Motion Aftereffect

Focused on making my bowl I hunched over the wheel, with a kick now and then to keep it going, never peeling my eyes from the spinning disk. My teacher Pablo asked me a question, and as i looked up I couldn't help but to smile as the room swirled counterclockwise. An exemplary case of the motion aftereffect.

I am amidst my two week stay in Huaraz. An incredible ciudad surrounded by massive mountains, with fresh air that bites when the sun goes down.  Professor Delgado and I connected through the Teach Hauraz website, for two weeks I will live with his family and the teaching volunteer Jordan. A joyful Canadian. At 7am I walk with Professor Delgado to the school bus, a nice charter like bus, to get to Pablo and his pottery studio in Tarica. For an hour or two Pablo teaches me how to use the kick wheel and choose traditional Huaraz graphics to etch into my creations(bowls? cups?). Pablo only speaks spanish and has a lot of information to share. After class I hurry down the hill to take the combi,  a local van back to Huaraz. Usually awake for the ride back to Huaraz, I get to see the country side in motion. Women in the traditional northern wear of tall stiff hats, puffy skirts and sweaters, pigs tethered to the hillside eating or sleeping, huge bulls, loud donkeys, and colorful clothes swinging on clotheslines. As so as we get to the merccado I bolt for lunch at the house, not an easy feat as it is perched on a hill. Climbing in this altitude makes me question my fitness. Why all this trouble for lunch? The professors wife is an AMAZING cook and always gives generous with the servings. Lunch is always the traditional peruvian soup first then main course. After lunch I head to the roof to 'study spanish', a great intention that usually turns into a nap. But I always set an alarm so that I can wake up for my spanish lesson with Sindy, the professors daughter. I have been quite foolishly confident with my spanish, though I can usually get my point across in conversation, these classes illuminate my grammatical ignorance. After class Im back on the roof to do a circuit workout that Jordan taught me. (Okay well today was the first day but I feel as though it will become a habit). Then back inside for a quick warm shower. Ive accepted different tasks, like translating kiln instructions for Pablo, so I am busy till dinner. Another delicious feast.