempt at sleep.

By 12:30am though, one of the Peruvians on the bus came running upstairs, screaming about how our bus driver had never returned, and all but one of the other buses had left once an opening had come up. The bus attendant kept trying to reach our driver by phone with no luck, so running off of fear and adrenaline, we all rushed to gather our things and try to beg the other bus to let on. But our bus attendant girl freaked out, telling us it'd be safer to stay here, because there was word of an angry mob of kids coming our way, and being in the bus would be the best option. Still concerned about the fact that we had no driver, but even more worried about a crowd of angry kids, we moved back onto the bus. And somehow, no more than five minutes later, our bus driver shows up. He's drunk, but our bus attendant swears he can drive.

At this point we have no idea what to do. Stay on the bus with a drunk bus driver, or wait to get mobbed by angry, and most likely agile and strong youth? We tighten our seatbelts, say our prayers, and opt for the drunk bus driver. Luckily, he manages to stay on the road, though we do nearly hit the back of another bus as we come to the end of the line of buses stopped at the next blockade.

Through the night, the bus driver somehow sneaks to the front of the line, making us the primary target. And therefore, when we woke up the next morning, we found two huge places in the windshield where the glass had shattered. Luckily, the windows were durable enough that the windows hadn't actually broken, but it was scary nonetheless.

It's Tuesday morning now, and we're in a town called Sicuani. To our knowledge, this town is the capital of the province that was protesting, and therefore, the rowdiest. Also, we finally found out on this morning what the protest was over: An annual five sol tax for water.

Seeing as we had already gone 24 hours plus, people were starting to concoct crazy ideas. The bus attendant threw out the suggestion that the townspeople had nothing against us gringos, and we could attempt to walk to the other end of town and persuade/pay someone to drive us back to Cusco. And because there was talk of the protest going until Wednesday, some people suggested that we find ourselves a motel/hostel for the night. But Jake, Yoeun, and I were determined to stay on that bus, or at least keep it within a stone's throw. Who knew when our bus would be able to make it through, and if at that point, our bus driver would actually wait for us. So eventually we all decided we would stick it out another night on the bus if need be, but there would be no alternative methods. Reinforcing the extremity of the walking to the other edge of town, we met an Argentinian couple who had no success driving past in their car. If they couldn't, a taxi wouldn't make it as well.

Eventually, we ran to grab a lunch, which completely hit the spot. Since it was a somewhat larger town than our first "stop" had been, there were more restaurant options, and we actually found a spot with a sign. I had chicken with a fried egg over rice, and instantly felt satiated. Also, there was Looney Tunes going on in the background, which made me feel like a little kid again, and ultimately helped me worry less and feel a little safer.

After lunch time, we decided we couldn't go back to the bus yet, and took the advice of our Canadian/British friends to go into a local sauna. So we grabbed our bathing suits and paid the five soles fee, gaining access to hot showers and both saunas. The first sauna we hit was the vapor room, which had eucalyptus leaves in it, and felt so wonderful. The second sauna was the dry room, and had lemongrass. I honestly couldn't choose between the two, but I know I can assure you I have higher standards for my future sauna visits. It was so amazing that the place was open, considering the strike going on, and the angry people right outside on the street. Yet the sauna did its job, and we were able to forget our worries for a short period, and just enjoy ourselves. And still our experience was cut short, no more than 30 minutes, as one of the Peruvians on our bus came in saying that it looked like a clearing was opening up, and our bus would be leaving soon. We all run to the locker rooms, changing haphazardly because this may be our chance at freedom. With our locker keys and towels returned, we thank the lady at the front desk and run back towards our bus.

Two hours later, we're still sitting on the bus in the same spot, and my hair is almost dry. Hungry again, we send Yoeun and Liz on a chocolate run, which shouldn't be tough with all of the old Incan women gathered around the buses. Jake and I just hang out, when the bus begins to move. We run downstairs and start screaming, TWO MORE! TWO MORE! They tell us that all of the Canadian/British group has boarded, we're okay. But I keep saying, NO! From my group! There are still two more from my group of friends! And we see Yoeun and Liz sprinting down the street, chocolate in hand, and they hop onto the moving bus.

We make it a good load of the way without stopping, as we have police escorts in front of us clearing the way. Everything is looking up until we reach the final blockade, with a mob as hostile as the group from the first day. It's getting dark again, and they have rocks in hand. My fear returns instantly, and again we have to blanket the windows. Lucky me, I'm sitting at a window seat this time, so if a rock is to come through, I'll intercept it. We're there for the longest time, and I begin to hyperventilate. But the clearance is here, and we're revving up to drive through, when I hear the absolute worst sound in the world. Air gushing out of rubber, one of our tires goes flat.again. Again, I find multiple religions and begin my prayers. I trace back to my childhood with mom, Grandma Hsia and Grandma Tasia, and pray to any and every spirit/god/diety/savior who will listen. The Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Bes are running out my mouth repeatedly, followed by my usual Bai Pusa (spelling I know...) wishes, and then I'm throwing in my own beggings and pleadings, all while Uncle Lenny Cohen's "Hallelujah" is blazing at the highest volume in my mind.


And then it's over, and we're through. A lot of rocks were thrown, but nothing made it through. The bus is in horrible condition, yet we're all safe. And while I probably should've slept, as there was still an hour home, I just couldn't. So I stared at every single thing that passed, taking in every landmark on the way home. And at 11:30 pm, we're at the bus station, and there's nothing more I want to do than kiss the ground. We take a slew of pictures in front of our bus, and I swear our smiles have never been so big. Once we get home, we take more photos as well. We're documenting our life with so much more meaning than we ever had.

Fade out of our night as we crowd around the dining table, bowls of Corn Flakes and yogurt in front of all of us.

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I promise I'll bring updates of the ACTUAL Arequipa trip and some other highlights of this week in my next blog. But I figured this needed to go up first, as it has been the dominating factor of my past week.

I'd also like to express just how much more I miss you all and cannot wait to get home after that 52 hour Lord of the Rings/Hobbit type of...ordeal (Neverwhere, anyone?) Okay, that's enough of my dorky references for now, so good night, be safe, and can't wait to see you sooner than later.

With love, Morgan

Off to Arequipa!

So my Tuesday did not end until 5am this morning, which is why I'm leaving you all with a rather short update before I leave for our trip to Arequipa tonight. That'll be a 12 hour bus ride for us tonight, which I can't say I'm looking forward to. But it'll be totally worth it just to knock another city out. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru, and I've heard nothing bad about it at all. Good food, beautiful place, great weather seems to be the consensus. Of course, we're doing this in true backpacking fashion and going there without prebooking a hostel. So wish us luck!

Anyways, here are some notable points of yesterday (Tuesday).


- Bought tickets with the boys and Marco in the morning
- Didn't grab breakfast before we went to buy our bus tickets, so I went back home to eat breakfast with Luke.
- I watched Happy Feet in Spanish
- Read some Harry Potter on my balcony
- For lunch, we had fried fish, which was delicious! Of course, I doused it in ketchup, but what's new there?
- After lunch, I went to class, where I had milk accidentally spilt on me as I bought some ChocoSoda crackers. Jorge helped me out and told me to just take off the shirt and wear my sweatshirt instead, which had managed to stay dry.I had to go to the bathroom to wash out the milk and dried it off with the handblower.
- After class, I went to the post office to finally send out all of the postcards and my ballot, which cost 115 soles!!! That's about 39 dollars! International mailing is a crazy business.
- Next, I went to the gym to work out for a half hour, and then to Real McCoy's to make a reservation for pub quiz.
- When I got home, Liz and I got ready for our night out. We decided that tonight we would go all out and get dressed up, so we wore our we wore our nicest tops, skirt for her and skinny jeans for me, and I threw on my 4 inch heels. We then waited for dinner, which came awfully late, and therefore, we got to pub quiz a round late. Because of this, the quiz girl read us the questions really quickly so as to not hold up the game, which we answered in a minute more or less, thus giving us the team name, "One Minute Men". You can believe she laughed everytime she said our name.
- We came in 4th during pub quiz, which was still a pretty respectable finish. We weren't too bummed anyways, knowing that we were going out afterwards.
- Ultimately, we danced the night away, and ended up back home at 5. It was a great night though, despite the fact that my heels killed so badly by the end of the night. It wasn't too badly though, as the boys took turns giving me piggy back rides. =)

Well, it's off to dinner now, and then the bus station, so I'll repost to you all on Monday when I return. Until then, miss you all and take care! xxoo

Workouts, Ice cream Addictions and Food Cravings.

Tuesday, 14th of October

I really need to work on getting some better sleeping habits, because I woke up late again today, rolling on downstairs around 8:30. When I got down there, Luke was the only down there; he had woken up late as well. Now when I first got down, I had asked for eggs, but I suppose my request didn’t make it through. Because Matt, Rae, Jake, and the American Girls had all come through the breakfast table before my eggs finally made it to me. Of course, the smart move would have been to forget about the eggs and simply get ready to go to work, but food always messes up my priorities. =] So after I finished my eggs, I hauled ass to get ready and made it out of the house at 9:20, needing to grab a taxi to make it to work on time.

