Hey All! It`s another sunny day here in Palpa. Don`t be fooled, however, because winter time is beginning! This really just means that at night you need to wear a sweater. Yea, when people told me this when I showed up I didn`t believe that I would ever have to wear a sweater, but it`s true. It gets cold!
Just a few seconds ago I felt a timblor. That would be, an earthquake. They happen quite often in Ica, and when they aren`t big ones they are `timblors` instead of `terrimotos.`
The other day I had my Diagnostico Comunitario, which was an opportunity for representatives to come from the 7 caserios I went to, to listen to the information I gathered. It went really well (except that the powerpoint didn`t function and we started 45 minutes late). Well, hora perunan, as I say. But, a whooping 30 people showed up which is amaaazing! I was so pleased with the numbers, even though unfortunately no one from the municipality came. That was a dissapointment, but hopefully it can be worked around and they can still get involved. To do projects it`s much easier to have the support of the municipality than to do it alone!
So, I am thinking of making a chinese checkers board. Just saw a picture of one on the web, and I think it would be a great game to play with the kids and my brothers here.
All for now....life is good...planning on my trip home to be in august or september! Can`t wait!!!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
1/4 of the marathon done.
Yesterday I woke up all giddy after realizing the 21st marked a quarter of my service in site as `done`. Yea! Can hardly believe that much is done...and I think, where did that time go?
Well, yesterday I also met an Australian couple who is living in Palpa. To my surprise, when I was at the post office in my town the other day I noticed a postcard written in English. I thought nothing of it until I was walking out the door, and then realized - THERE IS AN ENGLISH POST CARD BEING SENT HERE AND IT^S NOT FOR ME! Wow! So, found out it was this family from Australia and was hoping some day our paths would cross and I would meet them. Well, then the day after that I was running a 5k with a school who just started a new campaign to promote exercise and an older gentleman was running. He just happened to be this guy from Australia. Crazy how the lines cross. So, found out he is here with his family for a bit and went over to meet them. I spent the evening with them and we talked and talked about live abroad, in Palpa, projects, volunteering. Everything and anything. It felt like a little haven into a true and honest perspective on life in Palpa and how to go about working with the people. It was a relief, but then again quite frustrating because at times the coruption of the political council just wears on you. Try to get projects started, them to support you, and it`s like moving a boulder from stone hedge alone. Got to seak another tactic.
Then...I have recently been holding more educational meetings in the villages about good water use and how to maintain household connections to the water line and improve their water system. And looking into starting an Eco Club in the schools, and an NGO Trees for Cities is interested in coming down to help.
Ah, it`s getting cold at night. I actually wear a sweater. During the day it is still roasty toasty hot and the sweat still drips down the back.
Random words for thought:
The other day I was thinking about how each day I feel the need to wake up, get out of my house and go to the hospital, municipality or caserios to do work. Why, I was thinking, do I feel this way. Well, it dawned on me. It`s because I live on the PanAm where there is movement. There is the movement of cars that are going somewhere for an appointment. They have something to do and are on a mission. It is that same feeling I get when I wake up and hear the cars. That I need to do my work, and get going.
Next part, I was thinking, maybe it÷s the fact that there is that change in dynamic. Maybe this idea of `dynamic` could be transfered into another context to simply `changes` that occur. Such as CHANGES IN WEATHER. Also, most countries that are suffering from poverty are situated on the equator. Is this because they never experience a change in dynamic from the weather which creates a new separation of time. By separating time, one is allowed to notice and measure progress within these timeframes that are created. But, if timeframes never exist apart from going to sleep and waking up, then people continue on their normal pace of life. I realize many other factors also influence poverty such as climate, availability to resources, education, health. But, maybe a fraction of the root of it came from this lack of time separation which facilitated the ability to notice progress which then became work and spurred development.
Well, yesterday I also met an Australian couple who is living in Palpa. To my surprise, when I was at the post office in my town the other day I noticed a postcard written in English. I thought nothing of it until I was walking out the door, and then realized - THERE IS AN ENGLISH POST CARD BEING SENT HERE AND IT^S NOT FOR ME! Wow! So, found out it was this family from Australia and was hoping some day our paths would cross and I would meet them. Well, then the day after that I was running a 5k with a school who just started a new campaign to promote exercise and an older gentleman was running. He just happened to be this guy from Australia. Crazy how the lines cross. So, found out he is here with his family for a bit and went over to meet them. I spent the evening with them and we talked and talked about live abroad, in Palpa, projects, volunteering. Everything and anything. It felt like a little haven into a true and honest perspective on life in Palpa and how to go about working with the people. It was a relief, but then again quite frustrating because at times the coruption of the political council just wears on you. Try to get projects started, them to support you, and it`s like moving a boulder from stone hedge alone. Got to seak another tactic.
