So this past week I attended the long awaited artisan fair with two representatives from my town. The fair was held at the U.S. embassy and was meant to be not only a fair to sell products but more of a learning experience in general. It was a two day event, with the first full of workshops on customer service and commercialization of their products. In the case of my artisans that would be ceramics. They have been making ceramics since 2007 at a workshop provided by the municipality. The idea behind the initiative was to teach some marketable skills to people in the community and provide another source of income. It apparently was very popular to start out and there were about 25 students that would show up to learn some techniques. When I arrived to my site they were down to 6… so I suppose it lost some of its popularity but nonetheless the ones that remain have picked up some pretty good skills and I think they have a lot of potential, just lack a little organization.
Being that they lacked the organization they also lacked to resources to travel to the fair. The peace corps was able to provide a portion of the costs but for the other costs we had to petition the municipality for some help. After some formalities and multiple conversations I got the municipality to donate their bus tickets to and from Lima. So after some last minute finishing of pottery and packing we got on the bus headed for Lima about 10 pm and arrived next morning at around 9 am. Overnight busses are pretty common here being that the airports aren’t available or affordable to most of the citizens. After the not so comfortable ride we got to the Peace Corps headquarters and dropped off our stuff, relaxed a little bit and then headed over to the embassy for our afternoon of various presentations. The presentations were put on by present and past volunteers mostly to illustrate some of the basic concepts to selling. Overall they were well done and I hope that my artisans learned something from it. After the presentations I went with some other volunteers to share an important cultural element with our artisans, Papa John’s. Now I’ve had some pizza in the next town from my site but nothing quite compares to an Xtra large from the Papa. Afterwards we went to the hostal to reunite with some other volunteers and to get some much needed rest.
We awoke early in the morning on Friday to get the embassy to set up our stand. Everyone was working feverishly to get all their products situated just right and to make all the last minute preparations. In our preparations back at our site we had forgotten to bring bags so another volunteer and I went out on a search and got back just as the fair was starting. Overall the fair was a success; the employees from the embassy came in generally during their lunch break to do some shopping for themselves or friends. It was pretty slow for my group at first and I could see the look of disappointment on their faces. However, a couple of hours in someone came along and liked what they saw and bought 4 pieces at once and little by little they sold some other works. As the fair was winding down another gentleman came along and bought a smaller piece, a turtle for 8 soles. As he was awaiting his change he then started looking at one of the other pieces, and began pondering another purchase. The piece he was looking at was a 3 foot tall pot with the giant face of an owl, something I was even skeptical about them trying to bring. After some deliberation and convincing on our part he bought it for 220 soles, (and doubling their sales for the day). Shortly after we packed up the remaining pieces and I helped them get back to the bus station and helped send them off.
Overall I think it was a success. My artisans may have not sold quite as much as they had envisioned but I’m convinced there will be some positives from the event. For example they realized they have to have various sized pieces and make more things that could be packed into a suitcase and survive a trip in an overhead storage bin. Apart from that I think they just need to work out some new designs including making their products more functional rather than ornamental.
Afterwards I decided to stay an extra night and re-unite with some fellow volunteers to celebrate my birthday. We went out to a bar in Barranco and enjoyed ourselves after some hard work getting our artisans ready and through the fair. On Saturday we hung out in a district in Lima called Miraflores and got our commercialism fix (including a lunch at Chili’s complete with a birthday dessert) before boarding our overnight busses back to our sites that night.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Getting busy and Canoñcillo
During these past couple weeks I would have to say I’ve been fairly busy. The tourism idea is taking a bit more form, and we have some good people to start working with. Also I’ve started working with a fellow volunteer on an annual international marathon in the town over that was started by a previous volunteer 3 years ago and is growing stronger year by year. Also, we’re trying to get a college fair together for all high school students in the Province. In addition, this past Wednesday there was tourism fair, where all high school tourism clubs in the area were invited to partake in the sharing of culture, dance, and gastronomy. I must say that my town’s stand we was well put together and my opinion, the best in the fair. It gave us the chance to showcase the ancient Moche culture, artisan work, and the two biggest companies in my town, a national yogurt producer and hydroponic lettuce farm.
And as the title precludes, I went on a trip to Canoñcillo with my host dad, some friends, and another volunteer. Now this was an experience all in its own, from just the planning to the trip itself. This trip was borne out the initiative of my host dad. Canoñcillo is known as a ‘national park and archaeological complex’. And more simply it’s a forest in the middle of the desert. But anyway my host father has had the ideas for years to take horses from my town to this forest and we had been mulling it over for quite some time. After a while my dad finally found someone willing to lend us five horses to take from my town to the bosque, for what my dad says is a hour and half trip but I think in reality would be closer to three. But anyway, we supposedly had them ‘guaranteed’ and the Thursday before our Saturday trip my dad and I went to talk to man who we were going to get the horses from. Well by went to talk I mean, I waited in the street for him to come back from working in the fields, and was told to look for a “man driving a cart with a grayish horse, younger than me with a hat”. Seemed strange but simple enough and on the second try found the man I was looking for. After a quick and mildly decipherable exchange I realized the horses were longer available, and that they were in fact not his own, but rather horses that he cared for and since we had struck a deal he had gotten in a fight with the owner, long story short there goes the horses.
So my dad and I were rightly disappointed and on such short notice it proved impossible to get other horses, however we decided to hitch a ride there and go on with the trip on foot. After a 5 am wake up we all met up in the next town over and got on combi to a neighboring town called Cruce de San Jose. From there we found a taxi to take us near the entrance to the forest. From there we started our journey, water and lunch packed away (I was lucky enough to get the 2.5 liter bottle of limonada in my pack). After a short while we arrived at the entrance and it was truly impressive, a lush forest in the middle of sand and bare mountains, with multiple lagunas and various forms of wildlife. It’s not a secret but certainly not visited very frequently and it was a breath of fresh to see no paper or bottles littered throughout the ground. After a few of hours of hiking we neared the end of the forest and came to the huge sand dunes. From here we took a little break and my host dad started to charge on toward what I would describe as a mountain. Myself and the rest of the group thought he was kidding when we said we’re going to the top but after a few minutes, we realized he was on a mission. After trekking through the sand we stopped to where we thought we were going to turnaround, but sure enough my 67 year old host dad kept going and eventually went out of site. We decided to go on in the hopes of finding him and mid way through the trip reluctantly decided to finish the journey to the top. After what seemed liked hours of trekking up we reached the top and got to enjoy our deserved sense of entitlement and spectacular view. The mountain had a huge streak of sand going down the middle of it and we decided to race down, mid way through having to stop to take a rest.
We then meandered our way back through the forest and stopped at the largest lake to eat our lunches and enjoy a little siesta on the banks. We then finished our journey back the way came and after passing through some fields got back to the beginning where we celebrated with a Cusquena Negra (a dark beer they have here, that almost tastes sugary) and relaxed. We then took some moto taxis to the next town where we found a taxi back my town. Shortly after arriving home and eating some ceviche my host mom had made I settled in and took a long awaited nap.
And as the title precludes, I went on a trip to Canoñcillo with my host dad, some friends, and another volunteer. Now this was an experience all in its own, from just the planning to the trip itself. This trip was borne out the initiative of my host dad. Canoñcillo is known as a ‘national park and archaeological complex’. And more simply it’s a forest in the middle of the desert. But anyway my host father has had the ideas for years to take horses from my town to this forest and we had been mulling it over for quite some time. After a while my dad finally found someone willing to lend us five horses to take from my town to the bosque, for what my dad says is a hour and half trip but I think in reality would be closer to three. But anyway, we supposedly had them ‘guaranteed’ and the Thursday before our Saturday trip my dad and I went to talk to man who we were going to get the horses from. Well by went to talk I mean, I waited in the street for him to come back from working in the fields, and was told to look for a “man driving a cart with a grayish horse, younger than me with a hat”. Seemed strange but simple enough and on the second try found the man I was looking for. After a quick and mildly decipherable exchange I realized the horses were longer available, and that they were in fact not his own, but rather horses that he cared for and since we had struck a deal he had gotten in a fight with the owner, long story short there goes the horses.
