Huánuco

Friday night I left my home in San Martín and travelled to the home of my site coordinator Debbie Horne and her husband Harry. There I met with Alex, my fellow YAV who lives in Comas, and together the four of us had dinner before taking a bus to Huánuco for a weekend retreat. The bus (actually referred to a bus cama, which means the chairs recline almost into a bed) made the eight hour journey by night and I was fortunately able to sleep most of the way their. In the morning we arrived and were greeted by Lynn and her host father at the bus station. The other YAVs were already there and it was so great to be together again. We left the bus station and headed for La Granja (literally the farm) where Lynn works once every month with victims of sexual abuse. The change of scenery was incredible. There were mountains surrounding us on all sides and a hot sun shining down. There was also a lot of vegetation and farm country that created a very peaceful atmosphere. La Granja itself was wonderful. There were dairy cows, chickens, guinea pigs (they raise those to eat here), rabbits, a large garden, and green pastures. The highlight of the weekend may have been the dairy. We ate fresh cheese and yogurt and we drank fresh milk every morning for breakfast. It was the first time I had drank milk in about seven weeks! Needless to say I was in love with La Granja! During the retreat the six of us Peru YAVs along with Debbie and Harry, all spent time together sharing our thoughts and feelings about the time we´ve already spent here. I think talking about our issues was theraputic and helped us to understand one another really well. Unfortunately it also caused me to feel a bit homesick while we were there. I realized that time passes more quickly for me while I am in Lima.

During one day of our retreat we spent the afternoon with three girls and their babies who are living at La Granja. We took a walk to a small body of water that surrounded a little island and there under some trees we sang songs together and took turns holding/photographing the babies. I think the girls really loved this because they don´t have photos (or not many) of their babies. I was surprised by how open and willing they were to let us hold and play with their kids but it was great to see them enjoying themselves and getting to show us around the place. In the evening we showed them how to play spoons which was really fun because they were very competetive and got really into it.

On Monday we headed to Tingo Maria, a town located on the edge of the Selva (jungle). There we spent the day hiking up a large series of waterfalls, some of which we climbed straight up with rope and a harness as water cascaded down over us. It felt so good to swim right under the falls, especially since I hadn´t showered in days.

El Bosque Seco

Yesterday Nelson and I travelled to Lomas early in the morning to meet the JESHENI kids. We had made plans last week to travel to the Bosque Seco (dry forest) on Monday morning as a field trip. I had seen a few photos of the bosque before we visited, but I was still in awe when we actually arrived there. Upon ascending into the forst, we were sort of swept up by a layer of clouds/fog that felt really clean compared with the constant smell of disel fumes in the inner city. I listened to the youth talk to one another as we climbed and they were sure to show me the most dangerous spots (aka slippery spots, Nelson fell three times) and together we made it to a place where we stopped for a snack of bread and soda. The climbing was more difficult than I had expected, and I was surprised that it took us less time to come down even though it felt more treacherous. I was also surprised by the diversity of plant and animal life that existed in the Bosque Seco. The most common plant there was a very green, broad leafed species that released a lot of water if stepped on (which we were careful not to do as it makes things more difficult when climbing). There were cactus growing there and some different colored flowers as well. We never did make it to the top of whatever mountain or hill we were climbing. Some of the girls were disappointed that we didn´t go further, but we had been hiking for an hour or more. Before we left Lomas to go to the Bosque (which is only about 20 minutes away) Nelson has us all circle up so that he could share some good news with us. He had attended a meeting last week with the Uniendo Manos people in Lima and there he learned of an opportunity that is being presented to JESHENI to restore the Bosque and create a means of tourism to the area. By doing this we might also be able to claim the area as a nature reserve which could prevent the area from being vulnerable to destruction or misuse by companies wishing to use the area as a trash dump (landfill). Check out the new photos I posted of the Bosque Seco!

At the end of this week the YAVs have our first retreat together. We are going to Huánuco for some rest and relaxation over the weekend. I will be sure to take my camera.

Last Week

On Sunday I travelled to Chosica with the family once again, this time for the birthday of my host grandmother. Chosica seemed to have become more beautiful between visits which Nelsito (host brother) assurred me was because there was more sunlight this time. More of the extended family showed up for this birthday celebration and a singer had been hired to perform as well. There was a huge variety of food served (including ceviche, cau cau, arroz con pollo, frijoles, cabrito, yucca, camote, a lot of food anyway). There was also a lot of dancing that followed the eating and I´m pretty sure I have never felt so out of place. Nelsito and I decided to take a walk around the town (see the pics to get an idea of what it was like). We visited a fountain with a Christ statue on top of it at one end of the main square. I learned that the Rimac river also runs nearby and we visited that as well (this time we were accompanied by Alfredo, my host cousin, as well). After dark we went out to walk around some more which was very interesting. There were fountains and lights and people just strolling around enjoying the evening. The place next to the river had turned into a lover´s lane (in fact, many places in the square had become this way in the evening). Alfredo and Nelsito explained to me the river´s contamination from mining operations up in the mountains.

