When does it get easier?

Some days, I feel like the world is just pointing its finger at me and laughing. Every time I take a step forward, something happens and I fall back three steps and have to start all over. I try and make plans with a friend and then they don't show up. I think I know what I'm doing when in reality, someone is following behind and fixing everything that I have just done. Most days I find myself searching for something that I can do that is actually useful. A lot of days I feel like I am fighting with Cusco, and usually Cusco wins. The taxi drivers try to charge us a higher fare, we get called all kinds of names in the street, and we have to accept the fact that we will never fit it, we will always stand out, no matter how much time we spend here. We go out for chicken and sit down at a table and no one bothers to tell us that we have to order at the counter first and it takes us 15 minutes to figure it out. Both Catherine and I are desperately trying to make friends, but things just never seem to go our way. If it can go wrong, it usually does, and when you think it can't get worse, it does. When I need to call someone, our cell phone doesn't work, our landlady isn't home, so we can't borrow her phone, and the public telephone up the street isn't out and I don't have any change. I lost our cell phone on New Years and the next day I was supposed to go to a concert with a friend from work. I went to the spot we agreed to meet and waited for over an hour , but he never came. The next day he explained that there weren't any buses running so he couldn't get there and that he had tried to call me but of course I didn't get his calls because I had lost the phone. I was working at the cash register and forgot to mark down that a customer had already paid. He went to leave and we made him come back because we thought he hadn't paid and he got mad and yelled at me and said that a foreigner shouldn't be doing this kind of work and he only wanted to deal with Peruvians. The tough realization is that my help is not really needed here. There are already enough people who know what they are doing that work here everyday. I help out, but things would continue on just fine, sometimes even better, without my help. There is one thing that I can offer that nobody else here can do and I started that this week. My first week of English classes went surprisingly well, but it is going to be hard work. The pronunciations of everything is really difficult, but everyone if very eager to learn. I still wonder if this is even a useful thing, but it's what they want, and it makes me feel like I am contributing a little. I love talking and hanging out with everyone, but some days that just isn't enough and I get frustrated because I feel like I should be doing something more. I have a lot of time left to figure it all out and I know that eventually, hopefully, things will get easier. For now, however, I'm still looking for ways to make up with Cusco, because we really are going to have to get along.

Ringing in the New Year

The New Year celebration here was crazy. Catherine and I made plans to go out with friends but, of course, they didn't work out so we ended up going out on our own to experience New Year's Eve in Peru. The big celebration is in the Plaza de Armas, the main square in the middle of the city. We got there around 10:30 and ran into someone we knew, so we were not alone to celebrate. Around 11 p.m. everyone starts setting off these fireworks and the plaza is filled with smoke and noise. There had to be around a thousand people there. We bought some beer and toasted the New Year on the steps of the main cathedral in the square as what seemed like millions of fireworks went off all around us at midnight. The we joined everyone in running around the square so that we would have good luck in the New Year. There were people running with there luggage because they hope to travel in the coming year and almost everyone was wearing something yellow, which apparently is good luck too. The entire day vendors were out in the street selling all kinds of yellow things, but the most popular is yellow underwear which you are supposed to wear on the outside of your clothes. It turned out to be a fun night and Catherine and I both enjoyed ourselves. I wish everyone a very blessed New Year full of Peace and Happiness!

