Smile for the Camera

Hey all,

Due to the lack of photos in recent posts, this one will be less words and more pictures. I know your eyes have been starving for some visual images. So here we go.

This one is good and embarrassing. Check out facebook for the video of me dancing in this get-up.

Here I am posing with the Peace Corps big wigs. Our country director, the U.S. ambassador to Peru and the boss of the environmental program, on swear-in day.

Here's some of the family and my site mate on New Year's Eve.

Me and the other crazy gringa in Laraos, Marjan, jumping into Lake Cochapampa on New Year's Day.

This is just one of the pretty views very near my house.

This is my summer school class on the first day.

And this is us playing with water!

This are our petreglyphs.

And here we are giving a very important presentation to the mayors in our area. Don't we look official in our vests?

And these are my kittens. They keep me company on the rainy afternoons.

Blessings.

Welcome to the Family

Hey friends. It's been a while since a post and I apologize for that. To remedy the situation, here's a new post! I promise, photos will be coming soon. So anyway, I want to talk about family. Specifically about how when you move into a small town in Peru, you inherit a whole bunch of family. Let me explain what I mean.

What I've found is that rural communities in Peru are not so different from rural communities in the States. Town meetings are announced on a loudspeaker and around mid-afternoon, the shepherds come in from the fields with their lambs to keep at home where it is safer. Everybody knows everybody and everybody greets each other in passing on the streets. It's not an impersonal greeting, instead it is always "Tio (or Tia), buenas tardes." And this is what I mean by inheriting the family. I now have a town FULL of aunts and uncles. To some of the older ladies, they'll even call out, "Mamita, como estas?" And my new extended Peruvian family is definitely looking out for me. Now I find that when I am walking around the streets I greet the ladies with a "Tia, buenos dias."

Since starting my summer school/camp, I've also inherited a few kids - let's call them cousins since their moms are my aunts. And they are a bundle of enthusiastic energy, ready to learn and play whatever I throw their way. The classes I'm giving are now 3 days a week from 9:30 to about 12:30 and to give it a name, it's Environmental English. Because I want to talk about nature but to get people to show up, I offer to teach some English too. If they words happen to be nature-oriented, well, that's just how it goes. We've talked about water and played water games, and we talked about garbage and did a town cleanup. They were so excited about the clean up that they asked to do one every week. And that is why the class is now 3 days a week. The third is purely activity and it's clean up the town and set aside the recycling day. We also did a day of art projects with recyclables and a day where we talked about the seasons and natural disasters. That ended up being really fun because we did a natural disaster obstacle course on the playground. In the next few weeks we'll be playing in the garden, talking about animals and taking a few hikes. So those are my cousins.

And now for my kids. Don't freak out. They aren't human but they are definitely babies. In a moment of pity and as a sucker for cats, I've adopted two kittens. They are from the town over and the owner of their mom was going to kill them if they didn't have a home (that's their form of controlling the pet population) and so I offered mine. So now Cora (short for Corazon) and Messi (short for Mezcla and as an homage to the soccer great) are slowly (really, very slowly) learning how to use the litter box and currently sleeping on my lap. They are good company for me and a good topic of discussion with the rest of my family in town.

So now you know a little bit more about the family I've been plopped into and understand a little bit about who I'm encountering in my day to day. I hope soon to get some pictures up for you to see. I hope everyone in the snowy snowy north is staying sheltered and warm. Blessings.

Welcome to the Med Kit

Well folks, after nearly 4 months in Peru, I have finally had to open my Peace Corps issued med kit for a purpose other than to see what is inside of it. In fact, in the last 2 weeks, I´ve gone to it a total of three times. Don´t worry. I am perfectly fine. I just thought I would take this opportunity to share with you this bit of my tool kit.

