And she's out.

Thoughts from back on Nov. 2: We left today. It has been a whirlwind over the last few days and I'm very, very tired. I'm finished with Peace Corps! I'm missing so many people in Rinconada and I'm sad to leave all of them but I'm also feeling very accomplished. I was so hesitant to do Peace Corps in Peru when they told me we would have to live with host families and it certainly had it's ups and downs but now that I'm leaving I'm so happy to have Dora and Martin and their family as friends. I will miss Dora so, so much. I do feel like I've gained a sister.

Big news.

Big news. The big news for me lately is that Michael and I have decided to get married. My parents are less than overwhelmingly supportive of the idea and because I'm of the opinion that ideally, marriage is about the whole family and I'm close to my family, this is disappointing and difficult. But, they care and this is genuinely what they think so I appreciate their honesty. Hopefully we will resolve everyone's concerns in the near future. I think their biggest concern is just, "who is this guy?"

Also, we rode my neighbor's horse, I voted for Obama, I finished 2 big murals of the world map in two different elementary schools, we sat on the porch and hung out, and I finished the improvements on the water system at Llicuar Elementary with the 500 soles or so that were left over from the water system project in Rinconada Elementary.

At Llicuar Elementary have doubled the size of their cistern, replaced a faulty water pump with a higher quality model, and installed a metal box with a lock around the pump so that no one walks away with it. At the same time we've been working together to get their accreditation from the Peruvian Ministry of Health as a "Healthy School." Accreditation includes training for teachers and students in public health issues, like hand washing, and institutional improvements like getting a working water system and a plan for trash management. I am pleased to report that they now separate organic, inoroganic and recyclable garbage. We're still working on appropriate disposal, but you know, little by little. I think we've completed all the requirements so they should be ready to get their certificate early next year.

I have written almost nothing about the work at Llicuar Elementary. Apologies, but photos to come. I've been busy falling in love. In Peace Corps it seems impossible to untangle your personal life from your professional life, and I even struggle with this issue in the US.

Peacing out in 25 days

Moonrise in Rinconada.

The Devils Dance at the Fiesta de San Lazaro.

Goodbye party with my favorite Piurano and Tumbesino gringos!!

Finished the world map mural!!

Michael, me and friends at a town fiesta for the patron saint, San Lazaro.

I cannot believe it has been so long since I posted. The final days of Peace Corps are just flying by. 25 days to go! Apologies for not posting more often.

I'm content with the way that things are wrapping up. I have these flashes of complete disdain for my work when I think of the projects that almost happened or my pipe dreams that never came to be, but then I get to talking to my neighbors and friends or playing with my kids and remember that we have made some great progress. I'm writing arm loads of reports, going to Lima to get poked and prodded, checking for things like tuberculosis and parasites, and trying to come up with some good going away gifts for my friends in town. So far so good.

My new boyfriend, Michael has been in Rinconada for nearly a month now. He is a city boy from Lima, a city about the same size of New York. He's from Callao, the part of Lima near the airport. We recently decided that if Lima were NYC, Callao would be the South Bronx. If you live there you really like it and if you're not from there it sounds fairly intimidating. He is constantly saying things like "That chicken has feathers on it's feet!" and "Why do they start the loud speakers so early in the morning?!" Yes, my thoughts exactly. I just forgot that those things were novel and Peruvian countryside specific. It's an interesting moment for me to have an outside perspective because I'm reassessing my time here, my work, my relationships with people and so it has been wonderfully supportive to be able to show it all to someone else, another outsider trying to make a life here.

In other news. I'm working on the water system at one more elementary school, making their cistern bigger and installing a new water pump so that they will have running water 24 hours a day. We had a big going away pool party and BBQ this weekend for the volunteers living in Piura and Tumbes (states in northern Peru). Michael and I finished a world map mural at an elementary school with a group of kids that I work with and we're finishing one more in another school before I head out.

Lima, Lima, Bo-bina

Michael and me in the Plaza de Armas in Lima a few weeks ago.

I'm in Lima for a few days doing my final medical checks for Peace Corps and having a few meetings at the Peace Corps office. It's crazy there because all 113 volunteers in Bolivia were evacuated last Sunday and Monday. They've been in Lima all week trying to figure out what to do next. Apparently they have started the evacuation process by traveling to central cities about once a month for the past six months. Some thought that this would be just another consolidation, but the program in Bolivia has been indefinitely suspended pending resolving the political unrest. They kicked out the US ambassador recently so... it might be a while. In spite of the craziness for the poor folks at the office I'm there getting poked and prodded and pooping in cups.

Michael, Atari guy from Cuzco has moved to Rinconada. He is living in my old house and looking for a job. If he finds one he'll be able to stay there until I leave on Nov. 2. It has been fun to have him there. I've done everything on my own there for so long that I'm not used to having another outsider around to share it with. He seems to get it- my work, the lifestyle, etc... and he is respectful and understanding of the culture there. Even though he is Peruvian, being from a city of 9 million makes your life pretty different. So it has been refreshing, especially now that I'm just winding up my projects and going to a lot of ceremonies, to look back on everything in hindsight with fresh eyes. I'm not sure how well his job search is going. I don't imagine that it's all that promising, but I would love it if it worked out for him to be in Rinconada until I leave.

Sunday was Sept. 21, the 5th anniversary of my friend Kali's death. She was like a sister to my brothers and me and I still want to pick up the phone to call her every day. It's crazy. I went to church for a little while, just to be quiet and remember, and to send some positive energy to her son who is now 6 and is about to enter 2nd grade. Michael went with me and I know he was sitting next to me thinking more about the myriad of issues from his own life but it was still really supportive to have him there.

Finishing up with Lazarus

It's decided. My last day in Rinconada Llicuar will be November 2. I can't believe it's almost over. It's like I'm trying to speed up and slow down at the same time. I have an impressive to-do list to make happen before I leave, like finish the 2 murals that I'm painting and write about 10 reports to Peace Corps, and find a place for the new volunteer to live but, I mostly just want to hang out with my host family.

I also met this really cool guy when I was in Cuzco in May and I think he's going to be moving to Rinconada next Saturday. The plan is that he move into my old house and stay until I leave, so for about 6 weeks, which seems crazy, but feels right. I have a feeling it will cause quite a stir in town but, he's Peruvian and for 2 years now everyone has been asking me when I will marry a Peruvian so, I think that they'll be excited.

