A Little Here, A Little There

One week down and life is good. I am settling in well at Yamanya and I only have one class at Excel. There weren’t enough people that matriculated for the other two classes that I was potentially going to teach. Fortunately, I am not desperate for the hours. I am actually kind of excited that I only have one class that I can pour all my energy into. I want to make it fun and exciting and I can certainly do it with all the extra time I have without two other classes.

Last night we celebrated Sadidt’s birthday by getting pizza at a place called La Verona. It was fun and I saw some students that I hadn’t seen since I had them in September.

I’ve been making lots of friends here at the hostel from all over the world. I definitely have a place to stay when I go to Santiago, Mendoza, Cordoba, and Buenos Aires. It’s amazing the amount of networking you can do when you live and work at a hostel. I have also taken to giving suggestions to guests as to where to get lunch and good coffee and pastries. I want to share my knowledge of the city because so often people who work at hostel bars are travelers as well and they don’t know the city that well. I want to make sure that people get good info. I read the reviews of the hostel on hostelworld.com and hostelbooker.com and one of the negative comments that was on there was about bad directions to Pisac. There isn’t much the hostel can do about it’s bar workers and their knowledge of the city but for the time being, I will improve upon that comment and give people correct advice. ☺

In other news, I met up with Marissa, the cousin of Becca who I worked with at Maximo until December. Anyway, Marissa and her boyfriend Humberto are opening up a pasta restaurant called Pasta Mama. It’s a play on the word Pachamama which means mother earth in Quechua. I think I may have mentioned all this before. I’m super excited though! They should be open by the beginning of next month and I will be working there serving and doing whatever else they need me to do. I can’t wait. It’s so exciting to be a part of an entrepreneurial adventure! Right now they are working on lighting and getting some bar stools. I am going to see if I can’t help type up the menu and make it pretty once it is finalized. I will be making about 4 soles an hour but it’s better than nothing. I might get a bit in tips too. I don’t expect much though. Tipping is not common here. A sol here or there would be nice though. I will have to rely on the gringos. They tend to tip; especially if they are from the States. So next month I will be working at the hostel and at Pasta Mama and taking a break from teaching which will be great because my brother Roger is coming on the 15th! He just confirmed his flight and I couldn’t be more excited!! We are going to have a blast. I am going to show him everything!

El Carnaval!!

What a fantastic day!! After a fast morning shift, Corey came over and we got ready to rock out to Pisac. Catherine tagged along with and I am so glad she did! When we got to Pisac we made sure to get something to eat before planning our attack on the small children in the square. Carnaval is all about water, water balloons, foam (espuma), and silly string. Everyone gets soaked. It's a requirement. We picked up a few bottles of espuma each and went at the kids. It was so much fun. We were some of the few gringos that took part in the soak/foam fest. What is the point of going to a Carnaval festival if you aren't going to partake? The kids loved us and managed to get us pretty badly. I was soaked from head to toe by the end of the few hours we spent running around. We ran into a few friends from the bar including Miguel Angel (my bartending teacher) who is from Pisac. He seems to be somewhat of a celebrity there. Everyone knows him. Granted, the town has about 700 people in it. Either way, we got a few free water balloons from him and continued on our mission to spray as many people we could. After running out of ammo and realizing how cold we actually were, we headed back to Cusco; happy, tired, wet, and ready for a hot shower! I will post some pics once Corey sends me some. I am currently working on cropping the video that Catherine got on her camera. It's awesome.

In other news, I bought a camera! Woohoo! It ended up being about $130 US but it's totally worth it. I am happy to have a photo taking machine again. My requirements were that it had a lithium battery and could take video. I ended up going with a Kodak 14 megapixel camera. I don't care at all about the megapixels. I was fine with my 6 megapixel canon before but they just don't stop getting bigger. Oh well. I am content and in lieu of the new camera, I am posting some pics of the hostel: my new home!

The first two pictures are of the bar. The final picture is the view from the second floor looking down on reception and the first patio.

