CUY GLORIOUS CUY

[note: I could only get the above picture to upload, for the rest you'll have to click on the hypertext links.]

On Saturday the seven of us, (Alana, Tammie, JuanCarlos, Ruben, his sister Charro, her two-year-old Anderson and I [the latter two are in the above picture]) hopped on a bus and went to the nearby town of Tipon "Land of the Guinea Pig" as JuanCarlos called it, to eat Cuy. Cuy is Guinea Pig. It's considered a bit of a delicacy here and it was interesting.

There were Cuyerias (Guinea Pig-arias) all over the town, but Ruben was approached by a lady who invited us up to her Cuyeria and so we went with her. It was basically a few tables and chairs on the lawn of this family's back yard. They had a special Cuy oven and a nice garden. There was also a parrot in the tree near our table that could talk. It would mainly say, "Ola!" but sometimes it said, "Callete!" which is "shut up." It was random.

Soon the Cuy came out of the oven and we ate our great feast. It was a little strange breaking the body of this poor little Guinea Pig in two, but that's how you get to the meat. The meat was a little bit tangy, nothing like chicken. Tammie was kind enough to do a scientific disccetion of her Cuy. It was pretty good, and for those of you that are squimish, it could have been worse. Anderson found the head of someone's cuy and went around making sure everybody gave the cuy-head a kiss. Then he beat the parrot with his water bottle.

After eating our feast de cuy we went to a nearby soccer field where everyone played cards except for Anderson and I who chased sheep and one pig.

We returned home that afternoon and went about our various activities, mine being clothes shopping because I needed more nice outfits to teach in. Ruben and JuanCarlos helped me (the girls had to go to a birthday party, I think Alana got to be a clown) I found what I was looking for and one pair of pants, two shirts and a DVD later we returned to the apartment.

That evening I made myself a scrumptious dinner and we watched Oceans 12. That night I dreamt that I was in Willy Wonka's Cuy Factory. There was a place where we got to pet some live cuy before they were sent to the ovens. And on Wonka's desk was a platter of bite-sized cuy to pop in your mouth. I blamed the cuy for this dream.

The next day was Sunday and I understood around 10% when I was paying attention.

I'm still busy with my TEFL, I'm procrastinating writing an essay and preparing two lessons right now just writing this. I am also pretty much over my illness.

...okay I really gotta get back to work.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Boy, things have been crazy busy for me this week. This TEFL course is extremely intense. I am at school going non-stop from 9 in the morning to usually 8 or 9 at night. (We do get an hour for lunch though.) I've been rather sick starting on Friday with swollen glands and fatigue and now it's just an annoying cough. It's ok though because I'm still having a good time and enjoying myself in Peru.

For some reason I'm having trouble with the comments portion of my blog so keep trying but email me if you really want to get a hold of me.

I haven't taken too many pictures lately either so please enjoy these two pictures of me dressed as a pumpkin at various times of my life (it's the same costume by the way.)

FIRST DAY OF THE TEFL PROGRAM

On Wednesday I started my TEFL/TESOL course at the Maximo Nivel language center. There are thirteen people in the class from all sorts of different backgrounds. There are two from England, one from Australia and the rest of us are from the US. Our instructor is from Massachusetts. They all seem like fun down-to-earth people.

The course, however is pretty intensive. We are in class every weekday from 9-3 (with an hour lunch break.) By next Wednesday we need to have turned in 5 classroom obsveration reports (1 page long reviews of English classes we observe on our own here at Maximo) and we have a 4-6 page paper due on teaching methods. On Monday we have to teach a 25 minute mini-lesson about anything BUT grammar to a group of intermediate Peruvian English students. I'm thinking I might teach mine on who's who in Star Wars. I don't know yet though.

So it will be a pretty busy four weeks for me but like I say, it's fun to get to know such an eclectic group of people.

