I know my posts have been kind of (or really) depressing lately, so allow me one more paragraph of serious stuff and then I promise I'll get on to the comic relief!
Sometimes I feel quite bitter at male Peace Corps Volunteers, because they don't experience machismo the way the female volunteers do... but then I am reminded that there are some male and female volunteers that have to deal with discrimination of a whole other level- homophobia, for example. Outside of Lima (and often times within the city as well), the majority of Peru is shockingly homophobic- I've sat in a high school class and listened to the Councilwoman in charge of Education in Monsefú tell 13 year-olds that romantic love can only exist between a man and a woman the Bible is very clear that God hates homosexuality. As a result of this attitude, it is strongly recommended (by many gay Volunteers and Peace Corps staff) that gay Volunteers keep their sexual orientation private, because the backlash in their community may make their work and integration impossible. I say all this as an intro to a really interesting article written by another Peace Corps Peru Volunteer... check it out:
Okay, now back to the easier stuff. I was recently looking back on some favorite Facebook posts by fellow Volunteers, and thought that they give a pretty interesting perspective on the crazy moments of Peace Corps life that start to feel pretty normal. Here's what I mean:
Spent the
afternoon with a mother's club going house to house signing up kids for a free
present in Christmas. Accidently let a fart slip louder than I expected and while
the adults at least pretended to not hear it the kids were in a fit of giggles.
By the time we reached the end of the block every house we passed was laughing.
Word travels fast when a gringa toots.
14-yr-old
student: ¿Como se dice "¿Quieres estar conmigo?" en ingles?
me: Do you want to be with me?
student: Yes! Yes I do! ....
me: Do you want to be with me?
student: Yes! Yes I do! ....
I couldn´t even get mad at him, just tried
not to let all of the students see how funny I thought it was.
Helped judge a
¨Señorita Primavera¨ pageant last night in celebration of the first day of
spring, and on my way out the door my host sister told me I wasn´t dressed nice
eough, and in fact, none of my clothes seemed to cut it so they had to lend me
some. This is not what I envisioned the Peace Corps to be like.
Week in
review: Tuesday--Alpacas walk into my meeting (yes, it was indoors!). Wednesday-- Naked man in the canal. Thursday-- Appointed to organize
breakdancing contest.
TGIF!
Just watched a fully grown Peruvian male thrown a fit that Charlie St
Cloud....the Zach Efron film was turned off before completion of our bus
journey
my host sister
asked for my pee to wash her daughter with. Family integration: Complete.
In October, Lisa sent me a Twix bar, and I gave it to my host brother.
He loved it. Yesterday, he found a Twix in Trujillo, bought it, brought it
home, and shared it with me. Sustainable development at it's finest ;)
For a real treat go work
a farm for a day pulling up aproximately 100 buckets of water from a deep well
and aquire 7 open blisters on your fingers and two hours later apply hand
sanitizer copiously.
Drank expired juice again this time i’m paying for it
And, saving the best for last, here is a Facebook status posted by one Volunteer, that was then commented on by many other Volunteers:
You know you've been in Peru too long
when ...you finally get a hot
shower and turn it to cold because it feels more natural.
...you eat everything with a spoon.
… You pick ants and hair out of your food
like it ain't no thang.
… you consider it acceptable to call
someone 8 times in succession to ask a non-emergency question
...you sweep your dirt to make it look
nice.
… elbowing a grandma to get
"dibs" in line is polite
… rap a coin on someone's front door
repeatedly yelling "¡seño!" until they answer your call--from 6am to
11pm
… you sincerely think that drinking
something cold or using a fan might make you sick
… silencing your phone is a thing of the
past
… fireworks don't make you wake up or
even wince
...you can comfortably use diarrhea as
an excuse to get out of a Peace Corps meeting.
Lastly, here's my most recent album of photos from Months 7 & 8 in site!
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