My group gave our (almost) final presentation on Wednesday about the presidency of Alberto Fujimori, which then progressed into a debate about the very controversial politician. Later that night we went out to a bar/restaurant and just hung out for several hours while we watched a soccer game on TV. Doctora (thankfully) gave us class off on Thursday and Friday to start our final research projects. My group and I went to the Cusco library on Thursday and searched through its newspaper archives on the presidential campaigns of Ollanta Humala (president-to-be) from 2006 and 2011. We stayed there for about three hours and then went around the center of the city taking pictures of political grafitti and doing a little shopping on the way.
Friday we went on an adventure searching for people to interview for our project. Between the policeman, taxi driver, and a lawyer from the regional government office, we got some pretty good information about the campaigns. We took a detour for a few hours to a HUGE artisan market where we all found some nice gifts for friends and family. I’ve been searching everywhere for souvenir spoons, but they’re all SUPER expensive because they’re made of pure silver ($30+ per spoon, which I don’t have). I’m determined to find some cheaper ones though before I leave. Gotta keep my collection growing to carry on Mema’s tradition. :) That night a few of us went to hear a Cuban tribute band while a few others went dancing.
Today wasn’t super exciting – just met with my group again to organize all of our information and start writing our final report (which is getting pretty lengthy…). Surprisingly, however, we had a good time hanging out together despite the fact that we were pounding out facts and essays. After being super productive, Casey and I decided it was THE night to make “American” food for our host family. What could be more American than FUDGE BROWNIES?! Our younger sisters were really excited for us to make them something, so we really wanted to give them something good. The only problem was that we found out their oven doesn’t work AFTER we bought the ingredients… so we had to go use a public oven several blocks away to HALF cook them. We brought them back to the house and decided to “nuke” them, which wasn’t the best idea because they turned into bricks. Despite the fact that we needed a hammer to cut them, we had a blast cracking up with our family over our FAIL. I definitely won’t forget tonight for a long time, jaja.
Anyway, this could be my last post before I’m home in NINE days! We’re presenting our final “committee” research projects on Monday and then leaving for Puno on Tuesday morning. We’ll be staying with a family one night that speaks NO Spanish, only Quechua, so that should be interesting. In addition, the fact that having a FLOOR in these houses will be a “luxury” will also be interesting, along with no hot water. Nevertheless, I’m excited to REALLY be out of my comfort zone for once. We’ll be back on Friday, have all day Saturday to do whatever (ahem, shopping), then to the airport on Sunday! I can’t believe how fast this trip has gone by, but I’m excited to finally get home and relax for the rest of my summer. ¡Hasta pronto!
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| Random, but I thought it was cool. :) |
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| This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I thought it was funny, jaja. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28 |
