I have decided that Peru has the sweetest dishwashing soap in the world. It’s quite simple, a little bucket of granulated soap (similar to detergent if the powered stuff was wetted and then dried out in a clump). You simply put your sponge in the bucket and swipe out what you need, then wash the dish. I dunno why, but I don’t get nearly as sick of washing dishes now as before, and I think the only thing that’s changed now is the soap…or the location…not sure.
Tomorrow is already Thanksgiving! Well, my entire family is in Portugal and I am here, in Peru. I would love to have dinner with them all (especially in Portugal – Rion, you’ve got some great pics!), but am happy to be sharing it instead with my PCV-Ica family here. American holiday Peruvian style – perfect. A celebration of when pilgrims shared food with the indigenous… seems similar to what PCVs are doing now, only it’s Peru and not the land of paradise (or efficiency and convenience, and I now know it as).
So, I have been in site for 3 days now and am learning to love it more and more. I guess I should say I wasn’t that thrilled to be placed in the desert, but after being here and starting to connect with the people…it’s obvious, once again, that it’s really the people that make the place, and not necessarily the place that makes the people. Regardless that it’s hot as an oven here ALL THE TIME, the people are awesome, there are several trees to hide under, and there are some sweet sweet ruins in the mountains that line all sides of the town. I have started to run every morning as a means of getting to know the layout of the town since I don’t yet have a bike. I haven’t seen any ruins, but after going to the free museum today, I know what directions to run in now. The other day my site mate, Win, and I did venture on a 1.5 hour hike with his ‘socio communitario’ to the top of some hills to check out some hieroglyphics. They are so absolutely amazing! And the sweet thing is that they are all over here, free of charge, and some were only discovered 3 years ago! I know, REALLY? How could people not have known about them? I’m not sure…but I feel like I am living my 5 year old dream of being an archeologist as I check out these old sites with all this history from forever ago.
So, what am I saying? If (When) you come to visit…there are super sweet things to do!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
moving on
so, i just had 5 days of site visit and they were interesting. i am located in Palpa, Ica which is in the deserts of ica. the community is in a valley located along two rivers - the rio grande being one. because of this is it a farming community and there are crops around the town. luckily this makes for a somewhat green location, but because every side has mountains there isn't wind...but the mountains are rather pretty! one is quite large and i was told it takes about 4 hours to hike up, so i am going to venture up it soon with another volunteer and see how long it really takes!
i will be living with two grandparents who are nice. they run a hostel, and i am excited to meet travelers coming through since palpa is a tourist trap from the ruines situated around there, the great food, and the nasca lines just 45 minutes south.
well, honestly i want to write more but there are sooo many things i have to get back to doing right now. i only have 3 days left in my neighborhood here in yanacota before leaving this saturday (after swearing in! big event!) to my community, so i am going to get some sleep and continue my packing tomorrow. the update though, is my mailing address. send stuff here:
Jess Smith
Cuerpo de Paz
Cailla #52
Serpost, Ica
Ica, Peru
if you do happen to send it to the first address, no worries, the office will forward them.
paz y amor...(sorry this was brief, more to come in a week when i am in my site.)
i will be living with two grandparents who are nice. they run a hostel, and i am excited to meet travelers coming through since palpa is a tourist trap from the ruines situated around there, the great food, and the nasca lines just 45 minutes south.
well, honestly i want to write more but there are sooo many things i have to get back to doing right now. i only have 3 days left in my neighborhood here in yanacota before leaving this saturday (after swearing in! big event!) to my community, so i am going to get some sleep and continue my packing tomorrow. the update though, is my mailing address. send stuff here:
Jess Smith
Cuerpo de Paz
Cailla #52
Serpost, Ica
Ica, Peru
if you do happen to send it to the first address, no worries, the office will forward them.
paz y amor...(sorry this was brief, more to come in a week when i am in my site.)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Orange Country
So, here´s the news...I will be living in Palpa, Ica for the next two years! My stomach is happy to hear that because it is known for it´s fruit - specifically for it´s oranges. There are a lot of ruines situated around the community. They are similar to the well known Nasca Lines, but can be seen after hiking a mountain and not necessarily by plane. There are farms all around the community as well, which is where the majority of the work I will be doing is situated. The community itself is in a desert, as all of Ica is known for, which means HOT HOT HOT! Honestly, I never expected to be placed in a desert, so this will be quite an adventure! My first night here I met my family which is Felix and Laura. Both an older couple who never had kids, but they have hosted other people in the past and also run a private hostle, and are well known around the community. I call them my grandparents, and they call me their ´hija´ which means daughter. Laura is a crafty lady who is totally on the ball and doesn´t let anyone mess around with here.
