Guest Blogger: Mom!

I'm back in Peru, travelling with Beth for the week.  A the moment we are sitting on the porch outside of our room overlooking Cuzco.  We are staying at a bed and breakfast with beautiful gardens and somewhat near to where Beth stayed when she worked at an orphanage in Cuzco in 2008.  

When I last visited Beth we traveled to Huaraz, a city near Chavin, her Peace Corps site.  Visiting Cuzco is a much easier trip, requiring only a short plane ride rather than an 8 hour bus ride.  I arrived in Lima near midnight on Saturday (for those of you who remember my last trip, this one was significantly less eventful!).    On Sunday we flew to Cuzco and then on Monday we took a bus/train ride to Aguas Calientes, a small tourist town near the base of Machu Picchu.  We spent Tuesday at Machu Picchu, a place that cannot adequately be described by pictures or video, though I have attached two of our videos for your enjoyment.     On Wednesday we toured an Incan temple, shopped, ate and read.  Today we are visiting Beth's host family from 2008 and visiting a place called Sacsayhuaman, Incan ruins made from huge rocks, near Cusco.  Tomorrow we are travelling to Moray, a place where the Incans determined what to grow and where and Salanas, the salt flats.  And then we begin our trip home, returning to Lima to gather Beth's belongings and return to the airport for our flight.    

Gathering Beth's belongings.  Three words but a huge task.  She has two very large suitcases, a paddle from her trip down the Amazon, at least one carry-on and Gulliver, her golden retriever.  I plan to tape the entire process of getting all of these things including Gulliver's mammoth cage to the airport and checking in.  We need to transfer Gulliver in Atlanta from international to domestic and I have no clue how this will work.  Again, I am planning to tape the entire process.  

Back to Peru.  Travel in Peru is very interesting.  In Huaraz cars are blowing their horns all the time and it would appear that there are no road rules.  Travel in Cuzco is much quieter but the streets are often very narrow, requiring us sometimes to stand with our back to the building for a car to pass.  Road rules are better here but certainly not like at home.  While we have already traveled by train, plane and automobile, we have also walked many miles.  

Shopping is always fun in Peru.  I like to listen to Beth barter prices, a skill she has fine tuned since I was last here.  Quite honestly, I think I am pretty good at bartering just by my facial expressions - must be the "you're kidding" look that we moms have perfected by experience.  Food is wonderful and relatively inexpensive with the exception of Aguas Calientes where it costs 2-3 times as much as Cuzco.  Not to worry, we still ate :)

As I think about my trip, I'll close with some of the memories I will bring back:

• realizing that just because I'm travelling to a Spanish speaking country, I do not have to listen to the movie on the plane in Spanish - I learned after the first movie that if I changed the channel, I could listen in English!
• shopping
• meeting Beth's Peace Corps friends - they are an amazing group of people
• seeing Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the world
• the smile that was on Beth's face when she saw me at the airport.  I will digress here a moment to explain what it is like to arrive at the Lima Airport.  After you have retrieved your luggage you enter into a circle of people in a huge room.  Many are holding signs while others are calling out the names of whoever they are waiting for.  I have done this twice and each time it makes me think that my arrival in heaven will be something like this - entering into a great circle with family and friends who have gone before me excited to see me, anxiously waiting for my arrival and to relate the experiences we have not shared together.  
• shopping.  Please note that we look more than we buy :)
• how beautiful Peru is and how diverse it is, both environmentally and economically
• Coke Zero is definitely not the same as Diet Coke
• I am not Hookah bar material
• eating. . . with the exception of the Hookah bar
• just spending time with Beth - talking about the Peace Corps and her thoughts for the future when she returns home.
• watching Big Bang until we both fall asleep
• the infinite number of times I have gone up and down the stairs at work as well as my shopping, both therapeutic and otherwise, prepared me for all of the walking we have done
• we work way too hard in America. . . . and we should be thankful for all we have

See you at home.  

Carol

Shout Outs!

As my time in Ancash comes to a close (is it really my last day here?), I've been thinking about all of the people who helped me through my Peace Corps service.

Thanks to Caryn, Ruth, Caitlin, Becky, Alisa, Ann-Marie, Katie Kelley, Gail, Anna, Jackie, Grandpa, and all the other people who sent me e-mails - they were always treasured.  Thanks to my Grandmas for all of the letters and cards - I've saved every single one.  Thanks to Caryn and Ruth for not getting annoyed when I would call them twenty times in ten minutes because I had internet access and needed to talk to them.  Thanks to Gail and Tim for posting pictures and status updates about the girls - I'm able to feel close to them even though I'm so far away.  And thanks for talking about me so Emme knows who I am - hearing "I love you Bethie" in the background of a phone conversation always made my week.  Thanks to everyone who sent packages, e-mails, cards, letters, and prayers.  Thanks to everyone who supported me through this difficult decision and left no doubt in my mind that you just want me to be happy.

But the biggest thanks have to go to my Mom and Dad.  Thank you for buying five round trip tickets to Peru in the past sixteen months.  Thanks for calling whenever I asked you to and even when I didn't.  Thanks for the text message countdowns and Packer score updates.  Thanks for all the Skype credit so I could call friends in the States.  Thanks for never telling me I was crazy.  Thanks for the laptop, the Kindles, the clothes, and the loans.  Thanks for the books and the gifts for my Quechua kids.  Thanks for listening while I cried and for celebrating my successes.  Thanks for telling me that you'll always be proud of me.  Thanks for loving me when I felt like I didn't deserve it.  Thanks for believing me.

Mom, more and more each day I proudly notice ways that I'm like you.  When I bake cookies because my friends are coming over or go out of my way to comfort someone who is sick or sad, I think, "I'm doing this because it's what Mom would do."  Thank you for teaching me that family and friends are the most important things in this world and that going the extra mile to support and love them is always the right decision - no matter the cost.  Thanks for showing me that strength and determination can take you far and that hard work, albeit difficult, is incredibly rewarding.  I love you.

Dad, the way you care for and love Mom, Gail, Monica, Emme, Elie, and myself is an incredible example of unconditional love.  Your character, faith, and unfailing support teaches me what a real man should do.  When I look at the hooligans in my life, it's your voice in my head that says, "You deserve more than this."  I love you.

Thanks.

Coming Home

As many of you have already probably heard, I've made the difficult decision to leave the Peace Corps four months early. It was the hardest decision of my life and was accompanied by days and days of crying and torturing myself (and my parents) with "what ifs". Now that I've made my decision to come home I am sad but feel at peace with my decision.

The past twenty months can best be summed up by this illustration:

(courtesy of fuckiminmy20s.tumblr.com)

When I'm completely honest with myself I need to admit that it's been a long time since I've really been happy here. And after some recent events which made me feel unsafe in Peru, I decided it was time to take care of myself. I could either spend the next four months sad, unsupported and barely surviving or I could take steps to start feeling better. I realized that no one else was going to turn on the lights so it was time I turned them on for myself.

So the schedule is as follows: Huaraz until March 27th and then Lima until the 31st. Mom flies into Lima on the 31st and we're going to have an amazing time in Cuzco to conclude my time in Peru. Mom, Gulliver, and I will be flying home on April 7. And then... I really have no idea.

Okay, I have a few ideas - mainly consisting of the following elements: family, friends, biking, and baking.

And blogging. I may be finishing up my Peace Corps time in Peru but this journey is far from over. I'm going to continue blogging while I transition back to life in America and start to process everything that's happened since June 2012.