So my dad and I were rightly disappointed and on such short notice it proved impossible to get other horses, however we decided to hitch a ride there and go on with the trip on foot. After a 5 am wake up we all met up in the next town over and got on combi to a neighboring town called Cruce de San Jose. From there we found a taxi to take us near the entrance to the forest. From there we started our journey, water and lunch packed away (I was lucky enough to get the 2.5 liter bottle of limonada in my pack). After a short while we arrived at the entrance and it was truly impressive, a lush forest in the middle of sand and bare mountains, with multiple lagunas and various forms of wildlife. It’s not a secret but certainly not visited very frequently and it was a breath of fresh to see no paper or bottles littered throughout the ground. After a few of hours of hiking we neared the end of the forest and came to the huge sand dunes. From here we took a little break and my host dad started to charge on toward what I would describe as a mountain. Myself and the rest of the group thought he was kidding when we said we’re going to the top but after a few minutes, we realized he was on a mission. After trekking through the sand we stopped to where we thought we were going to turnaround, but sure enough my 67 year old host dad kept going and eventually went out of site. We decided to go on in the hopes of finding him and mid way through the trip reluctantly decided to finish the journey to the top. After what seemed liked hours of trekking up we reached the top and got to enjoy our deserved sense of entitlement and spectacular view. The mountain had a huge streak of sand going down the middle of it and we decided to race down, mid way through having to stop to take a rest.
We then meandered our way back through the forest and stopped at the largest lake to eat our lunches and enjoy a little siesta on the banks. We then finished our journey back the way came and after passing through some fields got back to the beginning where we celebrated with a Cusquena Negra (a dark beer they have here, that almost tastes sugary) and relaxed. We then took some moto taxis to the next town where we found a taxi back my town. Shortly after arriving home and eating some ceviche my host mom had made I settled in and took a long awaited nap.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Getting into a Rhythm, Mas o Menos
The Peace Corps schedule can be both a breath of fresh air and a source a frustration. I say this because it is really up to each individual what schedule, what projects, which people they choose to work with so on, but sometimes it hard to schedule meetings, and to find punctuality in general. Some days I’ll find myself busy from sun up to sun down and others I’ll spend most of my time trying to find things to do. So essentially we have a lot of freedom to pursue what we see fit so long as that we can articulate what we are doing in either conversations with our coordinators or monthly reports to our directors. The volunteer’s goal for the first three months is to get to know the community they have been placed in and to write a community diagnostic. The community diagnostic is a holistic report where we are told to write about the social, health, economic, etc. factors of our site and then draw from this some conclusions and some directions we would like to pursue. Every report is undoubtedly different and the focus depends on what program you are in (business development in my case). I have certainly started this process, trying to meet as many people I can, trying to build some relationships with organizations in my town, conducting formal interviews, and just hanging out.
I find it difficult to express what a typical day is at site as I’m sure many of my other peers are experiencing, but after about a month and half I have at least a general outline. As of the now the organization I’ve been working most with is an artisan group in my town that makes ceramics. It was the result of an initiative by the municipality to create some work opportunities in the town, by supplying a decent sized local to house their workshop. Currently the municipality has also contracted a professor from a neighboring town to teach them new techniques Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll generally go in on these days to observe, actually learn myself, and to try to figure out ways to help build their business. In about a month we have an artisan fair at the U.S. embassy where volunteer’s can bring two representatives from their group to sell their products and to also have a full day of workshops. I attempted to have a workshop about product design and strategy of my own this past Monday but arrived only to realize that half the group was there… However, I did have it on Wednesday and it went fairly well. I think they got the concepts I was trying to teach but the test will be if they will actually use them in the future.
Also there is also a group of young and adolescent workers (affiliated with a larger national group) that were formed a number of years ago. Since one of my goals here is to promote youth entrepreneurship this group seemed to be a perfect fit; however there appears to be some improvements needed. It seems as they are pretty loosely organized and could use a little more motivation and some more ideas as far as revenue generating activities. I have been going to their meetings and also a workshop put on my some NGO’s in a neighboring town where they were invited to learn about some broader social issues and how they affect Peru. Apart from those two groups I have been trying to interview some various organizations in my town and trying to find other ways to obtain material for my report including a survey I made and will proctor next week to try to find out some beliefs attitudes toward small business opportunities in the area. Another thing that I know I will work on is trying to get more tourism to my town. My town really has a lot to offer with its nice climate, fertile valley, and some great archeological sites dating back to a pre-Incan civilization called the Moches. The only problem is that there aren’t any established guides offering neither tours nor a museum to showcase the artifacts that have been found here.
So while it may be a little while before I get busy, my work seems to be taking shape at least. I’ve found myself getting a little more comfortable with my Spanish day by day and think that I’m getting closer to my host family as well. I’m looking forward to the upcoming artisan fair in Lima and will keep my eyes open for more opportunities to take form.
I find it difficult to express what a typical day is at site as I’m sure many of my other peers are experiencing, but after about a month and half I have at least a general outline. As of the now the organization I’ve been working most with is an artisan group in my town that makes ceramics. It was the result of an initiative by the municipality to create some work opportunities in the town, by supplying a decent sized local to house their workshop. Currently the municipality has also contracted a professor from a neighboring town to teach them new techniques Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll generally go in on these days to observe, actually learn myself, and to try to figure out ways to help build their business. In about a month we have an artisan fair at the U.S. embassy where volunteer’s can bring two representatives from their group to sell their products and to also have a full day of workshops. I attempted to have a workshop about product design and strategy of my own this past Monday but arrived only to realize that half the group was there… However, I did have it on Wednesday and it went fairly well. I think they got the concepts I was trying to teach but the test will be if they will actually use them in the future.
Also there is also a group of young and adolescent workers (affiliated with a larger national group) that were formed a number of years ago. Since one of my goals here is to promote youth entrepreneurship this group seemed to be a perfect fit; however there appears to be some improvements needed. It seems as they are pretty loosely organized and could use a little more motivation and some more ideas as far as revenue generating activities. I have been going to their meetings and also a workshop put on my some NGO’s in a neighboring town where they were invited to learn about some broader social issues and how they affect Peru. Apart from those two groups I have been trying to interview some various organizations in my town and trying to find other ways to obtain material for my report including a survey I made and will proctor next week to try to find out some beliefs attitudes toward small business opportunities in the area. Another thing that I know I will work on is trying to get more tourism to my town. My town really has a lot to offer with its nice climate, fertile valley, and some great archeological sites dating back to a pre-Incan civilization called the Moches. The only problem is that there aren’t any established guides offering neither tours nor a museum to showcase the artifacts that have been found here.
So while it may be a little while before I get busy, my work seems to be taking shape at least. I’ve found myself getting a little more comfortable with my Spanish day by day and think that I’m getting closer to my host family as well. I’m looking forward to the upcoming artisan fair in Lima and will keep my eyes open for more opportunities to take form.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Some Peruvian Culture
I have now been in Peru about three months and I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of cultural differences, some more stark than others. After reflecting on some of the differences I realize that at first there were some things that caught my attention right away but after a little while I’ve just come to accept them and not really notice them anymore.
An easy place to start with this entry is the concept of Guinea Pigs. Yes, Peruvians eat guinea pigs and they are more or less a delicacy. When I or my fellow volunteer’s tell others here that we have them as pets in the states is always good for a laugh. Here they have been eaten for centuries dating back to the Incans and will undoubtedly continue to do so. Peruvians love to go on about how healthy meat is, citing the fact that is has no cholesterol or fat. This may be true but in my experience, there also isn’t much meat. Compared to other food here it’s very expensive and only eaten from time to time. In addition to eating, it’s also used for another purpose, to diagnose illnesses. Now when I first heard this I just thought it was folklore but I’ve come to realize it is still practiced, particularly in the mountainous regions of the country, where they have curanderos (healers more or less) more frequently. The idea behind the ‘ritual’ is to take a live cuy and ‘pass it’ over the sick person’s body. After it is thoroughly passed over the body, it is then cut open. Now the idea is to examine the body of the cuy and if it has a bad liver, the patient has a bad liver or bad heart and so on. There is also a similar practice called passing the egg, where they do the same procedure, then crack the egg into a cup of water, then the curandero will ‘read’ the way the egg is displaced by the water and diagnose the person. Now, these are probably on the more extreme end of the beliefs I’ve come across and not necessarily representative of the country, but thought they were interesting.
