Once Upon a Time, a Gringa Went to Peru...

So as Facebook may or may not have been the first to tell you, Jamesson and I are engaged (insert multiple gasps and thunderous applause). 

I wish that we could call each of you to tell you all the details, but alas, that is not the way of society these days.  We will however take this opportunity to share with you all our story.

Jamesson and I met at the San Agustin Language Institute in Trujillo, Peru.  Jamesson was a student and I was teaching a different class, though I eventually ended up teaching his class for a few months too.  We were friends over the course of about a year before I found out that Jamesson liked me.  He likes to tell me that he knew right away when he saw me at SALI.  I don't like to admit it, but I was a bit more skiddish about the whole love thing, and actually turned him down 3 times before I finally figured out that I really wanted to date him. 

We began dating July of 2009 and enjoyed our time together in Peru until April of 2010, when unfortunately I had to return to the United States in order to pay off student loans that were starting to catch up with me.  We said goodbye knowing that we weren't breaking up, but not knowing exactly what the future would hold for us.  We began a (very) long distance relationship, and with our eternal gratitude to modern forms of communication were able to talk everyday.   Over time and 5,000 miles apart, things became very clear that we were heading towards a life that couldn't be lived on different continents.  Marriage became our clear direction. 

I bought a plane ticket to Peru for Christmas and New Years and though our time together on this trip has been short, it certainly was long enough for Jamesson to squeeze in a proposal!  Jamesson had been dropping hints that a ring was on it's way, but that it might not be ready yet because it's a ring that's been made by hand so it wouldn't be ready by new years.  Ok, ok.  I was disappointed, but would try to have fun that night anyway.  On December 31st, we attended a party with our friends from church and rang in the new year in true Peruvian style- Fireworks, loud whistles, silly string, and crazy hats.  At midnight, we were greeting everyone, eating grapes (it's a Peruvian tradition) and having fun when Jamesson led me to the outdoor patio.   Our friend Julie slyly crept out when we did with a camera in hand and I knew before he said anything what was happening.  He kept the proposal short and sweet by saying- Sorry I put you through a rough time by saying the ring wasn't ready, but Gillian- Will you marry me?   And I of course said Yes as he put the ring on my finger.



We finished the night/morning celebrating with friends and family and having a great time!   Our wedding will still be pretty far in the future (August 2012) to give us time to apply for the visas to get Jamesson up to the States, but we're so happy and content to know what we're heading towards.   We want to say thank you to all of our friends and family who supported and encouraged us while we were dating and of course now to everyone as we get ready for marriage!   

The kingdom of this world...

Last night I attended an event that would prove to draw an interesting crowd.  Ok don't laugh when I say it, because it was actually very good.

I went with my mom and dad to a sing-a-long of Handel's "Messiah".

A what?

A sing-a-long.  You heard me.   So what it is, is there's a choir and orchestra, and soloists- the whole 7 octaves.  (that's a nerdy music joke...translated less nerdily- The whole 9 yards).   And as you enter, they'll hand you a choral score, and then you get to sing along with the chorus through Handel's "Messiah."

Now those of you that don't know my mom, shame on you.  Everyone should.  But she is very musically gifted, and grew up playing the piano and organ and singing.  And therefore passed along (and slightly forced) her 2 children to grow up with music as well.  I've spent my whole life in bands and orchestras and choirs and I can't tell you what a gift it is to be in a room with any number of people, and to come together as one group singing or playing music.  It's powerful to say the least.  So last night, we went up to Boulder and sat in a room with hundreds of strangers and just made music together. 

Unfortunately I think choral music in general is not as appreciated as it should be by the general population.  But it really did lift my spirits to see people from all different backgrounds and all different musical abilities coming to this event.  I love watching music lovers listen to music.  See them absorb it with their eyes closed and just let it really sink in.  If I'm ever sick in the hospital,  all I'll want is someone to hire a string quartet to come play for me.

That was probably a little over the top.  But seriously.  If you want me to get better, music is the way to do it.  If you don't want me to get better...we might need to have a chat.

In the meantime, check out this video of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia.  And check out the initiative while you're at it! http://www.knightarts.org/random-acts-of-culture

Brushing off the cobwebs...

Well, at least a little bit on this old blog. 

Fact: I have not posted since July when I got my scruffy little black dog, Moche.

Fact:  I have been reluctant to post anything since I got my scruffy little black dog, Moche.

Opinion:  The past 6 months have been forgettable, and well...sucky.

So the truth is, settling back into life in the US has been much harder than I wished it would have been and I sort of feel like the last 6 months, I've been trying my best to run as quickly as possible through all the muck and mire that is cultural re-adjustment. 

Have you ever tried to run through knee deep mud?  It's not a quick process.  Nor has feeling comfortable in the states been.   I have a lot to be thankful for here though. And please don't get me wrong, I am thankful for my job, my family, my scruffy little black dog, Moche and for this period of pruning in my life.  But that's what this period has been and is.  Pruning.  And I am most certain that all 3 people who will read this blog post can recall a time of pruning.  It hurts.  It's not fun.  But it is what it is.  And what it is, is beneficial.  Maybe not seemingly so right now, but it will be.

