CUSCO!

Wow, okay, my first blog post from Peru! So much has already happened in my first 48 hours here that I want to share with everyone! Though I know I cant share everything during the next few weeks, I do hope to give you a good idea of the experiences I have and some of my reflections on what I encounter. Here goes...

First of all, for those of you who are wondering what it is that Im doing here, heres a little introduction to my plans (also, please forgive the fact that I have not yet figured out how to type an apostrophe using a Peruvian keyboard!). Im here in Cusco for the next 6 weeks and living with a host family, thanks to ProWorld, an NGO that organizes study, internship, and volunteer opportunities around the world. Every morning Ill be working at a health clinic outside of the city, and in the afternoons Ill be taking Spanish classes, for at least the first month Im here. I start my internship and Spanish classes Monday, so Ill have much more information on what Im doing then! I do know that Ill be doing some sort of rotation in the clinic- they have an obstetrics unit, a lab, pediatricians, as well as general physicians who I will hopefully get to work with! On Saturdays ProWorld asks us to participate in a variety of service projects they have established in the area, and on Sundays they organize excursions for us, such as to Incan ruins and various communities. Tomorrow Ill be working on a project all day to build cleaner burning stoves out of adobe with other interns and semester students studying in Cusco.

During my longest flight from LA to Lima, I decided to watch The Motorcycle Diaries, which details the journey that Che Guevara took around Latin America with a friend before he became the leader of the Cuban revolution for which we remember him. It was such a perfect choice for a film during my flight, as Guevara had his most life-changing revelations while in Peru, interacting with its indigenous populations. This made me really excited for my adventure this summer, because, even if I dont have any life-changing revelations, I know that I will learn so much from the people I interact with here. Also- just wanted to share a great moment in the movie: Guevara is talking to a young boy in Cusco, who is showing him the walls the Spanish built on top of Incan walls that had existed prior to the conquest. The boy tells Guevara, pointing to the wall of the Incas, "este es el muro de los Inca," and then, pointing to the Spanish bricks says, "y este es el muro de los incapaces." To translate, "this is the wall of the Inca, and this is the wall of the incapable {the Spanish}."

After the very long journey here (involving a 9 hour layover in LA, some turbulent descents, and a missed flight into Cusco), my first impression of the city was the dust. The dry season is well under way in Peru, and it was immediately evident as my taxi from the airport took me along the citys winding roads to the ProWorld office. The sun is hot and strong during the day, and the nights are very, VERY cold (last night I slept in wool socks, long underwear, sweatpants, and 4 layers below my sweatshirt and the 5 blankets on my bed). Cusco is a relatively smaller city, with a population under 400,000, but already seems to have a lot of character. The people seem friendly and laid back, and my host family has been nothing but extremely welcoming from the get-go.

In fact, my first night here really gave me some insight into the welcoming culture that exists in Cusco. Before sitting down to eat la cena, we were joined by 4 boys who are here as Mormon missionaries. The boys had recently befriended my host family after making their calls door-to-door, but what was most surprising to me was that their interactions with my host family were those of close friends or even family. As my host mother, Jaqueli, prepared dinner, the boys, Yackeli (Jaquelis oldest daughter), Cydni (the other ProWorld volunteer staying with me), and myself sat around the living room discussing religion, God, music, and our life goals- as if this was just normal light conversation to be having with near strangers. Not only did I find our discussions fascinating, but I was impressed to have found such a mix of cultures and backgrounds interacting this way so soon into my journey. The boys were all from the United States except one, who was from Guatemala, but all were perfectly fluent in Spanish- something they had picked up just from living here and doing their missionary work. The wide representation of religion in the house was also refreshing, as the Mormon boys were joined by Jaqueli, a Catholic, Cydni, a non-denominational Christian who comes from a long line of priests, and myself, a Jew. The conversation was enthralling and the company was exciting and welcoming. As we all sat and ate I found myself moved by the fact that, despite the vast differences of religion, ideology, cultural background, and language, everyone was laughing and enjoying the same meal together like one family.

This morning, after taking a "placement exam" for my Spanish classes that was more like a 15 minute conversation with the professor, I spent some time sitting in the back patio of the house to journal in the sun. Jaqueli left the house for a bit and I was joined only by Matias, the familys adorable dog, whose gender is somewhat unclear to me as Jaqueli had two big pink bows out in his hair like pigtails. As I sat outside, entirely alone, I realized that I had been talking to Matias in Spanish, despite the fact that I could very well have just spoken English and it wouldnt have made a difference to him. I think that my interaction with Matias is a very good sign that I am in a mindset that bodes well for the experiences that lay ahead.