Finally Settled

Estrealla loved the earrings

I was riding the crowded bus home from a spanish lesson this morning and realized how much the initial shock of living in Cusco has worn off. As the days roll past, I feel less and less threatened by the five-foot-tall woman screaming "BAJA! BAJA! BAJA!" (get off, get off, get off) as I bumble off the bus; My stomach doesn't immediately reject anything that's not pizza or chocolate croissants; I'm beginning to catch bits and pieces of school-girl's conversations as they make fun of my skinny legs, and most of all I am starting to feel more and more at home here in this beautiful Andean city. Considering how quickly last week flew by,  Alex and I decided we'd better get our act together before we find ourselves left with little time and lots to do.

Nail polish time! 

This week has been full of arts, crafts and beauty make-overs at the orphanage. When I brought in nail polish and stick-on earrings you would have thought someone gave them gold. The girls immediately busied themselves painting each other's toenails in an array of different colors and designs (some purposefully, some not so much) and deciding which earrings matched best.  Even a few barbies were lucky enough to get the beauty treatment.  A fellow volunteer, Sarah, has really made this week special. We have spent the past few days making beautiful pipe-cleaner-Duct-Tape bracelets, glamorous button necklaces and rings, tasteful Duct Tape rose pencils and playing endless games of Button Bingo. However, when craft time is over, the simple Memory Match card game and challenging Twister are proving to be crowd favorites.

Twister... before it got twisted

Julieta, Paulo and Jose are siblings

I also learned a lot about the orphanage, La Casa Hogar, this week. First and foremost, a majority of the  girls are not actually orphans but have a mother or father who they are able to see on occasion. Most of the girls are at La Casa Hogar either on a court order or because their parent is not able to financially support them. What I found interesting is that, because most of them have parental custody, they are not technically "legally abandoned" and do not qualify for adoption. For example, there are three sisters at the orphanage who

These girls are sisters

see their mother every Sunday and because she has not released custody, they are not adoptable. While it was good to know these children do have parents and each other, I couldn't help but to feel somewhat pitiful for them. It's almost as if they are stuck; they can't be at home with their mother and/or father but they also don't have the option of possibly getting new parents who can properly provide for them.
Alex has had the amazing opportunity to visit La Casa de las Estrellas, a special needs orphanage, this week, providing basic check ups. La Casa was originally funded by a company in Spain, but after Spain's economy crashed, the orphanage has been without any funding or medical attention. As you can imagine, Alex's presence and medical assistance is greatly appreciated by all 35 of the children he's seen, as well as the five "House Mothers" who look after them. The second he opens the door, he's greeted by a group of incredibly excited, loving kids. While he isn't extremely knowledgeable in the subjects of children's medicine or Down's Syndrome, Alex is happy to be making a difference and gaining an experience that he wasn't initially planning for.

Mr. Paulo 

Flight of the Condor! 9 ft. wingspan! 

Our week has held a handful of Peruvian adventures. While it may not be the definition of "adventure" I can honestly say that I never thought I would bargain for Christmas lights in my life. Not only were there different colors and sizes, but different musical tunes to accompany the different flashing patterns and strobes. After about a half hour of searching, testing and bargaining, we took home our first set of Peruvian Christmas lights for our room and boy, is the Christmas spirit flowing!

Yesterday was the most beautiful day Alex and I have had here in Cusco. We caught up with a few of the other volunteers and traveled 30 minutes by bus to the discrete Ccochahuasi Animal Sanctuary in The Sacred Valley. This small, wonderful sanctuary was started by a family who rescued ill, endangered, abused or Black Marketed animals. We were toured through this little haven by a guide who provided us with information on every animal and whether or not they had a chance of reintroduction into the wild. Not only were these animals exotic and rare, but they were also well cared for and obviously content in their surroundings. We continued down the winding, lush canyon until we reached the colorful, mountainous town of Pisac, were we wandered around a textile market and ate a relaxing lunch before heading back to the bustling city.

