Bittersweet

My last day in Cuzco was definitely bittersweet. I woke up during my normal time with Rachel and Natalie, worried about how and when I’d be getting to the airport since I hadn’t heard from Monica at all. I decided after calling a few times to just go to school with them and use the internet to send Monica an email saying that I’d be home later that day and that I’d have Natalie’s phone on me so she could contact me whenever she got my message.

I got to school excited to say bye to everyone and not surprisingly everyone was practically missing, haha. I did get to say bye to Tara and Kelsey, Tess, and a few others but for the most part I didn’t really get to see the group. My assumption was that they were hungover out their minds and needed a day off to breathe. I wasn’t sure also at the time but there was a rumor that a few had gone ahead and done the Inca trail so that might have been part of it.

When class came into session I made my way to the Plaza to find a cab and go back home to fix up any last minute things. I got in and was greeted by the maid and my mom who both expressed their sadness that I was leaving early, especially before Inti Rimi. I went to our room, still panicking about what the deal was with the airport. I knew Monica mentioned that Henry would be taking me but we hadn’t gone over the finer details and I just had no clue where she was. I took a nap since I was exhausted from the night before, hoping to wake up to some lunch and perhaps a phone call or contact.

Luckily Monica called and told me that Henry would be at the house around 1:30pm and I should have my things packed and ready by then. I woke up and went downstairs to kind of hint that I needed to eat lunch a little early. Lunch was already prepared and Nat and Rach were stuck in traffic but my mom did go ahead and bring me my food. I was in the middle of eating when they walked in and after about 10 minutes Henry and a cab driver were at the door to take me to the airport.

I said my goodbyes and thank yous and got settled in the car. Henry asked if I was sad about leaving and at that point I realized just how sad I really was to be leaving all the great people I met and the memories I have.

We got to the airport and Henry guided me up until the gate. He told me he’d miss me and said thanks for everything and that he’d be emailing soon once he got a list of our emails from Monica. I thanked him and prepared for my long commute home.

I left the Cuzco airport on June 15 and got into Lima about 5pm that same day. My flight out of Lima to Miami wasn’t until the next day so I had to stay in the airport for the night. Luckily my Spanish speaking skills and quick thinking had me pay to have my luggage stored for a couple of hours so that I could eat and wander around the airport and sleep without worrying about anyone robbing me. The airport was freezing that night and out of the entire trip the one time I did get sick was on my way home (just my luck). Anyway, I grabbed my luggage out of storage around 2 or 3am that morning and just tried my best to sleep. It was awkward and uncomfortable but I did finally make until check in at about 6am. The rest of my flight was pretty smooth sailing and when I met my family at the gate in Boston my mom said I looked straight Peruvian with my new tan.

They were happy to see me and I had a bunch of gifts to unload. My mom especially loved the earrings I bought her in Ica and I’m sure all my friends and family appreciated the souvenirs I brought back as well. It was a nice day or so at home that I had to unwind and really tell stories about my travels before I was off to D.C. to start my scholarship/internship.

The experience of this Dialogue was definitely life changing. Before I had left I was a very different person, attached to some of the same routines and same people that had always dominated my life. Fortunately, I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and sign up for this and being newly single and just on my own, this was a great opportunity to kind of find and discover myself. I love that I’m practically fluent in Spanish now and that I can read and watch the news in Spanish. I love that I know the depths of Peruvian culture and that I monitored a foreign election. I was in Peru during a historical time period. I met so many wonderful friends and have family in South America that I grew close to. I have a Professor that acted as my mother while I was away and I hadn’t even taken a single one of her classes while in Boston. Altogether, this trip was amazing and I’m glad that through my blogs I inspired my best friend to go out and explore the world on her own. She’s currently in Puerto Rico now and I can only hope her experience is half as amazing as mine was during my entire month in Peru. I love the “Peru Crew” and I definitely will look into more dialogues in the future, perhaps even Spain next summer. Anyway, if you’re reading this, gracias, Monica y Henry por todos y Bueno suerte en todas sus proximos proyectos. Por Henry especialmente, por favor seguir in contacto por correo electronico! Mucho mucho mucho amor!