Luckily, work wasn’t very hectic at all, as there were only 4 out of 17 kids today. It was just Lucero, Diana, Santé and Ben. I still have no idea what determines whether a kid will come in that day or not. Although I suppose I shouldn’t worry too much, as it’s not as if they’re skipping school or missing out their education; it’s still only daycare. So I stayed long enough to feed them breakfast and play for a bit before the mamitas sent me on my way. It worked out though, as I was going to ask to leave at 12 instead of 12:30 so I could go meet Liz at the gym.

But since I had all this extra time, I headed over to Máximo to use the internet. When I got there, Liz was just getting out of class, so we hung out with our laptops. They also always have the boombox on in Máximo, and today I had the honor of hearing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Spanish. Instead of “Turn around-“, their version is “Mirame..” It cracked me up, and I think I’ll soon try to find it on Limewire. My favorite though was hearing “Who Let the Dogs Out?”, or at least the beat in Spanish. You’d think the words would be easy enough to translate, but instead, they had some completely other song going on.

Vaila was also there, and we talked with her for a while, until one of her students asked her to go over for a second. When she returned, she told us that he had wanted to be introduced to Liz. So for the remainder of the time, he kept talking to Liz, attempting to get her to go out with him for lunch or coffee. He even asked her to go grab some ice cream, though she kept repeating that we were about to go to the gym. I’m so happy that I was facing the other way as this was all going on, because I was laughing so hard at his persistence.

At 12, it was time to head over to the gym, and we were more than happy to leave Vaila’s student behind. We worked out for about an hour at the gym, which was extremely satisfying. Once again, there’s nothing like having a workout buddy. Also, Carlene and Eliza were there working out, and we joked that this place was turning into the gym for all Máximo volunteers and employees. When we were done, Liz left for home, but I stayed as I had already said I wasn’t going home for lunch. I was having a hankering for a PB&J sandwich, so I was determined to hunt for one after a nice shower. It was one of my best showers ever (though not as good as the one in Ben’s shower, since that was super hot water after being drenched by the rain), as I had remembered to bring the works with me. Shampoo, check. Manly shaving cream, check. Soap, check. Loofah, check.

When I had dried off and attempted to make myself look decent again, I headed off on my wild goose chase for a good ol PB&J. But for some crazy reason, there are no PB&J sandwiches to be found along Avenida El Sol. Jake later reminded me that Real McCoy’s can make one, or at least “Toast with crunch peanut butter and jam”, so I think I’ll have to try and get that tomorrow night at pub quiz. Still hungry though, and obviously too late for lunch back home, I wandered into Don Esteban’s for something to eat. I’ll admit, I pigged out, buying a chicken croissant sandwich along with bread pudding. The bread pudding was good enough, though nothing like what I’m craving from back home. By the time I finished eating, it was time to head over to Máximo for class with Jorge. Class wasn’t too eventful, just a lot of conversation practice and working with the subjunctive perfect tense.

After class, I headed to Davorinos to buy another scoop of Platanochip (or banana and chocolate chip), which I think has become my new favorite flavor. I can feel the addiction forming with every bit, but I can’t help it. At three soles for two scoops, I’m always there. I can almost guarantee I’d like to go tomorrow for another bite as well. =] The way my twisted mind has it worked out, instead of taking a taxi one time, I can save that money for some Platanochip ice cream.

After my little indulgence, I headed back to Máximo to meet up with my Tandem, but he didn’t show. Not too butthurt over it, I just opened up the laptop and used the internet. When I checked my email, I was sort of sad that I hadn’t had any comments on my blog yet, so I went to my blogsite to see if maybe I just hadn’t been alerted by email yet. But my blog wasn’t there! I don’t what was up with my connection yesterday, but for some reason, it never made it up, which made me feel really stupid for not double-checking. So I reposted, and re-edited with more details from the night before, crossing my fingers as I pressed “POST”. Success came, and a huge sense of relief swept over me, not wanting to be a slacker for one more day.

I made a couple of phone calls home after that, and when 6 o’clock rolled around, went to go look for Matt. Tzvi waited with me for about ten minutes, until I decided I’d just go home on my own. It wasn’t a bad walk, fifteen minutes max, and filled with some silly moments. For instance, I heard two great (sarcasm…) pickup lines shouted at me. One was “I know a place where I can get us a cheap hotel room,” and the other was “Japanese, Chinese, whatever you are, you would look beautiful with me.” Rae later told me that she had gotten one the other day of “Do you want to make babies?” I swear, I think I may need to start saving all of these so I can send them in to Lonely Planet for a special chapter or something.

When I walked into the house, I see Christian (our cook) sprawled out on the couch, watching the Argentina vs. Uruguay game. Then I remembered that Yoeun was cooking for us tonight, so Christian was enjoying his break. I headed back to the kitchen to see what was going on, and see Yoeun and Luke going at it, chopping up vegetables, and mixing pots. Rae’s in there as well, telling me how serious of cooks the boys are, and that I’ll be in for a treat tonight. Youen asks me where the baguette is, and I clarify with him that he never told me to get anything, and me saying “Baguettes might be a nice appetizer” does not constitute me volunteering to pick one up. But I didn’t have anything better to do, so Rae and I headed over to Patty’s Panaderia to try and find the baguette I had apparently promised. There were no baguettes there (and I’m not quite sure there are any in Cusco…), so we opted for other types of bread. I also bought my favorite banana pastry and a “croissant” (more like a sweet dinner roll) to gorge on on the way back.

After giving Yoeun the bread, I was “politely” shown my way out of the kitchen, and told to wait for dinner. As we waited, Jake, Matt, Rae, Liz and I watched “House”, which made me more than happy. After all, I haven’t seen it in quite a while, and was missing Hugh Laurie/Gregory House’s cynicism and sarcasm in my life.

I must say dinner was worth the wait, and my stomach felt the happiest it’s ever been after eating food in the house. I’m no food critic, so I’ll just list out the menu right quick for you all: Salad with vinaigrette, avocado, lettuce, mint, basil, and roasted bellpeppers. Main course was roast, green beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots, rice, and a gravy to go all over. And for dessert: pineapple and strawberries plus balsamic.

After stuffing our faces full of the goodness, we all thanked Yoeun, and then wanted to pass out afterwards. For a good hour, our house was so quiet, mostly because everyone was too full to even speak. And though it was Tuesday, futbol night, only Jake made it out to play; the other boys just crashed on the couch with music and books. I couldn’t go to watch futbol as well, because I was too full to walk over. So the rest of the night, I stayed downstairs, reading Harry Potter. I did slip into a food coma a couple of times, so I can’t say I made huge headway on the book.

When I got a quick second wind, I went onto the computer and chatted with a couple of people on Facebook and Gmail. Since most everyone was out (asleep), I had no pressure to use end my internet session, which was a rather nice feeling. After some more phone calls home, I headed up, though not ready to sleep. I remembered that I had to fill out my ballot and get it sent in, so I got that out of the way. I can’t explain how excited I am to vote on my own for the very first time. I made sure to read every single word, and make every single one of my votes carefully. The responsibility of it all is a lot when you think about it, so I wanted to make the right choices. Also, can anyone tell me what the whole “Rename the Oceanside Water Waste Plant to George. W. Bush Sewage” was about. Was that a legitimate measure, or a San Francisco Liberal jab at Bush, relating him with water sewage…

Anyways, it’s three o’clock now, and I’ve finished cleaning out my closet, room and bathroom, and am ready to crash. I’m not too worried about waking up tomorrow though, as I already told work I’m not going in since we’re supposed to go buy our bus tickets for Arequipa with Marco. Wish us luck in finding something cheap! Until next time, missing you all. xxoo

P.S. Just for kicks, here’s a fun little list of all the food I’m craving to eat once I get back home:
- Beep’s burger with a chocolate milk shake and mini corn dogs
- Pesto pasta from Boulevard’s
- Mommy’s Swedish Pancakes
- Adobo
- Tocino
- Fil am skewers
- Toasted Ravioli from Olive Garden
- ANYTHING FROM TAQUERIA GUADALARA (No taquerias here = no fun)
- Swedish pancakes from Peter’s Café in Millbrae with lingonberry butter
- Auntie Edna’s bread pudding
- Nordstrom Café’s bread pudding
- Trader Joe’s pizza with gruyere cheese
- California rolls from Yama Sushi
- Chicken Teriyaki from Tanuki’s
- Those stuffed red bean pancake things from J-town
- Unagi don from Iroha's in J-town
- Spam Masubi from Aloha Barbeque
- Kalua Pork from anyone!!!

