Greetings from Arequipa

I haven`t posted since thanksgiving. My friends arrived on the 28th of November and since then I have been having a whirlwind experience. Right now I´m in Arequipa and heading out on an overnight Bus tonight. I hiked the Inka trail, took a boat around lake Titicaca and went paragluiding off the cliffs in Lima. I have tons of stories and lot´s of amazing picture to share. I will start posting them this weekend.

I can´t believe it December already!

Best Turkey of My Life

No offense mom, or to any other person who's turkey I've consumed over the years, but this Thanksgiving I had the best turkey ever. I'm normally not a big turkey girl, I'm in it more for the sides: green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie are usually the items that have me salivating come November.

Peru has given me a new appreciation towards proteins. I really do view meat as a luxury now that I live with a family that considers chicken feet a great source of amino acids. But even taking into account my love of consuming things that were once alive, I still never thought I would have the most amazing Thanksgiving turkey here in Peru.

I've been making a big effort to expand my social circle in Lima. I made a good group of friends early on and realized recently that I wasn't making an attempt to meet new people outside the sanctity of my known network. But since coming back from medevac in September I was ready to put myself out there again and expand my horizons. Even in the states I never had just one set of friends. My social circles have always run deep. Especially when living in a foreign country where people are always moving away, it's good to have reserves.

What does all of this have to do with the best Turkey I ever ate? Well, if it wasn't for my recent social expansion, I never would have eaten this turkey. I met a girl named Ryan who is dating the head of diplomatic security for the embassy. Anthony is a big guy, I would guess 6'5'' with buzzed blond hair and some fat tattoos. His demeanor is tough but he is a big softy and is becoming a good friend. He really loves to cook and hosting thanksgiving dinner was his idea. Along with sharing a love a cooking, Anthony and I share another love, sausage. The other week we discovered our shared passion and had an hour long discussion on all things linked. I always complain that you can't find good sausage in Peru and Anthony told me at the commissary at the US embassy sells all kinds of good sausage. Since I am not allowed to shop at the commissary, Anthony has agreed to be my sausage hook-up. Ryan's okay with that too.

Pictured above, Winos.

So Thanksgiving this year, instead of cooking a whole turkey, Anthony got a long, lean chunk of turkey (I don't know what to call it, it looked like a big pork loin) and stuffed it with Italian sausage. Sausage stuffed turkey!! There aren't words to describe the delight I took in eating this masterpiece of a dish. When I have a readily available supply of sausage I will make this incredible meal for my family.

Apart from the turkey, my thanksgiving was lovely. I have spent the night at Ryan and Anthony's before and they are so good to me, that their place is beginning to feel like another home away from home. There is a group of girls I've been hanging out with lately, all of whom were there. I invited Josh, the new water and sanitation PCVC and recent Bolivan evacuee to come with me. Josh reminds me of my friends from home because all he does is make fun of me. It wouldn't be thanksgiving without someone giving me a hard time the whole night. We went through so many bottles of wine and at the end of the night were so full of good food, good wine and good friends.

The best part is that this is only thanksgiving take one! Take two commences tomorrow night at Tania's house. Today Ryan and Eric Lucchessi and Stephanie are all arriving from California. They are going to spend two days in Lima and then we are all flying to Cusco to climb the Inca trail.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I am thankful that you care about me enough to read about my life. I miss you all!

Baby Mama Drama

When I first moved into my current host family’s house, one of the sons named Arturo had recently moved out and was living with his pregnant girlfriend. I didn’t have any sort of opinion about him at first. A little cocky, but he seemed nice enough.

After a few months of living here, Viviana started telling me her opinion of her little brother. As the youngest of all the kids and a boy, Viviana felt her mother coddled and spoiled him. She would defent her son no matter how wrong he was. If Arturo were to kill some one, his mother would say the victim had it coming and that Arturo was still a saint. Viviana said that in reality, her brother is not a very nice person. He is a sloppy drunk who likes to come home and hit his pregnant girlfriend. And my host mom knows about it but says it’s Erika’s (the girlfriends) own fault and that Arturo has every right to do what he wants because he is the man and Erika should learn her place.

Whenever Erika and Arturo would get into a fight, Arturo would come over to our house and my host mom would rant about how terrible Erika is and how perfect Arturo is. From what I know of Erika, I like her. She’s a nurse and Arturo doesn’t work and mooches off his pregnant girlfriend and his parents. I detest the whole situation. The fact that my host mom actually defends him abusing his girlfriend makes me sick.

Their baby was born while my parents were visiting in June. I saw the baby a few times in July and by the time I had come back from the states in September, Arturo and Erika has split up, moved out of their apartment and both of them were back living with their parents. My host mom blamed the whole break up on Erika and her inability to take care of Arturo. Knowing his history of abuse with both alcohol and women, I questioned whether or not I should stay in the house now that he was living in the room next to mine. I didn’t feel my safety was threatened but that it was more a matter of principle. I didn’t want to approve his behavior by remaining the house.

This situation unfortunately, is not uncommon for Peace Corps volunteers to face. Domestic violence is so common here along with the mentality that a man has the right to do whatever he wants to. After a lot of thought I decided to stay in the house. I haven’t had any problems with him, but he is very cold to me. Not in a vicious way, but in a spiteful, immature way. I’m a young girl that has the world at her feet and I’m living in his house taking his attention away from his parents who adore me. He doesn’t like my independence and only speaks to me in a condescending manner.

I had no idea what was happening with his daughter who he had abandoned or how much support he was giving ex. My host mom continued to spit at the mention of her name. Then, Thursday night I went down stairs and the whole family was sitting in the living room having a very intense conversation which I didn’t hear much of except for Viviana screaming “it’s not fair, it’s not fair!” and Arturo eventually got up and walked out the front door. Turns out, Erika is pregnant again! If my math skills are correct, she got knocked up 2 months after the pair split.
My host mom of course, blames Erika for getting pregnant. Her perfect some couldn’t be the cause of doing something so stupid. The family discussion that night was about what they were going to do. Arturo and Erika couldn’t afford another apartment at the moment and my host family wasn’t going to stand by and let Arturo bail on his 5 month old daughter and his pregnant ex. So tonight, Erika and the baby moved into the room next to mine. Ay ay ay! Erika and Arturo do not get along. My host mom does not like Erika and blames her for ruining her sons life.

This is going to be interesting. Maybe after the time I spend in Lima for Thanksgiving and the trip I’m taking with Stephanie and my friends, I’ll come back to my home and they’ll be broken up again and she’ll be moved out. I for the life of my can imagine being in either Erika or Arturo’s shoes. I feel like I should pull out some of my sexuality class material and give them a lesson on birth control.

Congressional Meet and Greet

This past thursday some of the American staff along with some volunteers represented Peace Corps at a congressional meet and greet at the home of the ambassador. There were 8 congressmen from sub-committee of foreign relations committee. Also invited to this meet and greet were high ranking embassy employees, high ranking military officers, elite members of Peruvian society and economic specialists that are here working on APEC.

