So here is my normal day in Palpa: wake up, run (sweat), shower, dryoff (sweat), make breakfast of eggs yogurt with fruit, walk to whatever office I am going to visit that day (sweating, of course, along the way), show up (all sweaty), and hang out. Talk a little, all the while being conscious of how I am sitting to best maximize whatever little breeze is trickling through the room. All the while I am working my way through the Spanish I know and pretending I understand more than I really do with head nods. When it´s around 1 I make my way back home, being conscious not to turn my back on anyone and show them the embarrassing sweat marks that probably show through my pants as I leave the room. Then, it´s lunch, refreshing shower, nap, and back outside for the second part of the day.
From this routine, I have learned which pants are best to wear. Jeans are HOT and don´t allow for much airflow, unfortunately. The two windbreakerish pants I brought are great for airflow (thanks Patagonia) but suck at hiding sweat dropplets. For this, I have decided they´re best for night. Overall, caprees are best. Thank god I brought 3 pairs.
What I actually do during the day differs. I will openly admit it though, I am living in Posh Corps here in Palpa. The other day I took a ride with the head of the Office of Agriculture in his yellow convertable VW (dad, you would have loved it) to see some chakras (farming fields). The fields were beautiful, and actually the ones you see in tourist packets of Palpa. Whereas today I was in a parade organized by the Hospital for the World AIDs awareness and then went to check out some water systems in Sacramento with another engineer. Then I chilled in the market with my friend who is an old guy and owns a shop and we watched a lot of the movies he sells about different areas of Peru on his flat screen LCD TV. It was sweet.
Now, after my meal of rice and potatoes, I am going to head home. I may read a bit of an engineering report I got in Sacramento, but more than likely I will just try to finish the movie Milk I have been watching the past 4 nights and can´t seem to finish because I keep falling asleep.
Other cool things I realized:
1. Don´t bring up beer with your mayor unless he does first
2. I may look into doing a Masters at Michigan Tech with the joint PC program while here...I have been told it´s possible!
3. Doing Secret Santa´s in the Peace Corps is a fabulous idea!
4. Washing clothes by hand takes about 4 hours
5. Drying clothes in the desert makes them as hard as cardboard
6. Tuna on rice with chopped carrots isn´t that bad
7. You can nod your head through about any conversation and get away with people thinking you understand
8. Naps in the middle of the day are great
Until next time - paz y amor from your Posh Corps Volunteer in Palpa.
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Jess,
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has camped in the Mojave all during my undergraduate years, I can tell you that there are a couple of things you might try for getting your clothes to be less stiff when you line dry them. First, wind helps. If you can put the clothes out in a wind, they will not be as stiff--just be sure that it doesn't pick up a lot of dust. Second, we used to carry a small bottle of white vinegar, and give the clothes a final rinse in a water/vinegar mix. Not too much, as you don't want your clothes to smell like a salad. The sun should get rid of the vinegar smell. Try it! It won't make your clothes as soft as a dryer does, but it does help.
I love reading your posts! It sounds like you are doing well. Take care!!
Evelyn