ProWorld

It has only been another great week. Project Friday was again a ton of fun. We were again working in the guinea pig houses, but this time we were adding chicken wire to complete the cages. We learned that by separating the cuy into different cages, the owners are able to better control them and keep them healthy. While really all we were doing was nailing the chicken wire onto the wooden cages, it was very difficult because of the awkward angles. It was great when one of the daughters who lived at the house came to help us and showed us some more efficient ways of completing the process. ...

The countdown started even before than I can remember.  The opportunity to take time off during college to travel internationally was always part of my plan.  It was so assumed, so sure, so positively set up like a road block on the path of my life.  Like a ticking time bomb, I always knew I would end up doing something… But travel by myself to India for two months (followed by a month in Thailand), would not have been what I would have guessed and much more ambitious than I would have ever thought I would be able to handle.  Now that it has all started...

So I'm sitting here in my bed at my host family's house in the neighborhood of Marcavalle, Cusco, Peru.  I couldn't be a happier man.  I hate to take cheesy quotes from movies, but in Midnight in Paris the main character said that there will never be a work of art, sculpture, or building that can match the beauty of a city.  The city itself is a work of art.  Marcavalle, the residentail neighborhood where you can walk down the block and grab some ceviche.  Or on a weekend afternoon go down to one of the local soccer fields and play a pick up game with some of the local guys.  ...

So on arrival in Cusco... Wow I don't even have words to describe what it's like here.  Amazing is the only word that keeps coming to mind so excuse me if I over use it. It's just crazy that I can exit any building in the city, look around and see the Andes, 12,000 feet in the air.  That's another insane part of this whole trip, that I'm three times higher up than where I live in Colorado.  Definitely for the first couple of days I've had quite a few headaches and way too many moments where I've been out of breath.  The worst is when I'm just sitting somewhere and I run out of breath. ...

This past week was slightly difficult. I got pretty sick on Tuesday and had to stay home from school - I have never stayed in bed for a full day due to my restless spirit but on Tuesday I had no choice. I slept about 13 hours that day and tried to move as little as possible. I finally started feeling better around 9pm but was still exhausted from the slightest amount of activity. I read for about 30 minutes and decided I was worthy of a nap. Instead, my host-brother, Aaron, walked in the room and started asking me about how I was feeling. He asked about the classes that I missed today and was wonder...

Our second weekend started on Friday with our first project day. Through ProWorld we work every Friday at a village about an hour outside Cusco. Different projects that we do include making ecological refrigerators that work with cool water instead of electricity, making cuy- guinea pig- houses, sanitary pantries, and cleaner burning stoves. This time our work just involved putting barro- mud- on the walls of a guinea pig house. It was really dirty, by the end we all looked like the canvasses of Jackson Pollock paintings, but we had a ton of fun and we all really enjoyed being able to go to a loca...

I expected to be pretty sad leaving my family at the airport, and again seeing the Phoenix city lights getting smaller from my window seat. But I did NOT expect the reaction I had upon arrival in the AeroMexico terminal at LAX. Everyone was speaking Spanish. People were speaking to me in Spanish. The attendant called my name up to the counter in Spanish, and questioned me in Spanish. That’s when the reality set it, and I thought—What am I doing here? What was I thinking telling myself I understood this language? Why am I boarding this airplane of confusion to a land of desperate bewilde...

As I sit on my floor next to my half-packed bag, I thought I would share some of the resources I have found for brushing up on my Spanish in a very limited amount of time. Like most people I know, years of high school Spanish (and my complete lack of willpower) have done nothing for my Spanish-speaking capabilities. Once I decided on this internship in Oaxaca, I knew I had to get my language-learning into gear. Here are some things that have helped me: The Claro Initiative A common language-learning ideology is the Rosetta Stone theory: that you should learn your second language t...

Another unbelievable week in Peru behind me! Our first weekend in Cusco proved to be simply amazing. On Saturday we started the day with an early morning at the biggest market in town. We were advised not only by people through our program but also even local passersby to be extremely careful with our belongings and hold them tight to our front, so we entered the maze of stores clutching our bags to our stomachs, with only the mission to see as much as we could and not actually purchase anything. The market was a labyrinth of stalls selling everything from old rusty metal pieces to American c...

Last weekend was our first excusion. On Saturday, the 22nd, we (the Proworld group) went in a tourist van and started driving towards Moray (which are Incan terraces). We stopped once or twice along the way to take pictures. This was my first time outside the city and I really loved it. It was absolutely beautiful. We did pretty well on the weather as well. It only rained once and that was when we were driving, anyway. It took about an hour to get to Moray. We walked down into the middle of it and it wasn´t until we were at the very bottom until I realized how big it was. Our group had a really fun time the...