Two Thumbs Up?

So we tried to go to a movie last night. The cinema was closed. Like closed down forever. So, no movie. Last night on the bus we didn’t get a movie either. Or the night before. What a shame. Considering the quality of the movies we’ve gotten to see so far though, it might have been the [...]

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La Guerra y El Pollo

(The War and The Chicken) As we walked through the streets of Mollendo one eye cast over our shoulder searching for enemies, guerrillas, really, as they dressed in civilian clothing except for the guns, explosives or powders they carried. Weapons of mass destruction. Well, I guess not mass. Personal. Individual. But they certainly did cause mass distraction. Everyone’s minds [...]

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Ready to take my O.W.L.s

Ordinary Wizarding Level tests that is. The completement of any Harry Potter inspired magical education. I have recently learned to read palms. I learned from Mami Carmen and then from some friend of Annie’s. Mami Carmen’s method was obviously superior. The other dude required smoke and actually didn’t tell me anything except that my future was unsure. Then [...]

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Fire Burn and Cauldren Bubble

Part two of my education in witchery began one morning with news from Fiorella. We had all gone out to the ensayos the night before, but her friends were hanging around when we arrived home so she stayed in the doorway chatting with them. Fio: “There was something on the windowsill!” Me: “Huh?” “There was something stuffed [...]

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Bear and Devil Dying for a Drop to Drink

The whole story starts with an innocent proposition, planned to fail: I said I would dance if Carmen, the mother of the household where we are staying, would also dance. It seemed like a safe bet as the whole morning she had been saying that she couldn’t possibly dance since Darwin, her husband didn´t like [...]

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Let the Wild Rompus Begin!

  Is that how you spell “rompus”?   Well, I think rompus might be a good way to describe what happens when the Candalaria begins. Because it brings with it Carnaval, although the dancing for Carnaval, and the official week of Carnaval comes later. And it is dancing, shiny and sparkly, and bright colors, and too much food, and [...]

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Fernando The Terrible

Altitude plus Sikuris drums until midnight gave me a bit of a headache the first few days here. But what keeps my headaches going off and on after two weeks? Fernando Miguel. He is four years old, ten years younger than his youngest sister, Velia. And he is the only boy. And admittedly, like lot´s of [...]

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New word of the day: Mechar

Me he mechado con mi namorado. I fought with my boyfriend. I feel like ninety percent of what my sisters and I talk about is their boyfriends/love interests/exboyfriends. And they are always mechando. Annie is dating a guy who is 7 years older than her. They were mechando because he didn´t want to go out to the same [...]

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American Food Friday

Well, it´s supposed to be American food since I am cooking it. Everyone has a day of the week that they cook, except Carmen has three. So I am taking one of hers- tomorrow. We will have french toast for breakfast, with juice – maybe jugo especial if we have all the ingredients (various fruits, milk, honey, [...]

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The Last Supper

That I get to cook at home, that is. Well, it happened last night. We were all set to have lasagna, which my momma had made and was awaiting us in the freezer. Apparently my bro had been begging for lasagna for weeks so my request to make my own recipe thwarted his plans. But [...]

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