Salineras and Baby Syndrome

Don't worry, it's not that I want a baby, it's just that I feel like one. This morning I went to Salineras with Alejandro (also known as Alfredo, or Rasta-Man, although he doesn't know about the first one), and because he couldn't find his identi(ficación), we took an alternate route. I think he was testing my American lungs, or perhaps the strength of my heart. So... many... steps. My body does fine, my calves love the burn, but my heart and lungs are two very different stories. I swear we went up ten flights of the steepest stairs in my life. I should have seen heaven at the top, I tell you.

It was beautiful, and ruinesque (although I'd also like to see it from the non-alternative route side) and I was a hot sweaty baby throughout. I tried to explain that I felt like a little thing that had just woken up from a nap and felt mussy and fussy and disoriented but I think he just thought I was lazy (floja.) This could also be true, but I much prefer my metaphor.

We had chica (not the made-in-the-mouth kind) and it tasted of sweet and sour apple. He tipped some of his chica onto the concrete floor in the chicaria (for Pachamama, he said) and I told him I had already given my offering, referring to my nature-pee at Salineras. I'm getting quite skilled at peeing outside, although today I made the splashy mistake of peeing on dirt. Maybe this is too much information; I don't know. This is Jessica Jackson Peru Adventure 2009 UN-CUT version, with behind the scenes passes to the outside-peeing scandals.

Plans are coming together for the upcoming weeks. I think a bunch of us (Máximo teachers, my fellow teachers, my housemate/s) are going to go camping in the Sacred Valley on Friday. Whether or not we camp, we're going to do something adventurous for the long weekend, and I'll probably take off for Machu Picchu from there.

I still feel frowny and mussy. It's just one of those days. I think a dance marathon is in order. But first, listening to "Get Up, Stand Up" and heeding the advice to look for my life on earth and see the light (jah!), and then maybe a nap.