Veniendo de las calles de Sicchez (coming from the streets of Sicchez)

To all those that follow my blog I apologize that my entries have more spaced out than New Jersey Nets victories. In the past two months, Anne Barry (a fellow UA alumni and Peace Corps Volunteer) visited my site, I celebrated my 23rd birthday, my town held their annual carnival celebrations and I had the chance to go to Zorritos, a beach town in northern peru.

Anne Barry´s visit, which lasted through my birthday and Sicchez´ annual carnival celebrations, was an amazing time that ended way too soon. Although she spent only a week and a half in Sicchez, I believe every man in my site was preparing marriage proposals. My socio, who had met Anne previously, had the biggest smile on his the day I informed him of her impending arrival and could not contain himself from constantly smirking at me when we were all together (his desperation desperation definitely brought a smile to my face). During my birthday, which happened in the municipality he danced more (with Anne) than John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. It truly amazed me...I mean I know he wanted to lose weight but I didnt realize he wanted to lose 10 pounds in one night!

Speaking of my birthday night..talk about unforgettable. Which started out as a typical Peruvian fiesta with beer, shots and dancing, quickly transformed into a strip show where all the girls were forced to dance provocatively in front of me. Sitting down in a chair, the enfermeras (nurses), began to un-do my shirt buttons and sing happy birthday in spanish. Lets just say I wasnt expecting that...Following my strip down and the provocative dancing, I blew out my canfles and went back to dancing until around 1 o´clock when we were foreced to leave...

Following my birthday the whole town of sicchez got together to celebrate carnival, which encompassed alot of drinking, eating and throwing flour on each other. For whatever reason every kid in my town decided to join together against Anne, forcing her to run for her life and evade the little Peruvian gremlins that chased after her until the bitter end. While she did her best to evade them, Anne left the party looking like a chimnea sweeper (however in this case covered in white powder). I even felt bad for her and had to tell the kids to stop picking on her! To say that I didnt laugh at the look of her though would be a lie!

Maybe thats what she gets for stealing my possible site on the beach....

Following all of February´s celebrations, I got back to work (don´t worry...not too hard Dad) before heading to Zorritos, a beautiful beach on the northern coast of Peru. Although I only got to spend 3 days on the beach it was definitely worth the 11 hour drive from my site. Well, maybe not for my site mate who got attacked by a group of dogs while she strolled on the beach...

Well in upcoming news, Nick, one of my best friends and former college roommate, is traveling to Peru and we are going to meet in Piura before heading to the popular beach spot, Mancora. Nick and I will be meeting many other volunteers in Mancora for Semana Santa before heading back to my site for a bit...

By the way mom I showered two days in a row for the first time since arriving in Peru!

Saying whats up to the homies....

Although I have not updated my journal in almost two months things in my site are finally beginning to improve. The relationship that I have developed with my host family since arriving in Sicchez has relinquished any and all desires I might have had about returning to the states. While life in a foreign country (be it a 3rd world country) remains difficult, I have finally become accustomed to the relaxed lifestyle and the inexcessability of goods/items that I once took advantage of in the states internet access, Directv, phone service...on my parents dime of course...and a variety of foods). In exchange for the technological services that I once viewed as second nature are the stories of my sister, the books from the Piuran library (& books sent by family members) and the phone calls from people close to me. While not having reliable internet access, satellite television and phone service inhibit´s ones ability to stay in contact with news and more importantly friends and family, the electronic limitations of my town have not (yet) been the source of much frustration.

