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!