I had an exciting morning today going to the market with her. After I said ´buenos dias´to someone on the street she told me not to do that, and to only greet people if I knew them or they greated me. All this custom stuff I am not familiar with. So, she proceeded to demonstrate to me how to do it correctly when we walked by the next person. Then, we passed a group of men who were chillin on a bench outside a store. She told them goodmorning and they didn´t do anything, so she offered them her hand and they gave her a weak shake. Hah! From here she made fun of them for not being strong enough to give her a good greeting. After teaching them how to properly greet, and laughing it off we continued. Then she told me about the machistic community that is throughout all of Peru, and which I was already well familiar with. So, my grandma is assertive and one of a kind. Quite good to know. She doens´t take crap from people and is totally doing a great job teaching me the ropes around the town. The different people, the different places. But, she is still my grandmother and has an instict to grab my hand when we cross the Pana Americana highway, which is a little embarrasing. Well, guess her intentions are good.
Felix is a fabulous grandfather who is a master cook! Currently they are remodeling the kitchen so it is bigger and I will be able to cook whatever meals I want there. Felix said he would teach me how to cook, which is great! He has given me pointers also on places to go around town, what to look for, who to and not to talk to...
Oh, and last night I was on the local TV station, Cadena Sur Noticia, with another volunteer who happens to be 5 minutes away in the town of Rio Grande. Being interviewed was an interesting experience! I was sooo nervous, because ALL of Palpa had access to watching it, and there I was, trying to look calm and speak in Spanish. In all honesty, I think it went well and I was so surprised to see myself talking spanish so fluently when I watched the tape...but I still have more to learn for sure. My interview consisted of answering questions such as why I was in Palpa, what Peace Corps is, what I plan on doing, what my home is like...ect. Then my friend got up there and did his interview which is great. In the end they told us we could return whenever we wanted which will be a fabulous resource for getting news out!
So, that´s the story! I will update you on my address, but I haven´t got it yet. Let me know how you all are doing! I miss you all!
p.s. Here is an interesting article about Ica, Peru which is the Department provence the Palpa is located in. It talks about deforestation which is something that is a problem here as well and I want to try and address in a project. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/world/americas/08peru.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment
I had an exciting morning today going to the market with her. After I said ´buenos dias´to someone on the street she told me not to do that, and to only greet people if I knew them or they greated me. All this custom stuff I am not familiar with. So, she proceeded to demonstrate to me how to do it correctly when we walked by the next person. Then, we passed a group of men who were chillin on a bench outside a store. She told them goodmorning and they didn´t do anything, so she offered them her hand and they gave her a weak shake. Hah! From here she made fun of them for not being strong enough to give her a good greeting. After teaching them how to properly greet, and laughing it off we continued. Then she told me about the machistic community that is throughout all of Peru, and which I was already well familiar with. So, my grandma is assertive and one of a kind. Quite good to know. She doens´t take crap from people and is totally doing a great job teaching me the ropes around the town. The different people, the different places. But, she is still my grandmother and has an instict to grab my hand when we cross the Pana Americana highway, which is a little embarrasing. Well, guess her intentions are good.
Felix is a fabulous grandfather who is a master cook! Currently they are remodeling the kitchen so it is bigger and I will be able to cook whatever meals I want there. Felix said he would teach me how to cook, which is great! He has given me pointers also on places to go around town, what to look for, who to and not to talk to...
Oh, and last night I was on the local TV station, Cadena Sur Noticia, with another volunteer who happens to be 5 minutes away in the town of Rio Grande. Being interviewed was an interesting experience! I was sooo nervous, because ALL of Palpa had access to watching it, and there I was, trying to look calm and speak in Spanish. In all honesty, I think it went well and I was so surprised to see myself talking spanish so fluently when I watched the tape...but I still have more to learn for sure. My interview consisted of answering questions such as why I was in Palpa, what Peace Corps is, what I plan on doing, what my home is like...ect. Then my friend got up there and did his interview which is great. In the end they told us we could return whenever we wanted which will be a fabulous resource for getting news out!
So, that´s the story! I will update you on my address, but I haven´t got it yet. Let me know how you all are doing! I miss you all!
p.s. Here is an interesting article about Ica, Peru which is the Department provence the Palpa is located in. It talks about deforestation which is something that is a problem here as well and I want to try and address in a project. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/world/americas/08peru.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment
Monday, November 2, 2009
My New Love
This past weekend my initial discontentment at the idea of living in a desert for the next two years (if my site ends up being in Ica instead of Libertad) changed, and my conception of organizing projects was inspired. My tech group spent 3 days in Bernales, Ica learning how to build dry bathrooms. For perspective, Bernales is a big sandbox. There are no trees, the only green areas are the fields being cultivated for crops, which are few and far between, located by the water source. Everything else is desert. The houses are all painted bright colors and constructed from adobe. We were at Bernales because it suffered from the earthquake two years ago and a lot of the houses are lacking a wastewater system. Well, most are lacking toilets and such as well.