My First Christmas in Peru

My first Christmas abroad has come and gone, and I must say it was a lot better than I had expected. I of course missed the usual traditions and spending the day with my family, but I was able to start new traditions. In traditional Peruvian fashion, nothing went exactly as to plan, but it was a wonderful day nonetheless. Christmas Eve we spent all over, going to mass at the hogar and in the central plaza. Then we went to the bakery to await midnight with all the girls. At midnight, everyone wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, fireworks are going off everywhere, and we shared a huge dinner of duck and pasta, followed by the traditional hot chocolate and panneton (a sweet bread with raisins). For Christmas day, in the morning we met with a friend who works with me at the bakery to go to mass. We were supposed to meet two of them, but only one showed up, a half hour late. Time here is so relative, you just have to accept that or it will drive you crazy. We went to mass in the national cathedral and then went back to our apartment where Catherine cooked a Christmas breakfast for the three if us. It was great food and great covnersation and we hope that we have made a friend as well. After that Catherine and I headed to the sister´s community for a lunch of duck and vegetables, which was delicious as well. Then we went back to wait for Mario, the nice boy who cleans our apartment, to come and get us so we could go to his house. He arrived an hour and a half late, so late that we figured that he just wasn´t coming. But we went and spent the evening with him and his family looking at pictures, talking politics, and drinking chicha, a fermented fruit drink. While everythign was a new tradition, I truly enjoyed celebrating the holiday with my new community here. I hope everyone passed a peaceful Christmas and I wish you all blessings in the New Year.

Things have been a little crazy here in the past couple of weeks, and I´m sorry I haven´t kept everyone updated. We have been getting ready for Christmas, decorating and celebrating. I got to elp pick out the (fake) tree for the dining room at the bakery and decorated. I was glad that I was able to help and to still be able to do the traditional Christmas things that I love. I continue to learn all the ins and outs of making breads and pastries. You will all be proud to know that I have successfully mastered the art of putting dried coconut on the edges of all the pies. There are even some things that I am allowed to do on my own, like dip the donuts and crossaints in chocolate. However, the more complicated procedures, like decorating the cakes and actually making something still require heavy supervision and several start-overs. The parties have started too. A couple of weeks ago, Catherine and I went with the whole group from the bakery to Urubamba for a day of fun and relaxation. We played soccer, volleyball, lots of fun games, and grilled trout. Also, on Saturday we had our first of three work parties where we have secret friends who we have to get gifts for. It has been interesting, to say the least, trying to figure out not only what to get, but where we can get it from. Our next one is tomorrow with the people from the Hogar and the final one is on sunday with everyone from the bakery. I have to say that secret friends is extremly intense at the bakery. This week you can leave cards and littel notes for your friend, but you can´t reveal your identity. Everyone is trying to figure out who has who and it is the topic of conversation at every lunch. Everyone has specifically stated what they want to receive from their friend, and it is a very big deal. They don´t go an hour without talking about it and trying to get out of me who I have. So far I have been able to keep it a secret, but we´ll see what happens. I have slowly been making some friends, in extremely random ways. Catherine and I have both meet people in the street, usually when they are trying to sell us something, then started up a conversation with us. We even met one guy who took us out for a night of dancing after I showed him where he could change his dollars into soles. We are currently working on making the guy who cleans our apartment our new friend, so I will keep you updated on how that goes. We have also been learning lots about the people that we work with. Everyone has story and they are slowly opening up to us and telling it to us. Most of the girls and guys have come from backgrounds of poverty. Their parents are dead, don´t want them, or can´t afford to take care of them. It is when I am listening to these stories that I see the reason why I am here. I can´t change what has happened in the past, but I can contribute to the things that will make their future better. Soon I will start giving English and computer classes. It will be interesting to see how that all works out. Thanks to everyone for their constant support. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas full of peace and love and a Happy New Year!