Then...I have recently been holding more educational meetings in the villages about good water use and how to maintain household connections to the water line and improve their water system. And looking into starting an Eco Club in the schools, and an NGO Trees for Cities is interested in coming down to help.
Ah, it`s getting cold at night. I actually wear a sweater. During the day it is still roasty toasty hot and the sweat still drips down the back.
Random words for thought:
The other day I was thinking about how each day I feel the need to wake up, get out of my house and go to the hospital, municipality or caserios to do work. Why, I was thinking, do I feel this way. Well, it dawned on me. It`s because I live on the PanAm where there is movement. There is the movement of cars that are going somewhere for an appointment. They have something to do and are on a mission. It is that same feeling I get when I wake up and hear the cars. That I need to do my work, and get going.
Next part, I was thinking, maybe it÷s the fact that there is that change in dynamic. Maybe this idea of `dynamic` could be transfered into another context to simply `changes` that occur. Such as CHANGES IN WEATHER. Also, most countries that are suffering from poverty are situated on the equator. Is this because they never experience a change in dynamic from the weather which creates a new separation of time. By separating time, one is allowed to notice and measure progress within these timeframes that are created. But, if timeframes never exist apart from going to sleep and waking up, then people continue on their normal pace of life. I realize many other factors also influence poverty such as climate, availability to resources, education, health. But, maybe a fraction of the root of it came from this lack of time separation which facilitated the ability to notice progress which then became work and spurred development.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
dropping
Two days ago I looked at my watch and it happened to be 4:20 and I had a revelation. It was, that I had gone through the hottest part of the day without feeling a drop of sweat drip down my back or chest. Oooooh man! It`s becoming `winter´ which means it is gunna get like 10 degrees cooler! How faaabulous! There is now water in the two rivers, the fields are turning green because finally have water and people can grow stuff. Life is thriving here in Palpa. Thriving.
I feel like I am thriving as well. I switched houses a little more than 2 months ago now and have grown used to my new family quite easily. There is more space than any one person needs, I play games with my little brothers, joke with my older brother and get help with anything from my mother. Also, another PCV, Kate, lent me her guitar for the next few weeks and I have started playing that which is just fabulous for my soul. Another fabulous thing is that I have had the chance to start painting after buying water paints and paper. Also cleaned out one of the many rooms I have and made it my `yoga room´. And, with the fabulous view from my roof I have enjoyed many nights stargazing and looking for the shooting stars (estrellas fugas).
A week ago was the Semana Santa here, which is the week leading up to Easter. All of Latin America makes a big deal about celebrating this holiday and the volunteers were given timeoff to take vacations is desired. With a group of 14 of us, we went to the selva in Oxapampa and Pozuzo to check out the green lusheshness of the forest. It was just gorgeous (though I literally thought I was going to die on the drive there and back. Because of the rain they have a lot of earthslides and it wipes out the road...and makes them very dangerous to drive on)! I felt like I was in the Appalachia Mountains of the US and felt like I was filling up with the joys of living where everything thrives with life all the time. We visited several waterfalls and went bathing, went on several hikes, checked out a bat cave at night which was quite interesting...a little scary, but no one got bit! In the route back we stopped by some volunteer`s sites in Junin and I became immediately jealous about their setup. They live in the mountains where there is greenery, even though it is too high up for trees to grow more than 3 feet tall. The people are very culturally traditional of Peru, and it felt like a very simple and tranquil life. Interesting to experience how the cultures of Peru change depending on where you are at. Definitely a difference between coastal, cierra and selva life. But, by the time we left at 11 at night I was freeeeezing and glad to be returning to the coast where I don`t really ever need a long sleeve shirt. I guess I have `acostumbrar´ed as Peruvians would say.
Now I am working on writing up my Community Diagnostic. Pretty much a report on all the findings I have made in my community so far. It`s currently 40 pages and I have about half left to write about. Jeez how I hate writing reports, let alone in Spanish!
Hope everyone`s Easter was fun and you are enjoying life and the weather wherever you are at! You are in my thoughts!
Paz y amor!
I feel like I am thriving as well. I switched houses a little more than 2 months ago now and have grown used to my new family quite easily. There is more space than any one person needs, I play games with my little brothers, joke with my older brother and get help with anything from my mother. Also, another PCV, Kate, lent me her guitar for the next few weeks and I have started playing that which is just fabulous for my soul. Another fabulous thing is that I have had the chance to start painting after buying water paints and paper. Also cleaned out one of the many rooms I have and made it my `yoga room´. And, with the fabulous view from my roof I have enjoyed many nights stargazing and looking for the shooting stars (estrellas fugas).
