Go Fun Yourself!

This novel is a work of faction. Resemblance with actual persons and places is not coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Julia Kay

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2016

ISBN 978-3-9504202-1-0

Published in Vienna, Austria by Nils Kalchhauser

Ordering Information:

Please contact [email protected]

Cover artwork by David Prem

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience

can never go back to its old dimensions."

– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

1. Arrival

2. Pisco & Salsa

3. Fallen Angel

4. Cross Keys

5. Ready to Rumble?

6. El Tiburón

7. Indigo

8. Mythology

9. Los Perros

10. Jack's Café

11. Origami Fever

12. Of Horses and Frogs

13. Groove

14. Perfect Sunday

15. Rainy Valentine

16. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

17. Wild Rover

18. Liv Tyler

19. Gone

20. Space Invader

21. Time's ticking

22. Es la caca!

23. Friday Mourning

24. Contemplation

25. Pub Crawl

26. Color of future

27. Valle Sagrado

28. The Great MP

29. Favorite Mistake

30. Mr Hyde

31. Dr. Jeckyll

32. Leaving town Pt. I

33. Resolution

34. The Final Countdown

35. See you later – Leaving town Pt. II

36. Last minute

1. Arrival

The airplane lurched one more time as it slowly descended through thick layers of grey clouds slightly resembling dirty candy cotton. Wedged between green mountains and brownish rivers appeared the red roofs of houses which, from this perspective, seemed so tiny and insignificant and at the same time looked very familiar in their appearance, like so many of those cute old villages she knew from trips to Italy.

Livia had given up the attempt to sleep a bit on the flight. The combination of the excitement about arriving at a new and strange place and the contemplation of the past two months she had spent in this new life and new world, so entirely different from the one she was used to back in Europe, just did not allow for sleep to take over. She could hardly believe that already two months had passed since she said goodbye to family and friends at the airport in her beloved and well-known hometown and set off on that great adventure that she had dreamed of for so long. She thought about all the new friends she had made in Ecuador, a place she did not really know much about before, but which she would miss very often in the following months; she knew that much already.

Maybe it was not such a bad thing that she had only slept for four hours the night before. Even though she could not fall asleep the tiredness had the positive effect of taking away some of the tension she normally would have felt at that moment. Not only did she not like the final leg of flights that much in general, that bumpy part when even very relaxed fellows would agree that it actually makes sense to wear a seatbelt, (let alone when her flight was delayed for several hours due to bad weather at the destination). But also could she not be sure whether there would be someone waiting for her at the airport. The language school had told her they were sending someone to pick her up but if there was one thing she had learned since the first time her feet touched the ground in Latin America, it was that people do not always do as they say and that everything was possible, which was not always a good thing. Yet she could not stop herself from smiling as she heard her friend's voice in her head. Livia, escúchame. Acá tenemos un dicho: Nada es seguro, todo es posible.

The first thought that came to her mind when she saw the city from above was how different it looked from the big hectic dirty capitals she had been to in the weeks before. She always considered herself a city person; she appreciates the amenities of a city, such as being able to get basically anything you need at anytime, but at the same time she also knows how valuable it is to live in a city that is not too big, where you can pretty much get anywhere within no time. After having spent a few weeks in Quito, Ecuador's capital, which has a funny shape due to geographical conditions, she knew that it was part of many peoples' everyday lives to spend two hours in traffic or on public transport only to get from one place to another. In the long run people must get used to that, she figured, or simply not care anymore about four hours of completely wasted time each and every day. Admittedly, one could use that time very well indeed, but she doubted that many people did.

The place she was about to arrive at neither seemed to be as modern as Lima nor as stressful as Quito; she did not see a single modern high-rise building and the airport reminded her of one she once saw when she went on holidays to a small island in Greece, where the whole airport consisted of a small shack with one checkin counter and a few chairs in what looked like a makeshift waiting room. Okay, to be fair, this one was a little bit bigger than the one on the tiny Greek island, but still, it had the air of arriving at a rather secluded place.

