Finally Some Photos!

Alright thanks to the magic that is Google and its Picasa Program I have uploaded photos and have found a super fast and easy way to do so in the future. Thank God.

Here’s the rundown:

I’ve uploaded four albums. The first three are from training. These collections are not very thorough because I accidentally formated my camera half way through training but they give a brief look into some of the stuff I did.

The fourth album is my Ancash album and here I finally have a decent amount of photos so I hope you enjoy them. Also, give me some feedback on what kind of photos you’d like to see and I’ll try to get my camera out more often.

Photos

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New Contact Info

Here is my new contact information in Ancash. Feel free to send me boxes full of candy, books, letters,  news magazines, and love. Everything should be declared as a regalo (gift) and less than $100 value. Consult me before sending anything of more value than that.

PCV Brian Phelps
Casilla Postal No. 277
Serpost Huaraz
Ancash, Peru
South America

And as a quick side note I was just checking through the other Ancash Volunteers blogs and I wanted to recommend that you check out James Tvrdy’s blog. He’s the volunteer that will literally be up the hill from me so we will be having very similar experiences, and he keeps the blog well updated.

Best!

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We’re Finally Official Volunters… and We’ve got Cellphones to Prove It

On Friday, November 28th, 2008, the 12th group of volunteers in Peru since the country reopened to Peace Corps officially swore in as volunteers to the cheers of all of their trainers, host-families, and friends. We had a few speakers and were charged by our very own Douglas to remember that humanity is a shared experience that transcends national borders and that as human beings we have a responsibility remember that we are all in this together. Inspiring Mr. Douglas.

And so now, two days later, I am sitting in my favorite café in Huarás, Café California, which to its namesake is a cozy west coast style café with great coffee, great food, a book exchange, and wireless internet. I’m relaxing on a comfy sofa listening to Ben Kweller and I just finished a Belgium Waffle with Chai Tea.  So to everyone who thinks I’m just suffering down here, well… not yet.

We arrived in Huarás early this morning after spending the whole day yesterday in a hostel recovering from Friday nights festivities. We finally got cell phones with free in network calling so we no longer feel so disconnected and now we’re sworn in we are no longer just aspirantes but full fledged volunteers of the Cuerpo de Paz with all the rights to fun, dificult, and crazy times that go with that.

But saying goodbye was not so easy. After three months of an intense training program all 48 of us Peru 12 volunteers have grown very close and now we’re being sent all over the country and far away from each other. People are as far up as the border with Ecuador, in the region of Tumbes, and as far down as Ica, south of Lima where Peruvian wines and piscos are produced. Between the northernmost site and the southernmost are roughly 28 hours of bus rides (not necesarilly a straight line shot but with lots of crazy mountain roads if you’re thinking that sounds like a lot) and only thanks to our network connected phones will we keep in touch with each other.

So what’s going through my head right now? Well right now I’m frankly just happy to have finally made it to official volunteer status and I’m excited but nervous to begin. Right now I’ll be spending a couple days here in the capital getting my bearings and making some purchases for my room (biggest purchase will be a bed) before I head to site to begin my service. I’m slightly intimidated because I really don’t know where to begin working, but I’m required to spend my first three months doing a diagnosis of the community so that will be the best place to begin. In the meantime I will try to practice my Spanish and my Quechua and I will work on getting to know as many people as I can. I might teach English and computer skills to keep myself busy but even with that I’ll have to work out some lesson plans first. I also have to negotiate with my host family to figure out issues such as whether I’ll eat with the family or cook my own food, and how much I will pay for rent.

What else… well for everyone that is curious we did celebrate Thanksgiving amongst ourselves the volunteers. Two turkeys were cooked along with several delicious pies (apple and comote which is kind of like sweet potato), and we all sat down together and enjoyed the holiday as best we could. Later that day we had a party for our host-families where we got to show our appreciation to them for taking us in. We didn’t say goodbye to families though until after swear in which was a very bittersweet experience.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Quick summary, I’m officially a volunteer now, I’m already in Ancash and am preparing to head to site, and I’m excited and scared and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen as I adjust to my new life here. It will be interesting to say the very least so I hope I keep my chin up and embrace all the craziness that I’m sure will fill my life.

