Floripa, Ilha de Santa Catarina, Brazil

After almost one month in Brazil I have managed to confuse Spanish, Portuguese and Italian to the point that I am never really sure what language I am speaking. Trying to learn some Portuguese was not such a great idea I guess. So what have I been up to? Is Brazil nice? Are the girls really beautiful? Do people dance samba in the street? Is the surf good?

First things first, when I landed in Brazil I stayed with Gustavo a friend of my good friend Thiago and a really great guy. The Brazilian people I met so far were all absolutely fantastic and meeting people like Gustavo is what makes traveling special. I didn't really like the city of San Paulo, it is a gray man-eating Megalopolis, however I had a great time and met new friends.

After my stay in the biggest city of South America and the financial capital of Brazil I headed down to Florianopolis. To get here I took an 11hr night bus which I think drove past the arctic circle on the way here, the air conditioning was so strong that I was starting to wonder if I hadn't landed in a cryogenic clinic by mistake. Fortunately I had warm clothes with me and I survived the extreme temperatures.

I have been staying at the Barra Beach Hostel, right in front of a beautiful little beach that goes by the name of Prainha do Leste (Little beach of the east). The hostel is a beautiful place set in the lush green hills of the Isla da Magia (island of magic) or Island of Santa Catarina. Some parts of the coast are overdeveloped, with tall buildings and ugly highways in what is otherwise an idyllic setting, however not Barra da Lagoa. The east side of the island was kept intact thanks to the wise government, most of it is considered a natural reserve and severe building restrictions are -almost always- imposed. This makes Barra da Lagoa a peaceful fishing village. The island of Florianopolis is beautiful, the greenest mountains are the backdrop to stunning beaches and a beautiful lagoon. It feels like Lugano, Knysna and Cape Town all merged into one. Nature is the boss of the island: Atlantic rainforest, Iguanas the size of crocodiles, multicoloured butterflies, birds that emit the craziest sounds, dolphins, very hungry mosquitoes, lots of centipedes and gigantic hairy spiders. 

View from my bedroom at the hostel, with 11km Barra da Lagoa beach int he background

Sunset from my hostel room.

The hostel is an interesting place to stay, there are lots of young people of all nationalities and I have met so many great people. I have gone surfing with new friends, walked to the “killer” waterfalls in the tiny fishing village of Costa da Lagoa, drove to Blumenau and drank beer at the second biggest Oktoberfest in the world with fourth generation German settlers, ate the best sushi of my life in company of new friends, taken a day trip to the Southern tip of the island where Barry the dog followed us for 1 and a half hours along the trail to a deserted beach called “Shipwrecked”. Went rafting on a local river in the catarinense country sid that looked like Austria or Germany with cows scattered everywhere.... with palms and monkeys there to make things a little exotic.

I have fallen asleep and woken up with the ever present sound of the waves crashing in on the small stretch of sand of the aptly named Prainha do Leste. Hundreds of times I have crossed the blue bridge that goes over the canal that takes water from the sea to the lagoon and from the lagoon to the sea. I hiked for an hour on a slippery steep path leading to the beautiful Gelheta beach carrying a surfboard all the way only to discover that the waves were too big and the current too strong for my current level of fitness. I have drank the sugary guaranà energy drink, eaten countless açaì bowls with fruits. Yes, Brazil is beautiful, yes the girls are truly stunning, people dance samba but usually not on the street and the surf is decent on the local beach of Barra da Lagoa and too difficult on the other beaches on the island.

I still cannot believe that I am really doing this, I am really out here living my dream, meeting new people, discovering new places and having all these great experiences. I am the luckiest person alive.

I crowned a life long dream just two days ago when I went out for a surf, caught a wave, turned around and saw two dolphins surfing the wave behind me. I paddled out and to my left a dolphin jumped out of the water as if to salute me. I will treasure this experience for as long as I live. In one week's time I will be flying to Rio de Janeiro and catching up with my old friend Thiago and in sixteen days time I will be headed back to my beloved Trujillo, Perù, where I will see all my friends.