Sweet Salmonella Sickness

Well, the time has finally come for a viscious little bacilli to enter my stomach and wreak havoc. I am pretty sure I got Salmonella from a mango sour I made. Miguel helped me make it and we used the egg white from an egg I never saw. Word to wise, if you ever use raw eggs, make sure you actually see the egg it came out of. I don´t know how old the clara (egg white) was and it was most likely the culprit. I originally thought I had eaten something bad when I cooked spaghetti on Tuesday but I had terrible cramps the following days so I decided to see a doctor. Good thing I did! He took a blood sample and stool sample to check for Salmonella and for parasties. I am now taking cipro and staying away from alcohol for the week which won´t be difficult.

I have worked the past three mornings at the bar for the breakfast shift and I have to say I don´t mind working this shift as much as I thought I would. I don´t have to think like I did when I was up teaching at 7am. I just put out bread, coffee, milk, and tea. I make sure there are clean dishes and that people are happy. I also get to play whatever music I want. I am scheduled to work this shift 4 days in a row next Thursday through Sunday. We´ll see if I can´t get a switcheroo with someone maybe on Sunday morning. Apparently, Miguel, who did the scheduling, thinks that I have to work the mornings because I am in charge of making sure the food is ordered and bought for breakfast and sandwiches. Fortunately, my co-worker Catherine, explained to him that I just need to take a count after the shift is over and make sure to buy whatever is needed for the following day.

I start classes tomorrow in the afternoon and I won´t find out my exact schedule until tomorrow morning nor what levels I am teaching. They don´t really give you much time to plan for the first day but it´s all good. First days are meant for introductions and review. Either way, I am excited about it.

Home Sweet Yamanya

I have made the move to Yamanya! I am now living in a dorm with 6 other people which has already brought its interesting moments. Just today, someone moved in and one of the most interesting of my roommates had a little bit of a fit about losing a cover (of which he had four!). His name is Antonio and he is such a character. He is working as a cook here in the hostel and he is from Italy. His food is amazing and he has cooked all over the world. He is definitely the ladies man though. I am sure he will be the source of many of the adventures that occur here.

The dorm isn’t that bad. The hooked me up with an amazing feather comforter and the beds are to die for. The picture above shows my little cave. Pull down the sheet and it almost feels like I am in my own room. Too bad Antonio snores when he sleeps after drinking. I have been sleeping on such a crappy colchón for the last 6 months. It’s quite a nice change. I also have a windowsill for my toiletries which makes life a lot easier. There is not a ton of ventilation in the room so when there are more people I am sure it will get more stuffy. For now, it isn’t terrible. The most important thing is that we have lockable cubbies that roll under our beds as seen in the pic above. We don't lock our dorm door so anyone could potentially come in. Huzzah for locks!

As for my work here, I am learning the ropes of the bar. I haven’t had to make any drinks yet but I am sure I will get my chance to show my skills (or lack thereof) tonight when I work the 8:30pm to 1am shift. I am looking forward to it. It’s something I can add to my list of renaissance activities. Haha. I also had a meeting with Esther at Excel yesterday. It was a short orientation as to how things work there. In a lot of ways I am quite impressed with their system. She broke it down into hours for each unit and how the attendance and grading works. It is definitely a school and not just a private business that teaches English to its clients. A few of the things I like are the attendance policy. If you are absent more than 3 times, you don’t pass the course. The same goes for tardies, but you have 5 tardies before you fail the class. You are also not allowed to have cell phone’s in class. I also like that classes are an hour and a half long. It will give me more time to develop the lesson and give my students time to practice. I do hear that you only get one dry erase marker so I took the liberty of borrowing some from office 6. When I am done I will give them back. I will find out when my classes are tomorrow afternoon and pick up my books so I can start lesson planning. Classes start on Friday and since I specified that I can’t work in the mornings, I will only have 2 or 3 classes in the afternoon/evening. I am really glad that I am doing it because it will get me out of the hostel. It’s super easy to get caught here since everything is right here: a bed, food, drinks, wi-fi, really awesome hot showers, and interesting company from all over the world. I have promised myself that I will not let myself get sucked in and make sure to hang out with Erica. I miss living with her.