I found a great little place to eat lunch right across the street from the school. Yesterday I got an appetizer of potatoes and a hard-boiled egg in a peanutty sauce followed by a delicious soup and then a dish with beef, gravy, potatoes and rice - all for 5 sols (3 sols = 1 dollar)

After lunch yesterday the school sponsored a city tour for the TEFL students which was great because I don't know when else I would have seen a lot of the stuff we saw because of the price (you have to buy a 10-day tourist pass to get into most of these places, and Alana & Tammie have been to most of them... and you need a bus.) We went to a few markets which I had already been to but we also went and saw many of the Inca ruins surrounding Cusco. We also went to Qoricancha which was originally the religious center for the Incas but was later built over by the Dominican monks. It's in the heart of the city and right across the street from our school.

It was fun but tiring and today was another busy day. I'm still taking an hour of Spanish and it almost feels like a break after all the TEFL stuff. So stay tuned, but who knows when my next entry will be with all that is going on this month.

At the Qoricancha monastery/ruins

At some Inca ruins where the water still runs

The TEFL group getting back on the bus.

If you click on this picture you can see the Maximo Nivel sign. The classrooms are on the top floor.

I tried to find a "Hello Kitty" bike but this, I guess, will have to do. (The Brits got a real kick out of this one.)

A DAY AT THE MARKETS

So the furniture in our apartment is fairly uncomfortable the chairs and couches being more like patio furniture than something that's nice to kick back and really relax in. So we decided that we need to get either a couch or a something like unto it to provide a more comfortable place to sit. So we went to the markets and found that real couches are much too expensive for us, however we did find a fold-away bed that was not only the perfect size but was also cheap. So we bought it and bought some cheap pillows and a blanket and found a nice spot for it against the wall.

At the market I also bought some real Peruvian chocolate (it's OK but just because this is where cocoa comes from doesn't mean that their the best at turning it into chocolate) I also bought a couple of souvenirs, a Peruvian pan-pipe and a flute. I will learn to play them both soon.

The San Pedro market near our house is one of the larger ones in Cusco and it is essentially an enormous terrace wherein there are sections of people selling produce, cheese, meat, grains, handicrafts, clothes, chocolate or items to be used in indigenous ceremonies. (Hence the above picture of me with llama fetuses hanging in the background.)

On a Saturday it is especially crowded and at one point we heard the sound of a marching band coming down the street outside. It was like the Pied-Piper, everyone rushed to the nearest exit to catch a view of the oncoming parade. There were musicians and dancers and people with masks and different costumes. It was for some religious holiday I suppose. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it though.

After the market we came home and got the house ready for a fiesta. We had a "Welcome to House Tammie" (see photo) party for Alana's friend Tammie who had just returned last Tuesday from the US. Several young adults from the ward came over. We ate popcorn and played Uno (which was really funny to them. Imagine if we had a game called "ONE".) It was fun.

On Sunday Alana gave a talk in Sacrament meeting and I played the piano. I think I understood about 7-10% this time depending on who was speaking.

This is a typical scene of a group of children dancing together in a square. Dancing is a much bigger part of life here than it is in the US.

This week I start my TEFL course.

BLOGAPAGOS POLL!!!

So here it is...

In January there is a nine-day gap between when I am leaving Cusco (Jan. 29) and when I need to be in Quito to meet up with the tour group (Feb. 7)

One plan I´ve had is just to bus it up there from Cusco and take my time and stop in various towns to see the sites. It will cost about $500 to do that.

The other plan I´ve had is to fly up to Quito right away and the fly over to the Galapagos and spend several days on the islands. This option, however would cost somewhere around $1500.

Now, I can afford both options but I might really miss that $1500 at some point down the road. And I will be by myself which might make it less fun. (Though more flexible.)

So what do you think? Should I go to the most unique islands in the world, the Galapagos, or should I mosey on up the coast and save my money?

Leave your comment and let me know!

UPDATE!

Nothing much has happened (in Peru anyway) since yesterday, but I have been having some problems posting new pictures. So until I get it figured out you can enjoy the following links to pictures from Ollantaytambo:

Nate and Juan Carlos with the Ollantaytambo ruins behind us.

