Whoah... tired.

Well, I would like to elaborate more on whats going on,but you guys are going to have to wait a few days because I am TIRED.

So after three days in Miraflores I spent two days biking through the desert to get to Pisco, Peru, which was totally demolished by a 9.1 earthquake two months ago. staked out a spot ground for my tent at the "dead seal" the cramped tent city where 10 volunteers sleep, had dinner with the other 70 volunteers my first night, and was ready to start clearing rubble (this city is a big pile of rubble with internet cafes and dulcerias interspersed with Unicef tents and hungry dogs)

BUT my first day I was accosted by one of the people more in charge who asked "do you speak spanish?" Well, I said "Um, about 80%...."

WHICH led me to being in charge of building 15 temporary houses for some families by the beach. When I say in charge I mean I was handed the plans and the materials, given a Peruvian guy who knew about as much as I did, was introduced to the family who needed the house, and also was given 5 volunteers to boss around. WHAT?!?!?

Five days later we are doing about one house a day, eachone getting better than the one before. These are sturdy, time consuming little b*****s with cement holding the posts, heavy good roofing material, doors that lock(!), and some privacy. They are rectangles exactly 2.8 meters by 5.6, if you want to know (I have started thinking more in metric because everything here is...weird). I am staying two more days untill we get enough people from my organization comfortable with the buildingprocess, and then I think I will go to Ayacucho. my internet time is out, hope everyone is good!

LATER: Well here is a little bit more, I took the bus to ayacucho where the people at the organization here, Asjanitac (www.asjanitacperu.org) thought that I would be coming for four months instead of my four days to help with these children... oops. I told them that it is possible I could return after March, but that I would try to spread the word about their organization and their need for volunteers to spend time with these very poor children. Check out their website if you like, and if youfeel like having a wonderful homestay in Peru at the same time helping children in need, you should send them an email. Anyways, either tonight or tomorrow I will go back to Pisco to have Thanksgiving dinner with the volunteers. I am really excited to eat with some people that I know, and then hopefully that night start my 20 hour bus ride to Cusco....oy. Its going to be long, but I need to enter Bolivia before December. Oh well! Ayacucho is this beautiful town high in the Andean mountains, where the Sendero Luminoso started back in the 80s and 90s.... the Shining Path. It is quite a bit calmer now, and sort of a beautiful high desert climate. Once again I am running out o time, I'll update in Cusco!