Mi primero Martes. (My first Tuesday.)

This morning was mess. I woke up this morning at about 8:45-8:50 ish. Oh curses. I wasn’t late per se, but I had missed breakfast. It wasn’t too bad though, because I knew I could pick up a bagel from the café at Maximo Nivel which everyone had been raving about anyways. So I got all of my toiletry things together and headed to the bathroom, when I reached into my pocket, and was greeted with gummy, sticky, goodness. It was horrible, my iPod and headphones and Bluetooth and phone clip were all covered in the tacky goodness of Extra gum which I guess had melted in my sleep. The worst part? As I was cleaning it all off with the Wet Ones wipes I had carried (what a life saver!) I had the song “Little Boxes” from Weeds stuck in my head, all because of that line with “ticky tacky’. “Little boxes on the hill side, and they’re all made from ticky tacky…and they all look just the same.” Jeez was it annoying.

The next scare came when I turned on my iPod and was welcomed with the depressed iPod face and a warning sign. Go to apple.com/iPod/support or something like that. Had my iPod died? No! So I plugged it into the charger and hoped for the best. After finishing my routine (Purell my hands then put on contacts, Purell hands again and then brush teeth, apply sunscreen, apply Ultrathon, apply makeup) and getting dressed, I checked back on my iPod, and it was all better. Thank goodness for that.

So I leave the house around 9:30am for my meeting at 10am. I figure I’ll make it in time, since the walk’s only about fifteen minutes. Halfway there though, I wimp out. I’m still adjusting to the altitude, huffing and puffing my way around, and decide to hail a taxi. Besides, none of my friends were there to impress with my agility and acclamation to the altitude, and who knows how long I would have to ride the bus for? So a taxi made it all better and I arrived five minutes to 10. But of course, we’re on Peruvian time and I don’t get the briefing until 10:10ish. Where the other volunteer and I (she’s here for two weeks) find out the exact details of our project. We’ll be working at Madre Teresa de Calcutta. It’s basically a day care center and they focus on keeping the nutrition of kids 3 months-6 years old up. We’ll be helping prepare meals, play with kids, and just be an extra helping hand. I am absolutely more than excited. But wait, it gets better. We move onto the location part of the briefing and we find out it is located on a street right off of the Plaza de Armas, the town center and main tourist spot. This means beautiful fountains, the cathedrals, museums, and great coffee shops and places to eat. And I get to pass this place 5 days a week for two months. How frickin lucky am I? In addition to the great aesthetics of the location, Plaza de Armas is so close, you don’t need to take a bus. You can walk up an extra five to ten minutes from Maximo Nivel, or you can take a taxi there. I won’t lie, a taxi sounds pretty good for at least the first week while I’m still acclimating. After all, there are a huge set of stone steps to go up before you reach the place.

Now the actual visit was a joy. It was about all of ten minutes but I fell in love immediately. The people who work there seemed so grateful for the help, and the main manager was such a sweet woman. I was actually surprised at how much I could understand her, even though she was speaking at a normal pace (which is pretty darn fast.) And we got to meet some of the kids briefly, but I already met one who I know will be one of my favorites. She looked like she might have been Mestizo, because her features were so similar to a baby that was half Filipino and half White. But why do I love her so much after only about one minute? Well as soon as I walked in the door she ran to me and hugged my leg. I then said Hola to her and she giggled and responded with an Hola of her own. We were getting ready to leave though so I quickly asked her for “un beso”. She gave me a flyaway kiss and a huge smile, which I’m still gushing over right now. She kept trying to follow me out but I assured her “Volveré mañana. Adios!” I told her I’d be back tomorrow, and she finally stopped following and said “Adios” herself. I think I may have found a reason to actually wake up early tomorrow.

Speaking of which, my schedule is amazing. I work from 9 to 12:30, because the kids take naps after that and I wouldn’t be much of a help. Then I have until 4 which is when my Spanish lessons begin. I finally figured out what level I was placed into…intermediate! Thanks Ms. Raeff! I just hope it’s not too hard and I don’t feel ridiculously stupid or they bump me down. I’m hoping I didn’t get in there just because I made some lucky guesses (which I’ll admit I had to do on some of them. =]) I guess I’ll find out this afternoon!

On the way back home, I made a couple of stops. First, I had a bite to eat at Don Panchos. I had some lemonade and an empanada with aji de gallina inside. It’s basically chicken with a sweet sort of curry. Absolutely delicious. And all for 7.5 soles. Which is basically 2 to 3 bucks back home. SWEET. After staying there and chatting with my dad on the phone to share the good news, I started on my way home. But I decided to invest in a bag, because my backpack is too big and I feel like it can make me a larger target than I already am, while my brown purse is kind of hard to deal with because of the broken zipper, I’ll have to have that fixed when I get back home because I absolutely love that bag.

So I wander into this market right off the street called Inti punka I believe and look around a few of the stalls. I find a nice black, grey, and white woven bag that’s about the size of a mini-duffel. Big enough to fit my laptop and other books, but not too huge and unreasonable. There’s even a little embroidered alpaca on each side, totally Peruvian. So the lady tells me 25 soles and I know right away my young and innocent Chinito (Little Chinese) face must be screaming “RIP ME OFF PLEASE!”, but I refuse. I decide I’m gonna try my hand at bartering. I channel my Grandma Hsia and put my game face on. “Ay! Solo tengo veinte soles, y necesito algos para el taxi después tambien ¿Quince.” (Oh no, I only have twenty soles, and I need some for the taxi afterwards as well. Fifteen?) She doesn’t blink. She knows I’m trying to play cute tourist and barter. “¿Dondé quedarte?” (Where are you staying?) She basically is quizzing me to see if I know my geography and the taxi rates. “Santa Monica,” I respond, knowing it’s outside of Cusco because one of the volunteers is staying there in a family stay. She thinks for a second, and comes back with “Diecenueve.” Nineteen soles. I feign a look of disbelief and respond with “Pero necesito más para el taxi. Por favor, Señorita.” We settle on eighteen, which isn’t too shabby. Sure only a sole below her previous offer, but that’s one more sole for me in future taxi ride. For my first time at bartering, I had cut off 7 soles, and gotten a mini-duffel bag for about six bucks.

I get back to the house and tell Yoko’s daughter that I won’t be needing lunch today. I’m too tired and am going back to my room to sleep, I say. She tells me she’ll tell her mom, and I head upstairs. I read for a bit and end up finally sleeping around 1:30, about an hour after I get back home. Then I wake up around 2:45 (which is what I set my alarm for) and lie around for a good fifteen minutes. I think I’ve finally discovered my pattern. I need to allow fifteen minutes after my alarm goes off for rolling around and contemplating getting up. If I do this, I think I may able to make it out of the house on time. Or so I hope anyways.

Right now I’m just at Maximo Nivel, waiting for class to start. I just wanted to arrive early so I could use the Wifi to upload my blogs. I’ll write more about the rest of my day tonight, and post it tomorrow for you all, but until then, hopefully this is enough to keep you all interested. ;]

Wish me luck on my first Spanish class! Let’s hope I was rightfully placed there. =] xxoo.


P.S. Thank you for all the comments. =] It's the only way I can force myself to stay awake long enough to recap on the day's events. Knowing that someone out there in the world is reading makes me feel that much less homesick, oddly enough. =]

P.P.S. I left my retainer at home. Looks like I'm going back home with crooked teeth. Darn. Not that I wear it too often at home anyways...but I was trying to get back on track!