Today concludes our time with the people on the stove projects. I feel both a happy and sad. I am so very happy and enthralled that everyone in the little town of Piñanqay now has access and is able to use a clean burning stove. Not only will they now have the smoke from cooking exit the home through a chimney, but they will also burn less wood than before. This will save them a lot of time, effort, and money that are not in abundance out there. However, the mixed feelings come when I think about leaving them for good. I had become comfortable with the town and the people. They accepted us with open arms as we began to understand them and their lifestyle. As the bridge began to come together, we now have to depart one another and trust that their lives will go well. It is especially sad that Sarah, one of our volunteer supervisors, has to leave the little girl she has developed such a close bond with over the past month or so. As I finished my last home and was walking back, some of the school children wanted to talk and show some of us their homework. I will truly miss them.
When we returned in the early afternoon, after being done so early at the project site, I rested up for a while at home. There was talk about going out tonight to a discoteca, and so I decided I would like to go and make sure everything and everyone was safe. I arrived at the Plaza de Armas around 9 pm, since that was the time that we had agreed on, but I failed to remember that at times some people operate on Peruvian time. So, as I was waiting in the cold with Sarah and Cecilia, I silently wished that it was a little more punctual here.
The good news is that around 45 minutes later, the people who were going to show up finally did, and we all headed into InkaTeam. After awkwardly hanging out by the stairs for a good, long while, I decided that it would be a good idea to go to the lounge area if no one was going to partake in the salsa lessons. We eventually made our way over there, and the ladies and the two guys that came along for Cecilia drank while I enjoyed some soccer on the TV. That is one thing that I wish were on TV in the US more often. When they had indulged themselves with good feelings, they went down to salsa for a while, and then around 11 pm, the club music came on. Some of the students from Duke showed up as well as my roommate from Notre Dame, Javier, and we all danced in a sizable group for most of the evening. After they had left, we continued on into the night until about 1:15 am. I made sure that Sarah and Cecilia made it safely into a taxi, and then I ran home.
Tonight being my second run home, I can tell it is becoming easier and easier. I did not stop at all for breaks tonight, and not until I got within 2 minutes of the house did I really feel out of breath. The combination of walking everywhere as well as being acclimated to the thinner air here are the main factors in that, and so tonight I can go to bed happy that: A) I get to talk to Amy Backes and B) I am starting to feel a lot more in shape than before. Both of those make me very excited :)
No comments:
Post a Comment