So uhh, yes! Let’s all go out to eat every night for a month after I get back home. =]

Ugh, so last night I was at Máximo and swore that I had posted this successfully, only to check my email today with no comments, and wondering if anyone had seen it. So I go to my blog, and see that there’s nothing there! I don’t’ know if I closed my laptop prematurely and it didn’t go up, but I feel pretty stupid for feeling all happy about something I wasn’t even successful in. So here’s my attempt to post it again, only this time with more guilt. (Though I suppose I can’t complain too badly because I’m able to add on more tidbits from last night post when I thought I had posted. So here goes:
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Hello world, who I swear I have not forgotten about. I desperately need to throw out a huge apology to you all for not updating this in way too long. The main reasons, though not worthy excuses, are:
• One, I’ve been fluctuating in and out of small colds, fevers, and stomach issues
• Two, there was a strike here for a few days (when isn’t there a strike or parade here?), so I had no access to the internet
• Three, I’ve continued to procrastinate posting this until I had it at a beautiful, lengthy, New York bestseller status, but instead just fell behind even more.
Thus, I come to you all with the completed recount of my Machu Picchu trip, and an EXTREMELY abridged version of my week after that. It’s not the way I wanted to do it, but the sooner this goes up, the sooner I can go back to normal posting, and I’m hoping it’ll still be enough to keep you all hooked. =]

SATURDAY – 27th of September
The moment our guide arrived at our hotel, she immediately stated that she only spoke Spanish. And though Karen and I can get by pretty well in Spanish, she simply was unable to speak slower. Every time we asked her to slow down or repeat herself, she seemed to get more and more annoyed. Also, when she asked us if we wanted to the first or second hike up to Waynapicchu, one going up at 7am and the other going up at 10am, she looked at us as if we were foolish for wanting to choose the earlier route. We told her it was because we had heard from one of our housemates that loads of people couldn’t finish the 10am hike because it was simply too hot at that time, but she kept insisting the heat was the same no matter what time of day. We later figured out that she was leading the 8am guided tour, which we missed because we were on our way up Waynapicchu at this point, and therefore, she lost her money.

When we had gotten the essentials out of her, she left, and we decided to go out, annoyed by her irate manner. We decided we would visit the thermal baths since we knew we wouldn’t have time to get in them, but were still curious to see what all of the fuss was about. So we walked up for about five minutes to the thermal baths, paid the ten soles entrance fee, crossed a stone bridge and followed the pathway to the “pools”. Though the setup of the baths were nice, and there was a little restaurant hut above the baths, the brown water helped me get over the fact that I didn’t have enough time to go in for a swim. Prior to going up to Aguas Calientes, I had already heard from others in my house that the baths had been so overused over the years that they no longer had their original splendor, so my hopes were already set to a low standard on the way up. A few pictures later, we were done, and decided it was time again to stuff face.

There was a place right by our hotel called Chez Maggy that Karen had read about in her Lonely Planet, so we went to try it out. Beyond Karen’s recommendation, what really helped seal the deal was a door. A lot of the restaurants in Aguas Calientes are open porch types of things, which is probably enjoyable during the day, but it was night, and we were cold.

Even though I originally had only planned on a small item when we walked in, I somehow ended up ordering a chimichanga, suddenly remembering my sophomore self and craving the Roach Coach chimichangas from high school. Sadly, my chimichanga was nothing like that at all. It was a hybrid puff pastry/empanada outside, with a whole lot of potato, and not enough chicken inside. But my meal was redeemed a bit by the amazingly cold and refreshing Sprites that they had in their cooler. The atmosphere was also pretty nice as well, with an actual clay oven open for all restaurant goers to see, so you could see your food being cooked right in front of you. Also, there was live traditional Peruvian/Andean music played by a duo. The girl had a large bass drum type of instrument (think Pahu drum for those of you that know Polynesian…) and sang. The guy had a large Peruvian flute, some half chime/half xylophone mix, and sang as well. It added a nice feel to our dinner, though I was pretty sad that they only played three songs before coming around with their donation bag and leaving. =/

After we finished dinner, we walked back up to our hotel and said goodnight to Karen. I had phone calls to make though, so I asked the front desk to use their phone (since the phones they put in your room only dial to the front desk, no matter what button you push….). They told me a maximum of five minutes, and insisted on inputting my phone card number for me, so I told them thanks but no thanks, and went out to find a calling place. I had no such luck, but opted for a pay phone outside a corner store. Luckily, Aguas Calientes isn’t too heavily populated after a certain time of night because all of the tourists are sleeping early to make the 5 am bus line the next morning to Machu Picchu, so I was able to take my time with my phone calls without people staring at the stupid American awkwardly, or hovering over me as they wait to use the phone. When I finished my calls (or moreover, ran out of change), I wandered into the corner store I was in front of and wanted to buy some snacks. I thought a bag of sweet potato chips and chocolate covered cereal puffs would be good energy food for the morning, and took it up to the little boy working the cashier. But how bad did I feel when I realized I had left my money in my lighter jacket which I had exchanged for my fleece when I went out to make a call, and couldn’t pay him. I apologized profusely, but he eventually just said good night and walked into the backroom.

When I got back to my room, Rae was getting ready to sleep, and advised me against taking a shower, as the water pressure was even worse than ours at home, and she said the shampoo would never wash out of my hair. I took her advice, and told her I was sorry that I would stink immensely the next day, but she insisted we all would, and I told her she was probably right and hit the lights for bedtime.

SUNDAY – 28th of September
At around 4:45, I woke up to Maddie’s voice saying “Maymay, pick up your phone. Maymay, pick up your phone” about ten times over before I actually rolled over to turn off my alarm. The beauty of packing for a two day trip is you only bring as much as you need, and therefore have no issues picking out clothes the next the morning when you’re still half asleep. So within ten minutes, Rae and I were down to the “restaurant” part of our hotel, eating our breakfast of bread, butter, jam, and fruits.

Not wanting to miss our cutoff of the first 400 people, we didn’t stick around for much more of the breakfast, and grabbed some bread rolls and cheese to go. It wasn’t hard to find the bus station, but discouragement definitely set in as we came from the route that saw the beginning of the line first, and had to take the walk of shame past everyone that was already lined up. Though the thought of the trying to count everyone in line did pop into my head, I quickly tossed the idea and figured it’d be more worthwhile to rush to the end of the line instead.

I suppose the tourism board behind Machu Picchu has been doing this long enough, because though there were so many of us in line, the buses came one after the other and the file on process ran pretty smoothly. The ride was supposedly thirty minutes, but I would’ve sworn to you it took no more than fifteen. The drivers here in Peru must go through some intense training though, because the bus was making such tight turns along the side of the mountain, and would pass other buses on roads that were obviously made for one way only.

Once we got there, we checked in our backpacks and lined up to get our tickets checked and enter the ruins. You would’ve thought everyone was a bunch of six year olds at Disneyland, because people all around us were pushing and trying to cut in front of one another. It was all just so vicious. After our tickets were stamped and ready to go, we took a few pictures, and then realized we had no idea how to get to the Waynapicchu line. But I suppose we weren’t the first, as there were a lot of local-looking people dispersed conveniently throughout the ruins that we were able to ask directions from.

The closer we got, the more we noticed people around us, which sparked our competitive sides. So Rae and I took off and went ahead, determined to claim a spot in line for our group. It didn’t look too promising, because the line was going off into an area we couldn’t even see, but we weren’t about to just leave. We got to know one woman in line from England, though we never actually caught her name. She told us about how she had been living in Bolivia for a couple of months, and was about to go home, but wanted to come here with her parents, who were trekking around the ruins with their walking sticks. (Side note: I’m still amazed at how many “mature” people opt to go to Machu Picchu. I suppose most of them don’t trek up Waynapicchu, or take the Inca Trail, or Salkantay there, so it can be okay for them, but the ruins can still take a lot out of you. One of my favorite people that I saw in Machu Picchu was an elderly Japanese lady using ski poles as walking sticks. =])

When it came time to start allowing people into Waynapicchu, everyone tensed up and returned to their respective places in line. Of course we were friends when they hadn’t opened, but now everyone was merely one more person to stop you from getting to the top of one of the Seven Wonders of the World. But the ticket person came around, and asked 8:00 or 10:00 group? We said 8:00, and they took our tickets and marked our numbers. We honestly just barely made it, being in the 150s out of the first 200 allowed in on the first group.

Our excitement at making the cut had time to die down though, as we were 150-something out of 200, and therefore, it took a while to get to the entrance gates. When we did get there, I was a little surprised at the logbook they had everyone sign. You had to show your Machu Picchu ticket and passport, and then fill out your full legal name, followed by your nationality, gender and age, and the time that you were entering. They also require you to sign in on the way out, leaving your signature again, along with the time that you leave. I suppose it’s a security measure to make sure people everyone makes it out alive, and also to make sure no one tries to camp out and destroy Waynapicchu.

The hike up Waynapicchu was amazing, and so satisfying to complete. I’m not going to write a whole lot about it, because it’s one of those experiences that you just simply have to experience, and no matter how many times you hear it described, it’s not the same until it’s your story to tell. I know this because I spent my last month before leaving trying to read as many experiences I could as possible on the internet, hoping to gain insight on what I was getting myself into. Still, all the stories sounded the same to me, and were completely removed from my mind as I hiked myself. I will say that the most difficult thing about the hike is probably the altitude and breathing rather than the real exertion. So if anyone is thinking of doing it, I suppose you should focus on aerobics, cardio and stamina rather than muscle strength, since you never feel anything in your calves, but always have to stop to catch your breath.

