Alimentacion

This week I started the alimentacion project.  I am the coordinator with this project for the children of San Isidro.  My project entails supplying nutritional foods to the children.  I have to plan food for the week, shop, organize, prepare, and deliver the food.  As I was walking up what felt like one of the biggest hills in the free world with all of the food yesterday; I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  I looked around this very poor and rural town with the sun beaming all around me and the peace and quiet of the morning and couldn´t help but be grateful that I was getting to be a part of this project.  I was also really grateful to get the experience of working a project like this since this is what I aim to do in my career.  Since these families and children have no other opportunities for success like we do in the states it humbles me to know that even though life is unfair for them in terms of opportunities at least I can do something in a day that helps them.  The sadness that comes with realizing that I have it really good in comparison to them is something I cannot dwell upon, rather I see them as these incredible people that still have happiness.  They are an example that happiness is not from possessions because they have none.  No televisions, Wii´s, bicycles, computers, games, running water, electricity.  Yet, they manage to make the best of what they have and live their lives in a good way.  I expect this community to have bitterness or anger kind of like the people I experience on the east coast. But no, they smile, love their children, and work hard each and every day.  I am blessed to have the time with these communities even though my time is short.  It will be hard challenging adjusting back to my Western life knowing what it is like for the people and children of San Isidro.  While I am powerless to change these circumstances on a macro scale all I can do is give my heart and service for every moment possible and hope they know on some level how amazing they truly are.

Jardin

I am comfortably settling into my new volunteer work in Arequipa.  I am working with a volunteer organization, Intiwawa, which does projects for children in rural communities.  This entails many ambitious projects to help these specific communities.  San Isidro is a brick mining community that we volunteer with the local kindergarden teacher.  I was able to work with these cute little tots this week.  I absolutely loved it and I can honestly report that children are globally and universally wild!  These ninos took their opportunity to get up on the chairs and crawl around on the desk as soon as the teacher left the room.  They have a keen understanding of how much they can get away with since our Spanish is limited.  I felt honored to be able to join in on their daily activities.  The teacher starts the class with the Lord´s prayer and hearing their tiny little voices since this ancient song was beautiful.  They followed that with other children´s songs where the kids got to tap the tables and clap their hands.  We spent part of the morning doing an arts and craft project about Red Riding Hood.  They had to first draw their interpretation of Red Riding Hood and I do not know what it is about giving a child a red crayon but they really let out all their emotions and feelings!  If I did some pschoanalysis on some of their drawings I might say that it is possible some of the children have some repressed anger!  Nevertheless, getting to see their interpretations via the drawings was spectacular.  From there they had to use red paper and make small red balls which they glued to a cape.  Now if anyone has witnessed, youtubed, or imagined what children are like with say glue or glitter you can then imagine the sudden rush of stress on my end!  Those are objects that somehow wind up everywhere and anywhere on a children.  In their hair, mouth, nose, shoes, and in the classroom for eternity!  I helped facilitate giving out small portions of glue and the children worked diligently to put their small red balls on their capes.  However, one of the girls didn´t make enough red balls for the project and she looked up at me with these sad eyes realizing her mistake.  I knew that there wasn´t any more red paper available so I took a quick scan of the classroom and saw one of the children had left their red balls unattended. I took my opportunity to take some of them and gave it to the girl to resolve the problem.  Unfortunately, the other child discovered the situation and I luckily had some leftover stolen red balls and all was well once again. Under normal circumstances I would never condone stealing, but in the case of children my philosphy to solve problems is BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!  It is a simple philosophy, yes, but  it has been quite effective!  After our art project the teacher hung the children´s work on the board and went through and asked the group if each picture was bonito or feo?  The children responded bonito and the teacher gave a happy praise and stamp for each one of the completed pictures.  The children loved the praises from the teacher and I really liked the positive reinforcement.  After art came snack time then outside play.  These children have very little toys and have painted cans that they stack together to make creations.  Of course having boys in the classroom this turned into throwing the cans, kicking the cans, and knocking over the cans.  Having the most experience with children I had to step up and correct their behavior, however my Spanish vocabulary came out in one simple syllable word.  Put.  Yes, put.  Try to control those monkeys with one syllable words and see if you don´t feel like a champ that day!  While I have worked with children for many years this was new ground for me on many levels.  My heart really goes out to these children knowing the poverty that they come from and lack of opportunities they will have because of their situations.  Their parents spend up to fifteen hours a day laying close to 500 bricks to support their families.  Not many options for these communities to go off to universities and make a better life.  These people really touch my heart because even with all of their adversity they are still happy.  The children smile and play and at the end of the day that is what is most important.

