FIDEO The Dog

So I have officially started my construction project: Building Improved Cooking Stoves for 45 families in 3 of my communities. Project work includes preparing materials and sessions every month for the families on pre-elected topics such as nutrition BUT also going to visit those 45 families every month or every other month. So I have 2 extraordinary women who help me visit.

 

My first session....30 of the mothers or fathers.

My health post worker Doris explaining what is a Healthy Home and why it is important.

Here in one of the other communities, I only work with 15 families but we had a cooking class....they definitely were the teachers that day! I tried to make lentil burgers but they didn't turn out so well.

This is my favorite dude...most guys here are really macho men but look he is helping with the womens work. Also, he is extremely nice to me!!!

Look at that concentration...

This is Maria Madalena....one of my favorites. She goes with me on all 15 house visits in this community. She offers her house to do the sessions. So aka she is amazing and has a very positive outlook on life in general that keeps my spirits up.

Aren't those kids just so cute! haha. Well anyways in my other section (the one with 30 moms) I have a friend that also helps with house visits. Her name is Luzalina. She is great, always laughing and willing to help. So I usually go to her house pick her up and we continue on to visit the other families. Now she has to dogs Fideo and another that I don't know her name. The girl dog just had pups. Now I don't think Fideo is the dad but who knows. So I go to pick Luzalina up like usual...the dogs start barking and running at me also fairly usual. I put up my hand like I have a rock because dogs here recognize that as a sign to back off, because this wasn't my first time there I didn't actually have any rocks. Oh how smart Fideo is....isn't of making the usual running arc oh no he went for the goods.

 So thank God for Jenna bringing me a pedometer because that definitely saved my fleshy belly haha.

Of course though as I broke free and was turning to try and run and escape or find something to hit him with I fall with my butt in the air waving around like a target...

If I had died they would have been able to solve the crime because Fideo left his teeth marks on me.

Doesn't he seem like such a nice dog. Later on I found out that he has bitten approximately 20 ish people. The part that sucks the most was when I fell I hit the other side so sleeping on my back was all around uncomfortable because I was bruised on both sides. Now it is unfortunate to say that I'm scared anytime a dog comes to close. People here train their dogs to be aggressive and mean to protect their stuff at night. I mean I get it but dang do I hope that this never happens again because I got off lucky. Oh and did I mention why...because my shrill scream brought Luzalina running and as soon as she got to me Fideo was no where to be found.

Vacation with my Bestie!!! aka AWESOME !!

To begin the journey...
       I left my site feelings excited. Not only about my upcoming vacation but the computer fix it guy called and said guess what....we got your computer back and it is ready for pick up! Yeah. Finally going to be able to watch TV and Movies and Music again! Whoot whoot (because following the tread of electronic failure my ipod will turn on but can't hear anything, ahhhhhhh). So I get to Chota and go to pick up my computer and what to do I get but a HUGE surprise! Oh they fixed the problem and created about 50 more! The chip they replaced the computer couldn't recognize so they wiped out the computers hard drive and replaced it with all pirated stuff. You might think oh maybe look on the positive side and you will always be working on your Spanish...but when you don't understand computers in your native language trying to figure one out in another = disaster! Argh! Anyways so that put a damper to the start of the festivities but no matter, JENNA IS COMING!
      So I take the combi to Bambamarca and get in the next for Cajamarca, of course my bad luck holding it takes forever to fill up and then we have the only slow driver in Peru! I am freaking out because my bus leaves in an hour and we still aren't to Cajamarca city yet (and buses are usually one of the things that run on time here). I get there with less than 30 minutes, Thank the Lord. Get to Lima and the fun begins. I meet up with an old friend from study abroad days. We had lunch and we ran into another volunteer passing through Lima so it was quite a little party! Andrea is just as sweet as I remember her to be and it was a blast to hear about what is new in her life and how everyone else I remember is doing. That night at the hostel I had a lot of fun meeting some random travelers: a couple from the States, Brazil, Ireland among other places. We sat around chatted and drank which was great since I was alone and helped pass the time until I needed to go pick Jenna up from the airport.
   FINALLY 3 AM rolls around and I get a cab to the airport chatting with my driver who was such a nice fellow for it being so early. Jenna is one of the first people through the customs check! I thought I would cry when I saw her but was so unbelievably happy and impatient that she get over to me for a hug that I didn't. God it was amazing to get a hug! People here in Peru are not really touchy people and neither am I usually but with that hug I could feel the love and it made all the difference in the world.
   We get back to the hostel take a little cat nap and when we wake up go to breakfast at Crepes and Waffles (one of my favs in Lima). Then strolled along the coast line catching up on life. It is incredible how much happens in a years time. She also came at a really good time of year for the Lima area not cold or to overcast. Next we went to Central Lima where the President lives and there are cool old churches. We toured the Catacombs which of course made me feel like Bones in my excitement to see over 25,000 human remains! Crazy right that that many people could be buried underneath this little church. Did some other touristy stuff and had an all in all wonderful day.
    We get up early and head to the airport again to catch a plane to Cusco. Get to Cusco and it is just as historically rich as I remember. The buildings and town in general just have that feel, like important things happened here and it has stood the test of time. We spent the whole day walking around and enjoying the nice weather etc. Our hostel the Amura II was oh so very nice. It was such a cute little oasis, definitely a place I would go again and love to just bring a book and sit outside with my cup of coffee for a couple of days. Also in Cusco they have some great restaurants! We had a good burger and fries sitting on a balcony in the Plaza for lunch and great soup/sandwich/salad at a vegetarian place. Boy oh boy do I wish we had that kinda food in Chota.