BEFORE @ Northeastern

AFTER "la Monica"

Que Pasa Ayer? III

My last Tuesday in Cuzco I decided to go to my first class, grammar, and skip culture to finish exploring Cuzco and to go shopping for last minute items. Grammar was fun and at the end I let my Professor know that I’d be absent from that point on because I was leaving early for a scholarship program back at home. She hugged me and told me how great my Spanish was and wished me luck in my new job.

During break time in between classes, I met Karlayne at the top terrace and we left school to run around the city. She had been slacking on buying souvenirs while I was pretty okay with my purchases, minus 2 or 3 more people I needed gifts for. We went to the Mercado Artesino where we spent a good amount of our money and came out with what seemed like very little purchases (in number). We shopped around for a long time until about 12:30pm, which was the time school let out. We hiked back to the school and found everyone had already scattered for lunch. Karlayne needed to find Rach to use her phone to call her host mom and tell her she wouldn’t be home and luckily we ran into them on the street.

Then Karlayne and I went looking for cheap restaurants to eat at and we found a really hidden one that charged 10 soles for a salad buffet, drink, appetizer, entrée, and desert. We went up and sat at the balcony and spent our lunch time people watching from above. Karlayne voiced the fact that she thought our waiter was cute so when we were leaving, I told her to invite him out with us since it was my last night. She asked him what he was doing that night and he responded assuringly, “nada, nada,” and then proceeded to kiss us on the cheek twice before telling us he had 2 friends he wanted to bring along and to meet him at 10pm. It was funny because before we knew it we had a date with 3 locals and there were only 2 of us so that was a little wild.

Anyway, we continued to Mercado San Pedro since I wanted to buy the infamous chocolate that everyone had purchased. It tasted like pure cocoa with sprinkles of sugar everywhere, very delicious. Also, Karlayne wanted to get some bracelets and I told her that I had gotten them for a really good deal there, 6 for 5 soles. We got to the market (which smelled horrendous, btw) and clenched onto our bags since we were warned by more than 2 locals to watch our belongings carefully. Karlayne bought some more souvenirs, including  some hats which she got at a really good price, and I bought chocolate, coca tea, and fresh honey. We left almost immediately after we got what we needed because the stench was horrible and it was a really crowded market.

When we finished all our shopping we, of course, went to McDonalds to meet up with people. From there, we pretty much just bummed and reread the Wikipedia printout of Peruvian history we were to be tested on at 6:30pm that day. We made our way back to Amauta a few minutes before we were to be tested and nervously flipped over the pages again and again.

The actual group testing wasn’t bad at all, if you read the article. I read it more than 3 times so I was pretty up to date on information concerning Keiko’s father, the terrorist attacks, and the transfer of powers in Peruvian history. We talked about culture and our group specifically had the theme of the Shining Path and Tupac’s Rebellion group (MRTA). I was nervous at first but then realized it was more of a group discussion which was a lot cooler and put less pressure on us. I actively participated and learned that different classes favor the politicians that represent them. A lot of the frustrations and tensions of Lima deal with it being the economic capital of Peru while everywhere else the people aren’t getting compensated from the rise of modernity and their market system. The “test” overall, like I said, went pretty smoothly. I learned a lot and contributed what I knew about terrorist organizations in Peru.

After the test a bunch of people in our group wanted to have my last night’s dinner and so we searched for a place that served coy. Coy is code for guinea pig, a delicacy in Cuzco and I was determined to try it before I left. Luckily, Tyler was right on board with me while everyone else said they’d accompany us but preferred not to have a bite.

We found some random restaurant that served decently priced coy (although coy is very expensive everywhere). It was hilarious because we got into the restaurant and a little boy went up to Karlayne and asked “Why do you appear black to me?” and “Why do you have your face covered in paint?” He asked those questions as he proceeded to look back and forth from the light to her face and then started swinging his hands in front of her face trying to “wipe off” the black. It was definitely a culture shock to him to see someone from the Caribbean. 

When our food arrived everyone “eww-ed” and made faces at the fried coy. I was honestly terrified of trying it and hadn’t realized it until it was put before my plate. I thought of how Filipinos eat pig and how a mini pig shouldn’t taste too horrible. Natalie, especially, was horrified because she had a guinea pig of her own that had recently died, Jenny. I wanted to rename our dinner as Jenny but I thought that was a cruel and unusual joke.

