This last weekend I went to Piura and it was a blast. We had our January regional meeting which meant everyone was coming in from Piura and Tumbes. Saturday was spent just getting things done. I got some laundry dry cleaned, printed some pictures, made my phone calls among other things. After the errands with Jillian and Brittany we decided it was necessary to have a pedicure. It was cheap which is why it later was messed up that night, but oh well. At least my feet don’t look like they have been wondering around a muddy mountain for a couple months. I’m sure that will all change once I return to site. For lunch we wanted to return to a restaurant that we went to when visiting Piura during training. We forgot the name, but knew the city it was in. Once we hailed a cab and got to the city, the next step was getting a moto taxi after we figured the name of course. We knew the name of the place had the word Azules in it and the moto driver claimed he knew where it was. He then took us to a blue building (azul means blue). Here’s how that conversation went:
Moto: Here it is
Me: This is just a blue building
Moto: No. They moved the restaurant here.
Me: That sign says, “for sale,” and this is an empty building.
*moto driver takes off again and mysteriously takes us to the right place*
Whatever. Haha. We walked in the restaurant, sat down and began looking at the menu. We all agreed that the menu and restaurant looked a little different, but it had the same food and we remembered where we sat. Jillian said her chicken was different, but mine and Brittany’s fried shrimp and fish was the same. After paying the bill and walking to get another moto driver we then realized we ate at a restaurant next door to the restaurant we actually wanted. At least the food was good.
For dinner that night we went to a pizza place just down the way from our hostel. One night I had a pineapple, bacon and peach pizza. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Who would think that peaches on a pizza would be good? I can’t wait to make it when I get back! This night though, we went all Italian. It wasn’t like any Olive Garden or Fazzoli’s though, but it worked. It was complete with Pisco Sours, although not Italian…delicious and garlic bread.
The next day I spent just chatting with the friends and family in the States and also with my Tumbes people. We all caught up about things at site and good stories. Later we went to see Tron at the movies and although in Spanish, I was able to get the entire thing. It was such a great movie. I can’t wait to watch it again, but hopefully in English. Haha.
One thing that made this weekend complete was that my host family in Chaclacayo called me. It was so good to talk with them and just catch up on everything. They are so sweet and I miss them so much. They want me to call them and let them know when I am in Piura so they can call me. Seriously, I think I will just runaway and live with them forever.
My last eating adventure ended up being more like a discovery. We went to the new Plaza Vea that just opened up and heard rumors of a Burger King and Pizza hut being new in town as well. On a side note: I bought a two-person tent for 50 soles which is like $20 American dollars. Impulsive buy…yes. Get over it. So after talking with some security guards who complemented me on my Spanish we went to Tottus which is like the competitor of Plaza Vea because they said that Burger King lies they…and boy were they right. Not only was there Tottus and Burger King, but there was KFC, Pizza Hut, nice clothing stores, other local chains of restaurants and in the future a Starbucks and Cinemark is opening up. It’s a mall in the works. Best. Discovery. Ever.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Little tortilla girl
The bus station in Piura that takes me from Piura to Pambarumbe is called Terminal Castilla and I think needs its own TV show. It’s already has a character line up starting with: The Morropon Guy, Gelatina/Pan Lady, The Blind Guy, Music/Movie Man, The Bus Drivers, The Ticket Vendors, The Passengers , The Moto/Taxi Drivers, The Food Venders and The Random Item Vendors. I will now take time to explain a little bit about each.
The Morropon Guy is a man who is there every day and he is doing his best to sell you a ticket to the city of Morropon. All he says all day long as fast as he can is, “Morropon, Morropon, Morropon, Morropon!” His voice has this ring about it that makes it stand out more than anyone else’s voice. There are days I would give anything to just punch him. He is bald and wears raggedy clothes and just wonders around screaming Morropon 4 times in a row before he starts all over again.
The Gelatina/Pan Lady is a woman who comes on your bus before you leave or just wonders around the station in general selling gelatina (jello) and pan (bread). All she says while wondering is, “Gelatina…Pan…Gelatina…Pan,” in a voice that makes it sound like she is on the brink of death. When she comes by your seat she gives you a death stare with the gelatina and pan in your face just makes you feel weird. You don’t make eye contact with this lady. She always has her gray hair pulled back in a pony tail that goes all the way down to her butt. She wears a skirt to her knees with some beat up old blue flats and usually some type of button up top. She is what you would call “gordita.”
The Blind Guy is well, obviously blind…or he claims to be. He comes on your bus before you leave and starts to give the same speech about how he is blind and likes to help poor children. Depending on which bus he is on, he inserts the name and then says thanks. After that he walks around shoving his hand in your face asking for money. He always seems to skip the seats that don’t have people in them. Weird. He wears jeans with a blue and gray poncho and has a brown wooden cane. Every now and then he has a baseball hat on and his eyes do look a little funny.
The Music/Movie Man sells movies and music all over that little place. He always tells you these artists that usually you have never heard of. The movies and music come in little plastic sleeves and the more expensive ones come with what I call, “Google Images.” I will explain more about that later. This guy isn’t pushy, but he is always there with his box of entertainment.
The Bus Drivers, Ticket Vendors, Passengers, Moto/Taxi Drivers, Food and Random Item Vendors are always there daily and can always throw in some humor when needed.
At Terminal Castilla you can buy almost anything. The items seem to be things that most likely fell off of a moving truck and were scooped up in the nick of time to be sold. You can always find someone with sun glasses, belts, watches that don’t work, locks, flashlights, wallets (maybe recently stolen?) and other goodies. Anytime you bus stops along your route you can be prepared for others to come rushing on the bus usually with bread, drinks (that have pull tabs already open…sketchy) and fruits (usually mangos).
Now I said I would take some time to talk about, “Google images.” Many places, usually restaurants, want to make their menus or signs look extra fancy. They know that they can achieve this by adding some pictures. I will use a restaurant as an example. Normally when you go to a restaurant and point at the picture to tell the waiter that that is what you want. They say ok and write it down. If you do that in Peru, you are most likely going to be told that they don’t have it. Therefore, I believe they just “Google imaged” a picture of some random food and stuck er’ right on the menu to add some sparkle. This happens all the time and now I just know to pick a name on the menu and hope it’s there.
Anyway. I took another trip to Piura on January 2 with Brittany and Jillian met us there. We stayed only one night, but I was able to get a lot done. I went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food to bring back so I can cook some goodies for my friends and family. I also figured out how to get to this city outside of Piura that has an artisans market. I took a collectivo which is like a cab, but it doesn’t leave until all the seats are full and everyone goes to the same place and of course I made friends with the people next to me. I have learned that my good ole’ southern hospitality seems to really win Peruvians over. I usually make friends everywhere I go and I love it!
At the market I wondered around and bought some goodies for me and for my family as well. It was fun just being able to wonder around and see all the pretty things. If you don’t know, an artisans market is a market that sells things that are all handmade and decorated. They have tons of touristy things as well as things for your house. One thing I bought for my house is a bright green and yellow hammock. They’re a little expensive (around $30 American dollars), but it’s so necessary for reading. I mean I can’t just sit in a chair when I can have a hammock on my balcony. Sheesh.
On the way back to Pambarumbe the bus blew a tire on the road so we were slightly delayed, but nonetheless it was fixed somehow and we didn’t have problems with it after that. One of my host sisters from Lima and my host brother went back to Lima the day after I got back. It was sad to see them leave, but they have facebook so I can keep in touch.
One day I went to Jesus’ house and she taught me how to make tortillas. It’s not so hard and I am pumped to try to make them on my own. Another day I left at the crack of dawn to head to Santiago and helped Brittany cook some pancakes and teach a class in English. It was about an hour walk, but it was beautiful. The class was tons of fun too. There were around 25 kids and we played games that taught them colors and numbers. They picked up on it pretty quick too! Most of the kids were well behaved. I don’t think they liked the hot chocolate and pancakes we made them, but I thought it was delicious. Haha. On another note, Brittany’s cat had kittens…and they all died.
We left for Piura on Friday afternoon because this was the weekend for a regional meeting. I had some laundry to finish and pictures to print, but other than no plans but the meeting.
The Morropon Guy is a man who is there every day and he is doing his best to sell you a ticket to the city of Morropon. All he says all day long as fast as he can is, “Morropon, Morropon, Morropon, Morropon!” His voice has this ring about it that makes it stand out more than anyone else’s voice. There are days I would give anything to just punch him. He is bald and wears raggedy clothes and just wonders around screaming Morropon 4 times in a row before he starts all over again.
The Gelatina/Pan Lady is a woman who comes on your bus before you leave or just wonders around the station in general selling gelatina (jello) and pan (bread). All she says while wondering is, “Gelatina…Pan…Gelatina…Pan,” in a voice that makes it sound like she is on the brink of death. When she comes by your seat she gives you a death stare with the gelatina and pan in your face just makes you feel weird. You don’t make eye contact with this lady. She always has her gray hair pulled back in a pony tail that goes all the way down to her butt. She wears a skirt to her knees with some beat up old blue flats and usually some type of button up top. She is what you would call “gordita.”
The Blind Guy is well, obviously blind…or he claims to be. He comes on your bus before you leave and starts to give the same speech about how he is blind and likes to help poor children. Depending on which bus he is on, he inserts the name and then says thanks. After that he walks around shoving his hand in your face asking for money. He always seems to skip the seats that don’t have people in them. Weird. He wears jeans with a blue and gray poncho and has a brown wooden cane. Every now and then he has a baseball hat on and his eyes do look a little funny.
The Music/Movie Man sells movies and music all over that little place. He always tells you these artists that usually you have never heard of. The movies and music come in little plastic sleeves and the more expensive ones come with what I call, “Google Images.” I will explain more about that later. This guy isn’t pushy, but he is always there with his box of entertainment.
The Bus Drivers, Ticket Vendors, Passengers, Moto/Taxi Drivers, Food and Random Item Vendors are always there daily and can always throw in some humor when needed.
At Terminal Castilla you can buy almost anything. The items seem to be things that most likely fell off of a moving truck and were scooped up in the nick of time to be sold. You can always find someone with sun glasses, belts, watches that don’t work, locks, flashlights, wallets (maybe recently stolen?) and other goodies. Anytime you bus stops along your route you can be prepared for others to come rushing on the bus usually with bread, drinks (that have pull tabs already open…sketchy) and fruits (usually mangos).
Now I said I would take some time to talk about, “Google images.” Many places, usually restaurants, want to make their menus or signs look extra fancy. They know that they can achieve this by adding some pictures. I will use a restaurant as an example. Normally when you go to a restaurant and point at the picture to tell the waiter that that is what you want. They say ok and write it down. If you do that in Peru, you are most likely going to be told that they don’t have it. Therefore, I believe they just “Google imaged” a picture of some random food and stuck er’ right on the menu to add some sparkle. This happens all the time and now I just know to pick a name on the menu and hope it’s there.
Anyway. I took another trip to Piura on January 2 with Brittany and Jillian met us there. We stayed only one night, but I was able to get a lot done. I went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food to bring back so I can cook some goodies for my friends and family. I also figured out how to get to this city outside of Piura that has an artisans market. I took a collectivo which is like a cab, but it doesn’t leave until all the seats are full and everyone goes to the same place and of course I made friends with the people next to me. I have learned that my good ole’ southern hospitality seems to really win Peruvians over. I usually make friends everywhere I go and I love it!
At the market I wondered around and bought some goodies for me and for my family as well. It was fun just being able to wonder around and see all the pretty things. If you don’t know, an artisans market is a market that sells things that are all handmade and decorated. They have tons of touristy things as well as things for your house. One thing I bought for my house is a bright green and yellow hammock. They’re a little expensive (around $30 American dollars), but it’s so necessary for reading. I mean I can’t just sit in a chair when I can have a hammock on my balcony. Sheesh.
On the way back to Pambarumbe the bus blew a tire on the road so we were slightly delayed, but nonetheless it was fixed somehow and we didn’t have problems with it after that. One of my host sisters from Lima and my host brother went back to Lima the day after I got back. It was sad to see them leave, but they have facebook so I can keep in touch.