Tuesday I travelled to Lomas with my host father, Nelson, to once again teach my English class. On the bus ride up to Lomas a mom and her children boarded, and before long, her son was puking into a plastic bag that she held up for him. I felt really bad for him because as miserable as it can be to ride the bus, doing it while you´re sick would just be awful. The English class went well but I am going to buy a book here to help me (one of the other YAV´s found a good one in Miraflores).

Wednesday I rested for the the first half of the day and was very excited to receive my absentee ballot to vote in the general election! I was also excited just to have received some mail (now I know that the system works)! I got to work on the ballot and spent the rest of the afternoon reading all about the economic disaster going on in the US and around the world. At around 4:00 PM I took the bus with Nelsito to his University here in Lima. I was blown away by the size and beauty of the campus! From the outside it is difficult to tell how large it is. It is a private school and is ranked one of the best (if not the number one) schools in Peru. We passed by a café where I saw some Gringas speaking English (Nelsito and I have this thing going where whenever I see someone who I think looks white enough to be a Gringo/Gringa, I point him or her out and ask his opinion. He almost always responds with a "No! There are people that are from here that are whiter than you!" But this time I got him because they were speaking very American English). I met some of Nelsito´s friends who we met up with so that they could work on a group project together. I tried to keep up but they were speaking pretty fast. At 6 I went with Nelsito to his Labor Law class and sat in with him until it got out at 7:30. It was easier to follow the professor who spoke more slowly and often repeated the ideas he was teaching. He talked about a recent strike that has been going on here with the medical professionals. After class we walked from the University to Plaza San Miguel where we met Tanya (host sister) and Eric (her enomorado). We went to this sandwich place called Pasquale that was deliscious.

Thursday morning Nelson and I stopped by the Red on out way into the office. My site coordinator, Debbie, reminded me that the VP debate would be happening that night which was unfortunate because I would be in Lomas. She said she would tape it for me and I ended up watching some clips the next morning on Youtube as well. I am going to work on a letter this week, that I will send to someone at Westminster, so that those who are unable to follow my blog will have a way of knowing how I am doing here in Peru!

Crash

Riding home from Lomas late last night (10:30 or so) I witnessed a car accident. Nelson and I were in a combis (remember those are the little vans that take people around the city) and as it was approaching a stop (where several other combis´ and buses fight for curb side position to grab more passengers), I heard a very loud sound of tires screeching on pavement. Next, there was a bright light that shone through the side windows into the combis followed immediately by the passing of a dark object (car), very close to the van. I tried to keep my eyes on the car as it flew past, however, so was everyone else and my view was sporatically blocked. It appeared as though the car first swerved left into the median (we were on a highway/freeway) and then spun out of control as it moved back across all four lanes, hitting another car in the process. At this point I became a little bit panicked because I realized the duration of the events unfolding and just wanted to know what was happening. There were more loud crashes and finally we were again hit by the bright lights of the car. This time they were at a distance and were skewed, revealing that the car had flipped and was now on its hood and facing us many feet away. Nelson pointed out to me that the other car that had been hit had slid or spun to the right side of the road but was facing forward and still on its wheels. The car that had caused the accident was not so fortunate. As we slowly approached the vehicle I began to see that the car had indeed flipped and was now lying tilted somewhat forward (hood end) and towards the driver´s side. I also noticed that I was unable to see into any of the car windows. I didn´t think that they were tinted because they had a very strange metallic dust appearance to them and I was very confused by that. They also were not broken. Though the street was lit it was still very dark out at this time of the night and I thought I saw (and Nelson confirmed) a woman peering into an open back door of the upsiedown vehicle. I don´t know if she had just come from out of the car through that door, or was merely a witness of the wreck trying to help out (or possibly from the other car that was hit). At this point our combis was humming with nervous murmurs and from the back came shouts of "Avanza" (advance, or let´s go/get out of here). We rolled forward, still quite slowly, and eventually regained speed (though we never did move quite as fast as we had been before the wreck). Not five minutes later there was a fire truck roaring at full speed in the opposite direction. Two additional remarks about what happened that night:
First of all, about ten or fifteen minutes before the accident I had just finished saying a small, silent prayer about how grateful I was for being safe thus far in my travels.
Second, the way that I remember the events that unfolded with the accident is like watching a movie. I used to think that people sounded stupid or overly dramatic when they would say things like this but now I really understand what they mean. Remembering what happended is like watching one of those movies that is filmed with a hand held camera, where all of the action feels more chaotic and the lense zooms in and out of focus and the picture bounces all around. Every loud crash is more intense and seems to rattle your vision a little bit too.