The whole idea of a meet and greet is that all the people who are invited stand around and mingle, have cocktails and eat cheese. Other than that, I didn't really know what to expect. I was definitely looking forward to this event and honored I was given an invitation, but I wasn't really excited of nervous. Some of the embassy workers I've been hanging out with lately have been filling my head with all kinds of ideas. They don't really look at these meet and greets as fun social gatherings, but rather a mandatory evening where they are technically still working after a long week instead of sitting in their jammies at home. It's part of the foreign service job to constantly attend events like this, so the thrill of it kind of gets lost. Also, some people have suggested that the congressmen's visit to Peru, strategically placed right after the election, was more for the trip to Machu Picchu than accomplishing political agenda.

I didn't want to be innocently excited, so I played it cool and acted like it was no big thing to be going to this. When in actuality, it wasa huge deal. I am after all, a Peace Corps volunteer. I don't get the excuse to get dressed up every day. I've never met a member of congress before. I got a reason to be out of site on a random thursday night, and there was free food and alcohol. While to most attendees, the night was just mandatory protocol. To me it was very exciting.

It gave me a window into a world I'd only seen on episodes of the west wing. My first reaction was that I was standing in a room that was mostly white men. Everyone was in small groups chatting and my job was to butt in and introduce myself. Luckily for me, I actually knew a handful of non peace corps people who were used to this type of thing and they introduced me to a few people I didn't know until I got the hang of it (or until the pisco sours kicked in and my shyness melted away). I schmoozed with a lot of people and by the end of the night felt pleased with the effort I had put in.

Something that was new to me, was the conversations one has at these types things. It was very standardized and formal. I felt like there were strict guide lines that you couldn't wander out of when speaking. I didn't know what these guidelines were but it became very apparent to me when I stepped outside the lines and said something that didn't conform to the protocol conversation. But I guess that was to be expected by the Peace Corps volunteer who doesn't know any better.

There was one congress woman from California who I made an effort to talk to. She was the one member of congress that wasn't going strait to Cuzco, but flying up Cajamarca to visit an American woman who has been in jail for 12 years for terrorist activity. This woman is now pregnant in jail and the case is very controversial. I spoke to her a little bit about the case and being from California. Her district is in LA and I'm so used to people from So-Cal not knowing anything about Nor-Cal, so when asked where I'm from, I usually brush the answer aside with a "Sacramento area/you wouldn't know it" kind of response. But being a California congress woman, she had lived and worked out of Sacramento for 14 years. She knew Woodland, silly me.

The meet and greet was an interesting, exciting and intimidating experience. It was a new perspective look at political and foreign service life and has given me a lot to think about.

Obamanos!

Just another night in Lima where Americans were being loud and causing a scene. The only difference on tuesday night was we actually had a legitimate reason to celebrate.

Me and my Lima crew have been supporting Obama from the get go. I only knew one PCV and one Lima friend who was cheering for Hillary. Needless to say, there is not a single Bush supporter among us. Like many Americans, we were counting down the days till election night. For the past month, it's been impossible to have a conversation and not have the presidential race come up, even when talking to Peruvians.

This is my second consecutive election abroad. In Spain, there was a 9 hour time difference and my host family didn't have cable so I couldn't stay up to watch the results. I also wasn't a fervent Kerry supporter as I have been with Obama. And as much as I didn't want Bush to win, there wasn't the electricity in the air as there was this time around. The next day, Spaniards were pissed. Some even decided to take it out on me. I was hoping this year would not be a repeat of '04.

There is one American sports bar in Lima where on any given night you are bound to find a group of obnoxious Americans watching a Football or Basketball game. There is always a guaranteed crowd for events like the Oscars or the presidential debates. We had been planning for months to ring in the new era of American politics with our US comrades at this bar. It ended up being the perfect location to watch the results. We ate, we drank, we cheered and chanted. Some cried, some smoked cigars and we all took celebratory tequila shots. It has been the only night so far in my time abroad, that I have made it known to my host country that I am proud to be an American.

For those of us working and living abroad, this election meant the world to us, literally. What the US does effects the rest of the world so greatly and it seems as though most Americana's don't take that into account when casting their vote. Four years ago in Spain, 90% of Spaniards opposed Bush but some how he still got re-elected. The international community has rallied around Barack Obama in hopes that foreign relations with US will improve. Being a Peace Corps volunteer is like being a mini ambassador to the US and so I feel the outcome will effect me greatly. The day after the elections in my site, I had complete strangers walk up to me and congratulate me on our big victory. Come January, I will have a new boss. I really hope the President elect focuses more on peace than on war, and puts his money where his mouth is.

To top off the night, my friends and I headed to the cliffs over looking to ocean and opened a bottle of champagne. It was a night to celebrate and to never be forgotten.

I will add that I came home from downtown high on life only to find the results from California. I have always been so proud of being a Californian. So much so that when asked what I am, I will respond with Californian instead of American. It has been an interesting turn of events now that that has changed. California has always been a leader in advancement and modernity. I hope in the next decade we will see this prop h8ate overturned.

Finding the Right Balance

Social life, work, host family time, Ali time = Health, happiness and productivity .

Trying to find the right balance of all the goings on in my life is a struggle I feel fortunate have. My first few months at site, I had no social life. I worked a lot and I spent ample amount of time alone. I was very productive as a Peace Corps volunteer, but I was also miserable. Then when I started making friends, my happiness went through the roof, but my work output suffered. So instead of cutting back on either, I became a workaholic and a socialite. This combination led to me going on 6 weeks of medical leave. I am doing my best to balance the activities in my PCV life so I don’t burn my candle at both ends.

One of my biggest personal accomplishments so far, has been learning to say no. I got in a bit over my head with the nuns and my other people in my community, because when approached to do something I could never say no. It’s my obligation as a PCV to help out wherever I could, I thought. But then I started getting over worked and taken advantage of.

I have been so fortunate with my placement in Lima as it has allowed to be close enough to a lot of amazing people. My social network keeps expanding, and with it, social invitations. Being a PCV is a hard job for many reasons. One of them, is that we are volunteers who technically don’t have to do a damn thing for 2 years. When you have a 9-5, you don’t have much of a choice as to when you work and when you socialize. We are independent workers who’s productivity depends solely on self motivation. For this reason, I have imposed my own socializing hours so as not to offset the balance of my life.

Generally speaking, work all week and leave social events for the weekends. There are of course exceptions. Next week I’ve been asked by our country director to go into Lima on Thursday night for a meet and greet at the Ambassadors house with members from the US congress. This technically counts as a work and social event and is something I’m willing to make an exception for in rules about leaving site during the week. This is really exciting thing for me and I’m sure the only reason I was invited is cause of my proximity to Lima. RSVPing to this event helped me finalize saying no to other activities I was invited to this week.

Tonight, a bunch of my friends are going bowling. I haven’t been bowling in years and these days, bowling is a marquee event. I was also invited to play ultimate Frisbee at the US Embassy this evening with a PCV in Lima on sick leave. Tomorrow a bunch of ladies from a slew of different countries are getting together for their biweekly lunch and invited me to come along. Friday is Halloween and I would love to go to the US Marine party like I did last year. But so far I have declined all invitations. I am working all week and would have to sacrifice one of my projects for any one of these invitations.

