Tubs of Soap

I have decided that Peru has the sweetest dishwashing soap in the world. It’s quite simple, a little bucket of granulated soap (similar to detergent if the powered stuff was wetted and then dried out in a clump). You simply put your sponge in the bucket and swipe out what you need, then wash the dish. I dunno why, but I don’t get nearly as sick of washing dishes now as before, and I think the only thing that’s changed now is the soap…or the location…not sure.

Tomorrow is already Thanksgiving! Well, my entire family is in Portugal and I am here, in Peru. I would love to have dinner with them all (especially in Portugal – Rion, you’ve got some great pics!), but am happy to be sharing it instead with my PCV-Ica family here. American holiday Peruvian style – perfect. A celebration of when pilgrims shared food with the indigenous… seems similar to what PCVs are doing now, only it’s Peru and not the land of paradise (or efficiency and convenience, and I now know it as).

So, I have been in site for 3 days now and am learning to love it more and more. I guess I should say I wasn’t that thrilled to be placed in the desert, but after being here and starting to connect with the people…it’s obvious, once again, that it’s really the people that make the place, and not necessarily the place that makes the people. Regardless that it’s hot as an oven here ALL THE TIME, the people are awesome, there are several trees to hide under, and there are some sweet sweet ruins in the mountains that line all sides of the town. I have started to run every morning as a means of getting to know the layout of the town since I don’t yet have a bike. I haven’t seen any ruins, but after going to the free museum today, I know what directions to run in now. The other day my site mate, Win, and I did venture on a 1.5 hour hike with his ‘socio communitario’ to the top of some hills to check out some hieroglyphics. They are so absolutely amazing! And the sweet thing is that they are all over here, free of charge, and some were only discovered 3 years ago! I know, REALLY? How could people not have known about them? I’m not sure…but I feel like I am living my 5 year old dream of being an archeologist as I check out these old sites with all this history from forever ago.

So, what am I saying? If (When) you come to visit…there are super sweet things to do!