Fungus, Fleas, and Rats, plus $h*t my (old) Host Dad Says

Hellooooo, it's been a while!  Sorry for the delay in updates, January has been a crazy month for me.  Since that title is kind of alarming, let me go ahead and explain myself before jumping in to other things.

Fungus: Since before my post about "Dust," I've had issues with itchy, irritated skin on my face.  My and my doctor's best guess was that it was a new manifestation of my eczema, but its characteristics are now convincing me and my new host family (to be explained) that it is a fairly common fungus you can get from dirty water or other things.  I have faint white patches on my forehead and right cheek.  My suspicion is that is has to do with the fact that all my daily greeting "cheek kisses" are on my right cheek.  I'm applying anti-fungal cream and setting up a dermatologist visit.

Summer in coastal Peru, my legs are constellations of flea and mosquito bites

Fleas: I have (hopefully, had) fleas for the fourth time.  I don't know how the buggers got into my bed in the first place, but I have been battling them for a while with Clorox and bug-spray baths.  They really got me this time, but with my change of host families I have hopefully left them behind.  However, I have a fear that my little friends hitch-hiked in my clothes, so I am praying that I don't bring them into my new house.  You know you're a dirty Peace Corps Volunteer when you're afraid that you are going to give fleas to the house dog.

I'll save the rats for later in this post.

So, about that host family change.  On January 9th, my Regional Coordinator came from a site visit and in conversations with my host family it was decided that I should look for a new place to live.  Essentially, my host Dad is approaching 70 and is too old for all of the house chores he does while my host mom works, which includes all of the cooking, cleaning, and most of the clothes-washing.  Before my arrival, on days that he was tired he would not cook and eat in the market, but with me there he felt very obligated to cook, no matter how many times I told him that I could take care of myself.  This situation was stressing him out, and although this part wasn't discussed, I felt that he and my host mom were taking their stress (from their jobs, chores, and age) out on me.  So, the basic story is that my host Dad might take a month-long vacation in Lima and that is why I moved, but the situation had been more complicated than that for a long time.  As my host brother said, "my parents have kind of difficult characters."

But, as I hope you have gleaned from my post, I loved the characters of my first family very much, because when it was good it was really good.  I had been accumulating a list of great quotes from my host Dad, who is from another time, generation, and world.  Here we go:

On “la gringa loca” (me):

“For the love of God, please sit down when you eat.  The only people who eat standing up are soldiers, and I don’t like having soldiers in my house.”

“I’m going to call Obama and ask him to send his best doctor, nurse, psychologist, and sociologist to evaluate this case I have in my house… what! What! I didn’t say Kim!”

Me: (Explaining why one of the census measurements makes no sense…)

Dad: Agucho, is there money left on the phone?

Brother: On the landline? Yeah, why?

Dad: So that I can call the INEI (National Institute of Statistics and Information) to have this fixed!  I can’t believe it!  It doesn’t make sense to Kim so they must correct this right away!

On food:

"Of course you got sick, look at how much you eat! You are always eating. You eat like a cuy (guinea pig). Every moment I look over, you are working with your hand in food. From now on I'm going to call you la cuy instead of Kim!" ..and then he did an impression that you have already seen in this video

On religion and life:

(Talking about Popes John Paul and Benedict) “Yeah, they were buddies, they went drinking together, went to the brothel together… HAHAHA oh, how wonderful it is to make jokes.  Can you imagine what life would be like without jokes?  Life is so much better when you have fun.”

On visitors:

(after installing a intercom-doorbell system)

Dad (to visitor): “Who is it?..... from what institution? … ah, yes, well, he left for Chiclayo, he won’t be back until later… yes, later… okay thank you.”

Dad: (to me): “HAHA what an idiot! You think Agustín Tesen isn’t here and you’re talking to him!  I love this machine!” (scurries off to the kitchen giggling)

On bathroom jokes:

(As we’re eating mangoes)

Dad: *in a fit of giggles* Can you imagine what a party would be like if instead of chicken, duck, or turkey we served mangoes… and chicha?!  Hahahahaha!!! (Chicha is a fermented corn alcoholic drink)

Me: Huh? You went to a party were they served mangoes and chicha?

