Plans changing and then coming together...

Leaving for Bolivia tomorrow night.

Coming back to Cusco in June.

Studying women and plant medicine as well as Spanish and Quechua. I love my professor, and this contract is right up her alley. I´m incredibly excited because one of my favorite people/Spanish teachers here at Maximo, Jorge, is a native Quechua speaker and has agreed to give us (us being me and some friends, mostly Maximo teachers) weekly Quechua lessons! Whoo!

Today I found an apartment close to Jenna. It´s cute, sunny, with a panoramic city/mountain view. Plus, bonus, I get to choose the paint colors and tile. I am thinking something hot and Latin. I still need to firm up details, but I am excited about having a place in place for when I come back from Bolivia in June.

Off to get my bus ticket to Bolivia. Ciao!

Quillabamba, Machu Picchu, and the Joys and Sorrows of Towels and Toilets.

On Thursday night, I took and overnight bus to Quillabamba with Susanmi and her mischevious almost-three-year-old to visit her family. Quillabamba is a hot, humid, rainforesty town. Susanmi's family graciously welcomed me into their humble home, a two-room concrete house, complete with chickens. My first morning, I woke up to chickens strutting around the house. It was tough for me to have to poop when the bathroom was three feet away from the kitchen and divided by a sheet. There was no way you could pull the run-the-water-while-you-go trick because the only water in the bathroom was in the shower, and we all know you can't fool someone into thinking you are showering and shitting at the same time.

More on toilets: I know I am adjusting to life here in Peru because I am conscious of bathrooms, as in I'm always taking advantage of clean bathrooms (or just anywhere you can actually sit on the toilet seat), and I rejoice when I come upon a particularly wonderful bathroom. I've also become a tp/napkin thief. It's necessary for my survival. One time, when I was desparate, I used an old ATM receipt after I peed at the beer garden.

I would also like to note that although I am quite capable of roughing it (I think), it's pretty hard to shower without a towel. Like, you would think it wouldn't be so bad, you could just shake off like a dog, but it doesn't work like that.


Other Quillabamba happenings to note:

• Swimming in the river
• Visiting the saddest "zoo" ever
• Super beautiful waterfall adventure
• Food, food, food with the family!
• This "sex shop" that offered potions of all sorts. I didn't nab a picture, and the regret is going to haunt me til the end of my days.

After three days in Quillabamba, sticky and sweaty, I boarded a combi (my mantra was "cool as a cucumber") and made my way to Machu Picchu. I combid to the train station, where I walked along the tracks up to Aguas Calientes (MP-town). I walked with this annoying Canadian girl, who was walking as opposed to taking the train because "it's like such an authentic experience or whatever."


We misjudged the time, and walking to Aguas took longer than we thought, so as it's getting dark, she says to me, "I think maybe we missed it." (Mind you, there is NOTHING ELSE on the way to Aguas Calientes except for train tracks, river, and natural beauty. No way we could have missed it.) And then, she says, "I think we should turn back." In the dark? And walk for two and a half hours back in the dark to the train station? I don't think so. Eventually, when I've talked her out of turning back, I see signs of life (a.k.a. a town) and point it out, joking that I might be hallucinating. At this point, Canada-girl tells me that she did coke last night, in Peru, for her first time. "Well, maybe that's why I felt so sick this morning, but I don't know, I am about to get my period, and my stomach always hurts a few days before that," nervous laugh nervous laugh. Yeah, much more likely it's your menses and not THE COKE FROM PERU YOU SNORTED LAST NIGHT! Oh my gosh. She wasn't even cool, or cooky, or grungy like you would expect a coke-snorter to be. I know I am being completely judgmental, but just wait. It's about to continue.

Sometimes I can't stand travelers, with all of their boastful adventure stories and the snobby ways they have about them. This is what I have to hear all day (and some of it comes from my own mouth):

• I don't have a guide book.
• My plan is not to have a plan.
• I haven't showered for xxx days.
• Oh really? I woke up with chickens this morning.
• Well when I was in Bolivia...
• It's like, such a unique experience or whatever.