Pancakes with George (England) and Yasmin (Denmark) on the terrace of the Barra Beach Club bar. We shared lots of great moments in Floripa!

Birthdays, whales and a megalopolis.

So what have I been up to? Why did I visit South Africa for the third time in twelve months? Where am as I write this?

After my visit to the Kruger and the great time with my cousins (thank you Gabi, JP, Milly and Nick!) I headed down to Cape Town where I was joined by my parents and my sister. There was a very special reason for this long distance family reunion: we celebrated my mom's 60^th birthday! It was a special occasion and we celebrated at the beautiful Kirstenbosch gardens, one of my favourite places in Cape Town. Family and friends joined us and I'm sure that my grandmother was somehow with us, organizing a beautiful summer day in the middle of spring and ensuring that the flowers looked as stunning as possible. Once again -a little late-: happy birthday mom! You are the best!

Birthday mom and birthday sister at the Kirstenbosch gardens!

We also went on a family outing to Hermanus with Paddy and Carol (who are like family to us). Hermanus is a pretty village that is two hours from Cape Town and can pride itself to have the best land based whale watching in the world from late September to November. Watching a Southern Right Whale -a creature that weighs as much as 5 African elephants- elegantly leap out of the water sending it spraying in all directions on landing is something truly spectacular. We set up a little pic-nick in a sheltered spot that was the envy of all the German, Swiss German and Dutch tourists in town! Ah, die hätten gerne mitgegessen!

whales breaching in Hermanus, no zoom used for this picture

In Cape Town I managed to surf and catch up with friends. I also really enjoyed my sister's company, we went for long drives to the beaches of the Cape or visited the many malls in Cape Town. A big happy birthday to my little sister who turned 26 on the 6^th of October.

that half a "surfer" is me!

The worst surfer ever, but I do have the most fun!

Me trying not to fall off the board

Me taking off and heading straight into a wave that will close out on me

this pretty sign is in the parking lot right in front of my favourite surf spot in Cape Town :)

On this trip I was reminded of the natural beauty of the Cape, froze my rear end off in the freeeezing waters in Kommetije-Long Beach and discovered that you cannot rent a car at Hertz if you don't have a credit card. You learn the hard way.

Long beach Kommetije, possibly my favourite place in Cape Town!

Scarborough beach, beautiful!

Me and two Tscherman tourists in Blouberg

This sneaky fellow kept some Chinese tourists under siege for a good 30 minutes by sitting under their tour bus.

Also I would like to congratulate my cousin Roberto and his wife Lindsey on the arrival of their beautiful twins Franco and Michela.

It was a special trip and it was made even more special by being with my family.

As I write this I am sitting on a bus in the busy megalopolis of Sao Paulo, the traffic is crazy and I am a little tired from the flight. I will be spending a couple of days in Sao Paulo and then heading to Florianopolis, which is situated in the southern state of Santa Catarina. Brazilians are super friendly and helpful even though they often don't speak a word of English. I get by with a ridiculous mixture of Itañol which sounds much like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB6GAEXdv4w. Absolutely pathetic, but so fun!

Sao Paulo is crazy, it is absolutely huge and so busy, it is very intimidating for me... the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo has around 20mio inhabitants... the whole of switzerland has 7mio and my village back home has 1'500, so when I flew in and saw the endless city composed mainly of high rise buildings my jaw dropped open. The traffic, the pollution, the speed... it is all a little too much for a little country boy. Tomorrow evening I will escape this urban delirium and head down to the island of Florianopolis.


ps: thank you Nati for the awesome pictures!

South Africa! Again?

Well, here I am, back where it all started 28 years and 350something days ago.

Some of you are probably wondering why I am back in South Africa for the third time in less than 12 months, there is a very valid reason for this but I won't reveal it quite just yet.

I am currently in the Balule reserve, which is a part of the Kruger national park.But let us start with order shall we?

