Day 21

Here I am at a ceremony called "Pago Tierra" - the ceremony took place on August 1st, the day of the Incan New Year. I'm wearing a RU Football t-shirt because I did a presentation in class about the subculture that exists within RU Football fans.

[[Special shout out to all my girls and guys who always attend RU Football games with me]]

Let me apologize for not updating my blog in a few days, I have had minimal internet access.

Above I am holding three cocoa leaves. I made a wish with those three leaves and then gave them to a Shaman who in turn 'paid the land' (pago tierra) with all of the leaves and wishes.

Here is a picture of the Shamans with everyone's offerings.

The ceremony was beautiful. There was lots of music and its overall appearance was very spiritual.

It was basically like attending some sort of religious service and not being a part of the religion - you can recognize the beauty of the ceremony, but you cannot truly engage as much as others.

At the ceremony, I also met a politican from Minnesota as well as her campaign manager. In speaking with the campaign manager, she informed me that they were attending the ceremony as part of a political exchange.

Pretty cool stuff.

Here I am awaiting my turn in line to give my cocoa leaves to the Shaman.

After the pago tierra, I made a presentation about the subculture of RU Football in my class. We are learning about ancient civilizations and cultures, so our assignment was fitting for our cirriculum.

As for the rest of my day, I walked home from school and volunteered at Buen Pastor.

After that, well I had to make a 'quick trip' to the hospital (don't worry it was nothing too serious).

Everyone has been getting some sort of stomach bug or other, so I just got some medicine to ease my discomfort. 

Well, that took a bit of time out of my day.

Other than that, nothing else too exciting happened. Stay tuned for more of my trip!

Hasta pronto mis amores!