Lake Titicaca

This weekend´s adventure entailed two of the volunteers and I setting off for Lake Titicaca.  Lake Titicaca is 3200 square miles and 1000 feet in depth lake to give you an idea about the vastness of this special and unique place.  It is so large that it has small islands which indigenous families live on and where we got to spend the evening.  It took us three hours by boat to arrive on the main island and we got situated with our host families upon our arrival.  The families set the foundation for the islands and their homes with totora leaves and makes boats, houses, and beds from them too.  The leaves are needle-like and a deep olive and green color and on average 3-4 meters in height.  It looked like a really large green onion to me.  I was fascinated to watch and learn about the process from which these communities live and thrive.  From there we settled into our rooms for the evening and met up later for a late afternoon hike.  This was spectacluar getting to see the island from above and all the surroundings.  I had a hard time believing I was on a lake that contained islands.  It was massive!  However, one of the greatest aspects of this trip was getting to experience the local families.  We had dinner with them in their tiny cocina that had a wood burning stove which they cooked traditional foods for us.  I was able to play with the kids and show them some of my favorite games.  We also took the liberty to sing English songs to them and I was grateful that they couldn´t understand how off key I was in my own language!  I absolutely delighted in having this authetic experience with this family.  Later in the evening they dressed us in their traditional wardrobe and we set off for the discoteca.  We danced in the local Peruvian dance and I thoroughly enjoyed shaking my tail feather with this community.  The following day we had fresh trout from the lake and it was by far one of the best fish I have eaten in Peru thus far.  As we left the island headed back home I couldn´t help but be grateful for the whole experience.  It stays in my favorite top five experiences of my trip to date.

Huaraz

There are moments that make you realize your potential.  I am currently in the state of being re-defined.  Soy Americana? Si.  Soy Gringa.  Si, si.  Soy spiritual mujer.  Definitely.  Are there moments that I feel lonely on my journey.  Yes.  Not in the way that most people think porque there are so many individuals interacting with me that I rarely have the time to feel alone.  The thing that I miss the most is my spiritual connections.  I have a shortage of that in this far away land from mi casa.  However, I feel more in harmony with the values and qualities that exists south of the ecuador.  The local people are full of heart and energy.  Their voices and song reverberates inside my mind and heart as I drift off into sleep.  Community, oneness, connection is all here and even though I look like an outsider I am rarely treated that way.  I smile and they smile back at me.  I utter senseless Spanish and wave my hands and arms in gentle reflection of their language, and the local people try to comprehend my Spanglish.  While it has been a few weeks since I have last wrote the adventures continue hence forth--Let´s take a brief commercial break and review....

Huaraz-deep in heart of the Andes my adventures truly rests.  I arrived in Huaraz with eager anticipation of the sights I would behold. I was not disappointed in the least and the whole experience would surpass my expectations.  I was recommended a hostel to stay in Huaraz and I took a luxurious bus that served drinks and snacks.  Imagine a bus stewardess similar to an airline stewardess with lounge seats and blankets on a double decker bus.  Heaven.  Ecuador has the worst bus rides and no accomodations especially for gringas!  I arrived at Hostel Churup which had a bird´s eye view of the Andes mountains.  I was completely in love and infatuated.  I met up with a Canadian couple and we hiked some of the local lagunas which led me to meeting the English gents.  Peter and Neil were two active surfers who I would spend the next 3 days with and have epic times.  We hiked laguna 69 and decided that we were a good threesome to set off for Vallunaraju.  Vallunaraju is a 5,486 meter mountain that commands respect right away for those that venture on this specific peak.  The tour guides said it was an easy mountain.  They lied.  We hiked in the first day for acclimization purposes and then in the morning we set off for the summit.  The altitude worked its way through my body and I did my best to push through the pain.  Peter and Daniel set off in the morning together and Neil and I were strapped in together for our trek.  A trek is certainly was considering we had to rock climb and use ropes and a ice axe to make our way over the glacier and cravasses!  I felt like I was in a dream.  We missed the summit by 400 meters, but I was happy with my accomplishment that day.  Neil and I felt pretty nasty on the descent and we were both grateful to get down on dry..ish land and let the altitude sickness leave our bodies.  Currently, I am in Cusco a city that is filled with spiritual and cultural history and it pales in comparision to my journey in Hauraz.  I am off to my next destination tonight in hopes that I can experience something even vaguely exciting as Vallunaraju....

