14 Agosto 2011

Somehow, everything on my to-be-purchased-for-the-VALE-program list got checked off yesterday morning in Arequipa City. So, I hunted Roxana. Her half sister she was staying with, Jobana, had taken her daughters and Roxana to a Carnival that had been set up for the Arequipa City city-wide anniversary celebration. In the taxi over, my mind flipped to my Latin American Studies class on Circuses and Carnivals. I half giggled at how different I knew this would be, and it was. The oldest, rickety, and rusty machines, set up in a hurry, were surrounded by latina’s too young to be in the low cut shirt and high heels they displayed for attention from the boys in their band name plastered t-shirts and dark jeans. When I saw that the haunted house was held up underneath by an awkwardly placed two-by-four I decided I wasn’t interested in riding anything; this decision is incredibly uncharacteristic of aunt luz, and confused the kids a little. Instead, I proceeded to watch them scream and laugh as they were thrown and spun and I stuffed myself with everything sugary I could find. Picarones, cotton candy, churros, more cotton candy, chocolate covered strawberries, and even more cotton candy. I was able to keep myself and the kids munching on sugar for hours for less than $3.

I remember going places like this with adults when I was younger, and begging the adults to join us on the rides, only to be disappointed. I had a vague memory of someone once telling me they enjoyed watching me ride, as much as I enjoyed riding. As a child, this was impossible to believe. But, this day, I think I was laughing with Jobana as hard as the kids were screaming. As Roxanna de-boarded I fixed her tousled hair and listened to her chatter about this flip and that spin. My face hurt from smiling so much.

That night, we decided it was best for Roxana to stay with me at Hirma’s house because our bus back to Madrigal was leaving at 5am. We decided to ‘aprovechar’ or ‘take advantage of’ being in the city and eat yet more junk food and catch a late night showing of Harry Potter. Popcorn and chocolate covered raisins along with the movie tickets broke my bank a little, but it felt fabulous to treat this little lady. Roxana even familiarized herself with the ice cream sundae for the first time after the film. We strolled into the house around midnight, true ladies of the night, and I asked Roxana if she wanted to take a hot shower before returning to the canyon. Her eyes grew wide. The only hot shower I think she has ever had is in a bathing suit at the hot springs. I taught her how the electric heater works and left her to enjoy. About an hour later wrapped in my towel and smelling of lavender Brommers, she squeezed out the bathroom door and flopped into bed while I, of course, continued working. I am still trying to hunt down some reference books for the library (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc) online. She fell asleep with the light on for me in our bedroom,, tucked under the blanket that Tiffyn gave to her months ago.