Proyecto!

Today was they day i had been waiting for for.... months. Our first day of work. Yes, we went to Occoruro last week, but we were all kinda lost on what we were doing and we were there for about 2 hours. Today, Corey and I constructed 2 clean burning stoves. The people of Occoruro, and many others in the very rural settings of Perú do not have the best stoves in the world. There stoves take alot of leña (firewood) are quite low to the ground, and quite unstable, and do not have chimneys. As you can imagine, this is VERY bad for their health. Today as we were constructing our first family their stove, the mama was making lunch, and it burnt my eyes whenever i went anywhere near it. These people have respiration problems galore (cancer, infections, and low lung capacity to name a few), eye problems, posture problems, and no to mention burns from these unstable stoves.

I'll let Andy describe how the stoves were actually constructed in his next post. I'm sure the Sullivan clan will want to here from him ;-)

One thing that was quite obvious, from both of our families we helped and the other families our friends build for, was the difference of attitude between the families. Our first family was a gem. The children watched us the whole time and very much wanted to help and talk with us. The papa was on the roof helping us by cutting a whole and finishing the chimney. The mom (Carmin or Carmina...) was talking with us as we explained how to use the stove and what we were doing and what she liked to cook and how healthy it will be now for her family.... we talked about almost everything. She said SOOOOOO many time how beautiful it was and how excited she was... and she showed us the finished drawing for the house she wants for her and her family. Right now, they have one shelter with one room with 2 beds for 4 people and now, her brand new stove. She wants more rooms to sleep in, a garden, and a stable for each type of the animals they have (so three). I will be honored if i can help her do even some of it. When we were finished, Corey carved a heart into the side of the new chimney, and the mama shoved cheese and potatoes at us. Its all she had to offer us, and she was so grateful. We took as much as we could, and I let all the kids take a sip of my water bottle, then we left to eat lunch and make the next stove. I was so happy. I felt like i had really DONE something. This family has a stove, a real wood burning stove, and we helped them do it. And i think we made a real connecting with the family. Later in the day, Corey and I returned to play with the kids and take pictures. It was amazing to say the least.

The next family e went to was completely different. Corey and I tried to start conversations with them, and we did our other beautiful family, but they did not respond back. They stood watching us almost the whole time, whispering in Quechua and basically making sure we were doing it right, even though they didn't know what to do. I was nervous and felt rushed, and kinda unwelcome. We finished in an hour and a half, and left (that's when we returned to our otra familia :-) )

The difference? The first family wanted a better life. The second family wanted a better stove.

So the boy on the left is Eddie and the two middle children live in the first house

This was our first families first stove....

And This is the one Cory and I made.

Yes! We are alive and well here in Occoruro. And dirty.

Desarrollo

I am a very lucky person to have my gang from Nicaragua back in good ol Nueve Hampshire. Without them, i think i would have exploded by now. There are very few people (at least from what i have experienced) who feel the way i feel about the world. Its not an easy to get out there and experience a completely different country, but in order to understand ANYTHING about the world, ya gots ta. Thats what i did when i went to Nicaragua, and that is what i am doing now. I have extended myself completely out of my comfort zone. Here I am, in a country on the opposite side of the ecuador from anything i am used to, attempting to speak a language hardly know to people i met less than two weeks ago. And already i feel like I'm home.

As much as I have had a great childhood growing up in the United States, there are many things about that country that I can not agree with. Por hemplo, our form of capitalism. We talked about it in a class that i didn't even know existed until about a week ago. The class: Desarrollo, Development. In theory (dad and deb, don't cringe at this explanation), capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned, and when you sell enough products, a profit is made. This profit increases a persons quality of life because they can save it for a rainy day, os spend it on something that they need. In theory, this idea is really cool. You can sell stuff for other people and get stuff back to use on what you need. However in the world of the US and other capitalist countries, its spinning out of control. That profit is now used to play the "how much stuff can I get game." People "need" tvs, laptops, a new car, new clothes, a cruise at christmas time. YES i KNOW i am stereotyping AGAIN, and every single one of you amazing individuals reading this blog do not feel this way, which is probably why you are reading this blog. The sad thing is, many americans act like this, and because of it we are in trouble.

