So training was cancelled today due to a "paro," or strike, by the combi drivers. I've described the combis a bit before, but they are basically "micro-buses" (they are called micros in Chile and elsewhere) that travel up and down the main roads in Lima and to the suburbs. They are privately owned and poorly regulated- the cobradores (money-collectors) can be super pushy and sometimes take advantage of customers, some chofers drive really dangerously, and many combis are really rundown. I don't know all the details about what the proposed new law from the Municipality of Lima says, but from what I gather it adds a lot of new regulations that are going to be very costly to combi companies (there's about 400 companies) if the law is passed. Regulations include combi size, safety standards, and pollution/exhaust limits.
In training yesterday, while discussing our "emergency" plan for today, we got to hear a bit of the history of the combi system. The transport system started under Fujimori, who was a strong advocate of privatization. The system provides really cheap and somewhat reliable transportation (I've never waited more than 3 minutes for one, but they often get pulled over by police to check for appropriate documentation). However, many Peruvians think there are too many combis and that the loosely regulated system has resulted in a lot of mechanical failures, fatal accidents, and mistreated customers. It's amusing to me to contrast this system to DC's Metro, since I was always complaining about how terribly run our public transportation was... for example, waiting 30 minutes for a train on a Saturday night, and the annoyance of switch lines to get where you want to go. And DC Metro had it's fair share of safety hazards and accidents too. So clearly both kinds of systems (public and private) can cause problems.
Apparently strikes like this, for one cause or another, happen about every 2-3 months, and school/work/everything shuts down. Snow Day!
A couple food updates:
-Our Tech Trainer, a former Volunteer, directed us to a closeby market that sells NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER, for cheaper than Peter Pan. Major win.
-My family liked my veggie-chicken-pineapple stirfry, although it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted without a wok. I was told that I'm allowed to marry now, since I know how to cook. Woohoo!
-Watching how everyone at the table scraped their plates clean when I cooked reemphasized to me how important it is to them to show respect by appreciating/eating all the food given to you. I knew this before, but watching them show respect to me that way made me feel really bad about my inability to finish the chicken and rice plates I always get. Of course, it is quite different when I am served an amount of food that I couldn't eat in three sitting let alone one, but I decided to try harder to eat everything on my plate. For example, not leaving any chicken on the bones.
-The next morning, right after I had made that promise to myself, the family sat down to eat a very strange looking soup for breakfast. It was called patasca, and I was able to gather that it was made from choclo (big corn) and patas (feet/hooves) of some animal. They said it was a really traditional dish and is great for hangovers (the whole family had gone out the night before). Then they used the word "vísceras" as another ingrediente, which I didn't know, but I figured it out after they said they "make sure they are washed very well." Yup. Intestines. That's definitely what it looked like too, but I decided to leave the identity of the soup as a mystery in my mind until I finished it. It wasn't as bad as I would have imagined, but the texture of the intestines definitely wasn't my favorite. I finished it though, except for about 2 small strands that I just couldn't handle.
-For lunch on Monday, I was floored to find BROCCOLI with my chicken. My host mother had made a comment during my stir-fry dinner, asking if I was an "almost-vegetarian." She already knew that I don't really eat red meat, but I said yes, I prefer a lot of vegetarian dishes. I don't know how many times I have talked to her before about how much I love vegetables and that my doctor said I need to eat more vegetables to help my digestive problems, but it finally seemed to click for her with the stir-fry. She's sending me to training with loads of vegetables in my lunch bag now, and it is such an awesome change to my day.
That's all I've got for now, back to preparing session plans for Field-Based Training next week- I'll leave you with some more music- you know Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor" recent pop hit?
If not (parents, parents' friends), here it is:
...then check out this old Bolivian song, Llorando se fue, from 1981:
...and then this Brazilian hit song, La Lambada, from 1989:
...and then this other current hit on Latin Billboards (which I gather from the video was featured in Fast 5):
That tune is generally known as La Lambada and apparently is really popular in Latin songs of all genres, from traditional folklore to reggaeton. Pretty cool!
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