I have however made an amazing Halloween costume. It’s not as creative or unique as my costumes have been in years past, but given the resources I have access to, I think it’s one of the greatest costumes I’ve ever put together. Instead of going to live jazz and salsa lessons like I was invited to do the past two nights, I’ve stayed at site watching Gilmore Girls on DVD and hand stitching my costume. Even if I don’t go to a Halloween party, it will make a great costume for my girls theater group.

Next Tuesday is the election and I will definitely head into Lima for that. So I will be in Lima on Tuesday and Thursday of next week and that throws my balance way off. Rather coincidentally, a few of the international ladies I had lunch with a few weeks back just started a project with an NGO at my girls home Caritas Felices. They have volunteered to paint the school they are building at the home. So for the past few Fridays, my social life as come to me. I’ve been helping them paint during the day, then I take them to a restaurant in my town and we social in my hood for a change

Quarter Century Life Crisis

I turned 25 a few weeks ago and the best way to describe the time surrounding the silver anniversary of my birth, is a roller coaster ride. I've written about the difficulties I've had leaving my 6 week stay in California and coming back to Peru. Since I wrote last, things have improved over all, but I'm still having a lot of lows. At first when I started having these big swings of emotions, I felt out of control and really dumb for not being able to handle them after almost a year and a half in country. The weirdest part was that I was having a difficult time pin pointing exactly what was causing these swings. I turned to a lot of my friends back home, through email and skype, and have been in contact with lot's of close friends from high school and college.

What surprised me, is that practically everyone I talked to was having a similarly hard time with whatever it was they were tackling in their lives at this moment. This past September and October have been particularly hard on a lot of my friends. They are all dealing with different things, but the one thing we all have in common is our age. One friend put it nicely, she called it the Quarter Century Life Crisis. It may seem silly when you first hear it, but if you think about it, it makes sense. At 25 years of age, we feel like we should be full fledged adults. We've had a few years since college to fiddle around and try and figure out what we want to do. By 25 we are either supposed to have a good job or at least be on track to get it. But even for my friends that have the job they dreamed of in college, they are now second guessing if that's what they really want to spend the rest of their lives doing? All the sudden they feel like they are missing out on their twenties and have the urge to quit their amazing job and go wander the globe for a while. Then there are my friends who are wandering the globe and are freaked out that they are behind in life and they're not sure how to catch up.

I have friends who are dealing with break ups and deaths and reversely friends coping with marriages and having babies. It doesn't really matter how things are shaping up in a persons life, we thought things would be different. And even if things are exactly the way we planned them to be, we thought we would feel different. Our trial run as adults has us all reevaluating out lives and our situations.

For me, my life is pretty much where I had planned it to be. What has been scaring me lately, I think, is that I don't know where I'm going after my service wraps up in under 10 months. The world is literally at my feet. I can anything! But how do I choose? What direction do I start? The pull to go back home is strong, I love my friends and family. I love California. But the call of the rest of the world tempting. I try not to overwhelm myself with the question, what do I want to do with my life? Instead, I focus on a little bit at a time. What do I want to do with my life in the next 5 years? So far, I have about 50 ideas, 10 of them I'm seriously contemplating.

To all of my friends out there who are feeling a bit lost in the world, I ask you to stop comparing your lives to others. Almost all of my friends, when talking about the things they struggle with, have said to me they feel bad complaining because it's not like they live in a developing country like I do. They think just because they live in the US that these issues are easier to deal with then mine are. They are not. The Quarter Life Crisis knows no borders. And luckily, friendship doesn't either. So at least the silver lining in this whole crazy mess is that we are in it together.

Even though I am still having a hard time dealing with some stuff, I have definitely been doing a lot better overall. Going back to site after almost 2 months of being away was like finding the calm in the storm. Life is slow and easy going here. It doesn't matter what is happening in my life, the kids and girls are constant. They are always there and even if I disappear for 2 months, they will still love me when I come back. Life seems to make a little more sense at site then it did when I was on medical leave or freshly back in Peru and whisked to Piura for an IST. Life in Lima is anything but boring. Even after a year, I am discovering new things each week and meeting new people. I have a lot of things going for me right now. I am finally an experienced veteran who knows how to navigate her way through PC life in Peru. I am trying to ride this wave cause I know that soon I will be starting a new chapter in my life and will end up starting from scratch once again. So at least for now, it's comforting that I know what I will be doing with my life for the next 10 months.

Photos from IST

This is a picture of me moderating the "Question Game". I'm notorious for being terrible at this. Heather and Jamar on the other hand rocked this game, in spanish no less





One of the many fabulous skits preformed by the volunteers and their Peruvian counterparts.





While the weekend was very stressful and hard work for the trainers, we were given quite a bit of comic relief as shown in this picture by Jamar and Jah recreating and singing a Peruvian music video......Hilarious!









This is me pretending I have any idea what I'm talking about. Thank god Elena was there to bail me out when my Spanish failed me.







The 3 awesome trainers who made it all happen......somehow and I'm still not quite sure how we managed.

25!

Bikini. Sunset. Beach. Champagne. Nailed it.

After my somewhat dramatic and very stressful return to Peru from medevac, for my birthday all I wanted to do was spend a relaxing day on the beach with a few close friends. I doubted whether or not that would actually be possible given my state of my anxiety, but with a lot of love and support I got my birthday wish.

My very good PCV friend, Jah, has talked about nothing else for the past year than how great Piura is. Piura is a northern department which boasts warm weather year round and the best beaches in Peru. Jah never misses an opportunity to rub it in my face that Lima is cold and gray for most of the year, while he never has to wear so much as a sweater in Piura. I have been scheming for over a year of how I was going to get to Piura and take full advantage of those beautiful beaches I'd heard so much about. I was very surprised when I found out that our IST would not only be in Piura, but it would end on my birthday. The best part about it was that since it was a Peace Corps Sponsored event, they paid for my transportation to and from the northern desert. Not just that, but since the training ended on birthday I not only got a free vacation day but got to see many of my PCV friends on the actual day.

My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Realistically, I should have said nothing since both my parents were incredibly generous to me when I was home on medevac for 6 weeks. But there had been something I had wanted from them for my birthday for a long time: a paid stay in a nice hotel in the beach resort town of Mancora. Luckily, nice hotels right on the beach don't cost as much in Peru as they do else where, so I didn't feel too greedy asking for this present.

The problem with Mancora is that Piura has one of the largest concentrations of PCVs in Peru and whenever one person plans a trip to Mancora, half of Piura shows up for the party. Normally, I would be down for a huge fiesta with lots of people, but I really had my heart set on a small, intimate vacation with no partying and lots of resting. I didn't invite any of my PCV friends and instead invited just a few close friends from Lima. Tania and Dave have a project in Piura that they were able to swing it so they could be in Piura and take a few days off to go to the beach with me. These two probably needed the vacation more than I did so I was extra happy to provide them with a stay in a hotel we wouldn't normally splurge on (by the way mom, they say THANKS!!!!!). There they are taking full advantage of not having to work on a mondy with an afternoon nap outside our room after a long day of playing in the sun.

