Old Mountain, Big Adventure

Finally! Knocked a big one of my bucket list... Machu Picchu! We sure did it with a bang too... Eric, Randi, and I decided to do the Inka Jungle Trek which is a four day three day trip to the old mountain itself. Coming back it is really hard to summarize the range of physical and mental emotions we experienced. I guess I will start with day one:

The trek was kicked off by a windy bus ride (AB you would not have enjoyed this at all), where the bus dropped us off at the top of a mountain to ride our bikes down. This was such a freeing feeling, after I got over the fact that my wheel was making funny noises and might fly off at any moment. Riding down was never dull, full of pin turns and extremely muddy construction zones. When we got down you could literally measure our smiles with a ruler, we were all quite amused by the adventure. After we made it down safely we headed to get some grub, and rest up a bit for the next day. My dad would have been so proud of me on this trip. I pretty much turned into a carnivore and devoured two meals with a marinated steak. Easy the most red meat I have eaten in the past year. This served me well for day two.

The second day we woke up with the sun and stuffed our tummies before taking off for a 10 hour hike. It is hard to put a caption on the beauty and adventure of everything we saw. This day was easily the most satisfying part of the trip. We trekked up a part of the Incan trail that the messengers used to use to communicated between pueblos. These trails are no more than 2 meters wide and are located hundreds of meters over the canyon created by the Urubamba river. For good reason too, as we could peek over the edge to watch the river rush by at un-Godly speeds. It is pretty amazing thinking about the thought that went into everything we saw, hiked, and summited. One of the guys on our trek told me I was just like an Incan since I opted to do the hike in my Chacos. Seeing what they were capable of, I took that as quite the compliment. Day one continued to wear on and we finally reached some flat ground to give our calves a bit of a rest, but the adventure far from stopped there.... Mom you can skip the end of this paragraph if you wish not to have a heart attack.... Because it is rainy season the terrain is always a bit more difficult to maneuver. Like I said the river was really high, and quite crazy. But the rain also triggers a lot of rock slides. About an hour outside of our destination for the day we confronted one of these. Originally the plan was to descend again and go by the river to climb up to Santa Theresa to stay for the night. However, this did not workout. So we continued on, the rock slide had been a day or two ahead of us but they were still cleaning up the damage. So when we reached it our guides directed us to keep our eyes up on the hill and if we heard or saw anything to face our backs to the mountain and use our backpacks to protect our heads from flying rocks. So far so good..... we then met with a construction crew a couple hundred meters ahead. Here there was a lot of loose rock and they were working to secure the area in between some showers. So we waited a bit and then were directed to run through the rubble in pairs. When we were running through (mind you in my Chacos) I looked up and saw a good size rock flying behind Randi. Have no fear we all made it through. Eric had to get pulled against a ledge to avoid a few falling rocks, but the whole group made it completely safe. This is where I caption this story with: ¨That would never fly in America.¨ It really topped of the trip and gave us all the endorphin high to finish off the trek.

The next day was another day full of walking. This time there was very little up hill and we really got to see the power of the river as we walked by it with random splashes due to the force of the water. Not only that the afternoon was full of rain. By the time we reached Aguas Calientes, just outside of MP, we were more than ready for some dry clothes, a good meal, and a nice rest before waking up at 3:50 AM to hike up the Machu Picchu.

The early morning greeting us again with more rain. Loads of rain. We got up early and hiked up a mountain full of stairs to make it to MP before its 6 AM opening. By the time we all reached the entrance we were all soaked with a mix of rain and sweat. Lovely we all were for our tour. We spent the early morning learning about the relatively unknown Quechwa culture that populated MP in its prime, lucky the storm broke mid morning allowing us to dry off and for the fog to burn off for a few picture ops. We then set off to hike Huayna Picchu, the young mountain that overlooks the whole range we hiked in. Naturally, when we began our hike we were greeting by yet a another storm. The hike again was full of stairs, steep stairs, that made us feel like we were hiking the famous Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. When we summited we hit the heart of the storm and got soaked through. We were able to get a break in between storms to get a small peek of MP from above. It was quite entertaining seeing all us tourists whip out their cameras when we spotted the bit of green and amazing constructions below. After that small window we decided to start our dissent since the stairs were unbelievably steep and we didn´t want to get stuck in the heart of a storm going down rocks that were constructed at the angle of a latter. Our dissent was rather timely, it started bucketing rain when we reached MP again so we decided we had got the chance to enjoy the majesty of MP and food was calling us.

