Friday night I was planning on getting some food and then going to sleep, but instead I went with Sara and David to Presada for a veggie burger and a juice, then to Juanito's for papas fritas. Of course we went to Juanito's for dessert, where else would I spend my time? We were about to order when four tall white guys jumped in front of us and took a good ten minutes to order burgers with toppings. The tallest looked back at me and our eyes connected for about three seconds, which is all I need to catch someone honestly. This guy apologized to me for taking so long to order, I responded with a witty comment, and we ordered while his group took their seats. Once we sat down the tall guy kept making awkward eye contact and I gave it right back almost our whole meal until we were done with our fries. At that point he spoke to me across the room about doing a San Pedro ceremony and how he is only good at basketball. I can't remember his name but I remember that he was from Holland, his friend was from Germany, and another from California. After they went to Machu Picchu they thought they might come back to Cusco and visit Healing House, they never did. Then I walked home and curled up in bed watching It's Kind of A Funny Story and was extremely satisfied, sleeping so warm that night.
Saturday I woke up at 8 am because I fell asleep so early the night before and did nothing until I bought ten pieces of bread for my cream cheese. I ended up eat five pieces of bread that morning, which is a lot, while watching Friends. Eventually I got ready for the kids' program at 2 pm and Akio, my favorite kid of the group, showed up with his mother. He was the only child for a good 30 minutes because there were so many festivals going on in the streets. We were planning on making costumes and putting on our own parade in the streets but because he was the only kid, he just made little tiny shirts out of fabric and a small bag to put his shirts in as well as his rocks and dream stars I had them make a while back. This kid puts so much thought into everything he does and it makes me so happy to see him happy. His mom sat there the whole two hours and he gave her one of the origami stars we made a few weeks ago and she wanted to learn how to make them because she is a crafter.
About an hour into the program the other boys arrived and wanted to make masks and costumes out of the fabric, thank goodness we had camo. As the other boys became rambunctious Akio went into the garden and tried to build a fort out of the straw mats we had and the fence. Once that got boring he wanted to draw in the garden and I gave him paper and paint to just be creative to his heart's desire. This kid makes my day. At 3:45 pm we give the kids a snack and I went to mercado San Blas to go buy clementines while Sylvia or Giancarlo were supposed to get juice from the tienda while I was gone. That didn't happen but when I got to the market I realized that our regualr boys Marco and Giancarlo were working their stands and that was why we only had about 7 kids at the program. I went directly to Giancarlos' stand, bought two kilos of clementines, and went back on my merry way to feed more mouths. After my frustration with Sylvia and Giancarlo passed we cleaned up the fabric scraps that were strewn all over the floor outside and took a much needed deep breath.
From then on we all hung out in the kitchen and thought of having a bonfire later that night in the other house. Sylvia was singing at Monasterio, her first gig in Cusco, and Giancarlo and I had planned on going to see her after getting some food at Juanito's. It took too long for our food to come out so Sara, Giancarlo and I just stayed at Juanito's because we had missed the gig. After Juanito's Giancarlo and I went to Parwa, my favorite tienda, to gather food supplies for the bonfire but the marshmallows were not good quality and a Hershey's bar here is too expensive. So we gave up on the bonfire, came back to the kitchen, and ate more food in the warmth. Sylvia was a bit peeved we didn't show up but it worked out that we didn't go. And Paola showed up with Bhakti to go to dinner with Amy and I volunteered to watch Bhakti until they got back so they could have adult time before Amy left for a while. Bhakti and I painted, a lot, then watched multiple beginnings to movies on Netflix before she fell asleep on my lap in the kitchen. In all it was a good but tiring night and I was grateful to get some sleep.
Even though I was really tired I woke up early Sunday morning to give Reiki to our neighbor and her mom. This girl, Rosio, suffers from symptoms similar to Autism as a result of a bad vaccine she received as a child. Every Sunday and Wednesday Niki and I give her and her mother Reiki to try and do some emotional and physical healing for them. The mother is a working single mother with Rosio who is 17, my sisters age, and a young boy who I immediately recognized as an angel.