I should also mention that we have another house guest joining us at our host home this week. Hayam, a former Cardiologist from Korea, is visiting Cusco to study Spanish. He sold his practice two years ago and has been traveling the world, writing books ever since. Although he's a very amiable man, he did openly admit he frequently eats "perro" (dog) back in Korea... we'll have to see how the rest of the week plays out.

The lights of Cusco 

Hayam, Percey, Tillo Thomas and Alex

Tonight our host father, Percey and Jully's uncle, Tillo Thomas took Hayam, Alex, and I up to El Cristo Blanco to view the lights of Cusco. To see the city at night was like looking into a valley of stars - absolutely beautiful. With good company, a great view and the kiss of a cool mountain breeze, I settled just a little more into this new chapter of life.

Inkan Adjustment

View of Cusco from Cristo Blanco.

Peruvian national symbol in the
mountain from Plaza De Armas.

Stray dogs everywhere.

Hello All! Well Sarah and I have been here in Cusco for a week and we are slowly adjusting to our new surroundings.  One of the the first things we noticed about Cusco is the small busses, cars, and driving lanes.  There are very few traffic lights and rules, which makes traveling around interesting and exciting.  The markets are as colorful and overwhelming as the people.  Although Cusco is a high traffic tourist area, the part of Cusco we are live in is on the outskirts, where the sight of a "gringo" traveling on the bus is not very common.  I, personally, have already had a few interesting bus experiences.  People here drive like maniacs, but the accident rate is very low- except on this day...  I was riding the bus that hit a car making a left hand turn.  There I was, wide eyed and crouching over, frantically looking around to see what happened,  while everyone else on the bus paid no attention to the crash.  A short stop and conversation later, we continued back on our route.  No big deal.  My next bus experience involved me standing at the front of the bus as it came to a very abrupt stop, avoiding another accident, only to have seven Peruvians pile on top of me, cursing out the bus driver the entire time.  Other than the busses and taxis being very small and very rushed, our travels are typically uneventful.

Golden Incan.

Thanksgiving Meal.  Pizza and
 ice cold Sprite

This week held the wonderful Thanksgiving thursday that every American loves, but no Peruvian understands.  Homesick and with our stomachs adjusting to the food and drink here in Peru, Thanksgiving was a very low key day for us. We talked to our families on Skype and, after sipping on Sprite and Pepto, decided we needed to support our "MMerican" side and went out to get some greasy pizza and drinks with purified ice. Purified ice is a hot commodity, along with cold drinks...pun intended. I have literally had dreams about ice cold gatorades and capri suns.

Angelika in front.

In terms of our volunteer work, I have done very little in the first clinic here named "Clinica San Juan de Dios".  It is a nice clinic but the patient load has been infrequent and the doctors do not seem open to teach or want any help with their patients.  I am doing something different this upcoming week. On Monday I am going to a special-needs orphanage where I will be doing basic check-ups on children that have no medical attention.  Hopefully I can do something to help these kids.  I have also been accompanying Sarah to the orphanage she is volunteering with. This past week I helped the girls out a little bit with things like cleaning out their noses and ears.  One girl in particular, Angelika, has such a plugged nose full of snot that her nostril has become red and inflamed.  The idea of helping out a four year old girl with her pain sounds easy but the convincing and follow through is another story.  Most of these girls have severely dry skin and patches of Dermatitis from living in a dirty, shared environment.  Their clothes are not regularly changed, I imagine they share towels, and do not regularly wash their hands or faces. I plan on returning this week with basic over-the-counter medical supplies and health maintenance materials. Hopefully, between swinging them around in the air and being a human jungle-gym, I can help these girls out.

Chocolate Museum.

Sarah checking out a corner sales tent.

Other activities we have done so far have included wandering around the markets near our host home.  All I can say is that these markets have EVERYTHING, but the pictures explain a lot more.  When I say everything, I mean everything from jeans, shoes, TV's, toothbrushes, toys, food, stereos, bags and keys to other household items.  We have also visited "Coco Museo," the chocolate museum.  It was both delicious and informative.  Today we walked up the hill to Cristo Blanco, which is a white statue of Jesus Christ.  Along the way, we saw a baby llama that Sarah got to hold.  This quick incline and hike lead us to a breath taking view of Cusco, literally.