Stay strong Peace Corps volunteers.

Can't wait to see everyone at home. I will be demanding hugs.

Guest Blogger: Gulliver

Hi Everyone!

My Beth is always looking for guest bloggers so I volunteered to tell you guys a little bit about my life in Peru. In case you don't know who I am, I’m a Golden Retriever puppy! My Beth and I live together and I’ll be four months in two days. To celebrate my birthday, my Beth and I are going on a hike together this weekend. I can't wait! I’m still a puppy but I’m already a big dog and am still growing. If my paws are any indication, I’m going to be big and strong when I grow up.

I love living in Peru. I like playing outside with all of the other animals – though the pigs scare me sometimes so I bark at them. My favorite animals are chickens because they run away when I chase them. It's so funny. Our family has two other dogs, Gordo and Paco, and I like to play with them too. When I’m not running around outside, I’m usually napping on my blanket.

Every night, I sleep on the bed next to my Beth. I always make my Beth lift me into the bed. Don't tell but I know that I could jump onto the bed by myself. I just like getting a hug each night. My Beth says that pretty soon she won't be able to lift me because I’ll be too heavy. Bed time is definitely my favorite part of the day.

Oh, one second. I hear another dog outside. I think he wants to be my friend. I’m going to try to play with him!

Okay, I’m back.

What else can I tell you about Peru? Wherever I go, I get a lot of attention. I love playing with kids and grown-ups always ask my Beth a lot of questions about me. I look different from most of the other dogs I see so I can understand why people ask a lot of questions. I love taking walks and riding on the combi buses. I usually just fall asleep in the aisle of the bus so I think I’m going to like traveling to America.

Speaking of America, I’m so excited to go there in a few months. My Beth likes to tell me about it and our family there. Swimming in Lake Michigan sounds like a lot of fun! My Beth's family and friends sound really awesome and I hope they like me. But I’ll be honest... I’m most excited to meet my Beth's sister and brother's Golden Retriever, Conan. I really hope that my Grandpa Conan thinks I’m cool and will play with me.

Well, that's all for now. See you soon!

Love,

Gulliver

Just Run

I hate running. When I try to run, my body just starts yelling at me. "Stop that!" it says. "We don't run. We bike. We hike. We dance. We do NOT run."

I hate running. But I hate feeling stressed and angry even more. And, more often then not, that's exactly how I've been feeling lately. Stressed and angry.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend passed me a pdf of "Th Complete Idiot's Guide to Running and Jogging" circa 1998. This treasure of a book includes a couch to 30 minutes of running in 30 days plan and I quickly decided to go for it, despite my hatred of running. I can't bke, hikng is just a part of my daily life, and my daily dance parties just aren't cutting it. I would have to run.

In the beginning, I loved my runs. Bill Rodgers, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide..." instructed me to run 4 times a week and I would feel antsy on the days couldn't run. I loved going out ono my trail, jumping over holes, and concentrating to no tumble off the narrow ledges. Gulliver would run behind me and, frankly, look extra adorable with his ears flying behind him.

And then disaster struck. On Wednesday, I went out for my run and there was just nothing in me. No energy. No motivation. Nothing. A common problem I'm sure. So I skipped my run yesterday. And today. But tomorrow I need to somehow find the motivation to get out there and just run.

That's where you come in, dear Blog Reader. I'm telling you thisso you can hold me accountable. My goal is to do a 10K when I return home. So, please, hold me accountable, bug me until I run, and tell me that all of my excuses are totally bogus. Or, even better, come run with me. We'll hold each other accountable and celebrate my return to America by torturing our bodies in pursuit of a runner's high. I've already roped one person into this insanity with me... let me know if you're willing to join us.

Perseverance

Today, I bring you a lesson on the amount of perseverance it takes to be a Peace Corps volunteer. I woke this morning with plans of staying in bed all day in order to read the fifth Game of Thrones book. Then John William called and asked if he could bring his health promoters youth group to my site to give charlas to the kids here. Once I realized that I would have to spend my day being a functioning part of society I decided to make the best of it.

I got out of bed, got ready for the day, and decided to try to fix my electric oven. I bought my oven a year ago and had a few glorious months of cooking (cake! cookies! pizza!) before it stopped working. I used the screwdriver on my Swiss army knife to open up the part of the cord that plugs into the oven and saw that the wires had burned through. I shaved off the plastic coating on the cord to expose the wires and twisted it back around the screws. I plugged the oven into my extension cord and was overjoyed when it heated up.

A few weeks ago, a friend delivered me homemade chocolate cookies with caramel frosting. They were delicious and I decided to try to recreate them. I mixed up chocolate cookie dough and dropped a couple of cookies onto my baking sheet. I placed them in the oven and started looking for a frosting recipe that doesn't require powdered sugar.

A few minutes later, I went to check on the oven and saw that it was no longer working. I looked at the outlet and saw that the plug had melted the outlet. Despite my best efforts, I could not save the oven and officially had to call it a loss. I also realized that my extension cord was no longer working so I also preformed emergency surgery on that (which led to one pretty gnarly electric shock when I forgot that I had plugged it back in and had to fix it again).

So I now was faced with a big bowl of chocolate cookie dough and no way to cook it. I was pretty frustrated because I had been super excited about making cookies (and had let myself dream of homemade pizza for supper). I was also a little afraid because I knew I would eat that whole bowl of cookie dough it remained in my presence and would probably die.

At this point, I didn't even really want the cookies anymore. I had attempted to fix my oven twice. I had shocked myself while fixing my extension cord. I had lost my dreams of pizzas and other baked deliciousness. I was discouraged. I was tired.

I was determined.

It was time to pull out the big guns. I put on my old, disintegrating UW-Whitewater sweatshirt (it turns seven this year) and turned on “The Devil Wears Prada”. And then I used my trusty Kindle to Google ways to cook cookies on a stove top. Google failed me.

But an idea did come to me. I put my stove on the lowest flame possible and buttered and floured my skillet. I added more flour to the dough to make it thicker and spread the dough into the skillet. I put the cookie sheet on top of the skillet and crossed my fingers.

Amazingly, it worked! The bottom burned a little bit but I was able to bake one big skillet sized chocolate cookie bar of deliciousness. I topped my cookie with a tasty buttercream frosting. I probably should have stopped there but I still wanted to make caramel. This ended as a bit of a disaster and left me with a burned finger, a ruined pot, and caramel all over my shoe.

Despite my disastrous attempt at candy making, I’m pretty proud of the outcome. Sure they took four hours to make and left my room a complete mess. Yeah I ate so much cookie dough in the process that I don't even want to look at the actual cookies right now. But I didn't give up.

I mostly write this for any employers who read this blog. If someone comes into your office with “Peace Corps volunteer” on their resume, you should understand what that means. Peace Corps volunteers are master problem solvers. No milk? Use the evaporated stuff. No plates? Use a Frisbee. No shower? Use baby wipes.

So, Employers of America, hire the Peace Corps volunteer. Trust that, no matter the situation, they'll be able to McGyver something to fix it.

Hire the Peace Corps volunteer. (Especially if that Peace Corps volunteer is me.)

Beth's Peace Corps Cookbook

“I want to eat like a Peace Corps volunteer!” you say. (“No. You don't.” I say.) Well, I can't speak for all Peace Corps volunteers but I’ll happily share some of my favorite recipes with you. And by “favorite” I mean the foods I eat day in and day out and hope to not see for months and months after leaving the Peru.