One day I went to Jesus’ house and she taught me how to make tortillas. It’s not so hard and I am pumped to try to make them on my own. Another day I left at the crack of dawn to head to Santiago and helped Brittany cook some pancakes and teach a class in English. It was about an hour walk, but it was beautiful. The class was tons of fun too. There were around 25 kids and we played games that taught them colors and numbers. They picked up on it pretty quick too! Most of the kids were well behaved. I don’t think they liked the hot chocolate and pancakes we made them, but I thought it was delicious. Haha. On another note, Brittany’s cat had kittens…and they all died.
We left for Piura on Friday afternoon because this was the weekend for a regional meeting. I had some laundry to finish and pictures to print, but other than no plans but the meeting.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Cock fights and Christmas
(Prepare for another long blog…as it has been a long time since I have been to Piura. Included in this blog: my Christmas and New Years)
As many of you know I took a 2.5 day mental vacation to Piura. I needed to get out of Pambarumbe to clear my mind, get a good night of sleep, good food and talk too many of my friends and family. I even talked to people who I haven’t talked to since I have been here. I was able to sleep and eat and clear my mind. I believe I know what decision I will end up making, but I am spending, or I should say, I am trying to listen to what the Lord is saying. I left Piura with clear thinking and a happy heart and mind.
Nothing about any of this is easy, but ultimately I am the one who has to live and work here and it’s not worth being unhappy. Peace Corps doesn’t even want you to be unhappy…that’s why they give the option of going home. I know if I do come back to the USA that I have other options to work internationally and of course locally too; I can always return to my favorite little tienda ever, Victoria’s Secret (thank you Salleye). Man do I miss having some good undies and bras to wear. Ha! Don’t expect me to return before January 15 because I have many things I want to work on before then, but I can’t make promises after the 15th.
Anyway on the way back from Piura things got interesting. We were going around the mountain when our bus slammed on its breaks and then after a few minutes turned the engine. I figured we were just having engine problems, but come to find out, there was another giant bus who was having problems and because the roads are so tiny (basically one-way) we couldn’t pass. We sat there for a few hours and I just watched Grey’s Anatomy and played with this kitten that escaped his box. The owners of the kitten weren’t even around so when the bus took off I was panicking because there wasn’t any way I could take this little kitty back to Pambarumbe. First of all, I have no way to feed or care for it and secondly, I am probably going back to the States and as much as I would love to take a new kitty home, my parents would kill me and plus, I have Bella and Lucy waiting for me and they are all I really want.
Once we got to Paltaschaco the owners got on the bus and saw me with the kitten. I told them that it escaped its box and I have been keeping it. The lady accused me of stealing her cat, but I think she was joking. They shoved the kitten in the box and screamed at it when it was meowing uncontrollably. I told them if they want to kitten to be quiet they should hold it because it’s scared. They took my advice and it worked. I’m not sure why, but Peruvians find me very entertaining and interesting when they realize the love I have for animals. They like to even tell me, “You like animals.” The entire time I was holding that kitten I would get the strangest looks. Oh well. I ended up getting back to Pambarumbe a few hours late and my family found it hilarious for some reason. For some reason both my host families have found me very entertaining when it comes to things that just happen…like late buses or combis they just laugh and laugh. I have been told my facial expressions speak more Spanish than I do. I have also been told many times that I pick up dancing quicker than Spanish. Whatever. These hips don’t lie…
I woke up the next day deathly ill. It was basically these horrible stomach cramps and migraine. My body ached all over and I would break in to hardcore sweats and then 30 minutes later I would be freezing. I ate breakfast and then literally the rest of the day I stayed in bed and watched movies, tv shows and slept. Around 7:30PM my sister brought me some tea and these little pieces of cake. It was really sweet, but I wasn’t hungry and I needed water since I was sick so I just threw it out.
The next day I woke up feeling better and my family served me a mango the size of my head for breakfast. It was delicious!!! I make myself laugh at how my fingernails sometimes have an orange tint to them from all the mango eating I do.
While I was waiting with Mirtha to go to Santo Domingo, Brittany came around the corner because word spread that I had her cell phone. Due to the fact I couldn’t call her, she didn’t know I was planning on dropping it off on the way. We spent some time catching up and making plans for Christmas Day. She rode the bus part of the way back and we went separate ways. Once we got to Santo Domingo I am not sure why we even went and I just went to find Aman and hang out. She showed me around her city and we ran into Chris and visited with him for a little bit.
I had lunch with her family and it was pretty good. I got to spend time with some of the people she works with as well. Everyone was beyond friendly and super affectionate. I love Peruvians. Americans, listen up, when I come back, rather it be now or later, I plan on greeting you all like Peruvians…it’s nicer ok!
On the way back Mirtha and I hitch-hiked the entire way back since there weren’t any more buses leaving. Have you ever gone down the side of a mountain in the rain, in a car without windshield wipers, on a road made for one car, but always has two, in a car made for 5 but had 6 people, 5 turkeys and a plant and some luggage? I have and it was pretty fun. It’s just another day in the life. Thank you Peru. Always classy and always full of surprises. The rest of the day was uneventful. I read on the balcony and watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with my sister.
Christmas Eve I woke up feeling sick again. Yay. Same thing as the day before. I will be eating rice and potatoes and for dessert…cirpo. Thank God for Cipro because I have been on a Cipro diet this last month. Now PC says that many volunteers if you will, make a mess, in their pants. I have yet to have this happen (fingers crossed), but I did come pretty close to it when I opened up my bathroom door and a freakin bat flew out. There aren’t enough words to explain the emotions that went racing through my head. Basically I did a backwards flip outside the bathroom door and didn’t quite stick the landing. I’m fine. I went to my hill to take a picture of all the pretty fog that looked like it was tucking my city in like a blanket.
While at my hill I played with my favorite dirty kitten that now reminds me of Pig Pen from Peanuts. This poor kitty just will always have a cloud of dust over its head. (Now that I think about it, there are people in my city that remind me of Pig Pen). The kitty loves me and slept on my shoulder for a little bit and I have fleas now, but why not add a little something else to the mix? Walking down the hill I noticed a lady was playing with her parrot. That’s right. A freakin parrot. It’s not even in a cage so I went to see what that was about. She has had it for years and it speaks Spanish. It blew me kisses and called me mamacita senorita.
On Christmas Eve I ended up reading about 100 pages in my book, watching one episode of How I Met Your Mother, 6 episodes of Sex and the City, the movie Year One, The Sweetest Thing and some other movie I have never heard of. Needless to say, it wasn’t like most Christmas Eve’s. I did on the other hand get to meet my two other host sisters who study in Lima. They are super beautiful and sweet. They are around my age too!
And now for a Christmas Story:
Peruvians celebrate Christmas a little bit differently than we do. For starters the main celebrations take place at midnight on Christmas Eve. Everyone and their mom has a nativity scene set up, but Jesus is missing. Why is Jesus missing? Well at midnight on Christmas Eve there is a celebration to go put Jesus in his manger because; well now it’s the 25th…Jesus is born! I freaking love this tradition because it’s so simple and sweet. And honestly, I want to try to bring this home for next Christmas. After you put Jesus in his manger, we all have a giant feast of food. Pretty cool.
Christmas Day isn’t that exciting in Peru. You don’t really do anything at all which is why I hitchhiked my way to Santiago to hang out with Brittany. The car I hitchhiked in happened to have Anna in it, who was headed to Santo Domingo. Once I got to Santiago Brittany showed me around and then started watching Elf. After numerous interruptions from US family phone calls and Brittany’s family, we finished the movie. Her mom fixed me some food that looked terrible and I told her I was terribly sick (which I was) and that I couldn’t eat a lot. The next movie we watched was the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. We weren’t lucky to finish that one because people wanted us to come out and dance. The people were terribly drunk, but we complied just to get it over with.
A few songs into dancing I realized the lack of cars to hitchhike my way back to Pambarumbe and if I was going to walk, then I needed to start walking then because it would be dark in an hour and it was an hour walk. After much debating about walking and figuring out what to do…all of us decided what was best and I got back to Pambarumbe in the coolest way ever. For my own personal safety, I will not talk on here about how I got back, but if you know me personally, you should totally ask because it was AWESOME. It turned a crappy Christmas into a cool one. At least I didn’t cry and sing too many Christmas carols to myself.
The day after Christmas I spent with my host sisters watching movies and just being lazy. I was reading a book when they came to ask a question and we all ended up looking at each other’s pictures and listening to music for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and I am going to hate to see them leave in a couple weeks. If I remember correctly, one of them has facebook so that will help in keeping in touch.
Not sure if I ever brought this up, but I have this thing I do every time I go into my room. It’s called a BSB check. I search my entire room with a fairly thorough look to check for: Bugs, Spiders and Bats. It may sound crazy, but I always anticipate some creature from the depths of Peru to be out to kill me. And if you remember, I have a shot to kill policy in my bedroom. I should probably clean it because there is a bug graveyard starting to build up in my room. Gross. Where is Bella when I need her?
One day my host sisters and I went and took some stuff to their old aunt’s house. I’m not sure why they invited me because it was only a 30 minute trip, but I was glad they did and learned things along the way. I learned we have a mango tree right in front of my house. We also have lime trees, guava trees, mandarin trees and orange trees. There is also a group of banana trees my neighbor has that you can see from our house. Their aunt, by the way, has a pig that is GIANT. I have never seen such a pig in my entire life. This big looks like it could eat me alive. I literally couldn’t quit staring and I pray that I never have to hear it killed because that’s going to take a loooong time.
I have noticed the closer it gets to January the more rain there is and the stronger it is too. One day my host sisters and I went to clean the church and it basically rained the entire time. All I really wanted was a dust mop because that would have saved us half the time. Oh well. I entertained people by playing the piano. I played Titanic just for Lee. (You’re Welcome Lee)
Side note: My host brother, Julio, who is the Catholic priest I met when visiting is in town now. He is super sweet and should be here for a couple weeks. Anyway, I also learned this week how to make one of my favorite foods called “Papa a la huancaina.” It is super delicious and I know I can find all the ingredients in the States expect for maybe two items. They are types of spices and I don’t know what they are called in English. It seems pretty easy to make too so plan on my attempt at that when I get back. Finally they just gave me a recipe book with Peruvian dishes and I typed up about 6 of my favorites. Luckily I think they are all pretty easy to make and most of the ingredients I know can be found in the USA. Win.
On New Year’s Eve I left and went to Brittany’s to go to a baptism. I heard they are extravagant events here, but this one wasn’t that grand. They only have it one time a year and it was only three kids. Of course there were parties because let’s face it, Peruvians will take any excuse to party. I hitch-hiked my way back to Pambarumbe to celebrate New Year’s with my family and friends.
We had dinner around 10 that night and for some reason I was the only one who was given a tortilla which I found special and funny. After that we just watched tv and hung out. For midnight we went to the top of the hill near the church and lit a stuffed man on fire. That’s right. At the stroke of midnight there was a guy stuffed with hay and clothing and we lit him on fire. It’s some type of strange tradition, but I was fortunate enough to help light him on fire. It was pretty awesome. Then we went to a person’s house and continued dancing until around 1:30 in the morning.
For my first day of 2011 I ate a giant mango for breakfast and then hitched a ride to Santiago to attend a cock fight with Brittany in Santa Ana. My first day of 2011 and I went to a cock fight. It wasn’t as gruesome as I anticipated, but it was pretty cool. Considering my hate for roosters and chickens I wasn’t appalled by it at all. Plus, when am I ever going to get to do something like that again? It was funny because since it wasn’t in either of our cities I didn’t expect to recognize anyone, but after walking in there for 5 minutes some guy yelled my name from afar and there were 4 guys from my city who offered us a seat. One of the guys had a rooster that was fighting and it won! I have to say I felt pretty cool when people recognized me AND knew my name. Haha.
I had to leave the fight asap because there was a mass for my parents anniversary. I hopped aboard some fun transportation and went back to Pambarumbe just in the nick of time. After mass we went to my grandmother’s house and had a fiesta. There was food and drinks for all and for some reason I was the only one given this food that I really liked. Lol. Not sure why, but oh well. It was way better than what everyone else was given. After the party we all took a ton of photos and bonded. I have to say, I love this family so much. They are amazing. But for my first day of 2011 I went to a cock fight, church and then a party. It’s going to be a good year!