Moving on, there is the topic of Peruvian parties, from birthdays to town religious festivals. From what I’ve seen they take their fiestas seriously and rarely miss the opportunity to do so. For birthday parties for example, it is customary for the person having the birthday to throw a party, inviting all the guests, provide all the drinks, and even provide a dinner for everyone. Needless to say this can be a big investment and the exact details will vary depending on each individuals or families economic status. But either way they like to start it off with an hora loca. This is where the birthday guy or gal will stand in the middle of the room with the other guests forming a circle around them and then have an hour of dancing, confetti, masks, jester hats, silly string, you name it. The guests are supposed to take turns dancing the lucky guy or gal and keep it up for the hour. After that people will start (or continue) drinking and wait for the food. After food is more drinking, followed by some obligatory dancing, followed by some more drinking most likely. Also in all of Peru, parties or casual get-togethers there is the concept of a drinking circle. Now this was something we were told to get down right away to start our cultural adaption off right. It starts off with one beer and one cup. The first person serves themselves, passes the bottle to the right, drinks their serving and passes the cup to the next person who then repeats this process. So yes there is one beer (maybe bottle of liquor) going around at once with one cup for everyone in the circle. After you’re done with your beer it is customary to shake the glass out, as an effort to keep it sanitary. Also if a man has a woman to his right he is obliged to serve her first before serving himself and if there is more than one he should serve them all before taking his turn. This seemed very strange to me at first but now just seems normal and drinking from my own bottle feels weird.
And the last thing I’d like to add to this entry is that, so far I’ve noticed that Peruvians have been extremely amiable overall. I was worried coming in that I might receive some inhospitable welcomes or negative sentiments towards North Americans in general, but overall everyone has been very friendly to me and my fellow volunteers. People we haven’t even known have readily offered their advice, recommendations, and even cell phone numbers and addresses should we ever get into trouble.
An easy place to start with this entry is the concept of Guinea Pigs. Yes, Peruvians eat guinea pigs and they are more or less a delicacy. When I or my fellow volunteer’s tell others here that we have them as pets in the states is always good for a laugh. Here they have been eaten for centuries dating back to the Incans and will undoubtedly continue to do so. Peruvians love to go on about how healthy meat is, citing the fact that is has no cholesterol or fat. This may be true but in my experience, there also isn’t much meat. Compared to other food here it’s very expensive and only eaten from time to time. In addition to eating, it’s also used for another purpose, to diagnose illnesses. Now when I first heard this I just thought it was folklore but I’ve come to realize it is still practiced, particularly in the mountainous regions of the country, where they have curanderos (healers more or less) more frequently. The idea behind the ‘ritual’ is to take a live cuy and ‘pass it’ over the sick person’s body. After it is thoroughly passed over the body, it is then cut open. Now the idea is to examine the body of the cuy and if it has a bad liver, the patient has a bad liver or bad heart and so on. There is also a similar practice called passing the egg, where they do the same procedure, then crack the egg into a cup of water, then the curandero will ‘read’ the way the egg is displaced by the water and diagnose the person. Now, these are probably on the more extreme end of the beliefs I’ve come across and not necessarily representative of the country, but thought they were interesting.
Moving on, there is the topic of Peruvian parties, from birthdays to town religious festivals. From what I’ve seen they take their fiestas seriously and rarely miss the opportunity to do so. For birthday parties for example, it is customary for the person having the birthday to throw a party, inviting all the guests, provide all the drinks, and even provide a dinner for everyone. Needless to say this can be a big investment and the exact details will vary depending on each individuals or families economic status. But either way they like to start it off with an hora loca. This is where the birthday guy or gal will stand in the middle of the room with the other guests forming a circle around them and then have an hour of dancing, confetti, masks, jester hats, silly string, you name it. The guests are supposed to take turns dancing the lucky guy or gal and keep it up for the hour. After that people will start (or continue) drinking and wait for the food. After food is more drinking, followed by some obligatory dancing, followed by some more drinking most likely. Also in all of Peru, parties or casual get-togethers there is the concept of a drinking circle. Now this was something we were told to get down right away to start our cultural adaption off right. It starts off with one beer and one cup. The first person serves themselves, passes the bottle to the right, drinks their serving and passes the cup to the next person who then repeats this process. So yes there is one beer (maybe bottle of liquor) going around at once with one cup for everyone in the circle. After you’re done with your beer it is customary to shake the glass out, as an effort to keep it sanitary. Also if a man has a woman to his right he is obliged to serve her first before serving himself and if there is more than one he should serve them all before taking his turn. This seemed very strange to me at first but now just seems normal and drinking from my own bottle feels weird.
And the last thing I’d like to add to this entry is that, so far I’ve noticed that Peruvians have been extremely amiable overall. I was worried coming in that I might receive some inhospitable welcomes or negative sentiments towards North Americans in general, but overall everyone has been very friendly to me and my fellow volunteers. People we haven’t even known have readily offered their advice, recommendations, and even cell phone numbers and addresses should we ever get into trouble.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
To New Beginnings
About a week and half into site now, and it’s been an experience so far. Since I’ve arrived I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people, revisit others, and get to know my host family a lot better. To get to my town I have to take a bus from Lima to Trujillo, then a bus from Trujillo to a town called Pacasmayo, then a taxi from there to my town. For this trip people take what’s known as a colectivo, which is basically where they stuff a taxi as full as they can to make it cheaper for us but make a little more for them as well. The minimum is five per taxi and I’ve gotten to be in one with 8. But anyways, as I was coming up to my house someone else in the taxi had to get out a little before me so I thought I may as well just get out there and walk but before I could finish the woman next me said, oh no he lives in Profesor Chuyo’s house (my host dad). Had I known this woman I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but as far as I know I hadn’t even met her. I think it was a testament to things to come and just how easily word can travel in my community. My father is pretty well known and even though he is retired he still carries the name Profesor or ‘Profe’ for short. In Peru people place even more importance on titles than the U.S. and will be known by that forever.
The adjustment period is coming along, slowly but surely and little by little I’m getting to know the community. The first week especially I’ve just been kind of hanging with the pops to get to know people, along with going around with my socio. I’ve quickly realized that most of my meetings and projects most likely will be in the afternoon or at night because in the morning most people are working, which means working the land for the majority, and aren’t free until afterwards. Additionally, Peru seems to still go by the ‘siesta’ concept of having a longer lunch where a lot of businesses will shut down for a couple hours and then stay open later at night. And I must admit, since lunch is generally the largest meal of the day I could see some mid afternoon naps in my future because I just feel as though it will be culturally appropriate. But as far as some more specific activities I’ve gotten into, I have fixed up an old desk for my room with my host dad, helped build an adobe house, attended a religious celebration which I still quite don’t understand, gone on a hike to some of the archeological sites around me, attended a traditional Peruvian birthday party, learned how to make ceramics from scratch, and introduced myself to every school within the town limits. So all in all I’ve tried to stay pretty busy and feel as though I can be for the rest of this week and the next; however I could see it slowing down considerably in the near future. There are only so many people you can meet in a small town and I’m sure the host family will tire of my incessant questions , so I feel like I need to start some activities to keep myself busy and possibly start meeting more people from the town over.
Needless to say it’s been an interesting cultural experience and I know that it will only continue to be more so as I stay here longer and gain more trust within the community. But I will also relish the opportunity to get some more reading done, improve my Spanish, both orally and written, and enjoy a little free time. It’s just still hard to believe that I will be here for two years, and I’m struggling to visualize how exactly it will be for me.
