So, I'm feeling better! Thanks for all the comments and prayers!

The parade/fiesta last weekend was pretty crazy. It's really cool to see the passion so many Peruvians have for their culture. Music and marching in the streets from 4:30 am (!) until after I fell asleep. Crazy costumes, intense energy, expressive dances!

But, for the most part, everything here is settling in and becoming pretty normal. I feel like I've been here forever. I'm now able to see things from a more average, settled point of view. It's definitely still quite freakin' amazing, but not everything is as crazy new and overwhelming now. I can see the people here as normal people, with similar thoughts, emotions, and dreams as anywhere else.

My mom here (Martha) just found out she is 2 months pregnant which is super-exciting! She was unfortunately pretty sick the last couple days, so seeing her worry about the baby and stuff was a bit hard. I've been trying to help her as much as possible. I also got to meet her sister and brother-in-law and two of their kids. I totally felt a bit like family, and I had a good conversation with her brother-in-law which was pretty exciting. I also found out Jose (the dad of the family) has like a month-long vacation right now, so I've been getting to know him a bit better which has been fun. He's really funny but he slurs his words together a lot so it's kinda hard to understand him.

I've noticed that with some people here I can have a halfway decent conversation, without really much thinking in English at all (which is amazing!), and with others, I can't understand more than a couple words. It's weird. It totally depends on their vocabulary, pronunciation, and how fast they talk. It's kinda frustrating sometimes, but it's really cool when I can have those good convos.

The one I had with my uncle (?) here definitely got me thinking. One of his son's is a chef and has travelled and lived in many different parts of the world including a couple different states, a couple different countries in Europe, and various parts of Latin America. I asked him what his son thought about the different places he lived and how they compared and he pretty much told me doesn't like the states, but loved the majority of the other places he has lived. He said, according to his son, the US has a really obvious competitive nature, one that requires longer hours, more work, less relationships. I said that I assumed it was very similar in Europe because it has that western society, full of technology, etc and he said his son would disagree. He described Europe as a mix between the two cultures with the technology and advancements of the US, but the love of relationships, late nights, and down time like Latin America.

It kinda brought up a lot of questions. I'd love any input!

When you have this knowledge of different cultures, pros and cons, likes and dislikes, what do you do with it?

Do you go big and move? (I'm not planning on it, don't worry!) Do you try to live in the culture that you believe has the best overall way of life?

Do you just try to bring the parts of other cultures you like, back into your own country? Is this even possible to do for a lasting amount of time? Or do you eventually just get sucked back into it all? All the busy-ness, all the competition, etc.

Would you ever want to live/raise a family in a country that you did not grow up in?

Is it even possible to throw yourself into another culture, or would you always be "the gringo"? Without family or friends already there, would it ever really be your culture?

I journalled about a lot more, but I'm a bit scattered now. My questions were better, I swear. I'll update later this week for sure.

For now, I have to go cook! A peruvian dish! For 20 volunteers/staff here. =] We went to the market earlier and it was crazy to actually shop here. Here's that picture of the market I promised you.


Chow amigos!