Next weekend is the fiesta for the patron saint of Llicuar, San Lazaro. There will be fireworks, dance expositions, these Peruvian horses called caballos de pazo,and my personal favorite cumbia bands playing until like 6 AM. There is also a procession in which they carry a statue of the saint around town and stop and different houses to pray.

I like that I'm leaving with Lazarus, coming back from the dead. I certainly wasn't dead before Peace Corps, but I do feel renewed. It's like having new lenses in my glasses, a new perspective.

Inca Kola

I think I'm in love. This very cute man just told me, "Being without you is like eating grilled beef heart on a stick without drinking Inca Kola."
Poetry by TV comercial. Nice.

Machismo in meetings... grrr

Some days Peace Corps does very little to rock my world. To be fair, other days it's awesome but, today I'm going to gripe. Recently, in Rinconada Llicuar we've been meeting about getting a new volunteer to replace me when I leave. The director of the health program for Peace Corps in Peru and the coordinator for my region came out to Rinconada to coordinate with the government and community groups so that the projects will be ready to hand off to a new person. My community partner at the health post was supposed to be there but unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly but, not overly so, never showed up. I presented a review in PowerPoint and turned in a preliminary written report of my work up to now. Then the Peace Corps folks, very helpfully, pushed the municipality folks to stop dragging their feet as they are wont to do. In doing so the male regional coordinator called a second meeting of everyone in the room without consulting me first, making me look at best unprepared and at worst incompetent because I'm a girl. I know this sounds extreme but the only women working at the local government plan the parties, clean the bathrooms, or write letters for the mayor to sign. I just recently got all the men there to start calling me by my last name, the same manner in which they address one another. Now we're basically drinkin' buddies. This is so much better than being someone who they cat call. This was a major breakthrough for me because they listen better when they're comfortable speaking freely. Although the lieutenant mayor does still think that I am "a radical liberal," he also says that cannot be helped because I am a North American woman. Worse things have been said about me and I like this guy so whatever, what are you going to do? So, imagine my surprise when the Peace Corps guy who is supposed to be backing me up makes it appear as though he is in charge of running the projects that I have been doing for the last couple of years.
I talked to the Peace Corps guy today. It certainly was not his intention to be undermining, it's just that he doesn't have to think about his gender creating a barrier to his work. Ever. He's a tall guy with a mustache, apparently the height of the power look. He thanked me for mentioning it and I think he was sincere. I really respect this guy. He's good at his job and hopefully his grasp of gender power dynamics is improving.

Thank you once again for your support!

Ruth was showing me her excellent hand washing technique... until another kid grabbed the soap from her and went and dropped it into the toilet. Don't worry. I made him fish it out and then wash his hands.


Again, thank you so much to everyone who donated to the potable water project in Rinconada Llicuar. We made enough money to put running water in the elementary school in Rinconada and we still have about S/. 600 left over to fix up the system at the other elementary school in Llicuar.

We finished up construction in Rinconada in late July and we are in the process of a series of trainings to teach cistern maintenance, how to use a toilet, hand washing, and keeping the bathrooms clean. I know it sounds weird to teach someone how to use a toilet but, a lot of people don't have them so they do things like stand on the toilet rim to squat over, thus potentially falling off or in, or they put toilet paper in the toilet which will cause major plumbing badness. All over Latin America used toilet paper goes into a waste basket with a lid that is kept next to the toilet.

The principal in Llicuar is writing a work plan for his school and should give it to me very soon. Hopefully we will finish that fairly quickly. It is a matter of installing some valves so that when their cistern is low the pump doesn't lose pressure and stop working. He also wants to paint.

I have attached:
a translation of the thank you letter that the principal gave me. His version has a lot of official looking stamps on it. I'll try to scan it and post it soon.
a detailed budget.
a photo gallery of the project.

At the very end of the day we raised S/. 6,243.94. There are about 3 soles to the dollar and unfortunately the dollar was pretty low in July 2.7 - 2.8 but we still had more than enough. There were costs associated with Paypal and transferring the money here so we lost about S/. 300 there but all of the rest went to the project in Rinconada and we're left with about S/. 610.

So thank you once again to:

Alyssa Domsal
Andrew Walters
Barb and Jim Hudgens
Daniel Bauerkemper
David Carey
Denzil and Betty Bush
Don Brophy
Ed Menghi
Grace Carey
Jennifer Parish
Jeremy Daw
Jessica Hickok
Joe Hudgens
John Bennett
Kelli Crawford
Ken and Sue Davies
Lynn Berg
Megan Bartlett
Ned Ewart
Pamela Lovelace
Philip Sansone
Rebecca Widom
Robert Schley
Robin Lazara
Shaina Steinberg
Sharon Brown
Spire Press c/o Shelly Reed
Stephen Lesche
Tanya Stanger
Theresa Ebeling
Tina Trinh
Tom and Stacey Bush
William Wuertz
Wendy Bach

Donkeys and Skinny Leg Jeans: Preparing for Home.

I have to print the very supportive conversation that I had with my dear friend Pam about my coming home. This pretty much sums up how surreal it feels.

Pam: Just reading about everything you've learned and mostly your OPENNESS to learning (as I get older I realize that a lot of people aren't necessarily dumb but totally unwilling to admit that they have a lot to learn) is really impressive. Now that I have praised my most darling of Ellas and very bestest of buddies I feel it is my duty to tell you that the site of your crazy muddy jungle feet makes me want to run down to Peru, hose you off and stick you in terribly uncomfortable but awesome looking shoes. I know you just can't wait!!!

Ella: Awwww thanks! I have been fantasizing about a certain pair of high heeled knee high boots... Are those still in? Because I really want to wear them and probably will even if they're oh soooo last year.

Pam: Good news they are still in... one caveat though, the whole '80's thing where you get the skinny jean and tuck it into the knee high boot is back. So far I haven't seen any shoulder pads, but the layering, the flashy jewelry and tunics are back.

Ella: Dear God, no! I swear to you that I will not wear shoulder pads. And, skinny leg jeans?! Absolutely not. You've seen my calves. Those are such a bad idea, even for people with amazing legs. Flashy jewelry, well I actually do that anyway. What's a tunic? Oh God. I can't wait to go shopping.

Then I went home and attended a procession of la Virgin de Socorro the Virgin of Aid. There was an army of little girls dressed like angels throwing flowers and about 10 strapping, but very exhausted looking men carrying this very heavy statue around town for more than 4 hours. And I helped chase my neighbors escaped donkey back into its corral.