This Sunday was also Father's Day, so after my Reiki session with Rosio and her mom I sat in the garden and FaceTimed my parents back on St. Pete Beach. Two weeks prior I had ordered some personalized items off of Tiny Prints for my mom and dad, as a Father's Day gift and a make-up Mother's Day gift because my original didn't work out. I was so excited to see my mom open the two personalized notepads with pictures of the family, all of our animals, the beach, and each of us kids on it. At the bottom I wrote "Peace. Infinite Love. Happiness." so that she would be reminded of all of the things that she loves and that love her back, sometimes you need that reminder when you're caught up in the business of everyday life. The first notepad is so that she can make lists and notes, the second is for her to keep, to always remember the love in her life. After I saw my mom open her gift and she cried a bit, I watched my dad open his. In the past we haven't had the closest relationship but it has gotten so much better over the past year as I went off to Florida State and we both became more open minded. For him I got a custom canvas collage of our photos together for his desk in his office. There are pictures from my birthday, dad's weekend at Florida State, New Years, and a classic one of us playing when I was one year old. I think it really touched him and I felt proud to still be involved from so far away. Last year I was in Germany for Father's day and I never would have thought I would be in Peru for this years holiday!
After I had updated my parents and sister on my life here and how well I was doing I was responsible for moving beds around Healing House because we had a large group coming the next day. We had to move entire bed sets from the other house to the main one and doors in San Blas are tiny... After successfully moving about 4 twin beds I went to Presada down the street with Shevaa for a veggie burger. Then I had to rush back because I worked from 2 pm until 7 pm and we were doing an open house ArTEAsenal to promote our services and to raise awareness for our fundraiser. During that time I attempted to make sugar cookies and they came out well for a Peru version. While I was doing this we had two groups of men come through the house, one was a group of 4 from Texas working for BP oil and training people in South America, the other were two young men from Canada visiting Machu Picchu. We told them that night that we were going to Wild Rover, a hostel bar, for open mic night and that we were going to sing Jesus Walks by Kanye and that they should meet us there.
Once everyone left Sylvia and I cleaned up then headed to one of my favorite restaurants up the street for some pizza and we had some good conversation. Coming back home we were prepared to have a little fiesta before going out and got Sara and Romina to join in on the fun. Some champagne and Pisco were opened and I had on my sassy shoes to get the night started. The four of us headed to Wild Rover in a taxi and were planning to go to Ukuku's afterwards to watch Amaru play. What a night it turned out to be! The bar was almost dead when we got there, Giancarlo was wearing a blue fluffy robe from the owner because he was cold, and no one was dancing. So naturally, Sara and I had a drink to get the party started. Remember, it is legal for me to drink here, no problem. So I paid 21 soles for a Jack Daniels and coke and we stayed sippin' on our drinks for a while until Sara was called up to the mic and things got out of hand. Giancarlo dropped a beat for her, she rocked it, Sylvia denied her call up to the mic, and Sara sang "Who wanna buy my friend Tori a shot?!", thats when everything went south. The bar was still extremely boring so Sara and danced, sang, and then the guys from Texas showed up and then I was done with the night so Sara and I skipped out on Ukuku's and went home.
Monday morning the altitude and alcohol were testing my body but I made it and rested up because after being in the cold the night before I started to get sick. The cold/flu that had been going around the house made its way to me and I had no idea what I was in for. Then I worked from 2 pm until 8 pm and ushered in our new group staying with us. After having only a few people in the house to having a full house was overwhelming and the energy in the place changed dramatically. So everyone was together for the house meeting, I screened Food Matters from Netflix on the projector for our Monday movie night, and the two Canadians joined us for the documentary. Then I cleaned up and went straight to bed because I was wiped out from the night before.
Tuesday morning I mustered up the energy to go to Mantay with Sherri and tried to teach the girls ballet, but that was somewhat of a fail. The fact that only four girls could join us was disappointing but then the only girl that was participating was Domingo and she is 8 and a half months pregnant! When no one else wanted to dance I decided to just give them massages and call it a day with Sherri. It was also difficult to do turns with so much snot in my sinuses, so passing out would not have been efficient. After Mantay I went back to my room and slept, too sick to participate in the clinic we host for Cusqueños. I also took advantage of the fact that it was my last night in a private room for a couple of days.