A week ago was the Semana Santa here, which is the week leading up to Easter. All of Latin America makes a big deal about celebrating this holiday and the volunteers were given timeoff to take vacations is desired. With a group of 14 of us, we went to the selva in Oxapampa and Pozuzo to check out the green lusheshness of the forest. It was just gorgeous (though I literally thought I was going to die on the drive there and back. Because of the rain they have a lot of earthslides and it wipes out the road...and makes them very dangerous to drive on)! I felt like I was in the Appalachia Mountains of the US and felt like I was filling up with the joys of living where everything thrives with life all the time. We visited several waterfalls and went bathing, went on several hikes, checked out a bat cave at night which was quite interesting...a little scary, but no one got bit! In the route back we stopped by some volunteer`s sites in Junin and I became immediately jealous about their setup. They live in the mountains where there is greenery, even though it is too high up for trees to grow more than 3 feet tall. The people are very culturally traditional of Peru, and it felt like a very simple and tranquil life. Interesting to experience how the cultures of Peru change depending on where you are at. Definitely a difference between coastal, cierra and selva life. But, by the time we left at 11 at night I was freeeeezing and glad to be returning to the coast where I don`t really ever need a long sleeve shirt. I guess I have `acostumbrar´ed as Peruvians would say.
Now I am working on writing up my Community Diagnostic. Pretty much a report on all the findings I have made in my community so far. It`s currently 40 pages and I have about half left to write about. Jeez how I hate writing reports, let alone in Spanish!
Hope everyone`s Easter was fun and you are enjoying life and the weather wherever you are at! You are in my thoughts!
Paz y amor!
Monday, March 15, 2010
and here´s one for march
well, i would so rather write a list of what has happened during the last month...and think that would be the best way to tackle this feat of catching people up. at least it can be a start.
1. community diagnostic in many different villages to see their state of potable water availability, toilet use, kitchen set up, deposit of trash, and illnesses.
this is taking a lot of time and what i spend most of my days doing.
2. finished up summer classes for the kids in my town. i was teaching music lessons (piano and guitar) and english classes to kids between the ages of 12 and 19. it was quite fun, and my plan to make friends was executed peeeerfectly, but i am incredibly glad for it to be done. also, it was organized through the church and they took advantage of the fact that i was teaching for free to charge students a rate to attend my classes and keep the money for themselves. so, needless to say i felt used and for that reason am also glad it is done. (wasn´t aware of this until the end of classes.)
3. organized meetings with the elected ´promotores´ in each village and have done several informative sessions with them to educate them on their job responsibilites in regards to making sure people are using their water well. (For example, not to water the lawn when other people don´t even get water to drink.)
4. have started working with the health post and have coordinated an event for world water day (which happens to be the 22nd).
5. my brother, rion, came to visit! we went arequia which was suuuch a fabulous experience! it was the first time i was cold for an extended period of time and had to buy a hat, wear 2 layers of shirts and make an igloo under my blanket to keep warm! i cherished every moment of that. it also thunderstormed which was so beautiful! it was a week of visiting the south, paracas where birds almost pooped on our heads, of sandboarding, of checking out the nasca lines (and feeling like i was going ot die in the plane...will neeever again check out the lines from the air), of check out my site, and of helping to build bathroom with other volunteers. it was great to show him where i live and what peace corps peru is like. especially since i went to visit his site in belize before coming here. now we really have an idea of how different experiences can be and goes to show you can´t compare two different servies. haha! one of my favorite things we did was staying up late and playing dominose at my house. then, we decided to water the leaves of the orange tree i have in the courtyard of my house (since it was sooo dirty because it never rains). we were dumping water on my tree for about and hour and i was washing the leave, one at a time, with a rag. got to say, i didn´t realize how glowing green it was under the layer of dirt. hah! it was so funny!
6. got a showering of packages and letters from fabulously amazing friends! thank you chelsea, wanakee, jenna, fritze, cori, betsy, granny and grandpa! it makes my day to go in and get packages and letters in the serpost! my room is how decorated with pictures that people have sent me. and after eating the chocolate that people are sending, i have to confess i should be boosting the amount i am running/biking...but, i also figure the sun will make me sweat out all the extra weight. will keep you all updated on how well that´s going.
7. i found a group of awesome people in lima who do yoga in the park on monday and wednesday nights, along with slacklinning. it reminded me of my nz friends (bigblueandpatty!!!) and i realized how much i miss slacklining. also, i have a renewed energy to start up yoga in my site, so i will get on that soon.