And now for a 2010 wrap up:
The year 2010 was basically amazing. I can’t believe all the things I was fortunate enough to do and accomplish. I want to thank everyone who was a part of it too. Without you all, it wouldn’t have been possible. I have the best friends and family ever! In 2010 here were the top five things I am most proud of: I graduated college, turned 22, went to Egypt, went to Peru for the Peace Corps and learned Spanish. How amazing is that? All in one year. There are 1,000 other things that made that year amazing, but it would take forever to write. I know 2011 is going to be amazing as well and I can’t wait to see what it brings.
As many of you know I took a 2.5 day mental vacation to Piura. I needed to get out of Pambarumbe to clear my mind, get a good night of sleep, good food and talk too many of my friends and family. I even talked to people who I haven’t talked to since I have been here. I was able to sleep and eat and clear my mind. I believe I know what decision I will end up making, but I am spending, or I should say, I am trying to listen to what the Lord is saying. I left Piura with clear thinking and a happy heart and mind.
Nothing about any of this is easy, but ultimately I am the one who has to live and work here and it’s not worth being unhappy. Peace Corps doesn’t even want you to be unhappy…that’s why they give the option of going home. I know if I do come back to the USA that I have other options to work internationally and of course locally too; I can always return to my favorite little tienda ever, Victoria’s Secret (thank you Salleye). Man do I miss having some good undies and bras to wear. Ha! Don’t expect me to return before January 15 because I have many things I want to work on before then, but I can’t make promises after the 15th.
Anyway on the way back from Piura things got interesting. We were going around the mountain when our bus slammed on its breaks and then after a few minutes turned the engine. I figured we were just having engine problems, but come to find out, there was another giant bus who was having problems and because the roads are so tiny (basically one-way) we couldn’t pass. We sat there for a few hours and I just watched Grey’s Anatomy and played with this kitten that escaped his box. The owners of the kitten weren’t even around so when the bus took off I was panicking because there wasn’t any way I could take this little kitty back to Pambarumbe. First of all, I have no way to feed or care for it and secondly, I am probably going back to the States and as much as I would love to take a new kitty home, my parents would kill me and plus, I have Bella and Lucy waiting for me and they are all I really want.
Once we got to Paltaschaco the owners got on the bus and saw me with the kitten. I told them that it escaped its box and I have been keeping it. The lady accused me of stealing her cat, but I think she was joking. They shoved the kitten in the box and screamed at it when it was meowing uncontrollably. I told them if they want to kitten to be quiet they should hold it because it’s scared. They took my advice and it worked. I’m not sure why, but Peruvians find me very entertaining and interesting when they realize the love I have for animals. They like to even tell me, “You like animals.” The entire time I was holding that kitten I would get the strangest looks. Oh well. I ended up getting back to Pambarumbe a few hours late and my family found it hilarious for some reason. For some reason both my host families have found me very entertaining when it comes to things that just happen…like late buses or combis they just laugh and laugh. I have been told my facial expressions speak more Spanish than I do. I have also been told many times that I pick up dancing quicker than Spanish. Whatever. These hips don’t lie…
I woke up the next day deathly ill. It was basically these horrible stomach cramps and migraine. My body ached all over and I would break in to hardcore sweats and then 30 minutes later I would be freezing. I ate breakfast and then literally the rest of the day I stayed in bed and watched movies, tv shows and slept. Around 7:30PM my sister brought me some tea and these little pieces of cake. It was really sweet, but I wasn’t hungry and I needed water since I was sick so I just threw it out.
The next day I woke up feeling better and my family served me a mango the size of my head for breakfast. It was delicious!!! I make myself laugh at how my fingernails sometimes have an orange tint to them from all the mango eating I do.
While I was waiting with Mirtha to go to Santo Domingo, Brittany came around the corner because word spread that I had her cell phone. Due to the fact I couldn’t call her, she didn’t know I was planning on dropping it off on the way. We spent some time catching up and making plans for Christmas Day. She rode the bus part of the way back and we went separate ways. Once we got to Santo Domingo I am not sure why we even went and I just went to find Aman and hang out. She showed me around her city and we ran into Chris and visited with him for a little bit.
I had lunch with her family and it was pretty good. I got to spend time with some of the people she works with as well. Everyone was beyond friendly and super affectionate. I love Peruvians. Americans, listen up, when I come back, rather it be now or later, I plan on greeting you all like Peruvians…it’s nicer ok!
On the way back Mirtha and I hitch-hiked the entire way back since there weren’t any more buses leaving. Have you ever gone down the side of a mountain in the rain, in a car without windshield wipers, on a road made for one car, but always has two, in a car made for 5 but had 6 people, 5 turkeys and a plant and some luggage? I have and it was pretty fun. It’s just another day in the life. Thank you Peru. Always classy and always full of surprises. The rest of the day was uneventful. I read on the balcony and watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with my sister.
Christmas Eve I woke up feeling sick again. Yay. Same thing as the day before. I will be eating rice and potatoes and for dessert…cirpo. Thank God for Cipro because I have been on a Cipro diet this last month. Now PC says that many volunteers if you will, make a mess, in their pants. I have yet to have this happen (fingers crossed), but I did come pretty close to it when I opened up my bathroom door and a freakin bat flew out. There aren’t enough words to explain the emotions that went racing through my head. Basically I did a backwards flip outside the bathroom door and didn’t quite stick the landing. I’m fine. I went to my hill to take a picture of all the pretty fog that looked like it was tucking my city in like a blanket.
While at my hill I played with my favorite dirty kitten that now reminds me of Pig Pen from Peanuts. This poor kitty just will always have a cloud of dust over its head. (Now that I think about it, there are people in my city that remind me of Pig Pen). The kitty loves me and slept on my shoulder for a little bit and I have fleas now, but why not add a little something else to the mix? Walking down the hill I noticed a lady was playing with her parrot. That’s right. A freakin parrot. It’s not even in a cage so I went to see what that was about. She has had it for years and it speaks Spanish. It blew me kisses and called me mamacita senorita.
On Christmas Eve I ended up reading about 100 pages in my book, watching one episode of How I Met Your Mother, 6 episodes of Sex and the City, the movie Year One, The Sweetest Thing and some other movie I have never heard of. Needless to say, it wasn’t like most Christmas Eve’s. I did on the other hand get to meet my two other host sisters who study in Lima. They are super beautiful and sweet. They are around my age too!
And now for a Christmas Story:
Peruvians celebrate Christmas a little bit differently than we do. For starters the main celebrations take place at midnight on Christmas Eve. Everyone and their mom has a nativity scene set up, but Jesus is missing. Why is Jesus missing? Well at midnight on Christmas Eve there is a celebration to go put Jesus in his manger because; well now it’s the 25th…Jesus is born! I freaking love this tradition because it’s so simple and sweet. And honestly, I want to try to bring this home for next Christmas. After you put Jesus in his manger, we all have a giant feast of food. Pretty cool.
Christmas Day isn’t that exciting in Peru. You don’t really do anything at all which is why I hitchhiked my way to Santiago to hang out with Brittany. The car I hitchhiked in happened to have Anna in it, who was headed to Santo Domingo. Once I got to Santiago Brittany showed me around and then started watching Elf. After numerous interruptions from US family phone calls and Brittany’s family, we finished the movie. Her mom fixed me some food that looked terrible and I told her I was terribly sick (which I was) and that I couldn’t eat a lot. The next movie we watched was the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. We weren’t lucky to finish that one because people wanted us to come out and dance. The people were terribly drunk, but we complied just to get it over with.
A few songs into dancing I realized the lack of cars to hitchhike my way back to Pambarumbe and if I was going to walk, then I needed to start walking then because it would be dark in an hour and it was an hour walk. After much debating about walking and figuring out what to do…all of us decided what was best and I got back to Pambarumbe in the coolest way ever. For my own personal safety, I will not talk on here about how I got back, but if you know me personally, you should totally ask because it was AWESOME. It turned a crappy Christmas into a cool one. At least I didn’t cry and sing too many Christmas carols to myself.
The day after Christmas I spent with my host sisters watching movies and just being lazy. I was reading a book when they came to ask a question and we all ended up looking at each other’s pictures and listening to music for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and I am going to hate to see them leave in a couple weeks. If I remember correctly, one of them has facebook so that will help in keeping in touch.
Not sure if I ever brought this up, but I have this thing I do every time I go into my room. It’s called a BSB check. I search my entire room with a fairly thorough look to check for: Bugs, Spiders and Bats. It may sound crazy, but I always anticipate some creature from the depths of Peru to be out to kill me. And if you remember, I have a shot to kill policy in my bedroom. I should probably clean it because there is a bug graveyard starting to build up in my room. Gross. Where is Bella when I need her?
One day my host sisters and I went and took some stuff to their old aunt’s house. I’m not sure why they invited me because it was only a 30 minute trip, but I was glad they did and learned things along the way. I learned we have a mango tree right in front of my house. We also have lime trees, guava trees, mandarin trees and orange trees. There is also a group of banana trees my neighbor has that you can see from our house. Their aunt, by the way, has a pig that is GIANT. I have never seen such a pig in my entire life. This big looks like it could eat me alive. I literally couldn’t quit staring and I pray that I never have to hear it killed because that’s going to take a loooong time.
I have noticed the closer it gets to January the more rain there is and the stronger it is too. One day my host sisters and I went to clean the church and it basically rained the entire time. All I really wanted was a dust mop because that would have saved us half the time. Oh well. I entertained people by playing the piano. I played Titanic just for Lee. (You’re Welcome Lee)
Side note: My host brother, Julio, who is the Catholic priest I met when visiting is in town now. He is super sweet and should be here for a couple weeks. Anyway, I also learned this week how to make one of my favorite foods called “Papa a la huancaina.” It is super delicious and I know I can find all the ingredients in the States expect for maybe two items. They are types of spices and I don’t know what they are called in English. It seems pretty easy to make too so plan on my attempt at that when I get back. Finally they just gave me a recipe book with Peruvian dishes and I typed up about 6 of my favorites. Luckily I think they are all pretty easy to make and most of the ingredients I know can be found in the USA. Win.
On New Year’s Eve I left and went to Brittany’s to go to a baptism. I heard they are extravagant events here, but this one wasn’t that grand. They only have it one time a year and it was only three kids. Of course there were parties because let’s face it, Peruvians will take any excuse to party. I hitch-hiked my way back to Pambarumbe to celebrate New Year’s with my family and friends.
We had dinner around 10 that night and for some reason I was the only one who was given a tortilla which I found special and funny. After that we just watched tv and hung out. For midnight we went to the top of the hill near the church and lit a stuffed man on fire. That’s right. At the stroke of midnight there was a guy stuffed with hay and clothing and we lit him on fire. It’s some type of strange tradition, but I was fortunate enough to help light him on fire. It was pretty awesome. Then we went to a person’s house and continued dancing until around 1:30 in the morning.
For my first day of 2011 I ate a giant mango for breakfast and then hitched a ride to Santiago to attend a cock fight with Brittany in Santa Ana. My first day of 2011 and I went to a cock fight. It wasn’t as gruesome as I anticipated, but it was pretty cool. Considering my hate for roosters and chickens I wasn’t appalled by it at all. Plus, when am I ever going to get to do something like that again? It was funny because since it wasn’t in either of our cities I didn’t expect to recognize anyone, but after walking in there for 5 minutes some guy yelled my name from afar and there were 4 guys from my city who offered us a seat. One of the guys had a rooster that was fighting and it won! I have to say I felt pretty cool when people recognized me AND knew my name. Haha.
I had to leave the fight asap because there was a mass for my parents anniversary. I hopped aboard some fun transportation and went back to Pambarumbe just in the nick of time. After mass we went to my grandmother’s house and had a fiesta. There was food and drinks for all and for some reason I was the only one given this food that I really liked. Lol. Not sure why, but oh well. It was way better than what everyone else was given. After the party we all took a ton of photos and bonded. I have to say, I love this family so much. They are amazing. But for my first day of 2011 I went to a cock fight, church and then a party. It’s going to be a good year!
