P6301386
Originally uploaded by paddydaley.
This is particularly aimed at you, Simon.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Update.
They say that no news is good news.
But then I was never the bearer of good news. So you can just consider me your very own Grim Reaper (with a tad bit more flesh to him... just a tad mind you) as I impart to you all the happy and not so happy details of my rollacking jaunt.
So here is the low down. The what´s up. The Where have I left my pants again?
I am still in the Madge. And dear god, I want a hot shower! Please please please can someone find me a hot shower! At this point I am considering getting someone to throw a luke warm cup of tea over my left shoulder to get some small iota of satisfaction.(And those of you who wish to suggest that if I can obtain a hot cup of tea I should be also able to obtain hot water for a shower can kindly be quiet! Logic will not be tolerated here.)
The week of festivities for the foundation has come and gone.. and boy was it fun. Although I am disappointed to report that the lovely lady who I judged to be the most suitable Queen of the Pueblo only managed to achieve second place. The outrageous bias of my fellow judges was so heinous as to be absolutely unforgivable! They seemed to think that it was unreasonable to judge entirely on potential semblance to Shakira. And to answer a well put question from the unsurpassable Fyfe-ster... sadly there was no swimsuit category. There was however a ´How much do I love Peru?´section which I think was unfairly heavily weighted. I would have much preferred the more useful ´Let me explain why Peruvians think it necessary to turn off the fridge each and every night´ or a ´Where in God´s name can I find a decent cup of Red wine?´ sections. But small quibbles, as always, just small quibbles.
The dancing was great fun as well. Oh yes, a drunken night mixing it with the brightest and best of the Madge´s A-list out in the town´s hippest venues.(In this case, the local soccer field). What a highlight! Beer a plenty, good music, beautiful guys and gals and songs with a bass line strong enough for me to manage to keep my feet in time. Up till four then stumbled home accompanied by a veritable crowd of protecters - everyone here is convinced that their sleepy little town is a seething pit of violent crime. We are constantly told not to walk down this street or the other. The fact that everyone knows each other and that no place is more than 45 seconds walk away from the other (at the very least a firm ´HELP´ would suffice) does nothing to dampen this paranoia.
Ah, its the little imperfections that make you love a place.
Rock and Roll
Paddy.
But then I was never the bearer of good news. So you can just consider me your very own Grim Reaper (with a tad bit more flesh to him... just a tad mind you) as I impart to you all the happy and not so happy details of my rollacking jaunt.
So here is the low down. The what´s up. The Where have I left my pants again?
I am still in the Madge. And dear god, I want a hot shower! Please please please can someone find me a hot shower! At this point I am considering getting someone to throw a luke warm cup of tea over my left shoulder to get some small iota of satisfaction.(And those of you who wish to suggest that if I can obtain a hot cup of tea I should be also able to obtain hot water for a shower can kindly be quiet! Logic will not be tolerated here.)
The week of festivities for the foundation has come and gone.. and boy was it fun. Although I am disappointed to report that the lovely lady who I judged to be the most suitable Queen of the Pueblo only managed to achieve second place. The outrageous bias of my fellow judges was so heinous as to be absolutely unforgivable! They seemed to think that it was unreasonable to judge entirely on potential semblance to Shakira. And to answer a well put question from the unsurpassable Fyfe-ster... sadly there was no swimsuit category. There was however a ´How much do I love Peru?´section which I think was unfairly heavily weighted. I would have much preferred the more useful ´Let me explain why Peruvians think it necessary to turn off the fridge each and every night´ or a ´Where in God´s name can I find a decent cup of Red wine?´ sections. But small quibbles, as always, just small quibbles.
The dancing was great fun as well. Oh yes, a drunken night mixing it with the brightest and best of the Madge´s A-list out in the town´s hippest venues.(In this case, the local soccer field). What a highlight! Beer a plenty, good music, beautiful guys and gals and songs with a bass line strong enough for me to manage to keep my feet in time. Up till four then stumbled home accompanied by a veritable crowd of protecters - everyone here is convinced that their sleepy little town is a seething pit of violent crime. We are constantly told not to walk down this street or the other. The fact that everyone knows each other and that no place is more than 45 seconds walk away from the other (at the very least a firm ´HELP´ would suffice) does nothing to dampen this paranoia.
Ah, its the little imperfections that make you love a place.
Rock and Roll
Paddy.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Dreams can come true...
... look at me babe I´m living proof.
Oh yeah!
Indeed, the most cherished desire of anyone´s dark little heart can be brought to fruitition! This normally occurs through the mechanism of dumb luck. (Smart luck is of course, much rarer).
What in the name of all that is holy am I talking about? Patience, my pretties, patience. All in good time.