Now, i don't quite understand everything that is being said in desarrollo because of my language barrier, but I have friends who i ask questions to and our profit writes on the board and lets us discuss stuff in english, os i get a good grip. She wrote a quote on the board the other day that read: "Para los subdesarrollo países el futuro es cierra en el presante, no es una opcion abierte." Meaning: For those underdeveloped countries the future is the present, there is no open option. Meaning: All countries are striving to be like the US because thats the only thing they see. To them, we are the be all end all. We are the prime. I mean, yeah the US employment rate and education system is pretty awesome compared to other countries. But we are not the best in any means. Every country has something they are awesome at. Not every country is best at one thing. These subdesarrollo, underdeveloped countries need to know there is another future for them.

I'll never forget the conversation we had with my hall director Taras about the developing nation of Trinidad. Twice in our one week stay there, the family we were with took us to their malls. Everyday, they talked about how much they Loved KFC. I didn't think anything of it at first, but then Taras asked us THE question: Why? Why do you think they showed us the malls and the KFC, when we came to experience a new country? Well, after a very good discussion the answer was clear. They were proud because this made them that much more similar to the united states.

I guess what I'm trying to say in this very bouncy post is that 1) Desarrollo is everything i have ever thought about the world in a class, and I want to cry. 2) Learning Spanish is still hard. 3) These people who are here with me in Peru think what i think. We are here together, learning and thinking about the world. Maybe together, we can all figure out why we are here and what we are to do next.

p.s. Laura i swear i didn't mean to copy your post! I read it after i wrote mine....

Numero Tres

As most of you have noticed, Libby seems to be posting way more frequently than I. It's mostly because I'm having some internet troubles and can't always find a place to connect to. Either way, I'm posting as often as I can. This trip has been way more challenging to me than I thought it was going to be. This trip has really made me use the (little) Spanish that I learned from the states. I'm learning every single day how little I truly know. At times it can become extremely overwhelming to think that I can barely speak the language of the people in this country, but I keep telling myself that I will learn and that I won't wake up one day and know everything. I'm going to have to work on it. I finished my first homework assignment and to say that it is the most well written piece of literature would be a complete overstatement. For me, I don't think I could have done better at this point, but I have TONS of room for improvement. The way I look at it is, I have the vocabulary of about a four year old trying to do homework that is made for a college student. Sooner or later I'm going to get extremely repetitive and sound like I don't really know anything. I'm not too worried, I think that the teachers will understand, and hey, if I get the worst grade in the class I won't be too worried. If I were to put everyone in this group on a ranking system in terms of how much they know Spanish, I think I might possibly be very last on that list. Libby may argue that point, but I (and everyone else on the trip) know that her Spanish is WAY better than she gives herself credit for. In my mind it doesn't worry me because I've taken a total of one class in Spanish before this and I took French(useless) in high school. At times I wonder how much I can truly help these people if I can't even speak their language (oh ya, btw the people in the town we are working at speak Spanish and Quechua). I try to tell myself that I'm doing good, but sometimes it doesn't quite feel that way. I know that I have to break through this tough period if I want to come out on the other side and be successful. The other day we were in class talking about development. In my mind the development process is not the act of giving people material items that they need, it's giving them the hope and reason to be happy with their life and themselves. What I tried to communicate in class was that, without Love and Happiness, we have nothing. We don't need anything other than that. People can argue about money and material items but I think of it this way. Even if you don't have a home or food everyday, if you have love from another person what more do you truly need. It's hard to really say that from my point of view, because I have so much, but I guess I can try. Without support and love from everyone, I have nothing. Alright, time to head back to my house for lunch. Combi time!! I'll share that story another day. Talk to you soon!!

~Andy

Estoy buscando para..

...what? Time and time again I ask myself this question. What am I looking for in this world that makes me go on these trips, see what i see, and think these things? I have everything i need in the united states, right? I have a family who Loves and supports me, friends to keep me alive, a good education in which i can go on to make a good life for myself and my future husband/kids. I can retire at the age of 65 knowing a will have a secure future with my 401-K and grandkids, volunteering and joining a red hat club with my other 65 year old friends. I could send out Christmas cards ever year with a typed up letter about how awesome my family is. I could make new friends depending on where i live, and sadly loose touch with the old ones, but as long as i am safe and secure, thats ok.

Although I am stereotyping a bit, this is basically the average life of an american (a quote from Trainspotting is going through my head right now). This is a grad life for most, full of security and fun. However, this is not the life for me. I cannot picture myself following this path. I want more. I want adventure, i want Love and passion, i want to fight for human beings... no i don't want. I need. I need adventure and Love and passion and a fire in my soul. I need to know that I am doing absolutely all i possibly can with my life to enjoy every morsel of this earth. I need to see, to touch, to taste, to learn, to fail, to cry, to life how i need to live.

