Sauna y mas...

First of all, can you believe as of Sunday I will have been here a month already?!!! I certainly can't. I think it speaks to how much I've grown and just how much I enjoy new/strange/different things since some of my other travels. As I recall my first month in India was SOOO long! :) What can I say? I'm really growing to LOVE life here! Ok, so maybe not the "Oh, she's not here today, could you come back tomorrow?" or the "We don't have it right now, could you come back tomorrow?" or the "Oh, the key, we'll have it for you tomorrow." or the "Hmm, the water's not working, maybe it will be tomorrow." or how about the "We're leaving right now... (two hours later), yeah ok we're leaving right now right now.... (20 minuntes later) Oh, are you ready to leave now?" AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
BUT... I can't explain the feeling I have at the end of everyday when I think of all the wonderful people that I've interacted with that day, all the good/interesting things I tried (most of them for the first time), and ALL the beautiful scenery and people I've seen! Everything you read online or in my Lonely Planet book says there's something special about this city and I'm really starting to believe it! There's something intangible in the air... always a party... always something to be happy about... and there's ALWAYS tomorrow! hahaha!
So yesterday after FINALLY doing my laundry (Jaime hooked up the washing machine... THANK GOODNESS) all morning, Arecely wanted to go to the pool. SURE, I was more than happy to accompany her, I said. Now, we walked about 15 blocks or so with Joaquin in his less than perfectly straight rolling stroller. When I was told that we had arrived, it was to a small building with a sign out front for a sauna and pool. I was bummed it wasn't another beautiful outdoor pool like the other day, but I was still excited. After entering I was shocked to immediate see everyone in their swimsuits... no shyness here, not even in the hallways. Now, I don't really know how to explain this complex that we entered. I believe it was a converted house with all tile floors... The entire thing felt like a sauna, as soon as you entered there was an overwhelming sense of being in a really bad hotel pool... the smell of chlorine filling your nostrils, children screaming, and sweat dripping down your face. The big difference being that there were all these unmarked doors, hallways, people everywhere... I was so confused! Then there's Arecely dragging the stroller through wet tile corridors full of half-naked people... all the while giving me instructions... "take off your clothes now," "take your backpack to the guy with the lockers... I'll wait here." HILARIOUS... this scene if you can imagine it... needless to say everyone was staring at the girl with a baby stroller, screaming baby, a foreigner looking dazed and confused - who is trying to navigate the strange ins and outs of the this very hot, wet building FULL of people!
Ok, so we get to our spot, a VERY tiny cold pool. Joaquin is, at first, sitting happily in his stroller while Arecely and I jump in and squeal due to the freezing water. Then Joaquin starts crying. Arecely proceeds to ask a perfect stranger to watch her child while we walk through the narrow-est pathway to another bigger warmer pool (the stroller couldn't fit, and since he would probably stop crying when she was out of sight... she thought this was a good idea, even though I tried to talk her out of it)! When we arrived to this pool, there were only men. Not a good situation... they gawked and commented on the two pretty girls (me trying to teach Arecely how to dive upon her request) and after about 10 min. we decided it was better if we left that area!
Next it was to the "vapor" or sauna room with a strange smell in the air and hot water droplets falling onto you from the ceiling! Now, in this sauna room were about 7 or 8 other people all wiping themselfs down with what looked like little red socks. Arecely later explained that here, they believe in getting rid of all the toxins etc. and to do so you MUST wipe it all off your skin while you were in the sauna. I had no idea there were such rules to sauna-going! After sweating my guts out, we finally returned to Joaquin who by this point was throwing a fit! We continued our diving lesson in a pool that was really too small for such activities (and not deep enough either... none of the pools here are, cause too many people don't know how to swim... and there are NO lifeguards). After laughing hysterically at Arecely's many attempts, most of which ending in side-splitting belly flops, I looked at the time I realized I needed to HURRY and shower, change, and catch my combi to work!
I don't know if I'm succeeding in relaying the comical nature of this experience, but as I'm thinking about it, it was ABSOLUTELY hilarious! After a two minute shower, quickest change of my life, and sprinting to catch my combi (also realizing I didn't have my books to teach with at the Institute... oh well, time to improvise... it would end up being our first day utilizing the less than modern computer lab) I made it on time to class! Woo hoo!
I forgot to mention that I gave Arecely a proper lesson on how to make cheese noodles (or macaroni and cheese for those of you normal people) adding extra cheese of course and explaining how you could also had ham or hot dogs (although the hotdogs here are NOT like ours). She enjoyed it I think and Joaquin LOVED cheese noodles... just goes to show every child in the world loves kraft mac and cheese! :)

Today I went shopping for the first time! After visiting the orphanage office, and finding the post office for the first time, Arecely and I (Joaquin in arm) headed off to find me some new jeans. We're going out dancing tomorrow night and she has informed me that my clothes just won't do if I want to meet a good Peruvian guy! Hahaha! No, but seriously I have lost weight since being here and all my pants look a little ganster-ish... plus she doesn't approve of me wearing dresses or skirts out because too many guys will bother me (which is true). SO, all of that being said for the equivilant of $20 I got a really cute pair of jeans and a new shirt! It was pretty fun going to all the little booth shops and squeezing into their little "fitting rooms" or corner with a curtain! Arecely had a blast, cause she never gets to go shopping, and it was pretty fun finally getting to stop and look at clothes etc. Usually I'm just rushing past or trying not to look interested so no one asks me what I'm looking for and to come to their store! :) Next we bought some necesities in the markets (for example something to cut the odor seeping into my apartment from the student bathrooms below) and a brush and hairties for Arecely. After doing all of this we had just enough time to grab something to eat. YEA for chicken and french fries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Made my day (along with the chocolate bar I bought on my way to work)!

That's all for now. Looking forward to accomplishing some more errands tomorrow morning and then hitting the town with the boys from the farm, Arecely, and whoever else joins our group. Supposed I'm going to learn how to Salsa dance... we'll see!
Hope all is well. Write me and let me know how things back in your (and my) real world are going!
Kate