Postcards and Feelings of Home

While this post is not going to make anyway laugh the way I hope my previous blogs have I must write to express my gratitude to all the people that have sent me postcards or packages. I am finally beginning to feel that I can stay in touch with the states/family in one way or another. This past week I recieved a hilarious card from my aunt Nina in England, which had one of the funniest and unexpected titles I have ever seen on a card...it said and I am paraphrasing...Dont raise your hand to hit your kids because you would be leaving your groin open. Lets just say I was not expecting that type of card from my aunt. In addition to the card I recieved 2 epìsodes of Californication plus some baseball coverage, which I thought was hilarious due to the fact that it was the day after the Phillies beat the Dodgers to get into the World Series (the dvd had coverage of the rockies vs phillies). I just found out that my grandmother is also sending me a book which should be amazing due to the fact that every volunteer says that I will have more than plenty ´´me´´ time to read or learn an instrument (Peace Corps instrument of choice being the guitar). Although recieving a package in the States is pretty cool usually (unless its a summon to the court)...recieving packages/postcards in Peru is freakin amazing. I cant even describe how I feel when I got to the post office. Even scrooge who works at the post office cant bring down my mood! (Btw why is it that most post office personnel hate life...I should do a research paper on this topic at some point in my life...I feel like it would be not that bad of a job...most people are happy when they recieve packages)

Domingo y Sexto Semana de Entrenamiento y SCORPIONS!

This past Sunday I woke up at 9:15am, which should be considered a miracle due to the music videos my host brothers put on in the morning (Danzas Peruanas- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plavOHZL_MA&feature=related) plus the always obnoxious altavoz/loudspeaker that goes off at 6:30 every morning. Following breakfast with my family I went back to my room to watch the first part of Dances with Wolves before heading off to the internet cafe in order to ichat with the padres (parents not that bad baseball team to the south of LA). It was great to finally see my parents although during my chat with them I realized that two months away from them still hadn't changed my dad's terrible sense of humor. Following our chat I had lunch with my parents, which had to be one of the most depressing lunches I have ever had. During lunch my host dad talked about his struggles being a taxista and how he is at the moment searching for another job (He says it is becoming extremely hard to support the family on his income...which makes me realize that without the Peace Corps monthly stipend they would definitely be in the tanks). He also informed me that his father had left him as a kid and that the reason his brother had been over the night before till 4am (yelling/being a drunken college kid basically) was that his brother was also struggling and had to vent over everything that had happened to them as kids...Let's just say that after our lunch conversation I needed to hit up Pat's place in order to relax and put my mind on something else...which sadly was the worst movie ever created G.I Joe. 

This is now the sixth week of training (4 weeks left before I am living somewhere else for 2 years) and I just wanted to tell you that...I just killed a freakin huge Scorpion. Although I was going to talk about my night out at Chosica this past monday for Brett's birthday,  I believe that this scorpion' assassination that I just participated in is so much more badass...Thanks to my host brother's shreaks and good eyesight I was able to battle it out against a mouse-sized scorpion...I might be exaggerating its size but dam do I feel accomplished/badass right now

Ladrones, Borracheros y Mucho Mas

This past Monday we got a visit from a volunteer serving in the sierra of Ancash. It was great to hear from someone who is actually going through the grind of being a volunteer and what he does to entertain himself when he is having a rough time. Moreover, it was fascinating to hear where he was living and the characters that are living in his town. His host father, the mayor, is widely known as the town drunk and on Christmas the volunteer was awoken by the sound of the mayor taking a piss on the paper-thin wall that separates their rooms. In addition, he showed us pictures of Peruvian mothers who were obviously smashed, walking the streets of his pueblo, with babies over their shoulders and beers in their hands. Although it was a little funny it was sad to see mothers being so cavalier with their children’s safety. I hope if there is anything this volunteer can do it will be to show the mothers and fathers that they need to better examples for their kids…