Last night I had my first run in with a bit of food poisoning. I made myself some spaghetti with veggies from the kitchen and ended up throwing all of it up after I sang at Kamikase. While I made it to the toilet, I managed to get some on my pants. It was a bit embarrassing walking out of the bathroom to Marco who gave me a “are you OK?” look to which I responded with a pout and a sigh. He’s a good guy though and made sure I got home safe. I was hoping that that was the only incident I would have but low and behold, at 3:30am I found myself running to the bathroom again. I think that it was after the second time that I really felt better. Either way, this morning I downed a nalgene and ended up sleeping most of the day. That’s the last time I use someone else’s veggies.

Life is good right now. I am excited about the change. I had a knot in my stomach for a few days before I moved, but it’s been fading since I have moved in. I have met some really interesting people and I enjoy the company of one of my fellow bar workers and roommies named Catherine. Another Glee fan. I can’t complain! She is from Canada and she is looking for EFL teaching jobs. Unfortunately, as she has found out since she started her search, getting a job in South America (or at least around here) has proven to be a bit more difficult with a 60 hour TEFL certification. Most certifications are 120 hours with 100 of the hours being classroom work and 20 hours being student teaching, or in my case, tutoring. She is looking into working in Asia and apparently has 3 offers already which is great! I don’t know if I could teach in Asia. Well, I know I could teach, but I wouldn’t be as comfortable in the culture as I am here. I also don’t know any asian languages which makes daily life a bit more difficult. I am so happy down here. People have asked me when I am going back to the states and I honestly don’t know. Well, I might be back for a stint if I get the Experiment in International Living Abroad job, but I have no idea when I will be back for more than just a short time. At this point, I have nothing that I need to be back in the States for. My life is here and I really enjoy it. It is going to be difficult when I leave Cusco because I have gotten used to my life here. I am in a band, I have a job, I have great friends, and a great boyfriend. I couldn’t ask for more. To top it off, my brother is coming in April! So excited!!!!!

Chino Y Nacho

When I found out that Chino y Nacho were going to play in Cusco, Corey and I were set on going. Last night, it came to fruition and it was all that I was hoping for and more. Let me explain who these two men are. They are from Venezuela and sing reggaeton, cumbia, and merengue songs that are extremely popular in Latin America. They also happen to be quite good looking guys which is always helpful in the music industry. Anyway, Erica and I took off our last classes so we could get in line and while we were in line we bought some Chino Y Nacho headbands. I took a picture but unfortunately, my camera was stolen about 5 minutes later along with my ticket to the show. I had a split second feeling of anger and violation and then my rational optimistic side set in and I just reminded myself that it was more important that I was with Erica and that I can remember things in my head. Not having pictures is not the end of the world. As for the ticket, I just found a scalper and bought another one for 45 soles. In the end the price to see them was 80 soles but what´s a little bit of money? I am just happy that my phone wasn´t taken because I don´t have all the numbers written down and staying connected with people is more important than getting a few pictures of two attractive Latinos. Haha. Life could always be worse. Anyway, we met up with Linda who works at Maximo and she had a camera so she took some to put up on facebook. The concert was a blast. The opening band was OK. They were called Monkiss. Chino y Nacho started off their set with Tu Angelito which is one of their famous songs. It was great seeing them dance. Chino´s signature dance is a gyrating hip thrust of sorts. Hahaha he made all the girls melt of course. The best part of the concert was when Lo Que No Sabes Tu came on. It´s a super fast merengue song and really fun to dance too. Corey, Justin, Erica, Linda, her sister, and I found a spot above one of the exits with plenty of space to dance. I was expecting the place to be packed but it wasn´t that bad at all. I would say there were maybe 4000 people there for the concert.

