I just couldn't say goodbye

So I have tons to say about Machu Picchu. In fact, I blogged for a good 53 minutes this morning. However, I am having technical difficulties and can't finish the post. I think I need a real computer to fix things, so you are just going to have to wait. The entire trek was absolutely wonderful though. And I didn't freeze to death, and, and my hip doesn't actually hurt too bad at all.  I'm hopeful that I'm cured.

Yesterday after volunteering Vanessa and I took our host mom to town for pedicures. As we were walking into a nail place, I realized that we hadn't bartered. However, because it was a present for our mom, I didn't want to barter in front of her, so I just accepted the fact that we were getting completely ripped off. I figured it was still relatively cheap, and I desperately needed someone else to clean my feet after 4 days of trekking.

The women led us into a room filled with curtains and foam beds. We were quickly shushed because apparently this was the same room that they used to do massages, hence the foam pad beds. The woman brought us her kaboodle and told us to pick a color from what appeared to be her personal collection. So we got pedicures in little buckets of water with hand soap from the bathroom and what appeared to be the Peruvian equivalent of Walmart-brand lotion. I tried really hard to relax and make the whole thing n enjoyable experience for our mom. So we laid back on the foam pads, hoping for a little relaxation. On cue, as I close my eyes, one of the women walked into our sanctuary with a baby.  I didn't think too much of it because babies here don't really cry, but then once again on cue as I closed my eyes, that little bundle of joy stared whaling.

Bah! Our day at the spa with our host mom was a bust, so we decided to try to make up for it by taking her out for a drink. Well, one drink led to five. And after five, she was begging to stay out. I don't blame her. She has approximately 15 strangers living in her house at any given moment. So we drank. It turns out the altitude affects her too...maybe even more than it affects me.

The altitude caused us to call it a night early, so I got up early this morning to wrap things up for all of my orphanage projects. Today was supposed to be my last day at the orphanage because I'm headed to the amazon in a couple of hours followed by Colca Canyon. However, I'm not sure that I want to be done. So after lunch today, I gave semi-goodbyes, knowing dang well that I will be back.

The kids were adorable today. Zoila requested music using her picture boards, so as we walked from one side of the room to the other during my shady version of physical therapy, we stopped periodically for dance-party breaks. She bounced up and den as I held into her arms. Some of the other kiddos crowded around us, joining in on our little party.

Lucho (I'm not sure if I've written about him, but he's probably the most adorable kid I've ever seen. He has a diagnosis of autism, probably because he's a headbanger, but is the world's biggest lover nd cuddler.) brought me his favorite toy and spontaneously signed "more" to ask me to turn it on. It wasnt exactly what we practiced, but it was the first time I saw him communicate in a way other than screaming or pointing, so I'll take it!

Alright, time for the jungle!

The trek...part 1

Well, holy buckets! I'm behind and have so much to tell you in the next 40 minutes. Just in case I run out of time, here's the bottom line or lines, I guess.

•  Machu Picchu is stunning. 
• I love hiking but can't wait to do it again at a slightly lower altitude. 
• My friends here are awesome.

Now, I'll start from the beginning.  Thursday was my last day at Club Corazon. In celebration (not really, but let's pretend), we threw a carnival for that kids. (That part is true.) What I have learned about myself at this placement is that I really like to be active, if not in charge. I feel like the lady running the program knew that and was always quick to ask me for direction. In 30 minutes, we threw together some adorable games. When the kids walked in, I found myself closest to the face paint. Suddenly, I was getting requests for, "gatos, tigres, and leones." They all got a blob on their noses and 6 whiskers. Surprisingly, they seemed quite satisfied when they checked it out in the mirror.  We had loads of fun playing the games. I struggled to keep the 3-4 year-olds off the tables, but no one broke anything, so ill chalk it up as a success. 

Anyway, all of that was really just so I could tell you that I was in the ghetto. The after school program is located on top of a mountain, through the barrio, and all the way across town.  I had to leave the carnival a tad early so that I could get to the other side of town for a pre-trek meeting. I was feeling good when I left because there was still some sunlight, and I had forgotten my flashlight. (See, I wasn't exaggerating when I said the ghetto.). So as it turns out Thursday just so happened to be the beginning of a huge festival in Cusco, so the streets were roaring by the time I made it down the mountain. Also, that sunlight that I mentioned was a thing of the past. So there I stood, waiting for a cab alone in the dark. I waited, full. I waited, full. I waited, full. After this went on for
approximately 15 minutes, I finally waved down an empty one. Relieved, I hop in and tell him where I need to go, not even worrying about negotiating a price. He drives me approximately 6 meters,
when I am promptly kicked back to the curb because there is no way he is driving me to the busiest part of town with that festival going on. Bah! I ask nicely, but pretty please with sugar on top doesn't really translate well in Spanish. Back to the curb I went. I waited some more, full. And some more, still full. At this point, I have a realization that I may never get home, so I panicked. I tried really hard to develop a plan, but for the life of me, could not come up with a good one. In hindsight, I old have probably just had to walk to a bus stop and hope that someone would help me. Instead, I waited and panicked. Eventually, an empty cab rolled by. He ripped me off, but I did not care. Whoah, I made it to the meeting with one massive headache and a giant pair of crabby pants.