As of now I’ve mainly illustrated my events as they’ve come along but for my next entry I will focus on some of the Peruvian customs I’ve come to know and love. Food is something that has certainly been different, eating guinea pig case in point, but it obviously goes beyond that. There is also passing the egg, the hora loca, drinking circles, and some more that I will touch upon next.
The adjustment period is coming along, slowly but surely and little by little I’m getting to know the community. The first week especially I’ve just been kind of hanging with the pops to get to know people, along with going around with my socio. I’ve quickly realized that most of my meetings and projects most likely will be in the afternoon or at night because in the morning most people are working, which means working the land for the majority, and aren’t free until afterwards. Additionally, Peru seems to still go by the ‘siesta’ concept of having a longer lunch where a lot of businesses will shut down for a couple hours and then stay open later at night. And I must admit, since lunch is generally the largest meal of the day I could see some mid afternoon naps in my future because I just feel as though it will be culturally appropriate. But as far as some more specific activities I’ve gotten into, I have fixed up an old desk for my room with my host dad, helped build an adobe house, attended a religious celebration which I still quite don’t understand, gone on a hike to some of the archeological sites around me, attended a traditional Peruvian birthday party, learned how to make ceramics from scratch, and introduced myself to every school within the town limits. So all in all I’ve tried to stay pretty busy and feel as though I can be for the rest of this week and the next; however I could see it slowing down considerably in the near future. There are only so many people you can meet in a small town and I’m sure the host family will tire of my incessant questions , so I feel like I need to start some activities to keep myself busy and possibly start meeting more people from the town over.
Needless to say it’s been an interesting cultural experience and I know that it will only continue to be more so as I stay here longer and gain more trust within the community. But I will also relish the opportunity to get some more reading done, improve my Spanish, both orally and written, and enjoy a little free time. It’s just still hard to believe that I will be here for two years, and I’m struggling to visualize how exactly it will be for me.
As of now I’ve mainly illustrated my events as they’ve come along but for my next entry I will focus on some of the Peruvian customs I’ve come to know and love. Food is something that has certainly been different, eating guinea pig case in point, but it obviously goes beyond that. There is also passing the egg, the hora loca, drinking circles, and some more that I will touch upon next.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
It’s Official
So this past Friday I and 50 other trainees officially became Peace Corps volunteers after our swearing in Ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Lima. It was nice to see the embassy, which is apparently the second largest in the world after the U.S. Embassy in Russia. The ceremony itself was short and sweet and was a nice way to wrap things up. So after our swearing in we all got the chance to spend on last night in Lima together before heading off to our various sites around the country. It was certainly a bittersweet feeling, getting to start a new adventure yet saying goodbye to a lot of new found friends. On Saturday we all said our goodbyes throughout the day as people were leaving on their busses. Mine was one of the later ones so I got to stay around the whole day and relax a little before embarking. So on Saturday me, and my fellow La Libertad volunteers, left on our overnight bus and arrived in Trujillo early in the morning on Sunday. There we were greeted by our regional coordinator who helped us get back to the hostel. Then we had a nice little barbeque at her house near the center of the city. We got the chance to meet the current volunteers in the region again and to stuff ourselves with some good food. Then we started doing our shopping to get situated into our new home for the next two years. Now the places and rooms that we are staying vary quite a bit from volunteer to volunteer but almost everyone needs to buy some things like beds, tables, or desks, so Peace Corps gives us a little ‘settling in allowance’ to help us with this. I personally needed to buy a bed and still need to by a desk but beyond that I shouldn’t need much else. Some people have dirt floors and choose to make them concrete with some finish but mine are already pretty good so luckily I won’t have to deal with that. However, the bed was an adventure in itself.
Me and the other volunteers looked all throughout the city essentially to find the cheapest beds we could find and in the end with a bit of haggling we got some decent ones for a good price. However, that was just the beginning since I needed to find a way to ship to my site which is about two hours away. Luckily the bus lines will take larger items such as beds and I decided to go that route. So after transporting by taxi to the station, along with all my other stuff I then had to find out how much it would actually be. According to the company’s sign on the wall it should have been 30 soles. However, the guy behind the desk kept lowering the price to my surprise and only charged me 15 for the mattress and my 80 pound bag which could barely be lifted. He then wrote 10 on my receipt and pocketed five and said ‘between friends’. So I imagine this practice is pretty common and I’ve realized it’s a lot more accepted here. Peru also has a problem with bribery by police officials. I’ve constantly heard that police officers will pull people over for no reason and threaten to write a large ticket to the drivers. Then the drivers will offer them a bribe or ‘coima’ to get out of it. Unfortunately it’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to be break because police officers are paid pretty little and no one wants to pay a big ticket. But anyway, I got to my site and had my host dad help me take everything back to the place. I’ve been working on the room little by little and its slowly starting to feel like home. It still hasn’t quite hit me yet that I’ll be spending the next two years of my life here but after a few weeks I’m sure it will begin to feel like it. I’ve also realized how different the Spanish can be from region to region. My host family in Lima had joked the people in the north had distinct accents and would imitate them. After just a little time here I’ve realized that there certainly is some truth to their jests and have already had some trouble understanding the Spanish. For example my host father speaks really quickly with some slang thrown in here and there which makes it difficult to decipher sometimes. In last couple weeks of training we got a ‘jerga diccionario’ which I realized I’m going to have to learn sooner than later to understand some of the people around here.
So now I just have to begin the adjustment process and start to get myself into a routine. There isn’t much structure for the first three months for us. We just need to write a report called a community diagnostic which is a comprehensive report on our community from social and health issues to economic factors. But beyond that we’re just supposed to meet as many people as we can and start to integrate ourselves into the community. It’s been good so far but I’ve realized that some people may take a while to warm-up to me. But among all I’m just excited to have the opportunity and know I just need to stay positive and not be afraid to embarrass myself here and there. One of the past volunteer’s had told us that we are essentially free entertainment if nothing else as people observe us trying to learn the customs and laugh as we stumble through it but as long as I’m able to help along the way I’m sure its going to be worth it.
Me and the other volunteers looked all throughout the city essentially to find the cheapest beds we could find and in the end with a bit of haggling we got some decent ones for a good price. However, that was just the beginning since I needed to find a way to ship to my site which is about two hours away. Luckily the bus lines will take larger items such as beds and I decided to go that route. So after transporting by taxi to the station, along with all my other stuff I then had to find out how much it would actually be. According to the company’s sign on the wall it should have been 30 soles. However, the guy behind the desk kept lowering the price to my surprise and only charged me 15 for the mattress and my 80 pound bag which could barely be lifted. He then wrote 10 on my receipt and pocketed five and said ‘between friends’. So I imagine this practice is pretty common and I’ve realized it’s a lot more accepted here. Peru also has a problem with bribery by police officials. I’ve constantly heard that police officers will pull people over for no reason and threaten to write a large ticket to the drivers. Then the drivers will offer them a bribe or ‘coima’ to get out of it. Unfortunately it’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to be break because police officers are paid pretty little and no one wants to pay a big ticket. But anyway, I got to my site and had my host dad help me take everything back to the place. I’ve been working on the room little by little and its slowly starting to feel like home. It still hasn’t quite hit me yet that I’ll be spending the next two years of my life here but after a few weeks I’m sure it will begin to feel like it. I’ve also realized how different the Spanish can be from region to region. My host family in Lima had joked the people in the north had distinct accents and would imitate them. After just a little time here I’ve realized that there certainly is some truth to their jests and have already had some trouble understanding the Spanish. For example my host father speaks really quickly with some slang thrown in here and there which makes it difficult to decipher sometimes. In last couple weeks of training we got a ‘jerga diccionario’ which I realized I’m going to have to learn sooner than later to understand some of the people around here.
