a lesson on being cool

In case any of you were questioning my courage, my dedication or my perserverance while working in this country- don’t worry- I will put all of your questions to rest. I never thought I would wind up in a place where the bubonic plague still existed, vampire bats run rampid- biting children at will, earthquakes shake the earth, and cows jump over the moon

But I did and it makes for some interesting conversation starters between myself and you patriots who still find yourself living in the states.

So, Lindsey, what’s new over there in Peru?

Oh you know, nothing much, there was a 7.0 earthquake in Ecuador yesterday which shook my town pretty badly for a minute or two. You?

In reality, I was staying five hours south of my town in a hostel and was able to sleep the earthquake entirely, but my host family said it gave them a definite jolt.

In other news (actually news that has been sent in links from you all), I learned that in the Amazonas area, vampire bats have been responsible for the deaths of 30 children and there have been over 500 reports of bites in general. I don’t know why the bats are biting people (some say it’s because of a lack of food), but I have no desire to find out. Can you imagine? It’s like what happens in movies when Dracula latches on to the jugular of a young, innocent girl.

On my way back from Alta Piura last weekend, visiting Megan and Chris, I luckily was able to get a seat for the 7 ½ hour bus ride. Too bad my legs didn’t fit so well (since the average Peruvian height tops of at 5´3¨) behind the seat in front of me. No matter, I felt rather badly for those who had to stand up the whole time. However, my sympathy diminished when the one man got on the bus with his rooster and positioned himself standing so that the rooster´s green- feathered tail would stick right in my face. I don’t know where everyone brings their roosters to once they get down to the city but I would estimate that around 10 were on my bus and maybe 1 WASN´T crowing.

On this bus ride we managed to drive straight into a herd of cows moseying along the road (totally normal) and while trying to push them along with the engine of the bus, the cows in turn ran and jumped over a 5 foot fence. It was like they were deer! I have NEVER seen cows jump but I assure you now that they can.

Lastly, the volunteers have been made aware that there has been a break out of the bubonic plague in La Libertad, a department about 12 hours south of Tumbes. Yes, the same plague that decimated Europe centuries ago. Thankfully, theres medicine and so no real threat but I had no idea until now that the plague actually still existed! Crazy right?

So in all, I´d like to think that Im living a pretty courageous life down here, despite the fact that I still can´t kill the spiders that crawl in my room. Who knows, maybe that will change with time.