Anyway, the first bite was horrendous. The taste was very salty and very dirty, if you can imagine what I mean. Now I’ve tried Alpaca before but that was gamier and this was just straight up wild and dirty, the taste I mean. We had fries and a few vegetables to flush the taste out and Tyler was having a really difficult time swallowing any of the food, haha. I thought I was eating the heart which tasted a lot better than the actual meat of coy but at the end Tyler and I realized that I had gotten the bottom part while he got the top; thus, I probably ate the gallbladder. It was a gross experience and I lost my appetite after that but I was definitely happy to have had the experience and pictures to remember it.

After dinner Nat and Rach decided they wanted to go home because Rach was sick and I guess Natalie was pretty tired. They offered to take my laundry bag home since I wasn’t trying to go clubbing/discoteca-ing with it in my hands. Tyler, Nat, Rach, and I made our way to McDonalds since Karlayne wanted to go home and get ready for our “date.” I didn’t really care what I looked like because I was neither interested nor too excited about it. In fact, I just wanted to hang with the entire group on my last night since I hadn’t done that during my entire time in Cuzco (well not really, anyway). We met up with Vinny at McDonalds and Rach and Nat tried to get a little work done using their wifi before they headed home. It wasn’t long before Karlayne appeared and we had to pick up our guy, Mundo, from the restaurant he was working at all day. Vinny and Tyler agreed to meet up with him since they were kind of sketched out at the fact that he was just some randy local who volunteered to bring 2 friends on the date. For all we know he could have very well been a rapist/molester/I forgot the word for locals who prey on tourists for a green card. 

Anyway, Karlayne and I walked to the restaurant where we caught his attention from up on the balcony. We waited probably 10-15 minutes for him to get done, which I was not too happy about considering I didn’t even want to go on this date anymore. When he finally did come down he, of course, greeted us with more kisses and we told him we were taking him to meet our friends at McDonalds which was hilarious considering the ambience of a fast food restaurant wasn’t too romantic. Anyway we took him to McDonalds to meet everyone and it was clear he was way nervous, especially meeting Vinny who looks like he can stomp on him with his pinky toe. I sat near Vinny while Karlayne talked him up for the most part since I couldn’t really understand anything he was saying to me and I was also just trying to go out and have fun.

Finally we made moves and met up with the group at a nearby discoteca. We danced for a little bit and Mundo was definitely in culture shock since he met even more of our group and the dancing was a bit wild for him. We tried to engage him in the bumping and grinding of American culture but he really was tense and just nervous, I guess. After awhile Tyler, Karlayne, Muno, and I made our way to Paddy’s Pub after deciding we were entirely too sober for that operation.  Luckily we just made the happy hour special and so we downed a few drinks until we were feeling good. Conversation with Mundo was really dry and it was obvious that he wasn’t as mature as we were although he claimed to be the same age as me. He kept trying to talk to me while I made every effort to steer him toward Karlayne since she was the one who thought he was cute. 

When we had had enough and were ready to dance Tyler left us to go back home and pass out since he was tired. He did, however, walk us back to the discoteca where we saw a bunch of people from our group leaving to go take shots. Yianni convinced us that since it was my last night I should tag along and go all out with them so instead of joining the rest of the group in the discoteca we followed that group instead. Mundo, of course, was intimidated especially because this group was a bit wilder and ready to party than most of the others on this trip.

It was funny because he walked about a block up a hill and ended up at some bar where Brielle immediately took her spot behind the counter and everyone ordered up a million shots. Yianni, a bit drunk, kept talking about how I need to take in more and more shots and that they were going to takeee care of me since it was my last night. There was also a little boy selling gum which all the guys played around with and wrestled with, just because of their drunken state, I think. Anyway, I had this Tabasco shot and some baileys and some other stuff from what I can remember  because like I said, I was already feeling nice by the time we had gotten there. I felt really bad for Mundo because he wasn’t a heavy drinker and mainly sat on the side with Karlayne and kind of watched us drown ourselves in alcohol. 

When the last shot was taken we went back to the Plaza and bounced between discotecas. I think we went back to the first one they were originally in and then moved on to another one nearby. The second one was crazy wild with tourists flooding the place. A lot of creepy locals were there, too but our group mainly stuck together. It was a lot of fun and I can’t get into too many details but overall it was a fun and interesting night. By the way, in the between clubs Mundo tried to escape us and catch a cab home. When Karlayne noticed we confronted him and he said it was getting late and was tired and told us to come by the restaurant so that we can exchange info. I was honestly very happy that he left because I felt bad dragging him around with us and the American culture and way of partying was probably a lot to take in with his level of maturity. 