This is what i have discovered about myself in the past year, since those life changing 13 days i spent in Nicaragua. There is only one problem right now. I don't quite know how to live the way i need. I think this expierence in the beautious land of Perú will help me, but how? How do i live the way i need to live?

This weekend was really wonderful for many reasons, and here they are:
1) La festividad de San Sebastian
2) Nuestro primero proyejto
3) Los Empacadores versus Los Osos

1) Corey and Kelsey live in a town that had a festival celebrating St. Sebastian this Thursday. They had gone during the day and raved about it, so the other nueve of us decided that that would be a really really cool way to celebrate the night, or at least start it off ;-) So we all went, and admired the music, dancing and costumes. It was really wonderful to see such a strong celebration that has clearly been happening for hundreds of years. We wandered around a bit to meet up with Andy and Matt, and met up with more than just them. A few peruanos who had had a bit more to drink than their compañeros came and started talking with us. Of course they went to Erich first, who makes friends everywhere, and then some of them started dancing with us, Caitlin and Laura first, but slowly they made their way around and danced with many of us. All of a sudden, out of no where came a lady who was about 4' 11'' and started dancing with all of us. She woudl pull two or three of us into a circle and we woudl just move. When those three were moving she would go to someone else. If the previous three stopped she woudl go and dance with them again. "Gracias, muchos gracias," i said. "Bienvinedos," she said, "a perú. De mi corozon, bienvenidos." Then before we knew it, we had a circle of peruanos around us, watching us gringos dance and laugh. Then we all ended up in the middle of the crowd, dancing with even more peruanos right infront of the band.

The lady misterioso dancing with Mateo

Who does that? What kind of lady ups and leaves her family and friends at a pretty big deal celebration to dance with a bunch of gringos and welcome them to their country? The feelings i was having during the whole thing were... wow. Really thats all. Wow.

2) The reason I picked ProWorld for my study abroad 'venture was for the volunteering. Sight seeing is one things, partying is another, but connecting and helping random strangers in a country you barely know the language in is a definite nother, and in my opinion, its really the only way to truly experience the country you are traveling too, or living in. So us 11 plus a few more piled unto a bus that drove to Occoruru, the town ProWorld will be helping this year with their vivienda saludable. We were the first volunteers to meet the people of Occoruru and start on the projects. What we did on sabado was called "mapping." Basically, we asked the people what they want their houses to look like in the future. Kelsey and I had a group of 5 men, all of them representative of their family. Roughly speaking, they all had the same thing, and wanted the same thing. They had a house of sleeping, and a house for cooking, and a pipe of water coming up from the ground. They wanted a stable for their animals, one for the cuy, one for the hembras, and one for the gallina (guinnie pig, cows, and chickens). They wanted a better working kitchen, more rooms to sleep in, a jardin (garden), a patio, and a bathroom. One man, Sixto Año (idk if thats how you spell his name, but thats how you say it) wanted "un baño con ducha, inodoro, y fregadero" ( a bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink). In my mind i said "Claro, of course." Thinking, what else would this man want in a bathroom, thats what all bathrooms have.

Una casa en Occoruru

But then i thought again. This man has never had a bathroom. Never. How would he know whats in a typical bathroom. Thats when i got really excited. We would be the people to help him build his dream bathroom. We would be the ones to help all these families get what is literally bear necessities to us.

3) Mateo, Andrés, y yo fuimos a Nortons Pub por mira el partido de Americano Fútbol. The playoff game between the GB Packers and Chi-town Bears. We were joined by some other volunteers, french fires, and beers, and my favorite American ritual comenzado. The Bears fans were in the front of the bar, and the packers in the back. Idk if you all watched the game, but the bears didn't do anything till the last quarter, so the back of the bar was quite happy and loud for the first part of the game. It was quite fun, talking and laughing with my new found friends, going to a bar to watch a game for the first time in my life, and enjoying the thrills of a football game. With roughly 7 min left in the 4th cuarto, the satellite giving us our reception failed. Someone, i think it was Corey, said "Matt you have a computer and internet." "So?" Matt inquired, "So lets watch the game!" I said. We logged onto NFL.com and watched as the news feed renewed itself and renewed itself, telling us what had happened. Well, and interception and a touch down happened. Matt announced it and we continued to watch and the packers crowd form the back dragged chairs over and watched the tiny little screen and listened to Matt and I announce what was going on. It was quite fun, we cheered booed, and made fun of the others favorite team. Talking with other travelers is another great thing about traveling. Learning where they come from, whey they are traveling, what they have or have not done. Very intriguing.Me at the top of the templo de luna on the hike we took today. Looking for....