Wednesday morning I was also supposed to give a Reiki treatment again to Rosio and her mom but was way too sick to do that, so Romina took over for me. After waking up at 8 am from inability to breathe, Sara told me that I had to start packing because the woman that was taking Balaz's room was here and that I had to move out so he could move into my room for a couple of days. I chose to do this the week before but had no idea how sick I was going to be and I started to regret it. So I popped up, stumbled a bit, and started taking my settled room apart. I put all of my trinkets in a hidden spot, packed the clothes I needed into my nice clothes duffle, and put my backpack and giant suitcase in the corner so I didn't have to move it. After packing and lugging all of those things to the shared volunteer room in the main house I cleaned my old room, put new sheets on the bed, and washed the floors. Once all of that was done I waited on Balaz to move out of his room, then into mine, and I could settle into main house and get a shower in before I tried to go with Romina and Sara to Hilo to try on outfits for Eibhilin's fashion show. Running in the rain to her store we realized it was closed and then came back to the house to eat lunch. It was cold and rainy the whole day so it was a bummer.
Then around 7 pm I had a little visitor from Sunday night at Wild Rover. One of the professional soccer players I had met found me on Facebook, told me he might come over for yoga and never did in the past, so I expected him not to this time. Surprise surprise, he was in our kitchen. He wanted to take me and Sara out for dinner but we had just eaten papas fritas so we went to Jack's Cafe with him for some tea and then made it back for the meeting I had for the kids program. He stuck around until after the meeting and Sara didn't want to go out for soup afterwards so I reluctantly went with him by myself.
We walked past Plaza de Armas to the Pariwana hostel where he got us in without staying there because he is a frequent. It was nice because he took care of everything, paying for food and making sure I was comfortable. We sat down, ate our soup, played bingo, and I was the first winner so i got a free shot of rum, just my luck! It turns out that this unnamed professional soccer player was the fifth and final winner so he also got a free shot and we took them together, that being my only alcoholic drink of the night while he continued to drink two rum and cokes. The hostel was entertaining us with trivia so we played and I did well for my limited knowledge and it was a good time. Afterwards we wanted to go dancing but it was too cold and I was tired so he got us a nice taxi, a new-ish Camry compared to a car you would jump the boarder in, and I went home.
The next day my suspicions were confirmed in that he is married and has a child. This 28 year old professional soccer player that was clearly hitting on me and trying to make other moves was being unfaithful and sneaky. That goes to show you that men, anywhere you go, will always have one thing on their mind and go to almost any length to get that. I'm all for professional athletes, but preferably those who are single and within 6 years of my age unless they really blow my mind. I felt terrible after confirming this information and told him not to come by again. But hey, it all makes for a great story, kind of...
Thursday was Municky's birthday and to celebrate we went to lunch at Green Point, our favorite vegan restaurant in San Blas. At the restaurant is my favorite dog in Cusco as well, Sue Sue. She always has an outfit on, I think to keep her warm and to signify that she isn't one of the hundreds of strays wandering Cusco. After Green Point Sara, Municky, and myself went to Hilo, the clothing store our friend Eibhlin owns to try on outfits to wear in her fashion show. I was given three dresses, two of which were blue to bring out my eyes, and the last was a gorgeous creme high-low dress with details down the front. Eibhlin fit it to me perfectly and at that moment was when I got really excited for the show in just under one week. Afterwards we went back to the house, I worked, and then we got ready for the party.
It was supposed to start at 7:30 pm, but Peru time means an hour or more later so once people showed up it was great. What we do at Healing House is a potluck and everyone enjoys the different cooking styles and dishes. It was perfect when they started shooting off fireworks at the church just above us, it was as if they knew it was Municky's birthday. And Municky isn't your average Brazilian, she knows so many people and is so loving that the most popular band in Cuzco, Amaru, came to the house and we had a drum circle for her around the fire. The energy was surging and at the point where it felt like we should stop, the fire popped and it was perfect timing. Once things started to settle down and cake was served, people began to leave and the kitchen became semi spacious again. At this point my illness was really kicking in and I almost fell asleep on two chairs, so I made my way back to the volunteer room and crashed hard.
