You know you’ve been living in Peru for awhile when… (a humorous look at life)

1. You’re so used to stomach ailments that you and your other foreign friends have created a system by which to rate your bowl movements
2. You don’t notice if a song is in English or Spanish until ½ way through
3. Avoiding dog poop in the street has become a 6^th sense
4. You’ve come to think of seatbelts and stop signs as optional
5. You’re no longer horrified by the prospect of eating potatoes, rice, and bread in the same meal
6. You find yourself struggling to remember certain words in English
7. You’re so out of touch with the indie music scene that you’ve resigned and begun to listen to Lady GaGa
8. A phone call that lasts for more than a minute makes you feel slightly awkward
9. You get a little put out if the taxi driver tries to overcharge you by 15 cents
10. You think arriving 5 minutes late is early

Here and There

I once again find myself a rather absent blogger – my apologies to those of you who have, for some reason, maintained faith in my posting abilities and continue to see if I’ve mended my ways.  The truth is (and yes, I realize this isn’t a very legitimate excuse), the busier I am, the less I blog.

Life has been full of adventures and work. My work in La Oroya is keeping me busy and satisfying – it’s wonderful to see the kids in the CAMBIALO group become increasingly passionate and confident. If you’re interested in what I’m involved with there, please visit our blog, or join our Facebook group, CAMBIALO.

So what have I been doing besides neglecting my blog? Here’s a quick and unorthodox overview of what’s happened since I last wrote:

May

Traveled to Lima to run a 10k race with fellow volunteer Joe

Traveled to jungle town of Villa Rica to put on a peacemaking counselors workshop

Traveled to Cuzco whereupon I met up with my dad and set off on a 4 day hike to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. The next week my dad traveled back to Huancayo with me to visit the city for a day.

 

June

Celebrated my host sister Hayde’s birthday

Traveled to Pichanaki for another workshop in the jungle

Traveled to Mazamari (jungle, workshop, you’ve got the idea)

Climbed Huaytapallana (17,000 ft), a local peak in the Huancayo region

soaking up the sun on the glacier

I hope this has served to catch you up a little on my life in general…as you can see, I’ve been busy! Look forward to more focused blogs soon. Also, remember that if you want to see more photos, just click on my photo links on the right of my page.