All she knew about Cusco was that it is located more than 3.000 meters above sea level, it is home to around 350 000 people and that it is frequented by masses of tourists all year round due to its historic significance as the former capital of the Inca Empire and its proximity to the ruins of Machu Picchu, the famous city built by the aforementioned extinct civilization.

She grabbed her backpack from one of the two moving belts in the arrivals hall and headed towards the 'exit' sign. On the way she passed a few small souvenir shops all claiming to sell original handicrafts made by indigenous tribes, and quickly made her way through the hustle and bustle of many tourist touts constantly trying to talk newly arrived tourists into buying packages to visit the ruins, offering hotel rooms, city tours and taxi rides to the center. At the moment she stepped out of the airport she heard someone call her name. As she turned she saw a guy holding a handwritten sign with her name on it. She smiled, waved at him and then followed him to the main road.

'Bienvenida Livia, my name is Nin, I work for Chacra the language school' he introduced himself in heavy accented English and with a broad smile, and immediately the little tension that was left in her stomach subsided. Nin was about the same height as Livia, so rather tall for a Cusqueño, had jet black shortly cropped hair parted to one side. His teeth were a bit uneven, which added a charming impishness when he smiled. And smile he did.

Together they got into a tiny car that seemed to be held together by duct tape in some places. During the short drive from the airport to the center Livia tried hard to concentrate on the conversation with Nin, but she was too distracted by looking out of the window, taking in the streets; the little stalls on the side of the road that seemed to be offering just about everything from cold beverages, sweets and cigarettes to soap, toothbrushes and socks; groups of children on their way home from school, many of them in their cute uniforms; the different features in people's faces, and the seemingly nonexistence of traffic laws she believed to be present in most parts on this continent.

The car dropped them in front of a white house with a big wooden door, wooden window shutters and a balcony all painted in turquoise. Nin explained that this was a primary school but because kids were on their summer break it was closed, which meant that he had to call someone to come and unlock the door from inside. At first, Livia was confused but after she asked him he clarified that the house of her host family was set back from the street but shared the same entrance as the primary school.

There was no doorbell at the front gate. When someone finally came to let them in they stepped through the turquoise door and an iron gate and crossed a big courtyard where dogs were enjoying their siesta on the warm stone tiles in the sun. Then, after passing yet another iron gate, they reached a second courtyard and finally the gate that led to the third and final courtyard, in which beautiful flowers and small trees were planted. This lovely garden was overlooked by a balcony from where many identical looking doors led to seemingly countless rooms.

Nin introduced Livia to her host mum. Blanca must have been in her late forties, Livia thought. She had short dark hair and her features suggested that she was not a person who had laughed a lot in her life, but she seemed friendly enough. Livia was shown to her own room on the ground floor which had its own entrance and a separate bathroom, so she did not have to enter the main house in order to get to her room. She was quite relieved by this since it gave her more freedom to roam about without the uncomfortable feeling of being constantly watched, which she knew well enough from her stay with her host family in Quito. She was not 18 anymore, thus she saw no harm in going out and staying late now and then but always had a bad feeling when she knew she would be waking her host mum in the wee hours of the morning after returning from a night out with friends. It was simply impossible to unlock the many padlocks around iron chains—which were only one part of the many security measures that this poor, over-protective, constantly worried woman had installed in order to feel safe at night—without waking everyone who lived on that floor. Or even in the same neighborhood, she sometimes thought annoyed while fumbling with one key after another.

After she had a few minutes to unpack and freshen up, Nin showed Livia the way to the center and to the language school.

She asked Nin about safety in the city.

'The center is quite safe in the night, all restaurants, bars and discos are around the 'Plaza de Armas', you will see in a moment' he said as they walked along the cobbled road. 'You can walk home from the plaza but never alone.'

Livia nodded but remained silent and after a few moments, as if he felt that he might have scared her, Nin added: 'Cusco is not dangerous, but some things happen sometimes. Like in other city, so be careful.' He smiled encouragingly. 'Please.'

'I always trust my gut-feeling' she shrugged her shoulders, 'and so far that always worked out fine for me. But I know that I must never get into a cab that is not an official one and stuff like that' she agreed.