Tranquilo

The life of the gypsy woman entails a butt ton of movement.  While this quality serves me well in my every day living in the states because I get to have a daily planner that looks like someone barfed onto it there are moments that I realize that maybe slowing down isn´t so bad afterall.  Ordinarily I run around even here in South America, but today I wasn´t feeling well and I totally surrendered.  I took a nap.  This is nothing short of a miracle for me.  After my nap I lazily took a walk up to the Virgin statue which entailed like a cagillion stairs to walk up and I took the time to rest when I needed during my trek.  From there I went to one of my favorite hot springs and relaxed in the thermal baths.  One of the locals spotted the single gringa and started a conversation with me.  I did my due diligence to try and communicate with him in Spanish.  I have turned over a new leaf with attempting to speak as much Spanish as I can since I went into a temporary lapse of forgetting my purpose here. Trying to fumble your way into a new language is most humbling.  Often I am grasping for words the words I do know and they get mixed up with the new words I am currently learning and soon it becomes this Spanglish soupy mess!  I forget how to speak and just stare at my zapatos.  Tonight was progress because a) I couldn´t stare at my shoes and b) I attempted to try and understand then speak.  It was a short conversation!!  However, the evening was mucho tranquilo because there was light rain sprinkling down and only the local people speaking their native tongue.  I just observed and relaxed into the moment and this woman who was 90 years old comes by and starts singing to me.  I could get used to this kind of life.  I felt complete gratitude for the peace and tranquility this place offered me especially after the last few weeks which have been challenging.  It is not easy attempting a language and adopting to a new culture and more often than not have people look at you like you are bizerk.  Or get corrected when you really thought you nailed it.  Or even better, grasping and grasping for a simple word and you can´t communicate then you are forced to stare at your shoes....again.  I was at a birthday party recently and got pretty overwhelmed with not being fluent and went into my comfort zone and refused to speak anything but English. I wouldn´t even consider my Spanglish soupy words.  Finally, I realized that I should at least tell my host happy birthday.  I muster up the courage to approach him after an hour and walk directly up to him and look him into the eyes and say proudly, "Feliz Navidad!"  He buckles over with laughter as do I and realize that while I love a good Christmas cheer it wasn´t Christmas.  Otra vez!!!

