Another day in the unknown

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Hola todos

-blog is two days old for lill technical problems... oh frenchies out there watch this great new president we have http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3220,36-921248,0.html )

Alors. Very eventful days have just passed. well, since yesterday really but it seems ages ago already. oh, we re wondering why when we write a blog in french, we get almost all comments from english, spanish, australien and american peeps. weirdos.

Our time in the orphanage went really well, taking away any of our attempts at structure or organization. Our help with homework was hillarious as emilie could not explain divisions in español (and kind of forgot how to explain it in any other language as well) and marion was dealing with a dislexic dorris-like kiddo (ok, dorris is the fish in nemo for all those who didnt get the link to such a great classic) but we managed. Then, came the english lesson. The fact that it s volontary makes it really hard for us, cuz we gotta make it as attractive as learning how to juggle, or gardening or playing football, or trying to kill eachother with the juggling balls, or eating the juggling balls, you get the point. So we drew all known animals, em drew a cat that they insisted was a rat, ¡¡ raton, raton!! Pronouncing is quite an issue, sky remains ESky, hello will always be JJJJEllo, bird sounds like beer-ed, and a mouth is a MOTT. oui. we were quite satisfied that they remembered a word or two (to be continued) and that the more we re there, the more they are attached and eager to learn. These kids have really tough backgrounds. Some girls are going to visit their families soon, that should be quite enlightening.

Then, came the utter reward. We had met randomly in a restaurant a man called Tito, who appeared at a moment when we were a bit down from living with 18 people (see last blogs... man try to get 18 people not to throw paper down the toilet cuz it blocks it for hours) (especially in these times of needs...) Anyways, Tito is from here, and is a business man connected to the mining industry around here, and he has been in Europe for some years. He offered for us to come back at night to learn a bit of quechua and hear some local music. WELL, never did we expect this. While the cosmo-reading explorers of the house were dealing with clothes and make up foolishness (we exagerate they re not thaaat bad) we prepared our escape plans. We lost them on the way to the disco and rushed into the peruvian wilderness -Emilie says this sounds really corny, especially in a city of 120,000 people- --she s so critical this one--
There is so much to say about how much we learned and laughed that we ll try to keep it brief. the highlights: drinking and talking social, cultural, politics around a bond-fire (bond fire? weird word) with the locals. Men playing traditional Charanga, guitarra, flute, marakas and castagnette, wow, imagine a man playing the smallest guitare you ve ever seen with his teeth!!! At this point, Marion fell off her bench, in a moment of...lets say...confusion... and she was now eternally be remembered as the falling gringa. nice going.

Oh, great moment. Emilie and I escape to the bathroom. when we say bathroom, we mean little dark box in the middle of a square. As we entered on a peeing man, we decided to wonder around until it became available. We decided to peak at the door of a university graduation party, and thn.... they saw us. Them all properly dressed in suits and heels, us in fleas smelling like fire (and slightly dirty for those who fall off benches) they draaaged us in, and made us dance in the center for a few songs. oh la honte. memorable moments of awkwardness, wishing we d learn how to dance and look pretty...
We eventually escaped and went back to the fire and the music. One of the old peruvian men declared his burning passionate flame for emilie, (her face is like the stars above, you see) and we played music all together into the night. It was a hugely bonding amazing moment. People here are so willing to share, Tito opened his house, friends and stories to us as if he had known us for ages. Him and his firends even answered all my random political inquieries. (emilie asks, again, so critical, "wait, can you really open a friend? or even a story?)

You d think the night would have finished there. but no! french girls never get enough. we ventured in the local disco, all 6 gringas that we were, and danced salsa and made fools of ourselves some more...

Today, slightly slower than usual, we explored some more. We ate Peruvian Chinese food, now that s something else. Emilie enjoyed white rice with no sauce, after having pasta and bread the day before. she s starting to look a bit frustrated, she talks to her stomac even. Marion, who had been bragging about her super-power stomach, got the punishment she deserves, and braggs no more. her, and 8 other people in the house. more bonding. Oh yeah, some girl told us that avocado was really good for digestion, sooo we went over the top and ate loooads. Now, we re wondering weather we should trust these rumors. waiting for results. will let you know. Hmm, see how much digestion is becoming a huge conversational topic? Let us know if its too much, we dont usually poop-talk that much.

(we re laughing histerically now)

We hung around artisanal markets (just deal with it, we dont know how to say artisanal in english) looking at earings made from monkey-teeths or armadillo skin, or necklaces with crocodile teeth, small tiger-skins bracelets... (sorry Chris, peru not quite qrmqdillo friendly it seems) Had great talks about life in the country side and quechua spiritual stones.

Then, we decided to kill any remaining hàppiness left in us by going to the Memorial museum. It explains the development of the Sentero Luminoso (shining path) and the many killings that happened here due to the army and the revolutionaries. The dissapearences of men and women, people of the country sides stuck between two bloody sides, the dark dark times that mostly this region experienced just 15 years ago... The truth and reconcilation comission was only established in 2005, museums like these are really important for the population to overcome these years. This history is not touched upon in schools at all, our guide did agree that having Alan Garcia at the head of peru (also the president during the repression eras) definitly has something to do with it.

Voila.
That s it for today. Tomorrow we re off to visit ruins in the mountains around ayacucho, tiny villages and (emilie is thrilled) horseback riding. (she actually is really happy, she cant wait to lose the group and go explore!)
Hope all is well whereever you may be.
We love the messages (:

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