The thing about being far from home...

Is that even though everyone is just a phone call away, it doesn´t mean that you can afford the phone call you wish you could have (not just to vent but talk- you never realize how in touch with your close friends you are until you´re too far to talk frequently)! And, when you are in a place where everyone you meet is a ¨new¨ friend, it kind of precludes them from constant hanging out, leaning upon in time of need etc etc. Not to say I´m in a time of need per se, just that sometimes it can be lonely being so far from home solo, especially when you are in the same place. Obviously, I love Cusco and wouldn´t change my decision to be here for anything but when you are travelling alone, everything is new, different and changes every day so meeting people is easy. Living here means your options are limited to other gringos in your shoes, the gringos who have been here forever and who are established and new local friends who have their own crew. I suppose its really just like moving anywhere in the world, making new friends, establishing trust etc but in another country a whole new set of cultural norms comes into play (ha not to mention language...its so frustrating switching back and forth between english and spanish even with english speaking friends...I know it will come with time but I SO want to be able to express myself, emotions and all that stuff clearly in spanish- oh well here its technically called ¨castellano¨)

Now, that said I have met a lot of people and enjoy the people I work with. Friday, after I told my boss I couldn´t work full-time, she said ¨ok, lets go get a beer¨ which was the best I could have hoped for and then we went to dinner. Last night continued well and I met my friend Marisol and went to what I was told was a private party for friends and family. Turns out that this party was the month anniversary party for the brother of the restaurants owner (also an acquantince). I was a little taken aback, considering I came in work clothes (this being the one even in the most casual city ever where dressy clothes would have been appropriate!) and felt like a bit of an outsider but after a little while I adjusted to the whole thing and had a great time- I would say every local I have met in Cusco was at this party. I had heard of the month anniversary of a death tradition before but had never been to a party before. It was really something else...a local Cusquena band (The Trio De Re Mi which was neither a Trio nor particularly harmonic), classic rock and jazz, all held in the restaurant La Retama...so much for being shy I got dragged onto the dance floor with a bunch of Peruvian women and had to prove my ability NOT to dance like I was white (I´m told I pulled it off just fine) There must have been at least 100 people there, and rather than wonder what I was doing there everyone seemed to think it was pretty cool that I wanted to be there, that I was celebrating with them and generally becoming part of the very extended family. A pretty cool feeling to say the least. The owner and sister of the deceased, Marta told me that I was officially one of her adopted ¨babies¨in Cusco and it was very reassuring to hear, considering the circumstances, I am quite sure I was one of very few gringos present so it was nice to be so welcomed by everyone! And, if this is the way Peruvians celebrate the life of their deceased loved ones, PLEASE sign me up because these people threw DOWN, everyone, young and old dancing, drinking, laughing and having fun, lighting candles for Tio Leone and partying in his honor. Pretty damn cool. And whoa, I wasn´t expecting the rocking classic rock band! I ended up leaving around 2 or so and everone else (from what I gather) continued far into the night and morning....

So, I guess everything balances out in the end, just a matter of adjusting and taking it one day at a time. Which, today included cleaning, a trip to El Molino my favorite place in Cusco (haha) and buying and planting some potted plants and flowers for my doorway which now looks quite nice! Ran out to get somethings for my jungle trip and I am SO excited to get out of here for a few days, be in a peaceful, quiet place, free from all the chaos and insanity that makes Cusco so wonderful and see some MONKEYS!!! Ok well, monkey´s, macaws, toucans, caiman, otters and much much more. I´m looking forward to getting some great pics to post on the blog...Manu Biosphere Reserve, where I´m going is the most biologically diverse area in the world and has 15% of the worlds population of birds so its going to be a lovely little get away...I´ll be back Thursday with news of the trip and hopefulyl rested, a bit more hydrated from actually having humidity in the air and with refreshed lungs from being in low altitude. Tomorrow we climb up to 12,000 feet and drop to just 600...whew!

So, thats all for now, back to the house to finish cleaning and finish my book- really enjoying the opportunity to catch up on my Latin American authors thanks to the library at work!

TTFN!!