A little Thanksgiving, a lot of learning

Thanksgiving came and went with little attention here in Peru, but Catherine and I managed a mini celebration. We cooked for the first time in our apartment and I am pretty proud of our Peruvian Thanksgiving Dinner. We cooked chicken, carrots and peas, and made mashed potatoes. We also each had a roll and split a mini apple pie from the bakery where we work. We were most thankful to have each other, even though we missed celebrating with our families. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and for the mail. I am putting all the mail I receive on a wall in our apartment as a reminder of the great support we have. Catherine and I are both still exploring and learning about both work sites. We had found that she is most comfortable at the hogar and I really enjoy the atmosphere at the bakery. We spend four days a week at our respective sites and one day at the other to keep up the relationships that we are building. I am learning, little by little, how the make all the breads and pastries at the bakery. The guys are extremely patient with me and they tell me that by the end I'm going to be an expert baker (this has yet to be seen). I also spend a lot of time in the store, helping the tourists who don't speak Spanish. My favorite things to do, though, is to just sit and talk with everyone. I give English lessons in flour in the kitchen, talk about life in the United States to the girls, and answer lots of questions, some easy, how many siblings do I have, others more difficult, what has motivated me to come here, and, of course, the most popular question of them all, am I single. Everyone says I look much older than I really am and think that I am already married with kids. I am affectionately known to some as Mega, which is what my name can sound like with a Spanish accent. It is interesting because the supermarkets here are all called Megas so people think that we share the same name. I have to explain, many, many, times, that no, my name is Meghan, but yes is it funny how they both sound the same. Christmas celebrations are about to start up and my first event is a Christmas party with all the other lay workers from the three sites. We have secret friends and everything even though I don't have a clue what to get mine. Pretty soon it will be time to start decorating the bakery and the Christmas season will be in full swing, which I love. Catherine and I have already put up our Christmas tree, a wonderful 3D masterpiece made entirely of green construction paper. I will put up pictures soon of our decorations, they are fabulous! Hope everyone is doing well and I appreciate all the e-mails and mail, it's keeps me going on those not so easy days. Lots of love!

When the shower does`t work, you can`t find the tape, and laundry becomes exercise.

There are times when things happen and you can just see the irony in them, see how it is a metaphor for your life. My time in Cusco has brought on many feelings of insecurity, an unfamiliarity with my surroundings and a general feeling of being lost that can be summed up in one or two experiences. We wanted tape to hang things on the wall. Now at home, all I would have to do is go to my kitchen an get some. If it wasnt there, I knew probably at least 10 places where I could go and buy some, very easily. In Cusco, Peru, however, things are a little different. First we tried to call people to see if they could tell us where to buy tape, however, no one answered. Then our landlady came back, and said that she would show us to a place where we could get some. However, we get there and they dont sell it. So Catherine and I are standing there, in the rain, with no idea where to go to find tape. That is the story of my life right now...no idea where to find the simplest things, no idea where to go. Not even a clue if I should turn left or right because nothing is familiar. The other night Catherine went to take a shower, and the water wouldnt turn on. Further investigation showed that we had no running water at all. The thing is that these things are going to happen, more often then we might expect, and its a shock at first. We did our laundry for the first time and I think I burned all the calories I consumed during that day scrubbing each individual sock. That is going to be a daily event. Everything I am learning starts from the very beginning. Learning how to take orders in the bakery, how to help make the bread in the kitchen, where to walk the girls to school begins with a blank slate. So right now you can find me in Cusco, Peru, constantly searching for tape.

What is going on with me!

I have been writing a lot about what I have learned, so I thought I do a little about what I have been doing and how I have been feeling. I have learned how to take the bus to the Hogar, but I havent managed to get get off the bus gracefully once. I always bump my head and hit someone with my backpack. These are mini buses and they cram as many seats into them as they can so its difficult to move without bumping into someone. We have also learned where the supermarket it, where we can go to change our money, where to buy phone cards, and where to send mail. We live very close to the central plaza in Cusco that is surrounded by churches on two sides and restaurants and stores on the other. It is very pretty at night with all the lights. When we arrived in our apartment, it hit me that this was going to be my home for the next two years and that was scary. It is difficult to adjust to a new place and its daunting because you think you will never get and will be lost forever. I know little by little we will both learn our way around the city and even make a couple of friends. Catherine and I get along very well and it is nice to have soemone to share your experience with and who is also going through similiar things. The city is so beautiful and the people are extremely nice, so we know we can always turn to someone when we need something, which happens a lot. I am excited to get to know the programs better and to be able to participate in everything that goes on. We are getting Spanish classes, which are very helpful. Being around the girls also helps me to put perspective on things, because I konw they have been through so much in their short lives. Knowing that I can help to take some of that pain away, even for a little while, is motivating. They are always willing to play and talk, so I know I will have a friend in them.