Yellow Ella

There has been a national strike in Peruvian schools for about a month now and it's the middle of the school year here. (They begin on the first of March go until mid-December.) English language papers report the strike has only lasted a day or two and I have to say that that's just plain wrong. Most schools near where I live have been closed for nearly 6 weeks now. The teachers in my town, Rinconada Llicuar are not, for the most part, in strong support of the strike and have only closed the schools for about 3 days of the last month. I have been teaching 5th and 6th grade health classes weekly with only 2 cancellations due to the strike.

Yesterday, I was finishing my 6th grade health class when the union showed up at the door yelling, armed with rocks and yellow paint. Luckily, some parents noticed a group gathering and came to warn the principal of their nearest school. That principal called the other two schools farther down the road so they could lock the doors and warn the kids. The principal of the school where I was teaching came in to tell me that we should continue class as usual but the strikers would probably throw rocks and break windows and we should watch out for breaking glass. The kids were terrified. In my class one or two cried (but were really trying to look tough and hide it), some were just too upset to pay attention, and the others were peeking out the windows trying to get look at the strikers. Strikers were yelling at the teachers that they were yellow and that they should be supporting the strike. Rocks were thrown in Rinconada, but not in Llicuar, where I was teaching. Finally, after about 15 minutes that seemed like an eternity, the principal sent all the kids home (about an hour early) and let the strikers in to talk with all of the teachers. A general announcement went out on the town's loud speaker system (used to announce everything from phone calls at the public phone to who is selling fish to who owes money for their water bill) and many of the parents came. Fortunately no one was injured and in retrospect it wasn't a terribly dangerous situation but at the time it was terrifying.

Schools are closed today and tomorrow. We had a parent's meeting today at the school in Rinconada and the parents say they just want the school to be open so that the kids can study. The principal and teachers agreed that on Monday things will go back to normal. Even if the strike continues they will have classes with the teachers who do not want to support the strike. In the case of the school in Rinconada only one teacher will strike.

So what's the deal with the strike? I haven't found a decent online political analysis so I'll just give you what I know of the basics. Peru has historically allowed uneducated, unprepared people to get a teaching degree in a few months. These programs no longer exist but, there are a lot of unprepared teachers who have taught for 15 to 20 years in public schools because of this employment program. These folks had the opportunity to continue their studies in the public universities to get a bachelor's degree, many did while others did not. The current president wants to improve the educational system by instituting a testing program and firing teachers who do not pass after three attempts. Teachers do not want to be fired and thus are striking. They say that testing is fine, but if they don't pass they should be trained, not fired.

And they seem fond of rocks and yellow paint. I certainly went home a bit yellow that day, even though no one threw paint at me.

popular politics

New York Times Quote of the day:

"I voted for Bush twice. I backed this war from the beginning, but I don’t think I can look my kids in the eyes anymore, if my husband comes home in a wooden box, and tell them he died for a good reason."BETH PYRITZ, whose husband, an Army specialist, is on his third tour in Iraq.


Peace Corps Volunteers got together a few weeks ago to make this video for the YouTube Debates. Little confession: I had to ask "What's YouTube?" when they told me about this and I was swiftly informed that, "It's only the most popular website ever. Duh." Blush.

A fellow Peace Corps Volunteer offered the following as an idea for a question.
"In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush said that America needs citizens to extend the compassion of our country to every part of the world, and that his administration would renew the promise of the Peace Corps by doubling its volunteers (7,000 current to over 15,000) by 2007. It is now 2007........"

Current number of Volunteers and Trainees: 7,749
Current number of countries served: 67 posts serving 73 countries

The question that they ended up sending is more broad about how the new administration will address humanitarian aid. This certainly seems like a case of cutting international aid money to finance the war. And the war is unpopular even with the Republican base.

Smells like change to me.

Painting

Doin' a lot of painting of the house in the last few weeks and I have happily found generous help. There is a newly formed youth athletic league and the boys are so excited about soccer practice they they get to the field, right next door to my house, about an hour early for practice... or perhaps better said, the coach comes an hour late. In any case, they were sitting around waiting for the coach to show up and noticing that painting looked like fun, begged me to help. I got 12 very enthusiastic little helpers, ages 6 to 14. Happily, I had some brushes left over from when we painted the World Map Mural at the high school. At first, it didn't seem like a fabulous idea to let 12 kids loose in my house with paint brushes, but then I figured... What the hell. It's water base.

Before.

During.

After.

And Tania was kind enough to help

too! Maybe now she'll help me scrub the floor :)

Everyday God

The teachers' and Ministry of Health's strikes continue so I still have a lot of time on my hands to do fun things like paint my house baby blue and chase the pigs back into their corrals. And in a synchronicity of free time and needed time of type that doesn't happen often enough, the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit where I used to work will soon be publishing a report on the Food Stamp Program and New York City's large immigrant population. We did a lot of research on this issue back when I was a Research Associate there and in the last couple of days I have been helping a bit with the very exciting development of a final product, a report. Happily, I have the free time to read while the folks with whom I usually work lobby for better pay and less monitoring. I have also been devouring some of the spiritual and self-helpy books that my dear friend Dave has been feeding me with a very long spoon from the Big City.

The Violence of Love, a compilation of homilies by Oscar Romero, former Archbishop of San Salvador sat up and bit be back yesterday. These sermons were broadcast by radio in El Salvador in the 1970's. The everyday-ness of the November 20, 1977 entry was just what I needed yesterday. I hope that you like it. This is just the last half of the poem because the first part is too preachy for my taste. On the other hand, I always appreciate a reminder of the sacred everyday and a reassurance about the interconnectedness of spirits.