Many of the people there (all gringos, claro) said that they lived here. The were traveling for years and are now here. They live here. They left America, and live here. The love football, a very VERY all american sport, and live here, in South America.

I loved this weekend. Loved it. I even left out many a thing in these descriptions that we did because there is so much to talk about. I know that i Loved this weekend for these reasons. But did i Love this weekend just for these reasons, or because this is how i need to live?

Para ti

..here are some pictures!!! I have been playing the part of tourist this last week, so now I can leave my camera at home while i live the life of a peruano. When my host mom and I walk down the streets of Cusco together, sometimes she will say "Ay, chilenos" or "Ay, cubanos" when they pass by. I like to say "Ay, gringos. Soy Peruano." She laughs and thinks its funny/wonderful. If you all would like to see more picts, check out facebook (tomorrow evening, that is, my internet is running a little slow tonight).

Very poetic if you think about it...

Angie, Kingy, Libi, Pili. (my two cousins and my mom) at a restaurant in Urubamba, a town an hour outside of cusco.

Yes, the view from on top of a montaña. This is the moment i fell in Love with Cusco.

The Cristo Blanco, a replica of the statue in Rio D, Brazil. This one lights up at night. I can see it from my house!!

A very VERY cool mural on Ave. de Sol (a tourist and tienda hot spot). This tells the story of the Incan empire from beginning to end.

The classic picture of the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas. I'm going to church there with my host mom tomorrow before our hike!!

Después una semana:

Let me start out by saying to you all, thank you for your kind, kind words. This last week has not been the easiest of my life, but it has been rewarding nonetheless. When I last left off with post of pure negativity, i was feeling just that. It was hard to communicate at home, ciencia de politica (politica science) may be the hardest class I will ever have to take, and i was placed in a Spanish class i had been studying all winter break to NOT be in. On top of that, I was feeling quite sick (though, not nearly as bad as our dear boy Andy.) Now that the cloud of negativity has passed, and i actually realized people read this blog (I literally thought it was gonna be Rachael and Miss Sullivan) here is the real first week of Perú.

Let me start out by saying that Cusco has to be one of the most historically beautiful cities in the world. It's cobble stone or brick streets along with its antique adobie buildings and churches (there are 21 in the city) make it look like a step back in time. My house is located about three blocks away from the Plaza de Armas, which is the main tourist hub in the city. It is littered with hostels, bars (pubs included), discos, and most importantly, vendadors. Los vendadors sell your typical touristy things, bracelets, hats, paintings, a picture with a llama and baby sheep... oh wait...

Many of the indigenous people of Perú dress up in their beautiful traditional clothes, and walk around the plaza asking tourists if they want a picture with them and the llama or the baby sheep. Most tourists have never even seen these animals in real life let along touch them or hold them, so its too good of a deal for them to pass up. These people must make a KILLING.

Any way back to the square. Because I live so close, I walk there all the time. Just to people watch, or for a walk, or because its a nice day, something like that. I live about 10 min for the school, Centro Bartolome de las Casas, and another 20 from the ProWorld office. I love walking, even though whenever i pass a vendador the ask me if i want to buy something. I think i say "no, gracias" more than any other phrase here. Andy and I live on opposite sides of town. Literally. The combi to Andy's house is about 60 centimos (25 american cents) and a taxi is 3-5 soles ($2.30) So honestly, its not bad at all.

Now onto my family. I LOVE THEM! It's only two people, my host mom Pilar and my host sister Claudia, but they are so wonderful. Pili is the most caring person i think i have ever met. She Loves cooking for me, and makes sure I do not have a trace of wheat in my food. She literally grabbed a cookie out of my hand when she read the label and saw it had a type of grain that came from trigo. She also enjoys being my Cuzcanian tour guide in every way. She likes taking me around the city and explaining all the old buildings, squares, signs, and statues. She also studies Andian medicine. When I was sick she had her friend Ana come and preform a ritual with a huevo and petrólio de flores, egg and flower oil. I did actually feel better afterwards...