After lazing around in Lugano, Switzerland it was time to leave again. I landed in Johannesburg (Joburg) on the morning of the 11^th of September, I then took the Gautrain from the airport to Sandton, one of the wealthy parts of Johannesburg. My cousin Jean-Pierre and his wife Millie came to collect me. It was nice to see him after all this time. The rugby world cup has just recently kicked-off in New Zealand and South Africa is in rugby fever mode. The national team, the springboks were playing on the very morning I landed and everyone was wearing their green and gold rugby jerseys. JP asked me if it was alright if we went and watched the game at a friends place. What better way to start my stay in South Africa, than a rugby game and a braai (bbq)? I was rather sleepy (zombie-like) for the entire day as I didn't get much sleep on my night flight from Cairo to Joburg. In the evening JP and I went around to Gabi's new place for dinner (my other cousin). Both my cousins recently relocated to Johannesburg. After a delicious dinner I went back to JPs place, sorted out some logistic issues and proceeded to sleep like a baby! So on the morning of the 12^th of September I left Joburg with a tour operator called Viva Safari and headed out to the Kruger park (a 6 hour drive) where I will spend four days visiting this spectacular place. Yesterday we got to the lodge in the Balule reserve and we were immediately brought on an evening game drive. The breathtaking sunset made way for an even more spectacular full moon. Driving around the park in a big fat land rover with several tourists kitted out in the latest safari gear from Tshermany made me feel like a real tourist, but it was nevertheless quite a spectacular experience, we saw Zebra, Kudu, Steenbok, Jackal and a hippo. This amazing picture, is a picture I took of the zebra during the night drive:

Beautiful aren't they? What a pity that I forgot the flash.

We had dinner after the drive (lekker Kudu stew) and I subsequently passed out. This morning the wake up call was at 4:45 am for a morning walk. I was somewhat sleepy (aka: totally zombified) when our guide drove us out into the reserve. Our guide was amazing, his name is Vimpi (not sure about the spelling) and his nick name is Impi, he looks like an afrikaner (of Dutch descent) rugby player, the kind of player that carries on running even if he has 6 opposition players attached to him. He is South Africa's very own version of crocodile Dundee, except that he is bigger, has a broad Saffa accent and is much better at rugby than the aussies. You can picture him, legs the size of baobab treetrunks, arms the size of oaks, crewcut, khaki and military style gear, short sleeves and shorts despite the very cool morning temperature (13C at 5.15 am), intimidating tattoos armed with a gun and a knife that would make Rambo look like a girl scout. Impi loves what he does, we get to a spot that he deems appropriate and then get out of the safari jeep and he gives us a talk about safety while walking in the African bush. He has 14 years experience and knows what he's doing. Basic concept is be quiet, do what is say, don't run -no matter what-, walk behind me -if a lion tries to eat you I will wrestle it away- .He shows us tracks of several animals including a Leopard, a honey badger (his favorite animal, because despite its small size it is incredibly courageous), a hyena and last but not least a lion. We pass a Marula tree and he explains that the Marula fruit is incredibly nutritious and then digs out his Rambowisheshehadthis Knife, takes off a piece of the trees barks and rubs it onto his skin to show us why it was used as a dye: it leaves intense red marks. After that we are hot on the trail of several lions, the tracks are recent. We pass a spot where the male lion marked his territory. How do we know this? Well Impi sticks his hand into a pile of sand and sticks it under our nose, “here smell, lion piss”. Ahhh, priceless moments in the African bush. He subsequently finds lion excrement and I am somewhat surprised that he doesn't stick his hand into the mound, he kicks it and tells us “it is highly poisonous, don't ever touch it”; thanks bru, just in time, I was about to stick my hand into the lion poo. We pick up the pace and try to catch up with the lions, we reach a watering hole, but no sign of the lions, however we do see a crocodile eating catfish. Impi's eyes light up when he sees the animals, it is so great to see somebody enjoy his job so much. We sit down for a light snack and Impie tells us stories about elephants, lions and the bush. We then make our way back to the monster sized jeep and drive back to the lodge. On the way back we pass Impala, Zebra and giraffe, we then pass another safari jeep. Impi and the driver exchange a conversation in afrikans and the only word I think I could make out was “buffel”. Impi turns around and tells us to hang on tight and accelerates on the bumpy tracks. The other game driver had just spotted four Rhinos, unfortunately we don't see any, but on the way we pass more giraffes, Zebra and voltures. Impi brought us back to the lodge and then I guess he walked back into the bush to wrestle some lions. We have a late brunch and four giraffes decide to join us right on the terrace, they are majestic creatures, I love the way their head bobs back and forth while they walk and they way they spread their front legs in a comical way to bow down in order to drink water. I am exhausted and still have one more game drive ahead of me and a transfer to a different lodge, so I hope you will please excuse me as I go for a sound sleep.

