In Defense of Food, ceviche and Dora's wisdom

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan is blowing my mind. It's like an historically grounded summary of what you always knew - Diet Coke just can't be that good for you, my grandma's oatmeal cookies are in fact nutritious and delicious, and vitamins must be overrated because they're not actually food. In fact, its what my adoptive Peruvian mother was saying when she constantly asked me why Americans eat only food that comes from a can. I of course said, "Americans eat all kinds of fresh foods, not just foods from cans, blah, blah, blah." Now that I'm back I'm realizing that the brick-shaped frozen fruits and veggies, sealed tubs of organic spinach, sealed bags of salad, Duncan Hines cake mixes, cans of tuna and Goya beans, Kraft shredded cheese in a bag, sliced 12 grain bread in a bag, pita chips, plastic tubs of hummus, etc. are very, very different from her diet (okay, well that one I actually picked up in Peru when I was desperately missing tofu bagel shmear) and that she would not recognize any of these packaged products as being safe to feed to her kids.

The readjustment process coming back to the US from Peru after Peace Corps is coming along. I'm in Austin decompressing, noting differences that I never noticed before, spending time with my family and looking for a job... in that order. Even in my very traditional family, with whom I'm spending lots of quality time of late, family dinners are not so much cooked as assembled. Today we had savory, amazing enchiladas a la my mom made with ground turkey. All of the ingredients had wrappers except for the onions. Just to put it out there my mom is a woman who breast fed 4 infants for more than 6 months each, made baby food with a food processor, and would only allow us to buy that gross natural peanut butter where the oil separates and sits on top. She is not exactly a processed food princess. None the less the food at the supermarket is very... industrial.

In thinking about food, I want to post photos of a ceviche making extravaganza from northern Peru. The fish here is cabrillon... which I think is sea bass. This is a pricey fish even in rural norther Peru where these ladies' husbands work catching it. Usually these families eat fish called cabrilla, which is mackerel and a lot less yummy but this day was a special day. There was a huge party at town hall celebrating something or other. I don't remember exactly what but the mayor bought enough fish to feed an army.

I only just told Dora, my Peruvian adoptive mother, that I broke up with Michael (former fiancee) almost 2 months ago, and that Peace Corps jetted me off to the US from Lima on less than 48 hours notice. I explained the why of the matter, that when we got to Lima he changed. She took the opportunity to thank god that I had left and tell me that she never had liked that boy, he wasn't down to earth enough for me - of course. Then again, if you ask me pretty much anyone other than an incredibly handsome, kind, humble and fabulously rich doctor would have been less than desirable according to Dora.

So I'll leave you with Pollan's words of wisdom, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." And I'll add, in good company.

Happy Peace Corps Week!

Peace Corps takes a week every year to promote their "third goal" which means that they educate Americans about people and cultures around the world where Peace Corps works. In conjunction with National Peace Corps Week I had the great privilege of speaking to all 300 or so of the students at an Austin-area middle school called the Ann Richard's School for Young Women Leaders on Wednesday morning. It's a public middle school for girls. The students were specially invited to attend, sort of like a magnet school and it shows. I was so impressed with the students. It was such a privilege to be there for a few reasons. First, the girls were so bright and interested. An 8th grader asked me what people in my town had taught me while I was a volunteer. Another girl asked me how the Peace Corps could help in places like Darfur because she was very concerned about the conflict there. Those girls are just stunning. Second, the principal was my high school English teacher. She was that amazing teacher in my life. She pushed and pushed me to create, achieve and take risks that I never would have taken otherwise. She was also super strict and was frequently referred to as the Dragon Lady. In fact I vaguely remember that the Haydon boys, skinny rodeo clown twins in my class, posted a cartoon of a dragon on her classroom door as a joke. I think it lived there for the entire 4 years I was in high school at St. Michael's Catholic Academy. It was a great experience to have this demanding woman see my work. Third, the school's Texas history teacher will soon become my sister in law. (Big Party here in June!) I'm happy to say that I think I may have scored her some points at work. Finally, I have been back in the states for 65 days today. It's helpful to me to talk about Peace Corps as I readjust and start to look for a job. Speaking of jobs, got any leads?

Austin Bikes

Riding bicycles in Austin is fabulous. I mean who doesn't love to ride a bike? AND here in Austin it's warm, other bikers and drivers are generally friendly, and people think that you are forever hip if you show up at a party on your vintage Schwinn roadster instead of your old battered Honda. Let's be honest. It's just all about the digits.