Dad: Noooo can you imagine how funny it would be?! Pure fruit! We’d just serve fruit!

Me: …. Um, sure, yeah that’s be funny…

Dad: *still giggling* Ohhhhh man, those fruits run right through you!

Me: Ohhhh, now I get it!

Dad: *cracking up* All of the guests would be running to the bathroom at the same time!! Ahahaha *bathroom noises*  Excuse me one second!! *mimics pulling down his pants and squatting, more bathroom noises*

On taxes:

Me: So what percentage of the population do you think pays taxes?

Dad: Who pays taxes? Idiots pay taxes.

Hanging out with my host Dad while he makes a cape for a
well known Miraculous Cross, on my last night in the house

When things were good, this man was my favorite part of my first 5 months in site.  As I mentioned in another post, he was one of 24 children in a family where only about 16 lived past infancy.  His stories of his life, that he shared with me during lunch or while working on his embroidered banners and religious pieces, often led me to feel transported into another world, one where Peace Corps Volunteers don't have wireless internet or cell phones.  I will miss those talks dearly, but hopefully I will get to have some more with him when I visit now and then.

I will keep in touch with my old host family, especially through my host brother, who has been a very, very, very good friend to me from the beginning.  He definitely inherited his Dad's ridiculous sense of humor.  Here's a taste of our conversation over Facebook today, discussing my upcoming trip to visit the States (!!!):

Agucho: Are there thieves in the United States?

My first host family, on my host mom's birthday

Kim: Yeah, of course in some parts.  Why do you ask?

Agucho: So that I can contract one to bring me a touch phone.

(later...)

Agucho: Could you bring me a “snike”?

Me: A what?  Nike sneakers?

Agucho: No, a snake. A live one. Like your brother in the States has.

Me: HAHAHA no!

Agucho: You can bring it hidden in your purse!

Oh, what a family.

So, I arrived at my new set-up by mentioning my need to a friend who invited me to eat lunch with her family.  She immediately suggested her in-laws, and after I went to visit them, it turned out I had met the Dad already because he is a teacher in one of the public high schools.  I remembered him because he told me that an American volunteer was in Monsefú about 50 years ago, and that the volunteer had a youth group called Cuerpo de Paz (who knows if that's right) that he was a part of, where he learned to raise pigs.  So basically, my new host Dad thinks he was in the Peace Corps.  Works for me!  I also have an awesome host mom (sub-director of an elementary school) and 26 year-old host sister.  My host parents were high school sweethearts here in Monsefú, got married while they were in university, and have three adult kids.  I have a significant extended host family here in Monsefú and across Perú, all of whom are awesome and seem to visit quite often.  I have four host nieces and nephews, all small and adorable- Daniela is almost 6 and the oldest, and she is the girl dancing at the top of my blog (those viewing in email, click the links at the beginning to view this on the web).  I am very happy with this new, very easy-going family :)

But there is one little part I left out.  The rat(s).  Two days ago, when I was getting ready to move in, I was visiting my new family when the house dog started going crazy, scratching up the wall and barking at a gap in the ceiling.  My host mom said it must be a cat, but I knew that cat is code for probably-rat.  After moving in and hearing a few more noises come from that part of the ceiling (down the hallway from my room), I did a quick inspection and decided I didn't need to worry about them getting in.  Last night, I was repeatedly woken up for a period of at least an hour by the unmistakable sound of loud rat squeeling-screetching-whatever-you-call-it.  I imagine that would have freaked me out pretty bad in the United States, but somehow I was able shrug it off and get back to sleep.  Today my family moved around some pieces of the roof and my host dad says he saw the rat scurry across the wall into the abandoned area where it probably came from.

So you may have guessed my new host family is slightly more humble than my previous family, but for me that makes my living experience so much better (rats and all).  An easy-going, modest family cannot be over-appreciated.  And by some miracle I again have internet (although my laptop refuses to connect), so yeah, the developing world is pretty interesting these days.  

January was crazy not only with my host family change, but also with a week of Early In-Service Training and a lot of work activities.  I have definitely been keeping busy and happy.  Hopefully I'll get a chance soon to describe some of the projects I'm working on this summer, and if not on this blog, IN PERSON when I visit the States February 15-22!!

Wishing you all a happy, rat-free night!