Best wishes to all,

Brian

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Ancash – It Rocks

To everyone who loves the outdoors, it is time to visit Peru! (seriously, dry season is April to September) I just got back from my site visit in Ancash and it is amazing. Before I dive into the experience, here is some information about Ancash and specifically the Cordillera Blanca (White Range) where I will be living.

From Wikipedia:

The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain in the Ancash Region of Peru. It is part of the larger Andes range and includes thirty three major peaks over 5,500 metres (18,040 ft) tall in an area 21 kilometres (13 mi) wide and 180 kilometres (112 mi) long.

This includes 16 peaks over 6,000m.

For some quick perspective. The highest mountain in the United States is Mt. McKinley in Alaska. It is 6,192 m. (20,320 ft.) The second highest is Mt. St. Elias at 5,489 m. (18,008 ft.). 

The highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca, as well as the highest mountain in Peru, is Huascarán, at 6,768 m.  (22, 205 ft). I can see this from my site, as well as Alpamayo, 5,947 metres (19,511 ft), voted the most beautiful mountain in the world.

Of course that’s not all. Ancash boasts an incredible range of outdoor sports. Mountaineering, Trekking, Camping, Canoeing, Cycling, Alpine Skiing, Rock Climbing, Paragliding, Hang Gliding, Horse Riding, and Fishing are all available here. The Mountaineering, Trekking, Camping, Cycling, and Rock Climbing especially stand out. People come from all over the world to visit. Personally, I brought a tent, plan on buying a mountain bike, and expect to dabble in everything else while I’m here.

Also lots of animals, lots of plants, and lots of birds. Crystal clear lagoons, hot springs, and glaciers too. You can walk on mountains over 6,000 m. without being an experienced mountaineer. 

Did I mention it’s beautiful? (And I swear pictures are coming, uploads keep failing!!! Evans…)

What else… traditional culture? Definitely got it. Here at site I will learn to speak Quechua as well as Spanish. And Quechua, if you don’t know, is the language of the Incas. So if you’ll be time traveling anytime soon to you might want to bring me along. There are also great traditional archeological sites to visit. We’ve got it all!

So I hope this gives you an idea about how excited I am to live here. My only complaint so far is the food but I think that only applies if you live with a traditional Andean family, which I do. Let’s get to that.

I finally met the host family that I will have for two years! I have a host dad, mom, brother, and sister. My host-brother is 22 years old, and my host-sister is 3. They’re pretty cool although I’m still getting to know them. They all speak Quechua and Spanish both, although my little sister doesn’t really understand the difference between the two yet which makes things difficult with her. Adorable though.

I basically have my own house, which is nice. My brother has built a house for himself and doesn’t live there yet. It has two floors with two rooms on each floor. I get the bottom level and my own two rooms. This sounds great, but it does need some work. The floor is dirt so I’ll be putting concrete in, but I hope once I move in I’ll be able to make it a cozy place to hide away when I need to escape and be alone.

Anyway here’s the quick story of site visit since I am running out of time and anecdotal writing doesn’t seem to be working for me right now.

Sunday, the nine of us volunteers going to Ancash left Lima for Huarás, the capital of Ancash. Bus ride was 7 hours. We left at 11:00 PM

Monday, we arrived at Huarás at 6:00 in the morning and were met up by Arianna Robinson, a current volunteer with youth in Ancash. She showed us around Huarás during the morning and the afternoon. We learned how to find the post office, the market, the municipality building, good hostels, and two awesome cafés where we can hang out and drink cappachinos with wireless internet when we need to remember what the US is like. Later that night we went to the Eccame Hotel to spend the night.ç

Tuesday, we had breakfast and met with our community partners, the people from our communities who will be helping us integrate. We had a workshop all day where the community partners learned their responsibilities to us and we learned our responsibilities to them, then we drove to our sites.

My site is called Collón, it is at 3,600 meters and it is about an hour away from the capital which is very nice, I can travel there easily. As we were driving there, I felt pretty nervous about meeting my family, but as soon as I arrived and sat down to talk to them for the first time I felt very comfortable. This was a good sign. We had potatoes for dinner and trigo, a super healthy grain that I am growing to love.