I grew up in Austin but I haven't lived here in years. After I left I always took my bike with me. When I lived in Brooklyn, NY and in Rinconada Llicuar, rural northern Peru I rode a bike all over. One develops skills. In Park Slope, Brooklyn I was frequently being run off the road by aggressive women pushing baby carriages, only to then be picked up by attractive delivery guys bicycling Thai food to some hipster's houses. I thought that this situation balanced itself out. In Peru, The Gringa (i.e. me) doing anything was an incredible show for everyone in town, so The Gringa being the only woman to ride a bike was very entertaining for all. Role modeling, blah, blah, blah, but sometimes you just want to get where you're going so I took to riding through the rice fields where I got many fewer cat calls. Now that I'm back in Austin I have been surprised to discover that when it comes to road riding, Austin is treacherous despite it's green living and outdoors loving reputation.

It's true. There really are a lot of bicyclists in Austin riding outside and keeping their carbon emissions down in their morning commute, so you would think that drivers would be used to trying to avoid killing them. I guess traffic just varies so much. If you're riding during rush hour people are inching along impatiently, staring holes into the bumper in front of them and really they're not going very fast so it feels safer. Any other time drivers seem like they are barely looking at the windshield, much more interested in the radio, the iPhone, or the crying baby in the backseat. I feel almost ridiculous wearing my helmet when a Ford F150 pickup speeds past me grazing my earlobe on Enfield. I'm on a bike. That truck weighs a ton. There is no delivery guy to pick me up and invite me to dinner later. In any case, I know that living in central Austin is a lucky break for someone who loves bikes. There are some bike paths, even if they don't always go where you need to go. And like I said if drivers are paying attention they're usually helpful.

In sum, I am proudly announcing that on Sunday I rode down Enfield, a busy street, to meet my brother for coffee. I guess I figured that he's a resourceful guy, he would notice if I didn't show up and come looking for me. Right? It's only like a 10 minute ride from the house to Medici Cafe at West Lynn and 10th St. It was a very proud ten minutes and I highly recommend Medici for a victory chocolate chip cupcake.

You gotta watch that miss

I almost never remember my dreams and I’m always jealous of all of the people who do remember what their subconscious was working through during their brains’ mini-vacations. In fact I get so jealous that I sort of hate listening to my friends’ dreams, but in spite of myself I love it when they try to think through what the weird and incongruous unreality might mean. So, I was giddy this morning when I realized that I remembered my dream. Last night I was awakened by a false smoke alarm (low batteries, all is well) and I think that because I was not sleeping quite so soundly I had a crystalline, memorable dream. I awoke terrified that it was real and was touching my arms and feeling around in my bed to try to get in touch with reality. Touching the sheet, smelling the waking, I realized where I was and had to smile.

I dreampt that was pregnant but for the entire pregnancy I hadn’t known it. Then, one day I was in the mall in Texas and just had a baby, not gave birth, just had a baby in my arms. The dream sort of skipped over the birth process. It was a girl. Oddly, in my dream I knew and was reasoning with all of the real details of my life. I recently returned from Peru, I even more recently ended it with my fiancée on a positive note; I am looking for work, etc. So, I had this baby and I sat down to breastfeed her in the neon encrusted and greasy smelling food court of south Austin’s own Barton Creek Mall. I walked away from the table and had a panic attack when I couldn’t find her. I guess she sort of slipped off while I was breastfeeding her and I didn’t notice. In my dream I was thinking, “Gee, this feels exactly like it felt when I was on my way to visit my family in St. Louis and I forgot my laptop at the gate in the airport.” I immediately ran back to the table and found the dream baby girl laying underneath, not crying but just waving her arms and legs and being a pre-person. The guy at the next table looked over, saw me picking her up and laughingly said, “Oh thank goodness. You gotta watch that miss.” Uh thanks random man. Maybe pick up the stranded baby next time?! Relief washed over me and then lightning struck, “Gasp. My ex-fiancée. She’s his too. How will he want to handle this? Good thing he’s far away.” The flash of light a la ex also brought new meaning to Random Man’s comment. “You gotta watch that miss.” I walked away breastfeeding the baby girl and wondering how to explain my personal immaculate conception and miracle birth to my parents. Then I thought, “You know, you are 30…”

Maybe this means that I will someday give birth to a laptop?

In sum there’s the unknown pregnancy, forgetting the baby girl, an odd amount of breastfeeding for someone who has never given birth or breastfed, my laptop, and Random Man. The cheesy online dream dictionary summary of interpretation is as follows: 1. Pregnancy symbolizes some aspect of your life developing but you might not be ready to act on it (unfortunately since I didn’t know about mine I’m not sure this counts); 2. Forgetting a baby means that you feel burdened taking care of someone else; 3. Breastfeeding means nurturing and suggests that you should be careful who you confide in; 4. Laptops signify the need to reach out and communicate with others under any circumstance; and 5. Random Man may symbolize the masculine part of myself, meaning the assertive, rational and aggressive side according to the cheesy online dream dictionary, or he may represent wisdom, forgiveness and friendly daily advice.