Peace Corps Magazine Questionnaire

So, Peace Corps Volunteers put out this magazine with profiles of volunteers who are leaving. A friend tells me I should share my profile:

In Rinconada Llicuar I worked as a trash cheerleader and camp counselor, taught yoga once in a while, did self-esteem and leadership work with youth in jail, coordinated previously non-existent communication between local groups, read stories to kids, stamped of all sorts of documents, painted murals, and my favorite, became a professional nudge of people who are not particularly interested in outside input. We started a trash project with the local government, youth health promoter programs in two elementary schools, and a hygiene promotion program that included installing running water in a school. It was quite a ride and totally worth it.

1. Most useful thing you learned in training
A Peru 4 guy whose name I don’t remember came up to Sta. Eulalia and we were hanging out in the cancha de fulbito when he told me, “Just don’t do anything that you don’t want to do.” Oddly miraculous.

2. Most amusing misconception about the U.S. that you’ve heard at your site:
Mister Kennedy, from the WWF is apparently my next door neighbor in Texas.

3. Least favorite project in your Peace Corps experience:
Hands down, my least favorite project happened when the club de recreación that I started formed a volleyball team. Just say no to organized sporting events as I don’t think that there’s a word for “sportsmanship” in Spanish.

4. What movie most resembles your PC experience?
Christmas Vacation. It hurts at the time, but is hilarious after the fact, and like Chevy Chase I just keep bringing it upon myself.

5. Why your host family made your two years more enjoyable/interesting/survivable:
My host mom made me cucumber salad almost every day AND listened to me cry AND loves to gossip. She’s awesome.

6. Why your host family made you want to run and hide in your room:
My host mom is very concerned about my getting married, preferably soon, preferably to her brother or the mayor. 30 too old to be single and beautiful... Thanks?

7. Most share-worthy puking story:
My wee neighbor Milagros loves to swing really high in my hammock but I usually don’t let her for fear that she’ll fall out. One day, were playing football with the kids on the block and she disappeared. I went into my house looking for her and found a little puddle of puke under my hammock. Using my keen detective skills, I followed the puke trail across the street to her house and found her there looking green. I asked her what happened and she said that she wasn’t going to swing too high in the hammock anymore. I had no idea I should have been worrying about her getting motion sick.

8. Most share worthy story involving your underwear:
When I moved in my host family’s only connection to the public waste water was their new toilet and we were dumping all waste water down there. One day as I was washing clothes I went to dump out the grayish soapy water and I saw a white cotton pair of undies rush out of the bucket into the toilet and disappear into what should be never-ever land. Of course I tried to catch them because as we all know cotton underwear that actually fits is no easy find in Peru. Sadly, my white cotton undies slipped off the tips of my fingers and went right down the toilet. I already had my hand in the toilet from trying to catch them, so then I tried like hell to fish them out, until I started to retch because I recovered my wits and realized where my hand was. Then I had to go tell my host dad that I backed up the plumbing for his household of 7. He listened kindly to my garbled story, turned bright red, and started to giggle as he asked me, “You really put your hand down the toilet?!” Then he went next door and told the whole story to the neighbor.

9. If you could change one thing about Peru, what would it be?
People would have enough self-esteem and confidence to express their creativity. (I plan to work on making that change in the US too.)

10. Why your province is obviously better than all the rest:
Piura! The land of eternal sunshine, awesome beaches, Costabella, ceviche, mangoes, Cappuccinos, Aaron, Tessa, Alyssa, Lizzi, Patrick, Tania, and I’m there.

11. Any meal item you tolerate in Peru that you would never have eaten back in the States?
Did you know that it is actually possible to eat a cow’s hoof?

12. Peruvian cuisine that you’ll get a craving for when you’re back in the States:
Ceviche, cremoladas, my host mom’s sudado, maracuya, little tiny bananas, fried sweet bananas, limones, lime juice as the world’s most versatile condiment, limas, habas, cremoladas, guanabana, lucuma, cremoladas, guayaba, ciurela, cremoladas, pepinillo dulce, cremoladas, queso fresco, mangoes by the quintal, cremoladas, cherimoyas, vinagre de chicha, pollo a la brasa and did I mention cremoladas?

13. Favorite coping mechanism:
Calling up one of my amazing, fabulous, hardcore, funny PVC compañeros and ranting. Playing football (American football a la Nerf) with my neighbor boys. Chocolate. Reading trashy novels.

14. Advice for the newbies:
See number 1.

15. Biggest surprise encountered during your service:
When my friend Rosa asked me if I knew what yoga was and if I could teach it. I’m serious. That really happened.
Or, when during my first visit to Rinconada I was forced to sing the Star Spangled Banner in front of 200 people.

16. What´s your legacy?
I ran every day (we’re talking legend, not reality). We put in running water at the elementary school. I did not marry the mayor.

17. What´s next?
Job. Will work for bagels.

18. Craziest thing a Peruvian has tried to convince you of:
Chucaque, an illness you get from being embarrassed, gives you a cold. To cure it, you rub a newspaper all over you and then set it on fire on a cement floor. Read the burn mark it leaves so that you know what gave you chucaque and you can either get revenge or avoid it. My cold did go away afterwards. I just couldn’t go to the police station anymore.

19. Any random first impressions you had of fellow Peru 8ers:
Andrew very kindly offered to help me carry my luggage when I arrived at the Holiday Inn in DC. I think Mike sin barba hid those moccasins with the fringe under his bed in Tumbes.

20. Will you listen to cumbia in the US?
YES! I’m not ashamed to admit that I sing along to Grupo 5.

21. How will you spend your PC readjustment allowance?
Traveling and I expect I’ll have to buy a suit. Okay, actually I have a whole wardrobe already in mind. It does not include anything made of fleece.

22. Best compliment you have received in Peru:
Really, really good looking man at Queens discoteca: “You dance well, for a gringa.” Also, I’m almost convinced that I am both tall and blonde.

23. Favorite discovery in Peru:
Cremoladas de maracuya and pod casts. Also, trekking is super fun.

24. What your community/host family considers your strangest behavior:
Running, eating vegetables, putting trash in bags, reading, not being married, and moving to Peru without my family.

25. If you could do it all over again, would you? Would you change anything?
I would start slower, talk less and listen more. But, for all my mistakes I had a really, really good time and made amazing friends.

26. What made your site tolerable?
The afore mentioned amazing friends, my hammock, my bike, my host mom’s sudado de pescado, and the amazing maracuya.

