Quiet Time

This week has been very reflective. I have had a lot of happenings and realizations about my direction in life and how to establish it or accept it and also about the importance and value that relationships have to me. The other night my friend and I had a conversation about how people use the idea of control to create a false sense of security in their lives, and I basically agree with this concept. I see that we can certainly contribute to how we feel but for the most part if we decide to relax and take in the experience in an accepting manner then our experience will likely be more fun and more peaceful, easier. For me this feeling derived out of feeling like I wanted something that was clear to me and then not exactly getting what I wanted. The want that I had was in regards to a relationship and sharing experiences intimatley with someone. In the past these type of thoughts, that is wanting something from someone else would be farely contradictory for how I say I like to live my life. It has generally been my belief that I am the only one responsible for creating the experience that I want, I still feel that way, but I also see that opening up with others I can create more of me by sharing and talking with them. Esentially I am saying that they contribute to my growth, I am not saying they are resonsible for it, but certainly help me realize it. I am thankful for all my experiences and occurences, new friendships and passions are a blessing.
Every day more and more I like Peru. I feel very established here and generally I move about this foreign environment feeling very comfortable and happy. It is esentially about having fun and experiencing the experience. School is getting better starting to put a little more energy into and also planning for some free time that I have coming up. Certainly My goal is to go kayaking but we will see what happens.
This past weekend we worked more on our project and did a lot of site seeing. The project that we are working on is coming along nicely. On friday we began pouring concrete supports, it is really cool to see. I have always enjoyed and appreciated manual labor but there is something here that feels extremely good about it. Working with local peruvians knowing that they are shaping forming and working with concrete the way they have for hundreds maybe thousands of years, and it still is just as effective as it ever was. The amount of tools these workers have is extremely few and it is really cool to watch the way they use their resources. I really enjoy the project. We visited many Incan sites this weekend my favorite of which would have to be Pisac. The scale of this thing was amazing. It is a series of terraces, storage facilities, holy grounds, watchtowers, and used to be homes. It is really cool. Located in th sacred valley scaling the whole side of a mountain it gives you a vantage point looking up and down the urubamaba river valley. Understanding the incans agricultural practices and religous beliefs is amazing. From what I know about cultures the Incans would be the most sophisticated society out there. They definetley took their time and did things right. Also located in Pisac is a humongous market of mostly handcrafted items. Very fun to walk around and see everything. I always feel a little funny bartering with these peole but I also feel ok about it. My dilemna with it is that I have lots of money and generally I am bartering with a people that don´t have much. At the same time though I understand that this bartering process is part of the economy and I am giving them what it is actually worth. I like to blend in with the culture as much as possible and see what people are doing accepting and experiencing them.
Well that is it for now. I look forward to traveling and kayaking in the near future, exciting stuff.
-nate