Molino market, Shoes!

Baby llama.

        

Molino market, Grocery.

    

View of Cusco walking up to Cristo Blanco.

Cristo Blanco.

Sarah and I from Cristo Blanco.

Our welcome to Cristo Blanco.

We'll see how the rest of our weekend plays out, but for now we are learning how to live, eat, speak, and adjust to our new home.

Color Commentary

Our lovely serenader

It is day three in Cusco, Peru and already it feels like months! So much has happened since our arrival, I don't know where to begin. Let's backtrack slightly, to our time in Lima. Alex covered most of the basics, but I wanted to add a little color-commentary.

Churro Rellenos - YUM! 

The night before we left Miraflores we scoped out a small, seemingly tranquil restaurant called "Las Tejas." Little did we know the guitar soloist also served as the entertainment for the evening, singing his heart out and prompting all restaurant patrons to sing along. After paying for our over-priced, yet well-worth-it meal we ventured to a main square in Miraflores that was crawling with friendly, adorable cats. It was on the outskirts of this square, in a lively bakery, that I found God's gift to mankind - Churro Rellenos de Chocolate. To say these chocolaty, sugary delights were heavenly is an understatement. I ordered two, and immediately ordered two more. Honestly - these things were A-MA-ZING.

We woke the next morning and moved to a hotel in San Miguel in order to be closer to the airport. While this new location was a bit more hectic and slightly more dangerous, we made the day worth while by visiting the local zoo. Alex's previous post says it all, this zoo was "more of a local third-world- animal- housing center" (see his post for more info and pictures).

           Now, on to the topic you're probably all wondering about - Cusco. The hour long flight from Lima to Cusco was by far one of the coolest flights I have ever taken. During our descent, we looked out the windows only to see mountainsides covered with narrow terraces and small huts; we were literally flying through a valley to the city of Cusco, which sits at a breathtaking 11,152 ft. above sea level. We were greeted at the airport by Angelica, our in-country coordinator, and taken by taxi to our host family's house. Jully, our host mom, was waiting with warm hugs, smiles and cocoa tea - an herbal tea said to help with altitude adjustment. She introduced us to our host brothers, Mauricio, 15 yrs. old and Fernando, 10 yrs. old, and to our host dad, Percy. They all speak little to no English, but this family is so full of love, endearment, questions and laughs, they couldn't make us feel more at home. 

Jully, Fernando and Alex in
 La Plaza

La Plaza De Armas 

Cusco Flag (left) and
Peruvian Flag (right)
 with Christo Blanco in
 the middle background. 

Jully and Fernando took me and Alex to La Plaza De Armas, the central plaza, to show us a little of Cusco. It didn't take long for us to locate a pub that was playing the Broncos game!   We spent the evening around the dinner table sharing information about our lives in the US and theirs in Cusco. We showed them pictures of our families, friends, pets and towns. It was when we showed them a picture of Bill's famous potato gun that things really got interesting. With over 300 types of potatoes in Peru, they were awed by the fact that someone could make a contraption that would turn them into weapons!

Paulo, 3,  is the only boy.

They loved my hair and my nose ring! 

Yesterday we spent the morning touring around the hospital that Alex is going to be working at this week. I will let him provide more detail of his experience with the orientation and his first day of volunteering! Mid-afternoon we took a taxi to the girls orphanage I will be volunteering with. The second we walked through the door, the girls were overwhelmed with joy and excitement at our arrival.   I thought it was exhausting trying to communicate with my host family... after yesterday, I truly understand the meaning of "exhaustion." There are currently thirteen girls (and one boy) in the orphanage between the ages of three and twelve, and trying communicate, play, multitask, learn, play, observe and play for four hours left me completely wiped. But the yearning these girls have for love and attention is something I have never experienced in my life. They are unbelievably self-reliant and mature for their age, yet the deprivation of affection is clear. I am looking forward to building a relationship with these girls and learning how this "family" operates.