27. What makes Peru 8 PCVs stand out?
Tame is better and involves more singing around campfires.

28. Most amusing pick-up line given or received:
A taxi driver told me, “Baby, marry me and I’ll take you wherever you want to go!” Uh, couldn’t I just pay you the S/.2? What an embarrassingly low bride price.

29. Favorite Peruvian holiday: Velaciones. Definitely.

30. What story of yours most frightened family members back home:
Hi Mom, I’m teaching a leadership seminar to some guys at the jail. No, they’re just first time offenders.

31. Did folks from home visit your site? What happened?
My mom and dad came to visit and the kids at the school where I work put on a show of traditional dances for them: marinera, huayno, and a lip-sync to Shakira. It was also my birthday so they sang me happy birthday and them made me dance a waltz with every male in attendance. And since it made me cry they all love to tell that story.

32. Favorite Spanish word/phrase/dicho:
Sí o sí. Yes or yes. As in: Today we're having a meeting, yes or yes (no matter what).
Encamotarse: to sweet potato or to fall in love

33. Fullest that you have ever seen a mototaxi/combi/bus:
It’s a tie. In both instances the mototaxis had their backseats removed: 1. Two hog-tied full-grown, alive horses. 2. Two calves, that’s right live baby cows. Folks in bajo Piura can do amazing things with a moto.

34. Most text messages that you have received from a Peruvian in love in 1 hour:
45. I wish that I were exaggerating. To be fair, I returned about 20 of them. He was cute until he was crazy and I had a lot of time on my hands, okay?

35. Most beautiful place that you have encountered in your time in Peru:
Either the sunset over the Rio Marañon on the way to Iquitos or Catarata de Gocta in Amazonas. Breathtaking.

Chachapoyas and beyond

Feet of Jungle Ella. Getting unstuck from mud in Chaco sandals makes very interesting noises.


Gocta Waterfall


Red drawings by peoples unknown in times unknown.


6 people in a 4 person tent trying to sleep...


Gocta


Kuelap petroglyph

Peruvian independence day recently passed and the schools get a two week break for the holiday. It's their break in between the semesters. Excellent timing for me because I get a good excuse to go on a little vacation. Six of us Peace Corps Volunteers set off for Chachapoyas, a town on the edge of the Amazon Jungle. It's an interesting ecosystem. People call it the jungle, but it doesn't look like the Amazon looks in Iquitos at all. It looks like a cloud forest, maybe with more mud.

We went to a pre-Incan archaeological site called Kuelap. We also hiked up to Gocta, either the 3rd or 16th highest waterfall in the world, depending on who you ask. It's so beautiful. Skinny-dipping was frigid and short lived fun. The waterfall was "discovered" in 2006, very recently. I say "discovered" because there are lots of little towns around there, but no one thought of it as a tourist destination and they hadn't really measured the waterfall. There's apparently another (larger?) waterfall sort of nearby in the same province, but it's more remote and more difficult to get to. In any case, Gocta is more than 700 meters tall. It's sort of like two waterfalls, one underneath the other. The first fall is just over 100 meters and the second is 600 plus meters. We hiked up and camped between the two falls. It's breathtaking, so unbelievably beautiful. The camping was an intimate experience with 6 of us crammed into a 4 man tent. Being one giant human spoon seemed like a good idea until we tried to sleep on one side without moving all night long.

On the way up we walked by some ancient red colored drawing on the rocks. The "guide" (I use that term very loosely) pointed them out, but didn't know who made them or anything about them. The next day we hiked down the other side and the whole time my hiking partners were very kind about the fact that I am as slow as Moses. After we got lost in the jungle on day 2 I know I was trying their patience, but in the end we found our way out of the jungle and had a great time. Then I went to another archaeological site called Karagia. It's these cool sarcophagi built on the face of a cliff where God only knows how they got up there. I still need to do some research on the archaeological sites. There isn't a lot of information or guides, even in the provincial archaeological museum in Chachapoyas. It's only slightly less comic than the American Museum of Natural History's North Atlantic People's exhibit with all Boas' artifacts where labels like, "stick with hook on the end" abound.

Runnin' in Pacasmayo, La Libertad, Peru

The mighty 13 minuite mile :) Fun times.

We filled the cistern today!

The water system should be in working order by Monday!!! I can't belive it's finally finished. Thanks so much to all of you who made this dream come true. Rinconada Elementary has RUNNING WATER!

Handwashing. The Key to the Universe.

Okay, so maybe that's a little extreme but, it's just so true that here and in much of the developing world. My dear friend Tina sent me this article from the NY Times today.
This is sooo true. It's tough to get people to WANT to have clean water, eat vegetables, go to college, have babies at a hospital or just near to emergency care, etc... This lady is brilliant!

Immigrants and Food Stamps Pub!

I almost forgot! I have a new publication coming out tomorrow in New York. I'm only the third author and I haven't been working on this stuff for a while, what with the living in Peru and all. It's from my old job at the Urban Justice Center. The supervisor that I had there, Rebecca was just a rock star, very intense, but very good at her job. We did research for advocacy purposes about the implementation of the Food Stamps Program in New York City, so basically we were just trying to figure out how to get more Food Stamps to more people efficiently and legally. In New York there are a lot of new immigrants and a lot of new immigrants are really struggling financially so some are eligible for Food Stamps. The report makes some suggestions to the city about how to make Food Stamps more accesible to immigrants.

There are all kinds of issues with people being weird about immigrants getting Food Stamps. "Those people come here and take advantage," kind of bologna. But, after interviewing a hundred immigrants or so about food stamps I feel like I'm in a position to say that it is a very rare person who is willing to ask for help if they don't REALLY need it and a lot of people who do really need it are still too proud or too scared to ask for help. Also, the eligibility guidelines are very strict so a lot of documented immigrants aren't eligible and if they're not documented, well that's a total lost cause. Anyway, I think Nourishing NYC: Increasing Food Stamps Access in Immigrant Communities will be available at this link starting tomorrow. It's a lot less polemical than I am here. You know, data and all.

A Couple Little Earthquakes

We've had some eathquake action this week in Peru. The one that was biggest in the news was in the far south of the country, in Arequipa where Colca Canyon is located. I was just there in May with some friends and it is a spectacular place with a rich heritage and history. Fortunately, I think that there was only 1 death and a small number of injuries.

I didn't even feel it up north here in Piura. I found out about the quake when I recieved several kind emails from worried friends. I'm happy to say that I'm fine and everyone I know is fine.