Its Not an Adventure till you go to a Peruvian Jail

This past monday my host dad, sister and I decided to go to Ayabaca, a small city high in the Piuran sierra so that I could conocer/see the regional capital for the first time since arriving in Sicchez. Although I knew that the climb to Ayabaca would be strenuous, I had no idea that it would be 5 hours of military style marching with limited breaks. After about 3 hours of hiking the Peruvian Mount Everest, I thought my heart was going to beat itself right out of my chest. Moreover, delirium took over the last part of the hike as I started to imagine Ayabaca as a Peruvian Mecca, complete with fountains of gatorade and an endless assortment of food. Obviously both cant be found in the Piuran sierra no matter how far globalization has come...However, thankfully our journey up the mountain came to and end 5 hours later in the form of a magical mototaxi that brought us to the center of the city (Plaza de Armas). Upon reaching the Plaza de Armas I found the nearest bench and began to count my blessings (during my delirium I would find myself dangerously close to walking off the edge of the trail...which would have consequently resulted in one less PC volunteer in Sicchez). After regaining my senses my host dad informed me that we would be going to visit his brother in the Peruvian jail in Ayabaca. Although many people would take a pass on entering a jail (be it foreign), I thought it would be a great story to tell, not only in my blog, but also to my kids and grandkids (I mean how many people can say they have visited a foreign jail). After walking another painful twenty minutes (at this time my feet felt like the were going through the wood grinder like in the movie Fargo) we finally reached the prison, whereupon we knocked on this big metal door, which reminded me of the giant gate in the Wizard of Oz. As a result of which a Peruvian prison guard opened a small hatch to enquire the reason (especially my reason) for us being at the gate. After informing them that we came to see one of thier inmates and that I was not hopped up on drugs, they allowed us to enter the premises. Although I was a bit scared (my only knowledge of prisons in Peru comes from Locked Up Abroad and in the episode I watched they showed the notorious prison in Lima, where stabbings and murders are more common place than my bowel problems...) all my worries vanished when I realized that this particular prison had to have been constructed for the Martha Stewarts of Peru. Not only did the inmates not have to wear uniforms but they also were allowed to hang out freely with the guards and host cock fighting matches in the yard. In fact, my first experience watching two male chickens fight was in this particular prison! Following the cock bloodbath (no cock died, however there was definitely some blood spilled), I offered to take my family to a restaurant where I suggested that they order whatever thier hearts desired...Although I though this would not be noteworthy event, my sister´s mannerisms made me realize how sheltered she really is from the urban world. In fact, upon arriving to the restaurant my sister would not walk in the door. Whether it be from the embarrassment or fear she just would not enter. I actually had to give her a gentle push and some words of encouragment to get her to enter the restaurant. Although I am not sure what caused this change of character (she is always extremely loud at my house especially among her friends) it did trigger a realization that this could have been her first restaurant experience (there are no ´real restaurants´- only houses that serve food as a side income- in our town). While I hope this was not the case, her reaction made me realize how truly blessed I am because there are so many people in the world who have never gone to a restaurant and been able to choose what they wanted to eat...Oh how truly blessed I am to have beenn born in the first world and to a set of parents that have always been able to provide for me...probably too much in some instances...

Well until the next blog (or I should say until I get internet again...internet in my site is as hard to come by as a day without soup in my family...) I wish everyone the best and I would like to send an early birthday wish to my old roommate Brett "Big Country" Jackson...Happy birthday Hank...

A Memorable Night

About three weeks ago (yeah havent wrote in my blog for awhile) i had quite a memorable experience...After not being able to eat dinner because my stomach was full of gas (sign of impending diarrhea) I went to the bathroom with the intention of relieving the over-exploding feeling in my stomach. After being satisfied with what came out I thought I was in the clear for the night. Oh how wrong was I...After sleeping for about 5 hours I woke up with a feeling that I needed to take a piss, however in a matter of seconds it changed to a sensation, which i couldn´t have dsecribed until now. Although I have been close to pooping my pants in Peru (one time being on a bus trip from La Agraria in Lima back to the training center in Chaclacayo) this night was a BARN-BURNER which forced me to run with my pants partially down, preventing any possibility of joining the 70 percent club (70% of PC Peru volunteers poop their pants in their 2 year experience). Lets just say the prairie dogs were trying to find a new home! Thankfully I reached my smelly ass latrine before letting the dogs out...Once reaching the porcelain or in this case 3rd world latrine, God all I could do was laugh and count my blessings. While this would not be the only trip to the bathroom that I took that night, it would be and will be the closest near icky situaton that I have had to deal with...

On another note (and I am sorry that I continue to write bathroom stories) since arriving in Sicchez, following a short trip to Piura, I have been quite restless. Although watching the Office and reading multiple books (I have finished two books of 300+ pages in a week) has taken up time I have realized that next year during vacaciones utiles (summer vacation) I will definitely make a more concerted effort to make plans in the form of history and cine classes...