Welcomed Surprises

From an outsiders perspective, being in the Peace Corps often seems like such an adventurous, exciting experience. Sure, at first it is pretty exciting because everything is new; however, there is a honey-moon stage for everything... including Peace Corps life. Sometimes things get so humdrum we find ourselves hopping buses just to escape for an afternoon simply to eat dinner in a different town in hopes of mixing up the normal routine.

Fortunately for me, I live in a pretty famous town (Nasca) that receives quite a bit of attention from international spectaculars. Here is a glimpse at some of the excitement we’ve been sprinkled with lately:



This desert madness is from the International Desert Racing Competition called "DAKAR". It was held in January with racers from all around the world traveling from Argentine, through Chile, and ending in Peru. Luckily they ended up coming through Nasca!! It was a race of motorcycles, hummers, 18-wheelers, cars, jeeps, etc. Basically anything with wheels and a motor. Honestly, I have never experienced anything like that. Not just the race, but also withstanding the blazing desert heat in the middle of an incredible wind storm. Let's just say I was a completely different color when I got back to my house from all the dirt. I think I'm still washing my shirt from that day! http://www.dakar.com/index_DAKus.html









This is a little traveling circus that came through Nasca while traveling around South America. It was complete with incredible acts such as jump roping, juggling, farting clowns, swinging, unicycle, tight rope balancing, and even drugged tigers that sat on command! As impressive as it was, I don't think I would quite compare it to Cirque de Sole... maybe more like a high school talent show. ;P









Next, Nasca was the host of in International Dance Festival just last week. Countries represented included Taiwan, Serbia, France, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, and of course Peru. It was quite a large event, actually I have never seen as large of an event here in Nasca since I got here. It seemed as if the people here were just starving to learn about the world and different cultures. They were so curious! It was really interesting to me as well to be exposed to these different cultures, music, dancing, people. My favorite of them all to watch was Serbia. It was like a mixture of Greek/German/Arabic culture... fascinating!!!














There's a little look into the interesting events that have happened here in the last few months. If you want a lil taste of it, come and see for yourself. (aka.... Visit meeee!! ;D)