My New Home

So, I wasn't expecting to be in contact with people all this week while I was at site visit, but... I HAVE WIRELESS INTERNET in my new home!  What?!

We arrived in Chiclayo, the department (state) capital, Sunday morning, and had the day to relax and meet some current volunteers in the area, all of whom are really chill.  They gave us a short tour of the city and some tips on money, groceries, etc.  I already like Chiclayo soooo much better than Lima.  It's walkable and more traquilo, but still more lively than the sleepy city of Cajamarca that we saw during field-based training.

Monday we met our socios (counterparts) in the Municipality building.  For me, two artisan ladies showed up, and they were so, so sweet.  The one who was my official socia, Paulina, can't be much more than 4 feet tall, her feet didn't touch the floor while sitting a chair, but she has the personality, energy, and motivation enough for someone twice her size.  An official from Monsefú's mayor's office was also supposed to attend the meeting but didn't show.  Since Paulina and Margarita were so awesome, I wasn't concerned about it.

After the meeting, Paulina accompanied me by taxi and colectivo (shared taxi) to Monsefú.  As a side story, I apparently almost got robbed on the way there- as we were sitting in the colectivo about to leave Chiclayo, I was on the phone trying to locate something I left in the hostel.  Then someone knocked really hard on my window and the driver yelled at me to put my cell phone away.  Apparently, a choro (thief) had attempted to run up to the window and steal my phone, but thankfully the glass was up (I guess it was so clean that he didn't realize?).

Anyway, Paulina accompanied me straight to my family's house, since she knew exactly where they lived.  I can't begin to explain how awesome my family is.  The father, Augustín, is 67 but doesn't look that old.  Both he and his wife are local professors, but he is retired and does all of the housework and cooking while his wife works all day.  So that was not an image I expected to see all day- this man walking around the house with a broom in his hand, always smiling and cracking jokes.  His wife, Rosa, is 57 and equally good-natured and always smiling when she gets home, after working all day in Chiclayo.  Their son, Agustín Jr., is only two months older than me and is the person I can thank for the wireless internet in the house! He's a thesis away from receiving his systems engineering degree, and has started his own business of distributing computer equipment in Peru.

As you may have guessed, this family is definitely in the top economic tier of this town.  I felt kind of guilty about living with them at first, since they have so much more than many others in this town- internet, a nice TV, refrigerator, washing machine (although they are different and kind of useless here), multiple bathrooms (with working toilets) and ...wait for it... a hot water heater in the shower.  Um yeah, did not see that coming.  I do want to add the caveat though that this family shares many of the experiences of the rest of the townspeople, for example there is only running water from 6am-1pm, and 3pm-6pm.  And today, there is no water at all in the town because they are fixing roads and had to shut it off.  However, my family has two reserve tanks on the roof, so we are still able to cook and bucket bath. They also have the same customs as other Peruvian families that are super conscious of electric bills, so they only use the lights when completely necessary and unplug everything when not in use.

So, I thought a lot about why they placed me with this family.  I've already mentioned how incredibly well-natured they are, but they are also very well connected, known, and respected in this town.  Especially as a new site, its really really important for me to have an "in" to meeting people, and this family is definitely it.  The importance of this has become even more evident this week, as the mayor's office hasn't reached out to me at all.  Apparently a group of townspeople are filing a denuncia (denouncement, first step to impeachment) against the mayor, so that's definitely going to be a challenge to my work.  Volunteers are supposed to work somewhat hand-in-hand with the Municipality and it's still quite possible that the mayor will publicly present me at a later date, but the politics of it all makes it even more important that I have other reliable ties.  Sooo, that's what I'm telling myself to feel less guilty about all my amenities.  Also, having a more relaxed and comfortable home life will allow me to have more energy for my work outside of the house, I think.

So my new home life is no challenge at all (so far), but my work life is definitely going to be.  I am the first volunteer ever in this town (which is what I preferred), so a few people have heard of Peace Corps before but virtually none understand what I am doing here. (Side note: Paulina's first question to me was, "So, are you Canadian?")  There are a ton of artisan associations here but beyond that I don't have many pre-established starting points.  I'm going to have to figure out my own way to approach people and work, and I've started strategizing a bit on that.  It's definitely going to be a challenge, but that's what I wanted.

Back to Lima on a 11 hour bus ride tomorrow night, then I'm in for my last week of training!  Swearing-in as a Volunteer August 19, then arriving permanently at site August 22.

I've updated some of the other pages on this site, specifically "My Site and Work"- check it out and scroll to the bottom for a great video of my town!

Also, we just ran out of water from the reserve tanks.  Haven't showered since Tuesday morning, so look s like I am going to be quite dirty until tomorrow.  Hope that meeting with the mayor doesn't happen today!