Lychee-Coconut Cupcakes with Ginger Frosting 4 stars, Dallas airport 2 stars

In my post-Peace Corps stupor where I live in awe of hot running water, wall-to-wall carpeting, and being pretty clean most of the time, I've started baking but I'm also starting to lose my mind. In some countries this is considered progress. The lychee-coconut cupcakes with ginger frosting got rave reviews from my friends and family. The lychee is subtle, if you're not told that the lychee there it just seems like an extra tasty, mildly coconut cake. The cream cheese frosting that includes ground and fresh grated ginger with candied ginger on top really won everyone over. I cannot say that I followed the recipe exactly. I started to but I used coconut cream from a can instead of from the package like they suggest because I had it in the pantry already. Maybe that was the problem, but the batter for the cakes was really, really thick, probably thicker than toothpaste and sticky, which seemed problematic. So, to make it just a tad thinner I used about 1/3 cup warm water and about 1/3 cup liquid from the can of lychee fruit. In the end they were moist and had a good texture, but the frosting... make the frosting. I even used low-fat cream cheese and it was so fabulous.

So now I'm on my way to St. Louis, MO to visit family. As you might expect the Dallas airport is mostly very uninspiring. But, the reason that I'm in the Dallas airport inspired me. I was getting on my 5pm direct flight to St. Louis when I realized that my laptop that I was bringing along to continue to look for jobs and show my grandma my photos from Peace Corps, was not in my hot little hand. EEEEK! Heart attack! In this moment I was literally handing the gate agent my ticket so I had to run out of line and look in the waiting area. It was GONE! An airport employee saw me nervously pacing around the waiting room and as we do not like nervous people in airports, doing unexpected things like running out of line, he came to see what was the matter. When he realized that I was looking for something he smiled.

"Green laptop?"

"Oh my God, YES!" I squealed like a sorority girl.

"Already down in lost and found."

WHAT?!?! You have to love Texas and so many places in the US where leaving your laptop in the airport waiting area in the middle of major financial hardship for most people results in it ending up in the airport lost and found and not in you losing all of those half done job applications, all of your Peace Corps photos and the $600 that it cost you. I could have kissed this man, except I was busy problem solving how to get to my grandma's house. Unfortunately, because the lost and found is far away from the gates and outside of security I missed the plane to go and get it. Then my new, indirect flight left late so I missed my connection. American wouldn't pay for the hotel so the Peace Corps budget had me sleeping in the airport. That I believe is bunk, but whatever. I slept on a Coleman cot, with my laptop, in the back corner of the employee lounge after kindly gate agent took pity on me. Trying to regain my mental acuity is a bumpy road but, the road is sweet with cream cheese-ginger frosting.

The Unforseen cupcake on day 25 back in the US

I borrowed these images from edwardsaquifer.net

I'm starting to feel reemerged in the place and culture of my hometown. Austin is famous for being a cool, young, fun, creative place to live and like all Austinites I'm proud of that reputation but, the growth that Austin has experienced between the time I was a small child in far south Austin and today is ambiguously breathtaking. It's like I don't know if I'm once again watching the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen from the top of the hill at Davis Lane and William Cannon, or if I've been hit in the stomach with freeways, toll roads, and people who literally have bumper stickers advertising their zip code like it's freaking Beverly Hills. That and I'm lost all the time. I literally have no idea where all these freeways go. I guess my excuse is that I've really only lived here about 3 of the last 13 years. I can't stay but I can't really stay away either.

I'm so fortunate that some dear friends who served in the Peace Corps live here in Austin. Angela, Patrick and I went out to St. Edward's University last night where they were showing a movie called The Unforeseen about the growth down in south and west Austin and the fight local environmental groups put up to protect Barton Creek and the Edward's Aquifer. If you're not from here it's hard to explain what these mean for Austin. The creek feeds an huge natural swimming pool that is a place every Austinite remembers fondly and where many, many of us learned to swim. The Aquifer is the drinking water for all of the surrounding area but it also creates a really interesting ecosystem around here. If you're traveling here from west Texas you really notice when you get to the Hill Country because there is just so much more water. Anyway the fight to protect it was complicated because people wanted to move to this great place and economic growth is good for those of us who have been here a while. And a lot of it happened about 5 minutes down the road from the house I where I grew up. The film does great justice to the complex picture and interests at play, particularly for the main developer of the time Gary Bradley. It would have been easy, but not very compelling to make a movie about the greedy and evil land developer. Laura Dunn chose instead to examine the power and influence of our economic system in each of our lives.