Also, for clarification, I also love travelers, but Matt Vail summed it up perfectly:

"there are many kinds of travelers
some are looking for material for their first novel
some are looking for cultural capital
some are looking for stories that will shock their friends and families
and others are there by accident
some others have a genuine passionate need to see something they've read all about
others had nothing better to do"


Okay, and so maybe I am going to sound like an annoying traveler right now, but when I arrived at my hostal in Aguas Calientes, after smokin' hot Quillabamba, combis, and my three-hour train-track trek, I was sooo glad to have a shower and a towel that I shrieked delightfully in my room, and took a picture to document the joy. I have never been so happy to have a towel in my life, clearly. If you're ever in Aguas Calientes, Hostal Adela is nice, comfortable, and cheap at 15 soles for a private room, not to mention they provide breakfast and the staff is super-sweet.







In the morning, I met my tour guide and group and got my Machu Picchu on. I have to say, I wasn't WOWED. I wasn't AWE-STRUCK. I wasn't . . . impressed? You can hate on me, but what can I say, I'm a truth-teller. I know it's impressive, grandiose; those Incans were mighty ambitious. Throughout my trip I was itching to tell someone (or maybe I was itching from my mosquito bites, hah!), to confess that I didn't feel like all the other visitors, the ones who I am sure, upon leaving, made this deal with god, like, "Okay, now that I've seen Machu Picchu, you can take me. I'm ready, because I've been wowed. I've been wowed, and I've been humbled. Whoo lordy take me away!" But I just couldn't bring myself to do it! I can see it now, me confessing, secretly, with ginger-lips, and getting trampled by all of the other Machu Picchu lovers, pelted with their Kodaks and Canons, thrown off the bus and into the river.

Regardless, here I am, at good 'ol Machu Picchu.

I mean, I may not look impressed, but I don't look bored, do I?

It also didn't help that our tour guide informed us that MP might not even BE the lost city of the incas, and that there are other, cooler, more impressive ruins, but MP is famous only because there is a train. Maybe I need to visit those other, cooler, more impressive, more lost-city-er ruins. I'll look into it.




For now, I am home, back in Cusco, figuring out my summer plans. My life's pretty awesome. I'm all free from my TEFL course, and doors are opening, always. I have roots here in Cusco, friends and places I know, a home base. I think in soles, speak Spanish more naturally (more and more each day) and I have lots of opportunities ahead of me. I am remembering (or trying to remember) to count my blessings, reserve judgment, breathe, take each experience for what it is, live presently, take pictures even though sometimes it makes me feel like a dork, ask questions even though sometimes my questions make me feel like a dork, let go, move on.

Until next time.
Jess

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.

Life after TEFL

TEFL course is over! Look at all of those proud and beaming graduates!

I am finishing up my portfolio and Grammar paper this week, and then I will be free and my certificate will be in the mail to me!

During our TEFL party (pictured above) at Máximo Nivel, Mojito got spilled up my nose, and there was plenty of dancing. At the spill-over party in Roots, arguably the best disco in town, our TEFL professor as well as another English teacher and two of our students danced on the bar. I even got down with someone who had nothing to do with Máximo. Score! You might be sad to hear that I didn't dance on the bar, but don't worry, I got into my own mischief. ;) The night on a whole was super and I spent the next day in bed, which was also super.

I am giving myself a week or two here in Cusco to re-ground. This TEFL course really did eat my life, and I'm getting it back. Enjoying spending more time at home or outside, as opposed to my TEFL classroom... I'm enjoying taking pictures and exploring and walking and breathing, and being.

After I've decompressed from the course, I'm planning to travel through Peru, with spots and sites including but not limited to: Machu Picchu, Arequipa and Colca Cañon, and Lake Titicaca. Next up, Chile and Argentina, maybe, who knows. Not me.

If you have ideas, give me a holler.

For now, peace.
Jess

TEFL and the Village People

I love my TEFL course! It is rapid and intense and full of all kinds of teaching tools. I feel like I have learned so much, am equipped with so many more tools and concepts than I was before. My brain is busy with new teaching techniques, rapid-firing, full of curiosity and questions.

