Provincianos Visit the Big City

Got back yesterday from a 4-day trip in Lima.  It was weird being back there after spending the last two months purely in the "provinces," what Peruvians call everything outside of Lima.  I was not a fan of the dreary, congested, chaotic and dangerous city during training, but I'm starting to gain some new appreciation for Lima.  The weather has turned so that some sun is breaking through the clouds and smog, and I got to see the city in a different way than I did during training.

I stayed in the center of Miraflores the first night, at a hostel directly next to Starbucks (yeah, that wasn't a coincidence) so spent the whole day in the coffee shop attempting to pound out my Community Diagnostic.  It was shocking how much English was going around, and good English at that since the English I hear spoken at site usually doesn't go far past "goo-more-neen" (translation: good morning).  That combined with the American indie music and plentitude of well-dressed young people and professionals working on their laptops, I was almost convinced that I was in DC. 

That same day I stumbled across a store called La Quinta that pulled me in with its enormous bins of stylish clothes for S/.15-20 (approximately $5-7).  Turned out these were the rejects from factories of namebrands like Banana Republic and Theory, so I left happily with a few badly needed new additions to my wardrobe, especially two cotton knee-length skirts... Summer is starting in Monsefú and it's not really appropriate for women to wear shorts outside of the house.

The second day I got to see a lot of people who put a smile on my face.  First were the training centers, where I got to see my language teacher Jeni who gave me lots of squeals and hugs, and my friend Sam who is a member of the newest class of volunteers- he'll be stationed about 6 hours north of me, so we should get to see each other occasionally during service.  After those visits, I got to see my training host family and catch up with them, with my host-niece Angeline on my lap.  That 4 year-old has completely stolen my heart.  After returning to Lima, I headed to another nice area called San Isidro to stay with my old boss and team from DC, because by some amazing coincidence they were visiting Lima for a work trip the same time I was going to be there.  So I caught up with them over a late dinner, and was gifted 3 bags of candy corn from my co-worker Evan who stayed back at the office- thank you Evan!!

The two final days were spent at the US Embassy for the main purpose of my trip, Peace Corps' Artisan Fair.  HOLY. GUACAMOLE.  The embassy was absolutely ridiculous.  As you drive down an avenue with low, residential houses, suddenly this appears:

I'm not sure the picture really captures how enormous and fortress-like the complex is, especially since there are a few other separate buildings behind the main one.  Now I understand why limeños joke that if a big earthquake hit Lima, everything would fall except for the US embassy.  I guess the high security is necessary since an attack is/was very possible... as recently as 2002, a car bomb killed nine people in the outdoor shopping plaza across from the embassy- this happened right before President Bush was going to visit.  Anyway, I realized right before entering that I had only brought a paper copy of my passport, since everywhere else in Peru doesn't demand anything more official- our coordinator looked at me like I was an idiot, but luckily she was able to get my entrance approved.  At the first security check we had to leave all of our electronics (no phones, cameras, laptops, USBs, anything).  At the second security check they found a safety pin in my purse and a needle in Paulina's (for her embroidery), both of which had to be chucked.  All of the artisan products had to be sent ahead the day before the fair, to be checked for bombs and such.  Yeesh, we're back in the States now, Toto!

Once we made it through the labyrinth of fortress walls to the conference room, the first day of workshops and the second day of fair were pretty fun.  It was interesting to meet all the people that my friends are working with in their communities- Paulina stuck out pretty prominently, as she wore a business jacket and wanted to stand to answer almost every question... she's not exactly a shy serrana (mountain woman).  We had a good time at the fair, although she only made a moderate profit.  We talked about more ideas to improve her display: a babydoll model for the baby clothes, pictures of products that aren't present, a visitor's log, etc.  We're also going to work on developing new products, because there are some things that just aren't moving (a fuzzy, strangely-shaped bright orange scarf, for example).  I'm sad I don't have any pictures to show you all of our stand or the others, since we couldn't bring cameras into the embassy, but some of the other stands (especially those that have worked with a Volunteer for a year or more) were really impressive in their presentation and products.

Of course the best part was seeing all my training friends, and we got to enjoy some dinner and drinks together after the workshops on Thursday night.  Although everyone is going through high's and low's, no one seems to have changed at all, they are still the highly entertaining and eclectic group of Peru 17ers that I have come to love.  And I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with this crazy family!