On a lighter note, I was asked to teach English classes again last night even though Thursdays are supposed to be for the discussion of current events. The class was much smaller, about ten or so, because apparently the teacher of one of the schools had given a bunch of the other kids detention or something equivalent to that (that´s how I understood it anyway). This class was much more successful than the first, partly because it was my second time, the class size was smaller, and I could tell that everyone in the room wanted to learn (even my host dad Nelson)! It was a great experience and I am very excited to be going back tomorrow morning to play some basketball/volleyball/soccer with the JESHENI kids. I´ll try to get some pictures for the blog while I´m there too.

Weekend

Nelson and I didn´t go to Lomas on Saturday morning after all. The Jesheni kids were busy with other activities (work) and couldn´t be there. Eliza (my host mom) and Nelson (host dad) still went to work while I stayed at home and caught up on some sleep. Later in the afternoon Tanya (my host sister) arrived at the house and asked me if I wanted to go with her to pick up Eric (her amor). We met him at a mall in San Miguel and decided to go shop for a birthday gift for Nelson. We found a pretty nice sweater to buy for him and then we got a call that Nelson jr. was coming to meet us at the mall. We looked around some more, got some ice cream, and then left to pick up Eliza and Nelson from work. Once all six of us were packed into the car (plus all of the things we bought) we went out to a restaurant to celebrate Nelson´s birthday. Yesterday I went with Tanya and my host mom and dad to Port Callao here in Lima. It was a beautiful day because the sun came out and burned off almost all of the marine layer. The homes near the port were very beautiful and old looking. As we walked, Nelson told me stories about pirates that used to sack the port over and over again until one day an unnamed pastor took it upon himself to shoot and kill the leader of the pirates. The way this story was described made it sound like the pastor took aim at the pirate leader from the shore and essentially sniped him as he stood on his ship waiting in the port. It is known as the miracle of Santa Rosa because Santa Rosa went inside of a church close to the port to pray while most of the other townspeople fled to the mountains. The story says that she prayed that a miracle would occur and the pirates would leave once and for all. I guess it worked. Today I worked on some more articles for the Uniendo Manos folks and now I´m spending the rest of the day preparing for my first English class tomorrow in Lomas. I have never taught English before so I am a little nervous about it but I also think that it will be a lot of fun.

Correction

With regards to what I ate on Wednesday afternoon, the chanfanita dish is actually made with the lungs of the cow, not the stomach as I previously stated. There is another dish here called Cau Cau, which I ate last week, that is made with the cow´s stomach (and the dish really is pronounced cow cow). Of course at the time I was unaware of what I was eating and I did enjoy the cau cau (I don´t know if I will still like it if we eat it again though). So that´s it for the corrections with the Peruvian cuisine. For the most part, the food here is really good. There are a variety of different fruits and vegetables that I have never before seen or tasted and so it is a lot of fun getting to know some new flavors.