So now I just have to begin the adjustment process and start to get myself into a routine. There isn’t much structure for the first three months for us. We just need to write a report called a community diagnostic which is a comprehensive report on our community from social and health issues to economic factors. But beyond that we’re just supposed to meet as many people as we can and start to integrate ourselves into the community. It’s been good so far but I’ve realized that some people may take a while to warm-up to me. But among all I’m just excited to have the opportunity and know I just need to stay positive and not be afraid to embarrass myself here and there. One of the past volunteer’s had told us that we are essentially free entertainment if nothing else as people observe us trying to learn the customs and laugh as we stumble through it but as long as I’m able to help along the way I’m sure its going to be worth it.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Jequetepeqecano Livin’
So after the long awaited site selection I have found out that I will be going to Jequetepeque in the district of Pacosmayo, in the department of La Libertad. So to be a little clearer I’ll be in Northern part of Peru along the coast in a town of about 3300 people. I’m pretty sure I won the contest for coolest name even if takes me the next two years to figure out how to say it. But anyways I, like the rest of the trainees, got the chance to visit my site this past week. We traveled this past Saturday and took an overnight bus to Trujillo which is the departmental capital of the La Libertad, and I have to say it’s my favorite city I’ve seen so far here. It’s not too big with a population of a 1 to 1.3 million, but it’s a nice size and it’s got a nice feel to it from what I got to see. The Plaza de Armas, which is the main square in any town, is really nice and clean and the buildings around are also nice and vibrant and it seems a little more colonial than the other places I’ve seen. There is also a lot of commercial activity all around, but not too overwhelming with street vendors every 3 feet like Lima. The first day we got there we had some time to meet up with some current volunteers and got to explore a little bit. We took a combi to a nearby beach called Huanchaco that was pretty nice. It’s not the best beach I’ve seen but it was relaxed and had a little variety of restaurants and stores.
After our time in Trujillo on Monday we had our Socio (like a community partner) day on Tuesday. This is where we all got to meet 1 or 2 of the people that Peace Corps found to work directly with us the next two years, provided everything works out between us. I say that last part because in the past I’ve heard some stories of Socios never calling, or making meetings and never showing up or bothering to call. However, I believe I’ve gotten a stroke of luck and found my Socio to be really nice and outgoing, maybe even too much so. But he was nice and friendly and seems to be really connected in the community I’ll be staying in. So on Tuesday we headed out for Jequetepeque and got in a little later in the night. Its only about two hours from Trujillo pretty close to the highway, which is a little farther than some volunteer’s travel but also a lot better than others who are more like 5-6 hours from the capital city. So I arrived in the evening and got to meet the new host family. My host dad is 66 and a retired high school teacher from my town and my mom is 58 and currently works at the high school in administration, strikingly similar to my Mom and Dad at home which I thought was really coincidental and kind of nice. So my house is a nice little two bedroom with running water, electricity, and even TV. After hearing about some of the other volunteers who have latrines and shotty bathrooms and whatnot I knew that I lucked out and don’t think I’ll ever be able to complain about my housing situation. They also have 2 sons and a daughter, all which live outside the house, one in Lima, one in Trujillo and one in the nearest city Pacasmayo.
The day after I got there I met up with my socio and got to meeting some of the people in the town. We went around some of the various parts of the small town and I got to meet some people I’ll be working with. First I got to meet an artisan group who has a little workshop and some great artwork but lacks some of the necessary resources to really get off the ground such as a actual kiln, right now they are using wood and a haphazardly constructed one. Next I got to meet a group of mothers and daughters who also have a workshop where they make various handmade items from pillows to dolls to costumes. They were nice but really timid and I’m sure it will take them a while for them to warm up to me. Then I swung by the Municipality where I got to meet some of the workers and even the mayor for a little bit. Then on Thursday we got to take around a Municipality truck and explore the rest of the little surrounding towns they call caserios. These little towns have a lot more improvement needed, including running water and electricity but it appears as though the town is helping, little by little. I then got to see some of the chacras where they grow a lot of rice, corn, sugar cane, and other vegetables. Then we went to the beach, which is only about a 30 minute walk from me. It’s called the boca del rio because the river empties out into the ocean but right now it isn’t rainy season so it was a little low. I found out that the area used to be pretty nice with some houses and restaurants but it’s pretty much abandoned now and only really gets people during the summer months of December through March. I then got to meet a group of young and adolescent workers, who has a workshop donated to them by an NGO not too long ago, and need some help organizing and finding some markets to sell their t-shirts and other clothes they make.
On Friday I spent the morning visiting a farm where they produce milk for some of the larger companies in Peru including Nestle and got a tour from the head engineer where I learned the whole process of it all as well. There is also a yogurt company in the town and I think I’m going to be able to get a tour of it when I get back as well. Then in the afternoon, I was formally presented to the community in the municipality with about 20 of the various leaders invited to hear exactly why I was there and what I would be doing. My socio did most of the talking but I got the chance to introduce myself and explain exactly why I was there and what I had in mind to start working on, definitely a little nerve racking at first but I think it went well overall. They asked me to write my name and contact info on the board and I thought it was funny when they didn’t have the slightest idea how to say my name. They could get, ha mes eslayter, out more or less and in the end we settled on Jim to make things easier. After the meeting I traveled back to Trujillo to meet up with the trainees and spend the night there and have relax before we went back to Lima the next day. I think it was a pretty great site visit though and I’m anxious to start working. Right now I have one more week of training in Lima, we swear in officially at the embassy on Friday, spend the night in Lima one last time together and then on Saturday we’re off once again where we’ll be some bona fide Peace Corps Volunteer’s.
After our time in Trujillo on Monday we had our Socio (like a community partner) day on Tuesday. This is where we all got to meet 1 or 2 of the people that Peace Corps found to work directly with us the next two years, provided everything works out between us. I say that last part because in the past I’ve heard some stories of Socios never calling, or making meetings and never showing up or bothering to call. However, I believe I’ve gotten a stroke of luck and found my Socio to be really nice and outgoing, maybe even too much so. But he was nice and friendly and seems to be really connected in the community I’ll be staying in. So on Tuesday we headed out for Jequetepeque and got in a little later in the night. Its only about two hours from Trujillo pretty close to the highway, which is a little farther than some volunteer’s travel but also a lot better than others who are more like 5-6 hours from the capital city. So I arrived in the evening and got to meet the new host family. My host dad is 66 and a retired high school teacher from my town and my mom is 58 and currently works at the high school in administration, strikingly similar to my Mom and Dad at home which I thought was really coincidental and kind of nice. So my house is a nice little two bedroom with running water, electricity, and even TV. After hearing about some of the other volunteers who have latrines and shotty bathrooms and whatnot I knew that I lucked out and don’t think I’ll ever be able to complain about my housing situation. They also have 2 sons and a daughter, all which live outside the house, one in Lima, one in Trujillo and one in the nearest city Pacasmayo.
The day after I got there I met up with my socio and got to meeting some of the people in the town. We went around some of the various parts of the small town and I got to meet some people I’ll be working with. First I got to meet an artisan group who has a little workshop and some great artwork but lacks some of the necessary resources to really get off the ground such as a actual kiln, right now they are using wood and a haphazardly constructed one. Next I got to meet a group of mothers and daughters who also have a workshop where they make various handmade items from pillows to dolls to costumes. They were nice but really timid and I’m sure it will take them a while for them to warm up to me. Then I swung by the Municipality where I got to meet some of the workers and even the mayor for a little bit. Then on Thursday we got to take around a Municipality truck and explore the rest of the little surrounding towns they call caserios. These little towns have a lot more improvement needed, including running water and electricity but it appears as though the town is helping, little by little. I then got to see some of the chacras where they grow a lot of rice, corn, sugar cane, and other vegetables. Then we went to the beach, which is only about a 30 minute walk from me. It’s called the boca del rio because the river empties out into the ocean but right now it isn’t rainy season so it was a little low. I found out that the area used to be pretty nice with some houses and restaurants but it’s pretty much abandoned now and only really gets people during the summer months of December through March. I then got to meet a group of young and adolescent workers, who has a workshop donated to them by an NGO not too long ago, and need some help organizing and finding some markets to sell their t-shirts and other clothes they make.