After lots of Birthday hugs and farewells from the volunteers at the IST, the 3 of us were off. It was just over a two hour ride from Piura city to Mancora. My goal was to make it in time for the sunset and we got there in the late afternoon with plenty of time to settle in and get cozy for the sun to go down. I'm so happy I opted with staying in a nice place as opposed to the hostel where all the PCVs always stay when they go. The actual town of Mancora isn't anything special. It's very small but busy, dirty and has the feeling of a run down spring break destination. Our resort was 2 miles down the road on a private beach. Even though it is set in the desert, the place was manicured with lots of green grass and palm trees. It had two pools and even a water slide. Since we were there on a random sunday in september, the place was practically empty and we had the whole resort to ourselves.

Tania, Dave and I get along really well. We spent our whole trip playing in the sand, the ocean and the pool. We went for for a walk under the stars after the sun went down and noted the difference between the constellations in the northern hemisphere and the southern. Then we went and sat next to a big bon fire the resort had lit and played cards. I had a birthday Pisco Sour and from the moment I arrived, all my stress had melted away.

It was really the prefect birthday. No trip to the beach in Peru is complete without fresh ceviche and a cold beer enjoyed with your feet in the sand. I soaked up all the sun shine I possibly could and was sad to say goodbye to it. But I knew that after two months of being out of site, it was time to return and restart my life. Since Tania and Dave have real jobs, they were able to fly back to Lima while I, the PCV, took an overnight bus. Since Peace Corps was paying, I chose the super nice, expensive bus and slept even better than I slept on the ride coming to Piura. I slept so well, that I even slept through the drama of our bus breaking down in the middle of the night. Some one had to tap my shoulder to tell me we had to switch buses.

A new goal for the next 10 months of my service is to go back to Mancora. I don't know if I'll be able to stay in as nice a place as this, but my parents can always give me a christmas present......

The warm thoughts of the view from our room will have to keep me warm until then.

IST in Piura

I'm back in Lima and after sleeping something like 18 hours yesterday (no exaggeration), I'm able to process this past weeks events and I'm feeling pretty good. For me, the trip started the night before I left, the night I spent throwing up. I had to drag myself to the Peace Corps office the next morning to do some last minute cramming for the in-service training I was leading. My boss decided she would take the morning off and not have her phone on and left me to do all of her work on top of my own, all while not feeling well. This would be the general theme of the IST.

I met the new volunteer who had been evacuated from Bolivia and we, along with Ari who was also leading the IST, hopped a 14 and a half hour bus to Piura city. Talking with the Bolivian volunteer was cool. Not only had she been through some pretty crazy stuff with the evacuation, but I got to hear how Peace Corps was run over there. I always just assumed it was pretty standard across the globe, but it turns out there are huge differences in policy and program from country to country. Some of the stuff I heard made PC Peru sound rather draconian in policy compared to other places. One of the craziest things I think, is that the Bolivian country director had transferred from Georgia after it had been evacuated and had only been in Bolivia one month before being evacuated for a second time. Peace Corps Washington is supposedly freaking out cause they have had 3 evacuations so far this year: Kenya, Georgia and Bolivia. It's interesting that this has happened all over the world and definitely something to think about.

The bus ride ended up going smoothly, with no panic attacks or middle of the night tummy aches. In fact, it was probably the best bus ride I ever had. I usually travel alone, so I'm sure having to wonderful people there helped. I also find traveling incredibly relaxing. Well, maybe not the act of getting to the airport, checking in and all the hassle that goes with it. But usually once I am on a plane, bus, train, you name it, there isn't an ounce of anxiety in my blood. I fell asleep almost immediately and did not wake up until we arrived in Piura. I have never slept so well on a bus. I'm sure the lingering effects of mono played a part in that as well.

The relaxed, well rested Ali vanished the moment she stepped off the bus. Operation IST was underway and every thought and movement revolved around it. An IST has never been given by volunteers before. My boss Kitty, rounded up a team consisting of me, Ari and Elena to teach a 3 day training workshop to youth volunteers and their Peruvian counterparts. Normally, ISTs are given by our program directors and other professionals they hire. I felt like having volunteers teach the workshop wasn't a new, innovative way to pass information along as my Kitty would suggest it was, but her way of getting other people to do her work.

And work we did. Elena, Ari and I would start working at 8 AM and finish sometime around midnight each day. If my doctor back home knew I was pulling those hours so soon after being medically cleared, she would have freaked out. This workshop was stressful, torturous and incredibly frustrating. The three of us could not wait until this stupid thing was over. The amount of effort we had to put into making this workshop seem effortless was made all the more difficult buy our lack of resources like internet or even power point. All of our presentations had be drawn out by hand on giant sheets of paper. Our boss kept pawning off more and more of her responsibilities on us at the last minute. And did I mention the whole thing was done in Spanish?

While this event was like pulling teeth for those of us putting it on, the end result for those who participated was great. Ari, Elena and I were showered with praise for putting on not only an informative but fun and interactive workshop. Indeed it was fun for us at times as well. The volunteers and counterparts who came really committed to their participation. The group didn't act shy or reserved and provided some really entertaining improvisations and skits.

On top of all that was happening with the training workshop, I was still feeling very stressed about other uncertain factors in my life. Even after the IST was over and a wave of relief washed over me, there was still a bit of anxiety boiling in the bottom of my stomach. I hoped that my birthday would be stress free and the beach would wash away the rest of my uneasiness. Every one's response after the IST was so positive, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself and extreme gratitude towards Elena and Ari, who did so much work while I was out on medevac. I think all the work and stress was worth it. I really feel the people who attended got something great out of the workshop. It also did me good to see the volunteers who attended. I think one of the things that was causing me anxiety upon my return to Peru was a sense of having not done anything and being useless for 2 whole months. I felt so accomplished after the weekend that I felt I fully merited my trip to beach and could therefore really enjoy it, cause I had earned it.

I did a great job of scrambling at the last minute to make myself prepared for the IST. The one thing I forgot was my camera. There were lots of pictures taken by other volunteers so I am waiting for them to post some and I will copy some onto my blog.

Getting out of Lima......Again

What is it with me and the September blues? I seem to remember this time last year being full of panic attacks and sad, lonely nights. Things are a bit different time around, but this past week has been one of the more difficult I've had in a very long time. There is a laundry list of reasons why things are effecting me the way that they are and I know I just gotta stick my chip up and get through it. The sun will come out tomorrow....or at least in a few months.

I haven't even been back in country a full week and I'm on an overnight bus to northern Peru for 6 days. I am in charge of running an in-service training that I am incredably unprepared for because of the 6 weeks I've spent on medevac. No matter, I've taken lemons and made lemonade. Instead of heading back to Lima on an overnight bus on my birthday like I'm scheduled to do, I'm taking a few vacation days to hit up the supposed nicest beach in Peru. I hope everything works out okay. Last night I woke up at 4 in the morning in a full on panic attack and ran immediately to the bathroom to throw up.

Why this stuff happens to me I'll never know. Hopefully I won't have any problems on the bus tonight. I'm not taking my lap top on my trip, so when I come back a plan to have stories full of happiness and sunshine. But since I'll be out of Lima, even if I'm not elated with joy, at least there will be sunshine.