The girls LOVED their special
treat, mandarinas!

Miraflores to San Miguel

Well I guess its about time I try this whole blogging thing.  If you know anything about me, writing is not my forte but you gotta start somewhere.  So don't take any grammatical errors or misspellings like its the end of the world.  Anyway about what we did today; this morning we woke up knowing that we had to make the journey from Miraflores to somewhere near the Lima airport.  We knew this was going to be a journey because Sarah and I both remembered the area around Lima  was VERY busy with cars whipping around (even close to midnight), graffiti, small colorful row homes, billboards, and small business everywhere.  Since we both thought we were going to hear a knock on our hostel door to kick us out we gathered our scattered room while Sarah found a cheap hotel 10 minutes away from the airport in an area named San Miguel.

San Miguel

We checked out of our hostel and walked down the street for some breakfast and arranged a taxi to take us to our new hotel.  As we got closer to San Miguel we realized that the area was going to be exactly what we saw when we landed in Lima.  This was pretty evident when we pulled off the highway and our friendly taxi driver rolled up his window and signaled us to do the same.  Rolling down side streets we finally pulled into a small square and there was "Machu Picchu," our hotel.  Every home and business has gates and cameras as if every night the apocalypse is coming which made us "gringos" feel like we may not be very welcome.  But after checking in and talking to the nice lady at the front desk we had a better feeling about venturing out.

Entrance to Parque de las Leyendas

We decided to go check out the local zoo a couple blocks away called Parque de las Leyendas.  This was not the ordinary American zoo you may be picturing.  This was more of a local third-world-animal-housing center, equipped with litter and carvings like "Edwin + Suzana 4 Ever" around the exhibits.  Some of the animals looked unattended to and people fed the animals without getting bombarded by zoo staff.  Either way we got to see some cool animals including different kinds of large cats, monkeys, tapir, hippos, giraffe, bears, seal, ect.  After we left the zoo it was getting dark so we decided to grab a delicious rotisserie chicken meal at a local eating establishment and got back to our hotel.  We have a 3:30 wake up for our journey to Cusco tomorrow so we are being lame tonight.  But we are looking forward to the flight out of Lima to see what the city looks like from the air and to meet our IFRE coordinator and host family tomorrow.  We are both very excited and hope that we have smooth travels again.  Wish us luck and write to you next time from Cusco.

A little girl put a snail on the glass of these monkeys  exhibit and were very intrigued 

Bienvenido a Lima

We've been in Peru for two days and our experiences thus far have been absolutely incredible. First and foremost, it should be noted that we successfully flew here on standby tickets with no delays or problems. Good omen? I'd like to think so! After arriving at the airport in Lima, we quickly hailed a minibus and were speeding down the bumpy streets headed for the costal, cliff top city of Miraflores. It was nearly midnight by the time we checked into our small, reasonably furnished room at Hostel Eiffel and after a twenty-hour day of travel, sleep was no struggle. Yesterday we awoke to the sound of honking taxis and clanging construction workers and the scent of salty air, quickly reminding us we weren't in Colorado anymore.

The Cevicheria 

Miraflores on the cliff

With no agenda or bearings, we tied on our shoes and did what any budget traveler would do... started walking. After scrambling down the seaside cliffs we found ourselves strolling along the Pacific coast. Three miles later, past public beaches scattered with locals, fine dining restaurants and abandoned construction sites, we settled down at a small cevicheria and ordered the recommended arroz mariscos or "rice with seafood." The dish was packed full with seafood and mouth watering flavor - which is quite the norm around here. Every meal we've had has been absolutely delectable.

Arroz Mariscos 

Yesterday we decided to make good use of our time by visiting El Museo Larco, a beautiful museum displaying an array of well preserved Inca artifacts, including finely detailed jewelry and a vast selection of erotic pottery.