Quick Catch Up….

So I have been behind on blogs because there has been a lot going on. Things are going pretty great here, but I think I’m starting to emerge out of the ‘honeymoon’ phase, as PC calls it. This is basically the time where the changes are fresh a new and therefore exciting for the sake of being different. I think the next phase is where things start to get a little complicated, so I hope I’m ready.

Now Christmas is over, and I’m getting ready for New Years. I’m trying to decide if I want to stay in site or head out to Piura. I would like to not necessarily be here in site because there are a lot of drunks around anyway, and I think New Years will have even more borrachos around… yay. Although it can be a little funny at times to see drunk men passed out in the middle of the street, it shouldn’t be something common, right? Maybe this is just my conservative US mentality that thinks this is sad and maybe this is one example of how my perspective on things will change. But I need to ask: do I want to change? I’ll leave that as is for now because that’s something very long and complicated (and boring).

But to catch up on what I’ve been doing, here’s a few things with pictures to show you some of what my site looks like. The first couple weeks I was mainly just getting to know people, set up my room, and organize some ideas. I got to meet a couple of the engineers working on the new water treatment plant that is almost done being built. Currently, there is pretty much no treatment of the town’s water of which the source is a nearby river that is already highly contaminated. I’ve heard different accounts of if there is even chlorination that is being carried out (but I think not). The water from the tap in Santo Domingo is visibly dirty and does not have odor but definitely has particles. I have also recently found out from a water test in October that there is a fecal coliform count of 102 fcu /100ml....cfu = colony forming units (Although coliforms are not hazardous to people’s health, this measure is used as an indicator for other types of contaminants in the water. I don’t know for sure the acceptable level in the US, but I believe this level should be somewhere below 1. I’ll get back to you on that (Kelly?). It seems that most people boil their water and/or use other in-house treatment methods like ceramic filters. I will look more into this when I conduct my surveys next month. Getting back to the engineers, they have been great in explaining things to me slowly so that I understand in Spanish and clearly. They have been great friends as well. Good contacts to have in Peru. At times, they have probably thought that I am an idiot, but have been nice to me anyways. I’m impressed at the workmanship on the system considering the absence of machinery.

Also, I got to sit in on some ‘educative sessions’ (formerly known as Charlas) that Sasha gave in Environmental Health and I also gave a couple little educative sessions to a 6th grade class and a kindergarten class. Pretty much all I did in the kindergarten class was talk about how cool water is and that I thought it looked better without trash in it. I’m not sure if this is effective to talk to kids of this age about the importance of water, but I sure had fun drawing pictures of rivers and rain and coloring with them. Just kidding, I think that above getting to know these cute kids, they got something out of it.

Fun and exciting news: I finally got to eat cuy! The counterpart of Sasha, my site mate, invited us to eat cuy (guinea pig) with her family. Sasha actually had the honor of killing a couple of the cuyes. She’s pretty tough. It was good the way it was made for us; similar to chicken. Supposedly it contains a lot protein and very little cholesterol. I didn’t really like the head of the cuy (see pics). It has a different flavor.

Well thanks for those of you who read my blog. I hope you are enjoying it. If you want to hear about something specific, feel free to email me or comment. I’m actually getting on answering your suggestions Sonya. See next blog. Life has changed so much for me, and I am now realizing that I am taking for granted those changes from my ‘normal’ life I the states. I don’t realize what is strange anymore; as I told my mother ‘Not much here surprises me anymore.’ Oh yeah… that reminds me of a quick story. Because of the new water system, many of the streets are being dug up to put and remove pipeline. For this reason, there are huge holes in the street and the other day I saw a donkey fall into one loaded with wood. It was crazy and I wanted to take a picture, but I felt it was a little inappropriate for some reason at the time. Poor donkey. This was right before I saw two bulls fighting on the street. Random yeah? Hasta luego!