Re-enty

I left Peru for my vacation back to the states on a major high. The two months before I left in early August, were some of the most memorable months of my life. Everything was going great. I was having incredible success at work, I was traveling to awesome places, I had the best social networks in Peace Corps and in Lima, I even managed to find time to run a marathon. I was actually really sad to leave Peru, even for two weeks. Why then, did I feel so afraid of returning after spending 6 weeks in California?

I arrived in Lima late after almost 24 hours of traveling. It was cold, dark (obviously, it was night) and even though I was in a city of 8 million people, I felt alone. I spent my first night back at my friends apartment. Her roommate, my best friend, returned to the states the same day I came back to Peru and the apartment felt strangely empty, quite and cold. Did I mention it's really cold and gray here! I couldn't pin point the source of my gloomy feelings. I settled on the notion that it was probably normal and the feelings would pass after a good night sleep and getting back to my routine.

The next day, I went to the Peace Corps office. All of the Peace Corps volunteers who had been evacuated from Bolivia were there, and it was a zoo. My doctor was so busy with all the Bolivian volunteers that she gave me a hug, asked how I was and then I didn't see her again. Coming off of medical evacuation, it seemed like I should have talked to some one about being back, but I was lost in a sea of more pressing matters.

Going back to Lurin and my host family was not something I was looking forward to, but I was surprised by how good it felt to see them. I sat and talked with them over lunch for a long time and got caught up on what I had missed since I'd been away. Apparently, I'd missed a lot. 3 of the 6 members of the family I lived with had had surgery. My hosts moms youngest son, who's 28, had left his girlfriend and 2 month old baby and moved back into our house. My host mom explained to me the reason that he had left was because “the man is in charge of the relationship and his girlfriend didn‘t know her place and was trying make decisions for herself“. Viviana had told me earlier that he is an alcoholic who would get drunk and beat his girlfriend, even when she was pregnant.

It made me really sad that the family I live with not only excepts this behavior, but actually blames the girlfriend. Well, I only know that my host mom blames the girlfriend. Viviana surely doesn't agree with what is happening and if I had to guess, my host dad probably thinks it's wrong as well. I have to decide how I feel about living with an abusive alcoholic.
Going to visit the homes where I work and see all the kids was really wonderful. There's nothing like a 100 girls and boys that adore you and are thrilled to see you, to cheer you up when you're feeling a little out of it.

Peace Corps informed me that I would be taking on a Bolivian volunteer to train. The evacuated volunteers have the choice of closing their service early or transferring to another country. Peru is taking on as many new volunteers as it can, so in October I will have a volunteer living and working with me for a few weeks to learn the ways of Peru before being sent out on their own. I'm looking forward to this and my host family is really excited to have another American moving in. I hope I get along with this volunteer, I will basically be spending 24 hours a day with them.

As I'm re-establishing my living and work situation, I have found solace in the place where I've always found solace; my friends. I went to a party last night with my friends in Lima. Over the past few months, the Lima crew has been shifting. People come and go all the time in our crowd. While I was gone a few new faces arrived and a few old ones said goodbye. Going out Saturday night was fantastic because it reminded me of all the good times I‘ve had and all the ones yet to come. Not only is our group constantly changing, but it's constantly growing and I find that each week, I have more and more friends. They were all so happy to have me be back and it finally felt good to be back.

Although, I'm still adjusting to the big things. It's cold, the streets are noisy, I look different and everybody stares at me. Things are a bit tougher than I expected them to be upon my return, but isn't that why I love this lifestyle after all, because it's challenging? I know things will get better as I get settled, especially this coming week. There will be tons of volunteers in Lima for several PC meetings, including some of my favorites: Danielle, Rachel and Jah to name a few. I will be in the office a lot working on the training I have this weekend. I'm going to Piura in northern Peru where it's sunny for a workshop. Then on Sunday, it's my birthday! Two Lima friends are flying (obviously they're Lima friends not Peace Corps friends as they are flying where I will be taking an overnight 15 hour bus ride) to Piura to spend my birthday with me. We are going to Mancora which is Peru's most popular beach destination. We get to stay in a nice place right on the beach (thanks mom) and have a really relaxing trip. My birthday last year was kind of rough so hopefully with another week I'll be feeling back to my old happy self. And eventually, I’ll get back to being on that major high I had before I left.

Some thoughts and photos from California

How do I sum up my trip back home? In one word, perfect. Perfect may not have been the word I would have chosen my first two weeks back when I was sick and miserable. But in the end, I am grateful because mono forced me to stop and take things slowly, as opposed to my normal modus operatus where I cram as many things possible into the allotted time. Initially, my two week vacation was packed with big events like weddings, musicals, tips to LA, hiking with this person, going out to dinner with that person, etc. Instead, I spent most of my time at home with uniform days consisting of waking up late, going to lunch with dad, hanging out with my brother, taking the dog for a walk and having dinner with the family. A little boring at times, but absolutely amazing over all. If it wasn't for getting sick, I wouldn't have had such quality time with my family. Something I feel one can never have enough of.

Since I was so sick when I arrived in the US, I didn't really experience the huge reverse culture shock I was expecting. But the things that did stick out to me were:

Drinking out of the drinking fountain and not getting sick
The traffic--slow, respectful drivers and quite roads (nobody honks)
So many nice cars on the streets
The warm sweet smell of the the california summer air
Air conditioning
Big beautiful trees
My dog--it was so nice to have a relationship with an animal that didn't consist of me throwing rocks at it
California clothing--shorts, skirts, and tank tops. I left my modest clothing in Peru
Attractive boys all everywhere I look
Realizing that all white people DO look alike

I was surprised at how different I felt in california, like my old self again I suppose I could say. It's hard to explain, but I actually feel like two different people: Cali Ali and Peru Ali. And I must admit I like Cali Ali better. I feel I can be more of myself in california, less inhibited. From the style of clothing I wear to the way I behave in public and the rules that dictate my life as a PCV. Being around my parents always makes me shed layers I normally put up with even the closest of friends so everything is exposed and I can't hide any of my emotions. This trip I really got down to my core which was really refreshing. I experienced so many emtions through my six week stay that it was like a detox on many levels.

There was an aspect of my trip that was a bit subdued, but for the most part, it was fun and relaxing. As I got healthier, I was able to do more and more stuff. My recovery and extra time allowed me to do all the things and more I had planned to do on my trip. But I got to enjoy them so much more because I wasn't rushing.

Here are a few photos of things I did on my trip to California


I went to Amber and Dave's wedding and it was Beautiful!















Did some dressing up and got back to my roots











Met up with old college friends in LA for brunch










Spent a weekend l reliving the glory days with my partner in crime, Steph

















Went to a wedding with my family just outside of woodland

















the wedding was the perfect reunion for all of my best friends from high school












Spent a lot of time with woodland/Davis buddies "Krevan" and their friends

Too Much TV is Bad For the Brain but Easy on the Eyes

Of the long list of things I wanted to do during my trip home to California, sitting on the couch watching TV was not one of them. But because I got sick and my fantastic list went out the door along with my energy and motivation, I found myself sitting in front of the TV for hours on end. Luckily, I got sick at the perfect time to catch some stuff I definitely would have missed out on if I had been in Peru.