Lol.. beyond done.

Anyway, like I said I had an amazing last night and I thank everyone who contributed to my shots and getting “gone.” I cabbed it home with Karlayne around 3:30am or so because we were both deathly tired and wanted so badly to be in our beds. When I sunk into my bed Natalie and Rachel were already sleeping although they had texted me making sure I was still alive. I was sad when I realized I was leaving Cuzco in just a matter of hours.

El Ultimo Lunes

I woke up and went to school as usual, with an idea that I could maybe leave culture class early to go home and pack. I decided to stick around for both classes since I still had the next day to go ahead and do that. We had new Professors since at Amauta, the Professors rotate classes every week, for reasons I do not know. Our new Professors were cool but I was just warming up to the old ones, especially the woman from Spain whose accent I couldn’t understand initially. On her last day, I was making full conversation with her without problems which I was pretty proud of considering the Spanish accent (from Spain) is very difficult to understand.

After school we all had lunch. Natalie, Rach, and I went back home for lunch since we had plans up until nighttime and probably wouldn’t have been able to make it home at a decent time for dinner. After lunch we had some spare time before we were to meet at the Museo Historico Regional so we took a cab out, Rach and Natalie going to the market and for me, back to school to try and get some work done and meet whoever was there. 

I don’t remember exactly who was there or what but Karlayne and I went to McDonalds and bummed around there for a bit. Then we made our way to Museo Historico Regional where a group of us had already formed. We split into the two groups we were assigned for testing and went in.

I was in Group A although I wandered a lot so I really just explored the museum on my own. I thought that this was going to be another non-interactive, boring museum but it turns out it was actually enjoyable. We learned a lot about Garcilosa and the conquistadoras and what they did to the Peruvian people when they took over. A lot of the rebels suffered excruciating deaths and one of the famous pictures I remember is the picture of Tupac being tied to four different horses by the limbs. I believe after the horses pulled his body apart he was still alive so then afterwards he was decapitated. Don’t quote me on that, though.

Other parts of the museum I found interesting were a replica on the wall of a letter Tupac had written in jail in his own blood, and the a rushed, last part of the exhibit of modern art. The modern art depicted images of Peruvians with big feet and hands which Monica explained weren’t offensive but a celebration to all the hard work that Peruvians do. Their manual labor is very intense and the large hands and feet represent the cultivation and agricultural success that Peru has experienced over the years.

After the museum I stayed back for awhile to speak to Monica about my early flight information. She also had a group waiting to speak to her about the Inca Trail, I believe, and so while I waited Monica’s mother spoke to me about trying to marry a Spanish speaker, preferable Henry, our lawyer, to continue my Spanish speaking capabilities. I thought it was very funny although she seemed serious about the match making mission. Finally, Monica got to me and gave me the basic information and after, her, Jenny, Henry, and her Mom stayed awhile to talk a little bit more about their first impressions of me, etc. I rushed from the Museum to McDonald’s to meet everyone else and change some more of my dollars into soles for shopping and dinner the next day.

At 6:30pm we all went up to the school to watch “Tarata,” a Spanish film about terrorist attacks in Miraflores. The movie was excellent and I really enjoyed the theme, which was right in the realm of my interests. The mother in the movie played her role as “bitch (for lack of a better word)” perfectly and the actors/actresses really expressed the kind of fear, discrimination, and hatred that occurred in the 80s and 90s in Peru. I would recommend the film to anyone interested in the deep cultural history of Peru and the effects of terrorism on different classes of people.

After the movie we were all pretty tired and Karlayne decided to go home. I stayed to have dinner with the gang at a vegetarian restaurant where I enjoyed my garlic bread and guacamole and chips. Everyone else’s meals looked delicious but my stomach was hurting and I’m a carnivore so I prefer steaks and chicken. It was a decent meal nonetheless and after we all went home, dragging our heavy laundry bags with us.

Sunday Excursion

When I had woken up I was surprisingly energized considering the fact that I had climbed Machu Picchu the day before, got in late, and hadn’t had much sleep. We were scheduled to meet at the Cuzco Main Square at 8:30am so I had to wake up around 7am, which was our usual time to get up for classes.