We headed into town to enjoy a five star meal. I have never seen prettier nor tasted better food. It was a great place to warm up fire side and enjoy some time with our new German friend. We left Aguas Calientes on my first train ride ever, and headed back to Cusco while playing some word puzzles. It turns out I may be challenged by English word games, to do that with a second language is mentally exhausting. Props.

Randi and I were able to find late night hostal and get a solid night sleep. We were lucky enough to wake up to some Carnival celebrations in the streets. It turns out the Peruvinas do it right. Carival is full of dancing, foam, and water fights. It was a nice morning treat after four days of exhaustion and really brightened what looks like a typical febrero loco rainy day.

Life after TEFL

Wowza! One month later and I am TEFL certified!

Life after TEFL is great! We finished up our practical teaching last Friday and since then have been able to enjoy the bits of Cusco that weren´t as easy to access when we were in the classroom. Friday itself turned into a long day for everyone. My practical teaching was from 7am-8am so I was the first one done with my teaching out of all my class. I then spent the day outside the classrooms to congratulate everyone on the completion of the stress of teaching. Unfortunately, this wasn´t the end for any of us. We had one last paper to finish before we were free of the chains of TEFL. By the evening we were able to get everyone out of the building to enjoy sometime and dancing together. Saturday morning followed with a mini hike and some good grub for me. I really enjoyed the feeling of seeing some Incan ruins knowing that I actually had nothing else to be doing at that moment. Ahhhhh :)

It is easy to say that the weekend as a whole was a bit of a fiasco... we definitely let loose. Let´s just say that I wish every graduation ceremony was accompanied by ¨We are the Champions¨while they call your name to deliver your certificate. My class of seventeen people each had a unique dance/celebration to greet our teacher for our certificate, which were quickly taken back for safe keeping before we hit up the discos of Cusco.

Overall, this TEFL course has been an amazing experience. I never thought it was possible to learn so much in a month. I not only learned the tedious techniques of ESL teaching, but I discovered a lot about myself. Most important of these discoveries is the fact that I really enjoy teaching and passing on bits of the American lingo to non-native speakers. We´ve been calling this the teacher high, and I am excited to see where it takes me after teaching for 6 hours a day. Yup, for those who missed the update I already found a job! The Maximo Nivel in Guatemala (I took my class at the Peru site), just started in February. Their client base has grown exponentially and they were looking for some new teachers. Lucky me they caught wind I was on my way there and asked for my resume. Thanks to great recommendations from TEFL trainer and an awesome job title from my MyFight job I was offered this past Monday. I get there in two weeks and start training immediately for my contract to start the beginning March. I am really excited to be a part of a new program and see it grow! Strangely, I am also very excited for the schedule we have. Being the morning person that I am, having classes from 7-9 and then from 3-8 just may be the perfect fit. It will give me a chance to enjoy the beauty of Antigua otherwise known as ¨The City of the Never Ending Spring¨ and work on my Spanish through discounted classes. If you can´t tell through the text of this blog I am beaming right now! So ready to start this adventure!

Until then my dear friend Randi is here visiting. So far we have been busy introducing her to my world in Cusco, mostly exploring my favorite part of town, San Blas. In the morning e are off to Macchu Pichu and then making our way to the coast next week for some good ol´ relaxation before jumping into the world of teaching English.

Titicaca

Peru keeps AMAZING me with its people. They aren´t nearly as blessed as us in terms of material wealth, but you can tell they have an abundance of wealth within each other and within faith. I see a bit of this within Cusco, but more so on the outskirts of the bigger cities. It is quite refreshing seeing home simple life really can be.

This past weekend we ventured out to the famous Lake Titicaca. Going into it I really didn´t have many expectations, but it is easy to say that it, by far, surpassed anything I could have anticipated. We booked a tour out of Cusco, because with the limited weekends and the nature of tourism on the lake itself we didn´t see that chance of finding a better deal. Besides the fact that we were told facts about the islands by our tour guide, after we had learned the same thing from our host families it was a great decision made.