Alana and Nate in some main chamber with nooks in the walls (is it "nooks" or "knooks"?)

Nate and Alana in the ruins of a doorway.

Three heads

Looking down at Nate and the Inca terraces.

The mountain across from the main ruins.

Nate, Juan Carlos & Alana at the ruins.

Lunch

I took this from the bus on the way home.

Well those are the highlights. Of all the things you could have been looking at on the internet today, thank you for making this one of them.

Don´t Worry.... We Didn´t

On Saturday Alana, our friend Juan Carlos and I took a two-hour bus ride to the town of Ollantaytambo where there are some extensive Inca ruins.

Actually it was two buses, the first was a fairly decent bus and I was able to even catch a nap, but the second bus was more of a van. They crammed as many people on that van as they possibly could, and when you thought they couldn{t cram any more, they would stop for someone on the side of the road who would suck it in and find a spot in the van. I felt like we could have been one of those shows where all the clowns get out of that little car. Luckily it was a fairly short ride.

It was also a beautiful ride with the Andes towering high above. We arrived at Ollantaytambo and Juan Carlos was able to get us an extra good deal getting into the ruins. They were quite impressive, built right into the steep mountainside with multiple terraces that were used for agriculture in Inca times. Many of the stones used in the construction of Ollantaytambo were not from anywhere nearby and it is presumed that they were dragged an enormous distance (they didn´t use the wheel mind you) through mountain passes to Ollantaytambo.

We walked around and took pictures and had a good time. Afterwords we ate at a little tourist cafe in the town. It was funny because they gave us a tourist menu (Spanish= ¨a la carte¨) where a single dish was about $5 or so (in Peruvian Sols of course) and then Juan Carlos asked for the ¨menu¨ which is the typical three-course daily special usually for locals. It was only 3 Sols which is about $1. So we had that and it was good.

I went to church on Sunday and led the singing and Alana accompanied. It kind of threw me off because I started conducting the opening song and I caught out of the corner of my eye a sister on the front row lifting her shirt up to nurse her daughter.... I think I might have missed a beat. It´s always fun going to church in another country because you have the same kind of people in every ward or branch. There are a few things that are different but the songs are the same, little kids still run up onto the stand with their mother running after them, we´re all studying the Old Testament in Sunday School and of course the Spirit is the same. It was a lot of Spanish though. I think I understood about 2%. We´ll see what I understand next week.

Greetings and welcome to my blog!

Nate, where are you!?
I am now in the heart of the ancient Incan Empire, the city of Cusco, Peru. I arrived last Tuesday (the 29th) and am sharing a flat with my cousin Alana and her friend Tammie who both teach English here.



Cusco?
Cusco is a city of great contrasts. It is at once smelly, dirty and poor while also being beautiful, vibrant and rich in culture. The people here are very friendly and it is has been interesting for me to note how they are much poorer than the Hungarians (who are also pretty poor when compared to Americans) but they seem so much happier. It has to do a lot with culture and history I know, but it has been an interesting thing for me to observe.



So what are you doing anyway?
One of the great things about being here is that I am never rushed. I began taking private Spanish lessons on Wednesday. They are from 8AM-10AM every weekday at the school where I will be getting my TEFL intstruction. Other than that my schedule has been wonderfully free to go to the markets, see the sights, hang out at home or whatever. On the 13th of September I will be starting my 4-week TEFL/TESOL English Teaching course. After that is completed I am scheduled to go on a four day trek along the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. In the first week of November we are planning on going with the stake on a temple trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia. In January the three of us will travel around South American with an itinerary that has yet to be determined exactly. On January 29th Alana and Tammie fly home and I have one week to make my way up to Quito where I will join my uncle and his tour group for a ten-day tour of Ecuador. I then fly home on February 17th.

Prove it!
Here are some more pictures from Peru (the one of the mountain was taken from the plane):