Episodio Seis (June 28, 2011)

Buenos días, amigos!

Sorry for the longer than usual gap between updates... we've been fiddling with internet access this past week as well as getting further settled into our new home. But today is another laundry day, so I figured I'd sit down and do some updating while the tub soaks for a while. And I promise I'll make this one a bit longer to make up for lost time. =)

First things first, I realized after my last update that some of our "cast of characters" haven't been introduced! So I will try and acquaint you with more of them this time.

This is Dr. Adolfo. In case you haven't noticed from all our other updates (or from talking to us), he is the Peruvian doctor with whom Daniel/we are working to make the work of Wiñarisum happen! (And in case I have missed saying it somewhere else, the work of Wiñarisum is to work with pregnant mothers to improve maternal and infant health/nutrition and prevent maternal and infant mortality, which has gotten pretty outrageously high!!! In 2009 maternal mortality in and around Cusco was at 5 deaths per week... in 2010 that number is up to 20 per week!!! Yes, PER WEEK. Which is why this is a priority for both the Peruvian government and the UN.)

This is "Killer" (pronounced Keeler in Spanish), Adolfo's family pooch. He has a very loud bark, but he got used to us pretty quickly. His new favorite thing to do is come up on our porch and lie in the sun (and/or try to get in our house for some petting!). He is my laundry buddy. =)

This is the stairway leading up to our apartment. Yes, it is slightly jiggly wrought-iron, and yes, it is two stories tall. The first time I walked on it I thought I was gonna die... but now we're pretty much used to it. 

This is Daniel the Peruvian. You can tell because he's eating "papas a la huancaína", basically Peruvian potatoes with a super-tasty Peruvian condiment called huancaína (see package). We may just have to figure out how to make huancaína and have a Peruvian potato party sometime when we get back to the states... it´s that good. Also, we´ve been advised by Cheryl (Adolfo´s wife) to say to taxi drivers who try to give us the "gringo tax" the following: "Yo soy más peruano que la papa huancaína!" (I'm more Peruvian than potatoes a la huancaína!) So far we've tried it on one taxi driver... and the woman standing next to us laughed and the driver gave us the price we were asking. =)

This is us cooking chicken soup on our "new" gas burners! We were using a single electric hot plate before, but it wasn't adjustable and it seemed like a rather inefficient use of energy... didn't wanna rack up Adolfo's electric bill. We were about to go buy a gas one when Adolfo told us his mother had one in her house that we can use! We love it, and have been trying many new tasty experiments, including the papas above, which were delicious, and this chicken soup, which was... well, a nice try. 

This is the wrapper that our scrubby sponges came in. I don't know why, but it cracks me up. To translate, it says, "Sapolio: The Champion of Sponges" and then I just love the little scrubby bug with boxing gloves.... Not following? Try saying it in Spanish in your best soccer announcer voice: "Sapolio! La Campeona de las Esponjas!!!"

So that's the "cast of characters" for this time. Here's what's been going on in the rest of life this past week!

1) We have been continuing to meet with Adolfo (a lot) in preparation for our first "official" steps. Things are in a good place, and we are in a bit of a waiting stage as we try to set up meetings with important leaders in the two communities where we hope to work. It's been really good practice for us this week to go at Adolfo's pace -- since he still works full time at the clinic, and since the people we're trying to set up meetings with also work full time, that pace has been a little slower than we (especially Daniel) have been used to. Also, both Daniel and I have continued to struggle with sniffles, tummy squiggles, and occasional tweaky back things. The combination of "slowness" and health wobbles has really made us have some "real world" realizations about this work. First, in a month or less, we will be gone, and it's important that the project be firmly anchored with Adolfo (which I think it is), which means that we need to let go of our impatient "American time" expectations and let the project go at its own pace. Second, we gripe a lot about our little illnesses, but when we think about it, how many of the people we hope to work with in Wiñarisum have chronic health issues much more serious than a little sniffle, and work a lot more difficult than going to meetings and typing things on a computer? Thinking about these have helped us to "suck it up" and dig in for some patience with both the pace and our "thorns in the flesh". Or, as Calvin and Hobbes would say, "It builds character." =)