Here is the low-down
I now am happily ensconched as the local gringo in the lovely hamlet of Magdelena del Cao. Happily, but perhaps not comfortably. You see, running water is a but a far off vista, and hot water, well, let´s just say that Peru will have an asian lesbian cyborg president before I get a nice steamy shower. No, I get to shower with a cold (and I mean cooooold) bucket of water. And so it is that The Madge (as Magdelena del Cao will henceforth be known)is awoken early each morning to the echoes of my girlish screams . What´s more the electricity is as unreliable as a train to Pennant Hills.
I am here with a lovely French girl by the name of Jessica and the both of us are bringing the joys of English to the good people of the Madge. We are very busy. Classes for ninos, adolescentes, adultos and senoras each day keeps us too busy to give ourself more than a cursory scratch. We also do lessons in the local primary and secondary schools. I am quite enjoying the teaching experience - although I think I am more suited to adult education than the kiddy kind. I am too reliant on a little thing called logic which does not seem to apply to the under 10s. Still, it has provided me with a good opportunity to revisit some of the classics - ´What´s the time Mr Wolf?´(which for some reason has become ´What´s the time Mr Dinosaur?´and it is no longer ´Dinner-time!´ oh no, it is ´DINOSAUR!´). Other classics like ´The Hokey Pokey´, ´If you´re happy and you know it´ and ´Heads and Shoulders Knees and Toes´ have also had a long awaited re-release. Too much fun.
But the best thing is, the really fun thing is, that we are absolute celebrities. We cannot walk through the street without attracting a Pied Piper of Hamilenesque train of locals staring at our every move and hanging on our every word. Any event, be it birthday, anniversary, marriage or desexing cannot take place with out the two pet foreigners being dragged in for a photo opportunity.
But here is the punch-line, the cherished dream referred to oh so long ago at the beginning of this entry. Later this month the Madge has its founding celebrations. Three days and nights of partying drinking and craziness await us with talent comps, music battles, groups marriages (I kid you not!) and all sorts of fun things. Among these celebrations there is the highlight-
Miss Magdelena del Cao.
And I am to be the Judge in Chief!
Oh yes, despite my reservations about the intrinscically sexist nature of such competitions, I have had to... oh with such a heavy heart, accept this honoured position.
Rock and Roll
Paddy.
Oh yeah!
Indeed, the most cherished desire of anyone´s dark little heart can be brought to fruitition! This normally occurs through the mechanism of dumb luck. (Smart luck is of course, much rarer).
What in the name of all that is holy am I talking about? Patience, my pretties, patience. All in good time.
Here is the low-down
I now am happily ensconched as the local gringo in the lovely hamlet of Magdelena del Cao. Happily, but perhaps not comfortably. You see, running water is a but a far off vista, and hot water, well, let´s just say that Peru will have an asian lesbian cyborg president before I get a nice steamy shower. No, I get to shower with a cold (and I mean cooooold) bucket of water. And so it is that The Madge (as Magdelena del Cao will henceforth be known)is awoken early each morning to the echoes of my girlish screams . What´s more the electricity is as unreliable as a train to Pennant Hills.
I am here with a lovely French girl by the name of Jessica and the both of us are bringing the joys of English to the good people of the Madge. We are very busy. Classes for ninos, adolescentes, adultos and senoras each day keeps us too busy to give ourself more than a cursory scratch. We also do lessons in the local primary and secondary schools. I am quite enjoying the teaching experience - although I think I am more suited to adult education than the kiddy kind. I am too reliant on a little thing called logic which does not seem to apply to the under 10s. Still, it has provided me with a good opportunity to revisit some of the classics - ´What´s the time Mr Wolf?´(which for some reason has become ´What´s the time Mr Dinosaur?´and it is no longer ´Dinner-time!´ oh no, it is ´DINOSAUR!´). Other classics like ´The Hokey Pokey´, ´If you´re happy and you know it´ and ´Heads and Shoulders Knees and Toes´ have also had a long awaited re-release. Too much fun.
But the best thing is, the really fun thing is, that we are absolute celebrities. We cannot walk through the street without attracting a Pied Piper of Hamilenesque train of locals staring at our every move and hanging on our every word. Any event, be it birthday, anniversary, marriage or desexing cannot take place with out the two pet foreigners being dragged in for a photo opportunity.
But here is the punch-line, the cherished dream referred to oh so long ago at the beginning of this entry. Later this month the Madge has its founding celebrations. Three days and nights of partying drinking and craziness await us with talent comps, music battles, groups marriages (I kid you not!) and all sorts of fun things. Among these celebrations there is the highlight-
Miss Magdelena del Cao.
And I am to be the Judge in Chief!
Oh yes, despite my reservations about the intrinscically sexist nature of such competitions, I have had to... oh with such a heavy heart, accept this honoured position.
Rock and Roll
Paddy.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
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