….
How many cabdrivers, I know, listen to this message
there in their cabs;
you are a priest at the wheel, my friend,
if you work with honesty,
consecrating that taxi of yours to God,
bearing a message of peace and love
to the passengers who ride in your cab.

So cheers to your taxi and keep and eye out for the new report!

Festejo

My little friend all dressed up to do a traditional dance called Festejo for her school program as part of the elementary school´s anniversary celebration.

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.

Unfortuante policy choices, cuy and why I have too much time on my hands

More news today. I promise to put my own photos up soon.

It will probably not surprise you that women tend to start having children at a younger age here in Peru. It stands to reason that young people are having sex at a young age. Often (or at least sometimes) young women partner with much older men. This leads some young women to avoid the free national prenatal care for fear that their partners will be charged with statutory rape. Peru's response to this problem today is to lower the age of consent to 14. This article says that the vote in congress was overwhelming. It's at best disturbing that the answer to this problem is protecting the predator and not offering more education or life options to youth, especially girls.

Guinea Pig cuisine or cuy is popular here in the mountain areas. I tried it myself when I was in Cuzco and again in Cajamarca. I'm glad that I tried it twice because I thought that it was pretty gross the first time around. The cuy in Cajamarca was much cheaper and far superior. In fact it was free. I was at a conference and one of the attendees had some. His wife had packed him a lunch of two fried guinea pigs (whole) and a bunch of fried corn kernels called canchas in a plastic bag. He shared it with us and it was delicious. In Cuzco I went to a fancy tourist restaurant to have it. It was just the leg and hind quarter portion and it was baked but still managed to be greasy. Yuck. My advice, fried whole cuy is the way to go, especially with the canchas.

Finally, the reason that I have a lot of time on my hands is that everyone with whom I usually work seems to be on strike. The health workers want more pay and the nontenured ones want tenure. The teachers are also on strike. School is closed today and tomorrow for the strike. The teachers want more pay. Then Thursday and Friday are the Saint's Days for St. Peter and St. Paul, patrons of fishermen. Usually, this would be a holiday but I think that they're having school late in the afternoon (after the normal school day hours) to make up for the missed classes. Honestly, the details are still a bit unclear to me.

Special thanks to Ed for keeping me up to date on the Peruvian news circuit.

News in Peru and Vision Health International

Cameron Diaz didn't know about Shining Path... An interesting debacle.

5 foot tall penguins once roamed the Peruvian cost. Whoever wrote this article doesn't seem to know that there still are species of hot weather loving penguins that live in southern Peru, in Ica, where the Nazca Lines are. I don't think that they're very big. I gotta get down there. It's supposed to be beautiful. The penguins live on a few islands off the coast that Peace Corps volunteers call the Poor Man's Galapagos. I think they're really called Islas Ballestas.

In my own life I was helping out a bit yesterday at a free health campaign in Piura at the Ministry of Health Hospital. A group of eye doctors was down from the US to do operations on children with crossed eyes and adults with cataracts. It's called Vision Health International. These campaigns are always so crazy, mobs of people each with a heart wrenching story and each patient with at least one family member lobbying really hard to make sure that their loved one gets to see the doctor and gets care. I have never seem so many cross eyed kids, and blind elderly people in one place before. The folks were amazing. They had a system. Everyone got to see the doctor and I think everyone made it on the surgery schedule- with respectful, kind, and language appropriate communication to boot. And they're working with the Ministry of Health which many NGO's don't do because the bureaucracy makes it difficult but, it's the best way to reach the people who need the help the most. They're the ones who can't afford anything besides the Peruvian national free public health care system which only offers limited benefits. If you're interested in giving someone money or helping out as an eye doctor (John and Larry) these are good folks.

I actually went with Dora, the mom from my former host family. She really cannot see that it's her brother coming in the door of her house and I went to try to get her some glasses. Come to find out that the plan in the campaign is just surgery. Fortunately, a couple of the doctors took pity on us and promised us a pair. I'll post a picture of her in her new glasses when she gets them. Assuming she'll let me take a picture! She says that glasses are for old ladies.

Chiclayo

Yesterday, I hopped on a bus and rode down to a city 3 hours south of Piura called Chiclayo. I came to say goodbye to a friend who decided to pack it in and go back to the states. I'm really going to miss her. It's hard when people leave here. It's scary to see Lauren head home because I hope that I can make it. I hope that I can really do this like I want to.

I'm certainly have a hard time sometimes, struggling with the depression that seems to ebb and flow though my life and just feeling isolated. On the other hand, the hand that holds me here, I I'm learning so much about relationships, myself, and last but not least about global economics and the mechanics of poverty.

I'm heading back to Rinconada Llicuar today. We're having the first meeting of the new health committee tomorrow morning and the goal is to get everyone on board for the solid waste project. The mayor seems committed with a budget but the catch is- it's one thing to say it and another to do it.

Wish Rinconada Llicuar recycling and a sanitary landfill, and wish Lauren safe home.

Home Sweet Home

Home


I have moved and it is wonderful. My new house is made of cement and has recently acquired running water. It's really quite the palace. In addition, it is home to 1 very lovely actual toilet, a stove with 4 burners, and 4 other inhabitants above the back door: 2 doves and 2 newly hatched baby doves. This is mom dove sitting on her eggs and eyeing me suspiciously. Now that they have hatched they're much more active and have taken to sitting on the electrical wire in the bathroom leaving their droppings on my cement bathroom floor. Admittedly, this behavior is less endearing than when it was a mom dove sitting on her eggs, but I appreciate the company.




