Estoy perezoso

I met Evan on the steps to the Cathedral on Tuesday. I had finished my charango lesson and walked down to the Plaza de Armas for a tamalle and was sitting alone fending off the shoe shine boys that really wanted to clean my dirty boots. One after another, a constant stream of solicitation... I felt popular and have gotten really good at saying "no gracias, me gusta zapatos sucio".

Evan wanted to practice english and help me with my spanish at the same time, a good trade. He is in his third year at the university studying to become a tourist guide for the many sites in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. English is not required for a diploma but a must for landing a job with an agency or offering private tours. We sat for about an hour on the hard stone steps reading an english book about a dog and his master. He would read a sentence out loud and I would correct his mispronunciations and we would work out words or phrases that he didn't understand. He would then translate the sentence into spanish for me.

Evan's english was pretty good, better than my spanish and I told him that I wasn't studying very much. When he asked why, we had to refer to his spanish/english dictionary for the word lazy. When we found "perezoso" he just laughed at me. It wasn't a histerical laugh or a malicious one but I took from it that the expression "you're lazy" is not used much here and I don't think many people are.

Evan works as a plumber and electrician during the day and then attends class from 7-10 every night. His visit with me although very cordial was....... rooted with purpose and he took notes as if we were in class or study hall. I could tell that this was not an abnormal method of practice for Evan and that others had probably ready the same or different book with him in the plaza and as we parted ways I hopped that I might cross paths again for another impromptu lesson.

As I set off (slowly) on my last errand for the day (it was only 11:30) to the central mercado for sopa fixin's and some miscelaneous items, the absence of activity weighed heavy on my mind. I need to get busy, charango lessons, shopping at the mercado and making soup really don't make for a very rich experience here although the soup es muy rico!