Robbed at knife-point Peruvian Hospitals... should have stayed in Huanchaco

So as I aimlessly strolled the streets of Lima, waiting to meet up with Whitney later that night. I heard my name being yelled across the square. I assume its anotehr traveler I have met somewhere along the way, but no its a Peruvian boy. And then he says, you know form Sun Valley, and it all comes back, its Fransisco, Marrianna´s (my roommate in Sun Valley)boyfriend. We are laughing hugging, he introduces me to his two friends Aldo and Martin, and we get straight to drinking and catching up. So we are having a smashing good time when I we decide it would be a great idea to grab some beers and a joint and go sit at the beach. So being with three big, local boys from Lima I think nothign of walking down the dark street to the beach. All the sudden three large men with knives are upon us, shaking my purse for everything they find interesting, my favourite necklace, my watch, my mp3 player, take my wallet, with my debit card and teh equivalent of 200 US I have just gotten out of the ATM earlier that night. The boys got everythign taken as well, wallets, cell phones, everything. And they were PISSED!!!! Apparently it was the first time any of them had been robbed in Lima. But honestly all was ok cause we had not been hurt, and I was unscathed... much worse could have happened.
But honestly not the best way to start off in Lima. Luckily they did not take the weed or rolling papers, so we ended up just rolling one in Parque Kennedy. Where, out of nowhere Gibby and Hamlin, two of my friends from Pomona, showed up. I knew they would be in Lima around the same time but total coincidence to find them, so they walked me back to my hostel where we kicked it and drank, beers they bought i was totally out of cash, and waited for Whitney. Anyway, long story short, no one takes my back up credit card and I am totally dependent on Whit for cash right now, at least until I can figure out how to get money wired down here or wired into her account.
So we grabbed Kimber the next day and booked it out of lima for Cuzco, only the night bus to Cuzco was somehow not running that night, and that night only, so we ended up comign to Huacachina and going sandboarding. Haucachina is a sweet little place to kick it by the poolside....
And the sandboarding turned out to be a fiasco!!!!
The dune buggy ride was afucking blast, ripping over dunes at extreme speeds as the sun was setting, absolutely gorgeous! And then came the sanboarding, Kimber and I strap in and I pretty much shoot straight down the dune and throw myself down to stop the speed, its a bit like snowboarding but pretty impossible to turn, Kimber fumbles down bit by bit, and so does Whit until out of nowhere she catches and edge and scorpions herself. Scorpioning is when you fall on your face and you board arches over your body and hits you on the head. So I rush over to see if she is ok, and there is blood, lots and lots and lots of blood coming out of her head. I cant exactly see where its comign from cause its coming from her scalp, in the midst of her hair but I take of my shirt and wrap it around her head to put some pressure onit and stop the bleeding and then we race off to the hospital.

Peruvian hospitals are shit, ther is nothign else i can say than that. You have to buy all the supplies from a pharmacy next to the hospital because they have nothign there, no gauze, no iodine, nothing... so i ran around like a chicken with my head cut off ttryign to get allthe supplies to stitch up Whitney´s ever-bleeding head, while Kimber is holding gauze toher head and translating everythign. Meanwhile, two different surguries are taking place, one man on life support, and one drunk who was puking and spitting at the nurses with a huge gash in his head....

Sheer insanity. Ok people are waiting for the internet, but main thing is Whitney is fine now and we are headed to Cuzco tonight, hopefully the curse of bad luck will be fixed then.

Today was a good day,

Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day. I spent all day yesterday with Sarah clearing out bricks and rubbish from the site where we are goign to build an organic garden, compost, and chicken coup for this school in Huanchaquito. My friend Sarah is an architect and was asked to design an organic farm and compost at this new school in Huanchaquito. The school was built less than a year ago by a Priest and is funded by charity because the surrounding area is so impoverished. But not only is the shcool funded by charity and free for the kids, they also get fed breakfast and lunch, which serves as some ofthe kids only meals. It is quite a beuatiful and amazing school. After working all day clearing the garden yesterday, and chalking the lines for the layout of it, basically lots of manual labor, we just played with the kids today. It really touched my heart. there is nothign like being covered in hugs and kisses from ten little girls after playing with them all day. It made my want to get all sentimental and break down in tears.
Its funny because I knew there had to be a reason that volunteering in Bolivia did not work out, and this is it. I really feel like this garden project is a great cummulation of my studies, experiences and travels. I am getting to help design and create a garden that will not only provide vegetables and nutrients for these children but also teach them about gardening and the ecosystem, as well as creating a compost for them from what I learned about vermi-composting in India. Also, its so important for children to have gardens to play in, to have a green oasis in a sea of shacks and desert. The Padre got grass donated for the school, and just watching how dilligently they water it and how proud of their GRASS they are. Its amazing. Its a real community effort at the school, most of the cooks are also mothers, and everythign just gets donated for these children that normally have nothing. There is a ball pit, toys, games, see-saws. And all in a matter of months.
I am really lucky to be able to witness the grwth ofthe school, but also to be able tohelp further it with skills I learned at school.
Yesterday, I had a moment of clarity forthe first time, in a long time, that told me that I was exactly where I wanted to be. Funny though, becuase I have to leave Huanchaco for two weeks to travel with Whitney to Machu Pichu, but then after that I fully intend to come back and help with the rest of the garden. At the moment we are still waiting for potting soil and other materials so this is the perfect time for me to go, but I hope I can convince Whitney and maybe even Kimber to come help with the garden and the school. Becuase i think they would get just as much out of it as i have been.

