Long Overdue Life Updates

Okay, so it’s finally time for a more concrete update on my life these past few weeks.  Let´s go back a ways...

Julio´s book presentation was a success, I´d say.  I was so proud of my lindo abuelo up there on stage.  After, I celebrated with my family and two wonderful friends, Shauna and Yoshi, and with some wine and pizza.  Una noche bonita.

As an aside: At the dinner, a friend of the family gave me perhaps the best compliment of my life.  She told me that I seemed very Latina, for I have the smile and spirit of Latinas...I´m telling you, I belong here...

Shauna and I spent the weekend/week doing everything on our to-do list, ranging from mass in La Compañía to shopping in San Pedro to jugo, anticuchos, y picarones in the Plaza to going out one last night together.  So much fun, although bittersweet.

I went to Arequipa, my new favorite big city.  Details on this fun trip in the next post.  The day I returned was a sad one because I had to say goodbye to my darling mejor amiga, la Shaunacita.  She is now safely back in the States, and not a day has passed since that I haven´t wanted to text her, chat with her at work, go out to explore the city together, etc.  Thank goodness for facebook, right?

Both trying to stay positive, just moments before Shauna left  the city

Since then I have been spending time with my family, watching movies with them and taking my sister to the Plaza and the fair and whatnot. However, they all went to Lima for the whole week because the kids are on vacation, so with just me and the abuelos at home, it´s been pretty quiet and lonely. I´m learning that I don´t handle loneliness too well.

I went up to Cristo Blanco a few times to catch a breathtaking glimpse of my gorgeous city.  My friend from work took me on a tour of her university here.  This grand tour even included a stop at the zoo on their grounds.  Very cool.  Also, I´ve spent some time in cafes on the Plaza just watching the world go by and taking it all in, trying to believe that I am actually here, in Perú, living a Cusqueñan life.  I am the luckiest person alive.

The view of Cusco from Cristo Blanco

The Big Guy

Me, Cintya, Yessi and Juve...my partners in crime:)

I have been to a few parrilladas these past few days.  One was with a friend and his work buddies, and the other with my friends from work.  (That one was particularly fun because we spent hours after just running around this gorgeous, sleepy little town outside of Cusco, dancing, laughing, and taking silly group pictures...as seen in the rest of this post.  I´ve been so blessed with such a loving and fun work family.)  So what is a parrillada, you ask?  A cook-out!  Any kind of meat you could want, yummy bread, salad, Cusqueña, so so good!  And with Perú´s Independence Day this weekend, it was time to celebrate.  (Seriously, between Corpus Christi, Cusco´s Mes Jubilar, and now las fiestas patrias, I came here in the right season!)


Believe it or not, I have been working among all this fun too!  We have been given many more tasks in these past few weeks at APORVIDHA, which I love.  Here´s a sampling of what us volunteers have been working on:

• research possible international funding resources and send petitioning emails to these groups and organizations
• translate miscellaneous materials from English to Spanish for office use
• read laws written in Spanish regarding the rights of indigenous pueblos, then create images and make other suggestions as to how to make these laws easier to understand for non-Spanish-speakers (ie the Quechua-speaking indigenous, to whom the laws pertain)
• research laws from other countries, such as New Zealand, that protect indigenous populations and translate them to Spanish so the office and various other lawyers and organizations can have good examples of such laws
• read and take notes on various materials to prepare presentations and projects on miscellaneous topics
• continue to attend meetings and events as they happen (last week we had a meeting that was half in Spanish and half in Quechua, which was pretty exciting!)

Needless to say, we have been pleasantly busy.  The atmosphere in the office continues to be light and fun, with everyone in good spirits.  My work friends are becoming more and more like my good friends, and they continue to inspire me with their passion and energy.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to work for social justice in this capacity, and so perfectly pleased with my decision to come to Perú and to work at APORVIDHA!

Anyway, these are the details of this cholita who has been missing in action these few weeks. Again, sorry for my silence.  ¡Cuidense y nos vemos!