So it seems that I will be traveling a lot in the upcoming months. One of my favorite parts of traveling is the opportunity to consume a large and varied quantity of food. While some people enjoy the finer things in life, I am the expert on the junk food. First I had to go down to Lima to edit Pasa La Voz, a magazine that comes out twice a year, every time a group COSes (ends their service). I basically spent 3 days in Lima holed up in a hotel room or in Starbucks editing and editing. In between all the editing, I managed to binge on a wide variety of junk food. My average diet consisted of 3-4 McDonalds or Burger King Burgers, McFlurrys, and Cinnamon rolls. I was trying to do a taste test between all the fast food Chains. I decided that McDonalds beats Burger King in cheeseburgers, solely due to the fact that they are 50 centimos cheaper. And Bembos (a Peruvian fast food chain) has nothing on McDonald McFlurries. In addition, Knelt (or however you spell it), has damn good cinnamon rolls. So good in fact that I had one every day I was there. Way better than Starbucks, but there was no Cinnabon to compare it with. I did manage to venture out and try a few other food places. One, a Mediterranean restaurant where they forgot to put the falafel in my falafel sandwich. Unfortunately I realized this once I was back at our sketchy but wireless connected, hostal...a good 15 minutes walk from the restaurant. There was also a restaurant called Waffles and Crepes, or was it Crepes and Waffles? Regardless, it was amazing and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before! The only problem was that it didn’t open until noon, and stupid me thought that I could actually get waffles for breakfast. The options were overwhelming and I will definitely have to go back. I ended up getting a waffle with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. My only complaint is that the waffles weren’t thick enough.
After my trip to Lima, I anxiously awaited the arrival of my first visitor from the states that would be coming to my site: Melissa Perrin! Unfortunately she had travel delays in the states that resulted in her arriving a whole day later. Luckily I didn´t plan much for her trip so the delayed arrival didn´t ruin any travel plans. One she arrived in Cajamarca she was welcomed with rain clouds of course. It hadn´t rained in over a week (or so I hear, it was the week I was in Lima) and then decides to pour. Anyway, first we saw the sites of Cajamarca, or really just this hill that overlooks the city. We also went to the market, pulled out our cameras, and were stared at, rightly so. Could we be any more touristy?
After that it was off to my site. We ran into a little trouble getting to my colectivo stop because there was a transportation strike so all of the combis and most of the taxis weren´t running. It´s possible to walk to my stop but I wasn´t exactly sure how to get there and she had a large suitcase. Luckily we only had to walk 4 or 5 blocks before we encountered an empty taxi. Once at the stop, I graciously let Melissa have the prime seat, front middle and straddling the stick shift, in order for her to get the most out of the experience. After various construction delays, we arrived in Cochán, 3 or so hours later. This was my first time that I had to act as a translator, and I should say that I probably make a shitty translator and I kept forgetting that she didn’t understand most of it. I was amazed at how much we actually did in the few days we spent in Cochán. Fiesta season has begun, and there was a fiesta going on in Cochan Bajo, a cluster of houses otherwise known as a caserio, about an hour and a half walk from Cochan. We woke up early in the morning in order to catch a ride there, our ride being a milk truck. We could have sat up front, but I didn’t want Melissa to miss out on anything so I told them that we would be fine in back with the milk, roosters, and other people heading to the fiesta. Once we got there it was apparent that the fiesta hadn’t really started yet. Well for the day anyway. There was a crowd of drunken men who were just finishing their all night partying from the fiesta the night before. We basically just walked around and took some pictures, once in a while commenting on the ominous clouds that were quickly invading what started out as a bright and sunny day. There was a mass, my second mass in Peru. There was also a band. After the mass they walked around the whole town carrying a statue of Mary. Meanwhile drunken men shot off fireworks before and after the procession. Yes, it’s very popular here to have fireworks during the day. I guess that loud gunshot sound is appealing to some and indicates that it’s party time. I tried to keep my distance from this though once I realized that some of the girls that I were with were scared of the fireworks as well, seeing as though drunken men might not have the best aim. After the fireworks the festivities began: cockfights and soccer games. I was excited. Melissa really was going to get the full experience. After waiting over an hour for the men to finish weighing their cocks, we stayed and watched one fight before calling it a day. I also made Melissa order cuy for lunch, and like the good sport she was, she devoured more of that clawed leg than I ever have. It was then time to say goodbye in order to get back to Cochán in time for English class. Everyone protested and told us that we needed to stay for the dance. But the dance started at 11pm and there was no way I was going to stay there that late! The walk back wasn´t too bad because it was mostly flat. We arrived in Cochán just before 3, right on time to go to an English class. Melissa helped with the pronunciation, probably confusing all of the kids because they were used to my garbled mumbling of English. We both attempted to sing the national anthem, and to our embarrassment we forgot the words! Then the kids sang the Peruvian national anthem, much easier to sing, but much longer. The next day we went to my computer class and another English class. We also wandered around taking pictures of little piggies. Luckily someone from PC was passing through Cochán that evening so we were able to get a ride back into Cajamarca that night. Unfortunately it had rained that day and they got stuck in the mud on their way over. Luckily a few of my friends were walking back to Llapa at the same time so I texted them and told them to be on the lookout for a car stuck in the mud. They helped them out and eventually the car passed through Cochán picking us up, a nice treat for me compared to the usual 10 people crammed in a car. It’s pretty much dead at night in Cochán and Melissa was freezing and feeling gross after not showering for a few days. I on the other hand, felt super clean! The PC people were amazed at how long Melissa was in my site and said she was a very good friend for coming all the way out there! So thanks, Melissa!
Back in Cajamarca we ended up staying in the nicest hotel in the city. It´s actually nothing special. It´s owned my Ramada and only cost about 60 dollars for a double, but to me it was a treat. I had forgotten what an American styled hotel with carpeted hallways, elevators, clean bathrooms with constant hot water, and spacious rooms were like. We pretty much lounged around all day, venturing out to eat and taste more ice cream. We went to the Baños del Inca as well but decided that the pool was too gross to go in and just ended up taking pictures. Melissa left early the next morning to continue on her travels and was left to head back to site. I was very excited to watch all of the season finales that I had just downloaded. Unfortunately, once I got back to site and finished the Office finale, my computer froze. I restarted it and nothing. It´s dead and there is nothing I can do about it in Cochán! Luckily, ALL of my pictures are backed up, most of my music, and about 98% of the tv shows and movies. Hopefully I will be able to fix it in the coming weeks, otherwise I will have to buy a new one. Living without a computer is just not an option.
Melissa and I crammed into the front seat of the colectivo on the way to Cochán.
Melissa and I in Cochán.
Melissa with her cuy remains.
The wide variety of potatoes in the market in Cajamarca.
Melissa and I in front of a cave. Legend has it that this cave goes all the way to Cuzco.
Melissa helping out with English class.
Melissa posing with some of the guys in Cochán.
Lighting off the firecrackers during the procession.
I was bored of playing tetris so instead I gathered round and watched them kill and open an infected pig. That took up at least an hour of my time.
Communication activity with the 5th grade in the colegio.
Cuyes in the kitchen and the kitten trying to keep warm. Most people just let them roam around on the kitchen floor. Have you ever heard a guinea pig squeal? It's definitely something, especially when you have 30 of them doing it at the same time.
I was bombarded by all the kids in the escuela. They really love pictures. The little boy in yellow was in a hurry to see the picture.
Self-esteem workshops in the escuela. 