see alot, hear alot, experience alot

Well this past week has been pretty damn exciting. I started my other classes, which are all focused on Peru and South America. The classes are politics, art and history, and development.
I really enjoy the combination because they are all very closely linked and we get a lot of similiar information which I think is good because I am going to really understand the complete history of Peru. At first the classes were very overwhelming because they are all taught in spanish so the amount that I am absorbing is small but I am still doing a lot of imprtant learning. My Spanish is improving daily by leaps and bounds and I really love the people and the language. My Peruano mom rides me hard and helps me make sure I have the correct pronunciation, I love her.
Overall I feel very content right now, I feel my balance between work and studying is good and just the way I am relating to the people feels very comforting. We have done a lot more work on our project and it is certainly coming along. There are a couple peruvians working on it as well, as they are the skilled laborers. This past weekend we moved probably close to 350 wheel barrol loads of dirt, it is really good work. The mothers of the communitty where we are doing the project made us lunch one day and it was fantabulous. I think these women really respect the work we are doing, and I really respect the work they are doing, which is learning how to raise a child at an extremely young age. The next couple weeks we have different activities on the weekends so we won´t be working on the project but I look forward to going back.
On a lighter note I saw and experienced some pretty wild things this week. Last monday all us students went out for the night, had dinner and went dancing. So at around 2 in the morning I was walking one of my friends home who happened to be extremely drunk and were approached by two men. As we were walking down this very narrow street (alley) I felt these two men´s presence gaining on us so I decided rather than feel uncomfortable with them behind me we would stop and let them pass, so we did. When we stopped they slowly approached us and one of them began to beg for money.(There is a common tactic among pick pockets where one will destract you and the other will steal your money) As the one was asking for money I saw the others hand begin to creep toward my firends purse. I don´t know what happened but I had a total gut fear type reaction. I immediatley pushed the pick pocketer very hard away from us and started yelling at him like crazy and cussing, I then proceeded to chase these two men down the alley yelling and screaming at the top of my lungs. The end result was that I was very riled up and energized other than that nothing happened. My friend had not seen the one mans hand drifiting toward her purse so she probably thought that I had absolutely lost my mind as she saw me screaming and yelling at these two men, non the less it was an experience worth remembering. Generally the people down here are very peaceful people and are not looking to create violence but mereley just to obtain easy money.
Another experience worth noting happened not very far from my house and right next to the office of the program I am in Peru with. The students at the university went on strike and barracaded themselves inside the gates of the college. It all seemed very organized, with marching, chanting, and a list of what they wanted taped to every wall possible. It was very interesting to observe, but was over within 24 hours. My mom said that kind of stuff is pretty common, but usually not always that succesful.
Well I guess for now that is the majority of what I want to say. I really enjoy the people and culture and look forward to living here for several more months.
Hablamos pronto
-nate

The week to be awe struck

This last week has been filled with very vivid images and memories. I have gotten to witness and partake in many eye-opening, fun, and crazy activities. The first one that comes to mind is a dirt-bike(motorcyvle tour) I decided to take leaving from cusco and going down into the sacred valley. It was just me and my guide riding our motorcycles at high rates of speed on very ill maintained dirt roads. We passed through several small villages one at which we were forced to stop and wait because the town was having a march/parade to celebrate the virgin mary, so we just sat there on our bikes and watched the people walk by and look at us funny. We then proceeded on our ride and headed down a very long twisty mountain road into the sacred valley and this is where it got real interesting. We came to a large patch of mud where I decided it would be best to go right through the meat of it. We spent the next two hours getting my bike out of the mud. During this time I got to see my guide strip down to his underpants and come into the mud with me, also many local villagers walking by and laughing and eventually a villager that helped us. We finally got the bike out but to no avail. Water had gotten in the air filter so the end result was that my guides boss came and pulled him all the way back to cusco using another motorcyle and a rope while I rode in back on my guides bike. It was quite the experience and now I have a peruvian friend( my guide) and I am sure neither I nor him will forget that experience very soon.
My family life has been very fun, the last couple days I have been talking wtih my mother about different customs in different countries, such as farting. We have decided that it is not respectful for me to fart in front of people. It seems now it is her goal to turn me into a respectful young gentleman by prompting me to use a napkin and things like that. My family is great.
This past weekend we started our semester long development project. Our project is to build a new workshop at a home for teenage mothers where the mothers are taught how to raise their children. A big part of the income for the home for these mothers comes from their production of hand goods such as bags, purses, and other things. Their workshop is extremely small and really not a good working environment so we are building them a bigger better one, the american way. The atmosphere of this place is amazing I think I officially decided that if I ever want kids I will be adopting because just being around these kids showed me how many kids there are in the world who are craving to be loved by someone, granted the environment these kids are in is very good considering the situation. The mothers age anywhere from 13-15 and some of them have kids that are two years old or older. It is easy to tell that the directors of this program/house have put their heart and soul into every piece of it. It is truly a great place.
Well my spanish learning continues and I start my other classes this week, history of peru, anthropology of peru, and a class focused on the issues of doing development work. I am pretty excited and nervous considering they will be completely in spanish, but this is why I came to be heavily immersed in the culture, the language, and the people all of which I am getting.
All for now
Hablamos pronto
-nate