So. First opening:
New years was a whole lot of fun. I stayed up until late with my family, my Peace Corps neighbor and the Dutch biologist and her family. We had an international event with Dutch ollenballen (this is basically fried dough with raisins and powdered sugar), American (but really Irish) potato-leek soup (thanks mom for e-mailing the recipe), Peruvian wine (which is way to sweet), escabeche de pollo (way too spicy) and of course panetón and chocolate. At midnight, we participated in all the customs: we ate 12 grapes for 12 wishes, we stuffed lentils into all of our pockets to have money in the next year and my host sister and I ran a lap around the house so that we would travel in this year. And then exhausted, we went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up with the stomachache of a champ. Apparently, such a mix of traditional foods means that I eat far more than my stomach can handle. I´m going to go ahead and say it was worth it though. I mean, it was all delicious. Nevermind the fact that I only ate soda crackers and drank tea for the three days after that. Totally worth it. And now you´re probably thinking: ok, what pills in her med kit did she take out to help her hurting tummy? Answer: none. Oh sure we have plenty for all sorts of stomach ailment, even up to Cipro for the occasional bacterial infection. But no, the reason I went to my med kit during my stomach problems was this: January 1st, we created our own custom and jumped in to Lake Cochapampa which is just on the east side of town. Actually, nothing happened here either. We were pretty cold in the water, but the intense near-equatorial sun warmed us up right as soon as we got out. And I felt so good and refreshed...aside from the stomachache.

The real reason for the med kit that day is this: the new mayor was swearing in and I had to be there but my shoes were giving me blisters so I put band-aids on my heels so I could attend the ceremony. After all of that craziness, it was just blisters.

OK so second opening: A friend of mine was complaining of a headache but since it was Sunday, none of the stores were open to sell a painkiller. So, having the loaded arsenal that I do, I gave him one of our non-aspirin painkillers and told him to drink a lot of water. Water is my go-to remedy. You saw that with the stomach issue. So anyway....

Third opening: This one is for real. As you probably know, I am a fan of the exercise and have been continuing this hobby here in site though there seem to be more challenges to doing it here than at home. For one thing, it´s a little chillier in the morninga. For another, there´s a whole lot less oxygen at 3550 meters above sea level. And then there´s the stares I get for exercising...in shorts! Outside. But now that they´re used to me going running and now that I have a couple of ladies who occasionally go with me, I´ve conquered that one. But here´s the other kicker: I live in the mountains. This means that very rarely is the path flat and rarer still is it paved. Gravel running is another complete challenge and can lead to....going to the med kit!

Because you see, I was running up to the first bridge and back a couple of days ago (about 6 km they tell me) and I tripped on an especially protrusive rock and fell. Hard. And on the wet gravel, falling hard means that there will be blood (movie reference intentional). Both palms and both knees were pretty scraped up and dirty. Still being more than a km from home, I picked myself up and kept going. I figured that the faster I ran home, the sooner I could clean up. I met a few of the farmers on their way to the fields on my way back and hoped they hadn´t seen my epic fall. I washed off in the sink and quickly rinsed (cold shower, yum) and then headed for the med kit. Band-aids wouldn´t work this time given the location of the injury so I hurried past the camo condoms and the bug repellant to the nice bottle of disinfectant and gauze and went to town. Cool thing about this disinfectant: it doesn´t burn. Hooray!

So I´m on the mend from that but the only thing that is suffering is my volleyball game. With bruised and scraped hands, there´s not a whole lot of spiking the ball that can happen.

What does this mean? It means I am being a lot more proactive in my work. I´ve been meeting people in their homes and conducting polls to see their living situations and their opinions. And it´s been really helpful, informative and only slightly heartbreaking. The holidays are over and it´s time to get to work. I´m feeling good about it. Without the parties of the holidays, I don´t think I would have the relationships I do now to begin to get down to business. After my meeting with the mayor today, we´ve decided that my summer school classes begin next week. Time to jump in.

Blessings.

Happy Holidays

Hi all! I know it´s New Year´s Eve (or as the Dutch say, Old Year´s Evening) but I wanted to share with you my thoughts about the Christmas season here in Peru. I don´t know what it was, but something possessed me the day of Christmas to write in my journal the following. I hope you enjoy.

Twas the day of Christmas and all through the town,
All the creatures were stirring, everyone is around.
No stockings are hung, no chimneys are found
And there´s snow in the mountains but not on the ground.
The ladies in their mantas and I in my coat,
From a short winter´s nap, I have just awoke.
Yes, a nap I´ve taken, it seems for the first time this year
Because Christmas is celebrated at all hours here.

It begins Christmas Eve, with the Nochebuena meal.
Dinner´s at midnight and then, it gets real.
Chicken, potato puree and rice, a toast with champagne
Then out come the cuyes and you remember this dinner´s not tame.
Then we took our hot chocolate and our panetón
I offered my cookies to share something from home.
We wished each other ¨Merry Christmas¨with hugs for all
But before we could sleep our came beer, cold and tall.
At 1 or 1:30 I climbed into my bed
But the sleep was short-lived, hardly a dream in my head.

