So yesterday was El Dia de los Compadres up in a little mountain village called Marcacocha. There was food, dancing and a bull fight (I use this term lightly). Ana, Shura, Fabricio and I went up there aroud lunch time and stayed for quite a few hours. We brought our own lunch and camped out while watching some dancing. Then we snagged a good seat for the bull fights. Unfortunately, it was an extremely cold and rainy day so the roads were pure mud, the walkways were pure mud, and our shoes and pants were covered in mud. Actually, it was a pretty boring day. The dances were boring and the bull fight was ridiculous. The first bull was small and skinny. Many times during the "fight" he just stopped and started eating grass! The bull fighters, again I use this term lightly, were sitting around drinking beer and trying to get the bull to charge by waving their jackets at them. Definitely not what a true bull fight is. The second bull kept trying to get back out of the ring and into the area where the bulls are kept. By the third bull, I decided to socialize with some family members and stop watching! Also, the band decided to set up right behind us so that was a little loud and annoying to be near. We finally decided to leave once the bull fights were over and everyone just started drinking. We did not want to risk being driven back down the mountain on the curvy, muddy roads by a drunk driver -- very likely as the night went on. We were lucky and found a car and down we went.
Unfortunately, the altitude and cold got to me and I was feeling pretty sick by the evening. Throughout the night I had a splitting headache and was really nauseous. Luckily, I slept in the next morning and drank a lot of water and was good to go by the afternoon. I missed the chocolatada at the posta though. I was able to track Noah down in the afternoon and we set up a meeting with Kaitlyn, Sunny, Noah and myself. The meeting went well. Sunny and Kaitlyn brought me up to date on the health program and its current projects. They are working with disabled children and adults in the surrounding communities. Basically trying to offer support and rehab to the disabled and their families. We are now in need of physical therapist and Occupational therapist volunteers -- Mary Ellen, I need you!!! I am going to be spending my mornings in the clinics and then my afternoons gathering data for grants. There is so much data down here that no one has really used.
We are still running the chocolatadas, but my public health classes have fallen to the wayside. So I will also be creating new education curriculum to begin again in the telecentro after school program.
Friday night was a lot of fun. The volunteers got together at Will, Jess, Noah, Willa and Blair's house for Sushi Night! The sushi was all vegetarian, but it was delicious! Our friend Alex joined us later with his brand new puppy who is just a ball of fur. So darn cute! It was great to be back with Will and Jess and Emma. The other volunteers seem to be really nice. I really like the volunteer coordinator, Kaitlyn. So all in all, I think the next couple months are going to be great. I am excited to get back into things.
Yesterday was a beautiful gem of a day. It didn't rain at all! I got up in the morning to sunshine and warmth. I ate breakfast and then went on our old usual morning hike -- I miss Hallie! It was gorgeous up in the mountains. Looking down on the town and all the green mountainsides. Beautiful! Then Shura and I ran some errands in Urubamba and hung out with Ana and Fabricio. I also had the pleasure of helping Ana prepare mashed potatoes for lunch. This meant peeling the potatoes. Of course, at home we use a peeler. Well, here they just use a knife. As I peeled more potatoes, I got faster, but it was pretty pitiful that Ana could peel about 5 potatoes to my 1! Back to the carb overload. We had white rice, mashed potatoes and corn for lunch. It is all delicious but just so much starch!
Today I am catching up on this blog, calling some friends and just chilling out. Of course since it was sunny and beautiful yesterday, it is rainy and cold today. I did book my Inca Trail trek so I am for sure going to Macchu Pichu via the 4 day hike this time. I leave on April 30. All of May is already booked out. Would love to hear from everyone so email if you get a chance.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A welcome back lunch of cuy (guinea pig) in my honor
When I arrived back at the house yesterday afternoon, I found Ana in the kitchen area with her mother and about 10 dead guinea pigs at their feet. The proceeded to dip the cuy in boiling water, pluck the hair off of them and set them to the side. This morning, Shura and I traipsed down to the community oven (literally a huge fire oven in the house of a local woman) and put the cuy and some potatoes in to roast. Ana splits the cuy open, takes out the non-edible insides and stuffs them with herbs to be roasted. As I had never observed the full preparations for roasted cuy, I was quite intrigued. And today, as we ate them for lunch, I have to say it was quite delicious. I also spent most of my morning shelling abas (soy beans) and peeling the outer layer of choclo off. Choclo is large-kernel sweet corn. We made "crema de maiz" today and the soup tastes better when the choclo is peeled. I told Ana that this time, I am going to pay very close attention to how to cook some of these dishes so I can do so at home.
