This first one is from a big parade a week ago that culminated 10 days of celebrating the culture here. This was a competition to recreate old myths.
This is my host brother Freddy.
I think this guy wanted me to help him...
My second week here my host brother and I climbed that mountain behind me.
This is my host brother Alejandro. Like a lot a people here, he doesn't smile in pictures very often.
This is one of our dogs. His name is Doggy (or sometimes Doggito), and he's adorable.
They're really excited to be taking a picture with me.
This is our pet turtle! His name is Torti. Sorry it's a little blurry; he's really fast.
See if you can spot the gringo in this picture.
This is another, smaller city about 40 minutes away called Nueva Cajamarca. I go there pretty often for work.
This is the Catholic school in Nueva Cajamarca where I also go for work a lot.
This is the new cement factory. They don't allow reporters or anybody with cameras to take pictures because it is polluting the air, water, and land. They can't stop anybody from taking a picture from a car though...
This wall is across from my work. "Vuelve a sonreir" kind of means "Keep smiling."
I haven't taken many pictures of myself with people, or of people I don't know, or even of people I know. I'm generally pretty nervous about that sort of thing. I guess I'm just feeling things out first; you know, getting comfortable. I'll have plenty more pictures in 5 months.
Oh, and things are going well still. I'll post again soon hopefully.
-Michael