Now, we'll fast forward to the trek. I had to leave my house at the crack of dawn (3:50) to go meet the crew. Somehow, I managed to not get my packing done the night before, so as punishment, I get to pack via flashlight, which probably still annoyed my roommate considering the hour. I probably should have just turned the lights on if she wanted to strangle me regardless. Anyway, I made it, and we were on our way.

Clearly, at this point I was exhausted. However, every time I opened my eyes on the bus, I saw something breathtaking, and it was virtually impossible to close them again. Llamas grazing on the hillside. Snow-capped mountains. Waterfalls. Several hours later, we stopped in Lares, where we were greeted by therapeutic baths or hot springs if we want to cut to the chase. They were incredibly relaxing. It was great because the 7 of us were the only ones there, and people seem to bond quickly when wearing minimal clothing. (We discussed this previously). It turns out people also bond quickly when they have terrible gas (we'll discuss this later) and when they all realize they are shedding layers of skin in thermal pools because they haven't had a proper shower in weeks. So we soaked and peeled our skin and bonded. We had an awesome group: Kim (actress 1), Kelen (actress 2), Maris (volunteer friend), Toyna and Patrick (Aussie couple), Tim (Irishman), and Leo (our guide).

After the baths, we were greeted by an adorable picnic on the lawn. The food was delicious. We aren't talking your typical hiking food. Jan and Casey, don't get me wrong, I love your Jamwhiches, but our personal chef made us steak and rice (naturally topped with French fries) right there in the

I miss them already

All of my up-coming adventures mean that I only have 3 more days volunteering at the orphanage, maybe 5 if I can sweet-talk the volunteer organization. I miss the kids already, and I haven't even left yet!

The girls were awesome again today. They used the boards to request with the volunteers. How cool to finally get to make choices! Sure, they are silly, little choices like if they want to play with a car or a doll, but they are their choices nonetheless. And people are finally able to listen to them.

I feel like I have such a connection with Ruth. If my roommate would let me bring her home (Trevor!) and if I didn't have heeps of school-loan debt (Mom! Dad!), I think I would honestly consider bringing her home. Unfortunately, I don't think that the kids at this orphanage are even up for adoption. It seems that the sisters have custody and aren't willing to give it up, which is heartwarming and incredibly sad all at once. I'm happy that they have a constant family but still have a terribly hard time wrapping my head around things like force feeding and tying kids to beds.

Bottom line, I'm probably coming home solo, but there is just something about that girl. I don't know how she does it, but she can tell me stories just with her eyes. Today she communicated so much without saying a word. She loves her communication device, but surprisingly, when I work with her we don't even need to use it.

Another onevofvthe boys today, brought his flashkight over to me, put it in my hands, and made the cutest attempt to sign. It looked nothing like "help," but I loved that he knew he was supposed to do something with his hands.

We have a lot of work to do in 3 days. I better get moving!

Lake Titikaka

As a note of caution before you begin reading, I am functioning potentially on 37ish minutes of solid sleep. Bare with me.

Friday night we loaded our backpacks with every article of warm clothing we could find and hopped on the bus for Puno. We arrived bright and early the next morning. And when I say, "bright and early," I actually just mean really flippin' early, not so much bright, because the sun wasn't even up yet. We had to kill a couple of hours and then headed to the travel agency with the hopes of finding breakfast. The only restaurant open at 6:30 am, though, was a fancy hotel.  Let me tell you, 8 girls with backpacks, brushing their teeth in the bathroom, were clearly not their typical guests.  They served us, nonetheless.

We took a short boat ride to Uros, the floating islands. At this point, I was feeling quite sick and had once again lost my voice. In hindsight, this was probably for the best. It forced me to stop talking for a couple hours and really take in the islands.  The islands were made out of reeds and their roots, so as you might imagine, they were quite bouncy, and the ground beneath my feet was literally moving. It seemed like such a foreign way of life, until one if the natives pulled out a cellphone.  Congratulations, AT&T...you have taken over the world!  We were told that natives will probably only inhabit the islands for a handful of years.  It seems all the youngins are moving to town.

