Just an update...

Realizing that not every blog has to be really long with lots of pictures, I thought I would just update you all on a weekly (hopefully) basis. This past week, Sarah Anne (one of my best friends from g-dubs) arrived in Peru. After spending two years in Peace Corps Honduras, Lima is the city of her dreams. Check out some of her thoughts here. It's amazing the different perspectives you get from other folks who visit. It's a joy having Sarah here since she is ecstatic about how awesome Lima is. It gives me a good kick in the butt to realize just how lucky I am to be living here.

I had the weekend to myself after Sarah fled to Cuzco and Mark remained with his parents in Arequipa and Lago Titicaca. I managed to finish the Tipping Point, which I found just okay. Sarah delivered me some reading materials and I have started Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. Be prepared for my many enlightened blogs to come due to this spiritual literature. I have also caught up a bit on my knitting. Sad to say, I am still knitting a scarf I started in May for my mom's birthday in June. At least I have to excuse that I can't give it to her until August when I visit the states for 2 weeks. That's a good excuse, right mom?

Mark returned Monday with tales from Colca Canyon (twice as deep as the grand canyon) and Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in South America, or the world, I forget. Either way, he said that he had a great time with his folks and that they are truly soaking up all Peru has to offer. Now, in between visitors, I have rejuvenated my search for constant work. I've made a lot of connections with some volunteer orgs here but I need to be a little more persistent. My wonderful amiga Jacky (who is currently doing Peace Corps in Bolivia, but studied abroad in peru) told me that I need to show these orgs that I really want to work them, and sometimes that means calling and even knocking on some doors. I prefer email, but perhaps only because that works in the states where people would think you're crazy if you just showed up at an NGO looking to volunteer. C'est la vie. I am ready to jump in. I really miss working and contributing to society. I think once I get something constant, a little daily routine, I will really start to LIVE in Peru and improve my Spanish...instead of feeling like I am temporarily visiting.

Anyways, I am in the midst of planning the rain forest trip. Not the cheapest thing in the world, but it IS the Amazon so I am pretty excited. Sarah and I might enjoy the following activities: fishing for piranhas, bird watching, village visiting, hammock reading, pink river dolphin spotting, canoing down the amazon, etc. There will be a really long blog with pictures after that. We depart Lima July 31 and return very early on August 5. Look for more posts from Fiestas Patrias next week as we celebrate Peruvian Independence Days. Hope you all are well. Sorry this blog actually turned out to be rather long, as usual. Thanks for reading.

See you Stateside Aug 23- Sept 7 in the cities of DC, Pittsburgh, and Chicago :) Big hugs-SG.