Following our informational session with the volunteer from Peru 12, some volunteers and I went to Chosica in order to celebrate the city’s anniversary. While it was an amazing experience 3 people in our group were sadly introduced to the renowned thievery that plagues Peru. In fact, Peru has such a reputation for thievery that Bolivians, their poorer neighbors to the east, alert their fellow countrymen when they recognize a Peruvian outsider, in order to reduce the likelihood of being robbed. I hope that I will be able to get through my 2 years of service with little or no incidents of thievery but I am not going to hold my breath. Following our night out in Chosica we were supposed to get a security talk from Enrique, our bad ass security consultant, who was a major in the Peruvian military and is most likely a descendant from King Theonidus (Spartan King from 300), however a major incident had occurred in our group (the previous Saturday), which prevented him from speaking to us…I am not supposed to explain what happened for confidentiality reasons but lets just say it made our small pick pocketing incidents not important. Whatever the case I can’t wait till the next security meeting with Enrique because he reminds me of Robert De’Niro in Meet the Parents. Although he is a great guy I definitely would not want to cross him…if I did I would probably end up in a Peruvian prison having to lick up urine for the rest of eternity.

In other interesting news, this week we got new language groups (language groups were altered so that we would hang out with people in our specific programs) and for the first time our health class went outside the training center to talk with health personal in Chosica. While in Chosica we learned about performing health diagnostics in our rural communities and had the opportunity to go into certain communities around Chosica in order to with the people about the major needs/issues in their pueblos. Although it was sad to see people living in certain conditions I couldn’t help but be perplexed by some people’s views on life. Maybe being an only child in the United States has predisposed me to this viewpoint, but I believe parents should not have a kid (or in this case of Peru another kid) unless they have the financial wherewithal to do so…One of the major problems I have seen her is the lack of foresight, especially in regards to having a family. So many families, including my host family, are cash strapped due to what I perceive is a cultural insistence on having a large family (My host family thought my real parents were crazy or had something wrong with them when they found out I was an only child…they couldn’t grasp the fact that my parents had made the decision to have only one in order to provide the best life for me). Although it is going to be hard to change this cultural norm, I hope that when I get to my next site I will be able to work with some organization on the benefits of family planning. While this is a touchy subject, I hope I will be able to make some headway into this issue, because I definitely believe having smaller families would drastically change the quality of life for most Peruvians.

Changing to a different topic, it was great to get my second bout of con bicicleta this past Saturday. Following a very suspicious dinner of sopa de maiz (corn soup) I woke up to the feelings of world war 3 in my stomach. Consequently I rushed to the bathroom and felt the surge of what seemed like 8 pounds of poop rush out of my body. What a feeling! Although I thought I was done with my diarrheic symptoms I was granted the surprise rush of stomach pain while driving back from La Agraria (45 min drive from our training center) on the already uncomfortable combi. While I was lucky not to have pooped my pants on the drive back (thus joining the 70% of volunteers who poop their pants while in Peru) I did get to have the lovely experience of sitting on the toilet 3 times in an 1 1/2 hour time frame. Lets just say diarrhea and I have become unlikely friends and will probably remain unlikely friends for the next two years to come!