  Next day we head into the Sacred Valley to begin our tour of the ruins. We took local transport out (which was fun to show her how I get around every day!) to the first ruins. Obviously we took our time and a million pictures.

   Climbing with our hiking bags...man now that will teach me to be a minimalist!!! We stayed overnight in Urubamba. Once again beautiful!

The end to all ends...Machu Picchu!!!!! More on this amazing trip to come!

FIESTAS PATRIAS VACATION AND MY EPIC FAIL

Fiestas Patrias is the equivalent to the 4^th of July here in Peru. As volunteers we get “free vacation days”, mainly because it wouldn’t matter if we wanted to work the majority of people stop everything and celebrate. I and another volunteer Ellie had some of our other vacation days free to use so we took one and headed to the big city, Lima.

Once we got there the good times started to roll. First things first we had Dunken Dounuts and sat and used their awesome internet! We proceeded to McDonalds and I had a Big Mac Fries and a Coke. Unfortunately we should have started small, cause so much rich food in that short frame sent my stomach into freak out mode. BUT nothing could slow us down we had been dreaming of this vacation for weeks and we still had shopping to do. So we headed to the individual stores got tired and headed to the mother land, Jockey Plaza Mall where there is a Chili’s, TGIF, Subway and so many more good places to eat but my personal favorite (in Peru) STARBUCKS!!!! In the duration of 2 days I had Starbucks 4 times. A bit obsessive I know but going months without properly prepared Carmel Macchiato I just had to get as many as possible. Anyways as you can tell our trip to Lima was primarily to stock up on American food and drink until we come back to Lima for Mid-Service Checks.

Next we went to the Ancash Mountains (The Andes), Huaraz. Huaraz has a spectacular view of Huascaran Mountain, this mountain people use to train for Everest.  It is the highest mountain in Peru and more or less the only place you will see snow. So we got in and then so did the rest of the group: Kate from Cajamarca, Alison from Piura, and Julie from Lambayeque. We were only missing Sonnet from Tumbes but her bus came in a day later. Of course the first thing we did after hugs was find food. (If you can’t tell what I and others miss the most is FOOD). In Huaraz there is a café called California Café where they have bagels, waffles, eggs and bacon etc. So it was a lovely way to start the day. We got information on some “beginners” hikes. Spent the rest of the day moseying around, then met up with another volunteer from our group, Matt. For dinner we either had good Mexican food or Thai. Yum!

