The Mafia

Colby and I decided to leave Lima and travel South to the town of Cerro Azul (blue mountain) with Sarah and Justin; we met them at Hitchhikers and they have similar immediate travel plans. Obviously, we have only known them for two or three days, which can make traveling difficult. I thought we were going to be traveling as a threesome- Colby, Sarah, and I. Somehow, Justin jumped on the bandwagon. This would usually be okay, but the more people there are, the more difficult it is to make decisions and get along. Even though our relationship is in the stage of infancy, it is still hard to say, "Hey, I don´t want to travel with you anymore because you`re annoying and you create conflict in most situations."

But, of course, this is not an impossible task. My loyalties are to Colby and this trip is for our experience and not to insure the comfort and happiness of some random guy we met in a hostal.

However, Justin is quite interesting. His beliefs are new to me and I enjoy listening to them, but he is very intense. He conveys his beliefs as fact and doesn`t care or accept any other way of thinking.

Ahh frustration, what a powerful emotion. When someone refuses to validate your bliefs or simply refuses to understand, it creates anger and resentment that is hard to let go of. And why should you when you have no attachment to the source of frustration.

Aside from differences in belief systems, frustration manifests itself in many other forms. The language barrier, for example, can be a little frustrating.

Honestly, I am so excited to be learning more and more spanish everyday that I don´t easily get frustrated. It`s very helpful to ask about a word I don´t understand and sometimes it´s easy for them to pantomime or use a different word to explain the meaning. Body language is so important! And communicating with the locals has been really fun.

I have one particular experience that was quite memorable.

Colby, Sarah, Justin, and I went down to the beach so Colby could find a place to rent a surfboard and the rest of us could look around and enjoy the sunshine. We started asking some of the vendors if they knew the best way to rent a surfboard. We came across a table selling jewelry and some Peruvian guys drinking beer. So we inquired about the board and looked at some rings and bracelets. I decided to buy a bracelet for 2 soles (less than one american dollar). So we hung out there a bit and then went to have some Ceviche (fish cooked with only lemon and citrus, so technically it´s kind of raw. But so yummy. Colby lost his appetite at the mere thought of Ceviche. Ha, whoops). As we´re eating, Justin tells me that these guys we´ve been talking to are a part of the Mafia. Colby said they told him the same thing, which is sort of funny and a little astonishing, but not really scary since it´s daylight, we´ve been having polite conversation and joking with them a bit. So we finish our food and sit near the water to watch Colby do some surfing. After he got out, we walked back past the table and Colby started talking to our new mafia friends. Most of them speak some English and one of them is apparently the resident "drunk shaman". Interesting. He asks us about our travels and other random things and then we start talking about speaking spanish. He told me that he understands me and if I speak spanish and not english I will learn a lot.

Colby got into the ocean with his shirt on so he was really wet while we were talking to our friends. The shaman kept making fun of him and finally told him to take it off. He would pick up the shirt and say, "mojado" (wet) and pull a face about how disgusting it was and then drop it back down. He kept giving Colby such a hard time that Colby said "¿Tengo su polo?", roughly meaning "Can I have your shirt then?" And what do you know, the man takes off his shirt and gives it to Colby. So funny. Then the guy tries to get Colby to give him his board shorts, and it was just so great. He didn´t, obviously, but it was so funny.

The Shaman guy was talking to me and he says "Listen to me" and "Look at me" frequently. At one point, I got down to his eye level (he was sitting and I was standing) and I let him look into my eyes closely. He looked up to Colby and said "Limpia" and then put his fist to his heart. Everyone around him started saying, "Limpia corazón", meaning that I have a clean heart. It was very sweet. Then he told Colby we needed to have "hijos, hijos, hijos". Lots of kids. It was so funny.

Anyway, now we joke about how Colby has an in with the Mafia because he has the guys shirt.

Today we`re leaving Cerro Azul and heading to Pisco, which is just a little down the coast.