Miss America Makes Toilets and Wears Alpaca Sweaters

I am of the belief that Miss America should look exactly as I did a few hours ago. In other words, her shoes should be flecked with wet cement, her makeup should be all over her face, her back should hurt a million times more than it does after those Women's Health Mag workouts, and she should just have finished with helping to build a composting toilet. Ashwin, Patrick, Amanda and I were the first of our group to help Andres (the original founder of Black Sheep--he has done absolutely fantastic work for the Chugchilan community), his workers, and a few members of the PTSA (a compulsory program here, in exchange for the free education) build a composting toilet for the local school. This will save water, money, and help to teach the students about sustainability.

Also, I learned Quechwa today...well, at least a little bit of it. I was just going to keep it in my journal, but when Elena asked for a copy, I decided I would type it up for everyone (with some pronunciation help if I can correctly remember) Son listos?

Quechwa 101

Quechwa	English	pronunciation
imanalla	how are you?	ee-mah-nah-ya
sumak	good	sue-mock
mana alli	bad	mona-ah-yee
ima shutikanki	what is your name?	ee-mah-shoe-tee-kahn-key
ñuka shutimikan	my name is...	ñew-kah-shoe-tee-me-Kahn
alli puncha	good morning	ah-yee-poon-cha
alli chishi	good afternoon	ah-yee-chee-she
alli tuta	good night	ah-yee-too-ta
ñuka kuyani	I love you	ñew-kah-kwee-yawn-ee

Misi.	cat	me-see
ashcu	dog	awe-shhh-coo
llama	lamb	yama
Kuchi	pig	coo-chee
atallpa	chicken	ah-tay-pah
Kaya kama	see you tomorrow	kay-ah-kah-mah
yanapaway	please	yah-na-paw-way
Yupaychani	thank you	you-pay-chaw-née
nima	you are welcome	knee-mah
imapacha kan	what time is it?	ee-mah-paw-cha-kahn

Those were some of the basics that I got. Juan Manuel, my teacher, is very very kuyla, which is the Quechwa word for "nice." His wife also happened to be selling the most fantastic alpaca sweaters and when I saw there was a green one...you know how it is. Allie is trying to ensure that everyone comes home with an alpaca sweater and after only one week in, I think we have all been converted. And before you say that we all have no fashion sense, I can assure you that we are all Miss (or Mister) America status in alpaca print.