Momma Dove



Home improvement is the name of my game lately. Since moving in on May 30 I have installed a bathroom sink, and a few windows. Most of the windows have wooden boards instead of glass so the light and general aesthetic leaves something to be desired and I'm working on changing it. I also bought paint because it sure needs a paint job and I'm looking to hire someone to help me. It is rice harvest time in Rinconada Llicuar and everyone is working 12 hour days cutting rice by hand, beating it to shake out the individual rice grains, drying it, and then carting it all to the mill. They're not looking for odd jobs right at the moment but, in about a month it will be nice to remove the "I love China" grafiti from the front wall. China is apparently the nickname of the lady who lived there prior to me.



In other news I have managed to take a group of 11 people including: the city council member in charge of health/lieutenant mayor, a technician from the Ministry of Health, teachers from the 3 local schools, and 6 students on a trip to see a solid waste project in a small town in the mountains called Santo Domingo. They had a blast and are all very excited about starting a trash project in Rinconada Llicuar. This is thrilling in large part because the mayor of Rinconada Llicuar is really into it. I think he might support funding a sanitary landfill with this years budget! Would be amazing. Here's us on a rock at the river in Santo Domingo. The girl in yellow is Pilar, then Professora Mercedes, Katy, Ana, Eduardo, next to me is Ruth and behind me is Felix. Aren't we cute?



Sto. Domingo Crew


Finally, I think that being a freaky gringa in Peru is damaging my already delicate social skills. I have managed a row with my former boyfriend. I know: How many miles and how many months apart? Surely I did not achieve this development alone, but I do have to take at least half the responsibility. He's still very angry that I left to join the Peace Corps and didn't include him in my decision making process. He can be mean when he's angry. I can be needy when I'm lonely. It's a rough combination. On a positive relationships note, the kind-of-scary police chief who was consistently lewdly flirting with me in front of large numbers of people and followed me on a couple of morning runs stopped these unfortunate behaviors. I was complaining about him to a teacher who I work with. She immediately called over a co-teacher who is also the offending officer's cousin. Suprise. The cousin/teacher was embarrassed, apologized profusely and promised to talk to their fathers. I never heard another word about it and haven't wanted to bring it up but, no more inappropriate behavior from sketchy cop guy. Gotta love small town fixes.

Still here when the smoke clears

I'm changing up the home life and moving into a new house! Hopefully this will happen on Monday. My new place is like a little apartment! It's probably bigger than my apartment in Brooklyn, but that's not really saying much. The family that I have been living with is very generous to me, but it has been really hard to live with a family and especially this family. The place I'm moving meets the Peace Corps Peru requirement that all volunteers live with families because it is attached to another family's house by a shared yard and chicken coop, thus endearing me to live chickens, a life form that many know that I previously utterly disdained due to an unfortunate living situation in rural Ecuador.

Dora and Martin, my current host family parents are very, very concerned about what people will say about them when I move. Dora is basically livid at me about it, but would never actually say that to me. It is an impossible situation for me there because they're so disliked by everyone in town. They supported the mayoral candidate from the other side of town and now everyone where I live dislikes them and suspects them of receiving money under the table from the mayor for having me in their house. In addition, she is a very outspoken person who sometimes enjoys reaming folks in public meetings, like of the PTA or the local Women's Association. It really doesn't help the popularity issue. In any case, this social drama which has made my life and work very difficult has conspired to support my search for a new abode and voila! I love chickens!

Also, I have found myself in an inferno of women's volleyball. My women's group wanted to participate in the new municipal tournament. There are 11 teams and 1 game a week, so it's a really, really long 11 weeks. Fortunately, I'll be missing the game this weekend and then there are only 4 more to go. The real bummer is the meeting every Tuesday for an average of 3 hours (sometimes up to 4 and a half). These meetings involve knock down, drag out yelling matches between team representatives over which teams are doing what wrong. I can barely follow the arguments because of the language used and the speed of the conversation. Better, I was inscribed as the representative (by the aforementioned host mom) when I was on vacation with my parents and after I specifically asked to not be put as the representative knowing the fighting that the meetings would involve. Our women's group and the high school are the only ones with female representatives. Even the organizing committee is like five men and one woman. So every Tuesday I am one of two or three women at these horrific events and then after 4 hours of horrid fighting in which I inevitably say the wrong thing I tearfully retire to my family's house. I never did like volleyball... Only 4 more weeks.

In other news, the head of USAID Randall Tobias had to resign due to an embarrassing situation with an escort agency. The irony here is that he implemented an ¨anti-prostitution policy¨ of the Bush administration for American international aid around the world that really hurt people who do sex work.
See: http://www.urbanjustice.org/pdf/press/bloomberg_04may07.pdf
or any of
http://www.urbanjustice.org/ujc/press/sex.html?tr=y&auid=2656199

Warning: Social Commentary

Interesting quotes by the most popular guy in the world.

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president toexplain to us what the exit strategy is," - George W. Bush, April 9, 1999, criticizing President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo.

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as tohow long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn," - George W.Bush, June 5, 1999.

Arroz con Leche y Mazamora Morada Deliciousness

Peruvians are quick to inform you that Peruvian cuisine is the best in the world and since I am certainly a foodie and I am loving Peru, I am learning that the way to my heart is my stomach. I figure that the path to my heart may also lead to other hearts so I want to share as many recipes as possible so that you too can share in the deliciousness that is Peruvian food.



Arroz con Leche y Mazamora Morada is made for just about every party attended by a large number of people, especially birthday parties. It is served in dixie cups with little plastic spoons. Arroz con leche goes on the botton and mazamora goes on the top in about equal portions.