Something about teaching English as a second language feels really wonderful. There are a lot of parameters to take into account when lesson planning, which keeps me focused and from spinning out of control. As a teacher, your goal is for your students to talk, so you spend little time talking, your directions are short, and you plan your lessons with "potential issues" in mind, as well as solutions. You have to have clear learning objectives, and specific tasks and practice for how to reach those objectives. Having these guidelines and structures to follow iws so comforting to me! I know I have tendency to be scattered, and to try and cover so much in my plans for teaching, and this keeps me focused! It felt great during my mini-lesson to feel so prepared, in control of the classroom and my material. Not to say that it is rigid; teaching so far has been fun and creative! The students are a blast.

I have class observations this week, and I'm teaching a mini-lesson on a specific grammar rule or concept on Monday. We start practice teaching full classes for full class periods (60 minutes) next week! It's crazy to think that I only have three weeks left of this course, and in my homestay. I am putting the feelers out for another place to live, considering working at Máximo, and I sent my resume to the progressive bilingual preschool.

I adore my classmates, and we've been hanging out after class as well as in class. It's great to be branching out on my own, meeting new people, taking on the challenge of "being a great teacher." We're starting to study more English grammar this week, and I am excited for that challenge as well. My head can feel so messy sometimes, but everything is simple and calm in my TEFL classroom, whether I am in my role as a student or a teacher.

It just occured to me that I also have similar feelings about teaching Preschool. I still keep vocalizing that TEFL and Preschool are the only "school" settings in which I can see myself teaching. I wonder if this is true, or if I will continue down the educational path and find that I can fit in other avenues, with other grades or subjects. I am so curious as to what lies ahead of me!

Also, 20 soles for a ticket to see the Village People on Saturday. In Cusco. How could I not? A bunch of people from my class are going. And with the current exchange rate, that works out to be 6.34 USD.

Two Quick Things

My mini-lesson is tomorrow. My topic is Easter. Juan Carlos is getting out of hand. See the following email for proof:

Subject: amor

From: Juan Carlos

March 24 at 8:58pm

hola amor espero q estes bien y q te cuides de lo q estas un poquito mal de salud te amo mucho no sabes cuando tengo ganas de berte todo los dias y decirte q te amo mucho espero q esta relacion sea lo mas lindo chau cuidate mucho te amo juan carlos

For context, Juan Carlos (or Johnny Charlie, as Americo refers to him) works at Máximo Nivel. And as I said to Melissa last night, "He keeps mopping close to me!"

In Recent News . . .

I had my first TEFL class day today! My classmates seem really rad, and so does my teacher. I have my first mini-lesson on either Friday or Monday. This consists of me choosing a topic, planning a lesson, and teaching in front of 6 ESL students for twenty minutes. Yikes! I am excited! Although, everyone who finds out that I am doing TEFL says, as an ESL student said to me today, "poor thing." Even the first word out of my Spanish teacher´s mouth was "pobrecita." I know it will be a lot of work, and it will be a challenge, but I feel profoundly positive about it.

We have a new housemate, Lou, from Texas. He´s pretty quiet so far, but he just arrived yesterday, so we´ll see. He´s also in the TEFL course; there are 8 students total.

I have started sitting closer to people. I.E. if there are a couple of empty chairs at a table and one is close to a student, I´ll sit there. It´s pretty American to keep the distance, but my guess is I will meet more people this way.

Not over my cold yet; it keeps coming back in different forms. Any positive thought or healing light you could send to my body would be greatly appreciated, especially to my nose and throat areas.

A lot of the students in my TEFL class are well-traveled, and as I suspected, most of us are like-minded and in similar places in our lives. I am thinking the intensity of the course will require bonding, and homework parties, and general hanging-out. I am so glad I tuned in to my wanting to start my travels with a TEFL, and I am equally glad I got two weeks of light Spanish classes in which I was able to settle, ground, and explore.

We´re off for a city tour in a few, so I´m out of here.

-Jess