Last weekend was pretty laid back compared to most days in Peru. On Saturday I helped my host mom wash my clothes after breakfast. I felt bad bringing in a large bag of clothes and just taking off, but as I helped it seemed like I just got in her way more than I helped. It was nice to see how to wash certain clothes by hand but half way through the session ended as she shooed me out of the room towards my host dad. Alejandro and my sister Made took me over to the Chaclacayo cemetery on the hillside in Huascaran. I’d wanted to go over and see how the layout and art is different from that of American cemeteries and I was very surprised at how normal and easy it was for us to walk around in the cemetery and see all the different structures. I felt a little strange taking pictures, but it not like it hasn’t been done before. In many cases the tombs were just above ground with maybe a foot or so of cement closing them in a small area. Some had little houses for decorations and others had somewhat traditional headstones. The most striking thing to me was the large walls standing row after row 15 feet tall with at least 75 graves in each large wall. All the tombs are cemented in and have decorations on the outside. This trip revealed to me what my host dad does also. He creates his own intricate stencils and transfers his beautiful work onto the equivalent of gravestones in the cemetery. I believe he also owned a small hardware/paint store at one point because I noticed a large store sign partially uncovered in the house with many small supplies in one room as well. I haven’t brought it up because it isn’t functional at the moment and I don’t want to bring up bad feelings if there are any.
Sunday, I watched “The Incredibles” with my sister and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the movie was animated in Spanish and I didn’t have to sit through two hours of dubbed over cartoons. After lunch, I spent the rest of the day in Chosica with another volunteer Kati, looking for more cheap movies, enjoying street vendor food, and playing cards in the park while taking in the Sunday scene. What I will remember the most about the Sunday trip to Chosica is the combi rides. Sunday was Election Day in Peru and if you think politics in the US get crazy, you wouldn’t believe what you see down here. Voting is mandatory in Peru and if you don’t vote you can’t travel outside of your province, you can’t get simple licenses for identification or for opening businesses, and you are basically limited to off grid life unless you want to pay the steep fine that comes with not doing your civic duty. Because voting is mandatory everybody is trying to get into town all day, from 8:00AM to 4:00PM. The first combi (small busses with seating for 22-24 people) we took had at least 50 people packed in it. This wasn’t terrible if you can stand hot recycled air and a different appalling smell for 15-20 minutes. The ride back was another fun experience because on this combi we managed to shove in at least 60 people. If we hit a big enough bump the guy pressed up against the front of me would have landed one right on my lips and the two people behind me would have surpassed their second base status that they had already achieved. I remember a project I did in middle school were we had to through an egg in a container off the roof of the school. The egg had to remain intact if you were to receive an A grade. I recall using a sort of bedding foam and a little plastic sack for a parachute. I have never felt more like that egg than when I was on that combi and I couldn’t move 4 inches in any direction. Anyways, it was a learning experience….don’t go anywhere on Election Day in Peru if you can help it.
Monday was our first trip to Lima, our first time back to the mega-metropolis since we were whisked away from the airport three weeks ago. Every level language class went to Mira Flores for different projects and practice. Mira Flores is hardly the real Peru and I have trouble calling it Lima because it is gringo central and the spot where we were dropped off was a beautiful park named John F. Kennedy Park. Don’t get me wrong, Mira Flores is beautiful but when my Spanish class decided to eat at Pizza Hut and Burger King across the street from the McDonalds I felt like I was not embracing Peru and the new places I haven’t experienced yet. I ate Pizza Hut in the US three weeks ago and to do it here would have just been too early for me to give in and want American food. I made my way to a local deli which I’m sure is just a Mira Flores tourist trap anyways, but I had to order in Spanish still, from a menu I didn’t recognize and I avoided going the American fast food route that I was so used to back home. Mira Flores will definately be a fun time to come back to, but I want to explore some more night life and different parts of Lima too. Our trip back took over 3 hours in two different combis, even with our driver bypassing numerous red lights with lines of cars at them by driving off road or on the sidewalk. Wednesday was another installment of Charla Time in Chosica with the environment group and a surprisingly large number of health program trainees. We accomplished the feat of drinking the little restaurant out of all their beer while we shared more great stories and hopes for the following weeks and years. I had my first chicken sandwich from a street vendor and it was better even better than I expected it to be, and for two soles it was a steal! No sickness either, I’m starting to think I have an iron stomach down here. This goes for things I can actually get down. I have had almost every part of the chicken now and I have only been incapable of eating one part. For me this part was las patas de pollo (chicken feet). I came home for lunch after language class one day this week and I was greeted with a chicken feet soup and then the second course of rice and potatoes interspersed with more chicken toes. I’ve been able to stomach chicken liver, heart, and other odd organs and tendons here and there, but I could I only get one little toe down before I knew my gag reflex was not having it (no chewing option available, not a good idea). When I go to site I will have to eat way worse food and my mom’s cooking here is great so I’m not complaining, but it is another part of training yourself that you don’t think of until you go through it.
More technical training this week has provided mass amounts of information and useful tools/techniques that I can’t wait to use when I get to site. Working on homework with my sister is becoming more and more fun as my Spanish gets better. I also enjoy seeing her do well in her English. One night this week we were working on her English homework when she pulled out an assignment where she had to fill in certain parts of lyrics to a song. I was taken aback when I glanced at the song and immediately middle school and high school dances popped into head. They are using Savage Garden’s, “I Knew I Loved You before I Met You” as a learning tool. It killed me inside a little, but I admitted I knew every word and found myself humming the tune as I helped her fill in the document. No matter the exact assignment I enjoy teaching and trading off my language knowledge from English to get more help in Spanish.
We only have a half day of training Friday because of the holiday to remember the La Guerra del Pacifico with Chile. This was a war in which Chile invaded Peru in the late 1800s and early 1900s with the help of the British and many atrocities were committed against Peruvian women and children as well and many men as well. The relationship with Chile is still very shaky to say the least. I didn’t know much of Peru’s history before this experience, but my eyes have been opened and it is clear to see why certain parts of Peru are the way they are and why they feel the way the way they do. There is anger towards Spain of course because of hundreds of years of colonialism, but there are many Spanish descendants here and after a few generations there are also large numbers of people who are descendants of Peruvian and Spanish heritage. This doesn’t even cover all the indigenous people in the Sierra (mountains) or in the Selva (jungle).
This weekend we go back to a different a part of Lima to learn about organic farming and small animal husbandry at the Agraria University. Both topics are high on my list of things I want to learn and both can be very useful for better nutrition and improving other aspects of health like: mental health-due to self esteem, income generation for better nutrition and other improvements, and learning better ways to prevent illness through better sanitation and food prep practices.
After Lima it’s Cubano Fest in a town 45 minutes away and right next door to a handful of volunteers from the WatSan/Environment program. If we stay in Lima or make the long trip back for Cubano Fest, this weekend should be full of excitement. Oh, I almost forgot about the late night soccer game Friday night that I might get to play in and a possible cockfight Saturday I could go watch down the street from my house.
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