After the concert, Erica and I headed to Mythology for their white party and danced with some of my students that we saw there. My couch surfing friend Omar from Lima, called me and we went to see him and his buddies perform at a little bar called Hibrido. The guitar was terribly out of tune but it was fun to see him perform. He came to see my sing last Tuesday at Kamikase. Ahora estamos parches (Now we are equal).

After a delicious sandwich de pollo deshilachado I made my way to bed. I had to get up this morning to start packing all my stuff so I wanted to get a little bit of sleep. Tonight Sadidt and Cecilia, two of me Peruvian girlfriends are making Erica and I dinner for my despedida from the apartment. It´s sweet of them and I am excited because I am starving!!

So now on to the next chapter! Let the adventure begin!

Adios Maximo!

Well, my last day finally came yesterday. I have to say that my feelings are a bit bittersweet. I am going to miss seeing all my co-workers on a daily basis but I am not going to miss getting up in the mornings. I was offered another month if I wanted to stay with a bonus but at this point it´s not about the money for me. I am ready for something new and starting tomorrow I will be starting a new adventure in Cusco by moving to Yamanya Hostal. It´s going to be a big change and while I was packing today I had a pretty big knot in my stomach. I know that I am not leaving Cusco all together but at the same time, I know that life is going to change drastically. It doesn´t help that I have started dating someone and now I am moving into a dormitory. Privacy is not easy to come by while working and living in a hostal. It´s similar to working at camp. You are constantly sharing a tent or a cabin with people. Fortunately, it doesn´t bother me too much and I tend to get more out of communal living than I do out of living on my own because I thrive on socializing with other people and hearing their stories. That´s why I think it´s actually going to be pretty awesome. Worst case scenario: I hate it and I really need to have my own space. I will find an apartment to live in for the rest of my time here. I have a little bit of money thanks to the wonderful padres so it´s not like I have no other option than the hostal which is nice to know.

I am also ready to get rid of the damn pulgas that have been biting me lately. They aren´t bed bugs because I have seen what they look like but they sure as hell make me itch. I am going RAID happy before I shuffle all my stuff to the hostal. The last thing I want to do is infest a dorm with bugs. No thank you.

I am going to miss living with my roommate the most. She is my bestie down here for sure and there is not way that I will stop seeing her just because I move out, but it definitely won´t be the same.

Today I went to Salsa lessons and had a blast as usual. I love when the guy really takes control because it makes learning the steps that much easier. I ended up in the advanced circle which was awesome. We might go out again tonight like we did last Saturday and dance Salsa at Mythology, a club in town.

Bolivia Border Run

Hey Hey! I know it's been a while but I have definitely been busy finishing up my last month at Maximo. I made a border run this past weekend which was much more expensive for me because unfortunately, Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia is not a fan of the United States. Unfortunately, for me that means paying $135 for a 5 year visa. Oh well, Maximo helped pay for $65 of it and they reimburse me 100 soles for transportation which is also helpful.

I joined this organization called Couch Surfing which is a group of people who either have a couch for people to stay on or are looking for a couch to sleep on when they travel. It's free and a great way to meet new people and like minded people. If you are interested in the organization, you should check out the website www.couchsurfing.org

All right so my trip started on Friday night as I took a 10pm bus to Puno from Cusco. At 4:30 I got to Puno where I had a layover for an hour and a half before I boarded a bus at 6am to La Paz. The ride wasn't too bad although there was not a working bathroom on board so I made a quick pit stop behind an abandoned building when the bus stopped to put air in the tires. Thank goodness for carrying tissues and hand sanitizer. After than fun little adventure I had the pleasure of crossing the Bolivian border and paying $135. I think the funniest part is that the Bolivian immigration people wanted a copy of the visa and my photo page from my passport but I had to go back into Peru to make the copy. They can't spring for a copy machine or at least a scanner? I guess considering there was no electricity in the building, it's not surprising. Fortunately, the Peruvian police at the border were cool with me just running back into Peru to make a copy. It was perfect timing when I got back to the Bolivian side because my bus was about to leave. Of course, I was the only American on the bus. I am not surprised that I didn't meet more Americans. Who wants to pay $135 to go to Bolivia? Haha me!

