Bloque de Escritora

That loosely translates to writer´s block and I have it--horrible, HORRIBLE writer´s block. And it came at the worst time. You see, a little over a month ago, just for the fun of it, I decided to submit to a few literary agents a book idea. (Although that ¨fun¨ cost me a day´s worth of work.) Well, lo and behold, a few weeks later, a literary agent in NY actually contacted me for the the first chapter of my book. (Mind you, this is just for review, so don´t get too excited.)

But I was really flattered, because I heard somewhere that the chances of a literary agent even contacting you for a manuscript are, like, 2 out of 1000. So then, I began writing my first chapter to become the 1st class bestselling author that I always knew I was meant to be. But wouldn´t you know it that for the first time in my life, words escape me. I am choking! So far, my ¨chapter¨ consists of two pages and, trust me, it ain´t anything to write home about. So, thanks, stupid writer´s block for disallowing me to string even 2 good sentences together.

I´m all ears if anyone can provide me with any ideas/motivation. I choke under pressure! If we were in battle together (hypothetically, of course, because we would be screwed if the fate of our country depended on me), I would be the last person you would want to stand next to. Case in point, the other day, I was hiking with another volunteer when a dog started barking at us. Barking dogs freak me out. I´ve even stopped walking alone in the campo. (See all blog entries regarding idiotic accident April 2010.) Anyways, when the dog started coming toward us, teeth baring and all, I did the most natural thing without thinking—I pushed my friend towards the dog while I scurried away. Oops.

I mean, crap, even I´m ashamed of myself. I always thought I was a generous and good-hearted person who put other´s needs first. Nope, apparently not. In times of danger, it´s every woman for herself, darn it! Anyways, fortunately, we both made it out alive and bite-free. But, afterwards, came the most awkward apology (ie, awkward silence followed by, ¨Sorry, for pushing you towards the dog while I walked away. He he.¨). Well, my friend is a better person than me and said, ¨I understand.¨ If the book thing does pan out, he´s being written in as a superhero with a really cool hairdo.

Buena Noticia y Mala Noticia

It´s rainy season here again and I thought I had bed bugs again since my body is covered in red-hive looking bumps everywhere. Attractive, right? So then I once again fumigated my bed, washed all the sheets, and pajamas. It turns out that it´s not bed bugs, after all, but I have become allergic to the bugs here. One bites me and that part of my body swells up with a bunch of other red bumps. It´s horrible! I itch all over and I look like I have some type of serious disease!! Add salt to injury, it´s Carnival here again in Peru, which means water balloon and water guns everywhere. Gees, I wonder who will be an easy target. I drugged myself with Benadryl yesterday hoping that it would reduce the bumps, but no go. All it did was put me in a drugged-up stupor. I walked around like the red bumpy zombie that I was.

PS Spanish mistake of the day: ¨Preservativo¨ does not mean preservatives found in food. Oye. I´ve been walking around the last year and a half saying the wrong word and, finally, someone corrected me this week!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year, everyone! I am happy to report that I survived another Christmas in Peru! You all know that I love my Peru and I will always be the first to gush about it, but December is a hard month for me. It´s generally when I´m the most homesick and longing for peking duck, steamed dumplings, and Coldstone ice-cream. (We are Chinese, y´ know!) Anyways, homesickness is the thing that I still struggle with the most. On those dreaded days, everything just feels so heavy. I always try to get out of it as quickly as I can by going to the Peruvian market or reading up on celebrity gossip, but sometimes, it´s really hard.

Anyways, I´m happy to report that a rebound is coming on again! I´m not going to lie, I had help. There is this amazing bread here called Pannetone that Peruvians eat every Christmas. It´s huge, sweet, fluffy, and fruity. I imagine that it´s probably a lot like fruit cake in the states, but I wouldn´t know as I have never tried it. (Please see previous paragraph about being Chinese.) Anyways, it´s hard to feel sad when you have a fat piece of Pannetone in one hand and a glass of Peruvian champagne in the other. (Pannetone should be branded as the next Prozac…I was cured after Christmas night!) We also killed two turkeys to eat and I made a cucumber mango salad to share.

Anyways, I´ve attached some pics so that you could see Christmas in Peru, part deux.

PS If you think that the fruit trimming around the turkey looks weirdly inappropriate, it´s not just you. I think so, too! In my champagne daze, I might have mentioned it over dinner and everyone just looked at me funny.