Wednesday, I introduced myself to the students at the school where I live as well as met the people who work in the local health post. Both of these are super close, I can literally walk to the school in a minute and the health post in two.

After this, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself so I went out with my brother and dad to watch them work. They chop wood. This will be interesting since my job as an environmental volunteer will be to work with them in programs of reforestation.

Again, dinner, the kitchen/dining room (there’s not really a table or anything) is like a little cave but it is very cozy.

Thursday I went upwards to one of the annexes of the villages and hung out with my host cousin all morning as he taught pre-schoolers. They are cute. The whole lesson was given in Quechua though so I didn’t follow too well.

Friday, there was a big celebration in the community. The school finally had enough funds to buy new instruments like trumpets and drums, a couple computers, and a television with a DVD player. I cut to cut a ribbon for the drums and then introduce myself to the community. After this there was drinking (I did not partake) and I ate an entire cuy (guinea pig, for real they are raised and eaten here). After that I hung out with my family more. We talked. They didn’t know what happened September 11. There’s a lot I will be teaching them about the world.

Saturday, woke up in the morning and had a beautiful 45 minute walk to the main road where I caught a bus to Huarás to meet up with the other volunteers. We hung out, had an amazing dinner with Belgium Beer, and caught a bus home which was reminiscent of a rollar coaster.

 Anyway sorry to rush! My host-family is waiting for me with dinner and then I’m going out but I wanted to get this post out. I’ll be talking about this place for two years though so no worries, you’ll get to know it.

Best!

BGP

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US Election 2008: Peruvian Perspectives

Hey guys,

I wanted to write a quick post on the Peruvian and Latin America reactions to the election of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States. First, here is an article from El Comercio, the leading newspaper in Peru, responding to the US elections. This is my first translation so enjoy!

Latin America Will not be a Priority for the New Administration

by Bruno Rivas

Translated by Brian Phelps

What is it that awaits Latin America after the recent elections in the United States? This is the question that, as of late, falls heavy on the region and seems very difficult to respond to, taking into account the almost non-existent mention of the southern hemisphere during the campaigns of the Republican John McCain and the Democrat Barack Obama. Small gestures, like John McCain’s visit to Mexico and Colombia in July and Barack Obama’s praise of the recent free trade agreement between Peru and the United States during the final debate, are the only sparks of light that have illuminated Latin America during the presidential race. Beyond this, the candidates have not spoken deeply to the issues that concern the region.

The Free Trade Agreements

For the length of his campaign, McCain has stood firm as a defender of free trade and has tried to paint Obama as it’s enemy, an accusation that the democrats always rejected. ¨McCain has always showed a firm support of the Tree Trade Agreements and has proposed that more agreements of this type be made.¨affirmed El Comercio’s  political correspondant Michael Shifter. And this belief is shared by Carl Meacham, principle advisor on Latin American issues for Congressman Richard Lugarmember, member of the Committee of Foreign Relations, who pointed out to this newspaper that a Republican President would signify access to more markets for Latin American countries.

With a Democratic President the situation would vary, although the members of this party have consistently stated that this change would only be marginal. The ex secretary of the US Department of State Peter Romero told El Comercio that an Obama administratino would not look to eliminate free trade agreements but rather that he would try to give them more of a ‘social tint’.

Immigration and Drugs

Two issues that passed practically unmentioned during the presidential campaigns were the concerns about immigration reform and the war on drugs. In the readings over the issue of immigration in Barack Obama’s plans for government, Obama has proposed an internal reform that would protect the US borders and take undocumented migrants out of the shadows. For his part, McCain has had a very important past in the Congress concerning immigration, working with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy on a proposed immigration reform bill that ultimately was not passed. This said, in his recent campaign he has shown much caution on this issue and has only proposed a traditional reform that would look to secure the borders first and only later apply comprehensive migration reform.

Meanwhile, it seems that neither side would make any changes concerning the war on drugs. ¨The issue of drugs has run on autopilot for both candidates and for this, it has not been an important theme during this campaign. The two both approve the Colombian Plan and the Merída Initiative.¨commented Shifter.