Rice Pudding (Arroz con Leche)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 lbs rice
1 3/4 lbs sugar
1 can of condensed milk (Leche Gloria is the brand everyone uses here.)
1 can of evaporated milk- the sweet kind
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 cloves
1/4 lb rasins

Preperation:
Boil water with the cinnamon and clove. Wash the rice and add it to the boiling water. Cover and cook until soft (about 25 minutes). When the rice is ready add the sugar and bring to a boil. The mixture will start to thicken. When it's the consistency of hot cereal add the milk and rasins. Mix and top with mazamora morada to serve.

Spiced Purple Fruit Compote (Mazamora Morada)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 lbs dry purple corn

1 lime
10 cups water
1 pineapple
2 1/4 lbs sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
3 cloves
1/4 lb rasins
1/4 lb prunes
3/4 lb corn starch or sweet potato flour

Preperation:
Take the corn off the cob and wash. Cut the husk off the pineapple and put it in a pot with water to boil. Cube the pineapple and set aside. Boil the water with cinnamon, clove and the husks of the pineapple. When the water for the corn is very dark purple (almost black) strain and add sugar to the pruple water until the mixture becomes the consistency of honey. Add the juice of half a lime and bring to a simmer. This mixture is called chicha morada. In another bowl dissolve the corn starch or sweet potato flour in cold water mixing until it's the texture of milk. Mix the starch into the chicha morada and add rasins, prunes, and cubed pineapple. Let it cool a bit and serve in plastic dixie sups over rice pudding in about equal amounts. Garnish with cinnamon.

Coca in Peru

Here's an interesting conflict in Peru right now. There are many families in the Andes who use coca as a medicine and in religious ceremonies, but Peru and the US are fighting the narcotics trade and in doing so wreaking havoc for these families.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6570513.stm

29 in the Andes

I just turned 29 and my birthday happily overlapped with Holy Week and Easter and my parents were able to come visit! We adventured together visiting my site Rinconada Llicuar, as well as Piura, Lima and Cuzco. At my site everyone was welcoming and excited to meet my family. The family that I live with insisted that my parents stay at their house and the whole family slept in one room so my parents could have a bed. It was overwhelmingly generous. Then we went on to Cuzco, breathtaking - literally and figuratively at 11,000 feet, where there was a landslide on the train tacks down from Machu Picchu and we had a run in with the Peruvian National Police in Cuzco - I really have to keep an eye on my parents! Both incidents ended well and have the added benefit of being good stories.

When my parents came to visit my town, Rinconada Llicuar, one of the elementary schools where I work threw a surprise program for their visit and my 29th birthday. It was so generous and kind that overwhelmed by all of the emotion both me and my mom cried. I do realize that it is not that difficult to make me cry, but none the less it was very touching and is now of course the talk of the town. Each class did a dance or sang a song, one even did a lip sync with dance movements to a popular pop song. And the 5th graders performed the marinera, a dance typical from the region in honor of my parents visit. Then my parents and I all had to give a little speech. I have never been so grateful that they speak Spanish.

In Cuzco, my dad and I developed a theory that Machu Picchu was not actually a regular city as Hiram Bingham suggested but a purely religious or ceremonial place. (Okay, so some archaeologist has probably thought this before, but whatever.) I'll spare you the details of the grand theory, but visiting Mach Picchu it's easy to believe that it was a spiritual center for the Inca. It's nestled in a cloud forest, overlooking the snow capped peaks of the Andes, and home to ancient temples, stone altars, bubbling fountains and stone work built to mirror the shapes of the surrounding mountains.

Then I came home to some upsetting realities. I'm sure that many of you know this already, but the Supreme Court in the US is certainly waxing moralistic these days, in the words of Justice Kennedy "protecting women" from their apparent inability to understand medical procedures. Here's an interesting editorial form the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/opinion/19thu1.html?ex=1334721600&en=409b757492039e0d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

A Day In the Life

My parents are coming to visit today!! I was so excited that I came into town to meet them about 6 hours early- just in case. So I'm futzing around doing my taxes online and reading my email to find that my dear friend and fellow Peace Corps volunteer sent me this email. I didn't ask her if I could post this... but hey you don't know her :) and she shall remain nameless.

In the words of a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer a day in the life:

Yesterday I found a rat burrowing in my remaining supply of tampons. God has forsaken me. I decided it was time to clean my room (it was more than time, your clean room actually prompted me to do this) and I opened up my suitcase that had been stored under my bed. I saw the damn rat, screeched, and slammed the suitcase shut again. Of course my whole host family comes running (the 10 or 11 that were in the house) and my brother chases the poor rat around the house WITH A BROOM until he smacks it to death. The dead rat was promptly offered to the neighbors cat and when the cat declined, my brother put the rat on my brother Daniels head. This set off another round of screaming. We opened the suitcase to see what kind of damage had been done and my tampons had all been pulled out of their plastic and fluffed out into a nice bed. OK, people here don't use tampons, they use weird uncomfortable pads, so everyone was discussing what these things were. Several people even suggested they were candy. CANDY?? What the hell? Anyway, it was mortifying because I was trying to shut the suitcase as fast as possible but my sister found the tampon instructions and of course the accommodating people of OB included instructions in Spanish. Dear Lord. She read for a few seconds while I was removing the rest of the stuff from the suitcase, and then started whispering with my other sister. Ugh. Anyway, while I was rummaging through the suitcase, I also found a number of peppermint patties that the rat had stolen from me and dragged into its new house. Man, those things are priceless here! As my family continued to mill around, I was forced to pull out all the birthday presents that they had given me (and that I was obviously treasuring). I had to pretend like I still really wanted to save the teddy bear covered in rat poop or my host brother would have his feelings hurt. Sick. I briefly considered just taking the whole thing outside and burning it. In the end, I lost my tampons, a shirt (which now has a large hole, this time made by a rat as opposed to Abercrombie), some chocolates, one power bar *tear*, a stuffed animal *pretend tear*, and some fake meat (I didn't particularly want to eat that anyway).

