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