One of the themes that has marked a difference between the two candidates have been diplomatic relations. And this issue directly influences Latin America because while Obama has said he will maintain relations with dictators like Hugo Chávez (Venezuela) and Raúl Castro (Cuba), McCain has assured that he would not favor direct diplomatic relations with these regimes.

A Priority Position?

But is it even possible that with all the problems that the United States has right now (the economic crisis and the current wars), the new US Government will simply not give Latin America any type of priority? All the analysts consulted have jointly said no, it will not. ¨The politics will not change with the new administration, whether it is Democrat or Republica¨. Declared Peruvian ex-chancellor Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros to El Comercio. Meacham shares this opinion, and claims that the problems that are affecting the United States right now will dominate its attention. ¨The best advice for Peruvians would be tighten your belts and lower your expectations concerning what type of attention to expect from Washington.¨

So that’s it! Here’s some quick facts pulled out of El Comercio.

– Obama has not visited Latin America, but as the winer it is possible that he will be invited to and attend the upcoming APEC conference in Peru (still not sure if he will be invited).

– Latin Americans constitute the most important minority in the United States, and are presently calculated as constituting 15% of the population of the country.

– When polled, 77% of Peruvians said that if given the opportunity they would vote for Barack Obama. 15% said they would vote for John McCain, and 8% were undecided.

– In Miami, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans favored the Republican candidate while Peruvians, Colombians, Argentineans, Mexicans, Hondurans, Dominican Republicans, and Puerto Ricans favored the Democratic.

What else have I noticed?

– Lots of Peruvians are very interested in the fact that America has elected a black president. One of the volunteers host families told her they were surprised that this happened because they thought that Americans were racist. This same sentiment was mentioned to me during the writing of this blog.These are the stereotypes that we are fighting here. Barack Obama has helped blow that one apart.

-Also, popular humor pokes fun at this same topic. Last night, I was watching TV and an actor caricaturing Obama’s acceptance speech began his joke by saying stuff like ‘From now on, the White House will no longer be known as the White House, it will be known as the Black House’, and ‘No longer will the song be called White Christmas, but Black Christmas.’ and (the only one I laughed at… ) ‘Michael Jackson I have a message for you. Now that I am President, you have 24 hours on pain of imprisonment before you must return to black Michael’. Ahh Peruvian television, I’m pretty sure it always goes a bit too far.

-Other stuff I’ve noticed. Most Peruvians, as the poll indicates, seem to support Barack Obama and many times people need reminded on who the other candidate is. This shows the wide appeal, some might say the ‘celebrity’, that Obama has in the world.

-And lastly, I’ve had conversations with other volunteers where people have expressed the fact that they are no longer mildly ashamed of their country as they travel. As someone who traveled before while Bush was President, I understand this sentiment as I had to deal with a lot of questions like ‘How could Americans possibly have voted for Bush?’ and ‘Why do American support the War in Iraq?’ and I had to defend America’s reputations to other people. Now this just feels easier. For better or for worse, Barack Obama has a very good reputation world-wide and is very hard to overstate what his election means to the world. The best way I can put this simply is that people have faith that America will once again be the beacon of light that it once was before the past eight years squandered that. I don’t believe I am being partisan in this, this is just exactly how things look from where I sit. I literally feel as though a weight has been taken off of me as a traveler.

And to finish this off you might be interested to know that my host-father supported John McCain. He supported McCain because he is concerned that Obama would change regulations that would affect the recent free trade agreement between Peru and the United States, and he does not think that Obama has what it takes to fight the global war on terror. So there you have it.

Best! I’m off to Ancash in just a few hours!

Brian

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Thoughts on Peru

So in place of narrative, here’s are my disheveled thoughts on life, Peace Corps, and Peru.

First of all, let me re-emphasize something I said in an earlier blog.

I am so happy to be working in the Peace Corps. I cannot imagine being anywhere or doing anything else in my life right now.

I am right now learning how to live in a different culture, learning a different language, and am surrounded by an amazing group of people who are all interested in giving back to the world that has given so much to them.