So tonights been a weird night...

To say the least, tongiht has been a very interesting night. Maybe because i was on a lot of drugs, but mostly becuase my friend´s Peruvian boyfriend just opened up his soul and recreated his life story to me and my friend Sarah over the course of an evening. But it was absolutely fucked, its weirdness only paralled with its honsesty. Bertos life and story plays out like godfatehr or scarface, so unreal it is reality honestly. But fuck man, thats a lot to take on when you first meet someone. And Sarah is living full-on after only knowing him for two weeks... imagine! I cannot even explain what went on this evening but only know that I felt suffocated by the relatinship and I was only an inocent by stander... wow some people rally have emotional baggage. WOW.

Huanchaco!!!

So after a nasty 24 hour bus ride, I finally made it Huachaco, a little fishing and surfing town in the North Coast of Peru. The best way I can describe it is, an isolated Redondo Beach without the crime circa 1970. There are tons of little skaterpunks, and two main brakes. One large left break that can get up to 3 meters when it storms and if better with a short board, and one on the other side of the pier that brakes left but infinately more gently and is perfect for beginners and long boards. I have not tested the water though as I woke up completely covered in bed bug bits, and i mean covered. Everywhere my clothes werent I am biten all over. I am assuming I picked up bedbugs on my sleeping bag on the bus and then slept with it last night and thats where all the bites come from cause no one else in my hotel has any bites, but I am not sure. There is only one way to fidn out. I sent all my clothes to the laundry, showered, put on fresh clothes, and am going to change beds (my room has three beds, owe hot shower, cable TV with remote, and free internet 24 hours, all for six dollars) tonight. I also stocked up with antihistamines and antiitch cream at the pharmacy so hopefully my immune systema nd drugs will win out. If that does not work I am swtiching hostels tomorrow anyway, because as cheap as six dollars a night, I can get my own room next door for three, without TV but who needs TV when you are healthy?
Anyway besides being covered in bites I have had a stellar day. I met up with my friend Sarah-Jane who is volunteering here and had lunch with her Peruvian boyfriend, who is also a chef, yum..... and met his adorable niece who is seven named Fatima. We ended up spending the whole day painting, coloring, and rough housing. It was a blast and really nice to be in a home again and not in a hostel. Actually the family owns a hostel and Fatima pretty much begged me to move in with them. She was ridiculously adorable!!!!
I am going with Sarah-Jane to a school tommorrow to hep build an organic farm and compost system for the school. The school provides some of the children with the only real meal they get each day so its important for us to get a productive farm goign as soon as possible to help them get the nutrients they need and teach them how to garden in their own homes. I am really excited about the project and hopefully will come back and help Sarah-Jane after me, Whiteny, and hopefully Kimber get done trekking to Machu Pichu. Hopefully all three of us can come back here and volunteer, its a pretty chill surf town and really cheap to live here. So everythign is pretty ideal right now for putting down some roots. Plus Sarah is dating a local, Roberto, and that gives us a lot of ins... all in all things look promising.
Canon del Colca was also stunningly beautiful! Spent three days there hiking around with Jimmy, but I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

