In Lima once again

23 Mayo 05

This morning over breakfast I was asked quite seriously by Dan..."Rebecca, if you were a pot of jam, what flavor would you be?" Insert Dan and Ibar patiently awaiting my answer with straight faces and Rebecca questioning whether or not she had heard these two lunatic friends of hers correctly...pause...deep breath..."ummm...maybe strawberry or blueberry?" Having two options was not very satisfying to Dan and Ibar. They were left none the wiser by my answer and I continue to break into fits of giggles at their abstract sense of humor...

And, on to the next tangent...though completely unrelated to the previous one and spurred primarily by a conversation with a fat Irish guy from the consulate in Miraflores while we attempted to get Ibar´s stolen passport reissued...

Sometimes I feel like people just don´t deserve to hear about the refuge and the conditions in Las Laderas. As when they have asked me about my work here in Peru, I begin to explain and they respond disinterested with a "yeah, yeah, yeah...big problem..." while they look around themselves distracted. Absolutely uninterested about the current conditions of their own country, as they pat their fat bellies and wear their nice clothes, they obviously don´t give a shit and can´t be bothered. These people don´t deserve to hear about the special experiences I have had here, the beautiful people that I have met, and the tender place that is Zapallel and Las Laderas...and therefore I will refuse to share it with them and keep it locked away from them within my heart...I am catching a cold and feeling a bit moody today...

Then this sends me into my next tangent...one I haven´t written about yet as I was so disappointed to the overall response that I had gotten to my journal entry entitled "Las Laderas".

I am definitely willing to admit that my writing skills are far from spectacular but I try my best to describe my experiences in the hopes of sharing a bit of my heart with everyone that should like to read about my adventures here...That particular entry was a heart felt one that I wept most of the way through as it was incredibly difficult to revisit.

One bit of the entry touched on a struggling clash between two very important entities in my life, the volunteer work that I am doing here in Peru and the morals behind my chosen Vegan diet. Unfortunately, in the greater scheme of the experience, my diet played a very small role in that entry and yet was the overwhelming focus of response...which broke my heart. Now I wonder if there really is any way that anyone other than those that are experiencing this with me could actually begin to understand the desperation here. In general, it made me feel quite alone.

I am certain that it is my sarcastic nature that warranted the responses that I received and that I failed to represent my experiences properly and I only hope that the entry might be revisited with fresh eyes by those who care to read it as it would mean a lot to me...

With my cold induced crabbiness out of the way, I move on to the next topic...

Crazy taxi ride back to Zapallel - the taxi was overheating the entire ride and we were forced to stop three times to put additional water into the radiator. The driver kept shutting off the engine and coasting while driving down the Panamericana to let it cool momentarily...in addition the motor was knocking as if it had only one more drop of oil left in it and the transmission sounded as if it was a moment away from dropping out of the vehicle...I wished him luck on his return to Lima.

Kids were absolutely estatic to see us upon our return, Nearly as pleased as I was to see them. Run down by little ones climbing us like trees and smothering us with kisses-strangling us with hugs...I love them.