And now for a 2010 wrap up:
The year 2010 was basically amazing. I can’t believe all the things I was fortunate enough to do and accomplish. I want to thank everyone who was a part of it too. Without you all, it wouldn’t have been possible. I have the best friends and family ever! In 2010 here were the top five things I am most proud of: I graduated college, turned 22, went to Egypt, went to Peru for the Peace Corps and learned Spanish. How amazing is that? All in one year. There are 1,000 other things that made that year amazing, but it would take forever to write. I know 2011 is going to be amazing as well and I can’t wait to see what it brings.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Graduation all around
I figured that waking up at 5AM to the sound of a pig being slaughtered outside of my bedroom (thanks neighbors) would put a damper on my entire day. Luckily was I was wrong. I spent time working around in the puesto (health clinic) just visiting and getting some more information for my community diagnostic. The promoción for the primaria was supposed to start at noon, but like any good ole event in Peru, it ended up starting around 2:30-3ish. A promoción is like a graduation party, but a lot more extravagant than you are thinking. This one was at the primaria which is like the elementary school, but the girls wear formal dresses (think prom) and the boys wear suits. The kids are between the ages of 10-11 and there is a lot of dancing, drinking and food for all. The long and skinny clown balloons were given out to everyone along with a mask and whistle. There were dance circles and pictures being taken for hours. I have to say, it was a pretty good time for a Wednesday night.
In training we were given warnings about getting caught in drinking circles, which I have learned and experienced. I was asked at least 13 times to join a drinking circle, but this city is small and I plan on being the best role model for these girls that I can. Therefore, I had to tell them each about 8 times that I don’t drink beer and not even a little.
I made friends with a lady named Adea and she owns a store in town. She is super sweet and has invited me to come over before the secondaria promoción, which I have heard is bigger and better. Another friend of my sister and I, Adeta, her mom has invited me to come over as well sometime in the future. I spent a little time yesterday visiting with this older lady, Jesus, who is beyond sweet. I’m enjoying all the invites to people’s house. It makes me feel like they are starting to get to like me!
I left the party around 6:30 because I promised my sister we would secretly decorate the restaurant for Christmas so when her parents came in the next morning they would be surprised. They finally left the place around 8 and we started hanging things all over. It was tons of fun and there was lots of laughing…especially when her dad walked in half awake (he was sleeping in a bedroom in the restaurant and we didn’t know). He looked around confused with a smile on his face and we told him to go away. He laughed and listened.
Another thing I got to help out with was moving and cleaning up our puesto. My site must have received some money in the recent past because they added a second floor to the puesto that has 5 more rooms. It is just now ready to start moving the equipment up there and that’s where I helped. I played in all the medication and vaccinations like I knew what they were and what they do. Rocío tricked me into drinking at 10AM, go figure. I was terribly thirsty and she offered me “Pepsi.” I took a giant gulp of what ended up being ¾ sangria and ¼ Pepsi. Thanks. There was enough dust and dirt after moving things to choke a camel.
I spent most of that day on the phone crying with my mom about how I want to come home. I won’t get into all that right now because it’s mass confusion and I am basically lost…in the middle of a jungle-like area…in Peru…most likely crying as you read this. Let’s just say I want some normalcy in my life right now and I don’t know what to do about it. I just want to a constant flow of water and electricity. I would like a hot bath. I want to feel pretty for one day. I want GOOD food without wondering if I am going to poop my pants later for eating it. I would like internet and cell phone reception in the majority of the places I go. I want to sleep in a bed knowing that most likely I won’t be bite by a giant bug. I don’t want to hear or see animals being slaughtered. I want to wash my clothes in a washing machine, because let’s face it, no matter how hard I scrub them, they will always smell like dirt and sweat. I want to lose the 10-12 pounds I have gained from eating so much rice and potatoes. So those of you who can do or have at least half of that, you are lucky and I envy you. And I am considering joining your would in the next few months…to be continued.
As I typed all of that, the electricity went out. FML.
Anyway, I also watched Eclipse with my girls again. And again we gushed over how cute Edward and Jacob are. I am constantly surprised that my closest friends here are 14 years old, but it’s nice to be around some girls.
Due to this week being full of promocions, the big one was for the secundaria. Little did I know, I should have packed my prom dress here to fit in. All the girls were dressed like they were headed to the red carpet and I was wearing a black skirt, yellow tank top, a black pretty jacket with some black flats. Basically I felt like I was headed to a funeral, my funeral. The party started two hours late which put it starting at 10PM. There was at least an hour full of speeches and then another hour of photo-taking before the music, dancing and drinking started.
I was trying my best to blend in with the crowd because I didn’t want to dance, but being the only white person and not having a prom dress, that didn’t quite work. I ended up dancing with a lot of the students which was fun considering I will most likely be spending time with them. It’s fun how the dancing works at events like this. Everyone dances with everyone. It doesn’t matter the age, sex, if they are married or not. I saw my being asked by the high school boys to dance and I saw the student girls dancing with the mayor of the town. It’s so awesome how much fun these people have out of dancing.
The promocion for the pre-school wasn’t as great because we didn’t have electricity so that meant no music which meant no dancing. There was still good food and it was still a pretty good time seeing all the little kids. There is one boy in particular who cracks me up because he will randomly scream my name when he sees me. His mom is around my age and she is super sweet. Since we were fresh out of water and electricity, that night I spent time with my sister and Anita just hanging out in the plaza and ended up calling it an early night.
I headed to Piura Sunday afternoon after hearing another pig being slaughtered, thank you neighbors. Before I left though, Anita’s mom had me over for tortillas and coffee for breakfast. It was super delicious and afterwards we looked at about 200 pictures of their family. There was some type of festival happening in the plaza when I left, but I headed to Piura for a much needed mental break, which is where I am typing this now.
Just to let those of you who actually read this know, I am in the process of deciding if I should terminate my service early. I love Peru, the food, the people, the cultures and traditions. It’s a beautiful and diverse country that has so much to offer and is headed in the right to direction to becoming an even better country. I love it here, but I am not sure if I can continue living in Pambarumbe for 2 more years. I love the people of Pambarumbe, but again, I am not sure if all of this is for me and I don’t want to spend 2 years here being miserable. I am in the process of trying to get some good sleep and start weighing my pros and cons of coming back to the USA and staying here as a PCV. Please keep me in your prayers because times are rough and I have a lot of decisions to make that aren’t going to be easy.
In training we were given warnings about getting caught in drinking circles, which I have learned and experienced. I was asked at least 13 times to join a drinking circle, but this city is small and I plan on being the best role model for these girls that I can. Therefore, I had to tell them each about 8 times that I don’t drink beer and not even a little.
I made friends with a lady named Adea and she owns a store in town. She is super sweet and has invited me to come over before the secondaria promoción, which I have heard is bigger and better. Another friend of my sister and I, Adeta, her mom has invited me to come over as well sometime in the future. I spent a little time yesterday visiting with this older lady, Jesus, who is beyond sweet. I’m enjoying all the invites to people’s house. It makes me feel like they are starting to get to like me!
I left the party around 6:30 because I promised my sister we would secretly decorate the restaurant for Christmas so when her parents came in the next morning they would be surprised. They finally left the place around 8 and we started hanging things all over. It was tons of fun and there was lots of laughing…especially when her dad walked in half awake (he was sleeping in a bedroom in the restaurant and we didn’t know). He looked around confused with a smile on his face and we told him to go away. He laughed and listened.
Another thing I got to help out with was moving and cleaning up our puesto. My site must have received some money in the recent past because they added a second floor to the puesto that has 5 more rooms. It is just now ready to start moving the equipment up there and that’s where I helped. I played in all the medication and vaccinations like I knew what they were and what they do. Rocío tricked me into drinking at 10AM, go figure. I was terribly thirsty and she offered me “Pepsi.” I took a giant gulp of what ended up being ¾ sangria and ¼ Pepsi. Thanks. There was enough dust and dirt after moving things to choke a camel.
I spent most of that day on the phone crying with my mom about how I want to come home. I won’t get into all that right now because it’s mass confusion and I am basically lost…in the middle of a jungle-like area…in Peru…most likely crying as you read this. Let’s just say I want some normalcy in my life right now and I don’t know what to do about it. I just want to a constant flow of water and electricity. I would like a hot bath. I want to feel pretty for one day. I want GOOD food without wondering if I am going to poop my pants later for eating it. I would like internet and cell phone reception in the majority of the places I go. I want to sleep in a bed knowing that most likely I won’t be bite by a giant bug. I don’t want to hear or see animals being slaughtered. I want to wash my clothes in a washing machine, because let’s face it, no matter how hard I scrub them, they will always smell like dirt and sweat. I want to lose the 10-12 pounds I have gained from eating so much rice and potatoes. So those of you who can do or have at least half of that, you are lucky and I envy you. And I am considering joining your would in the next few months…to be continued.
As I typed all of that, the electricity went out. FML.
Anyway, I also watched Eclipse with my girls again. And again we gushed over how cute Edward and Jacob are. I am constantly surprised that my closest friends here are 14 years old, but it’s nice to be around some girls.
Due to this week being full of promocions, the big one was for the secundaria. Little did I know, I should have packed my prom dress here to fit in. All the girls were dressed like they were headed to the red carpet and I was wearing a black skirt, yellow tank top, a black pretty jacket with some black flats. Basically I felt like I was headed to a funeral, my funeral. The party started two hours late which put it starting at 10PM. There was at least an hour full of speeches and then another hour of photo-taking before the music, dancing and drinking started.
I was trying my best to blend in with the crowd because I didn’t want to dance, but being the only white person and not having a prom dress, that didn’t quite work. I ended up dancing with a lot of the students which was fun considering I will most likely be spending time with them. It’s fun how the dancing works at events like this. Everyone dances with everyone. It doesn’t matter the age, sex, if they are married or not. I saw my being asked by the high school boys to dance and I saw the student girls dancing with the mayor of the town. It’s so awesome how much fun these people have out of dancing.
The promocion for the pre-school wasn’t as great because we didn’t have electricity so that meant no music which meant no dancing. There was still good food and it was still a pretty good time seeing all the little kids. There is one boy in particular who cracks me up because he will randomly scream my name when he sees me. His mom is around my age and she is super sweet. Since we were fresh out of water and electricity, that night I spent time with my sister and Anita just hanging out in the plaza and ended up calling it an early night.
I headed to Piura Sunday afternoon after hearing another pig being slaughtered, thank you neighbors. Before I left though, Anita’s mom had me over for tortillas and coffee for breakfast. It was super delicious and afterwards we looked at about 200 pictures of their family. There was some type of festival happening in the plaza when I left, but I headed to Piura for a much needed mental break, which is where I am typing this now.
Just to let those of you who actually read this know, I am in the process of deciding if I should terminate my service early. I love Peru, the food, the people, the cultures and traditions. It’s a beautiful and diverse country that has so much to offer and is headed in the right to direction to becoming an even better country. I love it here, but I am not sure if I can continue living in Pambarumbe for 2 more years. I love the people of Pambarumbe, but again, I am not sure if all of this is for me and I don’t want to spend 2 years here being miserable. I am in the process of trying to get some good sleep and start weighing my pros and cons of coming back to the USA and staying here as a PCV. Please keep me in your prayers because times are rough and I have a lot of decisions to make that aren’t going to be easy.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
There's food...and a white girl!
Leaving Piura to go back to my new home Pambarume was more different than I expected. Usually when I am out and about in Piura, I yet to anticipate running into someone I recognize, much less a Peruvian. I mean after all, I am only working on my second week and I haven’t met that many people. While waiting for the bus to load I catch eyes with a man and then realize it was my bus driver I had to cozy up with! We immediately walk to towards each other and he asks me if I am headed back to Pambarumbe on his bus. I break the news that there weren’t any tickets and that I am on another bus company, but I will be returning to Piura on Saturday again and it would be darling of him to either reserve me a ticket or have me a seat prepared. He claimed he would do so, but part of me thinks it just won’t happen due to Saturday being 4 days away and let’s face it, he is Peruvian.
After that chance encounter I happen to recognize the socios of my friend Brittany. They realize I am a volunteer and we casually talk and catch up. They are headed on the same bus as I am to also help Brittany with her things to Santiago, the town right after Pambarumbe. The bus began its barreling around the mountain and we made a stop in a slightly smaller city to pick up and drop off some more people. I was sitting in the front of the bus to welcome with a smile everyone who left and entered, but my smile became even larger when I noticed my host dad, David, hopping on the bus with bags of food. I explained how I didn’t return yesterday because I bought my bus ticket to late and needless to say, he didn’t seem fazed at all.
