so, i just started using the colage toothpaste that mike brought down for me from the states. it´s amazing. first off, the actual tube it´s in is bigger than anything i have bought here in peru (not to be crude), and it has an amazing flavor. a little bit of america in a tube. fabulous.
recently i have been feeling a mixture of emotions - excitement, frustration, and distance. the excitment is because this past week has been filled with celebrations which were all leading up to my towns anniversary on the 15th. it started with the miss naranja event on the 6th. then each of the different offices had a different day to put together celebrations in the plaza de armas. i participated in two marathons and got first for both (since in the women category there were only 2 women each time). the best prize being a whoooping S/.30. watched a bike race, a carros tubulares race, a bull fight, i was one of the 5 judges for a miss gay palpa event which was hillarious (a little uncomfortable and shocking when the stripper came out), a concert, and cock fighting. on the 14th came a well known band from Trujillo (though i can´t remember their name! something like, bianuevos) and i showed them around town after randomly running into them and getting to know them. so, obviously, they had to do several shout outs to me during the concert. i would say that they were accepted into my groupy click! haha. at the final cockfight each of the 16 finalists recieved the plates i have been painting for the past 1.5 months. it was so satesfying to see them all situated on the table with the other prizes. i got interviewed by the press because they were interested in the prizes and wanted to publicise them on the web. and now i have people asking me if i will paint pictures of their family and more plates. awesome! more painting! sounds good to me!
now it´s tuesday the 17th and all the celebrations have come to an end. palpa has turned quiet again until the next year. as for the frustration, i am frustraited by politics. because it´s an election year, all the candidates are trying to promise projects to the people so they will be voted for. this means that politicians are trying to take credit for the canal project i am working on with jose in palpa, which has turned this mucky. it is absolutely annoying. people who you think are your friends will tell their friend politicians what is going on in the project, and then befor eyou know it ´they have taken credit. you really dn´t know who are your friends at this time. then, it comes to the money part of the proejct and all peruvians are trying to be incharge of it because that means they can steal the money. so, then we have to start worrying about who is dealing with the money. so there are a million things to get frustraited about with that. sigh.
then, there is the distance. i have been told that month 10 is a difficult one and i am now at month 11 in peru, month 9 in palpa. so, i am feeling distance. something that i don´t really notice until i am talking with friends in site about my family and sometimes i can´t help but tear up. aaaah. so, i miss my home, friends and family. it´s wonderful to have people come visit, but it´s nothing like just being at home. i am excited to be back to visit, but i know once i am there the time is going to fly and it´ll be difficult to return. we´ll have to wait and see when that time comes. currently, i enjoy the toothpaste i use in the morning and at night, and am looking forward to making peanutbutter with the new blending i got in exchange for painting plates!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
a new breeze
palpa is cold. arequipa is colder. arequipa is also drier and browner from when i went there in march with rion. however, the condors still fly at the mirador and the tourists still come to take their pictures so they can forever remember those seconds when they were standing on top of the worlds second deepest canyon.
mike came to visit for the past 19 days. it was so great to have a little piece of iowa come to peru. having him come visit was like jumping back into the pace of life at home, but here. kind of like pushing the play button again for the continuation of the life i left in iowa - how is the lab, the engineering friends, the frisbee peeps, what´s new in iowa...etc. he passed several days in my site and it was wonderful to show him kind of a glimps on what i day daily (though every day is different). he was introduced on the radio station in palpa as the ¨visiting engineering specialing in canal designs¨. haha! so hillarious how that worked. he helped out with the canal design and came to a ¨paying the mountain¨ occasion that we had to do as part of the canal project. that is to say, as we had been walking on the mountain making the elevation marks, the mountain was ´bothering´ the peruvians who came to help so we had to ´pay the mountain´ so it would leave us alone. this consisted on a ritual in the evening aftering driving 3 hours out to the site and digging a hole to put a lot of different things into it. what went in was some inka cola, chocolate, coca leaves, candles, apples, flowers, carmels, ... and other stuff a mountain would like. then we had to repeate what the shamen said as we were asking the mountain to take our offerings and leave us in peace as we walked on the mountains and did our work. next came the part when we played a card game with the mountain. this consisted of flipping cards over to see what was revealed and the shamen enterpreted what it said. then, we ended by taking shots of alcohol with the mountain. so, all in all i would say it´s fun to drink with a mountain, but it isn´t much of a conversation holder. hehe. it was a super cool experience.