Oh, by the way, Impi speaks seven different languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Sutu and three other languages that I cannot pronounce let alone remember at this given moment.

En route to the park from Johannesburg we passed the cute rural village of Dullstroom, which is gradually becoming a bit of a tourist center. We stopped in a restaurant called the “Mayfly”, at the end of the lunch I asked if there was a pharmacy within walking distance as I had forgotten to buy mosquito repellent and the waitress politely answered that unfortunately it was a bit far to drive. The owner overheard our conversation and told me not to worry and offered me a lift to the pharmacy on his bakkie (pick up truck), this was a wonderful act of South African generosity.I was very grateful for this, as the Kruger is a malaria area and malaria is not my idea of fun. His restaurant was clean and the food was good, if you drive by make sure to stop for a bite!

Impi took us for the afternoon drive, substituted his gun for a camera and somehow managed to spot rhinos in the thickest vegetation you can imagine. He assessed the situation and got us to slowly walk closer to the rhinos. It was amazing. The rest of my stay was amazing, including a drive to central Kruger part, where I got to see all the big 5 in one day (Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Rhino) and also sleeping at Marc's treehouse lodge was quite an unusual experience. On the way back to Johannesburg we stopped at the Blyde River Canyon and it was breathtaking, it is the 3rd largest canyon in the world and truly spectacular.


Here are pictures of the trip:

Sunset in the Veld

Buffalo and Elephant

Giraffe

Elephant

Can you spot the Croc?

Elephant

Marc's treehouse lodge

View from the balcony at treehouse number 4

My home for 2 nights

Quite true

Me in front of the safari jeep

Blyde river canyon

Me at blyde river canyon

Yesterday evening I got back to Johannesburg and went out for dinner with Jean-Pierre, Millie (his wife), Gabriella and her flat mate Nick. It was a very pleasant evening. This morning I woke up to some fabulous news: Lindsey, who is Roberto's (my older cousin) wife, gave birth to two beautiful twins: Franco and Michela. Congratulations to the entire family!! I hope I will be able to catch up with my friend Abey and hopefully spend some time with my cousin here in Johannesburg before heading down to Cape Town on Sunday the 18th of September, where I am looking forward to see my entire family.

PICTURE BOOK

Pictures from the land of the squeaky cuy:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115701270834255691248/PERU2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzcjvSg-oPWAg

A homage to my beloved Gran.

On the 12th of June my parents informed me that gran was very ill. I immediately decided to buy the first flight out of Lima (I fortunately was at the airport). On the 13th of June 2011 my beloved grandmother passed away. I tried everything I could to get to Cape Town in time, unfortunately she passed away while I was landing in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the long intercontinental flight.

I was and still am heartbroken and find it very hard to accept the fact that my gran is no longer there.
I am grateful to have had you gran, I am so lucky to have spent time with you on the first leg of my trip around the world.

I know that you are still with me and that you will always be there, in everything beautiful that surrounds me.
I will treasure the happy times we had together and know that you are with me during the remainder of my trip.