On Friday I spent the morning visiting a farm where they produce milk for some of the larger companies in Peru including Nestle and got a tour from the head engineer where I learned the whole process of it all as well. There is also a yogurt company in the town and I think I’m going to be able to get a tour of it when I get back as well. Then in the afternoon, I was formally presented to the community in the municipality with about 20 of the various leaders invited to hear exactly why I was there and what I would be doing. My socio did most of the talking but I got the chance to introduce myself and explain exactly why I was there and what I had in mind to start working on, definitely a little nerve racking at first but I think it went well overall. They asked me to write my name and contact info on the board and I thought it was funny when they didn’t have the slightest idea how to say my name. They could get, ha mes eslayter, out more or less and in the end we settled on Jim to make things easier. After the meeting I traveled back to Trujillo to meet up with the trainees and spend the night there and have relax before we went back to Lima the next day. I think it was a pretty great site visit though and I’m anxious to start working. Right now I have one more week of training in Lima, we swear in officially at the embassy on Friday, spend the night in Lima one last time together and then on Saturday we’re off once again where we’ll be some bona fide Peace Corps Volunteer’s.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
FBT Accomplished
So this past Sunday my fellow aspirantes and I all got back from our Field Based Training, and by now I’ve gotten the chance to reflect on it. Overall it was a great experience, for me and 9 other of the volunteers we were together in a department of Peru called Cajamarca. The Saturday (17th) we took off for the trip and started it with a nice little sixteen hour overnight bus ride… However, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds because my group managed to land the cama cama seats, which means that our seats reclined down to 180 degrees. This was most of our first experiences with it and I have to say it was a pretty good ride. I think it was more of the novelty of it than anything, but the seats were actually really comfortable, including getting served dinner, dessert, and even a little bit of wine. After relaxing for a while I actually got a pretty good night sleep which I thought I would never experience on a bus.
After we arrived on Sunday we got to relax and stay in a hostel with some much appreciated hot showers, which felt amazing after the glacier cold showers I’ve been getting used to. We went out that night and had a pretty good time capped off by some 3 am caldo verde from a street vendor which was pretty delicious I must say. The next day we got up bright and early and traveled to another volunteer’s site in Matara. It was our first experience seeing what an actual site could look like and we all spent our time fully taking it in. After a little tour we went to a local high school to meet some of the kids, and to our surprise a friendly competition with the students. The girls got to play volleyball and the guys got to play futbol. On a further note, from what I’ve seen men play futbol and girls play ‘volley’ no questions asked and no co-ed. This is just what is commonly accepted in Peru which still has a pretty macho culture. So anyways, we got to see the girls play for a little before our futbol match, including the nice little treat of the high school’s marching band playing for us. It was pretty funny, especially when they had a drum roll every time one of the girls went to serve. Then the boys got to play our game and we got to embarrass ourselves a bit. The kids were really good and we only kept the game close because I’m pretty sure they let us score now and then to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. After our game we then went to another volunteer’s site in a smaller town called Ichocan. This site had really nice scenery and looked like a nice town but it only had 600 people total and I imagine it would get painfully boring after a month if not less.
From this town we got some taxis and went to our destination for the week, San Marcos. San Marcos is a nice little town about hour and half away from the main city, and is a provincial capital. It would be considered a bigger site with about 12000 people total. We met one of the current volunteer’s there who hosted us throughout the week and showed us a great time. He was certainly someone we could look up too because he knew just about everyone in the town it seemed like, and had a bunch of great projects going on at once including some grant proposals for some good causes. We then got settled in to our hostel and started preparing for our first day of classes. Also on side note we not only got to try cuy (guinea pig) but I also got the chance to pick out, kill, and prepare my own and needless to say it was an interesting experience… So anyway the first day of classes was that Tuesday and we all the students that showed up divided into three rooms, my group’s room being one of them. We only got about 12 students the first day, which was a little disappointing but we still got to make three solid groups to start with. The idea of the class was to teach some basic entrepreneurship and business principles throughout three days and then on Friday they would start their mini business by taking out a loan from the ‘banco de paz’. Some of the groups over the years have been really successful and creative and they almost always make a least a little profit.
The student’s were overall pretty good and we were expecting them to be worse really so when they actually participated a decent amount were we pleased. We divided the days into two blocks of about 1 hour 45 minutes each and each of us took turns leading. The first day was about some basic principles including information gathering techniques. For day two I got my chance to lead a block about feasibility studies and SWOT analysis. For the second day we had 19 students show up which was nice but we had to reorder the groups for their businesses but after a quick adjustment we got back to it. I quickly realized the gaps in my Spanish as well as teaching abilities and was a little disappointed at first. However, I got through it and think they managed to understand what I was trying to say and I have to say it made me appreciate my past teacher’s a lot more because it’s not something that just comes natural and I learned that it can be difficult to ‘wing it’ in another language. So I made sure I did some more preparation during the night and got ready for my Marketing block. On day three, people were busy with exams or we managed to scare some of student’s off and only 11 students showed up... So after adjusting our groups once again we got onto the lesson and had to focus on getting them ready to present a rudimentary business plan to get their loan. In the end our groups decided to prepare food and each took small loans of about 25 soles each. We tried repeatedly to get them to try something different (which is a novel concept here considering my neighborhood of about 100 people has about 8 nearly identical tiendas alone) and take some bigger risks but they wouldn’t budge and they each decided to cook some traditional Peruvian dishes, arroz verde con pollo and the other papa a la huancayina.
On Friday they realized there businesses at the institute and they each made their money back along with a little profit so hopefully we got something through to them. We then left after the closing ceremony where they all received there certificates which is apparently something that Peruvian’s love. For additional classes they take, they often get certificates and they put a lot of importance into them and will even show up with their stack of them to a job interview which I thought was pretty interesting. So I have to say I learned a lot from the experience, from presenting in Spanish to just getting to see what an actual site will be like. We now find out our sites this coming Tuesday and I can’t wait to find out where I’ll be going and I’m certainly a little anxious considering it’s going to determine the next 2 years of my life…
After we arrived on Sunday we got to relax and stay in a hostel with some much appreciated hot showers, which felt amazing after the glacier cold showers I’ve been getting used to. We went out that night and had a pretty good time capped off by some 3 am caldo verde from a street vendor which was pretty delicious I must say. The next day we got up bright and early and traveled to another volunteer’s site in Matara. It was our first experience seeing what an actual site could look like and we all spent our time fully taking it in. After a little tour we went to a local high school to meet some of the kids, and to our surprise a friendly competition with the students. The girls got to play volleyball and the guys got to play futbol. On a further note, from what I’ve seen men play futbol and girls play ‘volley’ no questions asked and no co-ed. This is just what is commonly accepted in Peru which still has a pretty macho culture. So anyways, we got to see the girls play for a little before our futbol match, including the nice little treat of the high school’s marching band playing for us. It was pretty funny, especially when they had a drum roll every time one of the girls went to serve. Then the boys got to play our game and we got to embarrass ourselves a bit. The kids were really good and we only kept the game close because I’m pretty sure they let us score now and then to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. After our game we then went to another volunteer’s site in a smaller town called Ichocan. This site had really nice scenery and looked like a nice town but it only had 600 people total and I imagine it would get painfully boring after a month if not less.
From this town we got some taxis and went to our destination for the week, San Marcos. San Marcos is a nice little town about hour and half away from the main city, and is a provincial capital. It would be considered a bigger site with about 12000 people total. We met one of the current volunteer’s there who hosted us throughout the week and showed us a great time. He was certainly someone we could look up too because he knew just about everyone in the town it seemed like, and had a bunch of great projects going on at once including some grant proposals for some good causes. We then got settled in to our hostel and started preparing for our first day of classes. Also on side note we not only got to try cuy (guinea pig) but I also got the chance to pick out, kill, and prepare my own and needless to say it was an interesting experience… So anyway the first day of classes was that Tuesday and we all the students that showed up divided into three rooms, my group’s room being one of them. We only got about 12 students the first day, which was a little disappointing but we still got to make three solid groups to start with. The idea of the class was to teach some basic entrepreneurship and business principles throughout three days and then on Friday they would start their mini business by taking out a loan from the ‘banco de paz’. Some of the groups over the years have been really successful and creative and they almost always make a least a little profit.