8. oh! aren and eddie from the states came to visit me as they were passing through my site to cusco. that was wonderful! they accompanied me for my first to the discoteca in my town which happens to also be my neighbor. we went for a ´miss verano´ (miss summer) competition. during the night of dancing, i was in the corner trying to make it as minimally obvious as possible that we were gringos. but, of course nothing worked and the entire croud would stare at us and wanted to dance with us. by the end of the night the gay guys in the discoteca kept asking me if my guy friends were gay, and the straight guys were asking me what my number was. in all, it was super fun!
9. i learned how to make tamalies with two of my girlfriends in site - julie and jessica. they are my friends in the market that make fruit drinks every morning and i always visit them. it took us allll night (literally from 9 pm until 5 am) to make tamalies, but they also turned out fabulous!
so, those are the updates for now! life is wonderful! love you all, and peace!
1. community diagnostic in many different villages to see their state of potable water availability, toilet use, kitchen set up, deposit of trash, and illnesses.
this is taking a lot of time and what i spend most of my days doing.
2. finished up summer classes for the kids in my town. i was teaching music lessons (piano and guitar) and english classes to kids between the ages of 12 and 19. it was quite fun, and my plan to make friends was executed peeeerfectly, but i am incredibly glad for it to be done. also, it was organized through the church and they took advantage of the fact that i was teaching for free to charge students a rate to attend my classes and keep the money for themselves. so, needless to say i felt used and for that reason am also glad it is done. (wasn´t aware of this until the end of classes.)
3. organized meetings with the elected ´promotores´ in each village and have done several informative sessions with them to educate them on their job responsibilites in regards to making sure people are using their water well. (For example, not to water the lawn when other people don´t even get water to drink.)
4. have started working with the health post and have coordinated an event for world water day (which happens to be the 22nd).
5. my brother, rion, came to visit! we went arequia which was suuuch a fabulous experience! it was the first time i was cold for an extended period of time and had to buy a hat, wear 2 layers of shirts and make an igloo under my blanket to keep warm! i cherished every moment of that. it also thunderstormed which was so beautiful! it was a week of visiting the south, paracas where birds almost pooped on our heads, of sandboarding, of checking out the nasca lines (and feeling like i was going ot die in the plane...will neeever again check out the lines from the air), of check out my site, and of helping to build bathroom with other volunteers. it was great to show him where i live and what peace corps peru is like. especially since i went to visit his site in belize before coming here. now we really have an idea of how different experiences can be and goes to show you can´t compare two different servies. haha! one of my favorite things we did was staying up late and playing dominose at my house. then, we decided to water the leaves of the orange tree i have in the courtyard of my house (since it was sooo dirty because it never rains). we were dumping water on my tree for about and hour and i was washing the leave, one at a time, with a rag. got to say, i didn´t realize how glowing green it was under the layer of dirt. hah! it was so funny!
6. got a showering of packages and letters from fabulously amazing friends! thank you chelsea, wanakee, jenna, fritze, cori, betsy, granny and grandpa! it makes my day to go in and get packages and letters in the serpost! my room is how decorated with pictures that people have sent me. and after eating the chocolate that people are sending, i have to confess i should be boosting the amount i am running/biking...but, i also figure the sun will make me sweat out all the extra weight. will keep you all updated on how well that´s going.
7. i found a group of awesome people in lima who do yoga in the park on monday and wednesday nights, along with slacklinning. it reminded me of my nz friends (bigblueandpatty!!!) and i realized how much i miss slacklining. also, i have a renewed energy to start up yoga in my site, so i will get on that soon.
8. oh! aren and eddie from the states came to visit me as they were passing through my site to cusco. that was wonderful! they accompanied me for my first to the discoteca in my town which happens to also be my neighbor. we went for a ´miss verano´ (miss summer) competition. during the night of dancing, i was in the corner trying to make it as minimally obvious as possible that we were gringos. but, of course nothing worked and the entire croud would stare at us and wanted to dance with us. by the end of the night the gay guys in the discoteca kept asking me if my guy friends were gay, and the straight guys were asking me what my number was. in all, it was super fun!
9. i learned how to make tamalies with two of my girlfriends in site - julie and jessica. they are my friends in the market that make fruit drinks every morning and i always visit them. it took us allll night (literally from 9 pm until 5 am) to make tamalies, but they also turned out fabulous!
so, those are the updates for now! life is wonderful! love you all, and peace!
Monday, February 22, 2010
It`s still hot...