Due to the fact that my size 8 jeans are a little tighter than I fancy I explained to my family that all I want for breakfast is fruit or tortillas and let’s just say, they listened. One breakfast I had papaya juice to drink and some coffee and milk. Then to eat they gave me a mango, guava and an apple. Eating all of that after my 30 minute run felt pretty, well, healthy.
I would also like to inform you dear reader that I have officially read 5 books since I have been in Peru and I have started my 6th. When I am not reading or listening to my new music for entertainment, I am probably watching the latest episodes of House or Grey’s Anatomy. I have started season one of How I Met Your Mother because the PC library in our hostel has every so I thought why not start now? They also have The Office which will be next.
Well I finally got to see my one-eyed, two toothed host grandmother naked…well almost naked. I returned from eating breakfast to wash my clothes and she was standing naked behind my house taking a bucket bath. We have a shower, but I guess that’s a little too new age for her. She mumbled something in her cartoon voice and I ran to my room in horror.
Another “first” for me was going to mass. I’m still not sure why we went to mass in the middle of the week, but we did. I sang the hymns and played along like I have done this all my life. It’s interesting the differences between a church here and a church in the US. For example, here, breast-feeding is totally okay in church. Also, wearing mesh belly shirts is also ok. Now all those times I was told by my mother I wasn’t dressy enough for church, who would think it’s totally acceptable in parts of the world to wear a belly shirt. Gosh mom. Soo picky. (Love you).
I have noticed that I am basically making my 14 year old sister, Etel, my best friend. I love doing everything and anything with her and her friends. There are two girls in particular I spend time with that are friends of Etel and they are Sessi and some other girl whose name I can’t remember because it’s so different. They are sweet girls and little do they know I am reeling them in with my American white girl charm to be a part of my future girls youth group.
After talking with Rocío about how I need to be participating in things with the community, I think I was able to get across to her. I have since then gone to a meeting at the school and attended her sessions about health, which are strangely similar to mine. At the pre-school we talked to the kids about nutrition (side note: it took me almost 10 minutes to remember how to say and spell nutrition in English…I could only think of it in Spanish…weird!). I noticed once the charla (lesson) was over, the moms who happen to be there were very interested about proper nutrition for their kids. I see a door opener! I explained to them that after I completed my community diagnostic in February that I wanted to have a charla each month with moms who have children 5 and under. They seemed pretty excited when I threw out some potential themes. It’s things like that, that make me excited to be here and have hope that my work might help. I need more moments like that.
I also need more moments like I had with my sister and her friend A (whose name starts with an A, but I forget because it’s hard to pronounce). Tonight we watched New Moon and gawked at the site of Jacob’s muscular body. My host mom even got involved and then 30 minutes later she walked away laughing and saying she can’t believe she is watching a teenage vampire movie. That’s right folks, I am in Peru converting people to join my Twilight fan club. So far we are all Team Edward and it’s good. That’s what Peace Corps is about right…whether people are Team Jacob or Edward…?
After the movie I talked with my dad and some of his friends. I told them about how I was headed to Tunály tomorrow (city I almost died getting to because it’s stupidly far away) and I mentioned how last time I saw a snake with the girth of a bat and the length of a car. They then busted into laughter saying it would be hilarious to see me with a machete over my shoulder. (FYI, machetes are a thing here…men just walk around with a machete over their shoulder…just in case they need it?). Anyway, there is a possibility a potential horse and machete are in the works for my future trips to Tunály (because I am going each month). I have also decided that there are bugs here so big that they look like they could smash me with a shoe.
We ended up not going to Tunály for a reason I didn’t really understand, but let’s just say I wasn’t that upset not getting to walk numerous hours in a jungle-like forest. We did go to some other city and take a botiquin, which is basically a giant first aid kit. The reason, because during the rainy season (December-February) it’s possible people can’t walk all the way to Pambarumbe for simple medicines so they “train” a random lady on what medicines cure what and they leave the kit with them. I know that it’s easier for people to do things that way, but it’s still a little bizarre in my mind. I don’t even know what amoxicillin can take care of, most likely these women don’t know either, but they have it!
One thing I am going to have to learn how to do is stop speaking in English to people’s faces and saying hateful things. I am really getting sick of my socio, Rocío, laughing at my Spanish. Sometimes when I ask her to repeat something she just starts laughing at my face and then says it like she is talking to a 2 year old. I usually end up responding back when I understand and then I say something terrible in English like, “At least I speak another language,” or, “At least I am not stuck in this hell hole forever like you,” or, “You’re just jealous because I’m white and American and the city responds better to me than you.” I know it’s terrible, but who gets the last laugh? Me. Don’t worry, she can’t understand what I am saying, but it’s really frustrating. Everyone else is super patient with my Spanish and they encourage me so much, but she can treat me like a kid sometimes.
Have you seen Aladdin? I hope so, but anyway, you know Iago, the bird that is friends with Jafar? Well if you recall, Iago is constantly having crackers shoved in his mouth by the Sultan and he hates it. Sometimes I feel like Iago, but it’s rice and potatoes.
Another first for me, watching the cows run through the street in the city. I was sitting in my sweet spot for cell phone service when all of a sudden a bunch of cows got loose from a truck passing by and went running down the street. It was hilarious watching all these men chase these cows and my family found it even funnier how hard I was laughing. After all calmed down and the cows were tied back to their trees because yes, we tie cows up like dogs, the two cows right below me started having angry looking cow sex. Needless to say it was a little distracting while trying to read.
Friday night was pretty amazing. My sister and I watched the two hour season finale of Al Fondo Hay Sitio and screamed in joy and fear. Al Fondo Hay Sitio is my favorite soap opera and it’s local to Peru. It’s overly dramatic and there are around 15 different characters who are all related in one way or another, but it’s so addicting. It not only helps with my Spanish, but learning the slang too! We now have to wait until January or February for the new season and the only good part about that is hopefully by then my Spanish will be even better! Etel doesn’t usually have to explain anything to me because I don’t understand the language…usually it’s because of an event that happened in the past that I don’t know about. Hearing the Spanish and then being able to watch what’s happening allows for me to understand a lot more. Oh and we also drool over the super cute actors. I am torn between Nicolas and Júel on who is the cutest.
My bus ride to Piura on Saturday morning barely happened. My parents had to pretty much yell at the driver that they paid for me a ticket. The driver was not happy about letting me on the bus, but he finally did. Sadly, it wasn’t the bus driver I had to spoon or else I doubt it would have been a problem. What’s crazy is that there was TONS of room for more people, he was just being a lazy hateful..ahem…person. I talked to Glenn (the volunteer who was in Pambarume before me) and he said getting on these buses will be the death of me. His advice: hitchhike to Morropon and then take a bus from there to Piura. Now I know some of your hearts just sank reading that I should hitchhike in a foreign country as a girl, but hitchhiking here is WAY different than in the US. It’s a common way of transportation and usually fairly safe…especially if you know people who know people…which I do now. Glenn said that because I am a girl that people are going to want to take care of me a lot more and help me with things that would be more difficult for a guy and NOT in a dangerous way. Sooo if worse comes to worse I can always stick my genetic hitchhikers thumb out and see what happens!
Last thing: friday night some people dropped by to eat at my parents restaurant and before they came in, their kid came running in and said, "There's food...and a white girl!"
After that chance encounter I happen to recognize the socios of my friend Brittany. They realize I am a volunteer and we casually talk and catch up. They are headed on the same bus as I am to also help Brittany with her things to Santiago, the town right after Pambarumbe. The bus began its barreling around the mountain and we made a stop in a slightly smaller city to pick up and drop off some more people. I was sitting in the front of the bus to welcome with a smile everyone who left and entered, but my smile became even larger when I noticed my host dad, David, hopping on the bus with bags of food. I explained how I didn’t return yesterday because I bought my bus ticket to late and needless to say, he didn’t seem fazed at all.
Due to the fact that my size 8 jeans are a little tighter than I fancy I explained to my family that all I want for breakfast is fruit or tortillas and let’s just say, they listened. One breakfast I had papaya juice to drink and some coffee and milk. Then to eat they gave me a mango, guava and an apple. Eating all of that after my 30 minute run felt pretty, well, healthy.
I would also like to inform you dear reader that I have officially read 5 books since I have been in Peru and I have started my 6th. When I am not reading or listening to my new music for entertainment, I am probably watching the latest episodes of House or Grey’s Anatomy. I have started season one of How I Met Your Mother because the PC library in our hostel has every so I thought why not start now? They also have The Office which will be next.
Well I finally got to see my one-eyed, two toothed host grandmother naked…well almost naked. I returned from eating breakfast to wash my clothes and she was standing naked behind my house taking a bucket bath. We have a shower, but I guess that’s a little too new age for her. She mumbled something in her cartoon voice and I ran to my room in horror.
Another “first” for me was going to mass. I’m still not sure why we went to mass in the middle of the week, but we did. I sang the hymns and played along like I have done this all my life. It’s interesting the differences between a church here and a church in the US. For example, here, breast-feeding is totally okay in church. Also, wearing mesh belly shirts is also ok. Now all those times I was told by my mother I wasn’t dressy enough for church, who would think it’s totally acceptable in parts of the world to wear a belly shirt. Gosh mom. Soo picky. (Love you).
I have noticed that I am basically making my 14 year old sister, Etel, my best friend. I love doing everything and anything with her and her friends. There are two girls in particular I spend time with that are friends of Etel and they are Sessi and some other girl whose name I can’t remember because it’s so different. They are sweet girls and little do they know I am reeling them in with my American white girl charm to be a part of my future girls youth group.
After talking with Rocío about how I need to be participating in things with the community, I think I was able to get across to her. I have since then gone to a meeting at the school and attended her sessions about health, which are strangely similar to mine. At the pre-school we talked to the kids about nutrition (side note: it took me almost 10 minutes to remember how to say and spell nutrition in English…I could only think of it in Spanish…weird!). I noticed once the charla (lesson) was over, the moms who happen to be there were very interested about proper nutrition for their kids. I see a door opener! I explained to them that after I completed my community diagnostic in February that I wanted to have a charla each month with moms who have children 5 and under. They seemed pretty excited when I threw out some potential themes. It’s things like that, that make me excited to be here and have hope that my work might help. I need more moments like that.
I also need more moments like I had with my sister and her friend A (whose name starts with an A, but I forget because it’s hard to pronounce). Tonight we watched New Moon and gawked at the site of Jacob’s muscular body. My host mom even got involved and then 30 minutes later she walked away laughing and saying she can’t believe she is watching a teenage vampire movie. That’s right folks, I am in Peru converting people to join my Twilight fan club. So far we are all Team Edward and it’s good. That’s what Peace Corps is about right…whether people are Team Jacob or Edward…?
After the movie I talked with my dad and some of his friends. I told them about how I was headed to Tunály tomorrow (city I almost died getting to because it’s stupidly far away) and I mentioned how last time I saw a snake with the girth of a bat and the length of a car. They then busted into laughter saying it would be hilarious to see me with a machete over my shoulder. (FYI, machetes are a thing here…men just walk around with a machete over their shoulder…just in case they need it?). Anyway, there is a possibility a potential horse and machete are in the works for my future trips to Tunály (because I am going each month). I have also decided that there are bugs here so big that they look like they could smash me with a shoe.
We ended up not going to Tunály for a reason I didn’t really understand, but let’s just say I wasn’t that upset not getting to walk numerous hours in a jungle-like forest. We did go to some other city and take a botiquin, which is basically a giant first aid kit. The reason, because during the rainy season (December-February) it’s possible people can’t walk all the way to Pambarumbe for simple medicines so they “train” a random lady on what medicines cure what and they leave the kit with them. I know that it’s easier for people to do things that way, but it’s still a little bizarre in my mind. I don’t even know what amoxicillin can take care of, most likely these women don’t know either, but they have it!