We started out the tour headed to the Islas de Uras. These islands blew my mind! The people who lived on a family were an extended family and primarily supported each other, not only that but they continuously build the islands and the houses on the islands themselves. The mechanics and planning involved in this are far beyond my level of comprehension to describe. The people were just amazing and friendly!! The kids on the island were by far the best part. You could tell that they loved to see new faces and to play. Lucky them, we are all just as intrigued and tossed a ball around and hung out with all of them until we got to take the ¨mercedes benz¨ handmade-grass-woven boat across the lake to another floating island.

After our short visit we set off for our lake home on Isla Amantani . At this beautiful island we were set up to stay with local families that live up the hill on the island. A.B. and I stayed together and had one of the richest experiences yet. We joined the father of the family for all the meals and enjoyed broken Spanish conversation (none of our first languages) over their typical dishes. This is a place I could probably subsist forever. The food we ate never contained meat, but was very protein rich with Qinoa, Egg, or Cheese. On top of that, meals are always followed by a mint tea called Muña. The tea was so tasty it was enough to warm your heart and soul on any day. We spent the afternoon on the island playing soccer, hiking, and watching dance (really what could make me happier). The evening was spent in traditional clothing learning their traditional dances, it was far too much fun to spin in the traditional skirts. It was truly inspiring to see how simple these people lives could be and just how happy they were having it that way. This small fact will always provide me with a bit of condolence every time I get frustrated that I only have a backpack full of clothes to wear for the next few months.

Perhaps the next best thing to the people of Lake Titicaca was the lake itself. Thanks to our crazy friend Grahm we got to jump of the tour boat into the lake. It was such a refreshing feeling. Cold! But great and totally what we needed after a rainy morning. The Lake water tastes ohhhh sooooooo refreshing as well... thanks to my handy dandy steri-pen! All in all... Titicaca was all but caca, and accordingly we celebrated with our traditional mango.

The trip came just at the right time. This past week of TEFL has been a lot of work. They warned us that the class was back end loaded, and we found out why. I felt like I was in front of the computer three hours a day after class EVERYDAY. Really it isn´t that bad, we all know my focus level is low when it comes to doing homework consecutively... the amount of time doing the homework was a lot less than it should have been. Luckily in my procrastination I got to book my ticket to Guatemala. YUP... here we go Central America!! I feel like after Randi´s visit I will have gotten what I wanted out of Peru, and made some fantastic friends along they way. I may or may not have found my doppelganger. But I am ready for something new, Guatemala seems very fitting in a number of ways. There is a Maximo Nivel there too (the same organization I am taking my classes through). Thus, I will have a network to fall back on, plus I found out after I booked my flight that there are openings at the newly established MN-Guatemala English program. Fingers crossed!!!

Until then we are going into our practical teaching week. We each have a class of our own for a week and then we will be certified teachers! Can you say college on crack?? As I am writing this I am saying nound, adjective, adverb, superlative, blah blah blah... so something must have set in over the past three weeks.

The Sacred Valley

¨Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent in the ideas of living." - Mariam Beard

I have never seen a quote more fitting for travel, and adventures I have come upon so far....

After the first week of classes I felt a bit flustered. It turns out that TEFL is a totally new way of thinking for me. When teaching a new language you have to fight all instincts that most teachers innately have. No explaining, just eliciting responses from the students by a number of mind bending exercises. Because of that the first week has been a lot of observation and absorbing of the practices we are expected to walk away with. I know it is possible, but it is evident that it will take a lot of work to master the art of ESL teaching. Luckily the students are supportive and for the most part eager to learn. They appreciate us making fools of ourselves for their sake. In order to fully absorb all the new facts, some of my classmates and I decided it was crucial to get out of the city, and fully enjoy where we are.


Before we headed out of the Cusco I was fortunate enough to meet up with the Pressl family. My mother teaches their son and she has been telling me about them for ages. We were lucky enough to be in Cusco at the same time to enjoy dinner together. They are a beautiful family with a great sense of adventure. They are living abroad for a year splitting that between Ecuador and Argentina. It was by far the best dinner I have had yet with fantastic food and even better conversation. It is always nice to find a piece of home in random corners of the world.


As for the rest of the adventures, initially some of my classmates and I just started on the outskirts of Cusco. We headed to the giant white Jesus statue (Cristo Blanco) resembling the one in Rio.It is the only big sight around Cusco city center that I was interested in seeing. So we found a way to hike up, weaving through the outer banks of Cusco, up a lot of stairs. When we got there it we were serenaded by the happiest Cuscaño I have ever seen. I started out chatting with him and practicing the Quechwa we learned in class that week and then he took out his baby guitar and proceeded to break out in song about the pretty North American ladies. It was great and his joy was contagious. Overlooking the city of Cusco was pretty neat. It was interesting trying to figure out where we live and seeing how condensed the population really is.