I haven’t written for whiiiile! Looking at my track record, normally I write about 3-4 entries per month (and even then I think it’s quite skimpy), but I have been hit an all time low last month of 2. It’s almost as if my popularity rating dropped-sorry guys! I actually felt like a little kid who is getting behind on homework only I’m not being reprimanded by getting a bad grade or failing a class, instead I am realizing how much better it feels to share this story and experience of Peru with people instead of keeping all the fun stuff to myself and friends here. So, even though sometimes it feels like a chore to keep writing in here, in the long run 3 times a month isn’t that much, and I’ll try to improve the amount I write in here. Here are some of the things that have happened in my life since the last time I wrote.
Well, one of the big things that happened was that I changed my house! I now have two younger brothers, seven and fourteen, a mother who just turned thirty-eight and who I call my older brother (but he is technically my dad). The family is great and sooo much better! They laugh a lot, smile, are hospitable as practically every other Peruvian is, and are enjoyable to hang out with. I live in a part of their house that has a private entrance and living space. It actually used to be an elementary school called “Nino Jesus”. So, I live in Little Baby Jesus’ Elementary School! Haha, so funny! This old school is two stories tall with a roof as well, so it’s like 3 stories…all to me. So, I have a lot of room, privacy, but the family is right there. I always go over for breakfast, lunch when I’m here, and dinner when I’m back in time. It’s nice to feel part of the family but not feel like I am annoying them if I come back late and visa versa. So, after moving in with the family I realized they own the business of setting up all the parties that happen in Palpa! Hah! They have a ton of beer they supply to parties, the stage for bands to play on, and the speaker equipment. So, the municipality party I went to last year for the anniversary of Rio Grande with Beto was put together by this family. Party on! Also learned that my older brother and younger brother have nick names called ‘nino de oro’ which means ‘kid of money.’ Hah! So, the family is pretty well off. Also, the family has an ‘hacienda’ where they grow mangos and export them to Lima and other countries. Soooo many mangos. I helped them load up the truck with mangos to get them ready for exporting and there were so many! My family keeps giving me more and more mangos to eat as a kind gesture, but I am getting sicker and sicker of them! I started getting the ‘bicicleta’ (diarrhea) and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m eating too many mangos.
Talking about being gifted mangos (as Peruvian’s say), while doing my ‘enquestas’ there was one day when about every house I went to gave me a bag of at least 5 mangos and by the end of the day I had at least 30 mangos! Aaaah! So, discretely that night when I was walking home I dropped off one bag on each street corner being sure no one was watching. I know, it was a waste of mangos. But, there is absolutely no one to give them to! Everyone is trying to give their mangos away because they have too many! So, I guess I gave them to the dogs, unless they too are sick of eating mango scraps.
Well, back to the family, so I also found out just the other day that my family has a beach house. Sweet! So, I have yet to check that out, but between an hacienda, beach house, party planning, and my house on the PanAmerican, I think my time here in Palpa will be quite exciting! Ha!
So, another exciting thing that happened was the visiting of an NGO, Ayuda en Accion, for 2 weeks. They are a Spanish based organization with headquarters based in several countries around the world (from what I understand). Honestly, I felt like this was an NGO that is a perfect fit for me and volunteers in Peace Corps. We are both working on the same projects – water and sanitation. This means, water, toilets, biodigesters, cocinas mejoradas, solar ovens, location of animals, sanitation, trash cleanup, etc. (water and sanitation). This was the first time they came down to Palpa, and they came down to check out the water issues. There are several water systems in the province of Palpa, but one of them is almost 20 years old (San Ignacio). In this system people are getting water once every 4 days and most likely it is contaminated by an upstream mine, so Ayudo en Accion decided it was worth their attention and they are going to dedicate one year to plan a new system before returning to install the system.
That’s the long short of it. Lot’s of other stuff happened too. While the Spanish representative was here, we checked out all the systems the province of Palpa which includes the districts of Santa Cruz, Rio Grande, Llipata, and Igenio (in Nasca). Then we went to all the villages in the water system of San Ignacio, which is 7 villages, and explained to them the water emergency they are in. Explained to the people in each place that they need to take care of their water and not waste it by feeding animals and watering farms and to keep people from steeling water. It was an opportunity for Andres, the representative, to explain his NGO and for me to reiterate my project. And, since both of us are working in the same themed projects, how we are going to work together on this project – me helping them during their one year of planning for the system and them with the installation and funding everything. Pretty sweet pair up if you ask me.
So, now I am working on a water project and it just landed in my lap. The other thing we did with each village was to have them elect someone to be their ‘Promotor’ which is someone who is in charge of making sure the people in the community aren’t wasting their water. I am very excited about this because it gives me a contact person in each village whom I can go to to organize other speeches abouth sanitation and other projects. We put together a packet for the Promotores and I am going to teach them what it means and what kind of work they need to do.