Thank you for all your love and support. Love you, always. JP

Gracias Perù

I returned to Switzerland a little over a month ago. Upon entering my parents house, the house where I grew up and spent most of my life to date, I almost burst into tears or perhaps I did, I'm not even sure. I had not realized how much I had missed Lugano, my parents and my friends until I actually got back. The rolling green hills, the clean streets, the quiet peace, the lake. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Perù, every single instant of my stay and I really miss Trujillo and all the wonderful people I met. I miss the children at the USDA school and Simon Bolivar, well, most of them at least. I miss the guys in 499 Paraguay and tia Carmen too of course, I miss the Huamanchumo family, I miss the guys at Muchik, I miss doña Maria, I miss the USDA friends. I miss the blaring reggeaton on the combis, the dry warm climate, the waves in Huanchaco, the maracuyà sours. I miss the smiles of the people, I miss warnings about "how dangerous it is here, gringo be careful", I miss the 3 hour lunches. I would like to thank all Peruvians for making my stay so special and would also like to thank all the foreign volunteers that shared this wonderful experience with me. I especially want to thank Elizabeth for organizing the schedules and all the great help, and David for setting up Espaanglisch, without it I wouldn't have heard of the existence of Trujillo.I want to thank tia Carmen for looking after me as if I were her own son. Thank you Anna, Anna, Sally, Billy, Ruwan, Anjana, Michelle, Patrick, Amber, Emily, the numerous guys from the "Sally and Patrick" crew, the Skip crew for giving my Peruvian trip an interesting gringo flavor.

The last time I updated this delirious online travel diary, I had just embarked on a trip around Perù. The country is 40 times the size of Switzerland and I crossed it North to South and coast to Andes... the jungle will have to wait for the next visit.

This is what I wrote:

I crossed this beautiful country, taken mototaxis by the palm fringed beaches of the North, sweating in the humid heat. Walked along the beach at 6 am with a 20 kg backpack on my back. Flown in airplanes that where "tan peruano como tu".Got rattled and rolled by taxis, minis & comibs in the hustle-bustle of the man-eating metropolis and capital city. Rafts on the chill Chily river close to the white city of Arequipa, arrogantly and defyingly sitting in the shade of the imposing volcano that goes by the mystical name of "El Misti". I have asked countless taxi drivers if they are voting for Keiko or Ollanta in the final round of the Peruvian presidential elections. My heart is fulled with the images of the children playing soccer at school, or shouting out answers to questions, or eager to play a game or group embracing me upon arrival or departure.

I am sad that I will soon leave Perù, but grateful for the opportunity I had.

Querido Peru, te llevaré siempre muy dentro de mi corazon! Y trataré de volver muy muy pronto!

Chilling in Los Organos, Punta veleros!

Lima, the capital of Perù

Anna and I at Taquile island, lake Titikaka, approx 4000m above sea level

Impressive inca ruins in Cusco

Cusco, main square

Anna and Cesar, the best taxi driver in Cusco, with the city in the background

Macchu Picchu, we hiked up to the tip of Wayna Picchu, the one in the background

Wayna Picchu seen from on of the many inca doors in Macchu Picchu

 

and as I promised in my last write-up, here goes the Peruvian way or how to do stuff if you wanna look Peruvian:

-how to speak on a cell phone: hold the cell phone right in front of your mouth and speak -or better yet, yell- into it, occasionally hold it close to your ear to hear if you are winning the shouting match with whoever it is that you are speaking with.

-how to behave if you work in the service industry: take everything real slow, and for extra measure make sure that you forget orders and look real bored. If someone tips you stare at them in disbelief.

-how to attract the attention of anyone working in the service industry: take a 1 Sol coin and repeatedly hammer it against a hard surface until everyone in the restaurant has heard you except for the waiter, then hammer the coin harder and a little longer, and then a little longer... while you are hammering the coin against the table also shout "Amigo!!!" or "Amiga!!!" to attract the waiters attention. This also works in combis.

