Back from Bolivia!!!

I just returned today from Cocacobana, Bolivia and am now back in Puno. I have some awesome pictures that I took but I do not know when I will have the opportunity to upload them because I am headed back to my village, Chijnaya, tomorrow to catch the livestock show. It is a big deal and my family has two bulls they entered and I am pulling for a Yucra Quispe victory (the name of the family I am staying with.) Anyway, we came to Puno on Thursday, ate a nice dinner and had a nice warm shower. Then the next day we took a bus around the lake to Copacobana, which was about a three hour drive. We stayed at this really nice hotel for the night and went to Isla del sol (the biggest island on Lago Titicaca) and hiked to a laberinto and ate french fries and went back to Cocacabana where we enjoyed how cheap everything is in Bolivia. The exchange rate is about 7 bolivianos to 1 dollar, while in Peru it is 3 soles to 1 dollar. They also had great food and launched fireworks all night long. It was really fun and the lake/island is incredibly beautiful and worth seeing. I cannot wait to show you all pictures of it. Iam headed back to Chijnaya tomorrow and will not be doing any more travelling until I go to Machu Picchu in July. That means I will not have great internet for the next two weeks as I will be in Chijnaya for that period before leaving for Machu Picchu. I have less than a month left and look forward to meeting back up with you all in the upcoming weeks.

Hope all is well!

Pictures

Back in Puno/Pictures coming soon!!!

I have returned to the city of Puno for the weekend and will be returning to Chijnaya on Sunday at some point. This week has been quite eventful. This week was the celebration for the anniversary of the school which in Peruvian terms means that Monday is used for pickaxing the grass to prepare for the bonfire, Tuesday is all day volleyball/soccer tournament for the students, Wednesday is all day volleyball/soccer tournament for the parents and Wednesday night is the party where all the students make faroles, which are candlelit objects that they than parade around the village with until returning to the bonfire where the sixth graders dance around the bon fire. They then decided that we also needed to dance which was really fun until you breathed in the smoke. There has not been power during the day in the village because they are doing electrical work in the district capital of Pucará. Thus, we haven´t had english classes...or any classes for that matter since Monday, although the adult classes have been going on. Also, there is a livestock festival on the 23rd and 24th so to prepare they had to dehorn various cows to pacify them, which was quite a gruesome experience...and they wanted me to take pictures...so I will have those to show you all as well. Today was the anniversary party for the neighboring village of Tuni Requena. So we left Chijnaya at about 9 and then the party began with lots of dancing and elaborate costumes...much more elaborate than I was expecting...it was quite crazy. Then we took combis, which are like taxi vans more or less, to Juliaca and then to Puno, found a place to stay and now are using the internet. We are going to dinner soon at our favorite place here in Puno called El Buho, The Owl, which has amazing pizza, something that Puno is really big on, and great garlic bread. This internet place I am at now has easily accessible usb ports, so I hope to upload pictures tonight or maybe tomorrow. As for me, I am doing quite well and am in good health and am getting more used to the Andean lifestyle everyday. It is pretty far removed from the comforts of the US. However, the people here are so welcoming and excited that we are there it makes for a fun time. Another newsy bit, next weekend we are planning to head to Copacabana, which is an island on the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca. I will be sure to report on how that all goes. Until then I will be here in Puno enjoying the city life and the hot water, showers, beds, and great food. Keep posted for some of my awesome photos. I look forward to talking with you all soon.

Sorry for the long delay!

I know that a lot of you have been anxiously awaiting the next entry in my blog in Peru. However, since I have been in Chijnaya instead of Cuzco internet has been incredibly slow and unreliable and my time has been sparse so this is the soonest I have been able to get on to update my blog. I have been in Chijnaya for about 2 weeks now. I am leaving with the Zea family, their claim to fame being the winning bull in the 2005 livestock show. Besides for the Hugo, the father and Geronima, the mother, and Maximo the uncle, there are two younger daughters I am living with, Yaquilyn who is 4 and Nayda who is 11. They are incredibly fun and we spend out evenings drawing various fruits, vegetables and other objects and practice our English. They are an incredibly awesome and welcoming family and they wanted to make sure that I sent you all back home well wishes while I am in Peru. The living conditions are quite different than those found in the states. I do not have a shower, or any sort of warm water, except for that I set out in the sun for most of the day. Also, my bathroom is more of an outhouse than anything else, however after a while you get used to it. We started teaching English classes this week, I am teaching 3rd and 6th grade, surprisingly the 6th graders are the best behaved students in the school. The school is a mess and teachers drink Coca Cola and play volleyball as much as they actually teach. Right now I am currently in the city of Puno, which is a welcome change to the Chijnaya life. We arrived yesterday afternoon and cruised around the city and had amazing dinner, Puno is known for its excellent pizza which was a welcome change from Chijnaya cuisine. Then today a few of the volunteers took a boat out onto Lago Titicaca and stopped at the Uros, which are the reed floating islands. Then we took a boat to Isla Tiquile which is an indigenous community on an island. It required quite a jaunt up a rock staircase, which was quite a feat considering the altitude. However, it was an amazing view and we ate at a great restaurant with Lago Titicaca fish and hung around the island until we headed back to Puno where we went out again for another amazing dinner. So much has happened since I last updated my blog that it is hard to remember everything there is to tell. I will be sure to let you all know everything when I return to the states. Things are going quite well here and after making a few adjustments I am getting by quite well. I have had the excellent fortune of good health while I have been here, which other volunteers have not had the same luck. I am returning to Chijnaya tomorrow after my excellent weekend here in Puno. Peru is quite an interesting country. Most everyone in Chijnaya speaks Quechua and Spanish and are trying to learn some English. They are all incredibly welcoming to us all. We had an amazing welcome ceremony and have been welcomed on several other occasions at various other locations throughout the altiplano. I have even been interviewed by Peruvian national television about the volunteer experience in Chijnaya. Thus, I have been having myriad opportunities to practice my Spanish skills which has been really fun. I have lots of excellent pictures to share with you all, however, I do not have the ability to upload them right now, I will try to do so as soon as possible. I have already taken well over 100 and cannot wait to return to the states to share them all with you all. Well this is already a long blog entry and it is 9:12pm here and the sleeping schedule is a lot different, as in we all go to bed a lot earlier. I hope you all are well and I hope to start blogging more regularly. Thank you all for all of your support. I had a great time here in Peru celebrating my 20th birthday on June 5th. It basically consisted of my family cooking me much improved food and then the volunteers came over in the night and some sleptover and I had a great time. Thank you to you all and I will see you all soon!