I think this system and its Promotores will be the test run. If all goes well I am going to go to two other systems and have the people elect “promotores” in their area and set up this same network of people to make the community accountable for taking care of their potable water. It will hopefully help reorganize the system for this year and give more people access to more water by illuminating poor use of water.
Next order of business…I was gone from my site for a week which seemed like a loooong time! I was working with 10 other volunteers in a PCVs site to help with a bathroom project for one of her villages she was doing. A group of high school kids came down from the states, B3, to dedicate a week to build bathrooms. We built several bathrooms, burned in the sun, did some tourist stuff which was pretty fun, and saw a little bit of America. It was kind of a reverse culture shock and shows me how much I have become accustomed to Peruvian culture. It was fun though. Good to be around other PCVs and to meet other people. Just got back from there and it’s good to be home. I have decided Palpa has the best burgers and Pisco. This was decided when we went to Pisco for the last part of the B3 visit and had Pisco in the region known for it. And, it wasn’t that great in my opinion. The burger thing was decided there too. A lot of the PCV12s were boasting about how great the burgers were, and I wasn’t that impressed. So, when friends come down I am going to take them to the burger and Pisco place since apparently they are the best in Peru from my opinion now! Mmmmm!
So, friends are coming down this Saturday and I am stoked! Then, my older brother is coming down the weekend after that and we are going to road trip from down south back to the north! Soooo excited! Before getting to all that though, this is the last week of vacations for the kids here which means this is the last week of English and Music classes that I am going to teach for Vacaciones Utiles! I am quite excited for it to be over. Well, it was fun to teach, but I would like to have a little more direction on how to teach an English class. I think when the music classes are over I am going to continue teaching them to kids in the town but on a more one on one basis. I learned teaching a group of 8 kids piano at once is practically impossible. But, they did learn how to read music with their right hand! So that was really exciting!
Well, glad I got back on track with writing in here. Will try to keep it up! Hope the snow is treating everyone well in Iowa, and whoever else is in a cold climate. Don’t feel like you need to rush the sun’s arrival, it’s still hot when the suns out and you’re only going to wish it was cold again.
Chao chao! Besos!
Well, one of the big things that happened was that I changed my house! I now have two younger brothers, seven and fourteen, a mother who just turned thirty-eight and who I call my older brother (but he is technically my dad). The family is great and sooo much better! They laugh a lot, smile, are hospitable as practically every other Peruvian is, and are enjoyable to hang out with. I live in a part of their house that has a private entrance and living space. It actually used to be an elementary school called “Nino Jesus”. So, I live in Little Baby Jesus’ Elementary School! Haha, so funny! This old school is two stories tall with a roof as well, so it’s like 3 stories…all to me. So, I have a lot of room, privacy, but the family is right there. I always go over for breakfast, lunch when I’m here, and dinner when I’m back in time. It’s nice to feel part of the family but not feel like I am annoying them if I come back late and visa versa. So, after moving in with the family I realized they own the business of setting up all the parties that happen in Palpa! Hah! They have a ton of beer they supply to parties, the stage for bands to play on, and the speaker equipment. So, the municipality party I went to last year for the anniversary of Rio Grande with Beto was put together by this family. Party on! Also learned that my older brother and younger brother have nick names called ‘nino de oro’ which means ‘kid of money.’ Hah! So, the family is pretty well off. Also, the family has an ‘hacienda’ where they grow mangos and export them to Lima and other countries. Soooo many mangos. I helped them load up the truck with mangos to get them ready for exporting and there were so many! My family keeps giving me more and more mangos to eat as a kind gesture, but I am getting sicker and sicker of them! I started getting the ‘bicicleta’ (diarrhea) and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m eating too many mangos.
Talking about being gifted mangos (as Peruvian’s say), while doing my ‘enquestas’ there was one day when about every house I went to gave me a bag of at least 5 mangos and by the end of the day I had at least 30 mangos! Aaaah! So, discretely that night when I was walking home I dropped off one bag on each street corner being sure no one was watching. I know, it was a waste of mangos. But, there is absolutely no one to give them to! Everyone is trying to give their mangos away because they have too many! So, I guess I gave them to the dogs, unless they too are sick of eating mango scraps.
Well, back to the family, so I also found out just the other day that my family has a beach house. Sweet! So, I have yet to check that out, but between an hacienda, beach house, party planning, and my house on the PanAmerican, I think my time here in Palpa will be quite exciting! Ha!