One thing I am going to have to learn how to do is stop speaking in English to people’s faces and saying hateful things. I am really getting sick of my socio, Rocío, laughing at my Spanish. Sometimes when I ask her to repeat something she just starts laughing at my face and then says it like she is talking to a 2 year old. I usually end up responding back when I understand and then I say something terrible in English like, “At least I speak another language,” or, “At least I am not stuck in this hell hole forever like you,” or, “You’re just jealous because I’m white and American and the city responds better to me than you.” I know it’s terrible, but who gets the last laugh? Me. Don’t worry, she can’t understand what I am saying, but it’s really frustrating. Everyone else is super patient with my Spanish and they encourage me so much, but she can treat me like a kid sometimes.
Have you seen Aladdin? I hope so, but anyway, you know Iago, the bird that is friends with Jafar? Well if you recall, Iago is constantly having crackers shoved in his mouth by the Sultan and he hates it. Sometimes I feel like Iago, but it’s rice and potatoes.
Another first for me, watching the cows run through the street in the city. I was sitting in my sweet spot for cell phone service when all of a sudden a bunch of cows got loose from a truck passing by and went running down the street. It was hilarious watching all these men chase these cows and my family found it even funnier how hard I was laughing. After all calmed down and the cows were tied back to their trees because yes, we tie cows up like dogs, the two cows right below me started having angry looking cow sex. Needless to say it was a little distracting while trying to read.
Friday night was pretty amazing. My sister and I watched the two hour season finale of Al Fondo Hay Sitio and screamed in joy and fear. Al Fondo Hay Sitio is my favorite soap opera and it’s local to Peru. It’s overly dramatic and there are around 15 different characters who are all related in one way or another, but it’s so addicting. It not only helps with my Spanish, but learning the slang too! We now have to wait until January or February for the new season and the only good part about that is hopefully by then my Spanish will be even better! Etel doesn’t usually have to explain anything to me because I don’t understand the language…usually it’s because of an event that happened in the past that I don’t know about. Hearing the Spanish and then being able to watch what’s happening allows for me to understand a lot more. Oh and we also drool over the super cute actors. I am torn between Nicolas and Júel on who is the cutest.
My bus ride to Piura on Saturday morning barely happened. My parents had to pretty much yell at the driver that they paid for me a ticket. The driver was not happy about letting me on the bus, but he finally did. Sadly, it wasn’t the bus driver I had to spoon or else I doubt it would have been a problem. What’s crazy is that there was TONS of room for more people, he was just being a lazy hateful..ahem…person. I talked to Glenn (the volunteer who was in Pambarume before me) and he said getting on these buses will be the death of me. His advice: hitchhike to Morropon and then take a bus from there to Piura. Now I know some of your hearts just sank reading that I should hitchhike in a foreign country as a girl, but hitchhiking here is WAY different than in the US. It’s a common way of transportation and usually fairly safe…especially if you know people who know people…which I do now. Glenn said that because I am a girl that people are going to want to take care of me a lot more and help me with things that would be more difficult for a guy and NOT in a dangerous way. Sooo if worse comes to worse I can always stick my genetic hitchhikers thumb out and see what happens!
Last thing: friday night some people dropped by to eat at my parents restaurant and before they came in, their kid came running in and said, "There's food...and a white girl!"
Monday, December 6, 2010
Form of meditation: Led Zeppelin
Self Revelation: I would like to take time to point out that I enjoy writing. These blogs are not only to keep my family and friends in the USA updated about my Peace Corps Peru experience, but for my sanity as well…a form of expression. Sometimes I just like to express random feelings/thoughts and sometimes this feels like the place to do it other than in my personal journal.
For my first weekend at site, I actually left site. There was much to get done and it was a successful trip other than the fact I bought my bus ticket too late. Whoopsy. I have to leave a day later than I anticipated. I guess that means I will have one more night of hot showers, tv, internet and a good clean hotel. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Somewhere along the line of this vacation feeling trip I have become the dinner of chicken sized mosquitoes. I don’t know where they came from or when they attacked, but they have left their mark.
My days in Piura were spent shopping, eating and listening to Led Zeppelin. I have always been a Led Zeppelin fan, but for some reason their music really speaks to me in Peru. It makes me feel calm and relaxed. Sometimes I feel like I need to climb aboard my peace sign shaped multi-colored time machine and head back to the early 1970’s to one of their concerts. I want to hold hands with the hippies and just lose myself in their music.
It may sound weird to those who don’t get such feelings from music, but music is my form of meditation and sometimes that’s where I go. I have compiled a list of my favorite quotes from Led Zeppelin songs and maybe they will interest you enough to where you will YouTube them and just maybe you will have that far out, out-of-mind experience too.
"When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll" - Stairway to Heaven
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
With stars to fill my dream.
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been. ---Kashmir
Spend my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind, make a new start
Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair ----- Going To California
Find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings, la-la-la-la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born
Standin' on a hill in the mountain of dreams
Tellin' myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems - Going to California
Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master's call? - Houses of the Holy
"Oh, whatever that your days may bring, no use hiding in a corner, cause that won't change a thing."-In the Evening
"Don't it make you feel bad when you're tryin' to find you way home, you don't know which way to go?" -When the Levee Breaks
"Upon us all a little rain must fall." -The Rain Song
"Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on." –Stairway to Heaven
"Everybody I know thinks they know me well, but they're never gonna know, cause I move like hell." -What is and What Should Never Be
Maybe you won’t have the same out of mind experience like me, but I can say that you are missing out. Now don’t worry, I don’t freak all Peruvians out about my love of Led Zeppelin. Rigel is a fan as well and understands all this completely. (He even has a dog named Zeppelin). For my mini going away gift he gave me his favorite Led Zeppelin shirt that I can sport around. Anyway, to top off this post with one more quote, here is a paragraph from the book I am reading that I really like:
“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit and that's what everyone wants, but a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake, but to live with a soul mate forever? Nah, too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you and then they leave.”
For my first weekend at site, I actually left site. There was much to get done and it was a successful trip other than the fact I bought my bus ticket too late. Whoopsy. I have to leave a day later than I anticipated. I guess that means I will have one more night of hot showers, tv, internet and a good clean hotel. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Somewhere along the line of this vacation feeling trip I have become the dinner of chicken sized mosquitoes. I don’t know where they came from or when they attacked, but they have left their mark.
My days in Piura were spent shopping, eating and listening to Led Zeppelin. I have always been a Led Zeppelin fan, but for some reason their music really speaks to me in Peru. It makes me feel calm and relaxed. Sometimes I feel like I need to climb aboard my peace sign shaped multi-colored time machine and head back to the early 1970’s to one of their concerts. I want to hold hands with the hippies and just lose myself in their music.
It may sound weird to those who don’t get such feelings from music, but music is my form of meditation and sometimes that’s where I go. I have compiled a list of my favorite quotes from Led Zeppelin songs and maybe they will interest you enough to where you will YouTube them and just maybe you will have that far out, out-of-mind experience too.
"When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll" - Stairway to Heaven
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
With stars to fill my dream.
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been. ---Kashmir
Spend my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind, make a new start
Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair ----- Going To California
Find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings, la-la-la-la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born
Standin' on a hill in the mountain of dreams
Tellin' myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems - Going to California
Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master's call? - Houses of the Holy
"Oh, whatever that your days may bring, no use hiding in a corner, cause that won't change a thing."-In the Evening
"Don't it make you feel bad when you're tryin' to find you way home, you don't know which way to go?" -When the Levee Breaks
"Upon us all a little rain must fall." -The Rain Song
"Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on." –Stairway to Heaven
"Everybody I know thinks they know me well, but they're never gonna know, cause I move like hell." -What is and What Should Never Be
Maybe you won’t have the same out of mind experience like me, but I can say that you are missing out. Now don’t worry, I don’t freak all Peruvians out about my love of Led Zeppelin. Rigel is a fan as well and understands all this completely. (He even has a dog named Zeppelin). For my mini going away gift he gave me his favorite Led Zeppelin shirt that I can sport around. Anyway, to top off this post with one more quote, here is a paragraph from the book I am reading that I really like:
“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit and that's what everyone wants, but a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake, but to live with a soul mate forever? Nah, too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you and then they leave.”
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Week One
As many of you know, or should know, I like to write. During my first 10 weeks in training I didn’t have the time to write like I wanted too. I just threw some words into my blog and ran off into my Peruvian sunset skipping and eating Sublimes (the best chocolate candy ever). Since I have more time now than expected, I plan on “flowering” my blogs a little more. Unfortunately for you, this might make them a little lengthier, but due to the fact that I don’t have internet, there will be fewer updates. Ya win some, ya lose some.
To set the scene as I write this, let me explain my surroundings. I am sitting Indian-style on the balcony of my house facing banana trees, bamboo plants, flowers with the most beautiful red blooms I have seen that attract hummingbirds of all sorts and off in the distance is one of the tallest and greenest mountains around. The roads here are dirt so every time a car or bus goes whooshing by, a cloud of dust blows up to “bronze” my skin a little more.
When I have the money and time I plan to buy a hammock for this unused balcony. Well, I take that back. It’s not entirely unused, I share it (yes, I have already claimed it as my own) with a chicken. I have talked with the chicken and I said I would stay at my end if she would stay at hers. That goes for her future chicks too because she laid eggs this morning.
Back to the theme of this particular blog. I am nearing the end of my first week as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pambarumbe, Piura, Peru. I had written a blog my second day about how things were going, but as I reread it, it seemed more like a pity party, because, well it was. I would rather not make you feel sorry for me because at the time of that blog I was contemplating everything in existence and now I am more tranquilo (relaxed).
My first week didn’t have quite the kick-off like I had wanted and expected. For starters, a few hours before leaving for site I was informed Nannie, my great-grandmother, died. I knew before I left that this was obviously was a possibility being that she was 97 years old, but I tried to keep with the words she left me with, “See you when get back.”
On the way to the bus station to Pambarumbe I was not only distraught, but trying to figure out how to carry 4 bags of luggage that not only weighed more than me, but were bigger than me too, mentally and physically. After cussing some people along the way, sweating like I just ran a marathon and breaking the strap on one backpack, I managed to get there in one piece even though I felt like I was in pieces.
My first night I spent crying and taping pictures to the wall. Having walls of mud with paint slapped on them doesn’t make for an easy hanging process with tape. Every time a picture fell off the wall I cried a little harder like a little piece of me was falling apart. I called it a night by stringing my mosquito net up for security purposes because let’s face it, if any living creature would have crawled in my bed that night, I would already be on a flight back to the States. My mosquito net also gives me a princessy feel too. I mean after all, when I was in 6th grade I had one and little did I know they had actual purposes I would be grateful for 10 years later. Don’t tempt me to die it hot pink. And let’s just say it can be a death trap too…more details on that later.
The next morning wasn’t easy either when I realized even with a new cell phone provider I still didn’t have service. After breakfast I immediately asked where I could get cell phone service and I was told to go to church. I was confused at first because I thought it was more of a command rather than, that’s where the service lies. I don’t have to go directly in the church, but rather a little tree close by.
I have managed to forget another “cherry on top” that I had my first few days at site. This has managed to be the first time I have felt sick. Basically, it feels like someone has a kung-fu like grip on my intestines and at any given moment, they pull them as fast as possible. Now don’t worry, there is no diarrhea or vomiting, but it sure feels like it could happen. Any. Second.
Now you may be thinking, “That poor thing. Why doesn’t she just come home?” Well don’t worry, I thought about it, figured out how I would go about it and then finally decided to sleep on it. I awoke the next morning bound and determined I was going to figure this out and I am happy to say, poco-a-poco (little by little) it’s happening.
I usually don’t like to discuss my religion with other because in my opinion, my personal relationship with God is, well, personal. When questioned, I inform people I have a relationship with God and I am happy with it and that’s all they should be concerned about. But, being as it pertains to the story, I will discuss things a little further so sit back and enjoy this potential one-time event.
Basically God already knows what I need and the question is, do I know? I woke up thinking to myself, “What can I do to get motivated?” and I immediately went to my computer and started watching Joel Osteen. Whether you like him or not, he has been the man to bring sanity to me numerous time when I have trailed off the beaten path. Without going into more details about my history with Joel, let’s just say he gets the job done and well, this time being no different, he got the job done.
I stole this from Eat, Pray, Love because it has the same message. There is an old Italian joke about a poor man who goes church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, “Dear saint- please, please, please…give me the grace to win the lottery. “ This goes on for months and finally the statue comes to life and looks down at the man with disgust and says, “My son- please, please, please…buy a ticket!”