'Ahh...muy bien', he laughed 'so you already know rule number one for gringos in Peru', he smiled, then added 'but also important, especially for girls: don't take drink from stranger-'

'Oh yes', she interrupted him 'and never leave my drink out of sight, right?' she grinned at him with raised eyebrows. 'Yes, I know, I was given the same advice from my friends in Quito. I guess it's valid for all of Latin America, not only for Ecuador and Peru.'

'Sound like good friends' he guessed.

'They really are' she replied pensively, 'they're amazing. I know I'll see them again one day' she nodded, more to herself than to Nin.

They rounded a corner and while they crossed the stunningly beautiful and majestic plaza, Nin briefly pointed out the main buildings and sights around it, and as she saw the two huge cathedrals, the cute fountain in the middle of the square and all the beautiful old houses that enclosed the square with their covered archways and the wooden balconies above she started to understand why her guide book said that this place seemed to have a certain kind of mysticism, that people who have visited that city often showed a tendency to return or sometimes just did not want to leave in the first place.

'So today I think you will not have class' Nin continued with formalities, apparently totally untouched by the sight of the old town's center, 'tomorrow and Friday yes, but you talk to Martina about all. She is taking care of the volunteers.' While they were walking up the steep narrow street away from the plaza he asked her where she was going to volunteer.

'Oh, uhhmm...in an orphanage I think, or somewhere with children for sure...' she wheezed. She had trouble breathing while walking up that hill and talking at the same time. Although her body should have been used to thin air from her stay in Quito this was something different; she could definitely feel the 600 meters difference in altitude which surprised her.

Seeing her exhaustion, Nin laughed. 'You get used to the air after two weeks or so, everyone having troubles in the beginning. Drink coca tea, it helps' he suggested and she just nodded and tried to keep up with him.

'Look, we are here, you made it' he said in a cheerful tone and grinned, 'this is Chacra,' he pointed at the big yellow building to their right. 'Chacra is Quechua word, you know, meaning farm or field. Yes, we want students' knowledge to grow like young plants' he smiled. 'You find Quechua words all over here, many people speak it still. In Spanish and English many words come from Quechua.' He looked proud of that fact.

'Oh yeah? D'you have an example?' Livia asked curiously. She had a weakness for languages.

'Hmm.....things important for the Incas such as the pacha mama our precious mother earth, llama, alpaca, condor...are all Quechua words. You know what is palta and papa?' he asked.

'Papa is potato, the same in Ecuador and palta...' she thought for a moment, 'wait, isn't it avocado? Yeah, I remember, but I had no idea they originated from Quechua' she admitted. 'That's cool' she smiled at him before they entered.

The language school was situated in a house almost at the top of the hill. Steep stone steps inside led to an intermediate level where the office and a small travel agency were to be found and after some more stairs there was another level where all the classrooms were located, some of them really small but cosy, bright, and quite nice. And if one survived the climb of yet another set of stairs, one reached an open patio which was the common area. Adjacent to it was a small roofed area where those students who lived at the school's residence had their meals and could meet and hang out. A covered area was essential at that time of year. It was late January and Livia knew from her guide book that February was the rainiest month and although it was not cold at that moment, she could imagine that having breakfast early in the morning could be a bit chilly on a cloudy or rainy day.

'For sure I will see you again, I go now. But once again: welcome to Cusco, Livia' Nin said, drew Livia close for a hug and a kiss on the cheek, before he disappeared into one of the offices after introducing her to Martina.

Livia immediately liked Martina: a woman who did not look any older than herself, thought Livia, and originally came to Cusco for the same reason most students came for: to learn Spanish in beautiful and fascinating surroundings and to get an insight into the culture and customs of Peru and its people while serving a good cause by working as a volunteer in a social project.

'That was more than a year ago' Martina said, 'I just didn't wanna leave, met a guy and you know...' she smiled. 'Now I'm living with him, I work for the school, and I still really like it here.'