The thing that has been the hardest (but will also prove to be the most rewarding) has been spending the last 8 months in a long distance relationship.   As much as I don't fondly look back on these last 8 months, I know wholeheartedly that Jamesson and I have grown so much through this.  So much so as a matter of fact that I, the girl who never believed that I could ever love someone as much or more than I love myself have realized that I, in fact, love someone much more than myself.   (cue up cheese-fest music).  This I am confident- we wouldn't have gotten this far in our relationship without these trials.  And therefore, though I may say it with a slight twinge of acrimony...the difficulty has been good.

Anyway...all that to say I think I'm going to start blogging again.  The light at the end of the tunnel seems to have turned on again.

Foreigner's Best Friend

Ok.  I won't lie.  I've been wanting a dog since...forever.

And now that I'm back in the US and will be here for quite some time (thank you college loans).  I thought it was only fit that I have a companion.  Plus I think that all the stress of culture shock had shaved a few years off of my life, and since dogs help people be healthier and live longer, I figured it wouldn't hurt to tip the old life expectancy scales back in my favor.

So I've had dogs on the brain for the past month, and then by sheer coincidence,  I accidentally walked into the Denver Dumb Friends League Adoption Center.

Then I accidentally strolled along seeing a lot of really really truly adorable dogs.  Big Dogs, Small Dogs, fat dogs, skinny dogs All sorts of dogs is what I'm getting at here..  And then.  I saw him.

Kennel 3C.  Staring up at me with dark eyes, a wagging tail, and hair that looked like it had recently gone through electroshock therapy.   Meet my new BFF and culture shock companion-

Moche

Moche, the canine formerly known as "Thunder" was a stray picked up in Pagosa and brought to Denver.  I don't know for sure his thoughts on being taken to a new city without necessarily wanting to go there; but I think I can commiserate with him, which is why he is my new friend forever. 

He's a 3 year old terrier something or another and is just cute as a darn button.  At least I think so.  From what I can tell he's a good dog, and likes long walks on a leash, reading love poems, piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. 

I decided to call him Moche after a very long brainstorming session with Jamesson.  I wanted to call him something that reminded me of Peru, and was easy enough for any given gringo to say.  Runner up names were Chato (shorty in spanish) and Mr. Taco (a mexican restaurant we frequented in Peru).  Moche was the name of an ancient Peruvian civilization that left quite a few ruins in the city where I grew up in my Peruvian life.  I figured Moche was also good because we could call him Mo for short.  Here's a link to some more Moche culture information for all you history buffs out there.

Moche is available for photo shoots and playdates.  But call soon, as I'm sure his schedule will be filling up fast. I mean...just look at him. 

Oh the marvels

This is what I learned from weather.com about Denver's weather.




98 degrees =  Hot.  Period.




What did we ever do before modern meteorology reports?

Dear Random Readers in the Netherlands (both of you), Philippines, Germany, Hungary, and Australia.

I would just like to take a moment to thank you for either mistakenly clicking on a link to my blog, or involuntarily being taken to my blog in a way that I'm not sure of. 

Every time I see a new red dot from a foreign country on my visitor location map, my heart sings a little. I don't really claim to know a lot about your customs, but gosh darnit if I wouldn't love to learn them and visit your country someday.  I very much hold onto the hope that I will be visiting some of those countries.  Oh heck, I'd love to visit all of them, and if I do, you can count on it having something to do with the fact that you stumbled across my blog, and it sparked my interest. 

So you know what?  Thank you.  You keep my wandering spirit thirsty for more adventures. 

Gillian

I went on a search today...

A search to find the best witch doctor that North America has ever seen.

I tried to call ABC to pitch it as a new reality show but nobody has returned my call.

Their loss.

So I really did go try to find a US version of my beloved Nacarino.  I come from a family with small sinus passages and therefore prone to a lot of sinus infections..   It's kind of like a family curse.  I'm not sure when, but somewhere in my family's past, a Cordova made someone mad enough to put a sinusitis curse on us for generations.  Whoever did that really was trying to make us suffer. Anyway,  my Peruvian "doctor" (no comments from the western medicine crowd please), was the only person who successfully helped my ailment for a long time.  And then I moved back to the US and ran out of his magic liquid healing.  And then 3 months later, my sinusitis came back.   I didn't think that there were any curanderos in the US, but was informed that there actually are and right here in Denver.

My heart skipped a beat.

However, this turned out to be one of those moments in life when you thought there was no hope because you thought that nothing like what you had in Peru existed in the US, and then you find out that in actuality there may be a little hope that there is an equivalent, and then you spend your Saturday morning looking for that equivalent, and then you find what is supposed to be the equivalent, and then you see it, and then you hear a horn in the distance playing the "Bwa bwa bwaaaa" tune that lets you know you've just lost and should now be disappointed.

Ok fine, so they do have herbs, and supposedly can help my sinusitis.  But strike one- They're US prices.  Strike 2- They're not in liquid nasal spray form.  Strike 3-  They contain no Peruvian moonshine...and they're just not from Nacarino!!!!

Oh well...at least I know to stock up next time I go to Peru.