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.