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. =]