I did run the 10K over the weekend and had a blast down in Pacasmayo, famed for its giant cement factory. "Run" might be a strong word for what I do, but I did jog the whole way and it was a lot of fun. I actually usually run a slightly longer loop, but I never actually run the whole way. I usually start walking and getting distracted by pretty red and green parrots and cool bugs about 3/4 of the way through.

Runnin' and Dancin' for the 4th of July

In my Peru life I run, well okay I jog. I do NOT run in my US life, although I'm thinking that may change when I return if I can find a pretty outdoor place to do it. I started running here becasue I couldn't make it to my eliptical machine at the YMCA and it's warm all year long. I run through the rice paddys and cotton fields at sunset among stunning coconut palm trees cutting tropical silhouettes into the firey setting sun. Being there makes running a lot easier. Don't get me wrong, the first 10minutes or so are still torture, beautiful torture, but still torture.

This weekend a couple of fellow Peace Corps volunteers are helping to put on a run to raise money for their town's library. It's taking place in a town called Pacasmayo, located between Chiclayo and Trujillo. There's a marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K. Anthing involving the word marathon is just silly so I'm just doing the 10K. I hear that there are free t-shirts involved.

So, that'll be my 4th of July celebration. The run AND I taught my Youth Health Promoters to line dance to Dwight Yoakam today. The kids always ask about traditional dances in the US because traditional dance is such a big deal here. Every festival and anniversary celebration includes a traditioanl dance celebration. I don't think that you can leave elementary school without being able to dance huayno and marinera. I figured the electric slide was a close to a traditional dance and this native Austinite has.

Potable Water Project Moving Right Along

Cool kids learned thumbs up from a Jackie Chan movie.



The chief mason Senor Juan and his brother break ground for the cistern.



Principal Niko, Profesora Betty, and Student Body President Kike roll the rooftop water tank into the school yard.



The cement and rebar truck came and everyone helped unload. It was so heavy that the truck got in the door of the school okay, but after it was unloaded it was like 10 inches taller so it couldn't get back out under the low entry way. So all the adult neighbors and the folks walking by climbed up into the bed to weigh it down so they could drive the truck back out!



Before! Professora Betty and Principal Niko collect water in trash cans and big aluminum pots.


We're making good progress on installing the potable water in Rinconada Elementary. We have the cement tank and we're working on attaching all of the pipes and electrical stuff once the cement hardens. It needs to sit for a week or so.

Nuptuials a la Peruana

Last night my dear friends Tessa and Manuel got married! Tessa came to Peace Corps with me and in October, a mere 8 months ago, met Manuel at her town's anniversary celebration. She lives in this teeny tiny town in the mountains and Manuel was there doing his year of rural service as a doctor, required of all Peruvian medical grads. It was a privilege to be there to celebrate with them.

Condors in Colca Canyon

Check out this link to a video that I took of the condors in Colca Canyon! This image has really stayed with me. These birds are so beautiful. It's weird they're basically just enormous buzzards that float around on updrafts all day, but they're also majestic dinosaurs. It was a breathtaking experience. Today I'm planning my classes for the jail. The goal of the administration is really to develop self esteem and leadership skills and I have great materials for that. However, the guy in charge to the technical programs told me that the inmates learn all these carpentry and artisan skills but lack business management skills, so he asked if could I teach some business stuff. I of course said sure. I'm now supposed to combine the two, which in theory is really a good idea... In theory. Now I'm just freaking out that business is not something that I actually know anything about. In the words of Homer Simpson, "Doh." I think I'm going to do a class on double entry bookkeeping, which is easy enough to figure out from a book and two more sessions on writing a business plan, which I'm hoping is also easy enough to figure out from a book. Hopefully, my limited business skills can still be helpful. Eeek.

I can't feel my face! Or why Aaron Groth should be your babysitter.

Here's an article that I wrote with my buddy Aaron for our volunteer newsletter, Pasa la Voz.


3,700 meters is ridiculously high and frankly, just existing up there will really set you back, much less hiking around and climbing rocks. But, we’re hardcore. We hike, we camp, and we do so while living better through chemistry. So, when a troupe of Peru 8ers (those of us who arrived together in Sept. 2006) decided to do up Peruvian independence day 2007 at the Way Inn Lodge above Huaraz and the truly hardcore decided to don crampons and hammer their ice picks into the top of Ishinca, we called up the Peace Corps docs, Jorge and Suni to usurp the soroche (altitude sickness) with those magical altitude pills everyone talks about. After all, Ishinca is at 5,550 m, definitely up in a space where the air is thin enough that us costal folk are sloshed on one Cuzqueña beer and even the mountain dwellers among us are breathing extra hard.

The Peru 8 contingent has since learned that the magic pills, packaged by the Peace Corps office in the ubiquitous brown paper bag with Your Name in magic marker, in fact have a proper name, acetomephaline. We’re hardcore. We’re not fine print people. What directions? We get a pill, we take it and we call it a day. Sitting around the Way Inn at dinner no one noticed Aaron watching the storm clouds cover the glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca while carefully cutting his pill in two with his pocket knife. We just assumed he was sitting over there sipping scotch and spacing out. We chowed down on an approximation of gringo granola natural foods store fare, hung out on the front porch telling lies, and then with a budding headache bid all good night and turned in.

Most of us slept down in a charming room often referred to as “the cave” that night. The two gringo friends of Melissa whimpered from their down comforters, “Can anyone hear me? I can’t feel my legs.” “Anybody? I cannot feel the area between my shins and thighs.” Meanwhile I was just hoping that they would shut up because my ears were ringing so loudly that I thought my alarm clock was going off. Every word just made the ringing louder and the pain behind my eyeballs more excruciating. Not being able to feel my legs or hands was the least of my problems.

Meanwhile, in a tent outside snug in his zero degree sleeping bag, Aaron prepared for hibernation. Kevin and Brian soon followed and commented on their general state of wellbeing.

Brian: I cannot feel my face. No really, my face, I can’t feel it.
Kevin: S#@! I can’t feel my face either!
Brian: I can’t take it any more.

Aaron’s not sure what Brian did when he couldn’t take it anymore, because he fell right to sleep. Aaron awoke at 5:30 a.m. and saw freshly fallen snow blanketing the Cordillera Negra and tumbled into breakfast ranting about the beauty of nature, blah, blah, blah.

Breakfast was coffee and the dull roar of complaints as we commiserated over the questionable presence of various seemingly essential body parts. Promises to never again take the altitude pills followed shortly. At this point Aaron asked, “How much of that stuff were you guys taking?” We all retorted, “Just one freaking pill!” Aaron suggested label reading and kindly offered to lend us his pocket knife to cut those pesky 500 mg pills in half.

