stuff
so much i want to write about, both here and in my actual journal. so much i want to make, to tell, to think about, to put together into some kind of essay. i'm an anthropologist, for pete's sake, and i haven't actually written a damn thing about my year in south america. i guess this is the "immersion" experience.
i feel good. i started taking modern dance classes with my lovely friend Carolina! Pachi, the teacher and famous Peruvian dancer, is a sheer delight to be around. the class is challenging, totally different from the Martha Graham stuff I did at Vassar -- I have to re-learn to roll around on the ground like a baby. i should never have stopped to begin with, but they generally make you stop rolling around on the ground when you "grow up." the exercise and the mental space it gives me is a huge relief. it had been a long time.
I am a lean mean baking machine and have hardly any time for staying in touch with friends and family, but i'm managing to balance it all for the most part. my hands are becoming scratchy, calloused, covered in burns and marks from baking/washing/serving all the time. It reminds me of when I participated in the archaeological dig on Adak Island a few summers ago and developed visible muscles in my hands and forearms.
our coffeeshop is steadily growing in popularity. tonight a group of poets has chosen our shop to host their poetry reading. should be interesting! I am surrounded by so much creativity here. for example, carolina's gorgeous handmade silver jewelry: http://www.qantu950.com/
Sergio's been around this week, which has been wonderful! he goes next to Cusco to take a job as a cello teacher. last weekend we made fettuccini from scratch, it was delicious.
I want to get spinning (yarn, that is) but have no room in my life for it at the moment. soon, I hope to make more room for that. in quiet moments I still get a chance to knit, still reading a few pages of War & Peace in the morning as soon as i open my eyes (i have a feeling that book will be my steady companion for years, at this rate!). thank goodness for the cool coziness of winter. in summertime i will be very unhappy to be baking all day here.
every sunday we take the day off, read the paper, complain that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and plot to buy some land in Ollantaytambo (near cusco, in the gorgeous Sacred Valley) and live in our neo-hippie haven. speaking of cusco: El Ayllu, an old landmark of a café in the Plaza de Armas (where David and I shared our first coffee, as a matter of fact) is being kicked out to be replaced by STARBUCKS. we want to go throw stones at the bastard who decided that was a good idea. like starbucks really needs one more franchise. in the fucking plaza de armas of historic cusco where they have even resisted putting a mcdonalds. hell in a handbasket indeed!
brownies need to come out of the oven. that's all for now folks!
i feel good. i started taking modern dance classes with my lovely friend Carolina! Pachi, the teacher and famous Peruvian dancer, is a sheer delight to be around. the class is challenging, totally different from the Martha Graham stuff I did at Vassar -- I have to re-learn to roll around on the ground like a baby. i should never have stopped to begin with, but they generally make you stop rolling around on the ground when you "grow up." the exercise and the mental space it gives me is a huge relief. it had been a long time.
I am a lean mean baking machine and have hardly any time for staying in touch with friends and family, but i'm managing to balance it all for the most part. my hands are becoming scratchy, calloused, covered in burns and marks from baking/washing/serving all the time. It reminds me of when I participated in the archaeological dig on Adak Island a few summers ago and developed visible muscles in my hands and forearms.
our coffeeshop is steadily growing in popularity. tonight a group of poets has chosen our shop to host their poetry reading. should be interesting! I am surrounded by so much creativity here. for example, carolina's gorgeous handmade silver jewelry: http://www.qantu950.com/
Sergio's been around this week, which has been wonderful! he goes next to Cusco to take a job as a cello teacher. last weekend we made fettuccini from scratch, it was delicious.
I want to get spinning (yarn, that is) but have no room in my life for it at the moment. soon, I hope to make more room for that. in quiet moments I still get a chance to knit, still reading a few pages of War & Peace in the morning as soon as i open my eyes (i have a feeling that book will be my steady companion for years, at this rate!). thank goodness for the cool coziness of winter. in summertime i will be very unhappy to be baking all day here.
every sunday we take the day off, read the paper, complain that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and plot to buy some land in Ollantaytambo (near cusco, in the gorgeous Sacred Valley) and live in our neo-hippie haven. speaking of cusco: El Ayllu, an old landmark of a café in the Plaza de Armas (where David and I shared our first coffee, as a matter of fact) is being kicked out to be replaced by STARBUCKS. we want to go throw stones at the bastard who decided that was a good idea. like starbucks really needs one more franchise. in the fucking plaza de armas of historic cusco where they have even resisted putting a mcdonalds. hell in a handbasket indeed!
brownies need to come out of the oven. that's all for now folks!