Hey Amigos y
Familia,
Sorry I’m a busy
Peace Corps volunteer and haven’t updated my blog in a bazillion! I’ll just go
ahead and get down to business. My host mom gave birth to a gorgeous little
girl named Angeles Valentina, and I had the pleasure/shock of being in the
delivery room at the time. We’re talking pushing exercises, breathing coaching,
and relaxation techniques… I did all of it but the birthing. That precious bundle
of joy came out purple and screaming and I was crying instantaneously. You may
ask, and I will answer: Yes I am now TERRIFIED of giving birth. Yes, I have
considered adoption. No, I can’t imagine having six children like my mother
did. And yes, an epidural could be a woman’s greatest friend. Angeles Valentina
is now 4 months old and she’s the fattest, happiest joy in my life. She’s
learning to sit up on her own. She wants to taste everything she touches. She’s
smiley and giggly and makes my host parents, host brother, and myself go limp
with love. She has us all wrapped around her fat little finger.
My brothers
Rafael and Enrique came to visit me in June for 10 days. We explored the
touristy spots of Lima, tried all the typical Peruvian dishes at swanky
restaurants and street vender carts, and then found our way to the bohemian
area of Barranco where we indulged in our first experience with Absinth. No
worries, we didn’t hallucinate, but we did have the time of our lives. Next we
headed up to the Andes to the city of Hauraz, in the department of Ancash. We
climbed a mountain to get to the amazing glacial lake Laguna Churup. After a 4
hour hike up and 2 hour descent, our lungs were burning, our legs were
trembling, and we were so hungry we could have eaten a herd of cuyes (guinea
pigs). The photos prove how awesome it was. Following our badass hiking in Ancash,
I brought the brothers to my slice of life in Peru: San Clemente, Piura; where
the sun is always shining, the crops are fruitful, as are the women, and
“pescado” (fish) is the word in everyone’s mouth. My little brothers (I say
this jokingly because they both tower over me) loved my host family and they
loved them back. My host mom cried when they left. The little kids still ask me
where my brothers are. The girls are faint at the thought of them. They called
them “The Chon Brothers”, like the Jonas brothers and they were pushing each
other out of the way to get a photo with one of them, or sigh…. BOTH! To finish
out the trip, we bussed our way to Mancora, a beach town where foreigners and
Peruvians alike flock to for good ceviche, good surf, and better dancing. You
could ask them, but I’m pretty sure they’ll both tell you that Peru showed them
a good time.
Skipping ahead
to August, my best friend Juliane and I took a 7 day trip into the Amazon
jungle. I managed to find a cheap tourist package ($35 for transportation, 3
excursions a day, and meals!!!) and we spent 4 days in a lodge with no
electricity, giant tarantulas, and a pet duck named Piki. But first we had to
experience the jungle city of Iquitos, known for its grilled crocodile dish,
other-worldly markets, and loose women. Well, I tried the crocodile and it was
delicious, better than chicken. At
the market of Belen (located in a “floating” village that is accessed only by
boat during the rainy season), we discovered exotic fruits and enormous fish.
And the women were not loose. They were beautiful. Is there a supposed correlation
between the two? Perhaps Peruvian women from other places are just jealous. For
dinner, we found ourselves at the Yellow Rose of Texas, the most American
establishment I’ve found in Peru, even better than Kentucky Fried Chicken. We
were served up buttermilk pancakes, chili cheese fries, and chicken fried
steak. Now, off to the Jungle Wolf Lodge located deep (4 hours by canoe) into
the jungle. With 3 excursions per day, our jungle guide kept us occupied, and
ripe and ready to fall into bed at 7:30 pm, when the sunlight disappeared
behind the trees and we were left to ourselves in the dark. Excursions
included: swimming with pink dolphins, monkey scouting, caiman hunting (Amazon
alligators), moonlight search for nocturnal insects, baby sloth hugging, raw
larva eating, and tarzan vine-swingin’. You can check out these photos on my
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100480976226682.2784471.10124973
Just because
I’ve gushed about all my vacations doesn’t mean that I’ve been slacking off at
work, quite the contrary. Let’s start with Club L.E.E.R (READ) “Reading with
Enthusiasm, Energy, and Regularity”, a literacy program designed to promote a
love of reading and improve reading comprehension skills. The International
Book Project, Darien Book Project, and private donors donated over 750 books. A
private donor donated 500 of the same 5 books, with the express wish that these
be distributed to the children of San Clemente. I use those books as prizes.
This is easily one of my best projects,
if only because my kids come to all the meetings, show up early, and jump up
and down to get in the door, pretty much making it a Peace Corps Volunteer's
dream. Anyway, my club is pretty basic because I've got about 30 kids coming
and I'm usually alone. It is hard to keep kids 6-11 years old and all reading
levels entertained and under control. I've gone with the old "sit down and
read" approach, with lots of incentive to keep them sitting. My kids love
to read, but it helps that we have a sticker/prize system to keep them
interested.
We meet 3
times a week for a little over an hour. Each kid chooses a book and sits down
to read it. Once he/she is finished, which I've attached for you, and they fill
that out. The books that I received from International Book Project have
comprehension questions in the back of the book for the upper reading levels,
so the older kids have to answer the questions on the back of the sheet. For
each book/sheet completed, they get a sticker by their name on the sticker
poster. After getting 3 stickers they get a book to take home for their
personal library.
My last claim to
fame is the Career Fair that I organized with my host parents for the youth and
parents of San Clemente. The objectives of this project were to provide
information to youth and their parents about different careers, help students
decide which vocation most appealed to them, and start a dialogue between
students and their parents about their futures. About 90 students and 40
parents attended! Three universities and twelve professionals presented on a
career panel: policewoman, military officer, doctor, teacher, accountant,
director of a the school board, obstetric nurse, lawyer, civil engineer,
industrial engineer, engineer of fishing industries, and a psychologist.
Following the panel, students and their parents were given time to visit personally
with the professionals to ask questions and hear their stories. The
universities attempted to seduce them with colorful folders, light-up pens, and
attractive stationary. The students were euphoric as they passed room to room
to hear about all the different career options. I overheard conversations
between parents and their children, perhaps the first of its kind: “Son, what
do you want to be when you grow up?” or “Honey, do you want to be a police
woman?”
It was a beautiful
moment for everyone involved. To put it into perspective, most people in San
Clemente subsist on 600 soles per month, or about $250 US dollars. Most merely
manage to survive. Savings is non-existent and a college education is an
unattainable dream. Most people have never met a professional, aside from the
nurse at the health post or the teachers of their children. Don’t fret! Fortunately,
times are changing in Peru. There are more and more scholarships being made
available by colleges and the government. One can also work while studying.
There are dozens of technical schools all over Piura that offer 1, 2, or 3 year
programs. Unlike their parents and grandparents, San Clemente’s youth has the
opportunity to become the leaders and professionals that they so admire. I
can’t wait to see what my kids do with their dreams.
PS. Here’s a video that my friends and I made while on our 1
year annual meeting trip in Lima. By the way, I’ll be finishing the Peace Corps
in just over 10 months! And my next blog will be about me applying to grad
school…. YIKES