This issue with the rats prompted me to look deep within myself and decide it was time to perhaps keep a less-cluttered room. Also, no more Mr. nice guy, I'm buying rat poison.

To top off my unfortunate day, when I was sorting my food I found that the heat had ruined my one remaining jar of peanut butter. It wasn't even open yet!

Such is my life here in Peru. *Breaks down sobbing* No, thankfully, I found the whole day pretty amusing. I just continued to tell myself that this was something I could look back on and laugh about when I am in the States and I store things in closets instead of suitcases and there aren't rats in my house (my 100 cats will prevent that problem).

Happy World Tuberculosis Day

Until I joined the Peace Corps I had no idea that there was such a holiday, but I want to wish you a very merry belated World Tuberculosis Day. (It was yesterday, Saturday March 23.) In Rinconada we had a march on Friday to celebreate. The kids from my health classes, 5th and 6th graders made posters and walked around the town behind the ambulance. There were chants about how if you have a cough for more than 15 days you should go to the doctor and others explaining that TB is treatable. It was really fun and I think in total there were about 10 people from the Health Post and more than 70 kids. Then all the neighbors that came out to walk around with us and see what all the fuss was about. Fun times.

Interestingly, just before coming to Peace Corps I did a brief stint at the New York City Health Department in a small unit that does research about the health needs of inmates in City jails. When I started there I didn't know that anyone in the US had tuberculosis, but I was really surprised to find out that many inmates at Rikers Island test positive for TB (That's that shot where you have to go back two days later to see if you have a bump on your arm.) and then those inmates get chest x-rays to see if they have active TB. I'm not sure how many people we're talking about but, it seems that there are a number of inmates who suffer from TB in New York City jails. When the health provider at the jail finds someone with active TB that inmate has to be quarantined. I didn't hear of any specific cases of quarantine in the few months that I was there but, I understand that such cases have occurred. There's a guy in my old unit whose job it is to track the health records to make sure the Health Dept. knows if and how many inmates have TB.

In Peru TB is more common, especially in certain geographic pockets like the red light district in Lima. Happily, in the last 3 years there have been no cases of TB where I live in Rinconada Llicuar, although they did find a woman last year who had tuberculosis in a mass in her breast tissue, a pretty unusual ailment. The doctor tells me that she probably had untreated tuberculosis as a young person and it traveled to her breast. Fortunately, because the bacteria is in her breast tissue rather than in the lung it is not contagious. (TB is spread though the saliva by coughing.)

Here's a cool event that I found on the WHO website for the New Yorkers:

¨In New York, for the first time, a special TB exhibition will be held in the UN headquarters, with photographs by the award-winning journalist James Nachtwey. The free exhibition, from 22 March to 25 April, is designed to raise awareness around the challenges to addressing an epidemic that kills 1.6 million people a year. A total of 33 photographs, taken from a variety of worldwide locations, will also be supported by a special DVD featuring the photographs with accompanying music performed by the musician Yo Yo Ma.¨

http://www.stoptb.org/

http://www.who.int/tb/

One more photo from the World Map Mural

Here's another shot of me and my team :)

Finito! Mural Madness

Working with kids is still new to me. I started painting a mural of the world map with 120 kiddos ages 8-12. It was way too many. I sort of knew it was too many people from the get go, but it's what the people who organized the summer camp wanted so I tried to go along with it. I didn't know that I needed yet another lesson on going with your instincts. :) I finally finished the mural of the world map- 8 weeks later with my super dedicated team of kids who happen to live across the street from the school, a mere 4 weeks after the camp ended. We had a little party on Friday and the kids got prizes for attendance and dedication. It was great fun. I was so proud!

It was sort of like giving birth to a painted wall. This is Edith, Jhon and Wilder who finally finished the map.

And this is everyone and their mother who came when they heard there was free soda at the inauguration party.

Warning: This is a paragraph full of me whining. Today I'm totally frustrated. I have realized that the laptop that I brought doesn't burn CD's. You might be wondering why I didn't notice this before. Well I'm sort of wondering it myself, but basically because I lent the laptop to the former boyfriend as I had a desktop back in the USA. Now backing up anything like my photos, is kind of rough. I decided to try to buy an external hard drive to fix the problem. Then my ¨No Hassle¨credit card wouldn't work and I was informed after 20 minutes of an international, theoretically but not actually toll free phone call that I would have to make such a phone call every month if I want to continue to use the card in Peru. GRRR. It is so annoying when menial tasks are a pain in the neck.

Off to plan an anti-tuberculosis March for Friday and the last touches for the health classes Tuesday and Wednesday. Kids, kids everywhere.

My St. Louis Pen Pals

I've been writing to my goddaughter Libby's 4th grade class in St. Louis. I´ll have to type up their letters and post them because they are fabulous, but since it's already at my fingertips here is my response.


Dear Matt, Marcus, Libby, Jaime, Georges, Conner, Casey, Taylor, Amudha, and Nicole,

Thanks so much for your letters. They were fun to read and I enjoyed learning about all of you. Thanks for asking so many questions about Peru and Rinconada Llícuar. I love learning about new places and I hope that you do too.

I live with a very kind and welcoming family. The dad is named Martin Ruiz Saba, the mom is Dora Purizaca Tume, and Dora’s brother called Benito Purizaca Tume lives there too. Their children are Darwin Ruiz Purizaca, Pepe Ruiz Purizaca and Ingrid Ruiz Purizaca. Martin and Dora are both in their forties. Benito is 26, Darwin is 12, Pepe is 7, and Ingrid is 6. In Peru and in most countries where Spanish is spoken children get two last names, one from their mom and one from their dad. Everyone keeps these last names their whole lives.