So, as I deal with my ongoing reverse culture shock I'm going to make cupcakes. My brother recently moved out of a house where he lived with roommate who was a chef. We found tons of prepared Asian foods buried in the depths of the pantry, including canned lychee fruits and coconut cream. I'm off to make some Lychee-Coconut Cupcakes with Ginger-Cream Cheese Frosting. I'll tell you how they turn out.

Robert Frost's Inaugural Poem for President John F. Kennedy

I'm watching the inauguration of Barack Obama, my country's first black president. This poem about becoming was read by Robert Frost at Kennedy's inauguration.

~ The Gift Outright ~

The land was ours before we were the land's.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia.
But we were England's, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak.
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

~ Robert Frost; 1874-1963 ~

And we're back!

The last sunset in Rinconada.

I had to take a break from blogging for a while. I see this blog as sharing my experiences, what I'm learning, and what's going on in my bubble. For a while there was just so much happening so quickly that I didn't know how to summarize it for your reading pleasure. I missed you and I do apologize for my unexplained absence. Thanks to all of my friends and blog readers who contacted me to make sure that all is well.

So, my life in brief since Nov. 2, 2008:

Nov. 4: I closed Peace Corps service. DONE! My fiancee, Michael and I watched my country elect the first African-American President from a raucous and celebratory living room filled with gringos in Lima, Peru.

Nov. 6 - 13: I bussed it up to Ancash,Peru and hiked the Santa Cruz trail, a 3 day hike that reached 4,700 meters in the central Andes.

Nov. 19 - Dec. 9: I flew down to Argentina with my friends Casey, Amanda and Travis for a 3 week adventure. We visited the bottom of the world, Ushuaia where we hung out with a very kind guide named Leo. Then we bussed it up to El Calefate and El Chalten where we hiked in some beautiful mountains and celebrated Thanksgiving with Argentinian beef and a delicious Argentinean Malbec. Further north, in Bariloche I got hoppin' mad with a guy who nearly erased all of my photos when he was trying to burn them onto a CD. To calm my nerves Casey and I tasted copious amounts of wine and rode bikes in Mendoza, where I discovered that not all pink wine is gross. And finally, in Buenos Aires we ate lots of beef at fabulous restaurants, drank lots of wine, and watched living tango chess in a park.

Dec. 9 - 16: I returned to Lima where Michael and I spent a week with my parents and his family, getting to know one another and having meals together.

Dec. 17 - 20: I went to Washington DC for an interview with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). They freaking paid for me to go to DC from Lima for 3 days! I was stunned. I really didn't believe that it was actually going to happen.

Dec 24: I celebrated la Noche Buena with Michael's family in Lima. Missed my family terribly and felt more than a little guilty that I didn't go home for Christmas. But, I got over it and partied it up with Michael's family.

Dec 29: I realized that Michael and I have some pretty profound issues to work out and that I wasn't going to be able to resolve them from Peru, so far from my regular US life. I called up Peace Corps to ask them to fly me home, about 2 weeks earlier than expected. I received an email from USAID saying that I was no longer being considered for the position. :(

Dec 30 - 31: Flew to Austin arrived Dec 31 around 2:30PM.

Dec 31: I rang in the New Year with my parents, brother and his nearest and dearest at a party in his new condo. We toasted to love and life and my own shamelessness. My family was so happy to see me that they even took a temporary break from being mad at me for not being home at Christmas.

Jan 1: I gave out all of the Argentinian Christmas gifts that I had been saving for my family.

Jan 2: I bought and iPhone and some new underwear, and later obsessed about fabric for bridesmaid's dresses in my brother's wedding with his fiancee. She settled on shiny green for her big day in June.

Jan 3: I started actively hiding in my parent's house because I realized that everything in the US is huge, loud and fast. But, decided that I must escape once in a while to take advantage of my 10 day free trial gym membership.

Jan 6: I went to the social security office to try to replace my lost card, but I left after about 10 minutes of feeling like I was inside a Far Side cartoon and decided to return to hiding in the house. While I was hiding in the house I decided to call up the consulting firm that does the USAID interviews and see about what went awry only to discover that I didn't NOT get the job! It's not a "yes we love you" but, it's way better than a "no and please don't call again." The email that I received on Dec. 29 was an automated email generated when the online application service purged my application, but USAID IS still considering my application. YIPPEE!! a better kind of unemployed.

Jan 9: I did some more hiding in house and bought some makeup in an attempt to recover from the oh so glamorous Peace Corps-look.

Current state of affairs: I'm in Austin for at least a month and probably two. I'm still engaged and we're working on our problems. I'm looking for a job in a really rough job market. I'm going to visit family in St. Louis Jan. 28 - Feb. 4 and will be in Washington, DC for more job search fun Feb. 10 - 13.

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.