quejarse

Marianna and I were sitting at the beach, she was writing in her journal and I pulled mine out to do the same so she asked me if I write in mine everyday like she does. I laughed and showed her the half page which I had written in September and the half page which I was then about to write four months later. My blog writing habits are apparently only a little bit better.

BARR lyrics:
“And there is no need to even complete a thought because the situation is so whole and complete itself.”

I finally remember the word for “complain” after being sick for over two weeks. I felt it coming on New Years Eve and opted to go out anyway, knowing I would be sick the next day. My lovely life has been otherwise kind to me.
A few days after the turn of the year, I went to go visit some friends in Huancayo. MEJORC decided that we will pursue a partnership with Expand Peru, which is a non-profit based out of Huancayo. So, I went and stayed with my beautiful Huancaina family, met some of their new volunteers, and gave big hugs and kisses to the old ones. Marianna and I packed bags full of movies, blankets, pizza, and chips and took it all over to the orphanage for a pajama party! I love those kids, but jesus they can be jerks. Actually it’s pretty funny because they are all young and stuffed with hormones so supervising a pajama party was like remembering the days of old surrounded by sexually-frustrated high-school band nerds. We went out to dinner another night and this nightclub that they always talk about but that I had never been to. The dudes from Denmark were so confused when we left at 3am to go home. Europeans party way too hard for me sometimes.
Marianna, Virginia, and I all took the top VIP night bus back to Lima together. It was my first experience on a bus cama and I felt like I was in first class on an airplane or something. Spending a week with these two girls was super fun and really helpful with the varying levels of language competence. I was able to ask when I didn’t know a word in Spanish AND I learned how to say a variety of useful French phrases!
During the weekend I could feel I was getting pretty sick again but decided to continue in my plans to go with Marianna and Ruben to Punta Hermosa, a beach about half an hour south of Lima. We went and stayed at an incredible house there with really lovely people, a balcony, and of course an ocean. The waves felt great and the food our hosts cooked was in every way magnificent but my black sinus cloud dampened my time. I ended up leaving a day earlier than everyone else. I felt sorry for myself that an otherwise good time was ruined but then I realized if I was going to be sick anyway, no better place to do it than lying on a warm beach all day, right?

The food I having been eating lately makes me indescribably happy. A strange little shiver of annoyance washes over me when I think about returning to American food. It would be one of my top reasons to never come home again.

So now I am lying in bed surrounded in my own germs, a mug of tea, and soda crackers. I am thinking about instead lying in the hammock of a balcony in Punta Hermosa and Marianna calling to me from inside, “Mónica? Estás muriendo?” because I do in fact feel like I am dying.