My house is made of cement blocks and has a tin roof. I live with one of the wealthier families in town so they have a nicer house, but most of the houses are made of a reed that grows in the riverbeds. The reeds are placed side by side to make walls and then the walls are covered with mud that dries and hardens. Part of my house had a cement floor when I moved in three months ago, but most of the house had dirt floor. This week the family is pouring cement floors in two of the rooms. This will be great because it will help with the respiratory problems that sometimes come from the dusty floors.

Rinconada Llicuar is a very small town home to about 2800 people who live in about 550 houses where most people are farmers. They grow rice and Pima cotton. It’s on the edge of the desert, but they get water from a deep well to irrigate the fields. Other people are fishermen. Rinconada is about a half an hour from the Pacific Ocean where the fishermen work on big ships that catch anchovies.

The fishermen bring fresh fish everyday (not anchovies) and we almost always have fish for lunch or dinner. I love fish and my favorite Peruvian dish is called ceviche. It is made by cutting fresh fish into small pieces, and putting it into a kind of salad with onion, cilantro and a spicy pepper called ají. Then you put lime juice all over it. The acid from the lime juice makes the fish look like it was cooked, but it’s raw. Then you eat it with toasted corn kernels which are like big soft popcorn kernels that didn’t pop and fried plantains called chifles. Don’t worry if you don’t like raw fish. People also eat chicken and potatoes a lot in Peru. In Peru there are more varieties of potatoes than there are anywhere else in the world- I think it’s like 2000 different kinds. Peruvians also eat a lot of rice at lunch and dinner; they say that food is not a meal without rice.

Most Peruvians are poorer than most Americans and people have fewer things. Rinconada Llicuar has had electricity for about eight years now and most people do have electronics like televisions and radios. In my house we have electric lights, a television, a radio, a refrigerator, and a blender. Few families have refrigerators because they’re very expensive. We do not have running water all the time, only every other day for 3 hours, but most of the houses in town have a faucet that the family uses to fill big buckets and barrels with water. There are no large buildings and only a handful of two story houses in town.

Peru doesn’t have states, it has departments and Rinconada Llicuar is in the north in the department called Piura. The capital of the department is also called Piura. I travel about an hour and a half from Rinconada Llicuar to the city about once a week to buy groceries, go to the bank and the post office, and to visit with other Peace Corps volunteers.

All of northern Peru is very hot. In the summer it gets to more than 100 degrees on the hottest days, but the rest of the year the weather is sunny and warm and it doesn’t really get below 60 degrees. I like the weather very much; the sun makes me happy. Northern Peru is also very close to the equator so the sun is very strong and you can get sunburned very easily. It never snows here. People wear clothes appropriate for very hot weather, but that will protect them from the sun. Farmers wear long cotton pants, long-sleeved cotton shirts with collars, and baseball caps. They used to wear big straw hats, and some old men still do, but most of the men don’t wear straw hats anymore. Men wear flip-flops or sandals called yankees that are made of tire rubber. They’re called yankees because rubber tires in Spanish are called llantas and the words sound similarly. Women wear knee length cotton skirts and t-shirts and kids wear shorts and t-shirts unless they’re helping in the fields and then they wear pants. Everyone wears flip-flops unless they’re going to church or a party and then they put on sneakers or dressier sandals.

There are no llamas in northern Peru, but there are lots of them a little farther south and in the mountains. I have only seen llamas in a park near Lima, the capital of Peru. I do not have a llama sweater, but I hope to buy one in April when I go on a trip to Cuzco, a town in the mountains where llamas live. My favorite animal in Piura is the owl. We have big white owls that I think are beautiful. People also raise a lot of guinea pigs for food. They’re called cuy, but I haven’t tried them yet. I still think of them as pets.

I have never been to Brazil, but I have been to Paraguay and Ecuador which are also in South America. I have also never been to the rainforest, but the Amazon River starts in Peru. The Amazon River goes through the rainforest in Peru and Brazil. I am hoping to go and visit the source of the river before I leave Peru.

Peruvians love soccer and I have enjoyed learning to play since I have been here. I work with a group of women who want to learn more about healthy lifestyles and sometimes we play soccer together. I also go running in the rice fields in the mornings because it’s very beautiful watching the sun come up over the rice fields and I want to keep my heart and lungs healthy.

There are some dangers in Peru, like there are anywhere. Peru has earthquakes pretty often. They’re usually not very strong earthquakes, but you still have to be careful. We had a small one in my house last week. The walls shook for about two minutes and then it stopped. Also, when you travel you always have to be careful of robbers because dangerous people can tell that you’re not from wherever you are traveling and sometimes there are dangerous people who will try to grab your purse or wallet.

To join Peace Corps you apply, just like you’re applying to go to college or for a job. To go to Peace Corps first you have to go to college and then if you want to apply you have to write a resume, cover letter, and a few essays. You have to get letters of recommendation from your teachers and previous employers and then if Peace Corps thinks that you can do the job they call you for an interview. Then, if they like you in the interview you have medical checks and background checks, and if you pass all of the checks they will send you to another country to work for two years.

I like living in Peru very much and even though I haven’t lived here very long I have friends in Rinconada Llicuar and I’m friends with the other Peace Corps volunteers who live in towns near me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I get back to the US. I would like to work for an international non-profit organization or USAID, the part of the government that manages international aid.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

I hope that I answered all of your questions and I hope to hear from you again soon.