So I started out my day by buying my ticket. I created my plan, schedule and goal/objectives. For starters this is what I have come up with:
Mission Flaquita: start every morning by going for a run. (not sure if I am spelling flaquita correctly, but it’s what you would call someone who is a teeny tiny person…it comes from flaca which is skinny…add ita to anything and it makes it tinier). A run in the morning not only is healthy, but allows me to be seen in my city to remind them I am their gringa, listen to some music and just enjoy the fresh mountain air.
Mission Shakira: Yes that may sound odd, but I really like her hair, how she dances and her shape. So basically, I am going to have the hair atop my head grow back to its normal color and texture. Being that I haven’t used electrical appliances or had a hair cut in 10-11 weeks, this has already been in the works. For some strange reason now my hair is calm, has golden-like highlights and a little longer. I am hoping to grow it somewhere between the length of not quite a hippie, but riding that fence. It’s also a little curly/wavy these days making me feel more one with Shakira. Also Mission Shakira and Mission Flaquita share the objective of getting into shape. As for the dancing part, well I haven’t figured out how to start that just yet, but I will. I am thinking nighttime dance parties by myself in my bedroom. Laugh if you want, but when I come back to the States dancing and looking like Shakira, you will be jealous. My hips will not lie. (Lee, calm down, I know you hate Skakira, but don’t worry…only the dance moves, body and hair will I have…I can do without the voice and I won’t make you listen to her music…that often. Love you!)
I have gained a tiny bit of weight while in Peru, just to prove a point I guess. Not enough to make a difference with my clothes, but enough to where I find it annoying. Sometimes I think it’s just being bloated from all the rice. I was warned this would happen due to my carbirific diet that includes more rice and potatoes than I can handle. Let’ just say when I return to the Estados Unidos I plan to dance on the grace of Dr. Atkins calling him a liar in as many languages as I can speak.
I have also created a subject to change schedule for each day to help keep my sanity. Around 7-8AM I awake in the morning to my dreaded roosters. Once I roll myself out of bed I work on Project Flaquita by running around the city. I wave and manage to say between strangled breaths buenos días while receiving some very confused looks. I have a feeling their thoughts are something like this, “Why is she doing that if it looks like it’s killing her.” I also received the expected question from a little girl, “What are you running from?” Trying to explain that running is healthy as I look like I could have a heart attack and stroke simultaneously could be a bit confusing to a 3 year old.
After my run I have started welcoming the Peruvian cold showers with a smile on my face and then continuing that smile as I eat breakfast while watching CNN…in Spanish. That’s right folks, CNN rocks it out here and I have told everyone that they have the BEST news in the world and to never ever watch Fox News. (Sorry Republican friends and family, but if you want to change their minds about that you can join the Peace Corps and spread the “word”).
After a breakfast filled with mangos, fresh and boiled bananas and grapes I head to the health post and work a little on preparing for my Community Diagnostic. Other days when the health post was mysteriously closed I went to this darling balcony and read in my book for several hours.
Around 1PM I go to my treasured tree near the church and pray that there is some type of text or message awaiting me. I stay there for an hour making phone calls to friends or just continue my reading. (Take note of this, that if you want to call me, I will do my best to be at my arból favorita waiting to hear a familiar voice with my numerous bars of service)
At 2PM I join my sister for lunch and we watch some type of Mexican TV show called Se Vale. Due to Christmas being in the near future, everyone is wearing Santa hats and there are decorations all around the remind me of the holidays. It’s a strange TV show because there are different types of competitions and people, as the Latin stereotype continues, are overly dramatic. But, I digress because it helps me learn more Spanish.
Thursday’s lunch was a little more special as I spent it eating with my family and my sister’s friends who are around the ages of 13-15. We had that alcoholic mud drink that I had the days I visited and watched American music videos. I was a little thrown off when the 6 year old boy even had the mud alcoholic drink. Oh well, tis life in Peru. After my parents we back to running their restaurant, the girls and I gushed over the Twilight Series and Robert Pattinson. We all cackled and laughed well, like a bunch of 14 year olds. We talked about other shows we liked and many of the girls here enjoy One Tree Hill. I thought I would mention my new addiction to House, expecting they would haven’t a clue and to my surprise it comes on at 7PM and I am going to be on that like a fly on, well you get it.
I should mention that my writing was just interrupted by my sister who just brought me the most giant piece of guava I have seen. Since I live so close to the jungle and the rainy season is upon us, the fruits are plentiful. We have mangos, bananas, guava, granadilla, grapes and more.
Although now I have a schedule and positive thoughts, there are still those negative thoughts I allow to creep in here and there. “You can’t do this for two years! What are you thinking?!” “Why not just go home where the food is good, your bed is comfortable and you have your family, friends and cats?” “All you have to do is pack your bags and call Peace Corps and you are on your way.”Those thoughts are like annoying telemarketers, but I am learning how to hang up the phone as soon as I realize who is calling.
There are two new people who have entered my life since my time in Pambarumbe; my host-grandmother and a dirty little boy.
I don’t want to sound hateful when describing my host-grandmother, but she is a sight to see. She is as tall as a walking stick and weighs about the same. Every day she wears a dirty brown skirt, a white button-up collared shirt and a turquoise sweater over it. Her skin reminds me of wrinkly old dogs, minus the soft looking fur. Her voice sounds like one of those badly dubbed Spanish cartoons and she talks to herself all day. I can hear her outside my window sometimes as early as 6AM, I presume, talking to the chickens. I can’t understand a word she says so when I come into contact with her I manage to spit out, buenos días, tardes or noches (depending on the time of day) and then I runaway as fast as possible. Oh yeah, and she has one eye and approximately 5 teeth.
Today I managed to walk into the bathroom while she was pooping. I panicked not only at the site of such a tiny women basically in the toilet, but at the situation itself. I shouted, lo siento (sorry) and sprinted back to my bedroom. I could hear her in the bathroom from my bedroom, still talking to herself.
The dirty little boy I have encountered I can feel is going to be the dismay of my future. He looks to be about 5 years old and probably hasn’t bathed in the last 2 years. Most likely if we come into close contact from him I will get fleas. He has worn the same clothes every day and never wears shoes. His mom works for my parents at the restaurant and he doesn’t go to school which in return means, he just wonders around all day. The first time we met was when he followed me to my beloved tree when I went to talk with my mom. This was one of those particular bad days where I just needed to talk to my mom in peace. He managed to climb my little tree and shake leaves on me the entire time. He was literally, raining on my parade. One day he splashed water all over me for no reason and almost received a beating from my host dad. I have tried talking to him and asking him questions, but he gives me his mischievous smile and usually runs off. He is going to bring about bad things. I can feel it. Maybe a good bath would make him a little nicer.
After dinner, Etel (my sister) was all about showing me that House played on tv. The best part about it, it was in English AND it was a newer episode. You should know that the verb aprovechar means, “to take advantage of.” We PCV’s always find a way to take advantage of something. We may steal the soap the soap or toilet paper given to us by the hotel or we may make buddy buddy with someone just so we can use their fridge, but it’s aprovecharing. When asked if we aprovechared, the response should always be, “I aprovechared that sh$%.” So when it came to being asked if I wanted to watch house, I aprovechared that.
During this particular episode, Dr. House called someone a jackass. The Spanish subtitles translated it as idiot, which I am sure you know isn’t as strong as jackass. The little dirty boy was in the room and proceeded to run around screaming “Yackass. Yackass. Yackass,” as loud as his lungs would bear. Being that I am the only one who speaks English, I just sat and smiled and reflected on what these two years could bring.
One night, after returning from dinner half asleep I went to crawl into bed and noticed a spider about the size of the heel of my foot. I panicked and didn’t know how to go about killing it since it was so close to my sleeping quarters. I first took a picture and then slammed it with my shoe. When I opened my eyes it was gone. Gone like a magic trick. I searched high and low and all around my bed and nowhere was that freaking spider. Needless to say all ounces of sleepiness were gone and I was left knowing somewhere a giant and now pissed off spider was in my bedroom, most likely very near my bed. I saw the giant sign I made for my bedroom that says “pray” and after laughing at the situation this is how things went: “So yeah, God, um thanks for letting me have my mosquito net up. Thanks for my day and um can you do something about this spider. Preferably prove to me that it’s dead or never let me see it again? Yeah….sorry about cussing the spider earlier…”
God didn’t answer right away, but I presumed we had an agreement of some sort. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, but I am really doubting that with the whole spider situation. I then realized that this mosquito net needs to be lowered so I can tuck it more under my mattress because right now it can be a death trap. I could potentially lock myself in my mosquito net with the bugs I am trying to lock out.
Friday night ended up being somewhat interesting. It started out by my sister, her two friends watching and I watching Twilight. To fast forward a bit, by the end of the movie we had a room full of about 10 people piled in watching in awe. It was pretty cute and it made me feel normal…which is rare here.
Saturday morning I was heading back to civilization…or as others call it, Piura. My family said I didn’t need to buy a ticket I could just hop on in the morning and pay. When the bust finally arrived around 4AM I went to hop on and the guys were motioning me around where the driver was sitting. I had no idea what was happening, but being half asleep I went along with it. My mom pulled out a chair and some guy tossed me up in the air and I landed on the driver…in the bus. The bus was so full of people that the only place for me to fit was front and center by him. Looking at the spot I sat in, for four hours, most people would think it’s the perfect place to sit a bag a fruit. I don’t know the exact width, but according to my apple juice, I can tell you it was a juice box and a half wide. Usually I am in the back and it’s pitch black so I can’t see how close to death I am, but with this seat I could see it coming. I kindly told him he better not kill me because I am very important and those in the USA, Pambarumbe and Chaclacayo would be very upset with him. He said he would do his best and to get comfy because it was going to be a long drive.
Now I am sure I have mentioned that I am reading Eat Pray Love and in the book Liz had a similar moment as to what I was about to experience. Since the book was fresh on my mind, she advised me on how to react. One of the men near the front door muffeled under his breath, “Not too fat for an American.” My response was to blindly stare ahead say to myself, “Not to greasy for a Peruvian man.”
My driver and the other men thought that was the funniest thing ever. My driver replied, “She is already used to dealing with assholes like you!” I smiled and said I had learned a long since living in Peru and I can keep up with the best now. After that I cozyed up to my driver and went to sleep.
To set the scene as I write this, let me explain my surroundings. I am sitting Indian-style on the balcony of my house facing banana trees, bamboo plants, flowers with the most beautiful red blooms I have seen that attract hummingbirds of all sorts and off in the distance is one of the tallest and greenest mountains around. The roads here are dirt so every time a car or bus goes whooshing by, a cloud of dust blows up to “bronze” my skin a little more.
When I have the money and time I plan to buy a hammock for this unused balcony. Well, I take that back. It’s not entirely unused, I share it (yes, I have already claimed it as my own) with a chicken. I have talked with the chicken and I said I would stay at my end if she would stay at hers. That goes for her future chicks too because she laid eggs this morning.
Back to the theme of this particular blog. I am nearing the end of my first week as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pambarumbe, Piura, Peru. I had written a blog my second day about how things were going, but as I reread it, it seemed more like a pity party, because, well it was. I would rather not make you feel sorry for me because at the time of that blog I was contemplating everything in existence and now I am more tranquilo (relaxed).
My first week didn’t have quite the kick-off like I had wanted and expected. For starters, a few hours before leaving for site I was informed Nannie, my great-grandmother, died. I knew before I left that this was obviously was a possibility being that she was 97 years old, but I tried to keep with the words she left me with, “See you when get back.”
On the way to the bus station to Pambarumbe I was not only distraught, but trying to figure out how to carry 4 bags of luggage that not only weighed more than me, but were bigger than me too, mentally and physically. After cussing some people along the way, sweating like I just ran a marathon and breaking the strap on one backpack, I managed to get there in one piece even though I felt like I was in pieces.
My first night I spent crying and taping pictures to the wall. Having walls of mud with paint slapped on them doesn’t make for an easy hanging process with tape. Every time a picture fell off the wall I cried a little harder like a little piece of me was falling apart. I called it a night by stringing my mosquito net up for security purposes because let’s face it, if any living creature would have crawled in my bed that night, I would already be on a flight back to the States. My mosquito net also gives me a princessy feel too. I mean after all, when I was in 6th grade I had one and little did I know they had actual purposes I would be grateful for 10 years later. Don’t tempt me to die it hot pink. And let’s just say it can be a death trap too…more details on that later.
