Second of my ¨catch-up¨ posts

Hello! So i know i said i´d do this after dinner last night, but the cafe was full, and i was exhausted. So here it is... plus a picture of Chris doing what he does best.
I left off having finished my birthday, Oct. 1st, which takes us to friday the 2nd. Not really an exciting day, at least not at first. THe day progressed as it usually does on a friday....slowly. After classes finished we planned to have a little soccer tournament in the backyard of our center with trainees and teachers alike. It started off great, justplaying little 4 x 4 games. However, i ended my session by stepping in a hole, and rolling my ankle. I guess Tyler´s ankle luck rubbed off on me when we went to Lima. I hear a pop/crunch and new i was in trouble. It really didn´t swell up fast, and wasn´t the worst pain i have had involving ankle problems, but it didnt´feel great.

The next morning i made my way to the center for our hands-on training day like every saturday for WatSan (water and sanitation), and made sure to call the PC medical officer, who told me that i should jsut stay home and elevate my ankle, ice it, and wait until monday...because the clinics that i would have to go to are way to busy on the weekends. So...after having a rough time getting back, and feeling extremely frustrated with both my ankle and peruvians in general, i took it easy and watched some tv, read, and napped. Later on people just kept showing up randomly. Someone new would walk in and be surprised that the place was filled with other volunteers. I guess i´m just that popular :s There was a fiesta gong on just a block away from my house, and that meant really loud fireworks, which sound more like dynamite going off until like 2 in the morning. The party apparently continued until 5-6 am, but in bed pretty early.

Sunday was soccer day for me...watching, not playing. Again i used my time for reading, napping, and watcing about 3-4 full soccer games. Watching that many soccer games pretty much takes up the entire day, so that was pretty much that. However, there school across the street from me was having a dance presentation from every class. I will try to post pictures and video of this, because it was pretty great. I hobbled my ace over just as it started. Along with a few other volunteers we saw everything from 1st graders doing traditional dances, to teenagers getting down to some Michael Jackson. I always suspected MJ was influenced by the Andean culture. Now i know for sure.

Monday i got to go to the PC headquartes for the second time in a week, both for ankle injuries. Jorge took me to a private practice doctor...although i couldn´t tell the difference between it and the hospital...which was next door. Earlier that day i had thought it would be a good idea to bring my book just in case i went to Lima to get my ankle checked out...but for some reason unknow to me i didnt follow through with it, and later regretted it as i sat for two hours in the waiting room. It wasn´t so bad, and Jorge and i got to talk a lot. It only took the doctor 5 minutes to determine that i didn´t need anything besides some meds and to stay away from excercise for a a few weeks. So i was lucky that i didn´t leave with a cast like Tyler.

Jorge was going to call a taxi service to take me back home, but agreed with me that it was dinner time and also rush hour, thus making it a perfect time to get some really traditional peruvian food...pizza hut. Yes i know, very american of me...and i enjoyed every minute of it. Plus Jorge was the one who brought it up. A nice break from the ever-present rice, potatoes and chicken. Also, i guess pizza huts down here must not have gotten the memo, because they are like 5 star restaurants compared to the ones back home. It is pretty funny how nice they are, and i guess that´s what volunteers always say.

I havn´t been doing much this week. I got to chat with Kim this morning which was really great. Umm...tomorrow is a national holiday, so we only have to go for to the center in the morning. Hmmmm....also, friday is the second round of our language proficiency tests. So keep your fingers crossed that i don´t regress down a level!!! I missed out on a good soccer game last night, but i´m going to be good about this ankle so i can make a quick recovery...hopefully. Ok, well i´m hoping to put up some pictures, and maybe a video or two pretty soon. So stay in touch. Also, thanks for sending me cards! You know who you are! It is really great to find something marked for you on the table as you enter the Centro. I think it is kind of an unofficial contest between volunteers, cause you kinda make it a big deal that you got something and someone else didn´t...at least if you want to be an ass like me you do :p