We worked with a family that needed a septic tank. When we had a site visit Thursday night, we met the family – Diana, Sr. Lopez and their 4 year old son. Their house was built of walls out of woven straw (‘estero’ in Spanish), which is a very common building material in Peru. Sr. Lopez prepared the hole where the septic tank was to go. It was 2 meters deep and 1mx1m. A huge sand pit. Sand. That was a huge problem. The idea behind us doing this project was that we would be able to get a chunk of it done this weekend. Since a foundation hadn’t been laid with cement for us arriving, it was impossible to pour one and expect to be able to work on it that same time without it needing time to work. Because of this, we had to improvise the foundation of the septic tank hole. Instead of a concrete footer, we used huge rocks, followed by a layer of gravel, sand, and a slab of bricks mortared together. (We are crossing our fingers that this will withstand any sinking into the sand.) Improvisation – a new word all WatSanners love. Then we spent the next two days mortaring bricks up in the pit for the walls, mixing cement (which can never be done as well as a Peruvian can do), transporting gravel, and playing with poop pipes. At the end of the time we had finished laying the plumbing tubes for the toilet, sink, shower, the trench for the piping to the septic tank, and the septic tank. It was hoss. Great. Beautiful. And, we were one dirty group that hadn’t showered for 3 days.
On the way back we adventured to an oasis. A literal oasis. This is when my perception of the desert changed. I have found that I am happiest where I am living somewhere that is green and with mountains if possible. But, if there is something as cool as a lagoon with wildlife in the middle of the desert near my site I would totally be happy. In addition, Bernales is beautifully situated with mountains in the distance.
For Halloween I ended up being a gringo and celebrating with the WatSan crew. A little lame, but finding a costume was less pertinent than showering and relaxing! We stormed through a grocery store and bought candy to trade as simulation of Halloween treats.
November 1st was Day of the Dead here and I celebrated with my family. The whole day was hilarious! It is tradition to make dolls out of dough to cook and trade with family. The word for this doll is ‘wawa’ which originates from the Chequa word for baby. So, all day I was hearing my family say “wawa this” and “wawa that.” I kept thinking I was surrounded by grown up babies crying out for attention. It was so funny. Also, I was making it with my aunts and grandmother and they were all bickering over who’s bread was who’s when it was coming out of the oven. When, in reality, they each had literally enough bread for a month - two huge tubs worth of bread dolls each, yet claiming the bread coming out of the oven was theirs. I was thinking, “Honestly? How much bread is really necessary to have?” I still don’t know how it’s all going to get eaten before they turn to croutons. I chilled the evening eating gluten-free bread out of my mix of rice flour, quinoa, and corn flour (sooo fabulous!) and painting with my aunt. By the end of the weekend I loved the potential of deserts, the word ‘wawa’ and how it creates adult babies, and painting.
Count-down: 4 days until I find out my site for the next 2 years!
We worked with a family that needed a septic tank. When we had a site visit Thursday night, we met the family – Diana, Sr. Lopez and their 4 year old son. Their house was built of walls out of woven straw (‘estero’ in Spanish), which is a very common building material in Peru. Sr. Lopez prepared the hole where the septic tank was to go. It was 2 meters deep and 1mx1m. A huge sand pit. Sand. That was a huge problem. The idea behind us doing this project was that we would be able to get a chunk of it done this weekend. Since a foundation hadn’t been laid with cement for us arriving, it was impossible to pour one and expect to be able to work on it that same time without it needing time to work. Because of this, we had to improvise the foundation of the septic tank hole. Instead of a concrete footer, we used huge rocks, followed by a layer of gravel, sand, and a slab of bricks mortared together. (We are crossing our fingers that this will withstand any sinking into the sand.) Improvisation – a new word all WatSanners love. Then we spent the next two days mortaring bricks up in the pit for the walls, mixing cement (which can never be done as well as a Peruvian can do), transporting gravel, and playing with poop pipes. At the end of the time we had finished laying the plumbing tubes for the toilet, sink, shower, the trench for the piping to the septic tank, and the septic tank. It was hoss. Great. Beautiful. And, we were one dirty group that hadn’t showered for 3 days.
On the way back we adventured to an oasis. A literal oasis. This is when my perception of the desert changed. I have found that I am happiest where I am living somewhere that is green and with mountains if possible. But, if there is something as cool as a lagoon with wildlife in the middle of the desert near my site I would totally be happy. In addition, Bernales is beautifully situated with mountains in the distance.
For Halloween I ended up being a gringo and celebrating with the WatSan crew. A little lame, but finding a costume was less pertinent than showering and relaxing! We stormed through a grocery store and bought candy to trade as simulation of Halloween treats.
November 1st was Day of the Dead here and I celebrated with my family. The whole day was hilarious! It is tradition to make dolls out of dough to cook and trade with family. The word for this doll is ‘wawa’ which originates from the Chequa word for baby. So, all day I was hearing my family say “wawa this” and “wawa that.” I kept thinking I was surrounded by grown up babies crying out for attention. It was so funny. Also, I was making it with my aunts and grandmother and they were all bickering over who’s bread was who’s when it was coming out of the oven. When, in reality, they each had literally enough bread for a month - two huge tubs worth of bread dolls each, yet claiming the bread coming out of the oven was theirs. I was thinking, “Honestly? How much bread is really necessary to have?” I still don’t know how it’s all going to get eaten before they turn to croutons. I chilled the evening eating gluten-free bread out of my mix of rice flour, quinoa, and corn flour (sooo fabulous!) and painting with my aunt. By the end of the weekend I loved the potential of deserts, the word ‘wawa’ and how it creates adult babies, and painting.
Count-down: 4 days until I find out my site for the next 2 years!
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