-how to pretend that you are Peruvian: be loud and very friendly. Warn everyone about how dangerous the country is. Blame all medical conditions on the "temperature of the water". Re-elect the presidents that stole lots of money from the country in the recent past. Remind the world that Pisco Sour is Peruvian and that the Chileans have no idea what they are talking about + they don't even really speak Castellano and no one understands what they are saying anyway. And then make sure that you are super nice again. Occasionally hammer a coin against a hard surface to attract the attention of all those that are not interested in the fact that you are trying to pretend that you are Peruvian.

One more month in South America.

Started writing this on the 29th of May, before a 3000km trip around Peru:

Time flies! I am sitting in an Internet café in the humid city of Tumbes, in the Northern part of Peru, 35 km from the border with Ecuador. Waiting for my friend Anna to land so we can go back to Los Organos, a peaceful beach resort in the region of Piura.
I have one month left in South America. It feels like yesterday that David showed up punctually late to pick me up at the airport. My time in Trujillo has been simply amazing. It was way above my expectations: working as a volunteer was one of the most fulfilling things I have done in my life, I met fantastic people and had the priviliege of discovering some of the secrets of Peruvian culture.

Teaching the kids at the USDA school and the Simon Bolivar government school was a unique, heart warming, learning experience. Their energy, exuberance and enthusiasm were contagious and I feel that they taught me more about myself than I ever dreamed. Mind boggling to see kids that don't have running water, sewage in their homes come to school in clean clothes and eager to learn. Wonderful to see their parents walking the kids to school and encouraging them to study. Peru is not considered a rich country, but it has a big warm heart, combine it with the survival instincts and the fact that Peruvians are keen on education and I have no doubt that the country has a bright future.

The last week at school was really hard for me. I grew very attached to the children and will miss them a lot. The kids wrote us goodbye notes plastered with disney and barney the dinosaur stickers. At the USDA school, my friend and school director Guillermo, held a little goodbye speach in every class and the kids were asked if they wanted to say goodbye, we were handed diplomas and a picture of each class. These pictures and the goodbye notes mean so much to me. Everyone was very emotional and there was a fair amount of crying involved.

We had a great goodbye party, that involved a Mariachi band. Almost all our friends made it to the party. I met many wonderful people in Trujillo, Peruvians, volunteers and even tourists from all over the world. I will remember all of them fondly and hope that I will get many chances to see them again.

It is hard to think that Trujillo will no longer be my home, that I won't ride for hours on beat-up combis playing loud reggaeton music on dusty roads. That I won't be able to go for my midday surf in Huanchaco. That I won't wake up with the sound of Tia Carmen sweeping the floor in front of my bedroom at 6am, that I won't see the guys from USDA with their blue vests on a friday night helping underprivileged children create a colorful pencil holder out of an empty milk box. That I won't have those endless lunches (partly due to the poor standard of service, but primarily to the good company) talking philosophy or bulls..t with all the volunteers that I had the pleasure of working with.

In the next episode I will tell you about:
-The Peruvian way: how to speak on a cell phone, how to behave if you work in the service industry, how to attract the attention of anyone working in the service industry.
-My 3000km journey across Peru, which will include advice on how to climb Macchu Picchu and where not to go when you get to the top of Wayna Picchu...

Mariachi party!

It has been a month since I last updated my blog! I apologize for being so lazy and hope you'll forgive me!
In the last month I have tried to dance salsa, pretended I am an English teacher and attempted to surf in 7 foot surf. Yes, it has been a good month!

The month started off with the 17th anniversary celebrations of the Simon Bolivar public school in El Milagro, Trujillo. This is where I teach on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The English classes are a special program that is a result of a collaboration between Espaanglisch and the school.

Study, Discipline, Honor, Work and Mariachi Parties!