Danzas and Chaclacayo Library

This past sunday I finally had the chance to sleep in, however thanks to my throbbing bladder pains, Yanacoto´s loud speaker (altavoz) and loud host siblings I was forced to wake up at 7:40 in the morning. For whatever reason there is a person in Yanacoto that is permitted to go on this loud speaker at an inhumane hour in order to inform the people in my barrio about god knows what...Some volunteers and I who live in Yanacoto have tried to figure out where this guy lives so we can disappear him, HOWEVER we have yet to figure out his whereabouts and consequently he still continues to wake us up at around 6:40am everyday. ¡Que lastima! (What a shame!) Well after waking up I decided to eat with my host siblings (host mom went to church at 8am and my host dad was taking a coma) and begin my spanish harry potter book. After reading my harry potter book and realizing how i could integrate words like wand and witches into my spanish vocabulary I decided to work on my homework so that I would not have to worry about it later on when I was supposed to be at the local colegio watching my host brother and sister do peruvian national dances (and for whatever reason they added grease and michael jackson dances to the ancient incan dances-don´t ask me why).
Following lunch with my family I went to Patricks house in order to relax and watch some soccer on the television. I am so glad that someone in my neighborhood has espn deportes because watching religious movies everyday gets a bit old after awhile...After watching a game between real madrid and sevilla Patrick and I went to the local colegio in order to get seats and watch the ancient peruvian dances (coupled with some dances form MJ and Grease). Watching some of the kids dance was amazing, especially the kids that weren´t apart of the dancing group that decided to run into the middle of the stage and make their own interpretive dances. Following the ¨danzas¨ there was a fireworks show which was quite impressive especially due to the fact that one guy decided to but this huge contraption on his back which was blowing fireworks off in every direction...Let´s just say it was dangerous to be in the area of this fireworks show.
Despues de los fuegos artificiales (After the fireworks) I went to Patricks house to watch a movie before finally going to bed. After waking up at 7 in the morning due to the loudspeaker I decided to lay in my bed a little bit longer so that the ¨bear¨ in me would not come out (my parents call me the bear in the morning when I am a bit feisty). What started off as a rocky day turned for the worse when I had my inability to converse day which every volunteer seems to have. I felt like a baby learning to say his first word...I could barely understand my parents (especially my father who tends to mumble his words from time to time) and my vocabulary was about the same as a mute person. ¡Que lastima! I felt like screaming however I am pretty sure I would not have been able to do that correctly...Thankfully my rough day turned for the better when some volunteers and I went to the local library in order to play/hang out with kids in the community. Many kids live with drug abusing parents so it was nice to be able to help out and make their days a little better...even if it was just for an hour. The great thing is many volunteers have already begun to make an effort to help out in their own communities even though there has been no pressure to do so...

PC Birthday's

Since last Sunday we have already had two birthday celebrations for Peru Peace Corps Volunteers. The first celebration was this Monday for Travis. For his birthday, Olivia, a PC volunteer, called a Mariachi band and had everybody clapping and singing to Mexican Mariachi canciones. The best part of the celebration was the surprised look on all of our faces as we heard a Mexican Mariachi band interrupt our training session. We all couldn’t believe it…While Travis’ birthday was great I knew that I had to think of something interesting and comical for my best friend Patrick. My ideas were calling in a stripper (immediately crushed after realizing our training director was a former nun) or a clown. However, while talking with the local librarian about volunteering and possibly renting a Harry Potter book in Spanish I happened to encounter a Barney costume. Although the Barney costume looked like it had gone through both world wars I knew it was the best plan I had…Consequently I asked the librarian the day of Patrick’s birthday if I could use the costume for the day in order to spice up my friends birthday. Thankfully she obliged and I whisked off with the costume just in time to surprise Patrick at the training center. While the costume might have given me skin and respiratory diseases it was quite the reaction, not only from him but also the entire volunteer group. I have yet to see the pictures, however I am sure they will be great…Following Pat’s birthday at the training center we all grabbed a few beers at the local tavern and then headed back to our host families for dinner. After dinner I went to Patrick’s house to hang out and watch a movie. Although I thought the night was over after watching Orange County, Patrick got a surprise birthday celebration from his family, which included eating cake and watching a video of the 90’s greatest rock hits.