We took a cab to the Main Square although traffic was horrendous. I believe the fact that the festivals in the Plaza were still going on along with several other roads being closed contributed to us running about 5-10 minutes late. We called our Professor to let her know we were on our way so that everyone else on the trip wouldn’t hate us for having to wait so long.

Anyway, we got to the Plaza just fine, actually beating the bus that was to pick us up. Our first stop on the Sacred Valley tour was Pisac, followed by Ollantataytambo and Urubamba. We were supposed to hit Chincheros but the majority of us voted against it because we wanted to watch the sunset on the mountains.

When we arrived at Pisac I was surprised to find a market-like area. I was expecting ruins or something else historical but the bus let us off and gave us about half an hour to shop around. At that time I had finished shopping for most of my souvenirs/gifts so I wasn’t looking too hard for stuff but I did buy a couple of key chains that I got for a really good price. Across the markets there was a fresh juice/fruit market set up and I got some bananas since I had been suffering from a series of Charlie horses that week and I heard potassium was just the cure. There was also some llamas and obnoxiously loud music playing outside but I didn’t bother to visit that portion since I was too excited about the shopping. We all got back on the bus and headed to our next location, Urubamba. 

Urubamba was everything I expected for our first visit yet I was still surprised at how high we’d probably be climbing. One look at the mountains and I almost died from exhaustion. My energy was really starting to wear out and I wasn’t all that excited about hiking these ruins but when I did, I was really grateful that I had. The view was gorgeous and although quite dangerous, it was still a pretty view in which I took lots of photos. The tour guide was MIA for the most part so we didn’t hear too much history about it but I do know that it was significant Incan ruins.

After Urubamba we went on the road to get what was supposed to be one of the better lunches included in the program. As Andres would put it, it was a “Garden of Eden” in the middle of the one of the poorest towns in Peru. The place was clearly made for tourists, with a buffet offering mixtures of Peruvian food as well as American barbeque and other dishes. We definitely ate our money’s worth, stuffing our faces with freshly made ceviche, pounds of rice, a myriad of desserts, free pisco sours, and all kinds of chicken and steaks (even alpaca).  The best part of the restaurant, however, was not the food but the backyard. The backyard was filled with llamas and alpacas, plants, a little river, and just plenty of green grass. The site was definitely a rarity in Peru and we took advantage by laying and taking in all the nature for about an hour, or whenever we were called back to the bus. I loved the downtime and being with everyone since we all, for the most part, were split and isolated into our host family homes. It was definitely a good experience.

Our last stop, which was probably one of my favorites places of the whole trip, was Ollantataytambo. Although we were all very reluctant to leave our little haven in the backyard of the restaurant, the city we arrived to was outright gorgeous and vibrant with energy and culture. Five minutes after getting off the bus we passed about 2 parties and 1 main town fiesta happening in preparation of the Sun God festival on June 24^th. We made our way through town, watching as everyone celebrated with family and friends and even the mayor (or a guy who had a mayor sash on). When we arrived to our destination, Karlayne and I almost fainted at the site of the mountains. It looked like it was definitely going to be a difficult climb and it was just a bit, considering the long day we had prior to it. We were super resentful about climbing up but we all sucked it up and the hike actually wasn’t too bad, especially for the view at the end.

We got to the top and the view was gorgeous. We stood on those mountains, overlooking the entire town and all the fiestas simultaneously occurring at once. At one edge of the mountain, we were able to witness a bull fight and a rodeo show. I stayed there for the majority of the time since it was such a great view although the “grass” on that mountain was prickly and kind of painful. At one point I asked Rachel to take these little cactus things off my shirt because they were poking me like crazy. Somehow I managed build a collection inside my shirt and all the other tourists were watching us, laughing, and taking pictures. It was all in good fun but it was totally necessary that I had those removed before my body bled itself to death. Anyway, the tour guide tried to gather us to visit Chincheros, what I believe to be another ceramic and textile exhibition of Incan artifacts but our group was just not having it. We had visited what seemed like millions of museums before that point and watching the sunset that was promised to us was more ideal. In the end, we all rebelled and refused to climb down the mountain until we got our sunset so that itinerary was altered just a little bit.

