the deep meaning of dreams

so the other day teigan was telling me about lucid dreaming and i was thinking that i would start trying to remember my dreams. ya know, maybe there´s some hidden message behind purple elephants that are jumping on clouds? anyways, so i was dreaming of lots and lots of horses last night. and then, loooots and loooots of horse shit! it was so horrible! then, i woke myself up still smelling horse shit. i had know idea what was going on. i thought it was just my dream getting the better of me, so i went back to sleep. not for too long though, until i woke myself up again smelling horse shit. gawd! i was too tired to figure out what the smell really was, and convinced myself to go back to bed, so i continued to dream of horse shit. when i woke up in the morning i didn´t quite notice the smell, until i left my room. then i got a whiff of it and then it passed. so, i went to make my breakfast concoction of cane sugar, lime juice, and red pepper powder (kate, teigan and i are attempting the full body detox that lasts for 10 days on this lovely diet). well, my grandfather came in to the kitchen and told me i need to take care of my compost bin because the liquid in the bottom was smelling bad. well, i thought he was just being annoying and angry at life again, so i didn´t think too much of it. then, i walked back into my room and got a whiff of that smell again. jeeeeez! so, i looked over and there was my compost bin. i took the top off the bottom and was about knocked off my feet. the smell was concentrated horse shit! it penetrated my lungs and made them feel heavy. i almost vomited right there - i definitely gagged. who knew you could mess up compost! so apparently it´s not just straw, water and organic stuff. guess i am supposed to keep adding newspaper and straw and turning the stuff. jeeeeez. well, i ran to the store after cleaning out the liquid into the street and bought myself a bar of soap since i had just run out. i washed my hands 3 times and the smell still stuck. now i have to deal with the smell in my room. i don´t know where i´m going ot sleep if it still reeks!

even though the house now smells absolutely horrible, it was totally worth the laughs my grandfather and i had over the mistake i made. (side note: he´s a very sour person and this was the first time we have shared a laugh over something genuinely funny.)

Ring in the New Year with some...Yellow Underwear

Peruvian tradition is to wear something yellow for New Years. This explains why I was seeing so many different styles of yellow underwear for sale in the stores. I really was confused for some time. They also make dolls life sized for each person in the house. The dolls wear old clothes from that person, and at midnight they burn the dolls. Sounded a little like voodoo to me, but it´s symbolic of burning al the bad things from the previous year (like yourself...hm...) and getting ready for the new one. Then, you´re supposed to each 12 grapes, one for each month, and run around the house with a backpack on which is symbolic of lots of travel in the new year. Out of all this, I wore the yellow underwear.

New Things for 2010:

1. I have adopted two puppies! Well, kind of. They are staying at EMAPICA (Potable Water Office), but I am helping to raise them and take care of them. I named Liberty and Sam (the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam). They´re my refuge when I feel I need a little bit of US lovin´, and my method for teaching the Peruvians a little bit about America - one dog at a time.

2. I also have come down with a cold that I caught from sharing a drink with Kate. Peruvians would say I caught the gripe because I sleep with my fan on, or because I like to walk around without my shoes on, but I am pretty 100% sure it´s from the transfer of geeeerms.

3. I got my sleeping bag and sleeping pad stolen. boooooo. On the good old Soyuz bus, and put those things in the compartment above my head. Should have known not to, but guess that happens. Maybe that just means I won´t get anything else stolen during my time here!?

4. Teig´s, Kate and I are going to do a detox this week consisting of red pepers, sugar, lime, mixed in water, along with green tea. It´s supposed to last a week...we´ll see who flakes out first, or how amazing we feel at the end! (It´s the detox I tried last time and did´t last much more than 2 days...but this time I can literally rest for a week if I need to.)

So, my head is throbbing now. I think it´s from the heat and the Gripe I got. Time to go rest it off...

Happy New Years to all!!!