Lima, Training and Estar con bicicleta

I am sorry that it has been so long since I last blogged however I have been very busy with a host of trips throughout the department of Lima. More noteworthy I have been overcome with extreme bowel movements that the Peruvians have coined as "estar con bicicleta". While I don't understand the connotation of the term exactly I have basically been dealing with diarrhea for about 4 or 5 days now. I am still not sure what I ate or the reason for my continued bowel movements however it started last thursday night when i awoke at 3:3oam sweating and with terrible stomach pain. While the stomach pain declined after giving my offering to the porcelain god I still had a nagging headache and fever. Consequently I took some Vitamin C tablets, Pepto and advil (designed for headache/fever) to try and resuscitate myself before heading to Lima in the morning. Although I probably shouldnt have gone to Lima in the morning after my nights debacle, I decided to suck it up and head with my group to the capital city. After a short trip we arrived in the smoggy condensed city of Lima. I hope my description of the city demonstrates my true feelings toward the city...Following a short tour/lunch in Lima my language group followed my professor to Miraflores, a nice suburb of the city. Miraflores was amazing (great food, atmosphere and location-right near the beach) however my friends and I would regret staying as long as we did...Following a failed attempt to go to a bar with 30+ gringos my friends Patrick, Pete and John decided to head back to Yanacoto in time for dinner. While we realized we would probably be a little late to dinner(dinner is usually at 730) we wanted to make it back in a reasonable hour so that our host parents would not worry about us or waste food on our absent bodies. However what we failed to realize was that by leaving at 6:00pm from Miraflores we would be leaving at prime traffic hours and that a trip of one hour would take more than 3 hours. While 3 1/2 hours in a bus fails in comparison to my bus trip from rio de janeiro to iguazu (30+ hours) the trip is noteworthy due to the fact that all of us except for John had to stand up for most of the time in a crowded combi (peruvian bus). More noteworthy is the sad reality that we jumped on a combi that was on the verge of breaking down (at one point the combi traveled at around 5 mph for 2 miles after having already broken down twice in the city). The combi was in such bad shape in fact that one peruvian lady threatened to call the cops on the driver because he was burning up the clutch so bad trying to get the bus rolling. After 3 1/2 hours of pure hell we finally reached our destination and chugged up the hill to get to bed so that we would get a decent amount of sleep before heading off to the outskirts of Lima at 730 in the morning.

Following another bout of "estar con bicicleta" in the morning I rolled out to chaclacayo to meet with the other gringos and take a bus out to La Agraria. Before heading onto the bus my erratic bowel patterns made me question my ability to be in a bus for over 30 minutes however i took the risk and jumped in the combi. After finally making it to La Agraria I was glad to not be apart of the 70% club (70% of Peruvian peace corps volunteers poop their pants during service...generally on bus rides) however my symptoms made my experience at the botanical college mostly awful. I had the chills, no energy and until I drank some hot tea was probably in the worst mood since I had arrived in Peru. Following my gloomy morning experience at La Agraria some girls and I went to lunch in Chaclacayo, which was an uplifting and fun experience (although my mornings dreary attitude bore the brunt of some jokes). Despues de almuerzo, I returned to Yanacoto to take a nap and have dinner with my family before (stupidly) going out to the bars in Chosica. While going out was not the greatest idea I felt it was a necessary release from the weekly strain of constantly going to training from 8am to 5pm…Lets not forget I have been used to getting up at 10am, eating pancakes, working out and then hanging out with friends for most of the summer so this has been quite the shock for me! After a short night out on the town I decided to get to bed early so that I could possibly revive myself for the upcoming week.

            Little did I know that my host family would be up at 8am on Sunday listening to religious songs! I felt that I had awoken to a living nightmare…After realizing that the songs would persist for awhile I decided to join the family and have some breakfast. Following breakfast I took a short siesta and watched a few scenes of Apocalypse Now before being called to lunch. What I thought would be an uneventful lunch with my family turned into an hour sermon with the “lider” of the church on the 3 tenants of faith in the Evangelical church as well as the obstacles that men face before reaching the gates of heaven. Lets just say I never had any religious conversations with my family while eating…EVER. However, since arriving in Yanacoto I have become quite accustomed to hearing all aspects of Evangelical faith and now believe that I am even stronger in my beliefs that I will never pass my faith/lack of faith to anyone else…

            Following lunch I went to work on my finishing my language homework and began to prepare my excuse as to why I didn’t feel comfortable going to church anymore…Although I want to immerse myself in the culture and strengthen my relationship with my host family, I feel that my time would be better spent improving my Spanish vocabulary and conversing with my friend Pat’s Peruvian brother (who has been quite helpful due to his persistence in making us always speak Spanish in front of him as well as his willingness to deal with our at times mangled Spanish). Well thankfully for me this past Sunday I was able to get out of another reunion (refer back to my first post if u forgot about the peculiarity of Evangelical reunions), which saved me 2 1/2 hours in a church and the strange feeling of holding up a sign in front of about 100 Peruvians. Thank goodness for young host brothers/sisters who need to be in bed by 9pm!

            Well hopefully next week is just as eventful as the previous two…just without all the drama, estar con bicicleta and continuous religious conversations!