It didn’t really hit me when I reached the top, and my initial thought wasn’t too life changing. I think it honestly was just, “Wow, these bugs are GIGANTIC; I hope I have enough DEET on.” Perhaps it would have been more quote-worthy had I been there on a day when the bugs weren’t out, but we all know that I’m a magnet for anything of insect/bug kind. I did feel the sense of satisfaction when I hiked back to the gate though, perhaps because I was alone the whole way down. Rae and Ebony stayed together, and told me to go on ahead. I’m the tiniest bit ashamed to say that after completing the feat of reaching the top attainable point of one of the most admired and traveled to natural spots/ruins, I turned urban little city girl and put the headphones in, and turned the iPod on shuffle on the way down. I was in my zone though, and the music helped me totally forget that the whole way down is basically one eternal one-legged squat and totally lights your thighs on fire.

When we all reached the bottom, we had about half an hour until our guided tour been supposed to begin. We all rewarded ourselves with what seemed to be the most amazing food in the world, at out-of-this-world-expensive prices. I felt like I was at a Giants game, paying 18 soles for a soft serve cone. Still, it was an amazing cone, so I have nothing to complain about. Plus, we all know that any food tastes insanely delicious after some heavy exertion.

The guided tour was pretty good, and the two hours passed by fairly quickly, but unfortunately, I was so tired I probably didn’t get as much out of it as I could have. Our guide was hilarious though, and had obviously been doing this for a while, as he had his jokes planned out, which were pretty successful. (i.e. Here is the coca leaf, which is used a lot for altitude sickness here in Peru, which is different from cocaine, which I can give you the recipe for later. Or, the descendants are Quechuan people, you can usually tell us apart because we’re short, but handsome. =]) One thing I did really enjoy learning about was that the Incans believe in three worlds symbolized by the Condor, the Puma, and Snake which is why a lot of their architecture has designs with windows of three.

At the end of the tour, we waited for the bus back to Aguas Calientes, and grabbed a quick, but totally filling lunch at the buffet right outside the train station. For about forty soles, I was able to chow down on some pasta, Mongolian beef, adobo, and spaghetti. I also was able to treat myself to some amazing chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake before heading onto the very long train ride.

The train ride most definitely took a lot longer on the way back, which is so weird since I always feel like the way back home is usually much quicker than the way there. I wasn’t too bothered though, as a majority of the time, I just slept. The part I was awake for however, was entertaining, strange, and just plain different. The two workers for our section of the train put on a thirty to forty minute fashion show of some Alpaca clothing from the Machu Picchu area and surrounding towns. Of course they were trying to sell it for about three times the cost you could get it for OFF the train, but “duty free” shopping is kind of like that as well, isn’t it?

Anyways, the fashion was enjoyable enough nonetheless since they did it to this strange mastertechnomix of “If You’re Going to San Francisco”. I’ll admit, I got a little homesick. =] Still, I couldn’t help but wonder how much these people must get paid for their job, or how unhappy they might be having to do this every train ride back. Then again, the girl seemed to be enjoying the time a little bit. Every girl has wanted to be a supermodel when she was younger, so this was probably a good excuse to live it out if not for just 45 minutes. By the way, they sold at least one highly expensive alpaca sweater/cape/scarf/coat to every woman over 60 on that train. Imagine that revenue!

We got back around 8ish to the Cusco train station, and were surprised to have Jonathan come and meet us, taxi ready to go. It was pretty great of him, considering it was a Sunday night, and at 19 years old, he should be out partying with his friends.

The ideal home welcoming wasn’t exactly executed best, and I was pretty perturbed walking into our house. All of the people from the other family house were in our living room, playing games and listening to music and watching a movie. I actually like a lot of the people from the other house, but I couldn’t help but just want them to leave, and have our house be quiet. Still, I went with my better judgment and decided not to make a scene, and just head upstairs. I jumped into the shower immediately, ready to get outdoor grime off of me as soon as possible. When I took off my white shirt, I couldn’t help but feel like a Tide commercial waiting to happen as my soccer mom shakes her head at the dirt stains all over my shirt. Unfortunately, the water wasn’t supremely hot, but lukewarm was enough considering how much I wanted and needed a shower. And it did its job, since I was knocked out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I’m happy to leave my biggest highlight here for the end. Considering my past track record (i.e. Taiwan, 2004, 48 bug bites in one day after forgetting to put bug repellent on for the final day), I feel like I should have a mini statue erected of myself at Machu Picchu, because I miraculously managed to walk away with absolutely no bug bites. subliminalmessagesubliminalmessagesubliminalmessagesubliminalmessageULTRATHONWORKSWONDERS subliminalmessage subliminalmessage subliminalmessageBUYULTRATHON subliminalmessage subliminalmessage subliminalmessageYOUWONTGETBITTEN subliminalmessage subliminalmessage.
So uhh, thank you to that one bug repellent I forget the name of. =]

P.S. I did manage to get a strange tan line though. =] Because I layered a camisole under my v-neck, I have a square tan line on my chest, so there’s just a rectangle of darkness, which I hope will fade soon.

