un otro maquina por favor

Ahhh back to the ¨lab¨it is, a term used with a love/hate taste in my mouth.

The lab is a 5 minute walk from my house.
It has 30 delapitated computers with equally slow internet and functioning abilities
it is dark and smells like an after school day camp;
a haven for screaming peruvian ninos playing juegos and taunting:

¨POLLO!!! POLLO POLLLLOOOO!!!¨

I am right in the middle of all the action,
My blood pressure has no choice but to rise
as if a bullet will fly through the window at any second
or hands clasp hard on my shoulders

The lab is where I go to write, unwind the mind, and type..
I guess sometimes it´s a small world, and all we can do is share.


a photo, for reference:

West Wall 5:30 pm

!=indicates the screamers
ñ=the stand behind and watchers
¿= me

(X ) (X! ) (X !) (X!!)ñ (*¿*) (X!!!)ñ (X !)( X)ñ( X!)(X)


Ah okay, well, I´m going to try and get something done anyways. I really must tell you about all the charactars I have met this week, but I really don´t think I can do them justice at this time. I will say that I find myself really settling in around here, finding a flow, getting the hang of things, communicating more effectively, not having cabbies try to rip me off at every turn.. etc.

I experienced real Cuzco nightlife for the first time since I´ve been here on Saturday. My friends Thomas and Mia that´d I´d met in Lima were back from a 5 day jungle macchupicchu excursion and reuniting was as if we were old friends. Mia has a sense of humor like mine, expect tweeked more..swedish? and it was like a huge dose of revitalization to laugh with her... like snot nosed lose control excuse yourself kind of laughter. Perfect. I´m going out to dinner with them in an hour or so and that´ll be goodbye. Until of course the Europa travels begin.

Being comfortable being alone has really benifited me on this trip. Besides the Swedes and some folks at school I´ve been befriending mostly locals and truly feel like my Spanish is being taken to a new level. Yesterday I was hackeysackin at the Plaza and a new friend approached me as if my skill was our sacred bond. (hes a juggler, of course. and a artiste de muchas cosas,he informs me). He´s the first true jungle-Peruvian I´ve met (the name of exactly where escapes me but it´s near to Iquitos.) He´s also the first person I´ve met that I´ve suddenly wanted to draw versus write about, which I found interesting. We climbed to a high corner of the city where we were accompanied by 3 adorable little girls and of course, a llama. When it started to downpour, we went to his house, which was only a room with cement walls and two thin mattresses on the floor. There I met his brother, and for the whole time we hung out I spoke probably 3 words of English, and it wasn´t because we weren´t conversing. It was awesome to be able to say so much and be understood so well, as well as ask questions and be interested in responses (because hey, i actually get it!). When I started speaking English much later it was like suddenly snapping out of a different world. Truly amazing.

I´ve also been meeting with Oskar, a 65 year old traveling musician playwright. We are currently working on translating one of his scripts to English, with intention of possibly getting it to the US. It´s really interesting (especially because the play is actually quite good) and fun to work through with a dictionary (no, not google translate- have I mentioned the internet?) and try to keep the original meaning and artistic intent intact. I think it´s definitely something Im going to start getting more into, both here and back home. I would like to find a bookstore here, especially as I´ve gotten a couple recommendations for spanish speaking poets, writers, etc.

My time here is winding down, and it looks like rain. Until next time
xo KM