Proud of my Macrame-er's

While I was away in the Amazons with my Dad, life as I know it continued in Cajamarca. I left Cajamarca with one Macrame (knotting art) class under our belt. We had 10 women start a month long Macrame course (once a week) and what I witnessed the first class was the women learning their first knot and making bracelets. When I returned two weeks later some of the women were working on their second belt! I was so proud. We have one more class to go next week and I have a feeling we may have to offer another month of class come July.

It is exciting that my Dad gets to witness all this cool stuff happening with our women. It's funny because so many people in Iquitos thought my Dad was my husband, "he is so young." Well in Cajamarca I prepared my groups for my Dad's visit so that no one would call him my husband, but they still say, "he is so young." He is taking Spanish classes in the mornings and visiting my groups with me in the afternoon. Starting tomorrow we are going to start to squeeze in some touristy kinda stuff, like thermal baths and waterfall and window mountain hiking. My Dad has been a trooper, we both had some leftover bugs from the jungle, but both got up in the morning and tackled the day, bugs and all. We are feeling better now and are packing in activities with the days that remain of his visit.

I think it has been really great for the women I work with to meet my Dad. It was, and still is, a little hard for people who come from a total family focused culture to understand why would I come down to Cajamarca alone to work? Why would I leave the U.S. and my dear family? It was never an easy decision I explain, but when I continue to say "this is my calling, what I believe in, and what fills me up" - well that just doesn't cut it here. So I think it helps the women understand a little bit more about me and where I am coming from.

Note to future Cajamarca travelers: When planning to come to Cajamarca plan to get sick at least one day, put that in your itinerary (Because that is what has happened with visitors so far).