Drowning my Sorrows in Cajamarca

Me in Cajamarca



Ug some days it's so lonely in Peru and it really shouldn't be. People have been amazingly generous here and truly kind but I still feel so disconnected. Why? I guess it's still the cultural difference. I'll never be a cotton farming, chicha lovin' chola and I'll always be the gordita gringa to folks in my town. Most days that's fine but it has been harder lately. I really want to connect with people on a level that I haven't really achieved yet. Poco a poco, I hope.

I have also decided that I miss my ex-boyfriend in New York and want to talk about rekindling that relationship. There's nothing like sitting around in the campo where people put the ultimate value in their families and their religion to help you remember what's important in life. Sadly the idea was not as warmly reciprocated as I hoped. Perhaps the prospect of a potential, future, possibility of a maybe relationship with someone who ran off to Peru to join the Peace Corps is less attractive than I estimated :) He didn't say, "No." He said, "I need time to think about it." But since 1. I live in Peru and he lives in NY and that won't be changing for a long time, and 2. I haven't seen him in nearly a year. I'm not really sure how more distance could possibly change his mind.

So in a futile attempt to deal with rejection return to my "happy place" I'm going to offer you some really gorgeous photos of Cajamarca. Cajamarca is a department (Peruvian equivalent of state) south and east of Piura, in the mountains. It is so green and gorgeous. I was there last month for a conference with Elmer, my Peruvian counterpart who is a Technician at the Health Post in my town. He is still on strike lately but is generally great to work with and really committed to improving the public health in Rinconada Llicuar. Also, in attendance were other Peace Corps volunteers adn their counterparts, all of us learning to plan and execute our grand schemes. These photos are courtesy of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Aaron since I forgot my camera on this particular adventure.

I Am the Light of the World

We went to visit a 7th Day Adventist dairy product commune called Granja Porcone. It is an amazing place. The evangelical church that I'm usually so down on the the US has really done amazing development work in Peru. Every house in this community has a latrine and they look used and cared for. The chickens are in coops. The pigs have corrals. And, the community makes very high quality products that they sell in Cajamarca City. They also do beautiful weaving and carpentry that they export. This is my friend Cynthia and me in front of their hydro-electric generator. It has the quote from the gospel of Mark "I am the light of the world," painted on the side.

Fellow Peace Corps folks and counterparts on a hill overlooking Cajamarca

We went on a little hike outside of the city and at the end of the trail this man's family has their house. They sell stuff to the tourists who hike out there. He is weaving in the traditional way to sell in Cajamarca City and to sell to the tourists on the trail.

Okay, so this one is not in Cajamarca. It's at the hostel where we always stay in Piura but we're just so darn cute. These are my girls from Piura and Tumbes. From the top left, Lizzy, me, Kate and Tania.