She looked around and then added in a more serious tone 'you know, it's far from perfect. Some things are still quite difficult but for now this is where I want to be, so I don't know when or if I'll go back home, not yet at least.'

Livia smiled and nodded. 'I know what you mean. It's an experience no one can ever take from you and I think you feel what is the right thing to do anyways and if you don't feel like going home yet why should you?' They shared a smile of agreement for a few seconds and Livia felt like having found a like-minded soul; someone who also felt that call from afar, that luring adventure, that wanderlust that had lodged itself in the back of her own head so many years ago even before her first long solo-trip.

After they had gone over all the organizational stuff such as Livia's class schedule, the welcome dinner that was held weekly for newly arrived students, and the opportunity to join nightly events at the school, Livia strolled back down to the plaza, happy about going downhill this time, and slowly made her way back to the house she would call home for the next ten days or so until she would move to the school's residence, as was usual for those students doing voluntary work.

Back in her room she unpacked the rest of her stuff, took a hot shower and sat down on her bed, looking out of the window at the flowers in the courtyard. She was thinking about all the people she met in Ecuador: complete strangers who welcomed her to their circle of friends, who offered their help in every imaginable way and threw a great party for Christmas and celebrated her birthday with her. People she had not even known two months ago now offered her to stay in their houses and treated her like family. She missed them a lot and although she was sure that she would meet new people and make new friends here, she doubted to find the same warmth and snugness that she had found there. But it was OK, she knew different did not necessarily mean worse. Besides, she could not wait to start the voluntary work at the orphanage, which she already expected would be a challenge she had never encountered before.

Right in front of her window she saw a hummingbird as it was approaching one pink blossom after another on the hibiscus plant to feed on the nectar. Its blue-green feathers shimmered in the afternoon sun and she admired its delicate fragility and skill as it seemed to stand still in the air. So small, yet so majestic. At that moment she felt that sensation she had discovered a few weeks ago when she was sitting on the beach by herself, watching a sea-lion pup and its mother. The sensation of total bliss; of being in the right place at the right time. A great feeling of gratefulness overcame her. She knew that some people might never understand but she was absolutely certain that she was doing the right thing; she was doing something that was important for her heart, her mind, and her soul.

2. Pisco & Salsa

Livia was passing the cathedral on the plaza watching groups of tourists admiring the architecture and probably being equally impressed by the sheer size of these buildings. All around the plaza women were trying to sell jewelery, paintings, or massages, wearing the traditional dress of the indigenous people, which was usually made of brightly colored alpaca wool. There was no doubt about the necessity of such clothes in those surroundings, Livia thought, while squinting at the sky where dark clouds were concealing every proof of an existing sun. And as she zipped up her trekking jacket, Livia regretted not having brought one of her favorite pashmina shawls from home, which would have been very useful now.

It was the second day of her Spanish course and despite the grey skies she was in a very good mood as she slowly climbed the hill towards Chacra. Since her level of Spanish did not match with any of the groups that were being taught at the school during that week, she ended up having private classes, which she was not at all unhappy about. In fact, she preferred being alone with the teacher, not only because that was what she was used to from the course she took in Ecuador, but also because she knew that the essential thing when learning a language was to talk as much as possible about as many topics as possible. Her teacher was a young local, a Cusqueño; Ramón was not the most attractive guy Livia had ever met, but actually she was quite relieved about that, because after all she wanted to improve her language skills and being attracted to a teacher usually ends in disaster. She thought him to be a sweet person and, more importantly, she felt able to talk to him about anything, and when her Spanish failed her she could always explain things in English to make him understand.

As Livia tried to recover her normal breathing rhythm after the first flight of stairs, Martina looked up from her desk in the office and put on a big smile as she greeted Livia. 'Still hard to get enough oxygen into those lungs, huh?' she teased.

'I don't know how you do it.....I mean.....' Livia gasped, 'I've only been here for two days now, but......I'm telling you......this has to get better, I've never felt that unfit!' Livia panted in response. 'Just imagine, people go jogging in this air, and hiking and rock climbing and do all kinds of other crazy things. Right now I cannot even think about any of this being possible...ever!' She exhaled loudly. 'But...yeah..I know it's gonna get better, eventually. It has to. Seriously!'

