Over-Stimulation, Getting the Business Up and Running, and, Whoops, Puppies

Saturday was a quiet day at the house. Well, at least it was later in the day. In the morning I decided to take Elicia to the Barotio, the new-and-used-but-mostly-used-stuff market about a 20-minute walk from my house. It's not the safest place to go, but the deals make it worthwhile. "Barrato" means cheap in Spanish, so Barotio came out of that (essentially "cheap market"). Basically, every Saturday vendors pour out onto the streets of this neighborhood and sell whatever they have. Piles of clothes from the U.S. (including many with tags still on), kitchenware, knock offs, books, pick axes (I kid you not), and electronics. Now, I'm hesitant to call this market dangerous, but there's nary a tourist in sight and when there is, we usually become a target. But Peruvians aren't safe from theft there either. A few weeks ago I was there with Humberto and his cell phone was stolen right out of his deep front pocket. The funny thing was we just turned around and bought another (presumably stolen) phone from someone at the market and went to Claro (equivalent to Verizon) and got a new chip.

That day, though, I could barely stand the craziness of the place. It was too intense for me and I started to feel sick. The energy work and Reiki training I'd been receiving has made me hyper-sensitive to my surroundings at times and that morning was no exception. The market is intense even when you're not hyper-sensitive, so sadly we only stayed for about 1/2 hour -- long enough for me to find a 3-sole NY&Co. sweater and Leesh to find a 1-sole cute shirt. After we made our purchases, we headed home.

As soon as we got back to the house, I asked Leesh to call Gab to my room. When she came, I explained what happened and asked her to do some Reiki on me, as I could barely move. She brought her stones in, placed my new smoky quartz in my hand and the others on my forehead and chest and went to work. When she finished the Reiki, she started to play her new didge. Now, keep in mind she's had this didge for all of a day, but the sound and vibrations she brought forth were quite moving and a perfect finish to our mini-session. I was able to calm down and sleep for a while and when I emerged from my room, I joined Gabs and Leesh in the sun for a good chunk of the afternoon.

While we were sitting in the sun, Jessica was finishing our new sign for the business. We changed the name of our house from Yoga House to Healing House, as it better fits the inhabitants and the work we do. The sign is gorgeous and we hope to put it out this week -- after we purchase chains and locks to attach it to our door (otherwise it'll get stolen).

Jess making our awesome new sign

On a slightly funny but concerned note: Jess has been house/dog-sitting for Shana, a friend of ours, while she's back in the U.S. Shana told Jess that Chi-Chi, her rescued Cusquenan dog, was sweet tempered, slept all the time and barely ate anything. Jess soon discovered that while she is EXTREMELY sweet tempered, she loves to get into garbage, eats all the time and barely sits still. And after about a week and half with her, she discovered why. Chi-Chi is pregnant. Whoops.

Shana gets back in the next couple of days and we hope Chi-Chi can keep it together until then, but we're all bracing ourselves for the inevitable: puppies.