29th and 30th of September

Monday:
- I began the morning without an alarm clock. How unlike me! Strange, but perhaps the start of something new? (Cue High School Musical…)
- Had two huge fried eggs, mmm. The eggs always make me happy to be home.
- During work, I was a sorry excuse of a worker and sat the whole time and just had the kids run over to me. I was just uber tired, but luckily they didn’t seem to notice.
- Decided against going to class and tandem because I was just uber tired, so I called in sick to Maximo.
- On my way home I went to the supermarket La Canasta and bought 90 soles worth of food. Trolli gummies, pan de leche (basically), other cookie thing, cereal bars, ritz crackers, candies, lollipops, shoestring potatoes, potato chips, chocolate soy milk, bananas, apples, oranges, etc. I told the girl working the cashier I was having a party, but she gave me a knowing smile and knew I was lying.
- I actually took a taxi home because I had three bags full of stuff. The whole ride home I couldn’t help but think, “I’m a 5’1 girl bringing home three bags full of snacks; this can’t be good or healthy, or normal for that matter.”
- Lunch today was some weird curry thing with potatoes and squeaky cheese. Squeaky cheese really does squeak as you bite into it. A Peruvian delicacy I can live WITHOUT.
- Went out to buy a phone card, and somehow ended up walking all the way up to Avenida El Sol because I needed an ATM.
- Along the way I stopped by SBS (Special Book Store) and bought “Conquest of the Incas.” The sell point for me was the line on the back of the cover that said, “SOLD IN LATIN AMERICA ONLY.” I figured it must be good if us Americans can’t handle it.
- When I got home, I saw that they had MOVED EBONYS BED OUT, so Ciara and I have 32940932840324830984 miles of free space to run back and forth in.
- Sat downstairs for a while and watched some more of the show “Psych” with Ben and Ciara.Ben sang his crazy stupid songs, i.e. “I Think My Brother is the Devil.”
- Grabbed some juice (fresh squeezed, always) from CCC with Ben. Pineapple-orange. YUM. =]
- Headed with Ben to the gym so I could check it out and see if it would be worth joining.
- Before the gym though, we made a detour and stopped by Real McCoy’s and made reservations for pub quiz since we always have a huge group
- While Ben worked out, I sat on the couch with my Incan conquest book and we pulled our boyfriend/girlfriend stint as I would wave now and again and say encouraging things.
- Had some dinner before heading over to Real McCoy’s
- Our team name was “Benjamin’s Angels” since all of the other guys were still on their way back from the trek. WE WON!
- We got home and saw through the window that everyone was back from trek. We decided it’d be best if we were extremely annoying and shouted as we walked in, excited about our win. They all looked half dead and didn’t respond for a good one minute lol. =]
- Phone calls home followed by sleep.
Tuesday:
- Woke up (with alarm this time unfortunately) and headed off to work.
- After work I decided I would sign up for the gym, but didn’t have any workout clothes on me. Thus, I went to Topitop for workout clothes and grabbed some shorts and a big shirt.
- I successfully joined EMPIRE GYM! It came out to about 35-40 dollars for a one month membership, not great, but at least normal.
- With the help of my personal trainer Josef, I worked out for about an hour, and learned how to use the different machines for whatever I wanted to target.
- It was kind of awesome to have a trainer, but he kept calling me Naomi. I definitely do not think my face screams Naomi.
- Went to Bembos afterwards, probably the worst possible choice after working out. I noticed for the first time though the Peruvian Pop Art on the walls, which is so odd but cool at the same time.
- On the walk back home I had someone say Konichiwa to me. WEIRD, but must go onto the list of ethnicities I’ve been taken for. (Most common is still Korean, have no idea why.)
- Took a taxi to class and had my first real taxi driver convo. He asked me about my stay in Cusco, if I liked it, and all of the great sociable things taxi drivers should.
- Went to class
- First day with Tandem partner, who’s name is Renzo. We spoke in all Spanish today, and got to know each other a bit. He’s originally from Arequipa, but in Cusco for work. He works for Cusco’s version of the IRS. Pretty nice guy, but the conversation didn’t exactly flow…
- Walked home with Mateo, and we got fruit from some HUGE farmer’s market type thing. I had my first taste of this fruit called granadilla, which is kind of slimy with seeds that you eat, but super tasty.
Wednesday
- Left for work, but on the way, bought ice cream cone from Davarinos.
- Kids were really crazy at work today, and kind of hard to control.
- Asked my mamitas about where I can find Duho and Cemi and foods, and they told me at any of the typical restaurants around Cusco, told me to go and look tomorrow for it, and they’ll see me on Monday.
- We were going to celebrate Liz’s birthday that night, so went to Topitop for some girls night out party clothes
- Got back late for lunch, but only by a bit.
- Saw that Ben bought his camera that he had been eyeing and I helped him pick. (Told him the difference between optical and digital zoom, and what the significance of megapixels were. Thanks daddy! =])
- Went to class and we read thisawesome story called, “What killed love?” The punch line? Routine. =]
- Bought an empanada during my hour wait between class and tandem at Davarinos.
- Somehow, my tandem partner decided to take me to Davarinos.
- 3rd time at Davarinos that day; It was a little embarrassing.
- He bought me a whole lemon meringue pie, really odd gesture.
- Today was an all English day. I found out that he likes Queen, Rolling stones, Pink Floyd, classic rock. He also told me that if you are a girl and go bungee jumping naked, its free.
- Got back home, wanted to shower really badly, so I missed dinner
- When I told Liz, Jake,and Yoeun at dinner, Jake said my tandem is probably trying to “court” me, and I should be careful. ;]
- We ent to Pub quiz and supposed to celebrate Liz’s birthday
- I got dressed up for her big night lol, thinking we might go dancing later.
- Split into two teams, Jake, Yuen, Rae, Colette and I against Ben, Ciara, Matt, Simon, Liz and Annie
- We won, so they owe us a bottle of wine in the future
- Everyone was so tired so we ended up just going home, and no discoteca-ing. =[
Thursday
- No work, so I stayed home and tried to call around to the local museums
- No luck, and they all directed me to places in Lake Titicaca
- Just Ben and I stayed home, so we played Rummikub outside when it was all sunny and listened to music. We also went to go get his hair cut at some place by CCC. It was crazy because the haircut was only 5 soles, but he gave 10 because he felt so bad for a 1.75 haircut.
- He’s really happy with his camera, and made me take pictures during his haircut.
- Came back home for lunch, even though we said were gonna go out. But we hadn’t told them we wouldn’t be home, so we felt bad about having them cook and not show up.
- It was worth it though, and probably surreptitious, because we had spaghetti, my favorite.
- Afterwards, chilled for a while and watched Austin Powers
- Me and matt went over early to ask about yellow fever shots. Apparently it’s not needed for the jungle, only malaria pills, which I was able to get for free from Jonathan.
- Read another story in class about a little boy. Not as good as the love one, but still cute.
- Met Ben afterwards to go work out at the gym
- Worked out for about an hour, Ben was having a headache so he stopped early
- I used the studio room to practice hula and Tahitian. Awesome with all of the mirrors in there, could check my faarapus from all sides
- Pretty tough without a pareo to really evaluate myself but just trying to keep my stamina up before I get whipped when I get back home.
- I think working out is helping with my levels, because going down and up wasn’t too difficult.
- Just walked home afterwards
- Went to Jack’s for dinner with Todd, Liz, Matt, Jake, Ben, and Simon
- Huevos rancheros again with Strawberry Frappe
- Went to Thai restaurant called Indigo which gave free popcorn, went to town on that
- Chilled there for a little bit longer afterwards with Todd and Carlene and Matt.
- Went home with Matt cause he wasn’t feeling well
- Could tell Todd really missed living at the house with us, because he kept trying to convince us to stay. He even offered to take me home individually when I was leaving with Matt just because he wanted to relive the house feeling. =]
Friday
- As you all know, I never have work on Fridays, so today I stayed home and chilled with Liz all day for a girls day.
- In the morning, we just lounged around and stayed home watching Y Tu Mama Tambien.
- Two new girls moved in today. They’re best friends from Canada, Anne and Danielle.
- Liz and I had been craving pizza all morning, so we asked Yoco where to go, and she told us to go to a place in Plaza Regocijo called “Marengo.”
- When we got there, we saw the place, outdoor tables, and were quickly swept down on by the waiters/bussers. We asked if we were at the right place for Marengo, and the guys said “Yes, yes” and repeatedly pointed to the sign that said Marengo.
- Of course, when we sat down, the menu was for El Maison something something…. We told them, “You said you were Marengo, but they just said, “Oh no, Marengo’s closed right now, but we’re just like them, you will like our food.” We were so geared up and really hungry at this point, so just ended up staying there.
- Ordered a family size pizza, half Margherita and half Hawaiian, and finished it EASILY.
- Got pancake with manjar blanco and ice cream for dessert. The ice cream was really good, almost like those Vienna ice cream dessert things (kind of like lasagna with chocolate and ice cream?) you can buy at the grocery back home.
- Afterwards, we needed change for the taxi so we decided the best way to do so would be to buy something else from a nearby bakery.
- Ended up getting two slices of cake: one straight up chocolate ganache, while the other one was a chocolate cake with strawberries inside.
- It was most definitely a day of REALLY GOOD FOOD. Plus it was pretty nice to not have the boys lurking over my food for once. =]
- I made it back home with just enough time to grab my stuff and run right back out the door.
- Went to class with Jorge, where he told me about his relationship with his partner =[ He was loyal for 8 years but in the end his partner was only about status and money, and therefore not the person Jorge wanted anymore.
- As class ended, he told me I didn’t have tandem that day, so I decided I would try to take some initiative and walk around trying to compare prices for the rafting trip we wanted to go on the next day. =]
- After I had found three places I could report back with, I dropped into a shoe store and bought some heels for partying due to Jorge’s suggestion (Shoes always complete the outfit for dancing!) The shoes only cost about 25 dollars, so I felt pretty accomplished.
- Met back up with the boys to walk back home, and found this great bakery on the way back home that we bought some puffed banana pastry at.
- When we got home, we just relaxed and had dinner before the boys had to start getting ready for Bolivia.
- After dinner, Matt asked me to help him pack by approving or disapproving of what would be needed for their two day trip.
- Liz, Simon and I stayed until the Bolivia crew left, before heading over to the Plaza de Armas desperately looking for someone still open at 10 to book a rafting trip. Luckily enough, we found one place in Gringo Alley that was just about to close when we walked in. In less than ten minutes, Simon had bargained with them to get the cost down to 100 soles, and we were sold.
- We went back home happy with our success, and popped in Erin Brockovich to fall asleep to.