For at 5:00 Christmas morning I awoke with a start
To the sound of firecrackers, oh dear, attack of the heart.
I quickly got dressed and ran to the square
And found the church open, people singing and dancing there.
Each lady carried with her her own Christmas tree
From a branch covered with tissue paper, flowers unlike any you´d see.
They were singing and dancing around in a ring
And entered the church in pairs to worship the newborn King.

To combat the cold, they served drinks nice and hot.
This was the first Christmas I broke fast...with a shot.
Chamis, they call it, a calientito hot toddy
One quick swig and it will warm up the body.
Then a hot punch was served in a cup made of tin,
It was a very different sunrise service to participate in.
Then back to my house to turn on the gas stove,
For a breakfast of pancakes for my family, I strove.

Later, Saint Nick had come to visit via an NGO,
And I watched as the kids lined up to receive their ¨regalo¨
The dancing continued down in the square,
Then up the hill moved the party, it only seemed fair.
In a house made of stone, lunch was provided for all
They started drinking in the morning, everyone was having a ball.
Then we sat in the sun, my face burning perchance,
And then surprisinly one of the ladies invited me to dance.

I carried the asusena, the name for the tree
Knowing full well that all eyes were on me.
I danced and I danced as best as I could
But when the song was over, a little girl asked ¨Why did you dance no good?¨
Then we left the scene, a nap on my mind
And before I could sleep came the words for this rhyme.

What a day, what a day, what a day don´t you know.
All types of weather - sun, rain, hail - but no snow.
The party will continue through tomorrow day
And I hoope I can keep my heavy eyelids at bay.
Here I write Christmas day without electical light,
Still, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


And a happy New Year! Blessings.

Where to Begin?

This is a question that seems to be popping up a lot. Where to begin? Where do I begin getting to know the area? Where do I begin getting to know the people? Where do begin to get to work? Where do I begin to start making my mark? And where do I begin to tell you about my first three weeks in my site?

So let´s begin by going through the other questions and how I have started to tackle them.

How have I begun getting to know the area? - In short. Walking. First up and down and up and down and around and around the hill that is our town. The school is at the top of the hill but I live at the bottom, by the plaza, municipality and just inside the gate. That´s right, gated community but don´t be fooled, the gates are in place 1. to keep the cows, sheep and goats out of the fields and 2. to charge the mining trucks as they use our road to get to and from the mine. There are about 4 main ¨streets¨ I would say though a car can only drive on 2 of them. Houses are of adobe, cement, wood or brick and are roofed by cement, tin or grass. Aside from wandering the town, I´ve taken to the hills to wander. There are a whole lot of paths and I can go up, down or across the two mountains between which our pueblo lies.

How have I begun getting to know the people? - Well, the walks through the town have definitely been helping. Sometimes I just go out for a walk with the only purpose of finding someone new to talk to. It works so far and actually, that´s how I met the woman who is now helping me knit my sweater. I also listen, attentively to the loudspeakers just down the street to try and catch the community events. So far this has led me to attend a few committee meetings, 2 town parties, 1 election and one wool dyeing workshop. Also because of this, I participated in the townwide trout harvest from the lake where I helped gut, clean, tag and package 5.2 tons of rainbow trout. And in these events I of course have met and chatted with more than a few people. Another thing I do is occasionally eat at the super cheap restaurant. For 4 soles I can get soup and entree and a hot beverage. If you´re unfamiliar with the conversion, 4 soles is about 1.30 dollars. The cook there, Silvia, is looking to be a good friend and later today I plan to make Christmas decorations with her.

Where have I begun to get to work? - Tough question. Technically, the walking, talking and hanging out is considered my work. Still, I can direct the conversations to ask about trash, trees and awareness. I´ve found out a good deal from the people including what they identify as problems and where they would like to see their town go. Garbage in the streets is an agreed-upon issue. I also rode with the garbage truck yesterday to see how their system works. The real getting to work will probably have to wait until the new mayor and new community board take office but until then, I am working with the kids over their ¨summer break.¨ In fact, tomorrow I will have my first meeting with the eco-club that the former volunteer began. I am excited to see what they can show me of what they´ve been up to and to hear what they would like to know.

Where to begin making my mark? - Way too early to tell but this is a question that I will continue to have in the back of my mind. Maybe so far, I have made my mark and will continue to do so as an example of an American to Peruvians and by the fact that now a small group of kids knows how to throw a Frisbee.

