Marinera

During the week of our town anniversary different schools and organizations perform cultural dances. This video is of two kids that have been dancing the marinera together for a few years, which at their age is pretty significant. A lot of the longer videos I have take too long to upload, but I'll keep trying. Enjoy!

Winding Down

Time is moving fast. It's hard to believe that the 2 years are coming to an end, and that I'll have to re-learn how to follow american social customs and be politically correct. I doubt people will take kindly to me saying "hey fatty, how are you?", my inflection showing how happy I am to see the person, but the words seeming to contradict my good intentions. People will also probably think I'm racist when the first language that comes out of my mouth when I try to order something in a restaurant is spanish. In fact, maybe even that sentence was inappropriate to write. I'm a fast learner . . . I'll re-adapt quickly, I hope.

News: We had the yearly Pisco, Wine and Shrimp festival in my site a few weeks ago, which was a bla

st. Held down by the river, it's a full weekend of eating shrimp, dancing, and watching races, such as those riding bikes or those riding donkeys. A few days la

ter was my town anniversary, for which the hold town closes it's businesses to go march in and watch the parade during the day, and then watch/bet on cock fights and go to the concert at night. This year Armonia 10 came a played in the stadium, and it was really fun dancing until 5 am.

Work stuff: The hydraulic engineers are here full time now, having started construction of the new water tank/reservoir and installation of a water treatment system. It's too bad I won't be here when they finish to benefit from the cleaner water . . . it would have been nice to wash my face and teeth with water that doesn't smell like waste water. I've also been teaching a lot of health classes with a nurse, Maria. I much prefer to work with the 15-16 year olds rather than the middle school aged kids. Even though the older kids act like they're too cool sometimes, they get into the activities and stop worrying about what their friends will think of them, while the younger kids can't get over their self-consciousness and are horrified at the thought of being different from their classmates.

Other than that, I've just been trying to enjoy the rest of my time here and get everything that I need to done. I have quite a few reports to finish up for the Peace Corps, but I've turned in drafts and am just waiting to hear what revisions need to made. I also have to finish up grad school applications - I'd like to have them done before I start my travels to have my shoulders free of any extra weight, that is to say, apart from my overstuffed backpack. I'm really excited about my travel plans after I finish my Peace Corps service in mid-November. I'll be heading to Buenos Aires to meet up with Jill and I can't wait to see her. We're planning to spend a few days exploring the city, and then visit Iguazu Falls before her thanksgiving break is up and she has to go back to work. Fortunately for me, Ali Conte is looking for an adventure, and will meet me in Buenos Aires, then we'll go to Santiago, Chile, Easter Island, swing through bolivia, hopefully seeing the salt flats, and end up in cochabamba for Dan and Dari's wedding! The wedding is going to be so much fun, and I can't wait to see my family! I'm looking forward to finally having christmas with my parents, and then going west for new years, when all the pasadena people will be home, and i'll be able to catch up with a lot of friends I haven't seen in a long time.