I know that I have been saying for a long time that I was going to post something. I really do not have any excuses, so I am just going to try and write a little about everything that has gone on.
After the cholita's wrestling (which I couldn't get any decent pictures of) I went back to Arequipa, Peru. I have been there before so there was nothing new there. After that we went to Nazca and took a plane ride over the Nazca Lines. I did not think that I was going to have any problems, but it was really hard on my stomach. I got really nauseous and it is a good thing that the ride only lasts for about 30 minutes because the pilot would not have liked me very much. I did see some of the lines really well. Some of them, not so much. That same day we went to Pisco to see the Ballestas islands and hang out with some of my friends that I met when I was in Ica the first time.
I got there and the islands were really amazing. The boat ride was great and the birds were impressive too. I think that it was more of the smell than anything. A whole bunch of birds means a whole bunch of guano. But there were sea lions too, and their pups. I think that I would take one home as a pet, but there are a couple of obvious problems with that. If I could over come those problems, I would totally have a sea lion pet. So I rode around in a boat for two hours and then went back to Pisco where I thought that I would be leaving the next day. 
I got there and the islands were really amazing. The boat ride was great and the birds were impressive too. I think that it was more of the smell than anything. A whole bunch of birds means a whole bunch of guano. But there were sea lions too, and their pups. I think that I would take one home as a pet, but there are a couple of obvious problems with that. If I could over come those problems, I would totally have a sea lion pet. So I rode around in a boat for two hours and then went back to Pisco where I thought that I would be leaving the next day. 
I went to hang out with my friends that I met in Ica and it turns out that one of them has a girlfriend from the states who is working for Burners Without Borders, a non-profit group working in Pisco helping out the city after a 8.0 earthquake destroyed the city last August
. I took a great picture from their plaza de armas of the cathedral that collapsed leaving only the bell towers. What is even cooler is that they still have mass here every Sunday. It is just more of an open air mass.
. I took a great picture from their plaza de armas of the cathedral that collapsed leaving only the bell towers. What is even cooler is that they still have mass here every Sunday. It is just more of an open air mass.After I met May, the girlfriend, I went on to meet the rest of the Burners at a birthday party where they convinced me that I should stay awhile and help them out. Thinking that I could stay on for a couple of days I decided that I would show up the next morning at 8 am to help out. Turns out that I really liked it and stayed for close to two weeks. I got to work on helping build a soup kitchen at a church that was destroyed in the Earthquake. All of the walls of the church were made out of bamboo, but there was a lot of money coming into the church from Lima, so it was a nice bamboo church. I got to move a bunch of piles of dirt, sand, and gravel, moved bricks, and dirt, and I also got to help with a couple of pours of cement. I worked hard for two weeks, played hard and I met a lot of really good people. Another thing that the group does is everynight we get together with a couple of the local kids and have an intercambio. A place where we can all come together and share experiences or information (I know I sound like a commercial right now). 
It was really nice because this was a place where we could relax and get to know the kids better and have a place to be known with members of the community outside of work. I got to know a couple of the kids really well and I am going to miss them as much as I am going to miss the people that I worked with. It was an amazing two weeks that I am going to remember for the rest of my life. It is definitly one of the highlights of my trip.
It was really nice because this was a place where we could relax and get to know the kids better and have a place to be known with members of the community outside of work. I got to know a couple of the kids really well and I am going to miss them as much as I am going to miss the people that I worked with. It was an amazing two weeks that I am going to remember for the rest of my life. It is definitly one of the highlights of my trip. At the house we also had a group of street dogs that would follow us to the work sites everyday. They would also escort us to the corner store at night, or in the day time. It really didn't matter. They were always there with us. I decided that the old, really dirty, khaki colored one was mine. 
There was a couple of days when he went missing an we thought that he was dead by a funny misunderstanding. But he is still there. They are called Sparky, Sola and Atomic (I did not name them).
There was a couple of days when he went missing an we thought that he was dead by a funny misunderstanding. But he is still there. They are called Sparky, Sola and Atomic (I did not name them). I have left Pisco and I am only going to be in Peru for another day, then I will be in Ecuador. I am not sure how long I am going to be there, but I do not think that it is going to be very long because I only have 14 days from today left in South America. It is a little depressing to think about, but I am also ready to come home.