Blessings.

This Is When It Gets Real

Hello again everybody,

Well, I´ve got to say, I´m a little disappointed. Zero comments from you after I posted all those pictures from my trip. But oh well. I know how it is to be busy. Case in point: I let another couple of weeks go between postings. In my defence, I didn´t have a computer to post on. Actually, I still don´t, but I wanted to keep you in the know so here I am posting my life to you from a public computer in Huancayo. The only downside is that until I get my computer back, no pictures. No worries though. I have complete faith that your imaginations will create some beautiful images.

The last couple of weeks have been busy. We finished up training and then had the planning for the Thank you party to our families and for the swearing in ceremony. That´s right, I´m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! The swear-in ceremony was held on Friday and in our oath we promised to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and abroad. This is the same oath that our military take. Attending the ceremony were the head honchos: our country director (the highest ranking Peace Corps position in Peru) and the American ambassador to Peru, Miss Rose Marie Likins. You´ll be glad to know that I shook her hand, took a picture with her and even got to chat about her Thanksgiving spent with the Marines. So we swore in and have been promoted from PCT´s to PCV´s! Woot.

The day before swear-in was a heck of a lot more fun. That day was Thanksgiving and although I was missing the eating fest that the holiday brings in the States, we had our own bits of party. The morning began with a breakfast banquet with just us Environmental volunteers full of fruit and yogurt and nice breads. A much healthier breakfast than we had been used to. A little bit later, it was time to prep for the Thanksgiving party where our thanks was directed at our host families. As head of the food committee, this meant that I was running around buying last minute things like bread and juice and cutting fruit and cheese and laying them out on trays. I had also made pralines the night before to bring a little bit of Southern taste to our banquet. Also on the spread was sweet potato fries, fruit salad, guacamole, baba ganoush, chips, popcorn, carrot cake, mini apple pies, empanadas, taquitos and wantons. For drinks we served chicha morada and maracuya juice. I think everyone was happy except that they may have not gotten to eat all they wanted.

Although I was in charge of the food, I also participated in the entertainment. We put on a quick Thanksgiving play just to explain a little bit about the holiday. I was a Pilgrim Woman and all I had to do was say ¨Dios mio¨whenever she mentioned us. I think they liked the play but they didn´t quite get the message because the next day, I had to re-explain the idea to my host mom. The other act I participated in was the traditional Peruvian dance called the Carnaval Potosi. We dressed up in the typical dresses and danced barefoot. (This is where if I had my computer I would share photos and video but you´ll just have to wait, or special request it). Lots of fun. But the real show stopped (literally, it was the finale) was Peru 16´s rendition of Stomp. A small group of PCT´s grabbed whatever they could to make sounds and within three days had come up with a really cool routine and funny to boot. (Remind me for video later). I think the parents felt properly thanked.

We had our own party Friday night to say goodbye to each other. We went out to a bar near the river in Chosica and pretty much took over the second floor and its juke box. Nothing says good times like singing Cher and Rod Stewart in perfect english while the Peruvians across the street look on. It was a good way to say goodbye and wish each other luck. And it was weird to think about how long it would be, if ever, we were all in the same place again.

The last week has been and even still is, emotionally charged. I have felt incredibly happy and excited, tormentedly anxious and nostalgically sad. For the most part, I have just felt ready. Things have been frustrating and it has been sad to say goodbye to friends but I think we are all at the place where we are ready to get out and do good work. The anxieties are still there, but the optimism that everything will work out and come together overrides that feeling of nervousness.

So to recap training. I read 4 books, watched 6 movies, went to Lima 8 times, camping once, countless cold showers, a week without any shower, 8 hours a day - 5 days a week with 39 of my new close friends, many combi rides with no thefts and many more good times. I have a cell phone and can converse on it in spanish and I can explain that, no, I´m not a tourist. I can claim that I live here in Peru and I am ready to start working here too.

I just spent the last couple of hours buying things that I will need to furnish my new room in site including a mattress, frame and sheet set. Who knew that the first bed I would ever buy on my own would be in Peru? Tomorrow we will grab our car, strap the bed to the top and take the 4.5 hour trip to site. From there, my work will begin.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you. I have a new mailing address. Please comment here or e-mail me if you would like me to send it to you. Know that I´m thinking of you lots. Blessings.