The next morning wasn’t easy either when I realized even with a new cell phone provider I still didn’t have service. After breakfast I immediately asked where I could get cell phone service and I was told to go to church. I was confused at first because I thought it was more of a command rather than, that’s where the service lies. I don’t have to go directly in the church, but rather a little tree close by.
I have managed to forget another “cherry on top” that I had my first few days at site. This has managed to be the first time I have felt sick. Basically, it feels like someone has a kung-fu like grip on my intestines and at any given moment, they pull them as fast as possible. Now don’t worry, there is no diarrhea or vomiting, but it sure feels like it could happen. Any. Second.
Now you may be thinking, “That poor thing. Why doesn’t she just come home?” Well don’t worry, I thought about it, figured out how I would go about it and then finally decided to sleep on it. I awoke the next morning bound and determined I was going to figure this out and I am happy to say, poco-a-poco (little by little) it’s happening.
I usually don’t like to discuss my religion with other because in my opinion, my personal relationship with God is, well, personal. When questioned, I inform people I have a relationship with God and I am happy with it and that’s all they should be concerned about. But, being as it pertains to the story, I will discuss things a little further so sit back and enjoy this potential one-time event.
Basically God already knows what I need and the question is, do I know? I woke up thinking to myself, “What can I do to get motivated?” and I immediately went to my computer and started watching Joel Osteen. Whether you like him or not, he has been the man to bring sanity to me numerous time when I have trailed off the beaten path. Without going into more details about my history with Joel, let’s just say he gets the job done and well, this time being no different, he got the job done.
I stole this from Eat, Pray, Love because it has the same message. There is an old Italian joke about a poor man who goes church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, “Dear saint- please, please, please…give me the grace to win the lottery. “ This goes on for months and finally the statue comes to life and looks down at the man with disgust and says, “My son- please, please, please…buy a ticket!”
So I started out my day by buying my ticket. I created my plan, schedule and goal/objectives. For starters this is what I have come up with:
Mission Flaquita: start every morning by going for a run. (not sure if I am spelling flaquita correctly, but it’s what you would call someone who is a teeny tiny person…it comes from flaca which is skinny…add ita to anything and it makes it tinier). A run in the morning not only is healthy, but allows me to be seen in my city to remind them I am their gringa, listen to some music and just enjoy the fresh mountain air.
Mission Shakira: Yes that may sound odd, but I really like her hair, how she dances and her shape. So basically, I am going to have the hair atop my head grow back to its normal color and texture. Being that I haven’t used electrical appliances or had a hair cut in 10-11 weeks, this has already been in the works. For some strange reason now my hair is calm, has golden-like highlights and a little longer. I am hoping to grow it somewhere between the length of not quite a hippie, but riding that fence. It’s also a little curly/wavy these days making me feel more one with Shakira. Also Mission Shakira and Mission Flaquita share the objective of getting into shape. As for the dancing part, well I haven’t figured out how to start that just yet, but I will. I am thinking nighttime dance parties by myself in my bedroom. Laugh if you want, but when I come back to the States dancing and looking like Shakira, you will be jealous. My hips will not lie. (Lee, calm down, I know you hate Skakira, but don’t worry…only the dance moves, body and hair will I have…I can do without the voice and I won’t make you listen to her music…that often. Love you!)
I have gained a tiny bit of weight while in Peru, just to prove a point I guess. Not enough to make a difference with my clothes, but enough to where I find it annoying. Sometimes I think it’s just being bloated from all the rice. I was warned this would happen due to my carbirific diet that includes more rice and potatoes than I can handle. Let’ just say when I return to the Estados Unidos I plan to dance on the grace of Dr. Atkins calling him a liar in as many languages as I can speak.
I have also created a subject to change schedule for each day to help keep my sanity. Around 7-8AM I awake in the morning to my dreaded roosters. Once I roll myself out of bed I work on Project Flaquita by running around the city. I wave and manage to say between strangled breaths buenos días while receiving some very confused looks. I have a feeling their thoughts are something like this, “Why is she doing that if it looks like it’s killing her.” I also received the expected question from a little girl, “What are you running from?” Trying to explain that running is healthy as I look like I could have a heart attack and stroke simultaneously could be a bit confusing to a 3 year old.
After my run I have started welcoming the Peruvian cold showers with a smile on my face and then continuing that smile as I eat breakfast while watching CNN…in Spanish. That’s right folks, CNN rocks it out here and I have told everyone that they have the BEST news in the world and to never ever watch Fox News. (Sorry Republican friends and family, but if you want to change their minds about that you can join the Peace Corps and spread the “word”).
After a breakfast filled with mangos, fresh and boiled bananas and grapes I head to the health post and work a little on preparing for my Community Diagnostic. Other days when the health post was mysteriously closed I went to this darling balcony and read in my book for several hours.
Around 1PM I go to my treasured tree near the church and pray that there is some type of text or message awaiting me. I stay there for an hour making phone calls to friends or just continue my reading. (Take note of this, that if you want to call me, I will do my best to be at my arból favorita waiting to hear a familiar voice with my numerous bars of service)
At 2PM I join my sister for lunch and we watch some type of Mexican TV show called Se Vale. Due to Christmas being in the near future, everyone is wearing Santa hats and there are decorations all around the remind me of the holidays. It’s a strange TV show because there are different types of competitions and people, as the Latin stereotype continues, are overly dramatic. But, I digress because it helps me learn more Spanish.
Thursday’s lunch was a little more special as I spent it eating with my family and my sister’s friends who are around the ages of 13-15. We had that alcoholic mud drink that I had the days I visited and watched American music videos. I was a little thrown off when the 6 year old boy even had the mud alcoholic drink. Oh well, tis life in Peru. After my parents we back to running their restaurant, the girls and I gushed over the Twilight Series and Robert Pattinson. We all cackled and laughed well, like a bunch of 14 year olds. We talked about other shows we liked and many of the girls here enjoy One Tree Hill. I thought I would mention my new addiction to House, expecting they would haven’t a clue and to my surprise it comes on at 7PM and I am going to be on that like a fly on, well you get it.
I should mention that my writing was just interrupted by my sister who just brought me the most giant piece of guava I have seen. Since I live so close to the jungle and the rainy season is upon us, the fruits are plentiful. We have mangos, bananas, guava, granadilla, grapes and more.
Although now I have a schedule and positive thoughts, there are still those negative thoughts I allow to creep in here and there. “You can’t do this for two years! What are you thinking?!” “Why not just go home where the food is good, your bed is comfortable and you have your family, friends and cats?” “All you have to do is pack your bags and call Peace Corps and you are on your way.”Those thoughts are like annoying telemarketers, but I am learning how to hang up the phone as soon as I realize who is calling.
There are two new people who have entered my life since my time in Pambarumbe; my host-grandmother and a dirty little boy.
I don’t want to sound hateful when describing my host-grandmother, but she is a sight to see. She is as tall as a walking stick and weighs about the same. Every day she wears a dirty brown skirt, a white button-up collared shirt and a turquoise sweater over it. Her skin reminds me of wrinkly old dogs, minus the soft looking fur. Her voice sounds like one of those badly dubbed Spanish cartoons and she talks to herself all day. I can hear her outside my window sometimes as early as 6AM, I presume, talking to the chickens. I can’t understand a word she says so when I come into contact with her I manage to spit out, buenos días, tardes or noches (depending on the time of day) and then I runaway as fast as possible. Oh yeah, and she has one eye and approximately 5 teeth.
Today I managed to walk into the bathroom while she was pooping. I panicked not only at the site of such a tiny women basically in the toilet, but at the situation itself. I shouted, lo siento (sorry) and sprinted back to my bedroom. I could hear her in the bathroom from my bedroom, still talking to herself.
The dirty little boy I have encountered I can feel is going to be the dismay of my future. He looks to be about 5 years old and probably hasn’t bathed in the last 2 years. Most likely if we come into close contact from him I will get fleas. He has worn the same clothes every day and never wears shoes. His mom works for my parents at the restaurant and he doesn’t go to school which in return means, he just wonders around all day. The first time we met was when he followed me to my beloved tree when I went to talk with my mom. This was one of those particular bad days where I just needed to talk to my mom in peace. He managed to climb my little tree and shake leaves on me the entire time. He was literally, raining on my parade. One day he splashed water all over me for no reason and almost received a beating from my host dad. I have tried talking to him and asking him questions, but he gives me his mischievous smile and usually runs off. He is going to bring about bad things. I can feel it. Maybe a good bath would make him a little nicer.
After dinner, Etel (my sister) was all about showing me that House played on tv. The best part about it, it was in English AND it was a newer episode. You should know that the verb aprovechar means, “to take advantage of.” We PCV’s always find a way to take advantage of something. We may steal the soap the soap or toilet paper given to us by the hotel or we may make buddy buddy with someone just so we can use their fridge, but it’s aprovecharing. When asked if we aprovechared, the response should always be, “I aprovechared that sh$%.” So when it came to being asked if I wanted to watch house, I aprovechared that.
During this particular episode, Dr. House called someone a jackass. The Spanish subtitles translated it as idiot, which I am sure you know isn’t as strong as jackass. The little dirty boy was in the room and proceeded to run around screaming “Yackass. Yackass. Yackass,” as loud as his lungs would bear. Being that I am the only one who speaks English, I just sat and smiled and reflected on what these two years could bring.
One night, after returning from dinner half asleep I went to crawl into bed and noticed a spider about the size of the heel of my foot. I panicked and didn’t know how to go about killing it since it was so close to my sleeping quarters. I first took a picture and then slammed it with my shoe. When I opened my eyes it was gone. Gone like a magic trick. I searched high and low and all around my bed and nowhere was that freaking spider. Needless to say all ounces of sleepiness were gone and I was left knowing somewhere a giant and now pissed off spider was in my bedroom, most likely very near my bed. I saw the giant sign I made for my bedroom that says “pray” and after laughing at the situation this is how things went: “So yeah, God, um thanks for letting me have my mosquito net up. Thanks for my day and um can you do something about this spider. Preferably prove to me that it’s dead or never let me see it again? Yeah….sorry about cussing the spider earlier…”
God didn’t answer right away, but I presumed we had an agreement of some sort. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, but I am really doubting that with the whole spider situation. I then realized that this mosquito net needs to be lowered so I can tuck it more under my mattress because right now it can be a death trap. I could potentially lock myself in my mosquito net with the bugs I am trying to lock out.
Friday night ended up being somewhat interesting. It started out by my sister, her two friends watching and I watching Twilight. To fast forward a bit, by the end of the movie we had a room full of about 10 people piled in watching in awe. It was pretty cute and it made me feel normal…which is rare here.
Saturday morning I was heading back to civilization…or as others call it, Piura. My family said I didn’t need to buy a ticket I could just hop on in the morning and pay. When the bust finally arrived around 4AM I went to hop on and the guys were motioning me around where the driver was sitting. I had no idea what was happening, but being half asleep I went along with it. My mom pulled out a chair and some guy tossed me up in the air and I landed on the driver…in the bus. The bus was so full of people that the only place for me to fit was front and center by him. Looking at the spot I sat in, for four hours, most people would think it’s the perfect place to sit a bag a fruit. I don’t know the exact width, but according to my apple juice, I can tell you it was a juice box and a half wide. Usually I am in the back and it’s pitch black so I can’t see how close to death I am, but with this seat I could see it coming. I kindly told him he better not kill me because I am very important and those in the USA, Pambarumbe and Chaclacayo would be very upset with him. He said he would do his best and to get comfy because it was going to be a long drive.
Now I am sure I have mentioned that I am reading Eat Pray Love and in the book Liz had a similar moment as to what I was about to experience. Since the book was fresh on my mind, she advised me on how to react. One of the men near the front door muffeled under his breath, “Not too fat for an American.” My response was to blindly stare ahead say to myself, “Not to greasy for a Peruvian man.”
My driver and the other men thought that was the funniest thing ever. My driver replied, “She is already used to dealing with assholes like you!” I smiled and said I had learned a long since living in Peru and I can keep up with the best now. After that I cozyed up to my driver and went to sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)