Nom Nom Nom

There's a stats portion of blogs that shows what people have searched for in order to find yours.  My favorite recent one is, "how to shut up a guinea pig."  How indeed.  My recommendation would be to eat it. 

I'll just have to remember that I can't take this approach with annoying animals once I get back to the states.

Don't Judge My Lady-Primping

I have the best mom ever.  She calls me, watches out for me, patiently listens to my dog anxieties, and sends me awesome packages for my birthday.  In this most recent one, along with movies and treats, were the educational and trashy magazines I requested.  I’ve been down with a cold, so I saved National Geographic for more coherent times and went right for this bad boy.

Glamour is engaging, vapid, and completely baffling to me in my Peace Corps induced state of lack and grottiness.  Nevertheless, I made an attempt to relate some of it to my life.  Here we go. 

This happens to me sometimes.

Mostly because doing laundry is a several hour process with potentially many days of drying time more than any conscious fashion decision.  I usually look about as happy as that model about it, too.  It’s stressful to be down to your last pair or two of underpants.

That sex thing?  Is it sex?  Whatever it is, I can guarantee you that every girl isn’t being asked.  Please see this entry from my favorite PC blog for some illumination: 

http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/post/45267387400/when-people-ask-about-my-love-life

What if it looks like you borrowed the bottom half of a Chewbacca costume?  But it doesn’t matter, because 0% of men are seeing or touching my legs (see sex paragraph above).  Also, how can "all about you" and "what men think" ever be logically backslashed together? 

This is a thing I’m seriously thinking of trying. 

I can’t possibly be stared at more, so might as well be a sparkly gringa. 

Apparently these are things that people spend 1/2 of my paycheck on. 

I could probably pull one off here if I wore it over my longjohns and under my regular pants. 

Wait…wait…floppy hats? (I don't know how to make this not sideways, sorry.)

I win! 

Apparently living one country over from the equator and close enough to the sun to hit it with a rake makes you chic.  Victory!

Riddle Me This

Q: What will I miss when I leave Peru?

A: My daily face-sized mango.  Please also note my cute dog and awesome pterodactyl fossil in the background. 

Q: Who has two thumbs and finally finished knitting herself a sweater?

A: This girl.  It makes me feel like Cookie Monster.  Next up is a vest and learning to spin. 

Q: What country was recently voted the #1 food destination in the world by a bunch of snobby foodies?

A: Peru.  Not Italy, France, or even Thailand.  Peru. 

follow-up Q: What did I have for lunch?

A: Noodles and potatoes.  In lots of oil.  With some carrots.  Served over rice, naturally. 

Here, also, is some drying meat, hanging outside and often visited by birds.  We get this if we’re lucky. 

I call a recount. 

Paint It Blue and Green and White

International Wetlands Day is February 2nd.  Several weeks before that date, I proposed to the folks running summer school that we have a drawing contest and the winners paint a wetlands mural outside the school.  We did it, but it wasn't accomplished until the end of February with lots of running around, reminding, and a bit of begging.  Still, I'm happy with the result and the kids had a fun time.

This is what I painted to start with.  Lago Chinchaycocha!

Then kiddos came to paint wetlands animals.  Big kids and little kids, big and small animals.

We got really popular.





Here's the finished product.  I think it turned out great and am pretty excited that there's some sort of physical evidence that I've existed in my town.