The kids at Simon Bolivar

The gringos and Maria Soledad, the caretaker of the school

Ghetto blaster and happy kids

In the week leading up to the celebrations we had to teach two classes a song that they would then proceed to sing in front of the entire school and their parents. As I mentioned we decided to teach them Jimmy Cliff's "You can get it if you really want" we sang the song so often that I don't think I want to hear it again for quite some time.We thought the celebrations would be a simple 2 hour event. Ah! Only in our unimaginative gringo minds! The ENTIRE week ended up being one big, colorful, random and loud Peruvian style party, and we enjoyed every minute of it! The children also loved it because they had no school the whole week. The ceremonies involved singing national and regional anthems, raising of the flag (had to be done twice because the first time they tied the flag upside down), military style parades reminiscent of North Korea, teachers drinking cheap liquor, singing, dancing, posing for pictures, drawing contests, processions, eating fluorescent cakes, a sports day, blessing the school with holy water, reading poetry, Mariachi band playing, some kind of beauty pageant, secondary school kids performing an MTV video style dance, appointing children the title of "brigadier" and of course singing Jimmy Cliff's "You can get it if you really want". Words don't do this wonderful event justice and we all had to wonder: "if they organize all this for the 17th anniversary, what will the 50th be like?"... they will probably party the entire year!

My favorite moments:
-a stray dog wandering around in the middle of one of the most solemn parades and no one taking any notice of its presence.

Where is Kim Jong-il?

-we got handed a shot of the most foul smelling booze on planet earth... a teacher approached me and said you better not drink it, it is cheap plonk* and then proceeds to drink her glass and mine :)  *plonk n Brit, Austral, and NZ informal alcoholic drink, usually wine, esp of inferior quality.

The teachers

- three parents asked me to please be their child's godfather in a crazy ceremony in which they received military style decorations, were nominated "brigadiers" and had to swear they would serve the school in honesty and violently repress any attempted revolutions (just kidding about the repressing revolutions part, but it felt like it). I had eventually told them I would be godfather to all three because the mothers were starting to fight over me.

"I award you the medal of honor"

A proud godfather and the brigadier

-the Mariachi band playing with their flamboyant cowboy style costumes and everyone dancing to the music.

When I grow up I want to be a singer in a Mariachi band!

Dancing with the principal

Do the gringo dance!

Other things I did since my last post:

-re-visited Cajamarca and Usha Usha. I got to see all the tourist attractions that I was not able to visit during the carnival:
Santa Apolonia, a beautiful chapel on a hill overlooking the city.
Ventallas de Otuzco, an old burial site in the lush countryside
Cuarto del rescate, the room that Inca Atahualpa filled with gold and silver in order to buy his freedom from the Spanish conquistadores, they still executed him on the main square despite this
Baños del Inca, the famous thermal bathes in Cajamarca, a surreal experience that felt like visiting a cross between a public swimming pool and a hospital.

Ventanillas de Otuzco y turista

A 600 year old fountain on the main square of Cajamarca

Witnessed Pervian presidential elections: there were a whole 13 candidates! Peruvians have to pay a hefty fine if they don't vote! The general philosophy amongst the voters is: "I will vote for the lesser of evils". The first round of voting was not enough to reach a verdict, but at least the vote will be narrowed down to two candidates: Keiko Fujimori and Ollanta Humala, the two candidates that are most likely to turn Peru into a dictatorship :).
 For the occasion I traveled to Chimbote with David. Every Peruvian has to return to the city where he/she is registered in order to vote. Chimbote was one of the main fishing towns along the Peruvian coastline. The strong smell of fish is overwhelming when walking around the center of town. It was wonderful to spend time with David and his family in the house where he grew up. David has numerous siblings and we all had lunch together and I decided to head out to the center of town with Sam to buy a cake in the afternoon. When I returned we all had cake and they decided that we might as well celebrate my birthday 4 months early and all sang "cumpleaños feliz".

Cumpleaños feliz! 4 months early

We went out to an amazing disco called "El Estribo". Imagine the stereotype of the Latin American party, with a live band playing Salsa, Cumbia and Merengue and people dancing away the night! I kept on thinking that Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias would pop up at any moment and steal the show like you'd expect in some cheesy romantic/dance movie.

I am happy to report that my teaching skills have improved a lot and that both the children and the adults that I teach enjoy their classes.

On the way to the USDA school in Alto Trujillo

Panoramic of the USDA school playground

the first graders classroom at the USDA school

the 5 year olds at USDA