August sweeps started with the Olympics. I sat in the living room every night with my father for two weeks. It's the one time every 4 years our favorite sport, track and field, is in the lime light. Even though I was not a fan of NBC's "prime time live" coverage, I still got to watch all of my favorite summer Olympic sports like gymnastics and beach volleyball. And this year, along with the rest of America, I was addicted to swimming. More specifically, I needed my nightly Michael Phelps fix. Michael Phelps helped revive feelings within me I feared may had gone extinct in Peru. Apart from those feelings, the Olympics bring out a whole bunch of other sentiments that have me feeling like a complete sap. I get so worked up by the emotion of the athletes and relive my former athletic glory days to the point that I actually tear up. I feel so much admiration and envy for the olympic athletes and as I cheer for them, I find that I am cheering for the USA. Then I start feeling this strange serge of pride for being an American and actually begin to route for our dominance over other countries. All the while the Peace Corps Volunteer inside is cheering for all the little guys.

After the olympics were over, I had two weeks of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. I enjoyed watching both parties conventions, but the real entertainment was tuning ever night to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report for the real news. It's been very entertaining for me to watch all the controversies over Sarah Palin. By the way, I watched the season premier of Saturday Night Live tonight, and Tina Fey made a guest appearance to play Palin and I don't think I've ever seen a better political impersonation in my life! I would actually vote for McCain if he picked Tina Fey as his running mate. Also on SNL tonight, Michael Phelps was hosting and I fell in love with him a little mores with each dorky wig they made him wear. What am I going to do in Peru without my regular Phelps fix? I know, screw my previous dream ticket statement of McCain/Fey. I think the ultimate ticket would be Obama/Phelps. You know Michael Phelps has more foreign experience than Sarah Palin. Phelps won over the Chinese with his goofy smile, I bet Palin hasn't ever been to China. The image above is Tina Fey acting as Palin. There's also a more likely chance that Fey has been to China over Palin.

So as you can see, my time in front of the TV has been well spent. I've simultaneously been working on romantic endeavors and the future of US foreign policy. So While watching TV wasn't on my list of things to do in the US, I'm sure glad things worked out the way they did.

A Hiatus from the Blogosphere

I haven't posted in over a month and with good reason. Since the beginning of July I have been busy, busier than I ever thought a Peace Corps Volunteer could be. I knew the schedule that lay before me was chaotic, but I also felt there was little I could do about it and that I should just suck it up and get through it. Within a two week time period I went a camping trip, climbing and sleeping at 15,000 feet in the Andes. I organized a huge event where a Division I basketball team from the states came to my home for sexually abused girls to give a basketball workshop and hand out shoes to everyone in which I brought in lot's of PCVs and Lima friends. I had friends from high school and college come visit me. I had my one year medical checks and project presentations in Lima with my entire peace corps group. I had to wrap up all of my projects at work and tie up all of my loose ends so I at the end of this hectic two weeks, I could fly home and be in a wedding the day after I arrived in California.

I had run my marathon at the beginning of July right before all of this madness started and I don't think my body ever fully recovered.

I decided before all this stuff started, that I was going to take some time off my blog because I knew I just wouldn't have the time. I meant to write that I was taking a break but I found myself feeling so tired and not having the energy to do something as simple as write a simple blog.

On the plane ride to the states it hit me just how tired I was. My whole body hurt and the last thing I wanted to do was party all weekend long at a wedding. But once again I shrugged off my exhaustion, dug deep and tried my best to be my energetic, positive self. I thought maybe I was just tired from all the traveling. I knew that the past few weeks had taken a toll on me, but I didn't realize how much until the day after the wedding. Finally after arriving at the house where I grew up, I felt the repercussions of what I had been doing to myself. I was sick.

I had been dreaming about my trip to California since before it was even planned. There was an endless list of people I wanted to see, places I wanted to go and food I wanted to eat. I was shocked and deeply saddened by my inability to do any of it. After a few days of rest it became apparent that whatever I had was not getting better and I needed to go to the doctor. I was diagnosed with tonsillitis and Mono. I had to hold back tears or relief when I found out what was making me feel so aweful. Relief that I wasn't week or a wimp, that there was actually something wrong with me. After going to the doctor, I didn't leave my house for days. I slept more in the following week than I probably slept in the month of July. I was happy to be recovering in the comfort of my own home, with my real parents there to take care of me, but I was sad that I was loosing my vacation.

Shortly after getting diagnosed I informed Peace Corps Washington and they put me on medical hold. Meaning, I couldn't return on my scheduled date and could only go back to Peru once I was medically cleared. I was again, both saddened and relieved by this news. I felt relieved that I had time to recover, that it wasn't a ticking clock counting down get better in one week or else. I was sad because I realized how much Peru had become my home and how much I missed my life there and wanted to go back.

So here I am now, the day before I was supposed to fly back to Peru and I'm on Medically Evacuated status. I probably will not blog again until I get back to Peru, which could be another two weeks at least. I'm going to take this time to let my body heal and spend time with my friends and family. I promise I will be back to my old self again as soon as I possibly can. Thanks for reading.

I'm a Late Bloomer

I've always been a little behind the times. I was still wearing spandex when baggy jeans were popular in the 90's, I didn't go on an airplane till I was 14 and I didn't try sushi until I was 21. I'm probably the most modern and stylish person many Peruvians have ever met, but in some aspects of my life in Peru, I'm the last one to hop on the band wagon.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Most of my Peace Corps friends in Peru have had at least one strange illness or problem. When my parents were here, we took out a girl that had worms, giartia and bacteria all at the same time. Most PCV's have had at least one parasite so far. For the first year of my service, I've been relatively healthy, only having a few food related bouts and a cold or two. But I think my body has finally succumbed to all the evil bacteria around me.

For the past 6 weeks I've been having on again off again nausea. It was never severe enough for me to take immediate action but it became apparent that whatever it is, is not going away on it's own. So today, I experienced a rite of passage for all peace corps volunteers. I pooped in a cup to have my stool tested for intruders. As awkward as the act might sound, it was actually easier than I expected. I have friends who are in the double digits for stool samples, so I feel like I'm entering the game relatively late. The weirdest part was having to carry around my own feces in purse until I could get to Lima and drop it off in the lab. After I had finished, I felt very accomplished.

The other trend I have been reluctant to engage in, is romance in Peru. I have recently reentered the dating pool. I haven't fully submerged myself but rather just stuck my toes in. I've never been some one dive in head first but have always preferred to ease myself into unknown waters. Okay, enough with the analogy. I think I was the last Peru 9er to go on a date, kiss, or have a relationship with some of the opposite sex (or same sex for that matter). In the past few weeks I have gone out with 2 different guys. Neither of these gentlemen are full-on peruvian, but I do get points because they hail from latin american countries. I just had my very first all spanish date and it was an experience I'll not be forgetting anytime soon.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) depending on how you look at it, neither one actually live in Lima/Peru. So, my brief stint in the dating pool may have ended just as quickly as it arrived (hopefully like my brief stint with the parasite or whatever I have). There are definitely some exciting details about both new adventures if you can stomach it. I'll be home in California in less than 3 weeks and I'm sure you'll all get an ear full!