Both of them were still laughing when Livia headed on to the next level of the house to her classroom, where Ramón was already waiting for her with two full cups of coffee on the table. It was late morning and he did not exactly look well-rested.

'Oh, thank you so much, you brought coffee for me?' Livia teased him. She knew from her previous class, that he had the habit of taking two cups for himself, since he needed them desperately.

Ramón looked at her, seemed to put much effort into producing a sweet smile and said 'well, you CAN have one of these, but only under one condition.'

'Yes OK, I will go and get a refill in the break, deal?'

'That, of course, AND you will meet me privately to talk about our plans of you teaching me German' he added with a sly expression that awkwardly seemed to suit him very well.

'What?' she asked with feigned indignation, put her chin in her hand and turned her eyes towards the ceiling to assume her thinker's pose.

'Alright, let's talk about me teaching you German over a drink sometime, why not. I am too beat to decline that coffee now, my system knows it's there and we want it!' She laughed. 'And who knows? It might be fun to see YOU struggle with grammar for a change' she grinned, sat down, and took a long swig from the coffee which was hot, very strong and way too sweet for her taste, but she already knew that people in Latin America seemed to like a lot of sugar in their drinks.

After class when she was stuffing her notebooks into her backpack, Ramón showed her his phone: the display was broken, completely smashed, which was why he could neither text nor save new numbers, so she would just have to call him.

When she walked out of the school she decided to turn right instead of left and to walk further up the hill instead of going back down towards the Plaza. She wanted to explore the city's center a little more since she still had time before she had to be back home for lunch. She walked up till the end of the steep narrow street, turned right and headed towards the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, another one of the countless remains of the Inca culture, which were to be found seemingly on every corner in this city. Although she knew she wouldn't walk all the way to the historical site, at least not today, she wanted to see what else there was along the way. She came to a big church that throned on the hill above the city; the plain area in front of the massive Christian building could easily have been mistaken for a tourist's viewpoint due to its fantastic location. Though, Livia doubted that the Christians had built it for that purpose. She walked to the edge and leaned down on the handrail. Again, the red brick roofs of the houses gave her a feeling of familiarity, reminded her of home, of Europe; then she turned her head and on a small stone bench she saw something that was not like home at all: two women were sitting there, dressed in the traditional style of indigenous tribes. Both were wearing a colorful vest over a white blouse and a skirt of the same bright colors and material that the vest was made of. Their faces had very distinct features, big eyes that looked black from the distance, high cheekbones in round faces and high foreheads, partly concealed by the hats they were wearing; their hair was pitch black and made into two braids that connected on their backs. Livia thought they were beautiful.

Between the two of them sat a tiny white lamb, which was also dressed in a very colorful knitted cap that was tied under its chin. It looked ridiculous, not only because this animal, like most sheep, did not manage to look intelligent, but also because a headdress like that would even have looked ridiculous on the most beautiful head, human or not, in the world.

Livia could not suppress a giggle, but she made sure not to make eye contact with either of the women or the lamb, cause she knew from experience that as soon as that happened the indigenous people usually asked for money in exchange for a picture. She preferred not to take pictures of people who forced their animals to wear ridiculous looking clothes only in the hope of tourists handing them a few Soles for getting their shot of an 'authentic' inhabitant. Livia felt sorry for those who were disadvantaged when it came to education and finding work, but she knew that supporting customs like this was counter-productive. This would not help them strengthen their representation in the country's system. As similar that place might look like something she knew from Europe, as different it was with every turn of her head.

It was Friday and while she was figuring out how to get back to the street and the house with the beautiful turquoise door, she contemplated calling Ramón in the evening to see if he was up for a 'German class'. So far she did not really know any people in town and she could not bear the thought of staying in her room on a Friday evening and going to bed early.

'Todo bien?' asked the maid as Livia cleared her empty plates from the big table in the dining room and set them down next to the sink in the kitchen.