Shopping for construction materials Saturday!

We got the money to Peru! It took a small miracle and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 and for some reason the bank here is very secretive about the actual fees. They can't actually tell me how much it cost me to wire money into my account or they'll have to kill me or something, but whatever. We got the cash!
The Project Committee is made up on the school principal, Prof. Niko, the second grade teacher, Prof. Betty, the student body president a fifth grader named Kike, and the PTA president Sebastian. We met on Friday and discussed some price changes for materials as inflation is pretty crazy here right now. (The prices of rebar and cement have gone up about 10%!) We also planned our trip to price out all the construction materials. On Monday we drove into Piura after school and went around to a few different construction material stores and got price lists. So now that we know where to buy what we're off to make the purchases on Saturday. The construction should start next week!

Peruvian Jail on the Side

I just got back from inscribing 15 incarcerated guys into a class at the Piura jail. A lawyer friend and I put together a 4 session class on business planning including lots of activities on developing leaderships skills and self esteem. I had been putting off writing about this on the blog entirely because my mom is going to flip out. But, I'm so excited to be starting. We have class every Tuesday morning in the month of June. The director of the Piura jail is a psychologist and she's creating all of these progressive therapies for the prisoners. I have been surprised at how progressive it is.

The facilities are decidedly sub par. The place smells like a sewer and I haven't been allowed into the older cell blocks so I'm sure that the living conditions are frightening. It's overcrowded too. It was built for 1,700 and houses more than 2,000. But, there are two new buildings with living quarters and those are surprisingly good. There are several workshops for carpentry, mechanics, and arts and crafts. There is even an education program for literacy, including a small library.

It's also much more tranquil feeling than Rikers was. I worked for the NYC Health Dept at Rikers for a short while in 2006. There was always an under current of violence and there were frequently ¨lock downs¨ in which all of the guards came rushing out in riot gear and you were just supposed to smash yourself against a wall and not move, potentially for hours until they got the fight or lost inmate sorted out. Rio Seco is more like a small town. Everyone says good morning and good afternoon. The guys cook together and do their laundry in the courtyard together. It seems like the inmate on inmate violence is less there than in Rikers.

This is going to be a really busy few months. I've finally been here long enough and know enough people that I can really get into the projects that I've been wanting to do. Five months to go! The question is: how much can I get done in the time remaining?

Good things are running

I'm still high on the 24 hour a day running water that's going into the elementary school. I just transferred all of the money from Paypal $1325.39 into my home bank account. I'm waiting for all the checks to clear and then I'm probably going to need to wire it to myself. I'm looking into just transferring it into my Peruvian bank account, but I'm not sure that's going to fly. My best bet might be to Western Union it to myself. Professor Niko and I have a materials shopping date set for the morning of the first Saturday in June!

We spent the weekend celebrating my dear friend Tessa's pending nuptials to Manuel, a kind doctor who she met on top of her mountain. She lives literally at the end of the highway. Peruvian doctors do a 1 year internship working in rural Peru after they finish medical school and Manuel was placed in a tiny town about a three hour walk up the mountain from where she lives. They met at her town's anniversary dance.

We threw them a little vegetarian soiree at a ceviche restaurant Saturday night. Then we went out dancing in true Peruvian style and rolled into our hostal at sunrise with reggaton beats pounding in our ears.

Happy Memorial Day in the US!

Running Water Coming Soon!!! $2015.12

We are so grateful for all of your help. I told Principal Niko or more formally, Prof. Manuel Nicolas Chully Chunga today and he did a happy dance. He's a serious principal parody, not a "happy dance" kind of guy, so I know he was thrilled. Then we went and took "before" photos of the aluminum pots and plastic garbage cans that they now use to save water. The goal is to start construction by June 1 and finish by July 1. We shall see how Peru's fates like that schedule, but I have high hopes. At the suggestion of a trusted teacher friend I'm going to form a committee to execute the project. It will be compried of the principal, the PTA president, a teacher, and myself to execute the project and update parents on the progress. So, hopefully parents and teachers will feel like all money matters are transparent.

More sincere thanks go to:

Joe Hudgens
Rebecca Widom

Our Current Total:

$2015.12

Wahoooo!!!

Wahoo! We're Gettin' Runnin' Water! $1894.62

We officially have enough money to put in running water at Rinconada Elementary!! Between money promised and what we've got actually in hand there's $1894.62

Thank you!

I'm telling the principal tomorrow! He will be so excited. I'm totally bringing my camera. (I didn't tell him much about how fundraising was progressing because I didn't want him to be very disappointed if it didn't work out.) Keep checking for photo updates :)

Thank you so very much to everyone who donated. There really are 300 families in Rinconada who are much better off for your generous help. We may even have $100 or so left over; if so, I'll be checking with the principal and PTA to see how they want to use the funds. I think it's likely that we can fix some broken desks and chairs, get uniforms for a couple of kids who don't have them, buy school supplies like copy paper, chalk, and markers, and maybe even get some computer accessories.

Special thanks to our most recent donors:

Philip Sansone
Ed Menghi
Robin Lazara
Wendy Bach
Jessica Hickok

The Inca Trail

Llama and vicuna crossing.


The beginning of the Inca Trail, KM 82.


Our hiking group at Dead Woman's Pass, 4,200 meters high. The name really says it all.


Fun times in Cuzco.


Love for Atari, even in Cuzco.


Condors in Colca Canyon.

I made it! 4,200 meters high and 45 kilometers long, ending up at the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu.

Pragati my rock star college buddy came down recently and we went traveling around with her very cool cousin Dipesh aka Dr. Peace Monkey and we made a trip to Arequipa and Cuzco. We were going to hit Lake Titicaca in Puno too, but were deterred by some strikes due to the APEC meetings.

So in Arequipa we stayed in the city and in a town in Colca Canyon called Chivay, which is a name seriously close to my favorite fancy beer brand. There we saw the CONDORS! It was gorgeous.

Then we went on to Cuzco and hug out in the city dancing and playing, went to the Sacred Valley and hiked the Inca Trail. I made 2 major life decisions on the Inca Trail. 1. I'm never smoking again (not that I ever have Mom) and 2. I'm marrying someone who likes hiking, trekking, going to the beach, and generally being outside and getting dirty. It's such a fundamental part of what makes me tick and what makes the universe in general go round.

In short, the Andes are shockingly beautiful. Come. See.