My Mom on Peru

Even though I have yet to post my Machu Picchu trip and pictures, I am posting something my mom wrote about her trip. My mom is probably my most avid reader as well as my personal editor and I asked her if she would write a little something about her experience. Hope you all enjoy it, I certainly did. My trip to Peru was actually two trips of different natures. The first trip was as a tourist and the second was a visit with my daughter to experience the places and people she serves as a Peace Corps volunteer. There were many contrasts between these two aspects of my vacation and I will try my best to put them into words.
During my two weeks in Peru, I was able to. . .
--experience the grandeur of the Andes and Machu Picchu. . .and sit at a fly-ridden juice cart Lurin town drinking fresh squeezed pineapple/orange juice.
--wander the cobbled streets of Cusco with its historic city center. . .and traipse through dusty streets of Lurin to visit Ali's hogars.
---visit with travelers from England, Australia, Mexico and all parts of the US. . . and meet Candace, Jake, Danielle, Bron, Dennis, and Carrie, Ali's peace corps and Lima buddies.
----watch the sun rise from behind the Andean peaks at Machu Piccu. . .and watch the faces of little girls light up as the screamed "Ali!!
----At the Inkaterra hotel, ponder the query,"When would you like to schedule your massage?". . . and ponder the query from the cook at the hogar, "Would you like chicken or guinea pig for lunch?"
----chug up the amazingly spectacular canyon on the backpacker train to the base of Machu Picchu. . .and jostle and bounce through the streets of Lima and Lurin in exhaust belching taxis and mini-busses.
----shop for Peruvian treasures of silver and alpaca. . . offer to buy Ali anything she wanted to make her life easier and she politely declining every offer.
----marvel at the magnificence of the Incan civilizations, all accomplished without the wheel. . .and understand the respect and admiration I have for my daughter for her humanitarian and loving spirit.

Thanks mom for writing this. And for the record, I didn't refuse every offer. I've been cuddling up everynight with the baby alpaca blanket my parents bought for me and it is awesome!!!!

More Pics from the Marathon

This is a photo of mostly Peru 9ers and a few other friends posing on the steps of a hotel on the boardwalk in Pacasmayo. The different colored shirts pertain to the different races. The blue shirts are Marathon, the yellow are half marathon and the green is the 10K.

Me and Greg before the race. Greg went on to win the men's marathon. He trained at 3,800 meters. I trained at sea level.

This is the beginning of the race all starting out in a big clump






By the end of the race the only people I saw were people working the water stops. This is me 50 feet away from the finish line. I was TIRED


This is after a crossed the finish line, eating an orange and drinking really really bad champagne.

















These are some of my friends from Lima who came down to hang out and cheer me on. They also helped me drink the bottle of really really bad champagne. Such good friends :)

26.2!

I did it! I finished my first marathon. The greatest part of this picture is that it was taken at mile 23. I somehow managed the energy to jump for a random Peruvian who was working at one of the water stops. I saw him pulling out the camera and something in me told me to do something silly and the flash went off right as I was in mid air, I knew that would be a cool picture but I figured I would never see this stranger again and not get to see the picture. As I was sitting at the bus station to go back to Lima later that night, a guy came up to me with his camera and this picture. So I gave him my email address, took another picture with him and two days later he actually sent them to me!

My whole marathon weekend was amazing. The event was organized by a fellow 9er Peace Corps volunteer at his site. His site is an old fishing town with a pretty sea front, good surf and not much else. The Marathon was designed as a way to bring in visitors and help boost tourism. There were around 150 participants running the 5K, 10K, 21K and marathon. About 50 of those were Peace Corps volunteers. So naturally, the race was especially fun for me, not only because it was my first marathon, but because I knew half the runners and the volunteers working it. Running a marathon is a long process (it took me just over 5 hours), but every two kilometers there was a water stop with a few Peace Corps volunteers there to give me encouraging words and a cup of power aid.

I had been training with a friend in Lima for over 4 months. My friend was back in the states for a wedding for during the Peace Corps marathon, so she ran a race in Seattle. Unlike Lima where we had been training, Seattle was hot and hilly and the race ended up being tougher for her than she would have liked. Lucky for me, my race course was flat and the weather was a perfect, overcast 65 degrees for the entirety of the day. I was rightfully nervous before the race. I had done a really good job training up until the end when I kind of slacked off. I felt great during the race up until mile 23-24. It probably took me 45 minutes to finish my last 3 miles. I was certainly happy to see the finish line.

Aside from lots of PC friends, 4 friends from Lima came down to hang out and cheer me on. When I finally did finish, I had a huge crowd of friends cheering me on. They made me speak in Spanish on the microphone to the crowd a minute after I was done. I had to ask my friends afterwards if what I said was remotely coherent. They said it was, but I can´t remember a thing I said.

I really look forward to next years race. Whether or not I will run the marathon again, time will only tell. I am so proud of steve and ashley, the two volunteers who worked tirelessly to put on such an amazing event and thank them for the great things they are doing their community.

I Do It To Myself

I have yet to post my Machu Picchu trip. I have it half written and I'm still so excited to share my stories and pictures. I haven't posted cause I have been so busy. I can't believe how overwhelmed I've been lately. It's a good kind of stress but I miss the tranquility of having nothing to do as well.

I got invited to go to the 4th of July celebration at training today. Me being me, I got really excited and said yes before I really thought about it. In order to go, I had to be at the Peace Corps office before 7 AM to get to training, which meant I had to leave my house really early. I realized after the fact that this was probably a really bad idea. Tonight I am getting on an overnight bus for the norther coast of Peru where I will run my marathon on sunday. I realize taking an overnight bus two nights before I run 26 miles isn't the best idea, but I really didn't have much of a choice with my vacation schedule.

I had already been to training twice this week and was feeling so exhausted from traveling around. Last night I could barely sleep. Partly cause I knew I had to wake up early and partly cause I was starting to get really nervous for the marathon. I finally decided around 3 in the morning that I was not going to go to training, and after that I was able to sleep a bit more soundly. I still had to get up and go to the office really early, cause I was responsible for bringing a whole bunch of Macaroni and cheese. Nobody could believe that I showed up so early just to tell them I wasn't going. I went home and slept for a few more hours then spent the rest of the day in Lima running errands trying hard not to think about the race.

Life has been really busy but great and I can't wait to find time to write about it all. My mom wrote a beautiful little something about her trip to Peru that I can't wait to share it as well. I will also of course have pictures from the marathon. I hope everyone had a good 4th and keep good thoughts in mind for me on sunday.

Cuzco(topia)

Any one awesome enough to know that the title of this entry is a play on the movie "The Emporers New Grove" gets bonus points. The rest of you who didn't know, consider yourselves educated!

Ever since I arrived in Peru, people have been asking me if I have been to Cuzco. The fact that I had been here a year and not been to Cuzco gave me a lot of street-cred with Peruvians. It was surprising to them to meet a gringo who was here, not turning a blind eye to the woes of their country and making a bee-line tour to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. I have now lost my edge on other white people visiting Peru. A week ago, I went to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Not only that, I did it in style.
I was so stressed out when my parents arrived and spent a few days in Lima and at my site. I felt 100% responsible for their itinerary and their happiness. Lima is my stomping ground. Therefore, I knew all the ins and outs and would serve as their travel agent and tour guide. My parents had done next to no research on Lima and didn’t even bring an opinion as to what they might like to do. Cuzco was fantastic cause I was as clueless as they were about what to see and how to spend out time. So I got to sit back, relax, and be tourist just like everyone else.