I said “beginners” hike earlier because of the following story/ disaster for me particularly but the group in general. After talking with the guide agency we felt secure that we could do this hike on our own without a guide. Got up at 5 AM to get a combi, which took us an hour into the trip, in that same combi another white looking couple was there. When we got off to get a taxi we absorbed them into our group (cheaper and faster to fill up cars with 7). We get a taxi up into Huascaran National Park.  Obviously we ask about the couple, they were from the Czech Republic. They had already done Churup hike the day before. Anyways we get to the starting point of the hike. Our driver tells us it is a good 3 hour hike, after the first small laguna (lake) it is 30 minutes farther. The Czech couple stayed behind to eat breakfast. We started and 30 minutes later the Czech couple passed us hahahahaha. That should have been our first sign. We go and go for another hour and finally take a good 5 minute break to refuel.  

There was our second mistake because before we were powering through and from there on we needed small breaks every 10-15 minutes, yes the hill got steeper as well but oh man did the going get rough. Almost at 3 hours in we reach the first small lake and we think thank God we are almost there and take another break. This break in particular was for me. I don’t know if I just did acclimatize well or I’m just that out of shape (even though I started running 2 months ago to prevent just that) but my body shut down. I mean yes it was hard to breathe but that wasn’t my main problem nor sore muscles, it felt like I had no muscles. But I didn’t want to bring the group down or be so weak so I said charge on McGruff I’m going to make it 30 minutes more and I truly think I can because the path levels out and then I see it the mountain we still have left to climb. The path seems to split in 2 directions at first we try the one on the right because it isn’t a steep uphill climb of course that isn’t it. We go back down and there are these old run down stone houses. We pass them and start that massive climb I get a few minutes in and know that there is no way I’m making it to the top without collapsing. So I get my sandwich and head back down. Now there are these 3 cows grazing just below that start my way and follow me for a minute. I think they are gone but oh no just after I find a nice covered place to sit here come these cows and they are not afraid of me…and want my sandwich. So I move around a couple of times and still they follow. I’m tired, mad and disappointed in myself and now these cows won’t leave me alone. So I jump on top of the stone wall and walk until I see a nice little place where I don’t think the cows can get in. I’m right! I start eating and the snow starts falling. Around 30 ish minutes later I see my friends coming back down the hill yelling that it was the other way. So they start yelling at people behind us that it is the other way but one group has a guide and by the time my friends are to my hiding place he is telling everyone that it really is the way the girls just came. So we decided to just picnic next to the small lake. Kate did a lake jump into the freezing cold water and once again it started to snow. How many people can say they had a picnic in the snow?

We get down and back and of course have to wait for the car and the Czech couple. On the ride back we asked if they made it, of course they did. Yet they ruined all goodwill from us by saying they made it up in 40 minutes with stopping and if we had really wanted it so could have we. Making it seem even worse that I stopped so early and they didn’t reach the finish line. Oh well I failed but had a good time doing it. Haha. When we got back we were so tired the lights were out by 9:45 pm.

  

 Next morning we got breakfast and then headed out to Katie and Ben’s site to make lunch and see their community. Wow is it pretty there but I don’t think I want to live there. I think the mountains would get old or less amazing due to close proximity. We had awesome lentil burgers and sweet potato fries. Yum yum yum. It was so great to just hang out with friends and have no agenda but to eat and talk. In site you can relax anytime you want but it is always by yourself and you know that at any moment someone might want something or another and no matter what it will be said in another language. So if nothing else that one day made the vacation.   

That night we took an overnight bus to Trujillo. Got in super early so we spent a couple of hours on the couches of the Peace Corps Hostel there…woke up to young boys staring at us. Haha. As the day progressed we got to see Cristina. With Cristina we went and had either an awesome salad (me) or good rotisserie chicken and to top if off went to see The Dark Knight Rises!!!!! Oh man do I love those movies. Such emotion! Anyways to say that our trip was successful and full of fun is an understatement. Now a week back in site it seems like the first month were I was fresh with ideas and enthusiasm so hopefully the next step taken will be a full-fledged project! I’m bursting with vacation optimism. Ah haha. 

And on a random last note I have killed and plucked my own chicken to eat...I can now live in the wild! haha