Semana Buena

It’s been a while since my last blog post! I’m sure everyone who reads this is on edge, checking my blog way more than their own Facebook newsfeed to see who got tagged in what. (Okay, maybe only my Mom checks this daily).  Honestly, life in Peru has slowed down somewhat and I’ve been able to take some much needed time to simply relax after a busy first couple of weeks that were filled with early morning campaigns and a few late night rendezvous to Plaza De Armes in downtown Cusco. All of the students, including a group of UGA undergrads that stayed for two nights, are now gone and we have dwindled down to the five of us that will be here all summer (winter). We’re not sure yet, but we think MTV is trying to do a Real World Cusco. We’re still trying to figure out the details and a tag line for the show, so if anyone has suggestions…Ha!

Around the clinic there hasn’t been too much going on. During the clinic hours we’ve been helping with the few patients that come in and also doing a lot of data entry from the previous weeks surveys. Our next goal is to set up some campaigns for June and early July in order to get more surveys completed. One cool thing that we are trying to set up is to be at the local hospital for some twelve-hour shifts delivering babies. I’m excited for the opportunity but want to get a little better at my Spanish before I try to bring a baby into the world.

I’ve really been working on my Spanish this week and have resorted to the method of notecards for all the important verbs and their conjugations (I didn’t even make notecards for med school!) Rosetta Stone has been a great supplement to my learning but I forgot the other levels back in the States and I’m almost through Level 1. Everyone has really been a great help to me in learning the language with the clinic staff and all my Spanish speaking roomies getting a good laugh out of some of my attempts speaking. I’ve found that one of the best ways to learn is to go out by myself and try to talk to people. I love going out with my roomies but having them as a crutch for translating makes it easy for me to sit back and be quiet. It does get frustrating sometimes not being able to express myself but my friends have to keep reminding me that I cant expect to learn a new language in two weeks.

Last night I had a great time meeting some new folks by the names of Liya and Juan who were introduced to me by my buddy Randal J Bourquin via Facebook. Randal met them both on a trek here in Peru and thought we should get in touch. It reminded me of a double blind date having never met these two people before and agreeing to meet up for drinks and conversation but truly, it was a great time! All of their friends were super nice and they took me to a cozy spot to listen to acoustic reggae and sip on Pisco. The place gave me a sense of something that should be in L5P in Atlanta. The sounds of Jamaroqui and Ben Harper let me know I was in the right place, not to mention that half of the crowd of ten or so people were sporting nappy roots. . It amazes me how nice people are and how good people tend to attract others than are like-minded. Once again, I was reminded of how much I’m enjoying South America.

The video I posted is from two earlier campaigns but I just got around to finishing the edit. I didn’t realize that the Rainy Day in Peru video was somewhat sad and depressing so I made sure to put happier music to this one. I was really just wanting nice music to accompany the rain but after watching again I realize it could be used a one of those sad commercials trying to get people to donate money to the needy or rescue dogs from the pound. Either way, this is the HD version of the rainy day video on youtube.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uf7ETD74dQ&feature=relmfu