Best wishes,

Ella

starting a book group

I was reading Reading Lolita in Tehran and considering my whole emotional turmoil around expectations of women here it has been really helpful. I mean not that the expectations are the same here and in Tehran in the last few decades, but that idea of being frustrated with others presuming limitations of your abilities. In any case, it made me want to start a book group, like the one that Nafisi had in Tehran before she fled to the US... What should we read? What language should it be in? Who would be interested in such a thing?
I'm not sure if there are people in Rinconada who would be interested in a book group. So far I know of no such thing, but there are several university students in town so I feel hopeful that it might be possible, or that such a group may already exist. Hmmm.

An apparent baby storm

Happy Valentine's Day! It's raining babies. It seems like everyone I know is having a baby. My cousin had a beautiful nearly 10 lb boy this week- Feburary 9th. Look! This is Kelly, Micha and little Erik.

Then my very dearest friend from the 7th grade tells me that she's having a baby and it's due October 3. She is very excited even though she and her fiancee were quite surprised by this development. They were planning to get married at Christmas, but in the last three days they decided to move their wedding date up by about 8 months. I'll be sending them ¨What to expect when you're expecting¨as soon as I find it on Amazon. (Don´t worry I'm not ruining the suprise becasue she doesn't really do blogs.)

Meanwhile, I have discovered that I am one of the oldest childless women ever seen in the town of Rinconada Llicuar and I hear surprise about this all the time from my new friends and neighbors. I´m spending a lot of time lately explaining that Americans tend to get married when they're a bit older and I'm met with an axiom about how the value of the ¨goods¨decrease after age 25. (Raise eyebrow here.)



Since I'm only 28 years old not having kids has never, ever come up as a criticism against me. In fact, not having kids has so far been a credit to my good sense as I think it did actually help with getting the master's degree and all. But lately, since I'm spending my spare time at the Miss Rinconada Llicuar pageant where 15 year old girls from the campo model bikinis after they perform traditional Peruvian dance numbers it's all kind of messing with my head. I'm wondering what does it mean to get married and have kids in life. It that really the point of it all? And is it always all tied up with traditional ideas about beauty and women competing against one another for power?

I actually never did want to have kids. I remember my friends in high school deciding what the names of their future children would be and me saying, ¨What about pet names?¨ I think that in the last 3-5 years my complete disdain for the idea has left me. I am open to the idea in life, but not now, not yet. This is fortunate for me because if you get pregnant and decide to keep your baby as a Peace Corps volunteer you get ¨medically discharged¨so basically if you get pregnant they kick you out.

The social pressure is just really interesting because it's quite cross cultural. My friends and family of the same age in the US are having babies and really everyone in Rinconada Llicuar makes crazy comments about me not being married and "Don't you want kids? It's bad to have kids when you're too old." Then they make jokes about me taking their kids back to states with me. I never in a million years thought that I would find myself explaining that, "No I'm not going to take any children back with me- at all." It's odd. It is interesting.

I'm sooo happy for my family and friends who are making great waves in the world and will make wonderful parents and dear god people, please spread the word that babies do not a woman make.

water purification SODIS

You have to boil the water in Peru in order to kill the parasites, viruses and bacteria that call it home before you can drink it. I'm lucky that the town where I live, Rinconada Llicuar chlorinates the water at the well, but you still have to purify it before drinking because the water system is not that well maintained and we only have water for 3 hours every other day. People fill up big trash cans, buckets, pots and all kinds of stuff in their houses to keep their water and after sitting around in trash cans for a couple of days new little microbes start living there. So bottom line: you get diarrhea unless you purify the water so some people boil their water before drinking it and many others just have diarrhea all the time.

In Peace Corps training they taught us this cool way to purify water called SODIS. Basically these Swiss scientists discovered that UV-A rays from the sun, the ones that burn your skin, also kill micro-organisms that cause diarrhea. This is very cool because you do not need to burn fuel i.e. wood or gas to purify the water, a fabulous benefit because fuel is expensive for people, not to mention that the smoke is not the best for respiratory health.

Basically, you put the water in clean, unscratched plastic bottles and leave them in full sun for 6 hours. Then all the little heebi-jeebies will die and ¨Poof!¨ no diarrhea for you. I have been using SODIS on my water for about a month now and so far so good. I have no more diarrhea than I had when I was drinking bottles water that I bought from the market. I mean I still have diarrhea but, I don't think it's the water. I think it's the food. Well, actually I think it's that the vegetables, and dishes are all washed with un-purified water and sometimes I eat off wet dishes and cook with wet veggies. Not ideal, but here we are. Poco a poco.

I'm excited because at first I was skeptical that this SODIS thing would work. I really think it works! I mean they're not quacks at the NGO or anything it's a big international non-governmental organization but still, I was suspicious. Now that I've tested it on myself I think I might take the show on the road and do some classes about it in my town. Apparently, in both Honduras and Bolivia the Ministries of Health promote this method of water purification. It's great for very poor communities because they can often find plastic bottles, but they don't have a lot of money for fuel and sometimes see boiling water as an expense that they can forgo.

http://www.sodis.ch/

murals, beauty pagents, children - EEK

As I may have mentioned before I have become and elementary school teacher. It was purely an accident and I'm still surprised to find 35 kids looking at me every afternoon. Currently, I'm painting a mural of the world map with about 120 elementary school kids 9-12 years old. Happily, not all at the same time- in groups of about 30. It's crazy and hard. I'm open to all suggestions. The town government said that they would fund the project but didn't actually go and buy the stuff in time for the summer camp to start so I have had 120 kids with nothing to do for the past couple weeks. Fortunately, things are looking up. We got paint and now we have a big white wall to paint. I did have to spend a lot out of pocket which hurt. I was out there all night a couple of days ago scraping the damn thing and yesterday the 5th graders went crazy with primer. Craziness. I'll definitely let you know how this goes. All advice about dealing with kids welcome. This is not my area. Eeek!!

