Now Here We Are. Peru.

OK OK, I know it has been quite a while since I have done any blog mambo jambo, but now is the time. Oh yea, just now. So let’s see…where to begin. How about if I begin with now? Same now that I made a reference to earlier, just a more in depth look at that now. Yea, and sure, there will be some of, um, before as well. Now that I think of it, there will be more to the before than that of the now. You see, not much to discuss about now as of yet, considering that it’s still happening and all.

So yea, let’s get started. To make things interesting I am going to Tarintino this blog entry. As a result of this mal shaped story line, you should make sure you are in a relaxed position, maybe with a cup of tea and a Ritalin. Yea, that should do it.

I am currently in the occasionally beautiful city of Arequipa, Perú. After taking a nearly 20 hour bus ride from the mountain city of Cusco, I finally made it out somewhere different from where I had been for nearly a month, the duration of my stay in Perú. Now, this bus ride was theoretical not supposed to take 20 hours, no, it was intened to be 10. “Why did this bus ride from Cusco to Arequipa take 10 hours more, twice as long, then it was intended to take?” you may ask. Well, the answer is simple. Way too simple. You see, just outside of our destination, early in the dawn of the new day, we ran into a small snowstorm. The problem became not the storm itself, but the way in which all that came into contact with this storm acted. It was as if a newborn child had been abandoned in a hurricane-sized blizzard with no knowledge of anything logical. Imagine a storm such as this halting all forms of transportation in the area (buses, trucks, cars,…and no, there aren’t any llama caravans in this area, but let me assure you, they would have been better off then us.) So ok, I wake up in this midst of this ginormus dilemma where everyone seems almost incapacitated and no one seems to be doing anything. We are just stopped…along with a line of other vehicles as far as the eye can see. What to do, what to do, what to do? Wait a minute. The driver has an idea. Let’s gather todos los hombres off the bus, get them outside in the cold, and have them carve a path for the bus to follow…that way, the bus won’t have to drive through the snow anymore! OH SHIT! What a brilliant idea! For God’s sake man, why is this guy a bus driver? He’s a fuckin’ genious! QUICKLY!!! Everyone off the bus. Wow, I cannot begin to tell you how good that worked.

A few days before we left, Leonie and I stayed in the orphanage that she has been working with for two months now. This experience was extremely rewarding to say the least. The house is located about 30 minutes outside of Cusco in a small rural town called Lucre and just getting there is quite a trek. The 14 boys live in a house that was built over 200 years ago by some rich Spanish guy, but it now stands almost in ruins. Needless to say, it is still absolutely amazing to see. We ended up staying there 4 four days, cooking for everyone and taking care of the kids whole time. They range in age from 9 to 18 and all of them were extremely opinioned and possessed amazing characters that over the few days I was there, surfaced as I got to know each of them better. Along with cooking for them (which was a huge task, because aside from the 14 of them, there were 3 police men and Leonie and I), we basically spoiled the shit out of them. Most of the time, they only get to eat a small breakfast (if you can call bread a meal), and a lunch cooked for them by a local woman (which usually consisted of oatmeal), so the opportunity to give them dinner for a few nights was amazing. At night we would show them movies on my computer and make them popcorn and hot chocolate. By the time we left I had really grown attached to a few of them, as did they, and saying goodbye was tuff. But, had to be done. Leonie is continuing to work with the kids and is in the process of creating a non-profit organization to separate the kids from the currently police run organization that she has begun to see as corrupt and not beneficial to the children at all. Casa Amarilla is coming soon to an impoverished neighborhood far from you.

Where to now? Um? Oh, I ended up unknowing at a dirty Perúvian strip club in Lima. Yea, didn’t really know we were going there, but one of Leonie’s local friend said he wanted to take us to a cool spot, and there we were. Skin. Yep, that was the name. Talk about dirty. But none the less, fuckin’ hilarious!

How could I go to Perú and not make my way to MachuPicchu? Well, I just don’t have time. So much to do, so much going on, you know how it is. These things just slip your mind. Besides, who is interested in old, outdated, stupid Indian cultures anyway. Not I sir. Not I.

No. I went. Damn was it amazing. Kind of beyond words. But photos, photos are close behind. I took a train ride up to the town of Aguas Calientes which was breathtaking the entire was. I did shoot while I was there but I am not really happy with most of what I shot of the spot. It was ridiculously hazy there and the light just wasn’t working with me. Just being there made your body feel almost high. The energy and history of that place is just unbelievable. Can’t really say much more about this place. Just too remarkable I guess.

Another unreal thing I had the chance to do while I was in Cusco was go on a 3 day, 2 night white water rafting trip on the Apuramac River through this amazing canyon in the middle of nowhere. We slept in tents on the edge of the river and saw some of the most amazing views of my trip thus far. They actually took video and photos which is nice cause there was no way in hell I was going to bring my camera on a trip like that. The only semi-problem with the trip is that Leonie and I were the only non-Israelis on the trip out of 22 people. Not that I have a problem with Israelis, but when all they speak the entire time is Hebrew, it gets kinda old. You can’t really talk to anyone but each other. Oh well. We did make a few good friend on that trip that hopefully we are going to run into again somewhere down the line.

So, I guess that’s it for now. I have been taking tons of photos, some of which I really love, and I will be sure to get them online soon. Along with maybe a video clip of the rafting trip. I hope you are all doing well. I sure am. Life is quite an adventure and I am trying to make the best of it. I think it’s working out pretty well. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment, or shoot me an email, I would love to hear from people…especially those of you who I never I get to talk to.

Alrightyditydo. Adios. Or, Ciao as they say in Perú.


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