Now, of course, I have more or less realistic expectations about my service. I expect it to be challenging, very challenging. I expect the experience to be sad, lonely, frustrating and difficult just as much as I expect it to be exciting, educational, fun, and immensely rewarding. That’s just the trade-off. Although I might add that that doesn’t even begin to reflect the personal growth I expect to experience and look back upon in two years. In fact, some advice that we received from current volunteers was just that. When times get tough, remember why you’re here. Remember that you chose to be here, you wanted to be here, and truthfully you still do. So few people in the world have this kind of experience that one cannot help but be grateful, even if you’re sick and stuck on a toilet in the middle of a 14 hour bus ride with no stops.

So. Let me tell you why I’m glad to be here right now in this moment.

1) Peru is one of the most geographically amazing countries in the world and I have just found out that I will be living in the department (kind of like a state) of Ancash near the regional capital of Huarás. Ancash is beautiful. Let me repeat. Beautiful. Stunning. Gorgous. One of the most picturesque places on the planet. It is in the Andes and I will live there for two years. And I promise I will post photos after my site-visit next week (I’m trying to upload some general photos right now but the internet is not cooperating).

2) The Peace Corps volunteers and staff are great. I have an incredible support system here and amazing people to work with. Enough said.

3) Living in different countries is fun and although challenging, it is always interesting. I ate cow hearts last night. They are delicious.

More random thoughts:

I haven’t always felt as though I’ve been showing my personality here. I blame it on my shift to wearing glasses because I’m still not used to them. But really I think it’s just the fact that I am suddenly surrounded by a group of people who, although amazing, don’t know me at all. My personality shines when I’m with the people I know and trust (and I miss you all) and building that ‘confianza’ with an entirely new group of people takes time. We get along great, we have fun and we are getting to know each other very quickly, but we are all still in the middle of that process and I feel as though it takes a long time to allow that to happen. But, we have two years so this will come with time.

My family in Peru is almost exactly what I need. They don’t pressure me to always be around and to talk, that is they give me my independence, but they take very good care of me and are always available when I have questions about how stuff works in Peru. My host-dad is also very interesting to talk to. He was born in the sierra in the campos (think poor) and was orphaned at the age of 5. He moved in with an Uncle and at the age of 12 he looked around and saw that everybody that stayed in the town became alcoholics and were not happy with their lives, so he left and moved to Lima by himself. In Lima he worked odd jobs, and saved money in order to get an education. When he was 16, after saving an enormous sum in that time ($1,000 but in the 60’s in Peru), he was robbed and lost everything. Not wanting to get trapped again, this time in the life of living day to day in Lima, he joined the military where everybody laughed as he signed up because he was so small. But he worked hard and moved up through the ranks, eventually working as a paratrooper for a special forces troupe fighting against the Sendero Luminoso (Peruvian terrorist organization, strongest in the 80’s, that ended in the early 90’s), and he eventually retired and now lives in a comfortable house with his family. And all this came to me after having me pursuing an off-hand comment he made about appreciating people that work their way up from the bottom. He was one of them. He also is great to talk to about Peruvian politics and even some world politics.

What more…

Peace Corps training has been an interesting experience to say the least. I’m at a loss to whether or not we’ve learned much in our technical courses concerning the environment and all of the sessions have been, to say the least, a little frustrating. Lots of people in my group have voiced this concern so it’s not just me. We just spend a lot of time working with powerpoints that I’m never quite sure are relavent, and I have a hard time quantifying what I’m learning here. It’s ok, I expect to learn everything I need to learn in site. But I had really high expectations for the training program and frankly I just don’t feel these expectations were met. One volunteer in my group who has served in the Peace Corps before told me that her training in Ecuador was much stronger and so she felt the same way. She was also very helpful in pointing me in the right direction to see what I had learned though so I thank her for that.

Anyway, my time at the internet cafe is running out. For a brief hint of what is to come… I am leaving next week to visit Ancash for the first time. I will meet with a member of the community who will be working with me at site (my community counterpart) and I will be meeting my future Ancash host-family as well, as well as seeing the site for the first time where I will spend the next two years of my life. I am very excited and will write about this when I get back. Also, I’m aware of the beautiful lack of color in the form of pictures on my blog, they’re coming I promise! And right now I’m just happy to have written something.