The next morning another group from our class headed to the Sacred Valley to explore the Inca ruins. What we found was amazing beauty and the experience of a life time! Our first stop was Pisaq which leads to and Incan Temple. We took the way up that was designated to avid hikers, we didn´t really know what we were getting into. It seems that hiking through Incan ruins requires a lot of stairs. So much that A.B. blurt out before bed that whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was stairs (mind you still is still saying that 4 days later.) Needless to say the stairs made the journey much more difficult than expected, but totally worth every step! The further we climbed the better the view got. It was completely breath taking in every meaning of the word. We topped of the exhilarating hike with  "Ceremonial Mango," the most refreshing treat to a completely fulfilling adventure.

As for the Incan ruins, I have established that the Incan Empire must have been crazy. The number of rocks and how perfectly they place them to construct these amazing places is almost unfathomable. The beauty in every construction just needs to be seen in order to fully take it in.

After Pisaq we hopped a bus to stay in Urubama for the night. After the big day what we had, we ended up crashing early to continue our sight seeing. We left early to head to the Muray and Chinchera. Two more Incan ruins that, again, were amazing to see. The best part about these two places was the landscape surrounding them I have yet to see such lush grass and friendly mountains as I did in these areas. Not the mention all of the locals working the day away, and seemingly enjoying every minute of it. I really felt at peace in the Sacred Valley. Yes, people were trying to get business out of us, but it wasn´t the hustle and bussle of Cusco. It was a great break from reality and an even better adventure... with more to come!

The people I have met  here are amazing. Those of us in the program have really clicked, and it is great that somewhere so far from home is already starting to feel like another home. Hopefully learning all the English grammar won´t put me completely over the edge and scare all my new friends away. Well.... it is easy to see that we are all going down on the insanity level together, so we will beat that path as one.

Tour de Cusco

Buenas from Peru!!

Peru is a dynamic country. It is evident that it is very poor and is learning to thrive on its natural wonders. But what has struck me most about the country is the beauty of the Peruvian people. Every local I have met here has been more than willing to help with any questions or issues we might have. A prime example is when we went out dancing one night, one of my housemate, Meg, set her jacket down on a stool, because it was getting rather hot inside. After dancing for a while and meeting a Peruvian we decided to move on. We looked and looked and looked for her jacket, but couldn't find it anywhere. I mentioned this to my new Peruvian dance buddy and he grabbed my hand and brought me down the stairs to a coat check. He had seen Meg set down her coat and felt uneasy about leaving it there so he checked it for us.

On top of their kindness they all have a natural beauty. I have really found that within the indigenous, and their eyes specifically. Their eyes have so much character to them. Looking into them you can tell that they have worked hard all their lives and still have amazing optimism about what each day holds. They also have this little sparkle when they find something enjoyable, it reminds me of my Dad's special sparkle.

So far we have just been busy exploring the city and getting our bearings. I'm too cheap to invest in any of the city tours, let alone paying for a Taxi daily, so we do a lot of walking. Depending where you  are that can be a bit overwhelming because everyone is trying to sell trips to Machu Picchu or Puno. Soon enough I'll need that, but for now it is fun seeing all the different types of markets, parks, and hangouts.

I love the people I live with, we all come from totally different places (South Africa, New York, Brazil, Kazikstan) so we all feed of of each other to learn more about the world. Right now I am learning a new Africaan word a day. My favorite so far is KOK which is an expression like poopy or shitty. The diversity is great, it is just hard because our only common language in English so sometimes I get confused as to how I should respond. It does get me good practice at the markets communicating for them!

The meals in home-stay have been fantastic so far. Peru is the home of the potato so every meal includas a bit of potato. For the most part they are served differently: mashed, stuffed, or baked. Our house Mom, Patricia and her helper Toti are great cooks are really know how to mix it up. They are both very sweet and inviting in and out of the kitchen. Toti is probably my favorite Peruvian so far. She stands about 4'6'' and speaks the native language of Peru, Quechua, as well as broken Spanish with a lot of hand gestures. She gets super excited about the best things, I just love coming home to her smile!

