Can you imagine?

Imagine teaching a 10 year old salsa steps. Now set yourself in a poor rural village, late at night where the boy's giant grin radiates the starlight and his eyes sparkle with excitement and the recognition that he's learning something from outside his small world. Now add an American student next to you, simultaneously learning from you, teaching another young child and getting an invaluable cultural experience.

Imagine living in a tiny community of 30 or so families, of whom a few speak a foriegn language that you understand and most only speak a truly foreign language that you are slowing picking up phrase by phrase. Imagine the moment that these generally polite, quiet and somewhat shy women gift you a nonverbal sign of acceptance by allowing you to help them cook a special meal. They hand you an unrecognized red vegetable to grate into a gourd as well as many approving smiles, while the guinea pig roasts on the spit next to you.

Ahh, the suprises! Imagine a makeshift fourth of July celebration, surprising the kids in front of a jungle waterfall at the base of Machu Picchu with firecrackers and confetti. How about surprising a student who came for her first time to Peru after having been adopted from the country as a baby, with a special role in the coop inauguration ceremony - breaking a clay pot of chicha with the mayor over the first doorway. Try a birthday surprise for one of the students of a candled cake, a card and clanging pot and plans! Even I get surprises when a couple students decide to replace my half-dead headphones with a new set - how sweet!

Can you imagine me giving an interview on the radio, being broadcast to the entire Urubamba valley, speaking about the project and such subjects as sustainable development, cultural exchange, construction of guinea pig coops and our partnership with the municipality... all en español !!? Well, I did! :)

This last group of kids were an awesome bunch. A diverse set of personalities that, for the most part, worked well together. It makes all the difference in the world to have kids that are aware of the impact that they are making, are interested in learning about where they are, the history, the future, simply put, they care. I'm sending another big thanks y un abrazo fuerte de Peru to each of them!

I'm writing this entry from Huacachina, an honest to goodness oasis. A blue lagoon surrounded by mountainous sand dunes, beckoning to be played on... and so I shall :) If bungee jumping off the highest jump in the Americas was not enough of a birthday adventure (although I must say it was quite possible the most thrilling and frightful moment of my life - more than skydiving!), then I thought I'd try a flight over the enigmatic nasca lines (sitting as co-pilot :) coupled with an afternoon of sandboarding! I know this year I am a little early, but I'll be spending my actual birthday back in Socma with the next group, perhaps not an adventure, but nevertheless with the potential of being one of my best bithdays ever! We're throwing un gran fiesta for the village, replete with confetti, music, cake and I'm hoping to track down a piñata as well! All the trappings to usher in my 28th... ach, I can't believe it!!