Love and miss you all,

Brian

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Field-Based Training in Piura

Hey everyone.

Here’s probably the most timely update I’ve given yet! This has someone evolved into a giant blog as well so again, take your time and don’t feel like you have to take it all in one sitting. Enjoy!…

So, last week we had our first trip away from Lima in the form of field based training (FBT). All of the aspiring volunteers took off in small groups to various parts of the country in order to meet with current volunteers and to finally do some real field work. We all went to different parts of the country, some south to the region of Ica, and the rest northwards to Ancash, Lambayeque, and Cajamarca. For my group, we went to Piura, way north.

Piura is a coastal region that borders Ecuador and has elements of desert and dry forest. The capital city is also named Piura and is located in the center of the region. This is where we went.

In my group there were five of us, Amy, Brad, Erica, Sasha, myself, accompanied our profesora Moní and her husband Jorge. We left on Sunday evening around 4:00 and got to the bus station really early thinking it would take a long time for the cab to get to Lima. It didn’t so after sitting around in the terminal for a couple hours we were off to Piura… 14 hours away.

The bus ride, for me, was horrible. For the first time in Peru I was sick and the timing couldn’t have been worse. I’ll spare the details but I didn’t sleep the entire time and was generally miserable (which is how most bus rides and plane trips go for me). We finally did arrive though, the next morning, and we went straight to the hotel where I went straight to my bed and tried to sleep off my sickness for our ‘charla’ (chat/meeting/get together) with an NGO later that afternoon. But… I didn’t sleep it off so I ended up just passing out for the entire day (missing an exciting adventure with an electrical fire in a restaurant). Fortunately Moní’s husband is a doctor so I got medicated and by Tuesday morning I was completely recovered.

Tuesday we woke up early in order to leave the hotel at eight. We then took an hour long bus ride to the city of Chulucanas where we met ‘el alcalde’ that is the mayor. He took us from the municipalidad to the center of a cool trash program called ‘Ola Vecino’ or Hello Neighbor. The program is great and basically started like this… the alcalde was elected and saw that there was a problem with trash in the community but very little funds to solve it. There were trash collectors but people would often miss them when they passed by and so trash was piling up in the homes and in the communities. The alcalde was thinking and thinking of how to solve this problem when the idea struck him to have a more direct trash pick-up service. He thought, when someone wants gas for their stoves, or even food, they can call someone and get it delivered. Why not have a system to allow people to call and have their trash picked up? And so it began, they converted moto-taxis (roughly explained as a motercycle welded to a carriage used to transport people) into trash collectors because they were cheap and started a system where people could call, pay one sol (about 33 cents) and have someone go straight to their house and pick up the trash. It sounds simple and it is but people have come from all over to see how it works and this simple idea has done an incredible amount for the community which is now very clean.

So… all morning this program was explained to us and then we got up and introduced ourselves and our program to the alcalde and the people that were there. We did a good job at this and it is a good thing because the next day we found out that out introductions had been filmed and showed regionally in the news in all of Piura and in Tumbes! We were on TV for five minutes so that goes to show you’ve really got to be on your game all the time. You never know…

Anyway, after we finished speaking we joined the alcalde and his entourage for lunch at a restaurant where we tried…

Cebiche. This is the most famous Peruvian dish and is especially good in Piura.  Cebiche (I think we spell it ceviche in English) is Peru’s quirky and amazingly delicious form of sushi. It is made with fresh and raw diced fish, lime, onions, and occasionally hot peppers. This is all marinated and served room temperature with usually potatoes on the side. It is amazing.

Seco de Chabelo. This plate is typical of Piura and is made with a type of green banana, onions, tomatoes, peppers, salt, pepper, and dried meat. To make it, they mash the bananas then fry them. Then they fry everything else and mix it together. Simple and delicious.