Saturday

- Woke around 7:30 to ensure we could be at outside the tour agency by 8:45.
- The most worrisome moment came when we got there and no one was there, with the storefront closed as well. We were almost positive that we had been scammed, and concocted a plan that we would stay there until someone came to open the store and then confront them angrily about ripping us off. Of course, with our luck, right as we said that, some guys came to us asking, “For the rafting??” There’s really only one way to describe that final moment: moded.
- The rafting was so much fun, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun way to spend the afternoon. Everyone always insists that service makes or breaks an experience, and I’ll agree. That’s why we were happy and grateful that our guide was a really nice guy named Carlos, and the first somewhat good looking Peruvian here. =]
- It was six to a raft, so there was the four of us (Colette, Simon, Liz and I) and Nina from Wimbledon (just got dumped by boyfriend here in South America, was hungover, 23, very friendly and absolutely adorable), and Ramon (From Sydney, but now lives in London, about to move to Amsterdam, does IT work for BBC, 30, and absolutely gorgeous (I have his email Auntie May!))
- The gear was bathing suit under wetsuit, under waterproof pullover jacket, sealed with a helmet. I cannot tell you how happy I was that they provided the wetsuit and jacket, as the water gets PRETTY cold.
- One lowlight however was that we ended up having to get out of the raft at a really dangerous part and hike up these crazy rocks. Of course, the guy at the tour agency the day before just told me that flip flops would be enough, or any sandal with a strap. Thus, I had on my Isaac Mizrahi gladiator sandals, which I’m sure were not made with hiking in mind. =]
- The rapids were good and enjoyable enough. It was only a class 3 (out of 5), so we weren’t too in over our heads. It was tough to row through the rapids though, and many at times we had oars clashing. The main commands were forward, back. left forward right back, right forward left back, jump to the left, jump to the right, jump forward. Plenty of times we got stuck on a rock, and our guide would tell us to jump up and down to get the raft off the rock.
- Drum roll for this guys…I fell into the river! I was the lightest one on the raft, and sitting in the back corner of the raft, so when we hit a rock, I bounced out into the river. I wasn’t as worried or freaked out as I thought I would be, and was back in the boat within 30 seconds to a minute.
- It was a pretty fast ride, and spending about two hours on the river feels a lot shorter than it probably is.
- Now, the lunch they served us was AMAZING. (Chicken wings and fried rice, and the best part was that the CHICKEN HAD SKIN!!!!!!!) The lunch was also topped off by some hot cocoa, which warmed me up after the river. =]
- On the entire way back, I just slept in the van, iPod plugged in.
- Once we got home, took a shower and read some more of Les Mis.
- Around 8:30, we left for Todd and Vaila’s housewarming party. Had to buy them some wine along the way as a present, and some Bailey’s for ourselves.
- The best food item at the party was the AWESOME GUAC, which Todd made himself, and was so addictive.
- There was also Vodka soaked watermelon – way too much for the stomach, not a huge fan.
- Came back home early with Annie and Colette (the older girls) because I was getting kind of claustrophobic in their small apartment.
- When we got back, we watched anime on mute with Jim Morrison in the background. It completely looked like they were singing along, which was too funny.
- We also had a good long girl talk about boys, and it was absolutely adorable to watch Colette and Annie giggle and blush like little teeny boppers.
- I also really appreciated it when they told me that I was an old soul and didn’t seem 18, because I always feel like I get treated as the baby too often. Overall, it was a good way to end the night.
Sunday
- I woke up at 5 in the morning with a fever, feeling like crap.
- So I popped some medicine and went back to sleep until Liz barged into my room at 1:30 for lunch. Although I didn’t feel like eating, I knew she wouldn’t leave if I didn’t go down, so I was suckered into downing some soup.
- I met the new girls Dana and Casey (to later be known as the “American Girls”), from Dallas and Denver. Sadly, they didn’t seem very fond of me, though it could be because I was in sweats and a big tee, hair going every which way and looking extremely sickly.
- After lunch, I wanted to go out to buy a phone card and some nutrients, but ended up sleeping until 4. At this point though, I knew I needed to get out of the house and took a taxi to go get ginger ale and soda cracker, then another taxi to CCC and finally got my phone card.
- When I came back home, no one was home, and it was the first time here that I felt kind of alone. =/ It was bound to happen at some point though, so I just tried to sleep it off.
- I woke up around 8 when the boys came home from Bolivia, screaming “WE MADE IT!”
- I was still feeling a bit feverish, but they all persuaded me to go to the Inka Grill for dinner, so I threw on some clothes and brushed my teeth. =]
- When we were at the Inka Grill though, Jake wasn’t feeling too well, and said he wanted to head outside for some air. But as he was going out, he fainted. =[ We all had a mini heart attack, but the restaurant workers were on it so quickly, bringing out an oxygen tank immediately. I figure it was probably fatigue and lack of sugar, but none of us really knew for sure.
- Ben brought Jake home and the rest of us stayed to wait for the food. I had fettucine and prosciutto with mushrooms, which everyone agreed was the best dish of the night. The bread rolls were just as delicious though, but you know me and how I adore my carbs,
- When we got went home, we watched The French Connection, and all passed out on the couch until heading up at some early hour to our respective beds.
Monday
- I woke up at 11:30, because I knew I don’t have any work or class until Thursday. Today and tomorrow are strikes, and Wednesday is some holiday, so I have quite a long, long, vacation ahead of me.
- I started cleaning my room because I knew Ciara was coming home from the Jungle at some point that day, and coincidentally, she came home as I was mid-cleaning. =]
- She unpacked and told me all about the jungle, showing me photos as well.
- When I went downstairs, I was kidnapped into going to grab Ceviche with Simon, Matt, Liz, and Ben. The main reason we went was because Ben hasn’t had Ceviche or Cuy yet, and he leaves Friday morning
- On the way there, we had a piggyback ride race between me on Matt and Liz on Simon. Matt and I won, though I think I killed him, because I’d bet a good twenty that I probably weigh more than him lol.
- As soon as we got back home, I changed back into my sweats and lounged in Ben’s room and listened to him play his guitar. He worked on one of his new songs, and played me some of his earlier 13, 14 year old love songs. =] It’s become a normal occurrence to chill out with him as he plays; he’s like the big brother I never had.
- Went downstairs and chilled with Jake, and listened to some of Ben’s 180 songs on his iPod.
- We also worked on Ben’s memory video which he’s going to screen on Thursday night.
- After that, I prepped Ben for his geeky appearance since he was going solo for trivia tonight (being his own team).
- I picked out clothes, tucked in the shirt, and helped him part his hair and gel it. I also lent him my glasses for the full effect.
- We had spaghetti tonight, which was pretty good, though the sauce was a bit runny.
- We headed off to McCoy’s, where we won, though Ben came in last. =[
- I also stocked up on cravings and bought two milky ways and two sour skittles. =]
- The rest of the house played some drinking games but I didn’t want to, so I just stayed in my room and made some phone calls home. Now, the most amazing friends are the ones who will pick up your call even when you’re the most inconsiderate person in the world. i.e. Yvette is an hour ahead of me, instead of two hours behind (which I forgot at the time), so when I called her it was easily at least 1 in the morning, and she had class, but she still stayed on the phone with me. =]
Tuesday
- Decided to sleep in again since no work/class, and Ciara and I woke up around 10, craving Jack’s.
- So we gathered everyone and told them Jack’s for breakfast and they all said okay. As soon as we’re done getting ready, we go outside, only to find out everyone had thought we meant to go there for brunch at 2…and had already eaten breakfast.
- Ciara and I were still hungry, so we went out anyways and ended up walking all the way to Bembo’s because no taxis wanted to go up Avenida El Sol in fear of getting stoned. (Seriously though, there were rocks being thrown at taxis that weren’t going along with the strike.)
- We were so happy when we found that Bembo’s was open, because we didn’t want to walk all the way for nothing. We tried to sneak in really fast because we didn’t want anyone to see us and stone us as well. =]
- Got panqueques and chicken nuggets and cheese fingers and Mocha frappes. Yes, it sounds like a lot to take in, but rest assured we devoured it quite easily.
- Afterwards we went to go check out Jack’s to try and reserve a table for 10 later on at 2. We found out that they don’t take reservations, so headed home. At this point it began to rain like crazy. Does El Niño ring a bell?
- We didn’t see any taxis coming our way, so we started walking home.
- Then we saw all these taxis go by us, but always with people in it, so we decided to walk back up the hill closer to Jacks to try and find a taxi.
- We were soaking wet at this time, and felt so freaking horrible. We kept shouting out “5 soles!” every time a taxi went by hoping it would catch their attention and we could get in
- Finally one guy came around and said, “Three soles or you can’t get in.” We would’ve honestly paid ten, and agreed right away.
- When we got home, we RAN to the showers. I used Ben’s shower because Ciara and I share a room and therefore a shower, so it was most beneficial for everyone this way.
- It was easily the most amazing hot shower of my life (down here in Cusco at least). Unlike our shower, who’s water pressure is all over the place, and you can never efficiently wash away all the soap in one fell swoop, Ben’s shower has a solid stream.
- After the shower, I went to go help Ben work on the video a bit more, and then it was time for lunch.
- We had a chicken and potato stew like thing and koolaid =] Unfortunately, their Kool-aid here isn’t the same as back home with the KOOL twist off tops. =[
- I stayed home with Ben and chilled in his room as he played me some more of his songs from his “early years”, and then he played his iPod with songs he wrote for his kids at his preschool back home.
- When everyone got home, we began Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, figuring it’s the best of the trilogy, and a good way to start off the movie marathon.
- I didn’t finish it though, because I helped Ben set up for his date with Liz out in the garage. We made a fake menu for the restaurant, rightfully deemed “Chateau le garage” with crazy items like Unicorn tears and cactus flowers. We also set up some fake flowers, bought a bottle of wine, tablecloth, and set out some candles.
- Afterwards, I started feeling really sick, so I skipped dinner and went up to my room and slept. Throughout the night, everyone kept coming in to check on me. As much as I appreciated it, every time someone new sat on my bed, I couldn’t help but want to say, “I swear I’m okay, please just let me sleep.” The worst part is that I asked a couple of them to lock my door on their way out, but no one ever did, allowing the next person easy entry.
- Around midnight, I woke up and just could not find a way to fall back asleep, so I went down to grab some tea. Everyone was still down there playing drinking games, so I sat with Marco and together we laughed at how ridiculous everyone looked.
- Marco made me show his cousin my Tahitian dancing, even though I promised I would do it some other time since I was feeling well. But Marco pulled off a great puppy dog face for a 30 something year old man, and I figured I could go easy and still satisfy everyone.
- And though his cousin seemed like a pretty cool guy at first, and not bad looking, he kept calling me Shakira, Shakira and tried to whisper in my ear and put his arms around me. From that night on, I named him “Creeper”, and we continue to call him that to this day. =]
Wednesday
Wednesday was very much a day of recovery for everyone in the house, and their languidness rubbed off on me as well. We all woke up late, around 11:30 or so, and decided to head to Jack’s for lunch. There were about 8 of us, and Jack’s gave us the knowing look as we walked up, realizing they would have to rearrange some tables for us. Today I ordered a bacon and fried egg sandwich with tomato jam, which I cannot wait to try and recreate at home. We also played musical plates, so we could all indulge in each other’s food. After all, the family that lives together can definitely share germs together.