Next, we took a 3 hour boat ride to Amantani island where we got to live with a native family. The houses were made out of adobe, and the rooms had one lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, which was solar-powered. Remind me again why we don't use solar power? Running water was non-existent.  However, they still had surprisingly nice toilets. No squatting required. You just had to pour water in to make them flush. It was quite fancy compared to the port-o-John we use at Betty.

The whole crew went on an afternoon hike, where we got to watch the sunset. The altitude was killer, but the view was absolutely worth it. At the top our guide insisted that we pick a rock and walk around the temple 3 times to create a type of vortex and then place the rock among the others in the wall, while making a wish. I messed up and apparently managed to put my rock in the wrong place. It turns out I max out at 2-step directions. It's okay though. There's a pretty good chance that's just what they tell the tourists so they can get a chuckle watching us walk around in circles.

Our family was lovely. The mom and daughter even taught us some valuable Quechua phrases. You know the basics: 1-5, thank you, cheers.  Go figure, I only remember cheers.  After dinner our family dressed us up in native clothing and took us to a dance. They ran us around in circles for a good hour. It was incredibly dorky but a neat experience.

The next day we headed to another island (Taquile), where we took a short hike and got to eat breakfast outside at a locals house. Once again, amazing views and a wonderful experience.

All of the girls (there were 8 of us) hogged the top deck of the boat as we cruised back to dry land with sunshine and laughter. I can't even count how many times I heard someone commenting on how surreal the whole experience seemed.  I just cant figure out how i got so lucky, especially when I contrast my weekend adventures with the orphanage I volunteer at.

This morning, even though I was functioning on virtually no sleep, I tried so hard to remember how lucky I am, hoping to give the kids just a little more. I'm not sure how successful I was today, so I have very intention of whipping out some more picture boards tonight.

Estoy enferma but oh so happy

I finally got to use the communication boards with those brilliant girls I was telling you about. As suspected, they rocked. Ruthie, one of the girls I keep talking about with the beautiful smile was able to identify every picture I named, make requests and answer questions on her first try. She was brilliant.  I also taught her how to sign "bathroom." It looked nothing like the ASL sign, but I recognized it 5 minutes later when she raised her arm into the air independently. Like I said before, she's brilliant. Sure enough, she had to go to the bathroom, and instead of wetting her pants for the 3rd time that day, she was able to tell me. Again, brilliant.

The new communication device also meant that the two girls I was working with had a new place in their hearts for me. I really didn't do much, but I suppose they are just ecstatic to have someone willing to take the time to listen to them. Trust me, I'm more than happy to listen because they are hilarious.

At lunch, there were a pile of missionaries there to help us out with feeding. I tried not to play favorites and went to work with another girl. Although I'd be lying if I said I didn't pick one who was a quick eater. Two minutes later, one of the missionaries was tapping me on the shoulder to tell me that Zoila (the other girl I keep talking about with the killer smile) wanted my attention. She smiled at me and then put her head down so the missionary couldn't feed her.  This happened for a good 15 minutes. Eventually, the missionary had given up, and I had to take over. Talk about reinforcing negative behaviors. Oh well, I was flattered, and let's be honest. How often do these kids actually get what they want? Maybe 2-5 minutes a day if they are lucky. So hey, if what she wanted was to giggle at me and dance in her chair while she ate lunch, I was going to give it to her, dang it.

Ruthie was sitting next to us at lunch. She kept sliding out of her chair and afterward would look at me with her, "I need help eyes," which either led to me or one of the missionaries lifting her back up. I couldn't figure out why she kept sliding. I just assumed it was because I did a terrible job of strapping her in her chair. However, a couple minutes later she caught my attention and used her eyes to gesture to her right. For the life of me, I could not figure out what she could possibly want. There was a poster of a baby and a closet. She was persistent though and kept gesturing over there. Finally, it hit me! One of the missionaries was a relatively young, decently good looking man. I asked, "Ese hombre es tu novio?!" She laughed and laughed shaking her head, "Yes!" Of course! She had a crush and wanted to tell me!

One of the other missionaries commented on how much she must adore me. He pointed out that she watched my every movement, and anytime I looked her direction, she smiled.  I really don't think that I did anything too amazing for these girls. I drew them some pictures, and I listened to what they had to say. As I have said in at least 3 blog posts before, their smiles make all of this worth it. And if my silly drawings help someone else down the road listen to what they have to say, then this trip was all worth it.