Chifles, lastly and this was more throughout our time in Piura but I’ll talk about it now. We had chifles. These are super easy, they are green bananas cut very thin, fried and salted. They are like delicious potato chips and I am addicted to them. And for all of you who know how I am unable to eat bananas. This is still true. But frying them (or making bread with them) is somehow delicious.

So, that was lunch. After this we went to a local school and I had my first ever experience teaching. It went as well as could be expected although it was definitely difficult. The kids ranged from 11-16 and we talked to them in a round robyn of charlas where we split the kids into five groups and then had them cycle through our presentations. Between all of us we covered topics including recycling and decomposition and I talked about the importance of proper trash disposal. In order to do this I had a game which was kind of a relay race between two teams where they had to get trash to the waste basket using only their feet. We had done this earlier in training and it had been lots of fun. Unfortunately the kids were very un-enthusiastic (with all of us) and it was hard to get them motivated to participate and to talk. In brief, this is because the education in Peru is giving always in lecture format and kids are only expected to listen and take notes. Because of this they are uncomfortable with more non-formal education which is something all of us are going to have to learn to deal with.

Anyway, after this we had a quick snack of chifles where Erica had a strange encounter with the bathroom (she couldn’t find where the hole in the floor was) and then we all piled into a taxi (and by piled I mean everyone had someone else on their lap) and proceeded to the bus terminal from where we went back to Piura city where we had ice cream and where I got pickpocketed for $15 in the middle of a religious procession.

Wednesday we woke up again early and went to to visit an NGO called AIDER (Associasion para la Investigacion y Desarrollo Integral – translated literally as Association for the Investigation and Integral Development, not sure the non-literal translation) involved in reforestation projects. After meeting up with them, we went to visit a real reforestation project and a plot run by an old man and his wife. They are incredible. They work all day to plant trees in what is known as the ‘bosque seco’ or ‘dry forest’. True to its name, the forest is very dry and there is little water except during the rare years when the land is flooded by the phenomena el niño. So… this means the trees, especially in their first few years have to be taken very good care of. So that is what this man and his wife do, every day, plant and take care of trees that they will never reap the benefits of. They see themselves as helping their community by maintaining its resources as well as helping the world by de-contributing to the high levels of carbon in the atmosphere. They also designed a fascinating system to water the plants in which they use four 2 liter bottles connected with tubes and then bury them in the ground with slow release holes so that the tree gets water every day.  With this process they can water any individual tree every 15-20 days rather than every day and the bottles being buried directs the roots downwards where they will eventually (sometimes after 100 meters) find water. It was very humbling seeing them talk about their work.

After meeting these two amazing people we went and talked to the leader of the community in which they are working. It was interesting because while the old man and his wife emphasized people cutting trees that they didn’t need as the big challenge the reforestation project faced, the community leaders said that fires – natural and man-made, intentional and unintentional – were the biggest problem.

After this, we returned back to Piura city and Brad and I went to the theatre to watch Pineapple Express at a very modern theatre while the girls went back to the hotel for a siesta. Then that night the girls went to see the same movie but we had more important things to do, that is watch the last game of the World Series (Brad is a big Phillies fan) and then celebrate their win.

And that was all for Wednesday… Thursday we left at nine to visit Elizabeth, a small-business volunteer working with artisan groups in her community. She showed us around her house and introduced us to her family and then we went to the school in her community to do some more environmental charlas. These went much much better than on the previous Tuesday. The school was very nice, because it was only a few months old, and all of the students were super-excited that we were there. This time, instead of doing the round robyn of projects we split into two big groups Sasha, Moní, and I taught one half with Sasha while Amy, Erica, and Brad taught the other. We were able to fluidly move between games and the kids seemed to really have fun. After this, since we had some extra time, we played some fun games with the kids like the human knot game and we also tried to get everyone to take a jumping photo (a photo where everyone jumps at the same time). We weren’t too successful with getting a great shot but it was a lot of fun and I’m glad we learned that working with kids (albeit younger more enthusiastic kids) could be fun.

After this we visited a little town in Piura called Catucaus. The town is very famous for its artisans and especially the ceramics that they make and we spent a couple hours here looking at some beautiful artwork and even buying a few souvineers.