She has also explained to me all the important relics here. On top of many houses are dos toros, un crus, y un escalera. (2 male cows, a cross and a latter) The toros represent security, the crus is pretty obvious, and the escalera is what we have to climb to go to heaven. There is also very popular representations or heaven, human, and the devil, and they are hidden all around the city. There is the condor, which is said to be the closes living creature to heaven. There is the serpiente, which is once again, pretty obvious. And there is the puma. The puma is strong, quick, and reliable. Somos pumas.

Another thing i have to mention is the food. Its VERY different from the states, but VERY good. Potatoes and common here, along with papaya and grains. Desayuno is yogurt, cereal, bread, juice, milk, cheese, meat. Almorzo is GRANDE and awesome. It's normally two courses, salad or soup first, then a big dish with meat and potatoes and rice (always) with spices and salsas and other really good stuff. Cena is smaller, and really could be anything, a left over from yesterday, meet, rice. I literally look forward to ever meal. One time at a restaurant i had alpaca meat and chicha morada (a purple corn drink). That was interesting. Still on the lookout for good cuy (if you don't know what that is, google it)

It's actually really cool. Although i play tourist sometimes. I really feel like I live here now, which is weird becaues it is SOOOO differnt from the US, and my Spanish is still..... I'm unpacked, i know my way around the city pretty well, and i have good friends and family. The other volunteers on this trip are wonderful. I have really really connected with some of them. It's been a long week, but an awesome week. I've explored a city, learned (some) Spanish, made friends, and ate great food.

One of my friends Corey says all the time "I really can't believe we are here. In south america. On the other side of the equator. I can't believe it!" I have the same feeling. It's that increíble.

Numero Dos

So after the first couple of days of my trip I'm enjoying the trip as much as I can possibly can. The other night I didn't get any sleep, due to a stomach problem. I rolled around for hours in my bed in Cusco. I'll spare everyone the really nasty details, but I went to the doctor the next day. The clinic I went to was really wonderful. They were all very friendly (and the doctors spoke English). At that point I was just shuffling from place to place with my stomach feeling like it was about to explode. Finally we got to the waiting area and less than a minute later, a doctor came to get me. After talking with him they decided to run some tests. I left the doctors office and returned at three to hear the results. I have a parasite and some bacteria in my stomach. The doctor hypothesized that it came from some raw vegetables that I ate the very first or second day of my trip. He then went on to say that he never sees anything like this in a patient that has been here less than a month. So after all that I was prescribed some antibiotics and sent on my way. Overall the total cost of my visit was 150 soles, which roughly translates to about 60 dollars. In the grand scheme of things, that was quite a low price to pay to find out I had a living creature inside of my stomach. I'm feeling much better now, but my energy is quite low. Time for lunch!!! :)

~Andy

So.

This is alot harder than i thought. I knew coming into this trip that learning the Spanish would not be easy, but it's really REALLY difficult. I understand what my mom says when she speaks slowly. My cousins and sister use hand gestures, gracias dios. So far I have had 2 classes, Español y ciencia politicas. Spanish is going as expected. We are reviewing, then we will learn more. The teacher is really nice and knows her mierda REEEEEEAL well, which is good for me. But for ciencia politicas... I bearly understood half the words she was saying. I have the general overview of the subject topics, but honestly, when it comes to specifics, i couldn't tell you anything. Was it a mistake, me coming here with sooooo little spanish? I mean, if you look at teh glass half full, one year in the past today, I didn't know any spanish. ANY. I have come leaps and bounds in 9 months. But if you look at the glass half empty, I know about 25% of the langugae, which wont get you far in a foreign country.

When I think about it too, I am in a very controlled environment. My host family (bless them) held my hand for the first 2 days when i got acclimated to the city. they help me, the translate, the teach me, they do everything for me. The trust we share between eachother.... it's honestly incredible. I know all about their lives and they know mine. I trust them with my life, literally. More on them later. I'm using this post to vent.

I guess with all the thoughts of an exotic land and helping other people through service and living out a dream, I never gave a real thought to how hard it would be to adjust to a completely different culture. Even with my everything, my rock here with me, it's hard. Did i dream the wrong dream? Was this a mistake?

Estamos Aqui!!