The last time I had been on an airplane was the one I took to come to Peru a year ago. Since then, all my traveling has been by land, usually on overnight busses that have lasted as long as 16 hours. My parents paid $150 for me to fly with them to Cuzco, an unfathomable amount of money to me for transportation these days. I have flown a lot, especially in recent years. But this plane ride really blew me away. My whole perspective has changed and I felt as if I was flying for the first time in my life. It is such an amazing concept to travel such a long distance in such a short amount of time. A bus ride to Cuzco would have been 24 hours, but I stepped on a plane in Lima and hour later I was 12,000 feet in the Andes mountains in Cuzco. Crazy!

I have traveled to a handful of Andean “cities” in Peru. Cuzco was unlike them all. For starters, it was surrounded by mountains, but unlike the rest of the cities, the mountains around Cuzco seemed dry. They were not green (perhaps they are during the rainy season), and there were not snow capped mountains in sight. The city itself was more spectacular than any other Andean City I’ve seen. I was expecting that though. Cuzco was the capital city of the Incan Empire and therefore home to more beautiful architecture and ruins. The Spanish likewise made the city it’s base for the area, so there is an interesting mix of native and colonial influence.

Most noticeably, the difference between Cuzco and other Andean cities, is the amount of money it has flowing in. Cuzco is the main tourist destination in Peru and the local economy milks it for all it is worth. It seems as though modern day Cuzco was built for tourism. I couldn’t believe how many people spoke English. It was weird to be in a town where the Spanish architecture still looked well maintained. In Lima, the colonial heart of the city is very run down to the point that it feels dirty and dangerous. The main square in Cuzco felt like it was plucked from any city in Spain.

Our Hotel was once the home of a well to do Spanish man. It was a far cry from the high rise, steal and glass Marriott we stayed in Lima. Our hotel in Cuzco was made out of stone with a traditional Spanish plaza and fountain in the middle. It was rustic enough to transport you back to a different time, but modern enough that my dad could watch the US Open on the TV in our bedroom. As always, my favorite thing to do was curl up next to the fire at night time. Cuzco was pretty cold. It sits about 12,000 feet in the mountains and it’s winter time here. But because we’re so close to the equator, the coldest is gets is the 40s.

During the days, we went on tours of the churches in the cities and ruins in the country side. My parents were in heaven with the food, the shopping and the massages. All of which they found incredibly cheap. I on the other hand, was still having a hard time shaking my peace corps frugality and flinched with every swipe of the credit card.

I have been really reluctant to buy much since I arrived in Peru. One, because I don’t make the kind of money to buy much. Two, I know whatever I buy has to fit in two suitcases at the end of my service. But mostly because as some one who is spending 2 years in Peru, I feel the souvenirs I buy shouldn’t be the typical touristy crap. I want to bring back to the states some really awesome stuff that I will use and will last for a while. I have wanted to buy a baby alpaca blanket as one of the few investments I make towards my “worthy Peru memorabilia”. I resisted many of things my parents offered to buy for me, but I couldn’t say no to a blanket. By the end of our Cuzco trip, my parents had purchased five $100 baby alpaca blankets as gifts because I had given my blessing that it wasn’t just touristy crap.

Cuzco I think was the trip of a life time. I don’t think my parents ever would have come to South America and visited one of the new seven wonders of the world if I hadn’t been placed here. Machu Picchu was definitely the apex of our trip but that will be left for the next installment of my trip.

Living La Lima Loca

It was too hard to blog while I was with my parents. Not because of a busy itinerary or lack or internet. It would have been much easier for me to post while on vacation than it normally is at site. I just couldn't find the motivation to sit in front of a computer and talk about the experience while it was happening. Maybe this means that I'm not a very good writer, or at least blogger, but I needed a little perspective. Having my parents here and taking a break from Peace Corps life was way different than I expected. I didn't think I had changed much and I was really surprised at the culture shock I experienced just being around people who hadn't been living my reality for the past year.

Having my parents here was so wonderful for so many reasons. I am so fortunate to have parents willing to make such a huge and expensive trip down to an unknown land just to see me. I am so lucky that after a year apart, I got to spend a whole week with my parents. Regardless of where we were or what we did, just being able to hang out with them was vacation enough for me. At times it didn't feel like a vacation. I am so obsessed with making people happy, and nobodies happiness means more to me than my mom and dads. So at first, I had a hard time relaxing cause I was so worried about everything and if everyone was having a good time.

Lima isn't the greatest city in the world. Normally, it would never be a place my parents would ever voluntarily choose to travel to. But because it is where I live and it is such a big part of my life, they arranged to spend a few days here. My moms ideal vacation involves beaches, shopping, gardens or theaters. My dads ideal vacation has biking, skiing, golfing or any combination of sports. Lima offered non of my parents comforts. For them, I think this trip was a really unique experience. It was unlike anything they had ever done or any place they had ever been.

For the past year, I had been making a list in my head of things I could do with my parents while they were here in Lima. Out of the list of a hundred or so things, we probably did about 5. My mom didn't like riding in taxis becausethe way people drive around here scared her and my dad didn't like to walk too much cause his knees where bugging him. So we pretty much stayed within a stones through from our hotel. We never made it to the colonial, historic town center. We stayed in the Marriott overy looking the ocean, with a touristy shopping center built into the cliff right in front of us. We ate most of our meals there cause of it's convience. We never walked the streets of bohemian Barranco and we didn't see any of the Inca ruins just a five minute drive from where we were staying.

Instead, we spent our time in Lima the way I spend my time in Lima. To me, being in Lima means being with family. Whether it's spending time with my friends that live in Lima or visiting other Peace Corps volunteers, who are my family here in Peru. Being in Lima usually means going to the Peace Corps office, going to the doctor, shopping, getting a break from the food at site and eating at nicer restaurants. That is exactly how we spent out time in Lima. There happened to be a handful of volunteers in Lima so my parents took them out for drinks and dinner. We spent a lot of time just hanging out together and eating a lot of food at restaurants I can't normally afford.

I realized just how cheap I am since becoming a Peace Corps volunteer. I am even more aware of my frugality now that my mom and dad are gone and I am back on my own dime. While having them pay for expensive food was great, the coolest thing about having my parents and their money here was being able to take taxis. To me, taking taxis has become the ultimate luxury. I thought I would impress my parents by haggling with the taxi drivers and bargaining down a good price. But every time we got in a cab, my dad would ask how much we were paying and insist on giving the drivers more. I think the poverty in Peru really made an impression on my dad and seeing the joy on the drivers face when they got double the amount they were expecting, made my dad feel like he was doing his part to help out.

Lima seemed like a different place when they were here. Now it seems completely different without them again. Of course, Lima was just a small stop over on their trip. The real vacation was Cuzco and Machu Picchu. I will be writing and posting pictures all week from the fabulous adventure we got to share together, up in the Andes mountains. It somehow didn't seem right to me to write about the trip while it was happening. I knew I was gonna need some hindsight to share our vacation. Now I get to relive it all this week as I immortalize it in the blogosphere.