Well, folks, I'm terribly sorry for having left you thinking about Halloween for the last three weeks. The case is that I spent 10 days of those weeks traveling and the rest of those days gearing for and gearing down from traveling. We completed our FBT (field-based training) in a place called Junin and then I went on to visit my future home in Yauyos. So 10 days of travel and it was good to come "home" to the bed I'd gotten used to. Anyway, the good news is that, as some followers of my blogs know, when I go traveling, the result on my blog is......a TOP 10 LIST!

So to remind you of the rules. Top ten lists need not reach ten nor be limited by ten. The order in which items of the list appear has nothing to do with the coolness of the event. Also, my lists count up. So here we go!

1. In the drive to Junin I achieved a new personal best highest altitude reached. That sign says 4818 meters (15,807 feet) above sea level!

2. We got to visit many current volunteers in their sites, including Lauren in Huayre. Huayre is cool because of this giant in their plaza.

That is a maca. It is a tuber indigenous to high altitudes (Huayre is at about 4100 meters) and known worldwide for its health benefits - specifically, high in vitamins, energizing and an aphrodisiac. We started many a day in town with a hot papaya-maca smoothie.

3. Teaching the children. Also in Huayre, as well as Junin, we were able to give environmental education talks to a few classes in the schools. We focused mainly on reforestation and the importance of planting trees since we were there during Reforestation Week. The kids made us feel like a rock star. Even if we were feeling unsure of our spanish and the adults didn't really know what to make of us, the kids loved us immediately.

4. Working with special children. We also got to visit a special ed school in Junin. This was a simultaneously cool and ugly experience. Cool because, well, let's face it, if kids make you feel great for loving you, special ed kids have the biggest hearts and therefore have way more love to give. The ugly side came when, being there, we could observe a few of the attitudes of other Peruvians towards special ed kids. Some are ashamed, others are afraid and others don't necessarily see them as capable. But for the most part, this experience was uplifting - especially when we all sat down to a mid-morning roll and plastic cup full of Inca-kola.

5. Teaching the adults. On this trip, I had my first experience leading a discussion with adults. The tourism committee of Huayre asked us to give a talk about eco-tourism and help them visualize how they could do that in their town. Having no experience in eco-tourism (except as an occasional patron), we were a little insecure going into this talk too. Of course, even with our limited experience, we still had more than these community members. It turned out to be a great chat and ended with delicious Sol de Cuzco hot chocolate and soda crackers. Yes.

6. Giant frogs! In case you're just tuning in, no, this isn't a list of plagues. Junin is home to a couple of endangered and endemic species because of its altitude and its lake (Chinchaycocha). It is really a quite beautiful altiplano wetland. But due to hunting and loss of habitat this little guy (not so little) is in danger.

Because of that, Peru's protected area service is conducting a population rehabilitation center which we got to visit. Also cool. As a biologist, Lake Chinchaycocha was calling my name.

7. Running into an old Brassica friend at the municipal vivero (tree nursery) in Junin. This little guy was all over Spain when we were looking for its relative last year.

8. Flamingos! We went on a boat trip out onto the lake one morning and from our zodiac, we could see Andean coots, zambullidores and flamingos. So cool. Here they are flying.

9. Historic site of the battle of Junin as well as the location of Incan ruins in Chacamarca (I think that's the spelling). This was the first day that I could actually be in a short-sleeve shirt. It was lovely.

10. Recycle buyback with PCV (and C of C alum) Will. For 4 hours, we bough recyclables from little old ladies, drunk old men, moms and children. The total we bought I think turned out to be about 300 soles (~ $100) worth of recycled materials.

11. Site visit! Walking my new home with the volunteer I will be replacing. Here we are at the end of the street on which I will live.

12. We're heading into the rainy season and so one lovely rainy afternoon (it rained from 1:30 until 7:30), we had an information download. I sat with my notebook and wrote down everything Cate could throw at me about our new town.

13. To tackle one of her current problems regarding trash separation and at the same time introduce me as the new volunteer, we made an informational video. It will be played before the popular television shows so that everyone watching will see.

14. There's another tall, blond, foreigner in my town. She's from the Netherlands and is doing a study on the biodiversity of the snails in the area for her masters. What are the odds?

15. Donkeys. Everywhere. Including the health post.

I think that's it for now. Though I'm sure I'll be coming up with a lot more for you. We have one more week of training and then we move out to site. Since I will have internet there, I plan to be keeping you up to speed through the blog but only time will tell with what frequency once my work gets going. Thanks for reading.

Blessings.