Ana's sister Norma, her husband Manuel, and their 4 year old daughter Maria Fernanda also joined us for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. MaFe (nickname for Maria Fernanda) is adorable so she and I played a lot. I spent part of the afternoon remembering my least favorite aspect of living in Ollanta -- washing my clothes by hand. I only washed my underwear and believe me, this is the easiest to wash by hand, but it still is a pain in the butt. Plus, it is the rainy season which means it rains off and on all day long. My underwear is currently hanging on a line in my room. I think I may resort to taking my other clothes over to Sylvia to pay her for washing them. Sylvia gives a discount to Awamaki volunteers. I get embarrassed to do that because I feel like Ana is disappointed in me that I don't wash my own clothes. I will take the disappointment!
This time around, Shura and I are sharing a room. She is 17 now and has graduated from high school in December. She is currently studying for the entrance exams for university. The exams are in March. She hasn't studied as much as she is supposed to so she doesn't feel very confident about her scores. She most likely will have to do a training course (I look at it like a Kaplan course for GREs, MCATs, etc) in Cusco starting in April. Getting into University here is very difficult. This exam is very, very important. So we shall see how she does. If she does have to do the course in Cusco, she will rent a room there throughout the week and just come home on the weekends.
Little Fabricio seems to be doing better today. He took a turn for the worse last night and ended up having to go to the hospital in Urubamba for urgent care. Today he is much happier and talkative. He is still having diarrhea but he has only vomited once today. It is just so sad when little babies are sick. Ana was very worried last night, but since he seems much better today, everyone is back to being happy. He only talks baby gibberish, but he will take a cell phone up to his ear and say something that sounds a lot like "hallo". He says "ma" too. It is my goal to have him saying "Tia Ali" (Aunt Ali) by the time I leave!
I haven't been able to have my introductory meeting with the health coordinator Sunny, the volunteer coordinator Kaitlyn and Noah, the director yet. I know Noah from last year and I just met Kaitlyn today, but both Sunny and Noah are sick with stomach issues so we will hopefully meet up on Friday. I am going to go to the clinic on Friday for the regular chocolatada. I am not in a huge rush this week to jump into things. It is nice to chill and spend time with the family and see my friends.
There is a little festival in one of the mountain communities tomorrow so we are going to pack up a lunch and head up there as a family. I hope it doesn't rain too much or we may not go.
Here are my parting words for today -- I took my first freezing cold shower this morning since last July. My alarm clock which has a thermometer on it tells me that my room is a toasty 60 degrees. It is funny how quickly I forget my dislike of hot beverages when I return here. My frozen fingers like the warmth of a hot mug of tea.
Regardless of the clothes washing, the regular rains, and the pervasive wet chill, I am very happy to be back. As my friend Marjo says, this is the price I have to pay so deal with it!
Ana's sister Norma, her husband Manuel, and their 4 year old daughter Maria Fernanda also joined us for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. MaFe (nickname for Maria Fernanda) is adorable so she and I played a lot. I spent part of the afternoon remembering my least favorite aspect of living in Ollanta -- washing my clothes by hand. I only washed my underwear and believe me, this is the easiest to wash by hand, but it still is a pain in the butt. Plus, it is the rainy season which means it rains off and on all day long. My underwear is currently hanging on a line in my room. I think I may resort to taking my other clothes over to Sylvia to pay her for washing them. Sylvia gives a discount to Awamaki volunteers. I get embarrassed to do that because I feel like Ana is disappointed in me that I don't wash my own clothes. I will take the disappointment!
This time around, Shura and I are sharing a room. She is 17 now and has graduated from high school in December. She is currently studying for the entrance exams for university. The exams are in March. She hasn't studied as much as she is supposed to so she doesn't feel very confident about her scores. She most likely will have to do a training course (I look at it like a Kaplan course for GREs, MCATs, etc) in Cusco starting in April. Getting into University here is very difficult. This exam is very, very important. So we shall see how she does. If she does have to do the course in Cusco, she will rent a room there throughout the week and just come home on the weekends.
Little Fabricio seems to be doing better today. He took a turn for the worse last night and ended up having to go to the hospital in Urubamba for urgent care. Today he is much happier and talkative. He is still having diarrhea but he has only vomited once today. It is just so sad when little babies are sick. Ana was very worried last night, but since he seems much better today, everyone is back to being happy. He only talks baby gibberish, but he will take a cell phone up to his ear and say something that sounds a lot like "hallo". He says "ma" too. It is my goal to have him saying "Tia Ali" (Aunt Ali) by the time I leave!
I haven't been able to have my introductory meeting with the health coordinator Sunny, the volunteer coordinator Kaitlyn and Noah, the director yet. I know Noah from last year and I just met Kaitlyn today, but both Sunny and Noah are sick with stomach issues so we will hopefully meet up on Friday. I am going to go to the clinic on Friday for the regular chocolatada. I am not in a huge rush this week to jump into things. It is nice to chill and spend time with the family and see my friends.
There is a little festival in one of the mountain communities tomorrow so we are going to pack up a lunch and head up there as a family. I hope it doesn't rain too much or we may not go.
Here are my parting words for today -- I took my first freezing cold shower this morning since last July. My alarm clock which has a thermometer on it tells me that my room is a toasty 60 degrees. It is funny how quickly I forget my dislike of hot beverages when I return here. My frozen fingers like the warmth of a hot mug of tea.
Regardless of the clothes washing, the regular rains, and the pervasive wet chill, I am very happy to be back. As my friend Marjo says, this is the price I have to pay so deal with it!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Made it to Ollanta!!
Well, my beach vacation went by too fast. It was heaven up there. We had so much fun. On Saturday night, there was a barbecue at the restaurant where Gian has his bar so there were tons of people eating and drinking. Gian and Jose Maria were hamming it up with the customers. They were a perfect tag team. It was hilarious to watch. After we closed the bar, we all went over to the local discoteca and danced the night away. It was such a great night. On Sunday, I slept in and then hit the beach for the last time. I had to leave to catch my bus in Mancora around 4:30pm. I was sad to say goodbye to Gian, Diego and Jose Maria. Gian and Diego are going to try to come and visit me in May. I really hope we can make that happen. They are great guys.
The bus to Lima took 19 hours. Normally it only takes 17. I was so ready to get off that bus when we finally reached Lima. My stomach has been reminding me that it doesn't like it when I shock it with new foods/bacterias. I don't mind really, I am so used to dealing with stomach issues when I travel. However, on these buses you are only supposed to use the bathroom to pee, not do anything else. You are supposed to ask the bus stewardess to have the drivers stop so you can use a bathroom. Who the heck wants to be the person who makes the bus stop so then everyone knows you have to go number two? Needless to say, I just didn't eat or drink hardly anything for the 19 hours so I didn't have to use the bathroom!
When I got back to my hotel in Lima, I saw an email from my mom telling me I got accepted to Vanderbilt!!! I am very happy to know that I got into at least one of the schools I applied to. Plus, I really like the faculty at Vanderbilt so I am pretty psyched. I still haven't heard from Yale yet. I did some emailing and skyping and then just walked around the Miraflores neighborhood in Lima. After relaxing, I headed back out to grab some dinner. Since I was heading to Ollanta, where the only seafood we have there is lake trout, I wanted to get one good last seafood meal. I found a cute sidewalk cafe/restaurant and had a great meal and a celebratory Chilcano to drink. Chilcano is pisco, lime juice and sprite. As I was eating, a threesome sat at the table next to me. We started talking and they invited me over to join them. 2 were Brits and 1 was a Swede. They all work on a luxury yacht. The Swede is the captain, the female Brit is the Service Manager and the male Brit is the Chief Engineer. They were nice and funny and I ended up staying out til 3 in the morning with Alan and Max. What was a good idea at the time, was not a good idea when I had to wake up at 7 for my taxi to the airport. Needless to say, I am tired.
But I made it to Ollanta with no problems and had a great reunion with Ana, Shura, Tatiana, Mauro and little Fabricio. Celestino is in Cusco all day so I haven't seen him yet. Fabricio is gigantic -- he weighs almost 25 pounds and is only 11 months old! He is so stinking cute. He is sick with a stomach virus so he is a little cranky. Poor little guy.
We had a good lunch and spent a long time talking. I went over to Awamaki and saw Jess and Will and Willa. It was like I had never left! I love Will and Jess. It is so nice to talk to them. There is a pub quiz tonight so I will have to go and see everyone else then.
Now that I have caught up in this, I am going to rest for a bit. The mountains are super green and covered in flowers since it is the rainy season right now. Actually, it is raining as I type this. It is about 60 degrees or so. I am looking at another 2 months of rainy days and by the end of April it should start drying up. It is really nice to be back in this beautiful little town. I am going to meet with Noah, Kaitlyn and Sunny tomorrow to talk about the health program and then will most likely head down to the posta (clinic). Yay -- it is great to be back!
The bus to Lima took 19 hours. Normally it only takes 17. I was so ready to get off that bus when we finally reached Lima. My stomach has been reminding me that it doesn't like it when I shock it with new foods/bacterias. I don't mind really, I am so used to dealing with stomach issues when I travel. However, on these buses you are only supposed to use the bathroom to pee, not do anything else. You are supposed to ask the bus stewardess to have the drivers stop so you can use a bathroom. Who the heck wants to be the person who makes the bus stop so then everyone knows you have to go number two? Needless to say, I just didn't eat or drink hardly anything for the 19 hours so I didn't have to use the bathroom!
When I got back to my hotel in Lima, I saw an email from my mom telling me I got accepted to Vanderbilt!!! I am very happy to know that I got into at least one of the schools I applied to. Plus, I really like the faculty at Vanderbilt so I am pretty psyched. I still haven't heard from Yale yet. I did some emailing and skyping and then just walked around the Miraflores neighborhood in Lima. After relaxing, I headed back out to grab some dinner. Since I was heading to Ollanta, where the only seafood we have there is lake trout, I wanted to get one good last seafood meal. I found a cute sidewalk cafe/restaurant and had a great meal and a celebratory Chilcano to drink. Chilcano is pisco, lime juice and sprite. As I was eating, a threesome sat at the table next to me. We started talking and they invited me over to join them. 2 were Brits and 1 was a Swede. They all work on a luxury yacht. The Swede is the captain, the female Brit is the Service Manager and the male Brit is the Chief Engineer. They were nice and funny and I ended up staying out til 3 in the morning with Alan and Max. What was a good idea at the time, was not a good idea when I had to wake up at 7 for my taxi to the airport. Needless to say, I am tired.
But I made it to Ollanta with no problems and had a great reunion with Ana, Shura, Tatiana, Mauro and little Fabricio. Celestino is in Cusco all day so I haven't seen him yet. Fabricio is gigantic -- he weighs almost 25 pounds and is only 11 months old! He is so stinking cute. He is sick with a stomach virus so he is a little cranky. Poor little guy.
We had a good lunch and spent a long time talking. I went over to Awamaki and saw Jess and Will and Willa. It was like I had never left! I love Will and Jess. It is so nice to talk to them. There is a pub quiz tonight so I will have to go and see everyone else then.
Now that I have caught up in this, I am going to rest for a bit. The mountains are super green and covered in flowers since it is the rainy season right now. Actually, it is raining as I type this. It is about 60 degrees or so. I am looking at another 2 months of rainy days and by the end of April it should start drying up. It is really nice to be back in this beautiful little town. I am going to meet with Noah, Kaitlyn and Sunny tomorrow to talk about the health program and then will most likely head down to the posta (clinic). Yay -- it is great to be back!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Perfect Day at the Beach
I can honestly say that today has been perfect. I was able to sleep in so I finally felt caught up from all the flights/bus journeys of the last few days. I hit the beach with a huge bunch of grapes to have for breakfast. It was pretty hot when I first got out there, but then it cooled off and a nice breeze came up. I had been laying out for a couple hours when Gian took a break from the bar and joined me on the beach. I had just purchased a pineapple popsicle for lunch. We played frisbee for a long time. People don't play frisbee here so we had quite a few spectators, not to mention a local dog who wanted to join in the fun. After frisbee we spent some time out in the waves. They were perfect for playing in and body surfing. The water was a great temperature.
We laid back out on the beach for awhile before going back in for more wave action. After that it was time to chill out with a movie. Now I am showered and coated in OFF! since the mosquitoes are crazy bad here. I have bites all over my feet, arms and hands. I am going to head down to the restaurant that Gian works at part-time for some chow. Gian and Diego have some cousins and their kids in town for the weekend. Diego's friend Jose Maria has been keeping me company while Gian works. He is in town until next week as well. It is nice to have someone to eat dinner with while the boys work.
Altogether though, I enjoy the free time to just chill and decompress while Gian is working. I will probably turn in early again tonight to try to get some more sleep.
Silly side note -- I had forgotten how much Peruvian men love their fanny packs. Whenever I see a man (which is nearly every man) with a fanny pack, I have to smile. Even Gian, who lived in the States for 10 years, uses one and will laugh at himself for it.
I have quickly gotten back into the habit of not putting toilet paper in the toilet. No worries with that one. My intestinal tract is also quickly acclimating to the Peruvian food again. I had some amazing ceviche the other day. I love seafood!!
So life is very good at the beach. It is going to be hard to leave on Sunday.
We laid back out on the beach for awhile before going back in for more wave action. After that it was time to chill out with a movie. Now I am showered and coated in OFF! since the mosquitoes are crazy bad here. I have bites all over my feet, arms and hands. I am going to head down to the restaurant that Gian works at part-time for some chow. Gian and Diego have some cousins and their kids in town for the weekend. Diego's friend Jose Maria has been keeping me company while Gian works. He is in town until next week as well. It is nice to have someone to eat dinner with while the boys work.
Altogether though, I enjoy the free time to just chill and decompress while Gian is working. I will probably turn in early again tonight to try to get some more sleep.
Silly side note -- I had forgotten how much Peruvian men love their fanny packs. Whenever I see a man (which is nearly every man) with a fanny pack, I have to smile. Even Gian, who lived in the States for 10 years, uses one and will laugh at himself for it.
I have quickly gotten back into the habit of not putting toilet paper in the toilet. No worries with that one. My intestinal tract is also quickly acclimating to the Peruvian food again. I had some amazing ceviche the other day. I love seafood!!
So life is very good at the beach. It is going to be hard to leave on Sunday.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Ahhh, the beach! Me gusta la playa!!
First and foremost, Happy Birthday Dad!!!
So I made it to Punta Sal this morning. Unfortunately, when I went to pay for my return bus fare to Lima, I realized that I did not have my debit card anymore. So, this means I was an idiot and left it in an ATM machine in Lima, or someone managed to steal it from me. Luckily when I phoned the bank this morning, there were not any extra charges on it, however, I now do not have access to my cash. This presents a problem when living in a country where cash is the currency and rarely can you use a credit card. So, I am keeping cool and will see how far the cash I do have will last me. Gian is heading to Mancora tomorrow to get some groceries and stuff so I am tagging along to see if the Western Union office in the mini-mart in town will be a viable option. If not, Gian said he can cover me and I can transfer money to him. It will all work out, but what a pain in the butt! Seriously, I am without a debit card after 1 day in Peru!! How ridiculous is that?!?
Otherwise, all is great. Gian has managed to get me this cute bungalow right near the beach. I can hear the waves crashing from inside my little room. The bathroom is really cool as it is more like a garden bathroom. Part of it is open to the heavens so it is nice and airy. Although, it is hot as all get out here. The ocean feels sooo good. I already have a red nose and some weird red stripes down my arm where I obviously missed the sunscreen.
Gian has some friends in town right now so we have all been hanging out at the beach. I am very glad I made the decision to stop here first as laying on the beach in the sun is feeling pretty darn amazing! Punta Sal has been built up a little bit in the last year, but it is still a great, sleepy beach town. We are having a bonfire out on the beach tonight. Should be fun.
If anyone has advice about my money (or lack-there-of) situation, I would love to hear it. Hope all is well with everyone.
So I made it to Punta Sal this morning. Unfortunately, when I went to pay for my return bus fare to Lima, I realized that I did not have my debit card anymore. So, this means I was an idiot and left it in an ATM machine in Lima, or someone managed to steal it from me. Luckily when I phoned the bank this morning, there were not any extra charges on it, however, I now do not have access to my cash. This presents a problem when living in a country where cash is the currency and rarely can you use a credit card. So, I am keeping cool and will see how far the cash I do have will last me. Gian is heading to Mancora tomorrow to get some groceries and stuff so I am tagging along to see if the Western Union office in the mini-mart in town will be a viable option. If not, Gian said he can cover me and I can transfer money to him. It will all work out, but what a pain in the butt! Seriously, I am without a debit card after 1 day in Peru!! How ridiculous is that?!?
Otherwise, all is great. Gian has managed to get me this cute bungalow right near the beach. I can hear the waves crashing from inside my little room. The bathroom is really cool as it is more like a garden bathroom. Part of it is open to the heavens so it is nice and airy. Although, it is hot as all get out here. The ocean feels sooo good. I already have a red nose and some weird red stripes down my arm where I obviously missed the sunscreen.
Gian has some friends in town right now so we have all been hanging out at the beach. I am very glad I made the decision to stop here first as laying on the beach in the sun is feeling pretty darn amazing! Punta Sal has been built up a little bit in the last year, but it is still a great, sleepy beach town. We are having a bonfire out on the beach tonight. Should be fun.
If anyone has advice about my money (or lack-there-of) situation, I would love to hear it. Hope all is well with everyone.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Cheap Airfare = loooong travel day
I am sitting in the Panama City, Panama airport appreciating the free wi-fi. Why can't all airports have free wi-fi? I am also sitting here enjoying the feel of air conditioning! It is hot and humid here which makes me realize that it is going to be REALLY hot and humid when I land in Lima tonight. Then it is going to be even HOTTER when I get up to the beach on Tuesday. However, after the crappy winter we have had across the U.S., I am not complaining one bit about the heat!
So for those of you who do not know, this is my plan: I arrive in Lima tonight around 10pm. I started my travels this morning at 6:20am from Indianapolis. Two layovers (one in Houston and one in Panama) and I will finally make it to Lima. I just really hope my bag makes it too.
Tomorrow afternoon, I hop on one of Cruz del Sur's finest buses and settle into my VIP seat for the 17 hour journey up the coast to the beach town of Mancora. From Mancora, I have to find a taxi or a collectivo (public transportation) to the little beach town of Punta Sal. My returning bloggers, Punta Sal is the beach town where Keri, Ben and I stayed over a week last spring. We made friends with the bartender, Gian, at one of the hotels, and I will be visiting him for the week. He is now running his own bar with his nephew from Lima so it will be nice to see how this new business venture is going for him. I am really just looking forward to a week of relaxation at the beach. After working nearly every day for the past 5 months, I need a break!
I will be at the beach until Sunday, the 20th. It will then take another 17 hour bus journey to get back to Lima. I will spend the night there on Monday night, and then catch a 9am flight to Cusco on Tuesday, the 22nd. I will be living at my old host family's home (Ana, Celestino, Shura and little Fabricio) for the entire time I am in Ollanta. We've talked a few times in the last couple weeks so they are excited for my return.
Once in Ollanta, I have no plans of leaving until it is time for me to hike the Inca Trail and then fly home. I only have 3 months in Peru this time, so I know it will fly by. It is kind of depressing. Just to bring everyone up to speed, I am currently waiting to hear back from both Vanderbilt and Yale on my (hopeful) admission to their accelerated nursing programs. I should get word from both schools within a few weeks. There are pros and cons to both, so we will just have to see what happens.
I will update the slide show with new photos as soon as I take some! I have my computer down here with me this time so hopefully it will be much easier to get photos uploaded. Hope all is well with everyone, and thank you for being a part of my adventure again!
So for those of you who do not know, this is my plan: I arrive in Lima tonight around 10pm. I started my travels this morning at 6:20am from Indianapolis. Two layovers (one in Houston and one in Panama) and I will finally make it to Lima. I just really hope my bag makes it too.
Tomorrow afternoon, I hop on one of Cruz del Sur's finest buses and settle into my VIP seat for the 17 hour journey up the coast to the beach town of Mancora. From Mancora, I have to find a taxi or a collectivo (public transportation) to the little beach town of Punta Sal. My returning bloggers, Punta Sal is the beach town where Keri, Ben and I stayed over a week last spring. We made friends with the bartender, Gian, at one of the hotels, and I will be visiting him for the week. He is now running his own bar with his nephew from Lima so it will be nice to see how this new business venture is going for him. I am really just looking forward to a week of relaxation at the beach. After working nearly every day for the past 5 months, I need a break!
I will be at the beach until Sunday, the 20th. It will then take another 17 hour bus journey to get back to Lima. I will spend the night there on Monday night, and then catch a 9am flight to Cusco on Tuesday, the 22nd. I will be living at my old host family's home (Ana, Celestino, Shura and little Fabricio) for the entire time I am in Ollanta. We've talked a few times in the last couple weeks so they are excited for my return.
Once in Ollanta, I have no plans of leaving until it is time for me to hike the Inca Trail and then fly home. I only have 3 months in Peru this time, so I know it will fly by. It is kind of depressing. Just to bring everyone up to speed, I am currently waiting to hear back from both Vanderbilt and Yale on my (hopeful) admission to their accelerated nursing programs. I should get word from both schools within a few weeks. There are pros and cons to both, so we will just have to see what happens.
I will update the slide show with new photos as soon as I take some! I have my computer down here with me this time so hopefully it will be much easier to get photos uploaded. Hope all is well with everyone, and thank you for being a part of my adventure again!
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