Despite my content with my housing set up I may be looking to relocated to somewhere where I can easily walk to class without it taking an hour or the chance of wandering off path. It is a big pain having to pay for a Taxi everyday, I much prefer the fresh air anyways.

As for the reason I´m here: Class started today and I really feel that I will like it. It is going to prove to be intensive, but I think my class will make it worth it. I have already found some classmates, in the few short hours we spent together, that want to go on hiking and biking adventures. Get out of the city and see the beautiful countryside of Peru for what it is worth!

Arizona, where the sun is shining. ..

Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun!

It is amazing how much vitamin D can enhance a day! It has been a beautiful visit to Arizona. With plenty of down time, but enough adventure to get s me thrill out of the trip.

When we got in we didn't have much planned. Really what I want was some good Mexican, a nice, hike, and time with friends. All of the above were quite successful.

Day one we went on a scavenger hunt for those things I couldn't get at home. Epic fail, but it was fun anyways. We topped of the day with a "hike", in other words not a hike at all. We get to the trail and not only is it overpopulated, but there are stairs up the first half mile of the trail, followed by a safety bar that you find on stairs in arenas. New to me, but we survived. But the adventure wasn't over, after we made it past the manmade help we hit a boulder field. Lauren said that at many points throughout the hike I looked like an extreme monkey because my leg was as high as or higher than my head. Quite the hike to end with a city view summit! Afterwards Angie’s commentary on the hike was hilarious, being from the city originally she didn't know what she was in for (not that we did either.) The same night we went out to the Big Bang... a dueling piano bar that had non-stop entertainment through the night. It was a good mix of music, comedy, and relaxation... I would totally go again in a heartbeat.



The next day was Lauren's last day off from the hellish med school schedule. We decided to top it off with a mini escapade to watch the sunset over Phoenix. Nothing like a smoggy sunset to make you really appreciate where you come from, but also your company. It was a friendly reminder that I have maintained some pretty great things the throughout the years and that I need to treasure them. Once the dark set in we headed to the Zoolights display. It was by the far the most intricate light tour I have seen, but what was even better than that was Angie's excitement. Every animal or neat display she was stoked beyond belief! It made it that much better.

Over the rest of the trip we all racked up some good relaxation time, poolside reading, as well as a good game of soccer. It was great to see familiar faces. Not just Angie and Lauren, but also Trevor and Spencer from Grand Canyon University that took good care of us this summer on the road. Not to forget my favorite Mexican, Alex, who just moved back to Arizona and gave us a full tour of his hood as well as a taste of quality comida.

After all that fun, I am rejuvenated and ready to test my comfort zone and be thrown into whirlwind of fun new exciting things!

Salute to HOME

Now comes the time where it is only appropriate to issue a salute to home...

After moving back home for the past few months I have really found its beauty in every way. At first it was harder being home than anticipated. I had a big summer and I didn't feel that home had changed as much as I had. But that has turned out to be a good thing in the end. I went out and created my own community that is making it harder and harder by the day to leave.

The friends I have kept, maintained, became closer to, and made have enhanced my journey home in so many ways. These are the people I have and will constantly surround myself with to show the nifty quirks of life. I have come to appreciate the little things more and more; A cup of coffee or a beer with friends. A afternoon hike. A random (yet not so random) encounter with future mentors and friends at work. The importance of a community in Christ. Camping out for an early morning sunset. The friend you made by jumping into a ill-equipped vehicle. Dress up (as fire "hydrants"). Childlike amusement. Consistency. Pie club. The excitement of a dog after a long day home. A good and exhilarating workout. The steady love of family. Generosity. How what the future holds is totally doable. The art of waffles. The belly ache of laughing too hard at board games. The creativity of decorating. Support. The nerdiest of nerd conversations. Reading. The protection of lifelong friends. Motivating and flattering texts messages. Finding a fellow orphan to be adopted by an amazing family for weekend dinners. Intellectual pod casts. The lack of coincidence. Tradition. Love and engagements. People who care. Flying. Opportunity. Really the list could go on and on, but all these things have "romanced my heart" as one of my friends would say and proven to me how life works out in mysterious and un-thought of ways.

I am excited to see what this next chapter holds. It keeps me calm knowing that what I have is great, and what I can find is even BETTER.

Salute to you home, thank you for pulling out an amazing community for me yet again.