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…
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