Tid-Bits from My First Week

-I was interviewed by the newspaper.  And apparently they talked about me on the radio.  Sometimes it seems that people I meet in town already know who I am, and sometimes they don’t.

-Have been doing a lot of housework, including two loads of hand-washing laundry (small loads, but hey I did them all by myself and they included a pair of jeans and a fleece which were big pains).  Also, my family sweeps the entire house and outside walkway twice a day, without fail, even though the dirt is hardly noticeable until the end of the day (if ever).  My host father complained about how he spends something like 4 hours a day just sweeping and mopping, and when I asked him why he doesn’t just do it once a day, he gave some vague answer about “from dust to dust”…

-Found out my host father was one of 24 siblings, my host mother was one of 12.  My host brother has somewhere over 50 cousins.

-At least once, I mistakenly implied that I was romantically involved with my host father, by saying that I lived con Profesor Tesén, instead of con la familia de Profesor Tesén.  Thankfully, my counterpart knew what I meant and warned me to rephrase that next time.

-Almost unknowingly participated in a semi-political rally (a big no-no for Peace Corps Volunteers)… from now on I will ask more questions before accepting invitations.

-Did you know that if you look at a plantain/banana while you are pregnant you will miscarry?  No, it’s not a legend, I’m told.  It really happened to Paulina. 

-Jeff wins the award for funniest and most awkward First Week Story I have heard.  The dear boy, living in a community much smaller than mine in Ancash, was invited to what he thought was a charla (talk/meeting) at the Heath Center.  When he arrived, it turned out that they were having some kind of event promoting breast-feeding.  This event was basically a breast-feeding competition, where half a dozen women were sitting in a circle, with their babies going at it.  Jeff was asked to the “judge,” and God knows what the criteria was- mostly, who went the longest?  After about half an hour of extreme discomfort, trying to figure out where to look and how to act, one nursing baby remained and his/her mother was announced the winner.  Jeff was asked to take a picture with each contestant and her baby.  The breasts were put away for the pictures.

I was fairly productive, met most of the artisans in the artisan park (although I don’t remember any names) and met a few high school Directors while delivering my oficios.  I attended two meetings, both of which were really helpful for my work.  I also did a lot of thinking about my purpose and role in this community, and am starting to feel less anxious about everything, especially about the pressure I was/am putting on myself to be “productive.”  I’m going to focus less on comparing myself to my expectations...if that makes sense.