We took a leisurely walk back home, knowing it would be the best solution for our overworked stomachs to digest successfully. It was a nice walk though, as the weather was great, and we kept seeing people we knew on the street. First, we saw Yoco outside of the church, there for mass with her family. And no more than five minutes after that, we saw Jorge, who expressed his excitement for his birthday party the next day, and reminded us that we MUST be there.

When we got back home, we figured it might be nice to veg out, so we popped in The Fellowship of the Rings and watched until dinner time. Luke came home though, a day earlier than expected, and we were all really excited to hear about his trip. But Luke being Luke promised us he’d tell us all the details later, when he was done with his pineapple.

Dinner came, and Luke told us about what a cute city Arequipa was, and what great food it had to offer, though he did say that Cusco has better fruits.
Thursday
- During breakfast, Marco and Yoco told me to go to hospital today to get checked out, just because I had been sick twice already, and hadn’t gotten checked out yet. I told them I was fine, and had brought antibiotics with me, but they insisted self-diagnosis wasn’t enough. So I told them I’d go, figuring it might not be too bad of an idea if I could get Máximo to recommend me an inexpensive enough spot.
- Well I went to Máximo, only to find out that the hospital workers were on strike right now, and I wouldn’t be able to get checked up. Rae later told me that even people coming in with Apendicitis were being sent away just because the workers were on strike. I cannot wait to get home for a checkup. (Auntie Rie…that was a hint to you. =])
- Since I had no luck with getting examined, I just went home and did my homework and lunched.
- When I went to class that afternoon, Jorge was super excited for his birthday and that’s pretty much all we talked about for the entire class. This was his first birthday party in eight years, since his partner never liked big parties. I told him I couldn’t wait, though we might be late since we had another party to go to at the other family house for Jessica’s birthday.
- Dinner was pretty emotional tonight, as it was Ben’s final night, and he was not ready to go out at all. He locked himself in his room for a bit, but eventually Luke, Liz, and I were able to coax him out to spend his last day with people, and not alone sulking.
- He screened his movie after dinner, and it was a huge success. There was no crying like we had all expected, but definitely a lot of “Aww”s and laughter, which was all he wanted.
- After taking one last family photo before the cycle of people leaving began, we got ready to go to other family house for Jessica’s birthday. It was a hat party, so we all had hats on of all types. I rocked my Giants hat, backwards, of course. Ciara had her baseball hat as well, and we decided we could easily make a future out of becoming a rap duo. =]
- On the way there, we took Reservoir Dog type pics, which looked absolutely hilarious with our hats on.
- Once we got to the house, we felt as if we had walked into a sorority house. There were just so many girls there, accompanied by high pitched giggles and “Ohmygod!”s said in unison. Someone must have been watching out for me when I got placed in my house versus this one
- The girls from that house were already really smashed when we got there, and ended up breaking at least three glasses that night. The next day, we found out that they had blamed it on our house and their house owners wanted us to pay for the damages.
- Ben, however, did actually accidentally break a light because he’s so tall and reached his hand up while dancing and cracked the light fixture.
- When it was obvious that things were only going to get worse at this point, we moved onto Jorge’s party in San Blas.
- I suppose we must have gotten there pretty late, because as soon as we walked in, Jorge was already so drunk, and was falling all over the place the entire night. It was as if he was a 15 year old who had downed more than he should have. But, it was his birthday, and his bar, so couldn’t do much more than laugh and take incriminating photos. =]
- A bunch of people were ready to dance, so we all (a large group of at least 20) went over to Mama Africa, in search of some good music.
- Along the way, I saw my Peruvian boyfriend again (the 16 year old who works for Mama Africa and offered me free cocaine and always says hi to me every time he sees me). I said hi, but went ahead and “broke up” with him that night, as Jake told him we were going out, but it might still be alright if he and I remained friends. It was such a laugh, but he got over it as soon as we said we were going to Mama Africa anyways.
- We got a good decent hour of dancing in, and the highlight of the night for me was when they played “I Would Walk 500 Miles”. We were all singing so obnoxiously loud on the little stage area, jumping up and down with a crazy mosh pit going on. Twas so fun, and reminded me of when they played it in Aberdeen and we all went crazy as well.
- We figured we shouldn’t stay at one place for too long, so we went to try out Mythology, which unfortunately brought us HORRIBLE music. We seriously stayed for all of three minutes before Ciara and I convinced everyone to leave with us and head to Uptown.
- Uptown had better music, but I didn’t dance much. A majority of our time there, I just stayed on the balcony with Ben, Jake and Ciara, just talking and reminiscing since it was Ben’s last night.
- At one point, we all just decided it seemed like the right time to go home, and somehow squeezed into 8 of us into a taxi. Ciara and I sat in the boot, which was crazy fun, especially as we went over bumps and hills.
- When we got home, we all just sat on the couch and passed out listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers.
- I woke up as everyone was still sleeping and went upstairs to try and get some sleep. But for some reason I just couldn’t, and listened to music until I finally became tired around 4.
Friday
- Ben came into our room at 6:30 to say goodbye. I’m glad I was still tired at this point, or else I probably would’ve cried rather than mumbling “You better visit me or else.”
- I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until 11, where I just laid around the house with everyone else for a bit, deciding if we indeed wanted to go to Jack’s or not.
- We remembered that we had told Jake and Yoeun we would meet them at Jack’s at 1, and didn’t want them to wait there for us, so we decided to go. (Sure…it was only for their sake that we stuffed face. =]). I tried out the banana pancakes this day, and was quite satisfied. I personally would’ve preferred bananas over Swedish pancakes (which Jake told me are just called “pancakes” in Sweden =] while our “normal” pancakes are called American pancakes), but beggars can’t be choosers.
- We embarked on our usual post-Jack’s walk home, hoping to leave the calories and fat on the road somehow.
- I got home just as it was time to leave for class, so I pulled another run up the stairs and run back out.
- Class was hilarious today, because Jorge was so hungover and kept apologizing and telling me how sad and disappointed in himself he was and how he’ll never drink again. Apparently he even lost his phone at some point in the night, though it must have been in a taxi, as it wasn’t in his restaurant.
- I was told that my tandem couldn’t make it AGAIN, but wanted to wander, so I stayed out and walked around, attempting to shop for souvenirs, but found no success because I’m too picky.
- I did find success at the market though, where I picked up a chocolate bar, baby food applesauce, and instant noodles.
- I went back to Máximo to meet up with the boys, and found that Ciara was still there, so we chilled as I ate my noodles and she checked her email.
- We found the boys and walked home as Simon told us about how his flight had been cancelled and now he had no flight home.
- When we got home, Marco tried to help Simon sort out flight details but apparently the chance of rain was making it really difficult to get a flight, as Cusco airport closes when it rains.
- Simon decided he would just wing it and call LAN afterwards, but couldn’t deal with at the moment, so we went to grab Pollo a la Brasa at Toldo’s.
- It was such a good meal, with fries and ketchup and soft, moist chicken with skin. They also had a “salad bar” which was pretty sketchy, but had great potato salad. We also ordered the large “GIGANTE” sized pizza of pesto and cheese which rounded out the meal perfectly.
- We still somehow wanted dessert afterwards, but didn’t trust Toldo’s dessert after seeing the Crème Brulee lying out in the open, so we walked around the block until we found a beautiful cake and pastry shop. We bought a communal bag of butterflies (the pasty puff swirl things) and cinnamon twists (not as good as Ambrosia…) and éclairs and just ate on the street.
- Matt, the dork (though prepared dork) he is brought floss picks along as a preemptive move for Polla a la Brasa, so we took a photo in front of the mural with floss picks hanging out of our mouths. Of course this brought on taking more Reservoir Dogs shots, except with flosspicks in mouth instead of hats upon heads.
- As soon as we got home, we all decided to forgo socializing downstairs and just went upstairs and crashed.
Saturday
- Woke up at 8am for family breakfast to say goodbye to Ciara and Simon. It didn’t feel like they were leaving, though there was a funny moment when the “American Girls” walked up to them and said, “Would it be weird if we hugged you?” It’s like “Yes…you have just made the situation awkward. Thank you.”
- Marco’s dad brought Ciara and Simon to the airport so they wouldn’t have to grab a taxi, and we all had a mini hug session, not wanting to prolong the sadness.
- I waved from my balcony as they left, not letting it settle in that they were leaving. =[
- I decided to take a shower because I couldn’t think of anything else to do, and felt guilty because it was hot, while Ciara’s last shower that morning was ice cold.
- Around 11:30, I went to the gym with Liz, Jake, and Yoeun, which was pretty fun. It’s always nice to have a workout buddy, and when it’s a girl, it’s more enjoyable as well.
- When we finished, we went back home for lunch, which I was somehow able to devour completely. It’s as if Simon left me his appetite and now I can’t do anything but stuff face all day long.
- Liz, Yoeun and Luke went to Salsa lessons, but I opted out today. So instead I walked to Molino with Jake and Matt to hunt for some DVDs. I bought Weeds Season 4 and two churros, and made sure to visited my little guy who promised me Stand by Me two weeks ago. Sadly, he wasn’t there, so I can’t be sure if he made it through on his word.
- On the way home, we decided we wanted to finish off the trilogy and watch Return of the King, so we popped it in as soon as we got in.
- Slowly people started trickling in from roaming and Salsa lessons (I should be going, but felt lazy) and got into it as well.
- As we were watching Return of the King, started raining and hailing and thunder-ing at the most epic moments (i.e. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas go to get the “mountain dwellers”, the ones that betrayed the King of Gondor)
- Dinner was timed perfectly and we were called to eat while the credits began to roll. We had a hamburger patty with broccoli and carrots for dinner, which I loaded with ketchup and finished (again).
- Because Liz, Yoeun and Luke had gotten ice cream earlier that day, we all had a sudden craving for ice cream. It began as a joke that we should go out spontaneously at that moment to get some, which soon turned into reality. So we taxied it over to Davorinos with plenty of time to spare before they closed. Somehow we met up with Creeper (Shakira Shakira cousin)along the way, and he joined us for ice cream. As we ate, we watched Spanish music videos, which was really entertaining.
- Afterwards, we went to Ukukus for a couple of drinks. I got something called a Machupicchu which has the Reggae colors going on because of Orange juice, granadilla syrup, and something with green coloring. It tasted a lot like those firecracker popsicles they have back home, or the rainbow rocket things. =]
- We gained a second stomach sometime during Ukukus, and went to grab a snack at Indigo, the Thai place up Gringo Alley. Their chicken satay was too die for, as it was served with a supremely made peanut sauce. We played Jenga as we ate, and actually held out for a while before it tipped.
- I walked home with Jake, Liz, and Luke, and Yoeun went out with the Peruvians to go discoteca-hopping.
- We attempted to find a boutique that was still open on the way home so that I could buy shaving cream, but found no success =[
- When we got home, we watched a couple of episodes of “The Office” before heading up.
- Jake gave me the final Harry Potter because he refuses to just tell me what happens instead, so I began it that night. I didn’t make it very far before I crashed. It was my first night alone. =[
Sunday
- I woke up at 7:30 for some God forsaken reason (without an alarm), but still didn’t feel ready for breakfast. So instead, I sat on my balcony with Harry Potter and read until 8:15ish.
- Moved downstairs, no one still up, grabbed some cereal and yogurt and lounged on the couch by the window, eating and reading
- People started coming down, but we were all still pretty tired, so minimal conversation was made. Read for a while longer until I got hooked into watching the Tampa Bay, Red Sox game from the night before (the one that went into the 11th inning)
- When the game was over, I went to clean my room a bit, since it’s hard to stay tidy when you have no roommate to think about.
- We went to Jack’s again for lunch, and I had the French toast again. I don’t know why I’m never able to resist its powers, because there were other things on the menu I wanted to try as well. Luckily, the French toast delivered and I walked (or waddled) away happily.
- Met up with Jake at McCoy’s, where he went earlier to watch a futbol game. We watched The Goonies at McCoy’s as part of their daily movie showing. I continued to read Harry Potter on the couch, but was so comfy at some points I had to watch the movie to keep myself awake. =]
- Stopped by gym afterwards, but found out it isn’t open on Sundays.
- It worked out though (that we didn’t work out, haha…no pun. =]), because we were able to run a bunch of errands. I was able to buy my shaving cream, although we couldn’t find Skintimate or any feminine sort of option, so I bought men’s shaving cream off of the recommendation of Jake. “If it’s gentle enough for my baby face, it should work fine for you.”
- We also stopped by PATAS along the way for phone card pickup before heading over to Mega for a grocery run. I bought ketchup and some mandarin oranges. A beautiful combination, I know. The ketchup here is so good, because it’s always sweeter than it is tangy, so I pretty much drown everything I eat at home in it to give it some actual flavor.
- When we got home, I watched some German futbol with the boys until it was time to eat.
- For dinner, we had spaghetti in pesto sauce which was really fantastic, and which I finished (again. SIMON! WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME FAT?)
- Post dinner, we watched an episode of Weeds, and I spent a lot of time explaining who and what everything or one was. Everyone seemed to like It though, so we may scout the earlier seasons on the next Molino run.
- We also watched some Seinfeld (it’s almost a ritual here), but I went up after only one episode because I was falling asleep
- As I was brushing my teeth, I get a knock on my door. It’s Luke asking, “Are you decent right now? Because I need a favor.” After he left for Arequipa, he gave back his keys, and hasn’t had any since. Therefore, when the girls cleaned up his room earlier, they loc ked it, and he couldn’t get into his room. So he slept over in my room and we stayed up talking until 1:30 about differences between San Francisco and Sydney and our gap years. It was a great talk, but eventually we had to sleep.
Monday
- Both of our alarms didn’t work, so we woke up at 8:30 instead of our planned 8 o’clock.
- Grabbed a quick breakfast and walked up to work.
- I was super happy that my kids still remember me after...oh a week and a half! I haven’t seen them since October 1st due to sickness and strikes. But they acted as if nothing had happened at all, and still remembered how to ask me to give them a piggy pack ride. There were a lot of super big hugs, though I wasn’t TOO excited about all of the screaming and crying
- Went to Real McCoy’s on the walk back home to make a reservation for pub quiz, and heard Soulja Boy playing. I have to say I definitely wouldn’t have minded leaving that behind at home…
- I stopped by Maximo to check email, and walked home with Jake and Yoeun.
- We had lunch, which was a bland fried rice. Though with AMAZING amounts of ketchup, it tastes somewhat decent…
- Went to class with Jorge, more subjunctive practice

