This post is wayyy overdue and I’m kind of hating myself for not posting it earlier. I want to share with you guys one of the things that has made this adventure truly incredible, my host family. From day one, they have welcomed me into their home like I was their own. It’s been so nice to have them as a family, when I’m so far away from my own.
My host dad’s name is Rogelio, my host mom’s name is Carmen, and they have two kids Bruno (6 years) and Mikaela (1 year). My host dad is a tour guide at Salkantay Trekking, which keeps him very busy. He loves sharing his culture! We could sit and talk for hours about Incas, Cusco, or just Peru in general. He’s also quite the jokester and loves himself some Inca Tequila every now and then. My host mom works as a beauty care vendor for a company called Natura. She is one the sweetest, kindest ladies I’ve ever met. She always asks how we are and if we’re not feeling well gives us something to help relieve our symptoms. She’s also a superwoman. Especially this past month. She just recently received a promotion that has kept her very busy. It amazes me how she balances her work, cooking for us, cleaning, taking care of her children, and all the other things that comes with being a mom. Rogelio is an amazing husband and helps her out so much when he’s not working. He plays the Mr. Mom role pretty well. They are basically couple goals. Bruno is probably the most creative kid I’ve ever met. I think this might have to do with the fact that the only piece of technology he has is his tablet, which he can only use on Saturdays. He loves to draw and lets his imagination run wild on the paper. He also can make amazing things with clay. You know how normally when kids show you stuff they make/draw you tell them how awesome it is, but in reality, you have no idea what you’re looking at? Not with Bruno. I’m always amazed at everything he shows me. The other day he made these characters out of the clay and they were honestly so cool. On top of drawing and creating things out of clay, he is also learning how to play the violin, can dominate you in a game of chess, and just started getting into basketball. Mikaela is a one of the cutest, well-behaved one year old I’ve seen. It’s been so fun to watch her grow in the short time I’ve been here. When I arrived, she only knew how to say a few words, could only crawl, and could only barely sit up by herself. Now she’s a little chatterbox! Granted the things she does mutter is sometimes incoherent, but her most common words are mamá, papá, agua, pan, Alex, hermano, Bruno, and hola. She now is running all over the house and loves to sit at the table by herself. She loves listening to music and dances every time music is on. Whenever I have my headphones with me, she loves to listen to the music. Headphones fascinate her.
Both Carmen and Rogelio are amazing cooks! (Stay tuned for another post about the food). Everyday they make us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This has been so niceeee to the point where I think I’m going to start looking for a full-time personal chef for when I return to the United States, because I’m not going to be able to fend for myself. We always share stories and talk about our day over the meals. I’ve definitely got the majority of my Spanish practice with them. They both have studied some English, so it’s fun to take turns helping each other with English and Spanish.
On top of taking care of two kids, taking care of their students, and working, they also have a project they do every Saturday for kids that live about 15 minutes from the center in a poorer part of Cusco. Every Saturday, they travel to Puerto Rico (no, not the country there actually is a place called Puerto Rico here) to teach the kids in the community youth development, life skills, help them with school, and play games with them. They even celebrate every kids’ birthday and last Christmas got every single kid a present. I’ve been a couple times and every time has been so fun! The kids love to talk to me and ask me different questions about the United States and myself. The older kids in the group are very motivated to do great in school. I spent about 20 minutes the one day helping a girl with her English homework and pronunciation. There’s another girl who just finished high school and is working hard to save to go to college. The little kids in the group are super fun, they love to paint, draw, and play games. The project is amazing. My host family never gets tired of getting up on Saturday morning and going to help them. It’s pretty incredible. Click on the picture to check out their Facebook page!
After my first month of having the whole apartment to myself, we quickly had a full house when 3 girls from France (Lucie, Naella, and Pauline) and a girl from the United States (Jessica) arrived at the beginning of February. I was pretty nervous as to how they were going to be. They turned out to be an amazing group! They all came to Cusco to intern in different clinics around the city. We all would share stories with each other at meals and teach each other French, English, and Spanish. The French girls spoke very little English and Spanish in the beginning, but by the end we were using less sign language and more Sprenclish (Spanish, English, and French all together as one, if that is a thing?) We also got to celebrate Pauline and Lucie’s birthday, which was super fun! Jessica, the family, and I pitched in for a cake with a picture of them on it. We woke up that morning and surprised them with decorations, cake, and a great rendition of Happy Birthday. That afternoon we went out for lunch together and ate guinea pig! (I can’t wait to write a post about that). This was one of my favorite memories from being here! That night all of us went out and had some drinks and enjoyed each other’s company.
My host dad also had a Pisco Sour night for us, where he taught us how to make the famous cocktail. (Hit me up when I get back and I’ll whip us up some cocktails Peruvian style). We all had a traditional pisco sour and then a passion fruit sour. We all shared music with each other and had a great time together.
At the beginning of March we all got to celebrate Carnaval! Carnaval is pretty crazy in Cusco. My host family barbecued steaks, chicken, vegetables, and potatoes. We spent the morning on their rooftop terrace listening to music, enjoying the food, talking, and avoiding being soaked by Bruno’s water gun or can of foam. Carnaval lasts for two weeks and on Sunday Cusco turns into a huge water fight. After we finished our lunch we headed down to the plaza. Every kid has either a can of foam, a water gun, a bag of water balloons, or all the above in their hands. Everyone goes down to the Plaza de Armas and participates in the water fight. It’s chaos. The amount of foam I consumed/inhaled had to have been an unhealthy amount. I was hacking up foam the whole rest of the day and there was a nice glaze over my left eye for the rest of the day and well into the day after. As we were walking back Lucie and I were attacked by guy who jumped out a taxi and chased us down with a bucket of water. If you are a gringo walking the streets of Cusco during Carnaval, you're target number one. The following Sunday, I went down and watched the dances in the morning (before the chaos ensued). Different regions of Cusco, schools, and businesses perform different cultural dances in a sort of parade manner. It was very entertaining!
Jessica actually had left to go back home before Carnaval and Lucie, Pauline, and Naella left shortly after the Carnaval festivities. They were definitely the highlight of February! I miss us all jamming to Take on Me in the morning while we got ready, ordering wayyy to much pizza than we could consume, going out for a drink every now and then, and teaching each other our languages. We had so much fun together! I hope one day we can all meet up again.
It’s amazing how when you’re traveling you meet people and although they are only in your life for a short period of time, every person has something for you to gain. It’s cool because we are all sharing this same dream of seeing a new country. We’re all so far from our family and friends. You tend to band together and share the adventure together. I’m so thankful that I was placed with an amazing family and amazing roommates! Their love and care have been so nice with me being so far away from my own family. I’ll always consider them my familia cusqueña.
Only a short 20 days till I get to see my own family!
¡Nos vemos pronto!