I am writing to you from my hostel in Cuzco. I am here (estoy aquí!) Nothing "epic" has happened yet, but we are all just soaking up the sights and sounds of this new city and its surroundings. And the Andies.... oh my goodness can we say majestic!?

So from the beginning...
We started our journey flying out of JFK, terminal 4 actually. We met up with this awesome girl named Caitlin who is also on the ProWorld trip with us. It was really nice to meet someone else and get to know them. It makes the initial meetings with everyone else less awkward. So from JFK we breifly touched down in Bogatá Cloumbia and caught a plane to the Lima airport. Where we stayed for 16 hours till our flight from Lima to Cuzco took off. It was not the best night of my life. We played cards (POUNCE!), Andy's Pigmania game, talked, and read. We tried to sleep on the floor, but failed due to the airconditing unit being right above our heads. Oh well.

We were picked up from the Airport by Evalyn, a Peruvian native who works for Proworld. She explained some of the statused and buildings and symbols as we traveled through the city ot our hostel. The hostel is beautiful stained glass ceilings, huge rooms, a kitchen. and most importantly, it has that wonderful peruvian flair to it. Its like this city only has buildings from before the 19th century. It is so beautiful and a little hustle-y, but not so much that its annoying. There are street vendors everywhere with dolls, bags, food, clothes. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I know i wont be in a few weeks.

-Libby

Numero Uno

Hello there. I'm not quite sure who is reading this or what I'm going to say, but here we go. We haven't quite left yet, we''re still waiting to leave for the airport. There's a huge snowstorm going on outside, but hopefully we will be ok by the time that our plane has to leave. It's almost time! I've spent weeks in other countries, but this will be the longest by far. The hurdle I'm going to have to face is the fact that I'm going to be taking classes in a language that I've only been truly studying for less than a year. I have a feeling that for the first few days I will be completely lost and have no idea what is being said or what I'm supposed to learn. My strategy is to speak as much Spanish as I can. I guess in four months I'll figure out if it's going to be successful. In all honesty, I'm not as scared as I feel I should be. I'm going into a country that I've never been to, taking classes and living with a family. The idea should terrify me, but I've been trying to stay calm. I have a hunch that the terrors won't kick in until I get there. I live for situations like this though. The two times I've been to Nicaragua I knew absolutely no Spanish whatsoever. I've already experienced the language barrier at it's fullest, now is my time to truly learn the language. The experience I'm looking forward to the most isn't the Amazon Basin or even the Incan Trail I can't wait to meet people and actually have conversations will them, albeit really basic conversations, but hey, it's a step up from my previous experiences. I feel that this will be a test to see if I can truly live in another country. I'm hoping my desire to learn Spanish will get me through everything that blocks my path. Though I may not pass my classes with flying colors, the main goal for this trip, at least for me, is to learn the language so I can interact with the natives.

If there's one thing I want to express to the reader(s) of this blog, it would be to take chances. Take risks, even if you know for a fact you will fail. You can learn so much about yourself from a failed experience. There is always the chance that you can succeed. If you put your heart to something, nothing can stop you. Well, here we go. Next time I post I will be there. Peru, here I come!!

~Andy

First Post

HERE IT IS! Post numero uno. Annnnnddd i don't quite know what to say. Part of me feels really self absorbed for having a blog. I Love hearing about other peoples travels, but are other people really gonna care about mine? Are they gonna care about what i do and learn and experience in a place so foreign and far from anything remotely resembling New York/New Hampshire/the entire United States? What will others learn and gain from reading what I am doing with my life? Well, here is my one hope: That I, a 20 year old girl who has grown up in one of the most sheltered suburb-ias EVER, can give others the courage to go out and travel. Last year when I went to Nicaragua for 13 glorious days, I learned more about myself and the world than i ever have in a classroom. Now, I am about to spend nearly 4 months in another county, different from any other place I have been. The adventure i am about to embark on will truly be the journey of a lifetime.

So please, all you readers (when I say "all" i mean the three people who will actually read this blog), hear this now: If you want to do anything with your life, do it. No matter if it is perusing a carrer, a dream, a new lifestyle, going against the norm you are used to, trying a new food, going on a date, traveling....... you will not regret it. No matter what happens. No matter how scary or mysterious the task is. Do it. It take time, patience, and courage and a thousand and one other qualities. You have everything you need inside of you, and you can do anything

This is the first post of many as Andy and I explore the world in which we live. I hope this will help you in your journey as well. Bienvenido. Welcome.