Meet the Family

I'd like to properly introduce you all to some of the most important people in my life here in Peru, my host family:

A picture we took for my "real" Dad's birthday

Rosa (mother, on the right):  Rosa is about 57 I think, and works in the Regional Ministry of Education.  I'm not sure exactly what she does, but it involves a lot of management and supervision, and from the sounds of it the political appointees below her are pretty incompetent and get paid more than her.  She leaves the house at about 7am Mon-Fri and comes home on average around 8pm (sometimes 6pm, sometimes 10 or 11pm).  New legislation may take away many of her benefits, so she's been on strike with her co-workers every other day (so that they don't lose their jobs) for the last 2-3 weeks.  When she finally comes home at night, she always has stories from the office/streets to tell, as she bleaches and scrubs every corner of the kitchen.  Most of Saturday she spends in front of the computer doing even more work for her job, after she runs around the house re-cleaning everything that's been cleaned by her husband, commenting that only women know how properly keep a house.  She is brutal about cleaning, especially the appliances, everything must shine perfectly without streaks.  Basically, she's a very Type A, independent person and a very hard-working mom.  Back in the day, she didn't want to get married, but she did later in life (she had kids very late, over 40 years old).  Part of the reason she didn't want to get married was because she didn't want to leave her work, so she certainly found the right modern-thinking man (as I'll explain).  After her son, she wanted to have more kids, but wasn't able to. She has a lot of brothers and sisters, and her family has many generations in Monsefú (the mayor is her cousin).  A lot of her brothers and sisters now live in Lima.  She is very passionate about the importance of education, and has been involved in the opening of numerous elementary schools in Monsefú.

Agustín (Aguxo) (son, on the left): My host brother is almost the exact same age as me, 23 (in August).  He attended the regional Air Force Academy for high school, and now studies in USAT which is one of the best universities in the regional capital Chiclayo.  He has finished his studies for a Systems Engineering degree, but in Peru you have to write a thesis and pay a lot of money in order to get your title, so he is still untitled.  Meanwhile, he has started a second course of study and a small business.  He is taking Business Administration classes and is running a small distribution of computer parts throughout Peru, by buying them online and handling the shipping.  He once told me that he doesn't really feel like he's found his purpose in life, but he seems to be very dedicated to his computer parts business, and his business is doing well.  He spends most of the day sleeping in until noon, reading international (mostly tech-relevant) news online, watching funny videos, and researching computer parts until he goes to class and the library (and probably some diversions) until somewhere between 10pm and 2am.  He is a great friend, a very very patient and kind person, and very curious about the United States.  In Peru, sons and daughters live in their parents house until they are married so it's not unusual at all that he lives at home.  The second floor of the house that is in-construction will probably eventually be used for his family.

Agustín (father, in the middle left): Oh, Agustín, where to begin.  This man, about 67 years old, is one of a kind.  He has a fantastic smile and laugh, as you'll see below.  He also has quite the booming voice when he is frustrated with how forgetful or illogical I am being, or if I am doing something he finds rude.  For example, I am always forgetting to "sit correctly" on the couch, since it is much more comfortable for me to sit Indian-style or with one foot under my leg, but this is very dirty and rude to him.  He is also very insistent on the rules of eating, which first and foremost means no eating alone- he always waits to eat breakfast and lunch until me and/or Aguxo are ready to eat.  The reverse side of this is that he often calls me out for eating snacks in my room or for making an egg for myself when I'm in a hurry.  Below, you'll see a little bit more of our relationship about food!  Here's what I've gathered from his life story so far:  He was one of 24 children, only about half of which lived past infancy, in the district of Olmos a few hours north from Chiclayo.  After finishing elementary school, there was no high school in his town (only in Chiclayo, and his family couldn't afford the commute costs).  So, he joined some sort of "project" group of students that went into the rainforest to study a water management system.  He was gone for about 4 years, so his family assumed he was dead, until he was able to send a letter to the Olmos post office telling his family not to worry.  By the time he got back, Olmos had built a high school and he was part of the first graduating class.  He then went to university, but I'm not sure where.  He became a professor of the Arts at USAT- the Arts being traditional dances, music, painting, and folklore (something like that).  He's retired now, and since his wife works all day, he does almost all of the market trips, cooking, and cleaning (which involves sweeping the whole house twice a day, because of the amount of dust that comes in).  He also makes banderolas which are beautiful embroidered banners that schools and other institutions use in parades.  He is quite a curious person, undeniably conservative in his manners of the house, but also very independent-thinking on a lot of topics, including religion and gender roles.  He is very well-known and respected in Monsefú.

And here is a wonderful video that does a good job of capturing my favorite kind of moment with Agustín father and Agustín son... After lunch, Agustín father went into his routine of making fun of my eating habits, and I happened to have a camera.  As I said, he is accustomed to food always being eaten together and at the kitchen table, so he find my snacking habits throughout the day to be very weird.  He calls me a cuy (guinea pig) because of the way I'm always nibbling on something!  Oh, I love this man dearly.


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