Also in a bizarre turn of events, I'm helping to organize the Miss Rinconada Llicuar contest... Really, there are no words.

How did this happen? What am I doing in Peru again? Words of wisdom friends?

Photos from the afore mentioned yunse:

Also- Photos from my women's group meeting. We started a recreational night on Wednesdays for women. I think it will be fun. So far so good- only minimal political strife. They asked me about yoga and we did some :)

tumbin´ the yunse

I went to a really fun fiesta last night. It's the beginning of Carnival season in Rinconada Llicuar. Apparently Carnivales last for a month and culminate in 3 days which are really, really crazy Carnival at Fat Tuesday, but that's still a ways off. Last night was the first Yunse. I remain mystified by the origin of this celebration, (wikipedia had nothing) but basically they start by cutting down a pretty big tree. Then, they put a whole lot of stuff in the branches, like plastic dishes chairs, mop buckets, and clothes. Next, they move it to another spot, stand it up, and plant it. Finally, people are invited to take turns cutting it down again and when it falls it's like a giant adult piñata. Everyone runs like crazy underneath the giant, heavy, falling trunk to get their buckets and t-shirts. It is insanity accompanied by a fireworks castle, Huyano music, and an all-night dance drenched in Crystal beer and chicha.

I discovered that there are a few catches to the Yunse, for me. First, the people who put it on are just folks from town and they spend a lot of money on the whole affair. They're called the Majordomos. The folks that the Majordomos invite to chop at the tree with an axe are supposed to contribute money and put it on the next year, but it's an honor to be invited. So even though I didn't really know this before yesterday, when they invited me to cut the tree down I suspected that this was somehow asking me for money and fortunately I called my host mom over to help me communicate with this random drunk guy who was trying to hand me the axe. She told him that I would do him the honor of taking a few stabs at the tree but in my special position as a ¨volunteer of peace¨ that I would not be paying for the following year´s Yunse. He was into it so I had to take the axe and hack at this tree in front of oh maybe, 800 people. As I was hammering away at this tree, which really they want you to do some damage because it takes along time to chop down a tree, I was thinking so I'm surrounded by a circle of drunk men dancing the marinara waving red, green and blue flags and I'm chopping down a piñata-tree and in the Spanglish that is my inner monologue of late I had this cryptic ditty about tumbin´ the Yunse going in my head. (Tumbar means to chop in Spanish.)

Tumbin the Yunse
Tumbin the Yunse
Crystal oils my axe
These go-go guys marinera their flags
Probably will want me to drink lots of chicha after this...
Tumbin the Yunse
Wait what happens if it falls this way?
A donde debo correr?
Tumbin the Yunse
Is that guy urinating over there?
Hay dios mio.
Tumbin the Yunse

I hate it when I start to giggle to myself in front of 800 people. At the end of the day, one of the main things that I'm learning in Peru is how to do bizarre stuff that kind of freaks me out gracefully and in front of hundreds of people. I suppose that this is a good skill to have; I mean seems like it could serve me well later and I mean wielding an axe is kind of cool.

Photos to come. OH and they douse you in water and talcum powder as part of the fun. It was a blast.

Me and my bike

The day after Christmas I got a bike! Well it's not really mine. Peace Corps lent it to me and now I'm getting used to looking like the friendly neighborhood Mormon. The Peace Corps rule is that you have to wear a helmet. Everyone in town thinks that this is hilarious and jokes that my bike is a motorcycle- because that's the only place where they would ever wear a helmet. Now I can travel between Rinconada and Llicuar in under 20 minutes- nice.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas in Rinconada was lovely and New Year in Piura was a dance, dance revolution. (I love kinesthetic video game references.) Here are some photos, sadly I don't really have any photos of New Year's Eve because we went dancing and I didn't want to take my camera to the club, but it was great fun. And Christmas photos didn't turn out too well. I mostly asked other to take photos with me in them but my camera wasn't focusing that well. Oh well.



Christmas in Rinconada was so nice. People stay up all night. They wish one another Merry Christmas at the stroke of midnight then there are toasts, dinner, hot chocolate and panetonne which is sort of like fruitcake. Finally, everyone walks around the town visiting friends and relatives. There are kids carrying paper lanterns with candles inside AND this is odd there are two guys who dress up and tell each other jokes. They're kind of like wandering minstrel joke tellers, very, very not politically correct. One dresses up like ¨The old black guy¨and the other is ¨The transvestite¨a big crowd of people follows as they walk though the streets. They make fun of one another and of people in the crowd. I didn't hang around very long, because I really stick out and didn't want to become the butt of jokes that I don't understand!




This is the Chocoletada that took place on Dec. 22. A Chocoletada is a gathering where a group makes hot chocolate and buys panetonne (fruitcake-like bread) then they give it away. This is one that the town government put on. Sometimes these come with toy give aways ans this one had bags of groceries for moms and toys for kids. It was totally insane. I did a presentation of a story called Anita Cochinita (Piggy Little Anita) about a little girl who doesn't wash her hands and goes to the bathroom in the fields. This makes her sick, but then the doctor cures her parasites and she lives happily ever after. Fun times.





This is the mayor giving away the first bag of groceries to a greatful mom.






Then on Christmas Day there are more wandering minstrels. Only this is a band that plays marinera music. I don't actually know how to dance the marinera, but this guys really wanted me to learn.




For New Years a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers met up in Piura and we hung out for a couple of days. I considered staying in Rinconada for New Year but there is currently a bit of rivalry between differing political groups and that gets pretty ugly when all the men get really wasted on chicha and beer. So,I decided to high tail it to the city where drunken debauchery does not include fist fights. (Don't worry mom. It's fine.)