Here’s my 3 week summary on how things have been. Believe it when you hear that Peru either welcomes you with loving arms or spits you out like a watermelon seed.

• EVERYTHING you do in Peru requires more time than you’d estimate. They put “Mexican Time” to shame. It’s common for stores to be randomly closed at any hour, on any day.

• It’s a pain in the ass to go grocery shopping. It requires several hours, if not a whole day to go to the store. I’m exhausted when I get home, so my goal is to shop no more than once a week in the local markets and once a month in Cusco. It’s exhilarating and fun to go shopping, but it’s a pain in the ass.

• The markets! I love the markets! Once I’m there, I’ll swear to anyone who will listen that I am never, ever, ever leaving Peru!!! Those of you who know me understand how I equate Food to Pornography, so you can imagine what a stroll through aisles of perfect organic produce, freshly slaughtered meat, overflowing barrels of  dry goods and mounds of fragrant chocolates, honeys and coffees would be like with me by your side. This new larder is unfamiliar to me and while it’s exhausting, I look forward to my market trips to discover something new!

• Speaking of ass…the toilet house. Using the restroom means putting on shoes and taking a walk to a nice, icy cold toilet seat. Enjoy THAT at 5am.

• I can’t seem to find certain items that I thought I could. Molasses, sour cream, really good shampoo, banana leaves, cake or bread flour, maple syrup, jalapeno peppers…  Perhaps all or some of these items will present themselves when I look in the right places. Hopefully that ‘right place’ is here in Peru. Oh, and I have found Skittles, Oreos, Twix, Doritos and Frosted Flakes, which are always on hand.

• I feel healthy as an ox and am doing well at 10,000 feet, however, I get tired easily. Must be the altitude.

• I’ve lost so much weight that the skinny pants I brought with me won’t stay up around my hips. Everything is baggy all of a sudden. Must be the altitude.

• My fire making skills are better than ever. We have a fire going every night and most of the day.

• My Spanish speaking skills have improved enough that I can participate in and/or get the gist of a conversation, but I’m often unable to say what I’d like to. I’ve got a rudimentary grasp thanks to my dictionary. The only problem is Peruano Spanish can be very different from typical Spanish, so translation errors are frequent. I’ve met only 3 Peruanos who speak or understand a lick of English. Moreover, most people here speak Qeutchoa (ket-choo-ah)…which is anything but Spanish. I am actively practicing both languages and as a result, life is becoming more and more interesting.

• The metric system. Yep.

• Rush hour traffic is a flock of  green squawking parakeets flying over head everyday around 7am.

• I have been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I’ve learned to get creative with what’s on hand while pulling from my existing repertoire of recipe tricks. I am earning a reputation as the gringa who rules the kitchen and I am proud to oblige!

• Baking. I’ve made 3 cakes and one batch of cookies. Baking at altitude requires experimentation, regardless of how well tested Susan G Purdy’s “Pie in the Sky” recipes are. Rubbery cake is unacceptable. Box mixes work great, when you can find them!

• I’m astounded by the beauty around me, the simplicity of life and the tremendous amount of work required to maintain it!

7 week old Kitten Von Katen (pronounced “cat-in”) was adopted 2 weeks ago from the kid’s casa to help with pest control around the Sanctuary. It’s fair to say I’ve started a family and perhaps I am more of a mother than an auntie to this precious ball of purring fur!