Navidad Abroadidad

First starting of with a celebration of Hanakah in Piura city for Sasha and Peter, a series of more unusual feelings began. This is something that I am now much accustomed to in the Peace Corps: mixes of feelings. A group of us, Peru 12 volunteers in Piura, arranged to meet up in Piura city last weekend to take care of some more errands, purchasing of household items, and to just hang out a bit after our first couple weeks. It really can be energizing to get out of the campo for a bit to regain perspective and take a break, or in many cases like mine, a shower. All involved included Jessica, Lindsey, Eric, Matteo, Mark, Sasha, me, and a special guest from Tumbes, Sarah Walker, who had a medical checkup on her leg which she hurt from getting robbed a few weeks ago (see her blog for more details). It didn’t really feel like Christmas for a while because the weather is so hot here. But then I went into a shopping center and heard the Christmas music (in English) and saw the big Christmas tree and decorations in the plaza downtown. It made me a little sad to realize that it actually was Christmas and that my family back home was doing all the things that I was used to doing for Christmas that I was going to miss out on.

On my return, I was greeted by a beautiful dead mouse/rat on my floor in front of the doorway. Kinda gross. What’s the difference between a mouse and a rat, anyone know? I think it was a mouse. I feel much better now about my living situation because now I have a ropero (closet-thing), a gas stove, more tinas (plastic bins to store water and wash things), a bucket to try to make a soil filter, and more blankets. I still have to figure out a better way to wash myself and my clothes, but I have more utilities now. I feel a little spoiled because my apartment is pretty big, but I am very happy to have a lot of room!

I had a great time on Christmas Eve spending it with Sasha’s host family. The other host brother and sister, Paul and Cyntia, who are studying in Piura City, came home on the same bus as us to spend Christmas with the family. I went to the late mass at the church where the kids put on a little play of the posadas which is apparently a tradition for that mass here. After I got back from mass, we ate a good meal of chicken, salad, rice, and of course paneton and chocolatada. This family is very dynamic and has a lot of personality. At midnight, everyone shared hugs and wished each other ‘Feliz Navidad’ which was really nice to see along with the absence of presents. We had a good time eating, listening to music, and talking. After eating, Paul, Caty, Sasha, and I went on a hike in the dark up to the road out of town to see the stars. It was super tranquil and I had to remind myself that I wasn’t back in NM due to the clear sky and the scenery of the mountains in the dark.

Overall I had a great Christmas in spite of not being able to be with my family. I thought it could be hard, but it really helped just being around a family and feeling somewhat a part of that family. It was interesting being away from home, but in all, it was not super-different than what I am used to. I think a lot of it has to do with similarities throughout latin culture. I hope you all had a great Christmas and were someone where you felt at home.

Bull Fights and More

Today I saw a bullfight. No, not a normal bullfight with matadors and a stadium and such, but two bulls actually fighting. The downfall was that it was not spontaneous; it is an arranged event here where I live where people put their bulls up against others’ bulls in a huge soccer field and everyone surrounds the bulls until they fight (which apparently is inevitable with time). There is definitely a certain appeal to it, but my better nature wins out and I feel overall that it is an event that is a little cruel since it has nothing to do with the will of the animal and is simply for the pleasure of watching and betting. Although, I feel that it is not the worst thing since neither of the bulls ever seems to get hurt. I was glad that I went overall to get a firsthand glimpse at this cultural event and decide for myself what I thought of it. It was interesting because the scenery was gorgeous. A huge soccer field surrounded by steep, green mountains covered by clouds and hills filled with campo Peruvians and their gigantic hats watching from each opportune vista. These bulls were huge, which is surprising considering the lack of food that the Peruvians who raise them endure.