So, another exciting thing that happened was the visiting of an NGO, Ayuda en Accion, for 2 weeks. They are a Spanish based organization with headquarters based in several countries around the world (from what I understand). Honestly, I felt like this was an NGO that is a perfect fit for me and volunteers in Peace Corps. We are both working on the same projects – water and sanitation. This means, water, toilets, biodigesters, cocinas mejoradas, solar ovens, location of animals, sanitation, trash cleanup, etc. (water and sanitation). This was the first time they came down to Palpa, and they came down to check out the water issues. There are several water systems in the province of Palpa, but one of them is almost 20 years old (San Ignacio). In this system people are getting water once every 4 days and most likely it is contaminated by an upstream mine, so Ayudo en Accion decided it was worth their attention and they are going to dedicate one year to plan a new system before returning to install the system.
That’s the long short of it. Lot’s of other stuff happened too. While the Spanish representative was here, we checked out all the systems the province of Palpa which includes the districts of Santa Cruz, Rio Grande, Llipata, and Igenio (in Nasca). Then we went to all the villages in the water system of San Ignacio, which is 7 villages, and explained to them the water emergency they are in. Explained to the people in each place that they need to take care of their water and not waste it by feeding animals and watering farms and to keep people from steeling water. It was an opportunity for Andres, the representative, to explain his NGO and for me to reiterate my project. And, since both of us are working in the same themed projects, how we are going to work together on this project – me helping them during their one year of planning for the system and them with the installation and funding everything. Pretty sweet pair up if you ask me.
So, now I am working on a water project and it just landed in my lap. The other thing we did with each village was to have them elect someone to be their ‘Promotor’ which is someone who is in charge of making sure the people in the community aren’t wasting their water. I am very excited about this because it gives me a contact person in each village whom I can go to to organize other speeches abouth sanitation and other projects. We put together a packet for the Promotores and I am going to teach them what it means and what kind of work they need to do.
I think this system and its Promotores will be the test run. If all goes well I am going to go to two other systems and have the people elect “promotores” in their area and set up this same network of people to make the community accountable for taking care of their potable water. It will hopefully help reorganize the system for this year and give more people access to more water by illuminating poor use of water.
Next order of business…I was gone from my site for a week which seemed like a loooong time! I was working with 10 other volunteers in a PCVs site to help with a bathroom project for one of her villages she was doing. A group of high school kids came down from the states, B3, to dedicate a week to build bathrooms. We built several bathrooms, burned in the sun, did some tourist stuff which was pretty fun, and saw a little bit of America. It was kind of a reverse culture shock and shows me how much I have become accustomed to Peruvian culture. It was fun though. Good to be around other PCVs and to meet other people. Just got back from there and it’s good to be home. I have decided Palpa has the best burgers and Pisco. This was decided when we went to Pisco for the last part of the B3 visit and had Pisco in the region known for it. And, it wasn’t that great in my opinion. The burger thing was decided there too. A lot of the PCV12s were boasting about how great the burgers were, and I wasn’t that impressed. So, when friends come down I am going to take them to the burger and Pisco place since apparently they are the best in Peru from my opinion now! Mmmmm!
So, friends are coming down this Saturday and I am stoked! Then, my older brother is coming down the weekend after that and we are going to road trip from down south back to the north! Soooo excited! Before getting to all that though, this is the last week of vacations for the kids here which means this is the last week of English and Music classes that I am going to teach for Vacaciones Utiles! I am quite excited for it to be over. Well, it was fun to teach, but I would like to have a little more direction on how to teach an English class. I think when the music classes are over I am going to continue teaching them to kids in the town but on a more one on one basis. I learned teaching a group of 8 kids piano at once is practically impossible. But, they did learn how to read music with their right hand! So that was really exciting!
Well, glad I got back on track with writing in here. Will try to keep it up! Hope the snow is treating everyone well in Iowa, and whoever else is in a cold climate. Don’t feel like you need to rush the sun’s arrival, it’s still hot when the suns out and you’re only going to wish it was cold again.
