What a way to welcome a new year of life! In effect, I've had a birthweek rather than a birthday and I could not have felt more loved! It began with the stomach flipping flight in Nasca, followed by a dune skipping afternoon in Huacachina. Ponytail like a windsock, flapping straight behind me, my competetive little 4 person buggy racing the larger buggies, crashing it's way over moguls and clawing up 80 degree inclines - in sand remember - phew! What a rush! It was a good thing that I borrowed glasses to protect my eyes - my chapstick however seemed to be enjoying collecting little grains as momentos (my hair, ears, nose and clothes had already tucked away more than their fair share) and my shoes no longer seemed to fit as they must have been harboring a dune each!
My last run was by far the highest and steepest and I followed those before me by going straight down on my belly. Fresh wax aided my mach speed decent which was exhilerating until I hit the solid bumps at the end. They came out of nowhere and you know that tradition of birthday spanks? Well, I'm pretty sure that's what they were going for. I got beat. A couple nice bruises and enough sand packed in one ear that I heard static for hours.
As night fell, we were treated with a sparkling view of the lagoon and the drivers invited me out for a night of dancing. But of course! Dancin' shoes (eg flipflops) on, I headed to the local salsa bar. I ended up being one of a handful of girls the whole night, so needless to say I could barely catch my breath between songs. The bar tender had studied salsa in cuba, which made him a great partner and once he found out that I was celebrating my birthday, he made me my first 'Pisco Sour', a Peruvian specialty, bien fuerte and wrote a public invitation on his whiteboard outside to my birthday fiesta!
In bed by 4 and up at 6am, I took a boat tour of a group of islands that are home to masses of birds, including penguins, giant red crabs, and sea lions which was fun and then hopped a couple busses back up to Lima. It's nice to have a 'home' to go to and relax a little before my third group arrived.
Soon enough, I was back out at the Lima airport meeting my new kids. A group of 8, 6 girls and 2 boys that I could tell were going to be a handfull (just kidding compañeros!). A flight to Cusco the next morning, shopping for piñatas and plenty o' stuffing, taking care of a sickling student coming from another trip (there's your shoutout Ann :) and then off to Pisac for the evening where we were met with festivities in full swing - for my birthday eve of course (or possibly in celebration of San Carmen?) Our hotel's balcony overlooks the main square so we were treated with a fantastic view of men trotting horses around in circles with bottles of beer raised high, random groups of people in matching outfits marching through and bunches of revelers dancing to flutes and harps and panpipes! One particularly disturbing aspect was the live chickens they would string up like piñatas, twisting and pulling them every which way as the horsemen reached and tried to yank them down! Fireworks capped off our evening but the music and parades lasted throughout the night and I was awakened every hour by marching bands and hoots and hollars... usually not ideal, but I could only smile - it was a great way to start my birthday! My new hotpink birthday underwear (thanks Mom), a couple birthday hugs from the kids and a couple calls from my parents and a friend made the morning even better!
The ruins, the meeting with the mayor, a short tour of Ollantaytambo and then, the moment I'd been really waiting for... my return to Socma! As we approached, the village kids came running from different nooks and crannies and I received more hugs and wishes of 'Feliz Cumpleaños Yessi'! We played a little volleyball and when dinner time rolled around, our cooks had prepared a special stacked pancake birthday cake as a surprise since I'd planned the party for the coming Saturday so that all the kids could attend. What a happy day! The next morning I noticed Max, my fellow guide, meeting with about 15 villagers that we had already worked with. Later, I find out that they had called Max in and not the other way around, to tell him that they wanted to do something special for my birthday - cook a special meal perhaps. Luckily he convinced them that because we would have guineapig, the usual birthday meal in a couple days for the inauguration, that trout would be a better option. How special that not only did they somehow find out and remember, but also wanted to make me something!
I will save the actual birthday party for my next entry. It was such an incredible, exciting and touching day - truly beyond words! I was also the recipient of the most intricately beautiful and unique hat from Max's family and more than 150 notifications on facebook! THANK YOU SO MUCH! As any of you that read my blog regularly, I could not love my friends more and it really means so much to hear from so many of you, in different languages even, when I am clear across the world! I am still smiling from all the warm wishes!
I must head to bed now. I promise I am trying to catch up on blog writing and photo uploading whenever I get a decent enough computer and connection! So many exciting things happening down here!
In bed by 4 and up at 6am, I took a boat tour of a group of islands that are home to masses of birds, including penguins, giant red crabs, and sea lions which was fun and then hopped a couple busses back up to Lima. It's nice to have a 'home' to go to and relax a little before my third group arrived.
Soon enough, I was back out at the Lima airport meeting my new kids. A group of 8, 6 girls and 2 boys that I could tell were going to be a handfull (just kidding compañeros!). A flight to Cusco the next morning, shopping for piñatas and plenty o' stuffing, taking care of a sickling student coming from another trip (there's your shoutout Ann :) and then off to Pisac for the evening where we were met with festivities in full swing - for my birthday eve of course (or possibly in celebration of San Carmen?) Our hotel's balcony overlooks the main square so we were treated with a fantastic view of men trotting horses around in circles with bottles of beer raised high, random groups of people in matching outfits marching through and bunches of revelers dancing to flutes and harps and panpipes! One particularly disturbing aspect was the live chickens they would string up like piñatas, twisting and pulling them every which way as the horsemen reached and tried to yank them down! Fireworks capped off our evening but the music and parades lasted throughout the night and I was awakened every hour by marching bands and hoots and hollars... usually not ideal, but I could only smile - it was a great way to start my birthday! My new hotpink birthday underwear (thanks Mom), a couple birthday hugs from the kids and a couple calls from my parents and a friend made the morning even better!
The ruins, the meeting with the mayor, a short tour of Ollantaytambo and then, the moment I'd been really waiting for... my return to Socma! As we approached, the village kids came running from different nooks and crannies and I received more hugs and wishes of 'Feliz Cumpleaños Yessi'! We played a little volleyball and when dinner time rolled around, our cooks had prepared a special stacked pancake birthday cake as a surprise since I'd planned the party for the coming Saturday so that all the kids could attend. What a happy day! The next morning I noticed Max, my fellow guide, meeting with about 15 villagers that we had already worked with. Later, I find out that they had called Max in and not the other way around, to tell him that they wanted to do something special for my birthday - cook a special meal perhaps. Luckily he convinced them that because we would have guineapig, the usual birthday meal in a couple days for the inauguration, that trout would be a better option. How special that not only did they somehow find out and remember, but also wanted to make me something!
I will save the actual birthday party for my next entry. It was such an incredible, exciting and touching day - truly beyond words! I was also the recipient of the most intricately beautiful and unique hat from Max's family and more than 150 notifications on facebook! THANK YOU SO MUCH! As any of you that read my blog regularly, I could not love my friends more and it really means so much to hear from so many of you, in different languages even, when I am clear across the world! I am still smiling from all the warm wishes!
I must head to bed now. I promise I am trying to catch up on blog writing and photo uploading whenever I get a decent enough computer and connection! So many exciting things happening down here!
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