ChChChChanges!

To take the subject line from an email from my friend, Angela, yes, changes are afloat. Granted, when she wrote me she was talking about the entire past year, but so much has changed just this past week that it almost seems like a new year.

First, the house has changed -- dramatically. Gab and Jess are out of the house for good, Gab going back to the U.S. and Jess in the U.S. for a visit and then returning to Cusco at the end of January but probably not to the house. And Niki is also in the states for a holiday visit. So, for the first few days that just left me and Alvaro and Luna, Jess' puppy, who Alvaro is watching while Jess is away.

And with Gab and Jess gone, I moved into their old room. It's closer to my studio and gets much more light. I upgraded my bed (bigger and less crappy), added some new decorative pieces and settled right in. It's gorgeous and light-filled and warm (thanks to all the light!). I love it.

Before...



And after!



Then Szymon moved in. He's Australian and awesome. He also knows how to cook and has been showing me what to do with seaweed, a pressure cooker and various other kitchen items that I am sadly not familiar with. He's also spent a lot of time working with Ayahuasca, something I still harbor a healthy fear of, but am working through it (even though I think it's good to maintain a little fear of it). I think we're going to set up an exchange with massage for a little Ayahuasca help (not big doses like in ceremony, just small ones for a little more insight). We'll see how it goes.

Sooooo the house that was once full of women and beautiful, intense female energy has now shifted to one that is mostly male (and me). It's so strange. But good, too! Change is always good :)

And we also had two puppies in the house all week. Yes, two. We're watching Luna for Jess, but we've also had Flor here, too. Flor is the last of the litter and absolutely beautiful. She looks like a yellow lab puppy, but since her mom is Chi Chi, we have absolutely no idea what she's going to look like when she grows up. However, when Humberto came over last week and sat down on my bean bag chair, Flor crawled right up into his lap and made herself at home. I wouldn't say it was necessarily love at first sight, but when I mentioned that she might make a good Christmas gift for his family he agreed. So, with no family of my own in sight, I accepted an invitation to join him and his family in Sicuani for Christmas and to bring Flor as a gift.

Two puppies in the house was fun. There's this light energy that comes from them. They played with each other a lot, which was so much fun to watch. They made a few guest appearances in my studio while I was with clients, which was initially cute but moreso to me than the client. I had to then learn how to barricade the door.

The night before Christmas Eve was interesting. On Christmas Eve day, the main square turns into the biggest market in Cusco with vendors coming from EVERYWHERE to sell their wares, including lots of natural greenery and items for natvitiy-scene making. The vendors and their entire families camp out the night before in the square which, on that night, was cold and rainy.

One of Shaina's friends, Sally, is the owner of The Real McCoy, a British pub/restaurant off the main square and, with our help, brought out two big vats of hot chocolate and cookies to pass out to the masses. We ran out quickly, but most of the kids got a hot cup from us.

And then on Christmas Eve day we spent the morning/afternoon in the main square at the market. It was interesting -- there were a lot of interesting items for sale that you don't normally see at the regular markets. More unique handicrafts and a lot of illegal fireworks. Police were doing their best to snuff them out and we saw a few crackdowns, but since fireworks seem to be a big part of every holiday here, I think the authorities generally look the other way.

We eventually made it to Sicuani by 6pm, with a frozen turkey and Flor in tow. Hum's mother was estatic over both (I think a little more for Flor) and after a dinner of meat and rice and potatoes, Hum and I went out to meet his friend to buy some fireworks. In the rain.

In case I haven't mentioned this before, it's summer here in Peru, which means it's the rainy season. And for Cusco, we don't really get what most people think of as summer. It's never hot here. Sure, when the sun is out it can get a little toasty for a couple of hours, but then the clouds roll back in, the rain starts again and it's fucking cold. That's right, it's fucking cold.

Christmas Eve was no exception. It was cold and wet. And we were on the hunt for fireworks. We didn't have to go far. Once we got out of the neighborhood and up to the main part of town, we found Sicuani's Christmas market (I guess every town has one), which was pretty much selling fireworks, alcohol and cheap plastic toys. Ah, Christmas.

Fireworks and alcohol purchased (I declined the offer of a plastic doll), we headed back to his parents' house to watch the end of a Christmas special on TV and set off the fireworks at midnight. The whole neighborhood was ablaze with fuegos artificiales and we made it back to our hotel with all limbs intact by about 2am.

Christmas Day was pretty quiet. Lots of rain, movie watching (his sister has an addicition to these horrible "Crow" movies, so we were subjected to that most of the day), and cuddling of Flor. Flor adapted well to her new environment and settled in to napping with the occasional romp on a pair of shoes the whole weekend. She was a good fit for his family.

Flor and Hum


Post bath...


There was also turkey! Man, I love turkey. Even though it didn't have the mouth-watering trimmings that I'm used to in the states, the white rice, potatoes and beet salad that accompanied it were sufficient. His mom is a good cook and the turkey was perfect. Flor even got a few bones to gnaw on later (which made her incredibly gassy -- lesson learned).

All in all the weekend was enjoyable. Hum and I argued a bit though (something we rarely do) and I think a lot of it has to do with the pressure we all feel around family. His sisters haven't been living up to their potential (to put it nicely) and his parents expect him to whip them into shape whenever he's home. This puts so much stress on a person! Note to all parents: Don't make your most responsible child do the dirty work of cleaning up the acts of his/her siblings -- especially during the holidays. It makes the invited guests feel a little uncomfortable. Thanks.

Got back to Cusco on Monday morning and began preparing for our little viaje starting the next day...