Why this is Harder than I Expected

by Christy:

I knew this was going to be an adventure when I bought the plane tickets.  By definition, adventures aren't always fun and games.  So in that sense, I guess I am getting about what I expected in terms of stress level.  But the REASONS things are difficult are different than what I was prepared for.  The cold, for instance.  I do believe that if thousands of people can live in Cusco without heat every day of their lives, we can do it for a month.  But man, it is rough.  Today, I spent an hour walking up and down a street where there is supposed to be a street vendor who sells the "old fashioned" rubber water bottle bags you can put in bed to make it a bit warmer.  I couldn't find her so eventually I went to the pharmacy and bought them there.  (I prefer to buy from locals.)  At about $1.75 each, it might be the best souvenir I've ever purchased in my life.

I've started boiling water on the stove before I try to take a shower because I never know how the shower will be.  I've had two nice showers in our apartment.  I've had two where the water just stops coming out and one where the water came out as an ice cold drizzle.  I hate the shower here because even when it is nice inside, the tile floors are still so cold that my feet don't warm up.  And the heater we have, run by propane, doesn't actually warm anything up- if I can get it to turn on and stay on.  The cold is really, really hard.

The kitchen is tiny.  There is no dishwasher and no space to put clean dishes once they are dry.  We have started trying to do dishes just once or twice a day because we felt like we were spending all of our life doing dishes.  It wouldn't be so bad if the towels were absorbant.  But we've bought two different types of dish towels and neither of them actually absorbs water.

We brought toys for the kids.  And we have bought a soccer ball for them to use in the street.  But it is hard to play when it is so cold.  And they are used to other stimulation- going to the yard, using the basketball hoop, excursions to the park or library.  It's hard finding things for them to do.

Finally, I really wanted to learn Spanish.  I've done language school before but always stayed with a family.  My brain switched over to Spanish.  Not necessarily good Spanish, but Spanish none the less.  My brain can't switch here because I am always having to talk to the kids in English.  And I can't go to Peruvian restaurants and try crazy Peruvian food while I study for a few hours because this would not be very exciting for the kids.  I should have anticipated this but didn't.  It's hard.

But tomorrow we are going on a school field trip as a family, if Cole is up for it (he spent the wee hours of the morning throwing up.)  We will go with our teachers to the town close to here most famous for cuy- roasted guinea pig.  We have yet to try this delicacy but we are very excited to get to go with our teachers and to taste it at the best place.  Then this weekend we are going to go to a rural farm.  We will drink tea from the garden, learn how to cook traditional foods, sleep under smelly llama blankets, gaze at the S. hemisphere stars without light pollution, and then check out a guinea pig farm- again getting to eat the little creatures.  It should be an authentic, crazy experience!