The student’s were overall pretty good and we were expecting them to be worse really so when they actually participated a decent amount were we pleased. We divided the days into two blocks of about 1 hour 45 minutes each and each of us took turns leading. The first day was about some basic principles including information gathering techniques. For day two I got my chance to lead a block about feasibility studies and SWOT analysis. For the second day we had 19 students show up which was nice but we had to reorder the groups for their businesses but after a quick adjustment we got back to it. I quickly realized the gaps in my Spanish as well as teaching abilities and was a little disappointed at first. However, I got through it and think they managed to understand what I was trying to say and I have to say it made me appreciate my past teacher’s a lot more because it’s not something that just comes natural and I learned that it can be difficult to ‘wing it’ in another language. So I made sure I did some more preparation during the night and got ready for my Marketing block. On day three, people were busy with exams or we managed to scare some of student’s off and only 11 students showed up... So after adjusting our groups once again we got onto the lesson and had to focus on getting them ready to present a rudimentary business plan to get their loan. In the end our groups decided to prepare food and each took small loans of about 25 soles each. We tried repeatedly to get them to try something different (which is a novel concept here considering my neighborhood of about 100 people has about 8 nearly identical tiendas alone) and take some bigger risks but they wouldn’t budge and they each decided to cook some traditional Peruvian dishes, arroz verde con pollo and the other papa a la huancayina.
On Friday they realized there businesses at the institute and they each made their money back along with a little profit so hopefully we got something through to them. We then left after the closing ceremony where they all received there certificates which is apparently something that Peruvian’s love. For additional classes they take, they often get certificates and they put a lot of importance into them and will even show up with their stack of them to a job interview which I thought was pretty interesting. So I have to say I learned a lot from the experience, from presenting in Spanish to just getting to see what an actual site will be like. We now find out our sites this coming Tuesday and I can’t wait to find out where I’ll be going and I’m certainly a little anxious considering it’s going to determine the next 2 years of my life…
Thursday, July 15, 2010
FBT
So during the past couple weeks the fellow business trainees and I have been preparing for our Field based training this upcoming week. This will be our sixth week of training and we get to go to different sites around Peru and teach a class about some business principles and entrepreneurship. My group and I are headed to Cajamarca which is a department in the North of Peru. Its has a little bit of a higher altitude so it is considered to be a sierra part. My group consists of me and three others and we will have a class of about 25 peruvians that are attending an academy in the town. The overall idea is to teach them the basics of opening up a business, all in Spanish, so Im a little nervous but definetly excited for the opportunity.
So we leave this Saturday and get to take a 16 hour overnight bus ride to the capital city of the department. There we get to spend the night in a hotel and get a decent bed and hot water, which I might be the most excited about. On monday were going to travel to the actual town of San Marcos where we will be doing the teaching. We then have three days to prepare our students on how to open up a business of their own and all of the various components that should go into it from marketing to accounting you name it. On thursday we get to give them a small loan from the pc and then on Friday they get to do their busienss idea (usually selling food or something informal) and the one who earns the highest profit out of all the groups will be crowned the winner. There will be about 12 groups of 5 in total so it should be pretty fun to see what they all come up with.
We teach in the afternoon so in the morning we should have a little free time to relax and prepare any last minute materials we might need to. Ive heard great things about the city and heard that some parts are incredibly beautiful and I think were gonna get the chance to hike around for a little bit. The last night were probably gonna have a little get together and then were off again on Saturday for another overnight ride. Ill be sure to update after next week to write about how it went.
So we leave this Saturday and get to take a 16 hour overnight bus ride to the capital city of the department. There we get to spend the night in a hotel and get a decent bed and hot water, which I might be the most excited about. On monday were going to travel to the actual town of San Marcos where we will be doing the teaching. We then have three days to prepare our students on how to open up a business of their own and all of the various components that should go into it from marketing to accounting you name it. On thursday we get to give them a small loan from the pc and then on Friday they get to do their busienss idea (usually selling food or something informal) and the one who earns the highest profit out of all the groups will be crowned the winner. There will be about 12 groups of 5 in total so it should be pretty fun to see what they all come up with.
We teach in the afternoon so in the morning we should have a little free time to relax and prepare any last minute materials we might need to. Ive heard great things about the city and heard that some parts are incredibly beautiful and I think were gonna get the chance to hike around for a little bit. The last night were probably gonna have a little get together and then were off again on Saturday for another overnight ride. Ill be sure to update after next week to write about how it went.
Monday, July 12, 2010
El Clasico and La uUUU
This past weekend I got the chance to go to a Peruvian soccer game, Alianza Lima vs. Universitario (La U). This game is played once every year and is deemed by most as the best game of the year in Lima, thus gaining the name, ‘el clasico’. Now to preface the rest of the story, the idea to go to game all started with a volunteer or two who heard from their host families that this is a crazy game every year. After a group of us decided to go we started hearing the warnings from the PC staff. The responses varied from person to person but all in all they seemed to express concern and tell us all to be really careful. We then found out that there are almost always fights that break out and last year someone even died. So needless to say going into it we were pretty excited and pretty cautious.
After hearing the warnings and forming our groups we decided to leave a little early and get to stadium a little while before the game started. We took some combi’s down and got there about an hour and a half before the game. Combi’s are the names of the busses that run up and down the main highway and take crowds of people throughout districts of Lima for a dirt cheap price. The Combi’s are pretty hectic and can get really crowded but all in all there aren’t that bad and there are so frequent that you can always count on one rolling up when you need it. So we got off near the stadium and for those of us who didn’t have jerseys already we decided to buy some to try to rep our team (which was based on what section we bought tickets in). We then kept walking and started to see the huge groups of people funneling toward the stadium. As we neared the stadium we started to see cop after cop decked out in riot gear, and even some on horses, looking out ominously amongst the crowds passing them. We found out afterwards that about 4000 policeman in total (not sure who was looking out for the rest of Lima).
After a little confusion about what line to get in we found the right one and get our seats, and met up with another group of gringos that had gone down (we tend to use the word gringo affectionately amongst each other because we hear it so much). They thoroughly search everyone getting in and you aren’t even allowed to bring belts for fear that people will use them as a weapon. We ended up getting seats in the Orriente section of the U side. After being bombarded by the food vendor’s we settled in and starting the pre game rituals. They passed out a bunch of plastic sleeves that can be blown up to a long balloon essentially and then thrown around everyone. Then the flags were busted out, these were huge and covered almost half of the section we were in. They started in the front and then went over everyone’s head back and forth, hitting it along the way to make a ripple effect. Then they started passing out bags of cut up pieces of newspaper to throw up in the air like confetti, and I mean thousands of bags. Towards the start of the game the cheering sections started to get really loud and traded back and forth chants about their teams.
The Norte and Sur housed the Alianza and U fans respectively and these sections are the cheaper section where it gets pretty crazy. Based on advice from the Peru staff we decided to buy tickets in the mas tranquilo section of Orriente to try to avoid the Barristas (essentially gangs of soccer fans) that reside in the North and South. Watching these two sections battle out was pretty exciting and maybe the highlight of the whole experience truthfully. The game was pretty good but after getting spoiled with the World Cup play it seemed a little sloppy. Essentially anything goes and they didn’t bust out the yellow cards too much. During the game there were streamers constantly being thrown on the field. It was pretty crazy. It happened during pregame and they never even bothered to clean it off, then during game play people would throw more on the field and even come close to hitting players sometimes.
So in the end my new found team the U lost 1-0 and we left early to avoid the fights that probably broke out after the game. We decided that it was probably better to get out early rather than be a group of gringos stuck in the middle of crazy drunk soccer fans upset by a loss and I have to think we made the right decision. But it was a really fun experience and something that would be hard to replicate again and I’m really glad I got to see it.
