Living In The Andes
Every once in a while it hits me - I`m living in the Andes of Perù. I`m not visiting, I`m not just hanging out; I`m living. I`m building a life - making friends, setting goals, doing my job, having bad hair days and good hair days. I`m actually living in the Andes!
Jocos has been very welcoming. Nearly everyone I meet greets me and the kids have been wonderful (though at times trying for someone with little experience with anyone under the age of 20). Nat and I have spent some time playing with them and I was afraid they would leave me out, but once that first brave kid picked me (we were playing an exciting game of Pata, Pata, Vaca or Duck, Duck, Cow), I was in. They chased me around the circle and laughed if they caught me and laughed if they didn`t. A couple of days later we played dodge ball (I still suck at it!) and drew chalk figures on the basketball court. It is amazing how creative these kids can be once they get out of the classroom. Get them outside, put some chalk in their hands and watch the pictures emerge - their house, their cattle, flowers, butterflies, their own hands and bodies. I want to explore this side of these kids some more. They rarely get the chance to be creative inside the classroom and family responsibilities keep them in the concert world after school. Some pet rocks just might be in order here!
Having said that Jocos has welcomed me, I`m still not quite There completely. I`m not really sure where I fit in right now. I don`t fit in here yet and I don`t feel like I fit in back at home completely either. Time will change both of these, but the feeling is still unsettling.
I did get moved into my new room, though! I`m very excited about it! Its nice to have a space of my own with pictures and places to put my things and hang out and read and to do my yoga and exercises. I`m still sharing a kitchen with Nat, but that keeps me from sitting in my room all day. Oh what a difference having a personal space makes!
My Christmas was pretty quiet. Christmas Eve I spent with Nat and the nurses at the Health Post (not to mention the ever-present escort of dogs). We had hot chocolate and Panaton. The Panaton is something like a giant fruitcake muffin - though not as tasty. Seriously. The bread is something like bad, dry cinnamon roll bread, minus the cinnamon, with raisans and brightly colored chunks of mystery fruit scattered throughout. Novel, but not very interesting. Christmas day Nat and I hiked up to Lluchubamba for dinner. We exchanged some gifts, had Stove Top stuffing, yams and cranberry sauce for dinner and Oreo No-Bake cheesecake for dessert.
I spent my first two days alone in Jocos right after Christmas and it was easy and hard at the same time. I found a routine for myself - walk with the dogs in the morning, listen to the BBC `til lunch, eat, then head to the plaza or Health Post to knit. The hard part was always leaving the room to knit. But I did it and even got to watch one of the most exciting things happen in Jocos since Nat arrived - we got the posts for electricity! Not that that means we will be getting actual electricity any time in the near future (things move much slower here), but its a start! Everyone in town is very excited!
Kìon is doing well. Very excited to see me as he spent New Year`s at the kennel in Cajamarca and got his first round of shots. He grew a ton and is pretty eager to please me right now (I think he`s afraid if he`s bad I`ll leave him again). He is getting the commands more quickly now - sit, down, off, etc. but we`re still not doing well with the house training. A good week or so more of being punished soundly for going in the house should do it.
My New Year`s, however, was spent at the beach. It was a lot of fun marred only by the event of my purse getting stolen. Naturally, it had all my official documents (minus the passport, thank God), bank/credit cards and my camera. That one stings the most as I had a ton of pictures on it ready to upload to share with everyone. But, everything is in the process of being replaced and the damage was relatively minimal. It was bound to happen some time. Not to mention the fantastic ceviche (fish "cooked" in lime juice) and that I was on the beach for New Year`s! I was dancing, eating and hanging out with good friends. Not much to complain about, really.
Happy 2005 to you all!
Jocos has been very welcoming. Nearly everyone I meet greets me and the kids have been wonderful (though at times trying for someone with little experience with anyone under the age of 20). Nat and I have spent some time playing with them and I was afraid they would leave me out, but once that first brave kid picked me (we were playing an exciting game of Pata, Pata, Vaca or Duck, Duck, Cow), I was in. They chased me around the circle and laughed if they caught me and laughed if they didn`t. A couple of days later we played dodge ball (I still suck at it!) and drew chalk figures on the basketball court. It is amazing how creative these kids can be once they get out of the classroom. Get them outside, put some chalk in their hands and watch the pictures emerge - their house, their cattle, flowers, butterflies, their own hands and bodies. I want to explore this side of these kids some more. They rarely get the chance to be creative inside the classroom and family responsibilities keep them in the concert world after school. Some pet rocks just might be in order here!
Having said that Jocos has welcomed me, I`m still not quite There completely. I`m not really sure where I fit in right now. I don`t fit in here yet and I don`t feel like I fit in back at home completely either. Time will change both of these, but the feeling is still unsettling.
I did get moved into my new room, though! I`m very excited about it! Its nice to have a space of my own with pictures and places to put my things and hang out and read and to do my yoga and exercises. I`m still sharing a kitchen with Nat, but that keeps me from sitting in my room all day. Oh what a difference having a personal space makes!
My Christmas was pretty quiet. Christmas Eve I spent with Nat and the nurses at the Health Post (not to mention the ever-present escort of dogs). We had hot chocolate and Panaton. The Panaton is something like a giant fruitcake muffin - though not as tasty. Seriously. The bread is something like bad, dry cinnamon roll bread, minus the cinnamon, with raisans and brightly colored chunks of mystery fruit scattered throughout. Novel, but not very interesting. Christmas day Nat and I hiked up to Lluchubamba for dinner. We exchanged some gifts, had Stove Top stuffing, yams and cranberry sauce for dinner and Oreo No-Bake cheesecake for dessert.
I spent my first two days alone in Jocos right after Christmas and it was easy and hard at the same time. I found a routine for myself - walk with the dogs in the morning, listen to the BBC `til lunch, eat, then head to the plaza or Health Post to knit. The hard part was always leaving the room to knit. But I did it and even got to watch one of the most exciting things happen in Jocos since Nat arrived - we got the posts for electricity! Not that that means we will be getting actual electricity any time in the near future (things move much slower here), but its a start! Everyone in town is very excited!
Kìon is doing well. Very excited to see me as he spent New Year`s at the kennel in Cajamarca and got his first round of shots. He grew a ton and is pretty eager to please me right now (I think he`s afraid if he`s bad I`ll leave him again). He is getting the commands more quickly now - sit, down, off, etc. but we`re still not doing well with the house training. A good week or so more of being punished soundly for going in the house should do it.
My New Year`s, however, was spent at the beach. It was a lot of fun marred only by the event of my purse getting stolen. Naturally, it had all my official documents (minus the passport, thank God), bank/credit cards and my camera. That one stings the most as I had a ton of pictures on it ready to upload to share with everyone. But, everything is in the process of being replaced and the damage was relatively minimal. It was bound to happen some time. Not to mention the fantastic ceviche (fish "cooked" in lime juice) and that I was on the beach for New Year`s! I was dancing, eating and hanging out with good friends. Not much to complain about, really.
Happy 2005 to you all!
posted by Kellie | 8:20 PM
