Rhinestones are a girl's best friend

So since the holidays are now over, I finally have to think about my job at hand: my community diagnostic. And frankly, that is a daunting task. And since I don’t have any projects going at the moment, I find that when I have a lot of time on my hand, I tend to over-analyze things (analysis paralysis as it is called…) and question my being in Peru. So when I get in those moods, what always cheers me up is….CRAFT TIME! My latest project has been wanting to BLING-out my cell phone, so I set out today in search of rhinestones...

But something as simple as finding rhinestones  in the U.S. seems to turn into a major goose-egg hunt in Peru. If I were in the land of amazing (aka U.S. of A), I would simply jump in my car and drive to Michael’s arts and crafts and maybe even stop by Dutch bros to grab a quick coffee…all in the span of 20 min.

In Peru, however, first you have to figure out how to say rhinestones in Spanish which you awkwardly try to describe as “those things that are like pearls but sparkle and are small.” Then ask a person where one might find rhinestones and are pointed to the nearest fabric store. Go to the fabric store and stumble through your half-hazard description and get shown buttons instead. Then find another fabric store nearby and instead of finding rhinestone, find men’s underwear called “stripper” (no joke!). Then almost give up, but find one more fabric store. Go in and get told they don’t have any, but get shown another store where they think they might have them. You walk in and think you’ve hit the jackpot, as there are spools of sparkly ribbon and glitter everywhere. Again describe the elusive rhinestones that you are so feverishly looking for and instead are shown sequins, which you determine to be just as good as rhinestones. Then it finally dawns on you that the cell phone you were planning on “be-dazzling” with rhinestones is rented and therefore, cannot be defaced.

You walk away and shake your head while trying to control you laughter, as laughter is probably the only thing that will stop you from crying.

So another day has come and gone and Peru has gotten the best of me. But tomorrow is a new day…with new possibilities…and new craft ideas...