Hookahs not Hookers

Listen, pronunciation is key to any language.  It is amazing how one vowel sound or consonant blend can completely change the context of a conversation.  Take last Friday last night for example, Karl and I were making our way to another bar for the evening.  The rest of the volunteers made their rounds to the local favorites so off Karl and I went.  This being an Ecuadorian shuffle we tried to visit a better establishment than the local bump and grind bar that the other volunteers fancied, but it was closed.  As we were making our way back Karl asks me if I wanted to share a "Hoookaah."  It took my brain a moment to register the words that I was hearing.  Did I want to share a hooker with the director of the children´s program?  It only took me a few polite seconds to say "No, I do not want to share a hooker with you."  Now, many people in this situation may have found it bizarre that someone asked you to share a hooker, but in my case it did not. I have been on the planet for many moons and I´ve been asked many preguntas that I would have prefered to have never been asked.  Take this case for example, yes, I would prefer not to share a prostitute.  I know it´s Friday night and maybe that´s scene but this Colorado girl does not roll like that.  I was a little surprised that the option was available since Banos is a small tourist town. I inquired with Karl and asked if there where many hookers in Banos.  As I was waiting for his response I see that we were approaching a Hookah bar.  Click, click, click...now it started adding up.  It´s a hookah not a hooker he wanted to share!!! Phew!  I did explain to him the miscommunication in dialect and we had a good chuckle over it and the volunteers enjoyed hearing the tales too.  Karl and I did wind up sharing a "hookaaah" together after all.  There are many moments that I realize I am far away from home because experiencing bizarre things like this is common particualary in Latin America.  On my way home I listen to the roosters crowing at 12:30 in the morning, or when I am at the local hot springs trying to change into my bathing suite the door gets jammed and I have to crawl up and out of the changing room.  My friends commented that luckily I am active and can just climb out of everything!  Or perhaps when I was trying to Skpe my dear friend and the headphones would fit the head of a small 7 year old child but not a grown person. Then I ask for another headphone and one side of the ear piece hung down around my knee cap and made it really difficult for my friend to hear my voice.  Finally, frustrated at the situation I am waving my broken headphones around trying to have a miracle happen and strangely enough it does!  He whips out a brand new pair of headphones and I am thinking why on earth were you storing them?  Was there a particular occasion that would have warranted the use of them?  HELLO!!!  Bienvenidos to Bizarreville.  I actually enjoy these types of experiences after the fact because it is making up my adventures here in Ecuador.  Looks like I will be pushing onto Peru to help volunteer with a nutrition program for children.  Hope I encounter many hookahs and not hookers there......

Snick, Snack, Snoock

There are periods in our lives when we realize that evolution has occured.  For example, normally when someone cuts you off in traffic you might reach down for your glock 9, however, with the evolution of Self you refrain.  Instead, you might reach for a small bat or shiv.  This IS a marked notice of evolution and the persona that cut you off may not express their appreciation for your evolution at the time, but I applaud your efforts.  Recently, I was hanging with my German friends and we were deliberating on continuing our hike or turning around because the weather started to look a bit manic.  Snick, snack, snoock shortly took place after our conversation.  Now this may not seem like this was an incident of evolution, but indeed it was--after I understood what the heck it meant!  I am often seen carrying around a dictionary pressed against my hip and I´m muy rapido with the whipping out words to try and comprehend the language. For the most part it works quite well, but unfortunately my new vocabulary often does not refer to the actual conversation at hand.  I leave people stumped and wondering.  I do this on purpose because then they won´t have high expectations for me to succeed in their language if they think I am stupid!! Once I do start to grasp the language I will start being sincere and replying in the right context.  I digress---back to evolution... After we completed a round of snick, snack, snoock I learned of all the new rules and versions for our American version of rock, paper, and scissors.  If this isn´t a fine example of evolution I don´t know what is and I was so happy to learn of the updated procedures for this ancient games that has globally settled many disagreements.  When our old staple childhood games shifts into a new evolution it truly is a mark of progress in humanity.  If you haven´t played snick, snack, snoock recently then make a concerted effort to incoporate it in your day.  Maybe after you finish chatting with your co-workers around the water cooler?  Maybe in the car when you are deciding who should get to merge into the lane?  Maybe after you and your spouse can´t decide on the dinner menu?  Snick, snack, snoock will solve all your problems and with the new versions of this game can only help lead to a stronger path of world peace.  For myself, I have a new goal of getting the glue off of my tongue and the removing the marshmallows from my brain in order for me to communicate coherently in the Spanish language.  Hearing the word "Como" is a common place for me in my daily interactions with the locals.  After I pick up my shattered ego off of the floor because I realized I only asked for "salsa de aji" for the love of Christ.  Could my communication be this poor as a Virgo woman?  Apparently this is true because I get consist "Como" throughout the dia.  After proper resuscitation of my fragile ego I muster up my courage and go ahead and ask for the "salsa de tomate."  At this point I´m thinking my eggs are pretty fricken dry and I´ll will settle for anything!!  If the waitstaff happens to get confrontational then you know exactly what I will do to resolve the issue immediately.  "Escupe, senor snick, snack, snook para mi y tu?"  Toda bien......