Apples and Peanut Butter
Okay, we're starting off with a pretty special meal. Good apples are difficult to find in my area, peanut butter is expensive, and chocolate chips are non-existent. But when the perfect storm of conditions occur (ie a recent trip to America), this is my favorite breakfast.

1) Rub apple clean on your shirt.
2) Using a spoon, scoop peanut butter out of the jar
3) Take a bite of apple.
4) Take a bite of peanut butter.
5) Toss a couple of chocolate chips into your mouth.
6) Repeat.


Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
1) Light a fire on your gas stove (try to not blow up the house).
2) Heat skillet.
3) Slice the dry bread bought at your local tienda (obviously not the Piggly Wiggly because their bread is not disgusting).
4) Butter the outside of slices. Apply ample amounts of garlic salt. Make a sandwich with the cheese inside.
5) Grill sandwich in the skillet. Flip when each side is browned.
Best served with: Tomato Cup of Soup


Rice and Fried Eggs
1) Make rice. If available, I prefer Chicken and Broccoli Rice Sides (available in the USA) - make sure to add plenty of butter. If you only have white rice, add soy sauce.
2) Heat skillet. Melt some butter.
3) Fry up your eggs. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.
4) When rice is finished, add some Parmesan cheese for extra deliciousness.
Serve with the eggs on top of the rice.


Beth's Delicious Oatmeal
1) Boil water. Make sure it boils for at least three minutes to kill all of the germs and parasites.
2) Pour dry oatmeal into a bowl. Add a few tablespoons of powdered soy milk (because for some reason the grocery store in Huaraz always has powdered soy milk and not powdered regular milk).
3) Add a sufficient amount of boiled water to the oatmeal/powdered soy milk. Start with a small amount – you can always add more.
4) Add some butter.
5) Mix in brown sugar. I prefer enough to make my oatmeal change color because, let's be honest, oatmeal is kind of disgusting without a ton of sugar.
6) Liberally sprinkle with cinnamon.
If available add: banana slices, diced apples, chocolate chips, vanilla, peanut butter, dried fruit, raisins, craisins, flavored instant coffee, more sugar...


The Best Way to Eat Nutella
1) Open jar of Nutella.
2) Using a spoon, take out a big scoop of Nutella.
3) Bring spoon to mouth.
4) Eat all of the Nutella on your spoon.
5) Repeat.


Pasta
1) Boil water in a small pot.
2) Add pasta. I prefer the large elbows (also, they are cheapest).
3) Once pasta is cooked, drain and pour in a bowl.
4) Top with packaged tomato or huancaina sauce which you purchased at the closest grocery store (only a forty minute walk and thirty minute combi ride away). If no sauces are available, make butter noodles (ie add some butter).
5) Add salt, pepper, basil, garlic, onion, and aji (a spicy sauce).


Mashed Potatoes
I may live in the birthplace of potatoes but the concept of mashed potatoes has yet to reach Peruvians. Absurd.
1) Boil potatoes. Or go down the newly opened stand down the street which sells grilled chicken feet and boiled potatoes for one sol (about 35 cents) and ask just for potatoes.
2) Mix powdered soy milk and clean water in a mug. Be sure to make a little extra for your tea that night.
3) Pour the “milk” onto your potatoes.
4) Mash with a fork. Put some muscle into it!
5) When the potatoes are pretty well mashed, add some butter.
6) Once the potatoes are mashed and fluffy, add garlic salt and pepper. Feel free to add more butter.


Well, there you have it - some of my favorite things to eat day in and day out. I also eat pancakes, french toast, and cookie dough pretty religiously. My cooking philosophy is pretty simple: butter, garlic salt, and bacon make almost any savory dish better and peanut butter and Nutella are God's gifts to humanity. (Yes, I know there isn't any evidence of bacon in these dishes. This can be blamed on not having a refrigerator in site but when I’m in a regular kitchen in the city I find any excuse to make food with bacon: bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, bacon tator tots fried in bacon grease, potato salad with bacon, mashed potatoes with bacon and chives, mac and cheese with bacon, bacon cheeseburgers, spinach salad with bacon and hard boiled eggs, pizza with bacon... I think you get the picture.)

Let me know if you try out any of these delicious dishes. Don't be insulted if I call you crazy for eating any of this nonsense when you have access to grocery stores, refrigerators, and modern appliances.

Ten Reasons JAG is the Best Show Ever

1. The high waisted pants.

2. The assurance that the female JAG officer will be captured at gunpoint at some point almost every episode

3. The obvious use of outside footage (favorites: clips of Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton)

4. The military language

5. The feeling that every episode is like a season of 24

6. The absence of romantic storylines

7. The hats

8. The unexpected amount of uncaptioned Spanish

9. Because now I wish I had a ghillie suit

10. Did I mention the uniforms?

Kidnappings, missing fathers, spies, gun fights, world travel, helicopters, bad B roll, prisons, gang warfare, astronauts, implausible storylines, McGyver-esque escapes, mystery, intrigue... what more could you want from a TV show?

Semper Fi.

The Peru BucKet List

(Please excuse the lack of puncutation in this entry. I'm typing on my Kindle.)

Oh faithful blog reader Im going to be very honest with you. Ive had a hard time getting back into the swing of this whole Peace Corps thing ever since returning from the States. Elke says that PC volunteers are out on a LIMB -lonely isolated miserable and bored. And all too often its easier to focus on these negative things instead of the positive parts of being a PCV. After a couple of emotional breakdowns on the phone to my Mom she encouraged me to think of ways to make the rest of my Peace Corps service awesome. I have 22 weeks of PC service left and I'll probably bum around Peru for 3ish weeks afterward. In that spirit...

25 Awesome Things To Do Before leaving Peru:
1. Hike the Cordillera Huaywash with friends right after finishing my service. Its eight to ten days and supposed to be beautiful. Described by Lonely Planet as "circling a tight cluster of high peaks including Yerupaja the worlds second highest tropical mountain this stunning trek crosses multiple high altitude passes with sping tingling views."

2. Hike to Laguna 69

3. Hike from Olleros to Chacin de Huantar. A two to three day forty km trek with a 4700m pass. It ends in Chavin de Huantar where there are famous pre Incan ruins.

4. Climb a mountain

5. Make a snow angel on the glacier of Huascaran the highest tropical mountain

6. Go camping by Llaganuco Lodge and swim in the bathwater temp lake

7. Spend a long weekend at the beach

8. Host a murder mystery supper for all of the Ancash PCVs

9. Take the SUENA youth group kids on a field trip to a college in Huaraz

10. Try to start a Mothers School for young single moms

11. Wander aimlessly to the towns of Keren and Kely which should be a good day hike unless I get lost

12. Continue to beat Pat at Settlers of Catan when we meet up on the trail between our towns

13. Explore the trail I found the other day when I got lost

14. Go to Arequipa

15. Walk into Huaraz... and be much better prepared this time

16. Go to Cuzco with my parents visit my host family there and eat at my favorite restaurant

17. Visit Machu Picchu

18. Go sandboarding (which is like sledding but on sand dunes) and penguin watching in Ica

19. Finish the banket I started last year

20. Enjoy the Peru Fifteen Close of Service conference... a week in Lima where my training group gets to learn abut life in America and have a ton of fun hanging out

21. Teach Gulliver how to play Frisbee

22. Throw the Ancash Fifteeners an awesome and unforgettable going away party

23. Take the SUENA kids on a fun field trip

24. Make encouraging cards for all the Ancash vlunteers

25. Keep reading so I can meet my goal of completing 100 books in 27 monthd.

25 weeks 25 awesome things to do. I will give you an update in afew months and let youknow what I was anle to finish.

And as always youre invited and encouraged to come check a few things off this list with me...

Gringo Hunting

The most difficult part of a trip to the States isn't cleaning, packing, the 8 hour bus ride, the three flights, or the hours spent waiting in airports. The most difficult part of a trip to the States occurs in the days leading up to the departure. My life in Peru and life in the United States are so completely different it's almost impossible to imagine that in 87.5 hours I’ll be walking through Mitchell. Subsequently, three days might as well be fifty and Wisconsin might as well be the moon.

Knowing that my last few days in site were going to be torturous I looked for some extra special things to fill my time. Luckily, I’ve gathered some rather amazing friends here and they decided to do everything they can to help me out.

On Wednesday, my friend Elke came up to my site to do a hand-washing charla with me in a near by town called Buenas Aires. Elke had picked up a script for a theatrical presentation about hygiene and adapted it for a puppet show. We did the puppet show for the whole student body of the school in Bueanas Aires... a total of 35 students! The kids were great and easily picked up the message. Afterward, we put lotion with glitter in it on all of their hands so they could practice washing their hands. The glitter represented parasites and we made sure to check everyone's hands to make sure that all of the “parasites” were gone.

That afternoon, Elke and I attended the promocion, graduation, of the elementary school kids. One of my neighbors, Alex, was graduating and had invited John William and I to attend as his padrino and madrino (godparents). JW was unable to attend because he wasn't feeling good so I was extra happy to have Elke at my side. Five other kids from our SUENA youth group were also graduating and I was bursting with pride. It was awesome to see our kids all fresh and clean, in their best clothes, and looking proud of themselves. Carmen, another SUENA kid, gave a speech and everyone shared a lunch of cuy (guinea pig), boiled potatoes, and soup. When the cajas (crates) of beer started being pulled out, Elke and I decided it was time to duck out.

We went for a short hike before the rain started and then retired to my room to watch Human Planet (best show ever) and play Phase 10 (which brought back a lot of Mentink family Christmas memories). We ate supper with my host family, who started talking about a pareja (couple) of gringos from the United States that are living in Buenas Aires and have a huge dog. I made a mental note to investigate.

The next day, Thursday, Elke and I woke early and decided to go for a hike since it was a national (and Peace Corps) holiday. After breakfast, we headed to the site of the closest Peace Corps volunteer, Pat. Pat claims that he can walk to my site in under two hours but I’m not sure I believe him. He also tells tales of a mysterious short cut and I’ll believe it when I see it. I had hiked to Pat's site once before (I’m not sure if I ever wrote about it), and then somehow turned around and hiked home. Looking back, I’m not sure how I did it and must have been in some sort of iPod music trance the whole way. Elke compared the hike to childbirth – you forget how painful it is or you would never do it again (or so I hear).

To get to Pat's site you have to head up... and up and up. Though 95% of the hike is on trails the 5% that doesn't have trails is rough. You have to get to the bottom of a ravine, cross a river, and scramble across a rock slide before you can reach the trail again. Elke and I took a break before making the crossing and sat on a ridge eating our snack and trying to figure out how we were going to cross. More than once, I moaned, “Build a bridge, people!”

We arrived at Pat's after three hours of hard hiking. Pat was building a fence at his school but waved off our help when we offered (that's a complete lie... Pat asked us to help and we laughed at him and sat down). We spent an hour watching Pat work before hunger became our primary concern. Elke was going down to Huaraz and any desire I had to walk back alone disappeared when it started raining.

Luckily, we caught a taxi to Huaraz and were able to share a delicious recovery meal. I met up with John William and Johanna and we headed back to Chavin for SUENA. When we arrived in Chavin, the kids were all waiting for us and came running up like a mob as soon as we stepped off the combi. Then I saw Emely, another neighbor, on the shoulders of some tall man. I had no idea who it could be until they were closer and I realized it was another friend, Kyle. He had walked up an hour earlier and had been playing with the kids and waiting for us to arrive!

John William and I had decided to have a choclatada in order to celebrate Christmas. Choclatadas are a traditional celebration here and are gatherings where paneton (sweet bread with fruit) and hot chocolate are served. It was super fun but very unsettling when a room of 25 kids were completely silent as they ate and drank. At the meeting, we found out that Victor, one of the SUENA kids who was graduating from high school, had been accepted to university. We're both super proud of him.

On Friday, Johanna returned to Chavin to help me paint the World Map mural I’m doing at the school. I met her on the road and proposed a different activity... a gringo hunt. Intrigued, we headed to Buenas Aires and started asking everyone we met where the gringos were. “Buenas dias. Discupla, una preguntita. Estamos buscando los gringos que viven por aca. Usted sabe donde viven?” (Good day. Excuse me, one question. We're searching for that gringso that live here. Do you know where they live?”)

We were sent this way and that, walking back and forth across the same foot trails, perched perilously on the edge of the mountain. Finally, I spotted two huge dogs and confirmed with some people working nearby that we had found the home of the gringos! They said that Senor Filipe would be returning in an hour and I convinced Johanna to camp out by his front door with me.

An hour later, a man on a motorcycle pulled up, took off his helmet, and gave us some strange looks. We introduced ourselves, explained our mission, and were invited inside for lemonade. Phillip is from Belgium and has worked all over Europe. He married a doctor from Peru and together they started a small NGO. They moved to Buenas Aires a in October and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to work with them. It was very surreal to be sitting in a home a twenty minute walk from my own, that reminded both Johanna and I of a Swiss chalet. A slow cooker, refrigerator, and a beautiful view of the mountains all made me question where I was!

So those are my adventures from the past few days in an attempt to keep me from going completely stir crazy. It's currently Friday the 9^th and I’m laying in my bed in site. Tomorrow John William is coming up for a birthday lunch with one of the SUENA families. Hopefully we'll be able to catch a combi afterward and I’ll be going into Huaraz (one step closer to home!). Sunday will be an errand filled day as I prepare for the trip home (and, of course, buy enough emergency snacks for 36 hours on a bus) followed by a Christmas celebration with friends.

Monday morning I’ll be leaving at 9:30am for the 8 hour trip to Huaraz. Then it's straight to the airport to feast on Subway and wait seven hours for my flight to leave. Luckily, I’ll be joined around 7:30 by a Peace Corps friend as we both wait to fly to the States. Then it's just an 6 hour flight to Atlanta (where I will seek out McDonald's breakfast and magazines in English) before going to Chicago and then hopping over to Milwaukee.

Well, this took me about an hour to write which means I’ll be home in 86 hours and 20 minutes. Not that I’m counting or anything... I know that my last few blog entries have pretty obsessively talked about coming home and I haven't been trying to hide my excitement. But for everyone who is planning on visiting (and really, if you're still reading this blog on a regular basis you should be planning a trip down here), don't worry – I’m going to come back! Adventures like these remind me of all the things I love about being in Peru – hiking and exploring, never knowing what's going to happen, room for spontaneity, and, more than anything, feeling extremely proud and happy when I see kids I’ve been working with succeed.

So buy some plane tickets! You... yes, you! Buy your tickets! I’m anxiously awaiting your arrival. And to fill the time until you get here, I’ll be hunting out some adventures for us to go on...

World AIDS Day

As you may be aware, December 1^st is World AIDS Day. I don't remember this ever being a big deal back in the States but in the world of the Peace Corps it is one of the most important days of the year. John William asked me to help him with some activities in his site and I agreed. Though I had no idea what activities J-Dub had planned, I was happy to provide support.

Then two nights before the big day, Dubbers called to tell me that he had to make an emergency trip to Lima due to some medical concerns (don't worry he's okay!). Kyle, another PCV, and I said that we would go to his site to help facilitate the event. Neither of us really had any knowledge of what Dubly had planned and just wanted to help our friend because, of course, John William (I’m out of nicknames) would do the same thing for either of us.

When I arrived on Thursday things were already a bit chaotic. JW and his health promoters had planned a series of round robin events for all of the high school students which would be concluded with a parade through town. But many of the teachers were saying that they had not been informed of the event and, subsequently, would not be allowing their students to participate. Peruvian schools are always a bit of a mess and this day was no exception. The event started late, teachers complained about not receiving a free t-shirt, and the schedule was changed every fifteen minutes. The students we were able to collect, though, learned about pregnancy prevention, how to use a condom, the ease in which STDs can be passed, and other important sexual health topics.

Then it was time for the parade. After some strong words from a teacher, the band director finally got the band collected and we hit the streets of Jangas. I often think of some of the “larger” Peace Corps sites as being like Oostburg so I want you to imagine the following scenario in my idyllic little pueblito. We had four banners leading the parade, all of which expressed the need for condom use and HIV/AIDS prevention. The banners were followed by most of the high school students wandering about with almost no organization. Behind the students was the band, though Mr. Dall never would have let us march in such a disorganized fashion. For some reason, I was helping to carry the lead banner so I need you to imagine some random Peruvian leading the imaginary parade in Oostburg.

So just imagine we're walking from OHS down the street past the elementary school, going to the Piggly Wiggly, then turning down Main Street to loop back to the high school. Really no organization, just a mob of kids carrying banners about sex. Then, halfway through the parade route, the kids start handing out condoms to everyone they pass – bus drivers, store owners, moms with children, even sticking their heads through open windows to give condoms to the people hiding inside.

Well, that's exactly what happened during our parade. I was nervous at first, wondering if John William had gotten this approved or if I was going to be thrown out of a site that wasn't even mine, but people accepted with good humor and more than one guy held up his condom with a laugh. Providing youth, and their parents, with open and honest information about sexual health is one of the most important and tangible things that we do as Peace Corps Peru volunteers.

Though the day felt like a bit of a mess, I’m declaring it a success. We educated. We entertained. We hung out with jovenes (youth).

And maybe, just maybe, we helped some of them think of the consequences of their actions.

What more can I ask for?

(Also, I’m just really relieved I didn't have to dance with a doctor dressed up in a condom costume like my friend Sarah Yoss.)

Beach-giving

I’m not sure why but I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. In general, I have a pretty take it or leave it attitude about Thanksgiving but this year it was more than that. I was thinking of Thanksgiving as one more thing I had to “get over with” before I could go home. I was too focused on the things that were coming after Thanksgiving that I wasn't thinking about all the reasons that November 24 (or in our case, November 26) was going to be awesome.

The holiday did not go off without a hitch – I received some heart breaking news in Lima, had to ride a night bus with forty hyper 10-12 year-olds, and forgot my favorite shirt in Lima (hopefully to be recovered before my trip to the States). Overall, though, it was exactly what I needed.

On Thanksgiving Day, thirty(ish) volunteers arrived in Trujillo, the capital of La Libertad, the department north of Ancash. I spent the sunny day watching two friends doing tricks at the skate park, wandering the mall in awe, eating delicious fresh fish, and, once again, having pizza for Thanksgiving dinner.

The next day, we divided our group and conquered the market, buying enough food for all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. With potatoes and turkeys in tow, we took buses two hours north to Erin's beach site, home of the longest left breaking wave in the world. In the afternoon, we lounged on the beach before working hard on supper prep for the next day.

Saturday was our much anticipated “fake Thanksgiving”. We woke early (for me, at least!) for a Turkey Trot 5K on the beach. I thought living at altitude would help but running on sand was still difficult. I’ll admit that I walked and caught up with friends much more than I ran.

I helped some friends prepare their contributions to the meal but my favorite part of prep was carving one of the turkeys. Another volunteer had tracked down two 13 kilo mammoths and after a quick lesson from Elke, I was put in charge of carving one of them. There was something very primal and oddly satisfying about ripping and cutting apart that turkey. I offer my services for next year. Over an hour and a half later, we had enough turkey to feed a small army.

Despite being in Peru, it was a delicious meal of turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, veggies, sweet potato biscuits, gravy, stuffing, homemade applesauce, and pumpkin, apple, and strawberry pies. We shared our meal with Erin's host family, friends from her site, and some surfers from our hostal. Since I couldn't be home for Thanksgiving it was the next best thing.

We had an awesome beach bonfire that night and spent a sunny Sunday playing cards on the beach before heading home that night (which is when I encountered the bus full of talkative 10 year-0lds on a field trip and seriously considered murder).

Lesson learned. Sometimes it's easy to become so wrapped up in the excitement of the next best thing that it's easy to miss all of the unexpected wonderful moments I experience everyday. I was so focused on going home that I forgot all about how amazing it would be to celebrate and spend time with my good friends here – people who support me and care for me like a family.

In that spirit, three things I can be thankful about right now, as I sit in a combi, in a seat that is lacking the six inches of room that would allow my legs to fit behind the seat in front of me and is full of people speaking Quechua:

1. that I found this piece of paper and a pen so I could write this blog entry instead of being bored,

2. that I’m comfortable in a thermal shirt I acquired today in a bag of stuff my friend Pete left behind,

3. that I was able to catch up with some friends today that I didn't see at Thanksgiving and that I’ll be seeing another friend from a faraway department later in the week.

So as I try to focus on the here and now, I can't help but thinking about how I’ll be feeling in 13 days. As much as I try to appreciate the experience I’m having here my mind can't help but wander to how wonderful/amazing/spectacular it's going to feel to be holding, hugging, and hanging with my nieces (and, you know, other people too).

Oh well.

Thanksgiving

As the day of my arrival in the United States of Awesomeness sloooooowly creeps forward (Did you know I was coming home? Or did you somehow miss my billion Facebook updates/blog posts about that very subject?), I can´t help but think of all the reasons I´m excited to visit. It may be a cliche to say that you don´t know what you´ve got until it´s gone, but in the past few days I´ve realized just how true that statement is. Of course I am most excited to see people (especially ones named Emmeline and Elaina) but I´ve also found myself dreaming about some other basic comforts. For something novel, here´s a list (and feel free to steal any of these for your reason to be thankful this up-coming Thursday)...

- Target. Let me explain... When I´m in my capital city, Huaraz, I often have a list of things to acquire (food, art supplies, clothes, accessories, books, etc.) and it will take me a whole (frustrating) day to find everything. What takes me a day in Ancash will take me an hour at Target. Plus, they have cute shoes.

- The Piggly Wiggly. I plan on visiting the store, getting a cup of free coffee, and staring at the baking section at least once a day. Also the deli section. And frozen foods. And produce. And dairy. Okay, I´m just going to wander the store like a lost (and excited) puppy on a daily basis.

- Showering. Every day. And then being able to blow dry my hair. And wear make up. And feel like a real person. Every. Single. Day.

- Coffee. Real coffee. Not instant coffee but real drip coffee. Every single day.

- Home cooking. When I´m in Huaraz, we often go to restaurants, which is nice. But there is nothing quite like real home cooking.

- Baking. I am so excited to bake in a kitchen that is actually stocked for baking. Baking here always requires some sort of sacrafice because you are always missing some important component (a cookie sheet, cake pan, or cupcake pan; brown sugar; an actual recipe).

- Running on a treadmill.

- Greasy diner omlettes, hashbrowns, and coffee. (Dad, you said we would go out to breakfast multiple times while I´m home... I´m not going to to forget!)

- Christmas! Christmas music, Christmas decorations, Christmas cookies, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas movies, Christmas snow... the Christmas spirit. It was tragicly missing from my life last year (I more or less tried to pretend that Christmas wasn´t happening) so I am extra excited for Christmas this year.

- Internet. All of the time. I will be attempting to download a year´s worth of TV shows while I´m home.

- Canned soda. I already wrote a whole blog entry on this subject...

- Wine that doesn´t come in a box. And actually tastes good.

- No Quechua. Or Spanish. Perhaps I will even remember how to speak English (though I find that rather doubtful.) I would like to pre-apologize for my constant use of Spanglish.

- Being with people. By far, the hardest part of the Peace Corps (for me) is the lonliness. More than anything, I am excited to be constantly surrounded by people I love. I honestly hope that the drives to and from Madison are the longest stretches of time I need to spend alone. I want to aprovechar (take advantage... but in a good way) every single minute of my trip home. Because more then all of these material things and creature comforts, being with all of you is going to be the best part of this trip. 22 (painfully long) days.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Canned Christmas

I was recently watching an episode of Friends where Joey and Chandler bought everyone Christmas gifts at a gas station. The boys gave Ross a can of soda for a gift and it took me a few minutes to understand the joke – a can of soda is not considered a good gift in the States. Canned beverages are uncommon and expensive in Peru and something I rarely spend money on.

I started thinking about other canned things that I would happily accept as gifts. The list includes:
cans of peaches
cans of French green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions
cans of mandarin oranges
cans of beer
jars of Grandma's applesauce and strawberry jam (created through the “canning process”)
cans of Pringles
cans of pears
cans of tomato soup
cans of Spaghetti-Os
cans of tuna
cans of frosting
cans of orange and cinnamon rolls
cans of pizza sauce
cans of grape juice concentrate
cans of nacho cheese
and, cans of clams (for my friend Ali)

Really, the long and short of it is that I’m going to be very easily pleased when I’m home in 41 days.

Application Form

Two blog posts in one day! Make sure to read this one first.

“...because it would a been a miserable business to have any unfriendliness on the raft; for what you want, above all things, on a raft, is for everybody to be satisfied, and feel right and kind towards the others.” - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

An application to join my team for an up-coming Great Amazon River Rafting Race:

Name:

Age:

How do you know me?

Do you mind getting sunburned?

How important do you think eating is?

Are you will to earn some blisters?

How do you deal with boredom?

Do you enjoy singing?

Do you know the words to at least thirty songs, including “I Will Survive”?

Are you will to risk your life for only a t-shirt?

Are you comfortable urinating in your pants?

Does monotony bother you?

Would you describe yourself as competitive?

How long do you hold a grudge?

Do people describe you as being a “complainer”?

Are you able to push through physical pain?

Are you easily discouraged?

Are you willing to embarrass yourself?

Do you mind sleeping in a school with 150 strangers?

Have you ever paddled anything before?

Are you afraid of water?

Additional Comments:

Please send the completed questionnaire to mentinke21@gmail.com.

Amazon Adventures

“My souls, how the wind did scream along! And every second or two there'd come a glare that lit up the white-caps for a half a mile around, and you'd see the islands looking dusty through the rain, and the trees thrashing around in the wind; then comes a H-WHACK! - bum! Bum! Bumble-umble-um-bum-bum-bum-bum – and the thunder would go rumbling and grumbling away, and quit – and then RIP comes another flash and another sockdolager. The waves most washed me off the raft sometimes, (…). We didn't have no trouble about snags; the lightning was glaring and flittering around so constant that we could see them plenty soon enough to throw her head this way or that and miss them.” - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

My most recent adventure was a trip to the Peruvian jungle to participate in four day rafting race down the Amazon River. Each team consisted of four people and had to build their own raft (or, in our case, pay some Peruvians to make it for us) out of eight logs and some rope. I was on a team with three other people from my training group, Kim, Kelsi, and Erin. We joined 51 other Peace Corps volunteers to paddle down the Amazon.

Go Team Gladys

There was some obvious signs of disorganization before the race even started. Thursday was dedicated to building the rafts and the promised, and necessary rope, wasn't delivered until sunset, water didn't show up until 4, and supper was served at 10:45. There weren't any bathrooms and our race-issued tent flooded.

On the up side, cold beer was available all day.

So going into the first day of racing we had our concerns. I knew that this race was going to be hard work but I underestimated the effort necessary to paddle 112 miles on the Amazon River. I expected that paddling would help move your raft but that if you didn't paddle you would still make forward progress on the river. Not true. If you stopped paddling you stopped moving. The Amazon River is so wide that it's more comparable to imagine paddling across a lake.

After 6 or 7 hours of rafting, we reached the first check point. All 50-some teams slept in a school in the same village and there was a timed start the next morning. Despite some tension amongst team mates, we were feeling pretty good. I spent the afternoon drinking jungle beer, playing frisbee and was sleeping by 8:30.

The next day my team started out with the slow group and were on the water by 9am. The weather reminded me of a hot, humid Wisconsin summer day except hotter and more humid. I continuously drenched myself in refreshing river water.

The best (and probably only) safety feature of this race was the promise that the coast guard would come pick up all the teams that were still on the water at 4:30. Well, 4:30 came and went and my team was still on the water staring down some ominous storm clouds. Behind us was a beautiful sunset but in front of us the sky was full of black, huge storm clouds.

We rowed on.

An hour later, there still wasn't a boat in sight and the storm was moving closer. The sun had almost disappeared and the sky above us was now full of clouds. The thunder was booming closer and it seemed like the lightning was flashing right in front of our face. The wind had picked up and the water was getting rough.

It was time to be a little concerned. We put our life jackets on.

Around 6pm, it was almost completely dark and we saw a group of people standing on the top of a two-story cliff. We rowed over to them and yelled up to ask how close we were to the checkpoint. They said we were still at least an hour away and on the wrong side of the (very wide) river. It was time to abandon ship. Some of the townspeople came down to help us tie up our raft and scramble up the side of the cliff.

We were in a small jungle town with only ten families. They welcomed us into their school and lit some kerosene lamps since there wasn't any electricity. Almost immediately after we stepped into the school, the wind really started roaring and the sky opened up into a torrential downpour.

Eventually, we started to see lights scanning the shore searching for rafts. The coast guard boat saw our raft and hollered for us to put our life jackets on and get down to the boat. The waves were crashing into the shore and they were having difficulty keeping the boat still. We slipped and slid back down the cliff, which was now pure mud, and boarded the boat. After climbing down a ladder, we entered a small cabin that was already crowded with other rescued teams.

I was relieved to find myself in a seat next to one of my good friends, Kyle. For the first time I realized how close we had been to disaster and I started silently crying – both from relief and anxiety about other teams that might still be on the water.

Thankfully, everyone made it to the checkpoint. Seven teams had to be rescued and were unable to finish the race because their boats had to be abandoned. It was horribly disappointing to not be able to do the final six hours of rowing after completing the first 16 hours. Cheering on other teams while they crossed the finish line was bittersweet – I was proud of my friends for finishing but hugely sad that I wasn't out there with them. I know that if we had been picked up at 4:30 like we had been promised they would have been able to tow our boat and we could have completed the race.

So I’m planning on going back. I need to finish that last day. If you're interested in joining my team, fill out the application form in my next blog entry. This time we're going to conquer the Amazon.

This is more or less what our raft looked like.

That is more or less a complete lie.

This is what our raft actually looked like.

Time

Time is a tricky construct in the Peace Corps. It takes on a life of it's own, stretching and scrunching at will. Three months can seem like a blink compared to the twelve hours before you can crawl back into bed. Time means nothing... and everything.

The lack of seasons can take some credit for the elasticity of time. My trip home in December (80 days from now) seems right around the corner. I'm already making plans and starting to watch Christmas movies. If I was in Wisconsin, I would have to get through all of fall and be deep into winter before December 13 appeared on the calendar. But in Peru we're already transitioning into the rainy season. The absence of changing seasons makes December seem much closer.

Despite the fact that December seems so close, days have the ability to stretch themselves into individual eternities. Some days are busy and rush by in a blur of stress and Spanish. But, more often, the most important thing to do all day will be a five minute meeting with the school principal or fifteen minutes of reading to a preschool class. On those days, I'm faced with hours and hours of blank time to fill. Which explains why I'm crocheting a blanket, why I've learned how to sew a skirt out of an old pair of jeans, why I've read seventy books... anything to fill all the endless time.

I used to think of time as belonging on a line. It moved at a consistent pace and actually meant something. Now it flies whenever I wish it would slow down, and crawls when I wish it would hurry up. An hour can feel like five minutes or five days. Instead of being on a line, time now belongs on a merry go round, speeding up and slowing down, going round and round but not really going anywhere at all.

Check out pictures from Mom's trip in August (really, did that happen only a month ago?) HERE

Carol in Peru

As many of you know, my Mom is here in Peru. I've been counting down to this trip for months and I knew that it would be awesome to show her around this wonderful place that I call home. And, of course, it has been amazing having her here. It's always neat to see Peru through new eyes and it's shown me just how "acostumbrar-ed" (accustomed) I've become. Mom asks the questions that I used to ask, she's surprised by things that used to surprise me, she points out things that I've stopped noticing...

After 15 months of requesting people to guest write for this blog, Mom agreed to share her fresh perspective on Peru. So, without further adieu, I present Carol Mentink...

I've been asked by a number of people while I've been here what I think of Peru - amazing, friendly, sad, chaotic, content, contradictory, beautiful, and extreme are words I would use to describe Peru. I have seen people nicely dressed standing outside of homes that you can't imagine anyone could live in and passed by hundreds of homes that were started but never finished. We have walked on streets filled with crazy drivers and litter (that would be every street!), walked through markets selling everything you can imagine. We have eaten in wonderful restaurants, cozy cafes, and in the home of Beth's site family on stools in a small "kitchen" with a dirt floor, a corner fire and a single light bulb. I have seen families with so little and yet content with what they have.

I have enjoyed meeting Beth's friends - both in the Peace Corps and those she has met along the way. What an adventuresome group of people, all willing to stretch and push themselves beyond their own personal limit for a greater good. They have a different perspective on life with a picture that is perhaps more worldly than most - I have a sense that Beth is not done traveling and I wonder where her adventures may take us in the future.

I had the opportunity to watch Beth and John William, another PCV, lead a youth group meeting at Beth's site. Kids of all ages attend with the group being anywhere from 10-30. Yesterday they made paper airplanes and then had contests to see how far each could fly their plane. The winner chose a book to read. Clifford, the Big Red Dog, is their favorite and John William read it to them, interjecting humorous comments in English for Beth and my benefit. They loved my camera and took lots of pictures of each other. Prior to youth group, Beth and I cleaned her room which as many of you know has recently been visited by Charlie that I believe to be a mouse and not a larger rodent. I decided it needed a Mom's touch and so I swept and sorted while Beth put all of her food in a plastic container. Following a dinner of trout, potatoes and noodle soup with egg (we thought we were going to have takush - rotten potato soup - so you can imagine my excitement to learn we were having fish!), we returned to our room to settle down for the evening. I was glad I chose to sleep with flashlight in hand as Charlie visited at 2 a.m. Beth and I listened carefully to determine Charlie's location and then after we did not hear him for several minutes, Beth held the flashlight while I held the broom and moved things around to see if he was still present. We determined he was not, went to bed and did not hear from him again. Hopefully, moving the food and some other things will prove effective in Charlie finding another place to visit.

Tonight we are at Lazy Dog Inn, a beautiful inn in the mountains with views that can best be described as breathtaking. We are sitting by a roaring fire while waiting for a dinner that smells delicious. Tomorrow when we return to Huaraz we are planning to shop for souvenirs, buy a dresser for Beth's room (she currently stacks her clothes on a piece of tarp on the floor), and have dinner with a group of Beth's friends and some of their family also visiting. We will then be returning to Lima on the overnight bus in preparation for my return home on Thursday.

Time has passed by too quickly these past few days. It has been nice to put faces with names, see beyond the pictures that Beth has shared and spend time with Beth. It will be sad to leave but nice to go home knowing that Beth will be returning to us in December.

As Beth has often said, if you can, please visit her. She would love your company and to show you her world. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - take it and have a great time!

Reasons

Reasons Why You Should Come Visit Me in Ancash

1. You miss me.

2. You can meet my Peruvian niece and nephew.

3. My host family just painted the house because my Mom is visiting. If I tell them I’m having another American visitor they might finally finish the bathroom.

4. To help me practice my English.

5. There are three beautiful hikes that all leave from my site.

6. Meet my Peace Corps friends!

7. To learn the diverse number of ways you can eat potatoes.

8. Help me catch Charlie.

9. To prove your Ultimate skills by playing Ultimate Frisbee at altitude.

10. For a multi-day hike, like Santa Cruz.

11. To come to the Second Annual Sabor de Huaraz.

12. To be a librarian for a day.

13. So I'll have something interesting to blog about.

14. Learn Quechua.

15. Teach me how to cross rivers without hurting myself.

16. See beautiful stars.

17. See this:

18. To deliver peanut butter.

19. So people will make fun of someone else's Wisconsin accent.

20. I'll share illegally downloaded TV shows and movies with you.

21. Did I mention that you miss me?

Some Updates:

1. I think Charlie is still sneaking into my room. I even think I figured out how he's getting in. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to stop him. And any trace of reverse Stockholm Syndrome has worn off and now I just feel full of rage.

2. My host sister did have a baby boy. The baby daddy is living with us. Amelia and Narcizio seem really happy together. If they get married and nobody tells me I’m not going to talk to anyone in this house for weeks, like an angsty teenager.

3. The new Peruvain President has not kicked all foreigners out of the country, as was previously rumored and feared. He's been in power for almost a week. I think we're in the clear.

4. I still don't have running water. My body is learning to live on very little water each day – this probably isn't a good thing. (More on this in my next blog entry.)

5. I’ve learned that it's possible to be ridiculously happy and ridiculously homesick at the same time. I can't wait for December 2011 (when I'll be visiting home again) and I’m terrified of August 2012 (when I'll be done with the Peace Corps).

Check out more pictures of my BEAUTIFUL home HERE!

The Accidental Adventure

This past Wednesday I woke up and decided it was a day for some exploring. There's a road that leads up from my site and I’ve been wondering for awhile how far it goes. Since the school is on vacation for two weeks and there's really nothing going on around town, I decided it was the perfect day to walk the road till the end.

I had left my backpack in Huaraz and didn't plan on the hike last more than an hour or two so I didn't bring along my normal hiking supplies: water, a jacket, camera, first aid gear, etc. Instead, I threw on my easy terrain hiking shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt and stuffed my pockets with my (nearly dead) cell phone, my iPod, 5 soles, and a sucker.

It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous hike along the road. At one point, I turned around and realized that Huascaran, the highest tropic mountain in the world, and four other snow capped peaks were framing my horizon. I passed a field overflowing with small, yellow butterflies. I didn't see a single car or truck and few people. I felt like I was in a magical Andean countryside created just for me.

I reached the end of the road after about two hours, around 1pm. I found a spot where I could see my site to the right and Huaraz to the left and thought about how close my site is to Huaraz and how very, very different they are. Since I’ve moved to site, I’ve always wondered if I could possibly walk to Huaraz. It was only 1pm and I had no real desire to turn around, so I decided to just walk a little farther. I could see a little forest that I desperately wanted to check out, so I headed in that direction.

The paths came and went. I would go awhile on a footpath before I realized it had disappeared. I would continue to make my own path, knowing only the general direction of my destination. I knew that when given the option I should always continue uphill, since going downhill would make it almost impossible to cross any rivers that had become deep ravines. I continued exploring with an eye on my watch and the general idea that I should turn around by 4pm if I wanted to make it home before dark at 6:15.

Shortly after exiting the dark, little forest that had urged me to continue my trip, I climbed the embankment of a field and rounded a corner when four snarling, barking, angry dogs came sprinting towards me. I stumbled backwards, groping for a stone. Usually just reaching for a stone scares dogs away but these four kept charging. I was backpedaling as fast as possibly while simultaneously pulling out my ear buds (probably in an attempt to think more clearly) and reaching for any rock. Thankfully, my hands finally made contact with two hefty rocks and I got ready to throw. The dogs stopped and we stared at each other. Soon (but not soon enough!), the dogs' owner came strolling down the path. No apologies, just a nod as if to say, “Hey. I see you met my dogs.” My eyes were as big as saucers and I was shaking as the adrenaline continued to surge through my body.

“Quieres pasar?” You want to pass? The owner asked.

“Si. Pero... puedo?” Yes. But... can I? I replied, casting a nervous glance at the still barking dogs.

“Si, por supuesto.” Yes, of course. He answered, looking a bit confused.

I took a step and a dog lunged towards me. The owner scolded him and gestured for me to continue on. I took another step which was answered by another bark. Eventually, the owner got the dogs under control and I scurried away, gripping the two rocks I still had in my hands. I felt comfortable again once the dogs were out of sight – but I had a rock in each of my back pockets and one in my hand for the rest of the trip.

I walked and walked. I came across two soccer goal posts, roughly constructed, that marked the end lines to a soccer field with snow capped mountains as the background. I still wonder who goes there to play soccer, since the closest houses were an hour away in any direction. I was once again struck my how remote I was.

At some point, I realized that there was no way I could possibly backtrack on foot everything I had walked. I was feeling exhausted and it was just too far to walk before dark. I either had to reach Huaraz or the main highway. There really wasn't any other option.

So I kept walking. I crossed a river, which is always a dangerous prospect when I’m hiking by myself. When I hiked to another volunteer's site a month ago, I was cut so badly that I just had to stand on a rock in the middle of a river holding my arm until the pressure helped the bleeding subside. As I was walking along the path, I didn't see a clear way across the river, but thought that I saw a small footpath. I dove into the brush and quickly realized that there was no path. There also wasn't really a way back up to the path I had been on. I just had to push through. I could feel sticks and twigs getting stuck in my hair and thorns ripping across my bare arms but there wasn't really anything I could do. I took a step and feel chest deep into a hole of some sort. I pulled myself out and kept pushing through. I stepped into a clearing and saw... a bridge. If I had walked three more minutes I would have come across a path and a bridge.

Rivers. They're out to get me.

But I wasn't bleeding too badly (and didn't have my first aid stuff even if I was), so I continued onwards. Around 3pm, I arrived in a village. I only had 5 soles with me and knew that I needed 2.50 for the ride back to site but I couldn't resist spending half my money on two bottles of water. I hadn't brought my Nalgene along and had gotten so desperate for water during the hike that I broke one of my important “staying healthy in Peru” rules and drank water straight out of the rivers I passed. I hoped I was close enough to their glacial source that they weren't too contaminated. I promise to keep you updated on all of the stomach mishaps that occur due to this decision. Regardless, I finally had water and almost finished one 635ml bottle before even exiting the store.

The rest of the walk took place on a road through small communities. I still had no idea where I was but the road was leading in a generally downhill direction and I didn't have the energy to fight it. I just went where I was lead. Soon, I came across a road marker that said “5km”. Shortly, I saw another one saying “4km”. I assumed that the markers were measuring the distance to the main road and I sought each one out with an exhausted eagerness.

Around 3:45, I called my PCVL, the one person who I could almost guarantee would be in Huaraz. “Hey Sophie.” I said. “I have a favor.”

“Go ahead.” she replied.

“Well,” I said, hesitantly. “I kind of accidentally walked to Huaraz and I haven't eaten all day and I don't have any money and...”

“Let me invite you to lunch.” she cut me off, laughing. “Where do you want to go?”

I had been dreaming about the couches at California Cafe for the last hour. “California sound okay? Half hour?”

Sophie agreed.

I was finally in Huaraz and could catch a combi to my final destination. But a combination of stubbornness and weariness kept me from waiting for one. Stubbornness because I had made it this far on foot and wanted to continue the journey by myself. And weariness because I was afraid that if I sat down I would never get up again and would be stuck circling the same combi route for the rest of my life.

So I entered into the hardest part of my journey, walking from the outskirts of Huaraz to the center of town. I was feeling some culture shock – after being so completely isolated it was unsettling to be around so many people – plus the adventure had worn off now that I was back in familiar territory.

It's almost exactly six hours from the door of my house to the door of California Cafe. I was still picking twigs out of my hair from the disastrous river crossing (still am, actually) as I explained to Luisa, the wonderful owner, my adventure and immediately felt the homey hospitality that makes me love California Cafe. She assured me that if Sophie didn't show up for some reason I could pay for my food later, asked if I was okay after walking alone, and treated me to two extra large fresh orange juices.

After eating (and laughing about the absurdity of the day with Sophie), I walked to my combi stop and got the last available seat. I promptly rested my head against the window and prepared to sleep. Little did I know, I was in for one of the crazier combi rides of my life. Let's just say there were at least six people crouched in the aisle and eight guys riding on the roof. Oh, the last combi of the day is always interesting.

I got home around 7, watched an episode of West Wing, and was passed out cold by 8.

For anyone keeping count, this is the third beautiful hike I’ve found from my site. So if you're still looking for a reason to visit, this is another one. I’m just a short flight (and bus ride) away. And, I promise, we'll keep some rocks in our pockets.