Then, that night, we hung out with some current volunteers who came in to visit and they showed us around the city a little bit where we got dinner and a few drinks. And let me say that our dinner was amazing. They took us to a burger place where they had some of the most eccentric and delicious burgers I have had in a long time. For me, I chose the Mexican burger and it was amazing. It had all the regular condiments, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, but then to top it off it was covered in guacamole, salsa, and crushed doritos. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Friday we got up early to visit the market. It was cool as it is always cool seeing all the activity taking place and all the local foods and products but we were all very tired so really I just wanted to go back to the hotel. I did talk my host-dad who lived in Piura about it though, and he told me that something different about the market in Piura and the market here in Lima is that instead of selling products by the kilo they sell them by individual units in bunches of 25. And it’s cheap too… he says that you can get 25 mangos for 1 sol. Let me rephrase that. You can get 25 juicy mangos the size of a baby’s head for 33 cents. This is going to be a great two years. They also have amazing limes in Piura and the same awesome deal goes. Good stuff.

When we got back from the market we all went back to sleep for a bit and then some volunteers came to visit so we hung out with them for lunch. After that we explored the city a bit and found out that there was a free theatre performance that evening at the municipal theatre so we decided to go check it out after going back to the hotel to relax a bit more. When we arrived to the show though, we were just a little surprised to learn that we were attending an evangelical church service which is not what expecting in the slightest but we made the best of it and it was (I thought) really interesting to see the evangelical church in Peru where the majority of people are Catholic (although I had previously known that about 10% of Peruvians are evangelical).

After this we all went to a very nice restaurant called Cappuchino’s where we got wine, appetizers, and dessert and happened to run into another Peace Corps group who were just returning from high-Piura in the mountains. We weren’t expecting to see them so I really enjoyed talking to them about the experience that they had.

Once we were done eating, we went out to a club together to celebrate the week’s end and I didn’t get home until very late (or early), that is around 5:00am. It was tons of fun, we spent the whole night hanging out and dancing and we ran into some random people we knew so it was good.

The next morning, Saturday, just a few hours later we awoke to knocking at our door as all the other volunteers who had been visiting Piura arrived and wanted to put their luggage in our rooms while they went out for the day. We graciously woke up for them and decided it was time to get going anyway so showered up and tried to get the girls awake and going so that we could go visit the beach before heading home. In this we succeeded and got to visit Colón, a really cool beach about an hour and a half from the city. The water was beautiful, warm, and aside from a dead dolphin on the beach everything was surpisingly clean. We spent our time trying to do jumping photos for a competition we were having and then had lunch by the water where I had some excellent ceviche.

After this we rushed back to catch our bus and got it just in time, as we bunkered down for another 14 hour bus ride back to Lima. I switched seats in order to sit with one of the other groups so I could catch up with them and spent the evening talking until we midnight when my seat-mate Sarah passed out and when I even got some rare bus sleep (certainly due to the not having slept much the night before and the Tylenol PM Sarah gave me to help me sleep).

The next day we arrived home and that’s it! We had a late Halloween Party with all the volunteers that night and I went as a crazy Peruvian soccer fan. It was pretty tranquilo but again got to see more people I hadn’t seen in a week. Crazy how much we’ve gotten to know each other so quickly. And now, I’ll burden you no more. Best wishes! I miss you all so send e-mails so I know how life is back home : ).

-Brian

p.s. There are a few adventures which happened in the past that I will not be able to get to so let me refer you to Robyn Correll’s blog since she shared these with me… her blogs, unlike mine, are short and manageable.

http://robyninperu.blogspot.com/2008/10/horse-race-san-pedro-de-casta.html

http://robyninperu.blogspot.com/2008/10/self-sustaining-farm-casa-blanca.html

http://robyninperu.blogspot.com/2008/10/ruins-pachacamac-history-lesson.html

Also, this brief blog by Freida touched me. Last year I was visiting Peru when an earthquake struck. She visited one of the regions most touched by this and had an interesting experience.

http://fmvq.blogspot.com/2008/11/actually-understanding-why-we-are-here.html

 

p.p.s. My pictures wouldn’t upload but they are coming. It will be ok.

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