Chao chao! Besos!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
the deep meaning of dreams
so the other day teigan was telling me about lucid dreaming and i was thinking that i would start trying to remember my dreams. ya know, maybe there´s some hidden message behind purple elephants that are jumping on clouds? anyways, so i was dreaming of lots and lots of horses last night. and then, loooots and loooots of horse shit! it was so horrible! then, i woke myself up still smelling horse shit. i had know idea what was going on. i thought it was just my dream getting the better of me, so i went back to sleep. not for too long though, until i woke myself up again smelling horse shit. gawd! i was too tired to figure out what the smell really was, and convinced myself to go back to bed, so i continued to dream of horse shit. when i woke up in the morning i didn´t quite notice the smell, until i left my room. then i got a whiff of it and then it passed. so, i went to make my breakfast concoction of cane sugar, lime juice, and red pepper powder (kate, teigan and i are attempting the full body detox that lasts for 10 days on this lovely diet). well, my grandfather came in to the kitchen and told me i need to take care of my compost bin because the liquid in the bottom was smelling bad. well, i thought he was just being annoying and angry at life again, so i didn´t think too much of it. then, i walked back into my room and got a whiff of that smell again. jeeeeez! so, i looked over and there was my compost bin. i took the top off the bottom and was about knocked off my feet. the smell was concentrated horse shit! it penetrated my lungs and made them feel heavy. i almost vomited right there - i definitely gagged. who knew you could mess up compost! so apparently it´s not just straw, water and organic stuff. guess i am supposed to keep adding newspaper and straw and turning the stuff. jeeeeez. well, i ran to the store after cleaning out the liquid into the street and bought myself a bar of soap since i had just run out. i washed my hands 3 times and the smell still stuck. now i have to deal with the smell in my room. i don´t know where i´m going ot sleep if it still reeks!
even though the house now smells absolutely horrible, it was totally worth the laughs my grandfather and i had over the mistake i made. (side note: he´s a very sour person and this was the first time we have shared a laugh over something genuinely funny.)
even though the house now smells absolutely horrible, it was totally worth the laughs my grandfather and i had over the mistake i made. (side note: he´s a very sour person and this was the first time we have shared a laugh over something genuinely funny.)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Ring in the New Year with some...Yellow Underwear
Peruvian tradition is to wear something yellow for New Years. This explains why I was seeing so many different styles of yellow underwear for sale in the stores. I really was confused for some time. They also make dolls life sized for each person in the house. The dolls wear old clothes from that person, and at midnight they burn the dolls. Sounded a little like voodoo to me, but it´s symbolic of burning al the bad things from the previous year (like yourself...hm...) and getting ready for the new one. Then, you´re supposed to each 12 grapes, one for each month, and run around the house with a backpack on which is symbolic of lots of travel in the new year. Out of all this, I wore the yellow underwear.
New Things for 2010:
1. I have adopted two puppies! Well, kind of. They are staying at EMAPICA (Potable Water Office), but I am helping to raise them and take care of them. I named Liberty and Sam (the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam). They´re my refuge when I feel I need a little bit of US lovin´, and my method for teaching the Peruvians a little bit about America - one dog at a time.
2. I also have come down with a cold that I caught from sharing a drink with Kate. Peruvians would say I caught the gripe because I sleep with my fan on, or because I like to walk around without my shoes on, but I am pretty 100% sure it´s from the transfer of geeeerms.
3. I got my sleeping bag and sleeping pad stolen. boooooo. On the good old Soyuz bus, and put those things in the compartment above my head. Should have known not to, but guess that happens. Maybe that just means I won´t get anything else stolen during my time here!?
4. Teig´s, Kate and I are going to do a detox this week consisting of red pepers, sugar, lime, mixed in water, along with green tea. It´s supposed to last a week...we´ll see who flakes out first, or how amazing we feel at the end! (It´s the detox I tried last time and did´t last much more than 2 days...but this time I can literally rest for a week if I need to.)
So, my head is throbbing now. I think it´s from the heat and the Gripe I got. Time to go rest it off...
Happy New Years to all!!!
New Things for 2010:
1. I have adopted two puppies! Well, kind of. They are staying at EMAPICA (Potable Water Office), but I am helping to raise them and take care of them. I named Liberty and Sam (the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam). They´re my refuge when I feel I need a little bit of US lovin´, and my method for teaching the Peruvians a little bit about America - one dog at a time.
2. I also have come down with a cold that I caught from sharing a drink with Kate. Peruvians would say I caught the gripe because I sleep with my fan on, or because I like to walk around without my shoes on, but I am pretty 100% sure it´s from the transfer of geeeerms.
3. I got my sleeping bag and sleeping pad stolen. boooooo. On the good old Soyuz bus, and put those things in the compartment above my head. Should have known not to, but guess that happens. Maybe that just means I won´t get anything else stolen during my time here!?
4. Teig´s, Kate and I are going to do a detox this week consisting of red pepers, sugar, lime, mixed in water, along with green tea. It´s supposed to last a week...we´ll see who flakes out first, or how amazing we feel at the end! (It´s the detox I tried last time and did´t last much more than 2 days...but this time I can literally rest for a week if I need to.)
So, my head is throbbing now. I think it´s from the heat and the Gripe I got. Time to go rest it off...
Happy New Years to all!!!
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