'Sí, todo bien, gracias' she replied politely, everything was alright. Though, she found it strange to be eating alone at almost every meal in Blanca's house and the fact that she was being served by a maid, who quietly disappeared back into the kitchen once she made sure Livia had everything, was a bit irritating too. But she thought that she would probably still get a chance to meet more members of the family, since she had arranged to stay there for another full week before moving to the language school's accommodation. Martina said it was okay for Livia to stay longer with the host family and Blanca was very pleased, of course, since she did not seem to understand why Livia would want to move at all, once having started working for the project. Livia tried to explain that it would be easier to connect with other volunteers if she was living with them, but from the look Blanca gave her in response she could clearly see that Blanca didn't understand why she would even want to connect to other foreigners. After all she was here to learn and practice Spanish, wasn't she? After that conversation Livia just resolved on not trying to explain why it might be important and more fun to live with people her own age – or at least a lot closer to hers – than with Blanca and her sister, who were never at home anyways and even if they were she wouldn't notice since she never entered 'their space' unless for two meals each day. And even then, she was usually all by herself at the big table.

In the evening Livia was already about to call Ramón when she remembered Martina telling her that every Friday there was a free Salsa lesson and Pisco sour tasting at the language school as the daily optional evening activity. Ramón would have to wait for his German lesson; Livia had wanted to learn how to dance Salsa ever since she saw people do it in Ecuador and she was totally amazed. Back in Ecuador she got more experienced in dancing to Reggaeton music, which had its own style, a very significant beat she admittedly found irresistible, while the songs' sexist lyrics made her cringe inside every time, and sort of betrayed her liberal feminist attitude. But she had not really learned any Salsa basics. Thus, she thought Cusco might be the only chance for her to take lessons, since she knew she would be in the city for at least four weeks, and the job in the orphanage would only take up her afternoons, so it would be nice to fill her mornings with sweeping across a dance floor to some racy rhythms following the instructions of some good-looking Salsa instructor. Haha, she thought as she pictured all those stereotypes. Why not start with a free introduction that came with the additional advantage of meeting other students at Chacra and receiving a Pisco Sour, which was free as well, of course.

She arrived at the school only a few minutes before the Salsa class was about to start, so Livia did not really have time to introduce herself to many people. They were about 15 students altogether and when the dance class began they discovered there was no shortage of guys, which the teachers said was rather the exception to the rule.

There was one female and one male instructor; while the girl was clearly not Peruvian, the guy was clearly not as good-looking as in Livia's daydreams. The female instructor introduced herself to the students. Originally she was from the Netherlands, but had been living and working in Cusco for quite a while, because apparently she had opened a Salsa School together with her partner. Livia suspected that the use of the term partner here extended to more than a strict business relation, which proved to be true shortly after.

The students were standing on the terrace of the school, some with both hands in their pockets partly due to the chilly temperatures and partly to feeling very self-conscious, Livia reckoned. It had started to drizzle slightly and a few hundred meters below the streetlights from the plaza could be seen. The view from the terrace was something Livia would be able to enjoy every day once she had moved to that building. She was looking forward to that. The climb up the hill and all the stairs she had to master to get to her room was something she tried to block out of her head for the time being. Without much success, though.

First, the Dutch instructor showed the girls how to do the basic step, then her partner Renato did the same for the guys. As soon as everyone more or less seemed to be in control of the most basic moves each of the girls was paired with one of the guys and then the real dancing started. The couples formed a big circle, with the girls dancing on the outside, the guys all with their backs to the center of the circle. After every few minutes each guy moved in one direction to the next girl, so that in the end every guy had danced with every girl. After about fifteen minutes people started taking off their warm scarves, opening their jackets; who would have thought that a beginner's lesson could be such a good work-out? Livia enjoyed dancing with some of the guys a lot and not so much with others.

'Some men just don't seem to have a sense of rhythm, guys. It's nothing personal and not something you can learn; either you have it or you don't!' Renato just said out loud what Livia was thinking for the past ten minutes while she was dancing with that Canadian who had a sweet smile but as a dancer was a complete fail: