Have a good weekend!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
I love Daddy Yankee a little too much... almost as much as I love Pitbull
Short updates:
-I am definitely no longer in the honeymoon phase of adjustment to life in Peru/training. No worries, I still love it here, but I'm just getting to a stage of extreme restlessness in training.
-PC/Peru Staff is totally aware of how this adjustment cycle goes, so we had a really good session about cultural/life adjustment yesterday. And a week from today, we will be leaving for CAJAMARCA, a beautiful department of Peru, for Field Based Training! They call this the "moment of truth," because we're basically let loose to teach entrepreneurship topics for 4 days in an "Institute" (sort of like a community college), followed by a simulation where our students will write up business plans, apply for a loan, execute the business for a day, and repay the loan. Really pumped. But not for the 17 hour bus ride.
-I'm cooking for my family tonight... I'm making chicken-veggie-pineapple stir-fry with rice, since it's pretty much all the same ingredients they eat daily, just prepared a little differently. This will definitely be another moment of truth! So much importance on food/cooking here.
Enjoy the songs above! I love them. To give you an idea of what some traditional Peruvian music/dance sounds and looks like, see below. The dance is kind of entertaining, or at least I entertain my family when I try to imitate it. However, the traveling band that played huayno (that style) for almost 48 straight hours on Father's Day has made me quite tired of it. Peruvians love them some huayno... all. the. time.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Some Popular Songs Here
Family and co-workers, I apologize in advance for any weird video moments.
also, thank you Becca Almond for the super thoughtful and DELICIOUS care package!
also, thank you Becca Almond for the super thoughtful and DELICIOUS care package!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Still a Gringa
Over the last 2 1/2 weeks I've felt pretty much on top of the world here in Peru. My Spanish was sufficient for most conversation topics and I got compliments on my speaking ability, I love my group of fellow trainees, and I live with an awesome family. I also haven't gotten significantly sick yet (while a number of my compañeros have), have loved most of the food I have tried, and almost everyone I've interacted with has been super helpful, nice, and respectful. I knew the day had to come when reality set in, and today was that day!
As I've mentioned, I take a "combi" to pretty much everything (the Center, home, errands, going out)- it's a public transport that is somewhere between a van and a bus in size. It's pretty hectic on board, especially when it's busy. You have to know your way around to use the combis, because its up to you to know how much your trip costs (which can be bargained in bigger groups) and where your stop is. At some point during your ride you give the "cobrador" (money-taker/door operator/announcer) your money, which is usually between 50 cents and 2 soles depending on the length of the trip and tell him where you are going, by pretty weird landmark names. For example, we get off at "Lavandería" for the Center, which means the (clothing) cleaners, even though I assume there are plenty of other cleaners in the area besides that cross-street. If the cobrador is busy/inattentive (90% of the time), he won't remember your stop so you have to squish your way to the front and yell "Lavandería baja!" as a reminder before the combi passes your stop.
Today I got on the combi with a compañera named Lindsey, heading towards home after Training. I gave the cobrador 1 sol and asked him for my change because I was getting off at Portada del Sol (which is 50 cents). He acted confused and told me that the trip from Chaclacayo to Chacrasana was 1 sol. I've encountered this a number of times before, since they think we're American tourists that don't know any better. I told him no, I live here and it is 50 cents. Usually at this point they shrug their shoulders and give me my change.
I protested a bit more, telling him I know how much this costs and its 50 cents, and the Señora sitting closest to the door started supporting me, saying "No joven (youngin'), you know perfectly well that it's 50 cents from here to Chacrasana. Give her the change." I told her thank you and continued protesting with him as he ignored me. At this point Lindsey had to get off at her stop, so I was on my own. I and this lady (but mostly this wonderful lady) continued to argue with him for the next 10 minutes, the whole ride to Chacrasana. He pretended to be on the phone, walked through out the bus, continued to say it was 1 sol, did everything but just give me the freaking 50 cents. The lady got continually more fiesty, with a constant stream of words coming out of her mouth for the whole ride that was something like this:
"Give her the change. Listen to her, she lives here, she knows just as well as you do that its 50 cents. You are what is wrong with Peru. You, joven, trying to take advantage of others. You are an example to the entire world right now. Don't be bad (sounds better in Spanish), just give her the change. You are the reason why foreigners feel taken advantage of in Peru. Look at yourself joven, look at what you are showing her about Peru."
She was so, so awesome. I tried a couple other tactics too, telling him I'm being patient and just want my change, blocking the door that he needed to operate, asking him why he has to be that way, why does 50 cents matter to you that much, but I think at some point there was no turning back for him, he just wouldn't make eye contact with me. I got pretty loud in my protests and about the half the combi started supporting me and the woman too. Eventually I had to get off at my stop, and it took all of my self control not to punch him in the back of the head as I stepped off. I thanked the Senõra for her help, told her I know that he's not an example of all Peruvians and that there's just a few bad ones, and that's all I could do.
I definitely started to tear up on the combi when I realized I was completely powerless in this situation. Combis are not exactly the safest places in Peru, it wasn't really an option for me to physically attempt to get the 50 cents out of his pocket, and there was no authority I could report him to. I couldn't protest by staying on the bus, because then I would eventually owe him the full 1 sol. However, the most frustrating part was that I don't believe that anybody is bad to the core, so I just really wanted him to give it up and be a decent person!!! He probably thought I had plenty of money anyways (as a gringa), but the reality is that I am living on 8 soles a day (less that $3), so YAH, that 50 cents means plenty to me!
It was a horrible feeling to have to just give in and get off that bus, letting him win with that full sol. I was taken advantage of simply because of the fact that I am white and a foreigner, no matter how much I reminded him that I live here and am going to live here for two years (which Peruvians usually find pretty surprising and which changes attitudes towards us).
The better part of the experience, of course, was the support I got from that fiesty Señora and the other combi-riders. It's not the first time that a Peruvian has stuck up for me or a fellow trainee when a cobrador tries to play stupid with us. There are so many well-intentioned, helpful, and smart people here.
The big lesson today was that good language skills does not remove that fact that I am white. I've heard from a number of Volunteers that people will always try to take advantage of you because they assume you have a lot of money. Peace Corps (Cuerpo de Paz) is actually fairly well known in some areas and well-respected, but people don't usually realize that we are subsistence living for two years. In retrospect, I wish I had covered that in my argument with the cobrador. I wish I had said something more along the lines of:
"...I live here. I'm living here as a VOLUNTEER with Cuerpo de Paz. I don't have any money, I'm making 8 soles a day to be a VOLUNTEER to help young men like YOU get better jobs and open your own businesses. Can I have my change now?" (and if that was ineffective) "Maybe one day you'll realize that cheating a gringa of 50 cents isn't going to get you any further in life. I hope that one day you have enough pride in yourself to realize you're better than that."
Of course I think my 50 cents was a lost cause no matter what I said, but I hope that he felt enough shame from the scene and the fiesty lady to think twice about doing that again. Probably not.
Well, at least I have my speech ready for the next time a ratero like him tries to engañarme!
As I've mentioned, I take a "combi" to pretty much everything (the Center, home, errands, going out)- it's a public transport that is somewhere between a van and a bus in size. It's pretty hectic on board, especially when it's busy. You have to know your way around to use the combis, because its up to you to know how much your trip costs (which can be bargained in bigger groups) and where your stop is. At some point during your ride you give the "cobrador" (money-taker/door operator/announcer) your money, which is usually between 50 cents and 2 soles depending on the length of the trip and tell him where you are going, by pretty weird landmark names. For example, we get off at "Lavandería" for the Center, which means the (clothing) cleaners, even though I assume there are plenty of other cleaners in the area besides that cross-street. If the cobrador is busy/inattentive (90% of the time), he won't remember your stop so you have to squish your way to the front and yell "Lavandería baja!" as a reminder before the combi passes your stop.
Today I got on the combi with a compañera named Lindsey, heading towards home after Training. I gave the cobrador 1 sol and asked him for my change because I was getting off at Portada del Sol (which is 50 cents). He acted confused and told me that the trip from Chaclacayo to Chacrasana was 1 sol. I've encountered this a number of times before, since they think we're American tourists that don't know any better. I told him no, I live here and it is 50 cents. Usually at this point they shrug their shoulders and give me my change.
I protested a bit more, telling him I know how much this costs and its 50 cents, and the Señora sitting closest to the door started supporting me, saying "No joven (youngin'), you know perfectly well that it's 50 cents from here to Chacrasana. Give her the change." I told her thank you and continued protesting with him as he ignored me. At this point Lindsey had to get off at her stop, so I was on my own. I and this lady (but mostly this wonderful lady) continued to argue with him for the next 10 minutes, the whole ride to Chacrasana. He pretended to be on the phone, walked through out the bus, continued to say it was 1 sol, did everything but just give me the freaking 50 cents. The lady got continually more fiesty, with a constant stream of words coming out of her mouth for the whole ride that was something like this:
"Give her the change. Listen to her, she lives here, she knows just as well as you do that its 50 cents. You are what is wrong with Peru. You, joven, trying to take advantage of others. You are an example to the entire world right now. Don't be bad (sounds better in Spanish), just give her the change. You are the reason why foreigners feel taken advantage of in Peru. Look at yourself joven, look at what you are showing her about Peru."
She was so, so awesome. I tried a couple other tactics too, telling him I'm being patient and just want my change, blocking the door that he needed to operate, asking him why he has to be that way, why does 50 cents matter to you that much, but I think at some point there was no turning back for him, he just wouldn't make eye contact with me. I got pretty loud in my protests and about the half the combi started supporting me and the woman too. Eventually I had to get off at my stop, and it took all of my self control not to punch him in the back of the head as I stepped off. I thanked the Senõra for her help, told her I know that he's not an example of all Peruvians and that there's just a few bad ones, and that's all I could do.
I definitely started to tear up on the combi when I realized I was completely powerless in this situation. Combis are not exactly the safest places in Peru, it wasn't really an option for me to physically attempt to get the 50 cents out of his pocket, and there was no authority I could report him to. I couldn't protest by staying on the bus, because then I would eventually owe him the full 1 sol. However, the most frustrating part was that I don't believe that anybody is bad to the core, so I just really wanted him to give it up and be a decent person!!! He probably thought I had plenty of money anyways (as a gringa), but the reality is that I am living on 8 soles a day (less that $3), so YAH, that 50 cents means plenty to me!
It was a horrible feeling to have to just give in and get off that bus, letting him win with that full sol. I was taken advantage of simply because of the fact that I am white and a foreigner, no matter how much I reminded him that I live here and am going to live here for two years (which Peruvians usually find pretty surprising and which changes attitudes towards us).
The better part of the experience, of course, was the support I got from that fiesty Señora and the other combi-riders. It's not the first time that a Peruvian has stuck up for me or a fellow trainee when a cobrador tries to play stupid with us. There are so many well-intentioned, helpful, and smart people here.
The big lesson today was that good language skills does not remove that fact that I am white. I've heard from a number of Volunteers that people will always try to take advantage of you because they assume you have a lot of money. Peace Corps (Cuerpo de Paz) is actually fairly well known in some areas and well-respected, but people don't usually realize that we are subsistence living for two years. In retrospect, I wish I had covered that in my argument with the cobrador. I wish I had said something more along the lines of:
"...I live here. I'm living here as a VOLUNTEER with Cuerpo de Paz. I don't have any money, I'm making 8 soles a day to be a VOLUNTEER to help young men like YOU get better jobs and open your own businesses. Can I have my change now?" (and if that was ineffective) "Maybe one day you'll realize that cheating a gringa of 50 cents isn't going to get you any further in life. I hope that one day you have enough pride in yourself to realize you're better than that."
Of course I think my 50 cents was a lost cause no matter what I said, but I hope that he felt enough shame from the scene and the fiesty lady to think twice about doing that again. Probably not.
Well, at least I have my speech ready for the next time a ratero like him tries to engañarme!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sírvete!
In the last post, I mentioned that I have liked almost everything that I have eaten in Peru. To give you all some idea of what I’m eating here at training…
-Like many other countries, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and big by Peruvian standards is HUGE. If I eat lunch at home it usually involves two plates. For example, my lunch today was spaghetti with sauce, a piece of chicken about the size of my fist, and a separate (full) plate of lentils with rice. Overeating is definitely socially encouraged. Every Monday in my family and for many families across Peru is lentils day.
-My family eats chicken about 4-5 days out of the week, which is awesome for me. Fish about once a week, and (red) meat about once a week. Peruvians only consider red meat to be meat, so when I asked my madre if meat was in the lentils, she said “No, its only lentils, carrots, ham…” so I laughed and said that ham counts as meat to me. She responded back “Well then it’s chicken. You love chicken, right? It’s chicken.” She’s quite the jokester.
Things I’ve tried:
-Chicha morada: a dark “juice” made from corn… I think it’s technically fermented but it’s not alcoholic? I dunno, I don’t understand these things. The one I tried had fig in it too, and it was really good- tasted kind of like sweet black licourice (sp?).
-Pachamanga: a tradition from the selva (rainforest), a hole is made in the ground and rocks are heated until they are red hot. Then various meats, chicken, potatoes, and other vegetables are covered with leaves, spices, and buried, and cooked for an hour. The result is an AWESOME smokey taste, that I got to try when a family member brought some home from a birthday party. The yucca was to die for.
-“Quaker”: many Peruvians serve oatmeal as a drink, so they mix oatmeal (get it? Quaker?) with more water or milk than we are used to. It’s pretty good, and is pronounced with a Latin accent as “kwah-ker.”
-Mazamorra: A great winter drink that I just tried for the first time tonight, made of corn, peanuts, milk, and cinnamon. Yummmm so good.
-Lots of weird fruits: I’m forgetting the names of them, but there two kinds of “booger fruit,” as we call it- they looks a bit like oranges from the outside but when you peel back the skin it is all gelatinous juice and seeds inside. It looks somewhere in between boogers and alien eggs, but it tastes really good! One version tastes like a plum and the other tastes like Tang.
-Plátanos, fried yucca: YUM YUM YUM
-Inca Kola: the preferred drink of Peruvians in pretty much all settings that don’t involve alcohol. Is ridiculously sweet, tastes like bubblegum.
Which reminds me, check out this video featuring Inca Kola, pachamanga, ceviche (which I haven't tried in Peru yet) and other great Peruvian things. The video is part of a big Peruvian tourism promotion, in which Peruvians go to a tiny town called Peru, Nebraska to teach them about Peruvian customs. (sorry it's in Spanish, but you'll get the general gist)
The bad parts of food here:
-Even though a lot of coffee is grown in Peru, drip coffee from ground beans is hard to find. Everyone drinks instant coffee.
-Everything has about 4 more scoops of sugar in it than I would prefer, but I am quickly getting accustomed to the sweetness, especially with Inca Kola.
-All the packaged snack foods I’ve tried, like chips and cheese puffs, are stale.
-Similar to the above bullet, most chocolate bars leave something to be desired, they sometimes kind of tasteless and stale.
-So. Much. Rice.
This is just my experience so far in Chaclacayo at training, and most likely I will be eating a lot more potatoes and a lot less chicken at site. As you can tell, overall I am really enjoying the food here. Everything homemade is awesome. People (the women) spend all day preparing lunch and dinner, and as my madre says, a lot of “cariño” goes into cooking. I’m definitely going to be a gordita in no time!
Who's Cold?
My pictures from our weekend trip to Marcahausi are uploaded!
Pictures definitely don’t do the trip justice, but hopefully you can get a sense of how awesome the views were. We were at about 13, 500 feet, and the altitude definitely took its toll on some of us. I took medication for altitude sickness but still my feet started falling asleep as we ascended. Besides some mild dehydration I felt fine for the rest of the night. We had a grand time eating dinner around the campfire, making s’mores, playing all kinds of American and Latino music on portable speakers, and playing our special version of “Would you rather.”
The temperature was probably around freezing, so the problems came when it was time to get some sleep. Some seasoned campers had brought their own sleeping bags, so they promptly passed out and had a wonderful night’s sleep. The rest of us were left with rented sleeping bags, which were basically glorified windbreakers. Even with my four layers + sleeping bag, my toes were numb and I couldn’t get anywhere close to sleep. Around 2:30am Lucas (from a tent or two over) yelled “Alright, who’s cold?” and a resounded “ME” was heard from about 10 of us. He then auctioned off the extra sleeping bag in his tent to whoever could guess the number he was thinking of, which unfortunately wasn’t me. Without a sleeping pad or sufficient insulation, I got a couple snoozes but probably not more than an hour of sleep, and most of my compañeros had similar nights. The worst was that I was having significant nausea and trouble breathing for part of the night, depending on the position I was in. Anyway, I lived through it to see the day!
Since we were all still awake anyways we all got up between 5:30 and 6:30am, and once the sun came over the rocks it promptly became HOT. Crazy mountains. In the morning I learned that Sheridan, a Volunteer who finished her 2-year service in Peru and is back visiting with her husband, vomited from altitude sickness during the night and again in the morning. As we all warmed up and got some caffeine (I had an awesome tea made from a local plant that looks a lot like a dandelion) we started to explore over the other sides of the large rocks surrounding the campsite. We’d get super winded after climbing up a few rocks at a time (more altitude issues) but once we got to the edge of the rocks, the views were INCREDIBLE.
 |
Cecily and Me |
It looked like we were on the edge of a lake or ocean, but actually it was the CLOUDS we were seeing, that we were above, with the mountains peaking over top! Really felt like we were on top of the world. I’m really starting to think that Peru is the coolest country of all time.
Later our facilitadora (language teacher) and friend, Jeni, showed us around the ruins that Marcahausi is famous for. There are remains of some pre-Inca houses and many strange animal shapes in the rocks, some of which looked natural and others which appeared to have been cut.
We descended on horseback, which is how we ascended too, except this time I got a wicked sunburn. While waiting for our bus back to Chaclacayo, I RAN INTO Ruthie, who had just arrived to ascend! Small world, huh? We’re still planning on seeing each other next weekend when we go on an “excursion urbana” to Lima, but the unexpected run-in was a great surprise.
On the way out we toured a cheese “factory” which was basically a room in someone’s house, and many of us bought some awesomely good Swiss cheese- supposedly one of the first European settlers in the area taught the townspeople how to make it and they’ve been producing Swiss cheese since. We also briefly checked out a trout farm, that was composed of a bunch of trenches with temperature-regulated water running through them. Earlier that day we had trout from that farm for lunch, and it was DELICIOUS. I have yet to try a food/drink in Peru that I didn’t like! Well, except a “salad” that was made of peas, potatoes, carrots, apples, and mayonnaise. Yeahhhh, I’ve had better.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
1/5 Done with Training
Tomorrow we leave for the mountains of Marcahuasi, after taking a bus ride to San Pedro de Castas from where we ride 2 hours on horseback. I’m told it is 14,000 ft there, which I am also told (by my friends from Utah and Colorado) will definitely be the highest altitude I’ve ever experienced. There are no skiing resorts in the US at that altitude, from what I'm told. Our medical officers have given us altitude pills to take just in case we react badly to it. At Marcahuasi we will do some sessions in the evening and relax with a bonfire, then do some consulting practice on Saturday with the eco-tourism company there.
Today I bought one of the classic Peruvian hats called a chullo (choo-yoh) that looks like this:
The cost of living here is absurdly low- my hat was 7 soles (a little more than $2 I think) and to get to the bigger town, I pay between 50 centimos to 1 sol depending on the time of day, approximately 15-30 US cents.
The cost of living here is absurdly low- my hat was 7 soles (a little more than $2 I think) and to get to the bigger town, I pay between 50 centimos to 1 sol depending on the time of day, approximately 15-30 US cents.
Talking about my “chullo,” you have to be really careful about pronunciation here, because there are so many slang words that are muy parecidos (sound very similar), at least to an American ear:
Choro (chore-roh): pick-pocket
Cholo (choh-loh): Indian, mestizo (can be either affectionate or insulting depending on context)
Cojo (koh-hoe): a person missing one leg
Chullo (choo-yoh): the Peruvian style hat I bought
Churro (choor-roh): good-looking, guapo
Churro (choor-roh): good-looking, guapo
Culo (koo-low): ass (I assume this slang is used in Peru too)
Cuyo (koo-yoh): whose
Choclo (choh-cloh)- maize
Choco (choh-koh): I hit (like a car accident)
Chacra: field (agriculture)
Chamba: job
Chompa: pullover jacket
By the way friends, please send me your Skype name if I don’t have it! (Fran, Haley, Jessie, Katie Neal…)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)