A Week of Epic Proportions: Full moon, water-borne illness, and Ocho's Locos

It's been a wild week here in Peru for many reasons, but the last few days specifically have been eventful for a variety of bizarre reasons.  On Wednesday, we had our first day working in the field at Lasalle Institute as well as on the street in the local market.  We arrived at the organic farm positioned on the Urubamba river and at the foot of a huge Andean peak at 630am for our tour of the greenhouses.  Our leader on the farm and at the market for the next couple weeks is a 24 year-old Uru native named Ameriko. He showed us the endless rows of tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, and peppers, while explaining that the "invernadero" can warm up to 45 degrees Celsius when the sun is at its brightest (113 degrees, not exactly air conditioned). 

While David and Emily sold the organic peppers and tomatoes in the market amongst local Peruvian women at the market, Hannah, Ameriko, and I prepared a package of organic greens to ship off to a tourist restaurant in Cusco.  After, we weeded the huge plot of tomato plants in order to expedite the speed saplings turn into soles on the market streets (and no mom, don't take this as my application to start slaving away with you in the gardens in the backyard).  We ended the day walking around the farm, checking out where they milk the cows and pile up the compost. 

My Spanish class runs from 115-245 Monday through Thursday, and I've already noticed improvement in my conversational abilities.  I still get made fun of for saying something wrong in front of the 5th graders, but I guess I'm going to chalk this one up as a small victory.

Tuesday night, my host-sister Allison and I played a few competitive rounds of Ocho's Locos (crazy eights for all of you who struggled with Dora the Explorer's interactive Spanish lessons).  I got my ass handed to me, but just like my youngest sister at home, I felt like she had a Rainman-esque gene good enough to know what move I'd make at any moment.  We had a full moon that night, so the sky was just bright enough for me to get suckered into playing jump rope with her and my roommate Dave until we could barely open our eyes.  All in all, it was a great night.

The last couple days, I've felt a little under the weather, but worry not- Giardia is no match for this guy.  I secured the anti-biotics from the local "botica," and I'm getting ready for our big hike on Saturday. 

To end on a less disgusting note, here are some pictures from the last few days in Urubamba!

On top of a peak in Urubamba with a giant cross on it.

A view of the glacier in Chicon, where we'll be hiking in two weekends.

Another view from the peak with the cross over Urubamba.

Sunset coming through the mountains.

A few of us in Moray, a neighboring village.

A sunny day in the Sacred Valley.