2) This past Friday (June 24th) was Cusco's birthday!! It is also "Inti Raymi", which is Quechua for "Sun Festival", and is an Inca festival to worship the sun. Each year Inti Raymi is marked by a huge dance/celebration/show/thing at Sacsayhuaman (say "sexy woman" and you'll be very close), the Inca ruins that are closest to Cusco (on top of a mountain right outside). Since we weren't here for Inti Raymi last time, and since literally like the ENTIRE CITY goes to watch, we figured we'd go! So we flagged down a taxi and got him to take us to the beginning of the walk to Sacsayhuaman, which looks like this: 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a HUGE, GINORMOUS STAIRCASE OF DOOM that you see there. We huffed and puffed our way up it, stopping frequently to catch our breath in this thin mountain air, but finally we made it up the stairs... only to discover that we were at a church that was only a staging point for the rest of the climb. Oof. We stopped to rest another minute and, since we were already pretty high up and it was a great view, I took this picture looking back down at the Plaza de Armas (the tourist/historical center of Cusco), which was full of people for a parade:

When we finally got to the top of Sacsayhuaman (up a road, into the archaeological park, up another set of bumpy stairs, across a field, and over a big hill... and all of this at 2 miles above sea level...) we found crowds of people sitting and waiting for the ceremonies to begin! We edged our way in, found a seat on the hill, grabbed an ice cream cone from the vendors (sorta like a baseball game... only Inca) and enjoyed our view:

Bottom: Lots of people's heads. (They eventually sat down... mostly.) Middle left: The arena! (Or what we could see of it...) Top: Beautiful mountains!

We sat and waited a long time for things to start (it seemed like we were waiting for all the gringo tourist groups with their little flags to file into the bleachers, hehe)... and while we were waiting, we noticed a group of dancers waiting as well. Then we saw what appeared to be a scene from a Far Side comic..... 

Yes, that's right. An Inca waiting for the biffy.

 Eventually the show finally started, and we really enjoyed watching it! There were about 10 different groups of dancers/actors, all dressed in costumes that (it seemed) represented a different segment of Inca society (i.e. soldiers, farmers, nobles, etc.). The funniest part, though, wasn't actually a part of the show... it was the people behind us who kept getting more and more frustrated with the people in front of us who insisted on standing up and blocking the view for the rest of us. The heckling started with a fairly polite "La señora con camisa roja -- siéntese, por favor!" (The lady in the red shirt -- please sit down!") Eventually, though, when the front-standers proved rather obstinate, it devolved into orange peel target practice. There was one dude in a green shirt that just would not sit down for anything -- he was completely blocking our view -- so someone with a good arm chucked part of an orange at him and it landed with a satisfying fwop! right in the middle of his back. It was SO FUNNY. He turned around to glare at all of us... and then sat down.

Well, my laundry's all hung out to dry now, and I'm starting to get a bit hungry, so I'd best wrap it up and head into the kitchen to cook up something for lunch.

Hope all is well back in the States -- please leave us a comment or shoot us an email or something -- we'd love to hear how your summers are going!

Enjoy your Spanish lesson -- un abrazo fuerte de Peru!
Rebequita y Danielito


EXTREMELY USEFUL AND IMPORTANT SPANISH PHRASES
Lesson Four: Fiesta Time!

Ese acontecimiento es de corbata negra. (This affair is black tie.)
¿Está casado? (Are you married?)
Olvidé mi paraguas. (I forgot my umbrella.)
Creo que dejé mi paraguas en su casa. (I think I left my umbrella at your house.)
Odio la lluvia. (I hate rain.)
¿Tiene fuego? (Do you have a light?)
¿Leyó el editorial el domingo pasado sobre la educación? (Did you see last Sunday´s editorial about education?)
Me gustaría comprar un barríl. (I would like to buy a keg.)