Yesterday Nelson and I left the office around 3:30 to go to Lomas. Two hours later we arrived and it was still light out. That was the first time I have seen Lomas during the day and as poor as it seemed on the first night I was there, yesterday I was able to see with more clarity the extreme poverty that exists there. We began by going to on of the schools that several of the Jesheni kids attend. There are two schools in Lomas and our objective yesterday was to speak with the teachers of one of these schools (I assume that we´ll probably do the same at the other school too). Our discussion was supposed to be about how we could support the teachers by talking with the Jesheni kids about what they learn, and the importance of being good students etc. Some of the kids in the group are a little rebellious which is affecting their ability to graduate on time and succeed in their studies (but there is a lot of hope for these kids because even though some are rebellious, they are the kind of youth that have an interest in getting better). Anyway, once we were inside the school grounds I was basically useless to our discussions. I stuck out a lot there and so a number of kids rushed over to me to start practicing the English that they are learning. I imagine that seeing a gringo is pretty rare and I was happy to be there so that they could practice. As far as the discussions with the professors went, I didn´t get the impression that there was a lot of success. They looked pretty busy with the students and everything was kind of chaotic anyway. We left the school and walked through the neighborhood which is sort of built along the side of a hill/mountain. Nelson told me that about eight years ago a group from Germany came to Lomas with a project to provide the town with running water. We climbed to the top of a hill where there was a great water tank and Nelson described to me that the Europeans had installed this tank as well as a system of pipes throughout the town. I noticed that each dwelling had a green cement structure outside with a little spiget on it (I am going to take pictures of all of this tomorrow morning when we return and then I will post them for you to see). Most of these spigets, and some of the cement structures, were broken. The idea was that the people of the town could tap this supply of running water whenever they wanted and only pay for whatever amount they used. I´m not sure how the tank would be replenished (it almost never rains here) but I assumed that the Europeans would refill the tank using the funds that people paid to have the water. Well that was eight years ago and now the project has been abandoned. There are broken PVC pipes laying on the ground (in some places you can see where the water lines ran). Next we visited the park where we will be planting trees and cleaning up the trash littered throughout the area. Nelson told me that six months ago the Jesheni kids had cleaned up this park and planted several trees and small plants. Several of these trees had died and there were some others that are on their way. These trees and plants are of course native to the area and require little water but still they are dying because they have no water at all (no one is watering them, even slightly). Others decide to uproot the plants just for the sake of destroying something. These were frustrating things to see because they demonstrated the failures of community projects. Oh and now the community receives water from a truck that drives around delivering it to big plastic barrels that sit outside of each home. I received one final descouraging sight. As Nelson and I climbed higher into the neighborhood, we came along the edge of a small rock valley that sloped the other way down away from the village. Piles and piles of trash littered the area below as well as some loosely held together wooden pigpens. The pigs were being fed this toxic garbage and there were kids down in the trash heaps working to sort through plastics, metals, cardboard, etc. Nelson told me that they work from eight in the morning until as late as ten at night only to make 4 soles. The garbage is sifted through and separated by the kids who often suffer from asthma and other respiratory illness due to the toxic chemicals and plastics. The people also eat the pork from the contaminated pigs living down there which adds to their maladies. After seeing all of this we returned to the small room where Jesheni meets to have a charla (discussion). We talked about current events (there was a strike, I think, of doctors or medical professionals) and at around 9 in the evening we left Lomas and returned home at about 10:30. Today I am resting. It´s my host dad´s birthday.

Lomas de Carabayllo

Last night I made my first trip into Lomas de Carabayllo (which I will from here on refer to as Lomas) with my host father to see the youth group there that I will be working with this year. We left the office here in Lima at about 5:30 in the evening and arrived in Lomas around 7:00. Once in Lomas we bought some fruit at a local open air market and then got inside of a micro that took us up a dark, winding hill which was the neighborhood. The place was simultaneously peaceful and eerie. There was very little light since there were no street lights; in fact there weren´t really even streets, just dirt roads. The air here felt cleaner and for the first time since I´ve been in Lima there was total silence. We approached a small building on the side of the road where a door was open and two boys were standing around talking. Nelson (my host dad) told me that this was the place and so I was introduced to Jefferson and someone else whose name I´ve already forgotten. The first room of the building is small and bare. The floor is cement and there is one light in the center of the ceiling. The walls are a blueish gray color. Behind this front room is another which likely used to be a kitchen. There are counter tops with a stereo sitting on one, and the same color of walls and same single light bulb in the ceiling. Outside of this kitchen room is what could be called a backyard area of sorts. It is enclosed by short walls and there is not much there except for earth and some rocks. The backyard is divided into two areas, one of which is enclosed with a ceiling so it is more like an outside room since the floor is still of earth. I think that I will be using this room at times to teach math and English to the kids on Tuesdays. On Thursdays we will be working upstairs (the staris are located outside of the building and I have not yet been up there). The name of the youth group is Jesheni (which stands for Juntos Estarémos por Siempre Hasta Encontrar Nuestros Ideales = Together we will be forever until we reach our ideas) and they operate a radio station that broadcasts on topics like environmental and human rights issues. Saturday mornings are fun days when the youth and I will play futbol and have other activities to do. There is a bosque seco (literally dry forest) nearby where we will be planting trees and trying to make the area more park like and beautiful for the community. I am excited about the time that I will spend in Lomas and the improvements that can be made. The youth are all really interested in improving their futures and that is what makes me the most sad about their current standards of living. We left Lomas at 9:30 and took three different buses to get back home. They were all packed tight but the last was packed so tightly that at one point my host father was halfway hanging out of the door.

Today I stayed home and finished a translation for The Joining Hands Network Peru here in Lima which is closely connected to El Dia del Pueblo. The translated article will go on their web page. Nelson went into the office late in the morning but said that I could work from home and rest all day. It has been nice because my host brother (also Nelson) and I have had time to hang out now since he did not have classes today. One thing I could have done without today is what we had for lunch. It was cow stomach with potatos and rice. I finally had to stop eating it and say that I couldn´t continue because it was so nauseating. My host brother was happy about this I think because he hates it too and now maybe we can use that as an excuse never to have it again while I´m here (majority usually rules in this family so now with Tanya we out number the parents, plus I´m the guest). Haha! By the way the dish was called Chanfanita and if you ever go to Peru, I wouldn´t recommend it.