After hearing the warnings and forming our groups we decided to leave a little early and get to stadium a little while before the game started. We took some combi’s down and got there about an hour and a half before the game. Combi’s are the names of the busses that run up and down the main highway and take crowds of people throughout districts of Lima for a dirt cheap price. The Combi’s are pretty hectic and can get really crowded but all in all there aren’t that bad and there are so frequent that you can always count on one rolling up when you need it. So we got off near the stadium and for those of us who didn’t have jerseys already we decided to buy some to try to rep our team (which was based on what section we bought tickets in). We then kept walking and started to see the huge groups of people funneling toward the stadium. As we neared the stadium we started to see cop after cop decked out in riot gear, and even some on horses, looking out ominously amongst the crowds passing them. We found out afterwards that about 4000 policeman in total (not sure who was looking out for the rest of Lima).
After a little confusion about what line to get in we found the right one and get our seats, and met up with another group of gringos that had gone down (we tend to use the word gringo affectionately amongst each other because we hear it so much). They thoroughly search everyone getting in and you aren’t even allowed to bring belts for fear that people will use them as a weapon. We ended up getting seats in the Orriente section of the U side. After being bombarded by the food vendor’s we settled in and starting the pre game rituals. They passed out a bunch of plastic sleeves that can be blown up to a long balloon essentially and then thrown around everyone. Then the flags were busted out, these were huge and covered almost half of the section we were in. They started in the front and then went over everyone’s head back and forth, hitting it along the way to make a ripple effect. Then they started passing out bags of cut up pieces of newspaper to throw up in the air like confetti, and I mean thousands of bags. Towards the start of the game the cheering sections started to get really loud and traded back and forth chants about their teams.
The Norte and Sur housed the Alianza and U fans respectively and these sections are the cheaper section where it gets pretty crazy. Based on advice from the Peru staff we decided to buy tickets in the mas tranquilo section of Orriente to try to avoid the Barristas (essentially gangs of soccer fans) that reside in the North and South. Watching these two sections battle out was pretty exciting and maybe the highlight of the whole experience truthfully. The game was pretty good but after getting spoiled with the World Cup play it seemed a little sloppy. Essentially anything goes and they didn’t bust out the yellow cards too much. During the game there were streamers constantly being thrown on the field. It was pretty crazy. It happened during pregame and they never even bothered to clean it off, then during game play people would throw more on the field and even come close to hitting players sometimes.
So in the end my new found team the U lost 1-0 and we left early to avoid the fights that probably broke out after the game. We decided that it was probably better to get out early rather than be a group of gringos stuck in the middle of crazy drunk soccer fans upset by a loss and I have to think we made the right decision. But it was a really fun experience and something that would be hard to replicate again and I’m really glad I got to see it.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Week 4?
I’m now in my 4th week here in Peru, the time is flying by pretty fast and it’s hard to believe that I’m almost half way done with training. Everything has been going pretty smoothly and I have been busy with everything. Some of the highlights of my past few weeks were a trip to the mountains, trip to central Lima, and some fun nights out with the other volunteers here.
Overall I feel as that I am getting used to everything here. The food is pretty tasty, however I’m getting sick of the always present, potatoes and rice. Peruvians love, potatoes and rice. Apparently the potato was first discovered here and they haven’t stopped eating it since. Rice is something that they have with every single lunch and dinner and they generally like to put oil on it as well. But besides getting sick of the potatoes and rice is has been good so far. Some of the volunteers have had the unfortunate experience of diarrhea and it is something that 99 percent of people will get at some point or another. So far I have been able to avoid it but it is pretty common here so I’m sure it will come. It even has the nickname of ‘bicycleta’ that all of the volunteers love to say casually, which you can try to figure out for yourself. But anyway back to my trip.
Marcahuasi
As I mentioned earlier, all of the business volunteers got to go on a trip to the mountains of Peru. The town that we went to was called San Pedro de Casta. The town is in the outskirts of ‘Lima’, which is used pretty liberally considering this town is about 4 hours outside of the center of the city. It took us about 3 hours to get there from Chaclacayo, however it really isn’t that far away. The reason it takes so long is that the roads on the way there are incredibly small and pretty dangerous so you can’t go very fast. The road slowly crawls up a mountain and at many parts it is only possible for one car to pass at once, makes very a interesting and slow trip. However the scenery on the way up was beautiful with huge valleys and terrace farms along the slopes. After the three hour trip, we arrived at the town of San Pedro and waited to begin our trip up to our ultimate destination of Marcahuasi.
Marcahuasi is the name of a place where locals and tourists from all over go to hike and spend the night in tents. We all got to take horses up the to the camping ground and it took about an hour and half. We could’ve hiked but they were worried that we would have problems adjusting to the altitude since it is about 4000 meters up. After the trip on the horse I was grateful that we didn’t have to walk but it surely would’ve been pretty tough. After arriving to the campground we set up camp. We made a bonfire, where we prepared our dinner of traditional chicken stew, caldo de gallo. We all hung out for a while and then took to our tents to rest for the next day. Since we were so high up, it got really cold in the night (probably about 20 degrees Fahrenheit) and we had to dress really warm and bundle up in our sleeping bags.
After a night in and out of sleep we woke up and had some breakfast, some quaker which is essentially watered down oatmeal, which I have had many times since. After our breakfast a bunch of us went on a hike a little further up. Marcahuasi is famous for some of its rocks forms that have the shape of other objects. The most famous is the ‘human profile’ where you can easily make out all the features of a human head. The others were a little questionable, but were characterized as some other animals such as gorillas or rabbits, and you needed a little imagination to make them out. Also on the hike we got to see the remains of an ancient town that was abandoned hundreds of years ago. After a hike we took the horses back down and after waiting for our bus we arrived back in our homes. So all in all it was a pretty great trip. The scenery was pretty amazing and I got some great pictures to share.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Intro
So I decided to write a blog for my family, friends, or anyone interested in the Peace Corps in general. I’ll try to write as much as I can and to keep it interesting. Let me know if I’m rambling and losing interest or there is something else you would like to know about. I know before coming here I had tons of questions, some of which I’m still figuring out. I really had no idea what to expect when coming here, whether I would have running water, how my host family would be like, what kind of food they eat… But I have to say that so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised and can’t wait to get to some projects and start doing some of the work I have before me.
To give a brief overview, I’m in the small business development section of the Peace Corps with the specific title of ‘small business promoter’. This may sound pretty generic, and I’m sure it is on purpose, because what exactly we will be doing depends on what site we get assigned too. Right now we are in a training group of 53 aspirantes, 19 of which are in the small business and the other 34 are in youth development. We will likely be working on a number of projects on site and will undoubtedly have some projects that will part of other departments and may end up partnering with other volunteers in different areas. We don’t know what site we will have until about week 8, which is a little nerve racking but at same time kind of exciting.
Right now we are in Chaclacayo, which is a district of Lima. It is about an hour and half away from the center of Lima, situated alongside the major highway. The training center is really pretty nice and most people’s home stays are nice as well. I have a great host family, where I live with my mother and her two older sons, in a barrio called 3 de Octubre. It’s a quaint little neighborhood, about a 30 minute walk from the training center. All in all the area is pretty nice, although there is a huge disparity in the quality of homes in such a small area. There are the poorer shacks with shotty construction to the posh houses that reside on the hillsides. My house is somewhere in between, and besides the cold showers I can’t complain. I feel as these 10 weeks of training are just a warm-up for our two year assignment where I’m sure our living situations are going to be quite different…
My daily routine is to wake up at about 7 or so, shower and eat and then have language training from 8 to 12 in someone’s home stay. We are grouped based on our language level and all have a pretty small group that definitely helps give us more attention. After lunch we generally will be in the training center for our sector specific training, learning the basics of Peruvian customs to the more specifics of its economy and laws. On weekends we will either be free or have some trips that we go on. This past weekend we went to a town in the Mountains called San Pedro de Castas and it was a pretty amazing trip. From here on out I’ll give some more specifics and some of the observations I have about my experience, so far it’s been busy for sure and a lot of fun.
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