Project Budget and Latest Donations

We're about half way there with the fund raising for a water system in the elementary school. So far we have raised $1150, minus the Paypal costs that comes to: $1117.94.

Some folks have expressed interest in donating, but haven't actually sent anything in yet, so there may be more in the pipeline. I really want to start construction in June, so I need some tips of fund raising. Ideas anyone?

Many, many thanks to the following generous donors:

Andrew Walters
Barb and Jim Hudgens
Daniel Bauerkemper
David Carey
Denzil and Betty Bush
Ed Menghi
Grace Carey
Jennifer Parish
Kelli Crawford
Ken and Sue Davies
Megan Bartlett
Ned Ewart
Pamela Lovelace
Robert Schley
Shaina Steinberg
Sharon Brown
Spire Press c/o Shelly Reed
Stephen Lesche
Tanya Stanger
Tina Trinh
Tom and Stacey Bush
William Wuertz

Also, the detailed budget is linked to the title of this article, if you're interested.

Criticisim of Peace Corps

from Atlantic Monthly

$915 for water at Rinconada Elementary!

Good News! We have $915 collected from PayPal from Rinconada Elementary. There is more promised in paper check form that is not included in this balance! So, we are well on our way to meeting the goal.

Tomorrow I set out on the Inca Trail. 4 days, 4,200 meters into Macchu Picchu. I have been training but I think that this will be a humbling experience!

I will update again next week when I get back.

Please keep passing the word about our project!

Already $324.92 for Water at Rinconada Elementary!

CLICK THAT BIG YELLOW BUTTON TO MAKE A DONATION!

I'm raising $2000 to get 24 hour running water installed in the elementary school in Rinconada. This project will provide a rooftop water tank, a subterranean cement tank, a pump to get the water from the ground to the roof, and pipes to connect all of these.

We started fundraising Sunday April 27, 2008 and as of today we have raised $335. I'm using Paypal, which charges me 2.9% + $.30 on each transaction, so we actually have $324.92 available to date. Only $1675 to go!

In this area of the Sechuran Desert the folks who can afford it store water in tanks on their roves and underground. We want to install such a system at Rinconada Elementary. With 200 kids in grades 1 to 6, the school has bathrooms with flush toilets connected to a modern municipal waste water system but, they cannot save enough water in their plastic trash cans and large aluminum cooking pots to flush the toilets and wash all the little hands for the 2 days in between their turns on the water schedule. (We do A LOT of work on teaching kids to wash their hands. It's huge for reducing diarrhea.)

The principal, PTA and local government have all made significant investments to improve the bathrooms in the past year. They replumbed all 10 stalls in the boys and girls bathrooms, a badly needed improvement. (Last year the "flushings" were running all over the floor.) Local government also bought one rooftop tank but, the school needs another one and the school does not have the pump that they need to move the water to the roof. These investments of about S/.1,200 or $430 were hard won and now both school and government are just out of money for the project. That's where we can help.

So that big yellow button is for donations. Please be generous and tell your friends and family.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Somebody at the NYTimes and I Have Good Timing

Somebody at the NY Times is thinking about the US prisons and how they compare to others around the world too.

Me and Jail

I've been spending a lot of time in Peruvian jail lately. Happily, I have not run afoul of the law but I'm working on starting a class for inmates at the local penitentiary in Piura. The class is supposed to outline basic business skills and work on self-esteem. "But, Ella," you say, "are you sure that you want to impart your um... business sense on anyone else?" Don't worry. I'm just going to use a curriculum that Peace Corps Volunteers working with small businesses designed. It outlines basic accounting, writing a business plan, and such. I'm not telling anyone how to spend their money. The self-esteem work comes in the form of group work and presentations. It's just 4 class days in June and afterwards the director and I will reassess, both what is being taught and who is teaching it. (I have a secret plot to try to get a small business volunteer placed there, working with my friend a who used to be the lawyer at Town Hall in Rinconada.)

I was shaken by how incredibly humane the conditions are in the jail/prison.(The two do not seem differentiated here. Inmates are imprisoned close to their families without much regard for the severity of their crime of the length of the sentence.) Rio Seco makes Riker's Island in New York look like Abu Gharib, not to put to fine a point on the matter. Inmates in Rio Seco cook together, eat together, and work together. Inmates speak to each other and the guards without any obvious cowering in fear. It's a small town, for better or worse. Every inmate that you pass tells you "Good afternoon," just as folks on the street in Rinconada do, and not just to me but to the janitors and the secretaries and guards. There are workshops for carpentry, artisanry, and even guitar making. On Sundays the powers that be open the jail up and visitors as well as shoppers from the surrounding community come to buy the inmates' products in a kind of jail-house-market, so inmates make a little money.

Rio Seco is like anyplace in Peru. Rules are much more about social morays than about regulations. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of rules and problems. As a visitor, I can't bring in my camera or cell phone and a myriad of other random and inexplicable things. Today when I went they wanted to keep my sunglasses, but I acted like I didn't understand the officer and said "No thank you ma'am," so she let me keep them. The day it started pouring down rain while I was there, I was wearing a white button down shirt with black stripes and a bright pink bra. I was trying to leave though the exercise yard at the moment of the downpour. It was like God got a giant bucket and wanted to play Peruvian Carnival. This caused quite a stir, I assure you, but quite frankly not any more of a stir than it would have caused on the street in Piura. In fact, it was a much more controlled stir because I felt like the guards were keeping an eye on me. Also, in the inmate population of about 2,500 men there are about 5 HIV positive inmates and 12 active tuberculosis cases. (Most Peruvians test positive for TB on the skin test and I probably will too after Peace Corps.) The jail/prison is badly over crowded; it was meant to hold 1,500, but currently holds 2,500 and this causes health and safety problems of all stripes. I'm sure that I'll find out more about the negative side of things as I work more closely with inmates, but as far as first impressions go, after about 5 visits now, I'm fairly impressed.

The current director has only been there for about 3 years and I'm told, has changed things dramatically. She is a psychologist and sees all the workshops, worship activities, and groups like AA as therapy. They talk the therapy talk at Rikers too, and there are a lot of good people at Riker's working hard to make life a little safer and easier for the 15,000 inmates, but it certainly feels like an uphill battle and it's much scarier to physically be there. In Rio Seco there are no lock downs requiring tens of officers to run into the dormitory areas in full riot gear. And there are certainly more cases of both HIV and TB in New York than in Piura. (Although as a percentage I think it might be comparable. I'm not sure. Riker's is so much bigger that it's hard to say.)

