So recently I´ve been wandering the countryside asking people to tell me their traditional tales in their own language (Spanish, while the official language of Peru, is not the indigenous language of the country; Quechua, the language of the Incas is the native language, and it is slowly disappearing.) I think the highlights of my wanderings have been a slightly drunk old man telling me 3 wonderfully vocally animated stories, a 13 year old girl insisting on singing traditional Quechua songs for me (I think she was slightly tone deaf), and receiving about 30 handwritten stories from the 5th and 6th graders of the Chinchero primary school (complete with scribbles, loads of white-out, and color-pencil drawings of flowers). So, while my findings/recordings may not be the most professional, I think they are extremely representative of the people here: flawed, quiet but bursting to express, drunk from the headiness of the Westernisation in their land (and the resulting displacement of their own culture), subtly intricate, and beautiful.

(the pic is of a girl I saw standing in the street as I was walking back to Ollantaytambo to get the bus to Cusco)

And now off to Bolivia (before I get deported)!!!

Pipe Dreams of an Old Maid

I know, I know. How could a girl on a 5 month travelling binge possibly, for even a moment, be unhappy (reference 2 blogs ago). Ok, so I admit, I was being a bit of a weiner. But hear me out... Sometimes, even in the midst of amazing travels one can feel things other than pure bliss. Sometimes you get tired of always being singled out...or single. Sometimes, like during 30 hour bus trips, or while bedridden for days with a mysterious jungle fever, or while sleeping in the middle of the mountains without a tent, you start to think it might be nice to have someone to talk to (not to mention to help you ward off the encrouching death which you are sure is coming after you). But if you are picky about who you want to share certain spectacular experiences with and also have a rather active imagination, then being alone isn´t too bad. But then you get to Cusco. In Cusco everyone is beautiful, everyone has money, and everyone has a partner (who is also beautiful and loaded which means they get to eat at all the amazing looking restaraunts that serve things other than rice, potatoes, and eggs). And then you start to feel a little lonely. Perhaps a recent converstaion with the amazing Ms. Sullivan about two of my travel dreams will explain:

Dream 1
me: well wouldnt it be great to sneak into macchu picchu at night and have wild traveller sex with this amazing free spirited person that also has a tent and speaks spanish and has a great tan and bod from all his mountaineering?

Charlotte: wait please tell me you actually did that

me: and then you go tramping around together being unconquerable?
no this is my dream
i havent been to macchu picchu yet
...
Dream 2 (with reoccurring themes from Dream 1)
me: i want to collect indigenous fairy tales
and you know, publish a trilingual book of peruvian fairy tales
and then i will be a famed author
and then some hot writer man will find me and we will fly away to india and have wild nomad sex on top of the backs of elephants and in the himalayas

Charlotte: oh man nomad sex
i love your idea.
sounds like you'll need some ethereal photos/illustrations to go with the text.

me: yes mamam

Charlotte: then i'll be a legendary book designer and be having hot art fag sex on top of rolls royce cars.

me: lol
so thats my dream
of two
the other being hot nomad sex partner
i think my small freakout was that i wasnt finding said partner, and i felt like it was my fault for not being spontaneous or outgoing enough or something.
Like anyone else would have had found, seduced, and birthed like 8 nomad offspring by this time with this nomadic sex god.
......
So, yeah I know, I´m retarded for being unhappy b/c I haven´t found a NSG(nomadic sex god). But such retardation (also known as dreaming big and being rather uncompromising) also leads to things like running away to Peru and sleeping in guinea pig huts, so its not all bad. But in the mean time, if any of you out there happen to run across any NSGs, tell them you know this slightly crazed, slightly agressive, super amazing girl who also happens to be rather nomadic down in Peru. And give them my contact info, ok?

!!Photastic!!

I finally got a new memory card and thus went a little crazy today with the cam. Here are two photos I took today (from the market and ruins near Pisac--a small town near Cusco) and one of me holding a baby croc from my jungle excursion.

Hmm, so its been a while. OK, details:

1. I was working at Pilpintuwasi, the animal shelter/butterfly farm. The animals were really excellent. There were 8 monkeys that drove me crazy. They were thieving little bastards that stole my contacts, my headlamp, my toothbrush. I loved them. Florian was a monkey with a full body fro who, every morning, would lay on top of the mosquito netting that covered my bed and, sucking his thumb, would watch me wake up. Chavo was also a monkey with a full body fro which, while slightly less poof-tastic than Florians, was bright red. Chavo enjoyed grooming. As in both being groomed and grooming others. The little fucker had a death grip too. One minute you would be peacefully playing with one of the baby monkeys, the next you would have a bright red blob firmly attatched to your head pulling out imaginary bugs, hair clips, and perhaps small clumps of hair as well. When you finally detached him you would immediately have to begin to groom him in order to distract him from recommencing his hair plucking activities. This, however, was much more fun as he collapsed, purring his monkey purr, into your lap. There were other animals there too including taipirs, a jaguar, baby crocs, parrots, giant turtles, a giant anteater, and a hidden sloth which I didnt know existed for a week. My tasks there varied from cutting down giant plants and feeding the animals, to taking tourists around. While the owners and I did not get along, I think this was still probably one of the best experiences Ive had so far.

2. Jungle tour via canoe. I saw giant sloths, a giant otter, pink freshwater dolphins, a giant prehistoric looking fish that leap out of the water, snakes, crocs, and a flocks of macaws. There was a herd of about 300 wild boars that my guide and I snuck up on while they were eating. I felt like I was in the Lord of the Flies. I also went swimming in piranha infested waters which, much to my enjoyment, totally freaked out the lame American couple that ended up traveling with me for part of the way. The husband tried to out bad ass me, but after he got nipped he got out. He never made it in past his knees. HA.

3. Currently in Cusco being a lame ass. I should be booking my Macchu Picchu transport, but I am currently not feeling up to it. I am so sick of dealing with people running up to me on the street yelling, "gringa, gringa! tour good price!" that I am just ignoring them all and procrastinating. oh well. And I have finally contracted some sort of weird stomach something. I think I was feeling cocky and also starved for nutrients, and somehow I just started eating unwashed produce by the plateful. Its nothing bad, but I keep letting out these really foul smelling farts at inopportune times and theres also the mild stomach pain. I keep thinking about Meg and her story about how she disrupted an entire church congregation with her farts in Mali. It makes me smile and feel slightly less bad.

So yeah, thats me. Feeling farty and slightly crotchety. You should all feel very bad for me and send me lots of emails. adios...