And as of this very moment, I am stuffing face (what’s new?) at Davorino’s, my favorite little ice cream shop. My reason if anyone asks is because they have wifi, but it’s mostly because I can’t stop eating here. I’ve got a good setup at this moment though, so I’ll try best to set the mood for you. Crowded place, conversations going on all around me, me with a cheese empanada and Sprite, and there’s Abba in the background. You know you love it. =] So here is my sad and depressing excuse of an update, but know the intention behind it is genuine, though the execution was poor. Love you and miss you all. =]

P.S.By the way, it’s almost time to start sending me requests for souvenirs, as my time is drawing to a near in the VERY close future. =[
EDIT:

- After “posting” my blog, I attempted to find Matt to walk home with, until I remembered that he had class a coffee shop in San Blas, and probably was going to dinner from there. So I bounced, and saw Todd on my way out, and invited him out to Thai with us.
- I took a taxi home because I’m not a huge fan of walking alone at night, and saw Yoeun, Luke, and Rae in the living room.
- I freshened up a bit, and got all of my things together before leaving to go out to meet everyone for dinner.
- Yoeun had to leave early to make copies for quiz night (he was the quizmaster tonight), and Rae didn’t want to try Thai on her stomach, so Luke and I just grabbed a taxi and left.
- We got there and saw everyone already outside of Bembo’s waiting for us.
- We found the place that Jake and Yoeun’s teacher had recommended for Thai, but it turned out to be a place with SOME Thai items, NOT a Thai restaurant.
- So we went over to a Japanese place near Topitop, but Todd and Matt were stuck on Thai. It was pretty close to quiz time, so Jake, Yoeun and I left and went to grab some fast food at Bembo’s.
- We headed over to Real McCoy’s for the quiz, and started off as a two person team. A tad bitter, Jake and I decided to put our team name as “Who Cares About the Rest of Our Team Anyways?”, a bit angry that they found it so important to find food instead of try and support Yoeun.
- It was a brutal night for Yoeun though, and people were being real jerks, yelling out “I CAN’T HEAR YOU! WHAT???”, and other obnoxious things.
- We didn’t win the quiz, though we did come in third. The kicker was that we were only one point behind the first team, and half a point behind the second place, so it could’ve been anyone’s game.
- After the quiz, we sort of loitered for a bit, unsure of if we wanted to go home or not. It was Rachel’s (from the other family house) birthday, so there was the option of going out with them. I immediately declined, not needing that much estrogen around me, and in the end, only Youen went along with them.
- When we got home, we watched some more episodes of Weeds, and called it a night.

Thank you all for reading all…22 pages of that, and I can’t wait to get this back to normal again. =] Always feel free to email me at morgan.ashley29@gmail.com, or leave a comment, because I always love to hear about how life is back home, and what I have to look forward to going back to. =] Until tomorrow, Morgan.