Overall the day was extremely long and tiring, but I loved every second of it. It was a great way to end the weekend and I grew more and more upset at the thought of having to leave early, or in what was 3 days at that time.

Machu Picchu – Hike of a Lifetime

I woke up around 2am to brush my teeth and make sure my backpack was filled with snacks and plenty of money for Machu Picchu. My tour guide was outside, right on time, and I ran into Natalie and Rachel coming in around 2:30am. We drove to the Plaza de Armas, where I would meet the bus, and surprisingly enough the guide driving had plenty to say/plenty of convo to make so early in the morning. I had just woken up from my mini nap but my Spanish was actually on point and the conversation flowed smoothly. It was freezing out so I was happy that we waited in the car for the bus to arrive.

When the bus arrived I got in and realized my group of tourists were all Spanish speakers. A bit nervous, I kept quiet until I drifted into sleep and awoke at the Ollanta train station around 4am. Unfortunately, my train ticket was for 5:40am so I was forced to wait outside in the freezing cold with several other unlucky ducks. I noticed two solo riders who had already found each other and too groggy and cold, I decided to stay isolated for awhile longer or at least until the sun came up.

When we were finally let in to wait at the train station lobby, I striked up some conversation with the two loners. I found that Gonzalo was from Lima and Kelli was from Brazil and they both were doing the hike alone, too. I found that Gonzalo’s accent or rather his speed of speaking was hard to keep up with but Kelli I understood perfectly fine. We talked for a little while about American culture, what we expected out of this hike, how nervous we were to be traveling alone. Then our train came and we split onto our separate platforms.

I fell asleep immediately after I got into my seat. I awoke several times to take pictures of the cool scenery and jungle-like atmosphere. Up until that point my entire trip had basically consisted of ruins and ancient buildings but the jungles of Peru were just as gorgeous and they made me super excited for the actual hike up to Machu Picchu.

I finally woke up once we hit the last stop. The previous stops had been for the people hiking the Inca Trail, either for 1 or 4 days. I thought it would be pretty cool to do the 4 day hike up to Machu Picchu but of course I had no time nor enough money at that moment to do so. I got out of the train and found my tour group, The Kosmos. Our tour guide led us to his restaurant and explained, in full detail, that our tours would start at 11:30am and since it was only 8am, we had plenty of time to go ahead and explore. We were in the village at this point and to get to the ruins you have to either hike up an hour and a half or take a bus for 25 minutes. 

I took the bus and met 2 girls from Poland on the way up. I also met up with Kelli who ended up being grouped with us. The four of us took the bus up, soaking ourselves in sun block and taking plenty of pictures of the beautiful mountains and jungles around us. 

When we got to Machu Picchu it was absolutely amazing. I am not one to be mesmerized by commercial hype such as celebrities or cool, expensive places but at that point I knew exactly why Machu Picchu was one of the world wonders. The intricate design and persistence of the buildings over the years was jaw dropping. The Incans were very advanced people and to have built such an elaborate city on the mountain is evidence enough that their society was both resourceful and eloquent. 

To me, Machu Picchu was one big playground where I wanted to take plenty of pictures to show my family and my group who was going next week. I stuck with Kelli, Dominica, and I’m not sure of the other girl’s name since I was a lone hiker and I figured we could all help each other out by taking pictures. We ran up and down the steps of the city, taking plenty of photos, and stopping occasionally to just relax since the environment was so peaceful. 

It seemed as though everyone that day who had come to visit was on the same boat as us, in awe and just wanting to quietly take it all in. There were plenty of great places to sit and soak in the sun, the fact that we were in Machu Picchu, or the fact that I was alone and made international friends on the hike of a lifetime. Around 10 we decided to make our way back to the entrance, making sure we had plenty of time to conquer those dreadful stairs. 

At the entrance we decided to wash our hands before grabbing lunch. Like all hot tourist spots, the bathrooms at Machu Picchu’s entrance charged 1 sol (or $.33) to use the bathroom. It wasn’t totally a rip off because they did provide some toilet paper at the gate, haha. When we were all washed up we had a pretty decent lunch although for the price of 35-50 soles, it better have been. I ordered a chicken wrap, a small drink, and a small ice cream combo for 35 soles which put a pretty dent in my wallet. We all ate quickly because each our tour guides had showed up about 15 minutes early and told us to hurry.

*to be continued...