After getting over a brief sickness, things seem to be looking okay. I think I finally made it through a rough spell of a stomach bacterial infection that lasted about 4 days. Unfortunately, this was coupled with a really difficult night of the flu which amplified the discomfort (engineering word usage for you, Scott and Kelly). Getting sick REALLY SUCKS when you live alone –hope you don’t read this mom-, but Sasha and her family were close by and Sasha checked on me that night to make sure I wasn’t dead. Jay Kay. I’m fine, it was just a hard night. I am really happy that I didn’t quite resort to taking CIPRO.

On a lighter note, my house is pretty awesome. I have a two-room place with more space that I need for the little that I have. The first room from the street I am using for storage and my future kitchen where I will put my gas stove when I buy it. The second room is a little smaller and long which I use as my bedroom where my bed is and my clothes. I have a sweet door near my bed that opens up to a scenic view of a creek and the mountains in back. I am stoked because I love to have space and spread out.
I have a unique case as a volunteer in Peru where I am actually kinda renting from a family rather than having a host family. The Peace Corps in Peru uses host families in almost all cases for many reasons. First of all, it provides safety to be located within a family structure as the family provides protection for the volunteer. Also it helps the volunteer integrate into the culture through becoming part of a Peruvian family and also creates more opportunity to meet others through the family. Therefore, there are definite ups and downs to having my own place, but realizing the downsides helps me to understand the initiatives that I must take to achieve the same benefits. For example, I am currently eating with the host family of Sasha, and am therefore a pseudo-host member of their family as well where I can integrate with them, speak Spanish with them, but go home when I need some freedom. I feel like I get the best of both worlds, but I try not to make things too easy for myself. So like I was saying… my house is super nice and spacious and has an awesome view… but my bathroom and shower situation is not ideal. It is by no meals terrible, but more difficult than I would like. There is a shower and toilet facility behind my house near the river that I can see out my back door near my bed. The toilet now has a door, which is awesome, but the water in the shower doesn’t work and needs a curtain to the outside (actually has a curtain with a big hole). The hard part of the situation is that I have a door in back, but it is located on the 2nd floor and lacks a staircase. So the door is more like a window. To use the bathroom, I go out my front door, walk down the street a bit, unlock another door to an alleyway, walk down the alleyway and through a borage of rosters, hens, etc., and a garden to use the bathroom which until yesterday, I didn’t know how to flush (I know… I know). The flushing is another story, but the jest of it is that it lacked a handle to flush, but the top was open, therefore I knew I just open up the chamber to allow for flow. The problem was that there was no device that I could see outside of the water in the tank to make the chamber open, and with no light and knowledge of super-dirty water in the tank, I thought ‘No way do they stick their hands in the water every time to flush’… but yeah… I found out that is what needs to happen. Luckily the landlord caught the idea of my problem and attached a string to the chamber opening in the water, so now we don’t have to stick our hands in the water. Sorry for the long description, but it could have been worse by incorporating the logistics of when there was not water for a couple days. Oh yeah… and also my sickness and semi-frequent visits to the bathroom with no knowledge of how to flush the toilet is another story not appropriate for blogs.
Another story includes my first ‘bath’ since I got here to Santo Domingo. Considering the aforementioned shower situation, I decided it would be most easy and overall less cold and awkward to try and use wash clothes with water in plastic buckets to bath myself inside my house. I don’t think this was necessarily a bad idea, but it definitely lacked thought. It was a bit of a mess, and took around 1 hour to prepare, wash, and clean up, but I learned a lot from it and laughed a little about how weird it was. I realize that since I will most likely go into the city every 2 or 3 weekends or so, I will bath every 5 – 7 days (on average), and will only have to bath like ~3 times a month, which I think I can do as long as I don’t get too dirty. We’ll see how this works out.
Well these are my recent thoughts. My overall humor lately since coming out of my sickness is pretty good and optimistic. I met a lot of people today and am feeling more and more integrated. I know there are rough days ahead and days where I don’t feel like being social but should be anyways. Right now I am very satisfied with the situation and am amazed at the beauty of the land that I get to call home for the next two years. Don’t be surprised if my next blog sounds totally opposite.