When I got into La Paz I called Jorge and got directions to his place. It was super nice staying with him because he lives in a very central part of La Paz. He is within walking distance to the main plaza and a bunch of restaurants and bars. On Sunday night we checked out the Alasitas festival which was just a few blocks away. We ate traditional Bolivian food, played foosball, and checked out all the miniature things that were being sold. Apparently, each small item has a meaning. If you want to make more money in the new year, you buy a small pack of money. If you want a boyfriend, you buy a little rooster. I enjoyed a chocolate covered apple and churros as well as getting my ass kicked in foosball. Haha.

Anyway, back to Saturday. I got to Jorge's apartment and his mother was making a typical Peruvian meal. There was a gathering of couch surfing friends who were there to partake in the consumption of delicious food such as ceviche (raw fish in lime juice, onion, and cilantro), and aji de gallina. Mmmm mmm! It was soo good. I even got to help make the pisco sours after we ate. I had a great time meeting Jorge's friends and his sister Melissa. We played Uno after eating and then Melissa, her boyfriend Rodrigo, her friend Nelly, and I made our way to Chalet, a restaurant pub. It was pretty full so we decided to get coffee at a place closer to the central. After coffee and great conversation we headed to the mall to see a movie. We saw "The Last Exorcism" which I thought was going to be really scary but ended up being really lame. Don't waste your money on it if you were thinking about seeing it. I only paid 25 Bolivianos for it ($3) but it was still a waste.

After the movie I went back to meet up with Jorge and we went to a bar called Jarón. I met a really cool chick named Jessica who is teaching in La Paz. She is from Utah which was a first for me meeting someone from Utah on my travels in SA. I also met her roommate Sara and Jorge's friend Juan Carlos came out too. After the bar we headed to a club to dance for a bit. The night was capped with some fries from a street vendor. I had a blast. The following day we had lunch with the family and chilled out until the evening when we went to Alasitas which I mentioned earlier. I was supposed to bike the Death Road on Sunday but it didn't work out because I was the only one signed up to do it and it doesn't make financial sense to go with just one person. Even though I really wanted to go on it, I guess I will just have to go back to La Paz some time soon to do it. I have my 5 year visa! I might as well not let it go to waste!

I got up super early on Monday morning since Jorge had a plane to catch. I met up with Juanca (Juan Carlos) and we went to the bus station. I was going to take a 5pm bus but there wasn't one so I had to get a 2pm bus to Copacabana. During the travel to Copacabana it is necessary to cross Lake Titicaca, the highest navegable lake in the world. It was pretty sweet. From Copacabana we were supposed to have a bus to cross the border but ended up going in mini busses. There weren't enough spaces for everyone either so some people had to sit in the aisle. Super safe, I know. In Puno, there also weren't enough tickets to get on a bus to Cusco that night. Fortunately, since I was traveling by myself, there was a space for me. I took a 9:30pm bus to Cusco and go in around 6:30am on Tuesday morning. What a trip. The 72 hours to Chile is going to be awesome! Our bus crossing Lake Titicaca.

Overall, it was an excellent trip and I look forward to going back some time soon. In the meantime, I am gearing up to finish at Maximo, move into Yamanya hostel, and start working at Excell. I did find out today that they only get one dry erase marker a month. Hmm...that's not going to be too great since they dry out every week and that's with six markers to use. We shall see what happens.
I did manage to make my way to the Witches market before I left for Cusco. There are lots of llama fetuses there. I also found some stuffed frogs. The only things I bought from one of the ladies were some pins that were country flags of all the places I have visited so far. I have Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia pins now.

Jorge and myself