Piura Vida!!! SURPRISE!!

7-29-10

Hello everyone!

It has been a few weeks since I last wrote. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for 2 months. The days are just flying by. I have several projects to complete before I leave and Spanish homework nearly every night so… sorry for taking so long.

I went away for Field Base Training for one week to Cajamarca. Cajamarca is in the sierra, characterized by blue skies, high altitudes, and gorgeous vistas. My group and I were sent to Cajamarca to observe the sites of four current Peace Corps volunteers. We went to 4 different towns, ranging from large to mid-size to small. We had the opportunity to give talks to schoolchildren about self-esteem, reaching your goals, and being respectable leaders in the community. It also gave us the chance to see how real volunteers live within their communities: getting along with host families, working with community partners, and completing projects. Seeing the different site sizes was helpful because it gave us a better idea of the sites we might be living in. I know that I am going to the coast so my experience will be different from that of someone living in the sierra. People in the sierra tend to be more timid, conservative, and traditional. This has to do with the isolation of being in the mountains and away from Lima, and with the war against terrorism that occurred in Peru during the 80s and 90s. If you are interested, just Wikipedia “Sendero Luminoso” for a quick dose of Peruvian history.

Three other trainees and myself are working to finish a project that we started with youth in the community. We decided to clean the community park and paint the playground. The playground is rusted and dirty and really needs some work. First we met with some community members to discuss potential fundraising techniques to raise money to buy the paint. My host dad generously donated a bottle of whisky to raffle off. Additionally, we went house-to-house requesting food donations to make several large food baskets to raffle. We also made apple pies and banana pies to sell to the other trainees and the training staff. On the 7^th of August, we’ll clean and paint and then on the 8^th we have invited the entire community to come celebrate. On this day we will announce the raffle, play games, and women in the community have offered to sell food. I’m crossing my fingers for a successful day. I’m a little stressed because all of the preparations have to be completed by Saturday so we can paint. Sunday is the party, and Monday I leave to visit my site.

Training is coming to an end. I FOUND OUT MY SITE!!! The staff planned a scavenger hunt and prolonged the anxiety, but after 10 months of the application process, 10 weeks of training, and a million hours spent agonizing about 2 years in the Peace Corps I know that I will be living in San Clemente, Piura on the northern coast. I will be living in a small town with 2000 people. Mom, Dad, and Lee:I will have internet and cell phone service! Also, I'm only 1 hour from the beach and 1 hour and 30 minutes from the capital city of Piura. I have 2 parents and a 6 year old brother. My host mom is a teacher and will likely be an excellent resource. I will be replacing a former volunteer who already has a theater group, youth group, and HIV education in place. I couldn't really ask for more. I am ecstatic about my location and very grateful that my superiors listened and adhered to my preferences. Sunday night I will leave for my site visit. I’ll stay there for 1 week, get to know my surroundings and host family, and meet my community partners. I will have 3 community partners: the school, the municipality, and the health post. After I return from my site visit, I’ll have 1 week to get all my stuff packed, say goodbye to some great friends, and exchange big bear hugs with my wonderful host family. Before I move to site permanently, my group will be sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers. We will be the first group to ever be sworn in at the US embassy in Lima. It is a really fabulous honor and I am extremely excited for it.

Another story worth telling is the events of this past weekend. Saturday was my host mom’s birthday so I offered to make my delicious Mexican tacos. Mid-purchase, my host dad told me that perhaps more people would come to the house last night. Peruvians don’t like to scare and/or offend anyone so they tend to pussy-foot around the subject at hand. I finally got it out of him that 15 people would be arriving and could I maybe make enough tacos. Fortunately, I come from a huge family and between the eight of us, JC (mary’s boyfriend), Lee, and Alyssa (Enrique’s girlfriend), there is always a need to prepare mountains of food. Once all of the other ingredients had been purchased, I set out to finding tortillas. Now you all may be surprised by this, but there are no tortillas to be found in Peru. If you are really lucky, you can find white rubbery Bimbo brand tortillas. I was not so lucky. After going to 4 grocery stores with no success, I declared that I would make my own damn tortillas. I remember making tortillas with my Nana Chon and her tortilla song she would sing to us. I tried to remember how exactly my Nana would mix the dough, roll the balls, and roll out the tortillas. I bought flour, salt, baking powder, and lard and made some of the most delicious tortillas known to the Peruvian people (if not the only tortillas). It goes without saying that I was covered in flour and that my host siblings and I had a wonderful time. The party was a smash hit and everyone licked their plates clean. They were shocked that I, being a gringa, could cook and actually enjoy doing it. The night continued with my host family pulling apart the living room to create a dance floor. We danced Peruvian dances until 2 in the morning… but that is when I went to bed. They stayed up until 4 chatting and dancing. Peruvians certainly know how to party.

Finally, yesterday I took my entire host family to the movies for my host mom’s birthday present. She had NEVER been to the movie theater. We went to see Shrek at a theater that had opened only one week prior. I realized very soon that that had its consequences. The people in that area were new to movie theaters and therefore were not aware of certain movie theater rules of etiquette. For example, all of the kids and the adults talked in normal voices throughout the whole movie, asking each other what was happening or just to comment. Also, the kids behind me and my host siblings were fascinated by the way the seats moved back and forth so they kicked the back of our seats until I turned around and told them to shhh and please stop. Then, a woman answered the phone in the middle of the movie and had an entire conversation without bothering to whisper. Throughout the whole movie I waffled between furious and mesmerized. I just couldn’t believe that people didn’t know how to behave in the movie theater. When people ask me what I miss from the states, movie theater etiquette will be pretty high on the list. Some others you might be interested in (in no particular order): peanut butter, real napkins (the ones here are as thin as toilet paper), real ketchup, Q-tip brand ear swabs (you think they’re all the same until you have to use crappy ones that just serve to break your ear drum because there’s but a tiny dab of cotton on the end… oh! And your ears stay filthy), central heating, cheddar, Colby jack, brownies, clean cars, a lack of tacky clutter (all the houses are full of knick-knacks with virtually no sentimental value), Lee, my friends, and my family.