Friday was the first day of winter here in South America and in celebration I laid out in the fragmented moments of sun, accompanied by Ayni the cat, a roll of toilet paper I used as tissues, and a giant bottle of water to replace fluids in hopes of kicking this infection. After sitting in the sun for a few hours I felt energized enough to venture out into the city for a good ice cream, so Sara and I went to the big El Encuentro and had a terrible soup then headed to El Hada, the nicest ice cream place in Cuzco, and I got a cocoa ice cream. It wasn't the best but it was good enough at the moment, especially for Peru. On our way home we stopped in the Plaza de Armas and watched some sort of parade.
Once we got home I tried writing this blog but found no motivation whatsoever. I know that if I don't post during the day that not many people will read it, so I pushed it off for the next day. I was working that afternoon and that was when I met the hand analysis lady. She takes a print of your hand and analyses it to give you an idea of where you will be going in life, acting as a catalyst for your life's purpose. I sat with her for a bit and realized that I really wanted to have a session with her. While we were vibing she brought up all of my angels and my grandmother who is suffering from Leukemia. It was exactly what I needed at that moment and I felt great, wanting to share this information with my family. Once she left I got really tired and had already been feeling down from missing home. So I called my parents over Skype and vented about everything, having a good cry and getting the assurance that I needed to push on through the next 8 weeks at the time. I talked with them about the soccer player and how he felt it was okay to omit information like that and how he expected certain things of me because of the way I looked. We got into a deep conversation about beauty and expectations and thats when I was proud of myself for not giving in to what he wanted and for staying true to myself. Anywhere you go people will have a first impression of you that most likely does not fit who you really are. So I move forward with the attitude that I will honor my body and soul in the way that makes me a better person, not necessarily making other people happy or fitting in.
After that little break down I tried to download some movies onto my computer because I don't get strong enough Internet in the volunteer room to stream movies. That process took forever and didn't even end up working so I wiped everything off that I had just attempted to download and went to the other house to see if we had any movies I could watch on DVD. I found Sex and the City 2 and snuggled in for the night, completely satisfied with the way it was turning out. I slept very well that night after eating a Milky Way and watching the movie.
Saturday I worked from 9 am until 2 pm and got a lot done before the kids program started. I had done all of the dishes, bought flowers, cleaned out the old ones, cut and arranged the new ones, and did the house laundry. So when 2 pm rolled around I hadn't eaten lunch yet and desperately needed food so Sara went down to Presada for me and got a veggie burger, which I ended up not being in the mood for. Our regular boys showed up at 2 and Daniel and I entertained them with music while we waited for Sylvia to get back with the canvas bags we had planned on painting with them. At 2:30 she called the house and said she would be back by 3, and when 3:30 rolled around she finally made it back and we only played physical activity games with the kids in the garden. To finish up the day we had a small game of musical cajones and ate frozen chocolate covered bananas until it was time for them to go home.
After a stressful day I really needed some comfort food so I got my first box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and made that for dinner. I was skeptical at first but it turned out delicious and I was satisfied enough to stay in the kitchen and socialize until I got tired and went back to the volunteer room, watched a Christmas movie, and fell asleep.
Sunday morning was moving day! I was finally going to be able to move back into my private room in the other house and relax. I woke up and right away noticed the GIANT spider chilling next to me on my wall, instantly thinking of Harry Potter. I slowly got off of the top bunk and packed my things to get ready to move. Until I could move my things back into my room I sat outside in the garden and painted with some of the girls selling alpaca sweaters at our open house. It was so sunny out and I wanted to shower but didn't have time between moving and work at 2 pm. So I finally moved my things, put new sheets on the bed, and settled back into my comfortable private room, having to spray perfume because it smelled of middle aged man after Balaz moved out. I then worked the door from 2 pm until 7 pm and then went to Green Point with Sara for soup on our way to Maureen's to house sit and watch Bridesmaids. Her bed was super comfy.
In the end it was a stressful and really difficult week but I made it through it, and that's what counts. I'm sorry this blog is more than two weeks late, the next two blogs will also be filled with great stories including a runway show I participated in and a 5 day trip to Lima! Please keep reading!!
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