I was really sick this morning with a cold, but honestly, I didn't even notice when I was working with the kids.

I came home early, though, to shower and nap before our excursion tonight, hoping to feel a little better before the adventures begin. I couldn't nap because my room was under construction. I tried o shower, but there was no hot water, and every time I put my hand under the stream of water I got electrocuted. And honestly, I don't even care. Today was awesome!

We are heading to Lake Titicaca (yes, pronounced just how it sounds). We won't get back until Monday morning, so hopefully I will have some good stories to tell next week!

A voice

I had my first futbol experience yesterday. It turns out that I actually like to watch any sport if it means you can drink beer in the middle of the day with a bar full of people all cheering simultaneously.  Marinus and I bellied up to the bar and watched Denmark and Peru get their butts kicked. In spite of the loss, we had a great afternoon. And now I think I know enough about futbol to justify owning a jersey. I bet I can talk them down to 9 soles (4ish dollars) now that Peru's out of the "World Cup" picture.

Last night, we tried really hard to get dressed up to go to an Opera dinner show. Unfortunately, my dressiest outfit consisted of thermal leggings, a long skirt that I haven't washed for 10 days, knock-off Toms and a Columbia (hey, at least it wasn't a knock-off...just from the clearance rack at the outlet store) jacket. The staff at the 5-star hotel surprisingly did not turn us away.  In fact, they treated us like queens and a king. Marinus was a lucky man on a date with 2 underdressed ladies and one lady who actually packed appropriately. The dinner was scrumptious.  It was so fancy that they brought it out on a silver platter, literally.  The music was amazing.  The voices would sneak up on you, literally. I'm serious. The soprano would pop out of different corners and balconies.  She was so beautiful that Marinus fell in love even though he was already on a date with three stunning (underdressed but stunning, nonetheless) ladies.

After dinner, we hit up the town for our last night with our new friend. I was determined to get up early to work on communication boards for the girls at the orphanage, so for the first time in my life, I left the bar early, before anyone else. I survived my first, solo late-night cab ride and actually rolled myself out of bed four hours later to draw pictures of noses, ears, shirts, and stuffed animals.

Unfortunately, the girls that I got up early to make the boards for didn't get to come to therapy today. So after lunch, I managed to sneak away from my typical sweeping duty to try out the boards. The girls were absolutely amazing.  I could name almost anything on the page, and they would use either their knuckles or wrists to point to it. As I was naming off body parts, and watching them smile as all of the volunteers cheered them on, I realized that up until this moment these girls had probably never been given the opportunity to demonstrate how smart they really are, make a choice, or even express their needs.  

We only got to play with the boards for a couple minutes, but it was enough to motivate me to spend my afternoon drawing picture board after picture board. I can't stop because I don't want to limit them. They are amazing girls, and I am confident that with their new voices they will be able to blow everyone away.  I can't wait to see what they can do!

I love lists

I'm over a week into this journey, which means I'm about ready to start making lists about Cusco and this adventure in general. So here we go...

Things I love about Cusco:

• I don't have to shave my legs because it is so cold no one will ever see exposed skin. Good thing I packed those dresses. Ha.
• My hair is so disgusting after I get out of the shower that it actually gets progressively less greasy the more days I go without showering. 
• I can buy some type of apparel with llama print approximately every 3 steps.
• Bon o bons are sold on virtually every street corner.
• You can find a parade or celebration everyday if you look hard enough.
• People in said parade are wearing amazingly colorful clothing that makes  me ridiculously happy.
• The kids at the orphanage have never once made fun of my broken Spanish, potentially because they are non-verbal but still.
• There are restaurants with bathtubs for tables.
• The hookah bar plays a great selection of music from the 90's that we get to jam out to
• I get to wear scrubs, which I can only assume makes people think I'm a doctor when I'm walking down the street
• Pisco
• French Fries
• My roommates are celebrities
• Everyone here is volunteering, which means they are incredibly sweet, inspiring people

Things I miss about home, or will at least appreciate a little more:

• Red meat
• Gluten-free diets
• Heat
• My own bathroom, with a seemingly endless supply of water
• Sleeping without a sleeping bag
• Instant gratification of text messages, so I don't have to keep refreshing my email hoping someone responded to me
• Zoyo

Things I accomplished today:

• I changed my very first diaper
• While changing that diaper, I managed to maintain a level of sanity even after realizing there was a cat under the bed
• I gave a little girl enough love that she went from drawing on my facing, trying to yank out my earrings, and telling me to shut my mouth, to giving me a great big hug and asking me to come back and play