one week.

OY. trying to find a computer that is not in use in a town that has a total of 20 computers where everyone speaks a language that you don´t = a migraine. it´s been one full week so far and i´ve only now been able to access a computer. i´m sorry to everyone that i´ve been ignoring, it´s not on purpose. if you only knew.

so our journey here wasn´t not as scary as i thought it would be. yes, i was scared to death of being faced with a situation where all of the vocab that i didn´t use in 9th grade Spanish would suddenly be very practical and necessary, but it hasn´t been all that bad. in the airport i was able to communicate that i needed to exchange my u.s. dollars into Peruvian Soles. and i managed somehow to get my luggage rechecked in Lima where Libby and i ate at McDonald´s (because we know how to travel the right way).

it makes me sad that you won´t be able to fully understand the beauty that is this country. if you´ve ever been to Gatlinburg, Tenn., you´ve experienced 1\20 of the beauty that God intended for the earth. the mountains here are seriously his signature on this planet and every night the stars shine the brightest i´ve ever seen them. the air is a fresh mountainous breeze all day long and at night there´s a little bite as it gets colder. flying into Cusco i saw snow-covered mountains (the forgotten Andes) and villages nestled in between gigantic mountains. coming closer into the airport i could see the city buildings, none of which clear 3 stories, all brightly-colored and smashed together in ¨barrios¨. once inside the airport i was greeted with authentic music and many coupons for free ¨papas fritas¨ at McDonalds (the newest commodity as of today in Cusco).

we were picked up from the airport by Cleona, the office aid, who is from the UK. everyone is from there it seems like. .. we drove to the office to meet the staff and then journey over an hour and a half to Calca, to drop off another volunteer, and then to Pisaq to our house. Our family greeted us at the door(here it´s customary to kiss on the right cheek). there is an elderly woman about 71 yrs old, her friend who´s 49 and her daughter who is 22. she´s really sweet and we laugh a lot when we´re around here. our house is a very interesting arrangement. when you walk in the main door --which is 5 ft tall-- the bathroom is directly on the right, still outside, and there´s a separate shower head in the same room as the toilet and sink. if you´ve ever been on a house boat or a submarine i´d imagine they´d be the same. then you continue to an open courtyard with two flower beds. surrounding this courtyard is the house part.. with the rooms in a line surrounding the open space on the second floor. the kitchen is a small little room with it´s own outdoor entrance and the dining room is attached. the living room is on the other side of the courtyard. it´s very disconnected and open. people on their back porches can see into our entire space. i have my own room with a bed, table, closet, and bed side table. only the basics but it´s home for now.

we eat three meals a day, most of which consist of carbohydrates like i´ve never seen before. a typical day of food would be... breakfast--a piece of bread with jelly and tea. lunch--potato soup with peas, carrots, french fries, and cilantro, then a second course with a plate half full of rice and the other side with potatoes and some other kind of carb. dinner--half a plate full of rice again, chicken breast on the other side with cucumbers and tomatoes and tea to follow. libby and i had to take a break from this and went to Ulrike´s Cafe and ate vegge and hawaiian pizzas with a brownie and ice cream for dessert. it was amazing.

the kindergarten that i´m working in is very small and quaint. they don´t use much to get things done--and empty plastic coke bottle cut in half is commonly used for a pencil holder and they don´t have toilet paper in the bathrooms.. it´s very plain and simple. right now i´m just helping the teacher copy homework into their notebooks and sharpen colored pencils.. the kids call me ´Sarita´ and pull on my clothes all day. i would say that this is very annoying but hey, they don´t get to do that often so whatever.

i told you i would document my first llama sighting and i am writing to say that i saw one!! sadly though, 5 minutes after i saw this interesting creature, a crazy dog attacked and killed it in the middle of the street and about 30 people proceeded to crowd around and make a huge thing of it. i was very sad for the llama. he looked nice.

the town that i´m in is very small and traditional. if you´ve ever seen pictures of Peruvian women with babies on their backs, that´s what i see everyday all day. these people have no shame. peeing in the street, changing baby diapers on the backs of stopped motorcycles at intersections and things of this nature are not uncommon. it´s very interesting...

i think i´m going to get used to being here for a long time. i miss my friends, family and my cell phone very much but in the end i think this will change my view of the world and why i´m living on it. please keep me in your prayers because there are days when i don´t think i´ll really learn spanish or i´m scared to get photocopies made for school because the girl behind the counter hates foreigners but i´ll make it.

people are staring at me and of course i have no idea what they´re saying so i must run. please email me and give me the scoop on your life!!

hasta luego.