I got interested in working in the jails after I testified in a murder trial. My best friend/sister's husband was convicted of killing her about 5 years ago now. In Texas, the law lets victims put witnesses on the stand to attest to what great people the crime victims are so that the defendants look really bad and get worse sentences; they're called character witnesses. They're very controversial. When her dad and the DA asked me to testify it didn't even occur to me to think about saying no. It was the first thing that I could do for her mom and dad after her death that actually felt like it made any difference. I'm still glad that I did it. It was important for me too, as I was so angry and hurt and alone. But, after that I got really interested in what happens to inmates. I know it sounds like some kind of not all that subconscious guilt thing. But, I don't actually feel guilty. He got the maximum sentence possible for his crime, which was life in prison. In Texas that means the possibility of parole after 35 years. I think it's a just sentence, to be totally honest. On the other hand, I knew this asshole and sat across from him at Thanksgiving dinner more than once and whatever I think of him my sister loved him and he's the father of her son. Jailed guys get kind of forgotten and get talked about as scary monsters safely hidden behind big locks and chains. Some of them scare me. He should scare me and he does. On the other hand, I think that men like him need care and with it can maybe get better. I hope so anyway. I love his son with all my heart.

Turning 30 in Peru!

All cumbia all the time. So, I'm journeying on through the usual music scene here in Peru. The Mayor of my town, Don Walter invited my host family and I over to his house in the evening on my birthday. There was chicken, rice, cumbia, and Crystal beer and chicha (fermented corn beer type stuff) for the crowd of people that magically appeared. People in Rinconada are so generous all the time and it really continues to astound me. I know us ex-pats always say stuff like that, but it's ridiculously true. I went to 3 birthday parties for myself, all thrown by friends who just decided that it needed to happen. It was so kind. I hope that I can follow their example.

I'm not sure that I'm getting much work done lately. My Solid Waste Management project has stalled because the local government (i.e. the mayor who threw the party) doesn't really want to spend the money on the project, even though legally they're supposed to. I'm working in the elementary schools and love my kids, and I had all kinds of big plans for what I was going to get done here, but I think if I just have as much fun with people as I've been having I'll be happy with my time here in Peru. I'm talking myself into that anyway. I still wrestle with an overachiever streak left over from Catholic school conditioning.

I'm also still furious that they painted over the world map mural that my kids painted at the high school. I bawled like a baby when I saw it. So, I've decided to get funding from the mayor to paint 2 more, one at each elementary school, hopefully in time for the anniversary celebrations at each school.

I'm also thinking of taking up a collection for all of those I know to put in some decent bathrooms at the Rinconada Elementary School. They're so gross. They have flush toilets that 1. are not connected to a 24 hour water supply and 2. are not properly attached to the floor so when there is water to flush them "it" goes all over the floor. I wish I were exaggerating. AND I just found out about 3 cases of cholera in Llicuar so we have to be super careful of the water now. It's so contagious. So, I'm trying to make the improvement project happen. I've asked the principal for a budget breakdown with the materials and work costs. I'll keep you posted and hope for your support when the time comes.

More on the Peruvian Amazon

Guides Ricardo and Carlos and their dugout canoes took us on a three day canoe trip though Pacaya Samiria, the 2nd largest National Reserve Park in Peru.




Fun times in Pacaya Samiria.




Our guides thout it was hilarous that I wanted to play Tarzan in thigh high water.




Gamaniel caught a pirannah one morning and we ate it for breakfast.




Base camp. It's flooded with more than a meter of water for half of the year and the other half you can play soccer in front of it. We went in wet season. No soccer was played.




These crazy palm trees look like dinosaurs. It's not hard to imagine an earth a meter deep in water and filled with the animals that I've only seen at the American Museum of Natural History when you're paddlng around there.




Peace Corps Peru Team Chaco makes it out of Pacaya Samiria in one piece.




The Giant Anteater who lives at the Butterfly Farm in Iquitos likes oatmeal.






Sunset on Rio Marañon in between Lagunas and Iquitos is one of the most beautiful things that I've seen in my life... and the Texas sunsets that I grew up on are pretty damn impressive.

What to do next...

It's starting to hit home that I'm finishing Peace Corps in 6 months and I need to decide what to do next. There's sort of a panorama of future options, but they generally all involve getting a job, having a family and being a responsible adult at some point in the foreseeable future. (So stop worrying mom.) The questions that remain are where to live and what job to do there - so not small questions. Lately, I waffle between Austin, Texas, the DC area, and the Peruvian Amazon, my new favorite place on earth. For jobs, one of the ideas that I'm toying with is opening an alternative therapy and healing center, of course this is after I go to school to get another master's in some kind of counseling profession. I feel like the fates might be aligning in that direction. (This plan of changes weekly of course, but for now this is interesting.) Then, today on CNN's list of the best places to open a business Georgetown, Texas, a small town just north of Austin where I went to college, is number 2 and Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of DC is number 5. I have sort of always known in the back of my head that I want to own my own business, or at least somehow be my own boss. It gave my dad such great opportunities to spend time with us and be able to support us well, which is part of what I aspire to.

Okay, so that is post is not just me waxing poetic about my future and boring to death everyone who doesn't live inside my head. Wanna see some composting toilets? These were from the program that CARE was executing down south in the earthquake zone. I was down there helping them with some hygiene education and training folks on how to care for their latrines. It was interesting and I really think that CARE is a great organization. Despite the usual management and logistical problems that come from trying to pull of projects in distressed areas for a reasonable cost they can really can get some stuff done.

These are the before toilets - located over the irrigation canal:


This is the inside of the composting latrine. These cement toilet and urinal things are designed to sepearate the... liquid from the solid. Wet poop doesn't compost.


Proud proprietor of a composting toilet:


They may not have bathrooms but the sand boarding is AWESOME in Huancachina:


My entire explanation of why I want to live in the Peruvian jungle: (This is no where near Ica or the earthquake zone, but it's where I went following working with CARE)

Tarapoto to Yurimaguas to Lagunas to Pacaya Samiria to Iquitos

Iquiteña, indigenous jungle cerveza, delicious... or at least the best beer in Peru


Howler Monkeys at Pilpintuwasi (The Butterfly House) in Iquitos


The view from the 3rd deck of Eduardo IV, our boat from Yurimaguas to Lagunas down Rio Huayalla


The Watermelon Slayer at Laguna Azul, near Tarapoto


Aaron and I mototaxi it around Iquitos