well, then mike went off to cusco and we met up again in arequipa. in arequipa we did a three day hike in the canyon and i ate some of the best food in peru! wow! who knew - deep canyon, great food, fun random friends from spain and england. to finish off his trip he didnt only experience the awesomness of peru, but unfortunately the sour as well. his backpack got stolen from the bottom of the bus on the way home. gosh. every time something gets stolen from me (i am at count 3 rigth now) or someone i know i just turn hatred onto all peruvians. sometimes....gosh...just sooo unfair and the sick things is there is just nooooothing you can do about it. it´s just the damn fact of it all. well, he is now heading back to the states and i am here, back in palpa, planning an HIV-AIDs project, a kids project, and a canal project...HOPING i can squeeze in a few days to go home one of these days soon.
coming up, however is the miss naranja festival of palpa. one of the big celebrations! they are currently having the showing of the candidates...and i was about to be one! hah! three different organizations in town asked if i would be their candidate, but seeing as i wasn´t born in palpa i had to ¨respectfully decline.¨ though it would have been one of the funniest thigns if i won miss naranja of palpa! instead of that, i am going to be one of the judges for a miss drag queen event on the 12th. should be a good one. one of my friends and a stereotypical gay person in my site asked if i would assume the position, and there was no way i could say no! this will be the 4th time it´s been put on and i hear it´s one of the best events of the year! yea! so let´s go palpa...
besos!
mike came to visit for the past 19 days. it was so great to have a little piece of iowa come to peru. having him come visit was like jumping back into the pace of life at home, but here. kind of like pushing the play button again for the continuation of the life i left in iowa - how is the lab, the engineering friends, the frisbee peeps, what´s new in iowa...etc. he passed several days in my site and it was wonderful to show him kind of a glimps on what i day daily (though every day is different). he was introduced on the radio station in palpa as the ¨visiting engineering specialing in canal designs¨. haha! so hillarious how that worked. he helped out with the canal design and came to a ¨paying the mountain¨ occasion that we had to do as part of the canal project. that is to say, as we had been walking on the mountain making the elevation marks, the mountain was ´bothering´ the peruvians who came to help so we had to ´pay the mountain´ so it would leave us alone. this consisted on a ritual in the evening aftering driving 3 hours out to the site and digging a hole to put a lot of different things into it. what went in was some inka cola, chocolate, coca leaves, candles, apples, flowers, carmels, ... and other stuff a mountain would like. then we had to repeate what the shamen said as we were asking the mountain to take our offerings and leave us in peace as we walked on the mountains and did our work. next came the part when we played a card game with the mountain. this consisted of flipping cards over to see what was revealed and the shamen enterpreted what it said. then, we ended by taking shots of alcohol with the mountain. so, all in all i would say it´s fun to drink with a mountain, but it isn´t much of a conversation holder. hehe. it was a super cool experience.
well, then mike went off to cusco and we met up again in arequipa. in arequipa we did a three day hike in the canyon and i ate some of the best food in peru! wow! who knew - deep canyon, great food, fun random friends from spain and england. to finish off his trip he didnt only experience the awesomness of peru, but unfortunately the sour as well. his backpack got stolen from the bottom of the bus on the way home. gosh. every time something gets stolen from me (i am at count 3 rigth now) or someone i know i just turn hatred onto all peruvians. sometimes....gosh...just sooo unfair and the sick things is there is just nooooothing you can do about it. it´s just the damn fact of it all. well, he is now heading back to the states and i am here, back in palpa, planning an HIV-AIDs project, a kids project, and a canal project...HOPING i can squeeze in a few days to go home one of these days soon.
coming up, however is the miss naranja festival of palpa. one of the big celebrations! they are currently having the showing of the candidates...and i was about to be one! hah! three different organizations in town asked if i would be their candidate, but seeing as i wasn´t born in palpa i had to ¨respectfully decline.¨ though it would have been one of the funniest thigns if i won miss naranja of palpa! instead of that, i am going to be one of the judges for a miss drag queen event on the 12th. should be a good one. one of my friends and a stereotypical gay person in my site asked if i would assume the position, and there was no way i could say no! this will be the 4th time it´s been put on and i hear it´s one of the best events of the year! yea! so let´s go palpa...
besos!
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