From Bolivia to Peru

So much has happened since I last blogged, I would like to blame it on the slow internetin Bolivia... but lets be honest... I was just totally carried away by everything going on. Which is a good thing right? Its the way one should travel, no?
Anyway, frist and foremost Condor Trekkers ended up being a bust. Pete and Jimmy, our Australian friend who refers to Americans lovingly as Sepos (as in septic tanks, apparently the Aussie´s loving nickname for us)- but who I love all the same becuase he is halaroius and quite a great guy, came with me to Sucre to go on one trek with Condor Trekkers before they went off to La Paz. The first shocking dissapointment with Condor Trekkers was that Randall, the guy who started it failed to tell me that they were not legal, at all, and had never led any trips in the two months of emailing back and forth betweeen us it totally slipped his mind to let me know taht there would be no trips to lead when I got to Sucre and that i did not have to rush down from Colombia, where I was having a lovely time, to get to Sucre. But I digress the foundation that i was going to volunteer at, Nanta, sounded splenddid and I was all set up to be the resident nurse and swim teacher when I was not in the field leading trips, which was giong to be never, and all was still ok... until we actually went on a trip with Randall and the other volunteers...

I don´t know how else to describe the trip except as a beautiful disaster.... the scenerey was gorgeous, the people were amazing- we were accompanied by two Australian Geologists, another awesome Australian guy, and a German girl who was amazing but Randall literally kicked off the trip becuase he thought she would not be able to make the hard hike (which she then took her own gear and did on her own becuase it was easy), yet it was sooo pourly planned by Randall that it ended up a disaster. I have had twelve year old kids who could read a map and plan a trip better than he could. He had apparently done the hike fve other times but never had any idea where to camp at night or stop for breaks, and was completely inept at finding obvoius paths. The worst part though, is that he had three competent guides, Pete, the Australian girl who worked for NOLS, and me and refused our help every time. The last straw though was the last day we were already late starting out to make our one shot at transport at noon that day, and he decided to go an alternate route that he did not ask directions to, had not consulted a map, did not now where our maps were, and then was unable to follow Pete and I when we found the quickest way to the transport (which happened to be over a peak, which was extremely steep and we basically had to slide down on our butts to make it to the road in time). Everytime Pete or I would point him in the right direction, he would go up a ravine that led nowhere, while we would be on the ridgeline telling him exactly where to go.

The bottom line, is what kind of tripleader takes the group an alternate route, that he does not know and has not scouted or consulted a map, when they are already late to begin with becuase they have a sick girl. It resulted in Andy, the girl´s husband having to double pack, down one of the steepest mountain faces i have ever seen. Needless to say the man was an imbecile and I could not stay in Sucre and work with such an incompetent person.

But I did stay in Sucre with Jimmy for thier labor day weekend whcih was filled with dancing, merriment, and the best band I have seen in South America yet- a ska band called Calipso. We then headed to La Paz, spent a few last glorious days in La Paz, eating Pizza and watching movies on our cable TV that we splurged for (sometimes it is sooo good to veg), and then headed to Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca was breathtaking, literally, it is 3800 meters of Isla del Sol, which is though tto be the birthplace of the Incan Gods. Rightfully so, the scenery there was phenomenal and we saw one of the greatest sunrises I have ever seen over the Andes while we were there, from our bedroom window.

Now Jimmy and I are in Arequipa and heading to Cholca Canyon tomorrow, which s the second deepest canyon in the world, to see Condors and go hiking in the great abyss.

The plan is to the go to the beach down here and then charter a flight over the Nazca lines, which apparently were made thousands of years ago but can really only be appreciated by air... supposively amazing rock creations of condors, lizards, spiders, and more.

Then I plan to head up to the North Coast of Peru and visit a girlfriend who is volunteering up there and veg out on the coast, playing in the waves and possibly setting up a family homestay and volunteer for after Whitney comes...

YAY!!! Whitney is coming to hike Machu Pichu with me, which looks as if it may be the bang that finsihes out my trip. She flies back to LA on June 1st so I am thinking of joining her then, kicking it at the beach in Socal for a week with all my friends in LA, and then flying home before Hune 12th for my cousins graduation. Which works out well becuase summer term for Portland State starts June 22nd and I have to get all my stuff straightened out for that. Since Obama has cut all fudning for abstinence-only education, and things look promising in the States for comprehensive sexual health education polcies and programs it seems it may be tme for me to get back on track to get my prerequisites and GREs done to apply for the Masters of Public Health and Physicians Assistant program at George Washington that I was checkng out before I lefty the country...

So that is the update, things are scheduled to change, and most definately will, but I am defiantely hiking Machu Pichu with Whitney and definately going to the canyon with Jimmy tommorrow for a few days... and I am definatley running out of money... so in all likelihood I will be back home in the States soon and able to give my love to all of you personally, or at least over the phone. Time to enjoy the spicy Arequipan food!