¿Cómo?

I have been welcomed into my new Peruvian family and I have been living with them for just over a week now. I live with Tina, my host mom (although she is only in her mid-thirties), her sister, and Tina's two kids, Laura who is 6 and Juan Carlos (JuanCa) who is 4. Tina's husband, Carlos, is here now, but will leave shortly for Lima where he works for about a month and then has 8 days off again to come home. The other morning JuanCa said that he was really sad, and when Tina and Carlos asked why, he said because he knows his dad is going to have to go back to work in Lima again. I can't imagine how hard it must be for them, but it is how he provides for his family and can afford to give them the rather well-off lifestyle and home they have. The house is two stories and has floors, a patio in the back, furniture, multiple TV's, internet, a fan, running water (no hot water), toys for the kids, a washing machine (no dryer), kitchen utilities, and even a blu-ray player. While these things may seem like normal household amenities in the U.S., they are extreme rarities here. A couple houses down, Carlos' mom, Señora Rosa and her husband live with their daughter (Carlos' sister), Nena, and her kids, Claudia who is 13 and Danilo who is about 10. We have lunch there every Sunday since they have a restaurant connected to the back of their house and make the best ceviche (among other things) in town.

The family is very welcoming, and have learned to be a little more patient with me. Their last volunteer was from México and spoke Spanish faster than they did, so the bar was set a little high. After all of the blank stares and "¿Cómo?"'s (which means "what?") the first few days, Tina said to me, "you only understand about 50 or 25 percent of what we say..." oops. They clearly noticed that I was just smiling and saying "Sí" a lot. Since then they've realized that I'm not exactly fluent and have been trying to accommodate. Laura is very affectionate and gave me a huge hug the minute I walked in the door. She loves to grab my arm and put it around her. It's not just with me though; she also plays with, cradles, and kisses our pet pigeon. Yes, we have a pet pigeon! They call it La Paloma, which means dove in spanish, but I am 99% sure it is a pigeon...I'll give Laura that 1%. JuanCa is also affectionate and often tells me to close my eyes and count to ten, and as soon as I start counting he sneaks a kiss on my cheek. He caught me once on the lips and was warned by Claudia that my man back home would not be too happy haha! He loves to sing, and is very talkative and although I have gotten a lot better, at first I could barely understand anything he said. He was always asking me questions and when I would hesitate to answer, he would repeat the question and say, "Sí o no?", repeating that more and more fiercely until I answered "Sí"....God only knows all the things I said yes too. They both love watching movies, so we have watched Twilight, The Avengers, Lady and the Tramp, The Lion King, Ice Age and many others since I've been living with them, and all in Spanish. Another thing they love is my iPhone. They love taking pictures with it, and going through all of mine. They think the videos I have of Chechis dancing and laughing (my friend Adrianna's baby) are hilarious. I also showed them that game "Cootie-catcher" that you make out of folded paper, where you choose a color and a sequence of numbers and then get a fortune at the end. Laura and JuanCa loved it and now it has spread throughout our whole street!

         
                                            

                                         


As for what I've been up to lately, some days are still filled with only eating, napping and sweating, but some have been a little more productive! My non-productive days have been spent watching movies and reading Tattoos on the Heart, a part comical, part inspiring, part heart-wrenching book written by Greg Boyle, a priest who works with gang members in Los Angeles and whom I've had the pleasure of hearing speak a few times. I definitely recommend it! As for some of my productive moments, I walked around the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, with Lacie and her host dad for a couple hours the other night. It is a very happening place at night and people just sit and talk or walk around, enjoying the cooler air. Last Sunday the three of us met at the Obispado (the Bishop's home, that is basically our second home here) and Skyped Paul and my friend Devyn who was having a Super Bowl party back in San Diego. We go to see the game, commercials, and even Beyonce all the way from Peru! By the way, while the game highlights didn't make Peruvian news, Beyonce did. Monday morning I went to the market for my second time, this time with my host family. It is an interesting area, four square blocks of fruit swarmed by flies, vegetables that hit the ground and get put back in place, beef hanging slung over metal rods, fish being scaled, chicken being chopped, and people bartering for the best food and best prices. I've also hiked a couple hills with Britt and Lacie. We go early in the morning or in the evening to escape the heat. You can see the whole city of Chulucanas, but what is even more breath taking is the view of of the mountains embanked by fog and the lush green area of farms and palm trees leading up to them. They look so close we could touch them. Wednesday morning I left for the beach with my whole extended host family. There were 17 of us, and it was almost a 3 hour trip to get there. We took a moto-taxi, two buses, and a 12 person van (with 19 people in it) to Cangrejos (Crabs). We all stayed together in a small beach house, with 2 bedrooms, blow-up beds, one bathroom, and no running water. Needless to say, it was quite a bonding experience. The beach was nice, different than back home. The water was freezing but at least the waves were calmer than in Lima. We saw sea horses, crabs, jelly fish, and these strange translucent beach bugs that settle just under the top of the sand called muy muys. The sun is much more intense here, and even with sunscreen, the family spent the whole next day saying how roja (red) and quemada (burned) I was. Friday we taught two English classes at the University. The morning class was with teens and the night class was for adults. The teens were fun, and very enthusiastic about a tic tac toe game played in two teams where they had to compete to translate Spanish words into English. The adult class was very obviously eager to learn. They asked us tons of questions and were most interested in our pronunciation of words. It was a very tiring day but very rewarding. We just got back from Happy Hour with Ed and Pat and Bishop Dan (who, remember, is a celebrity in Chulucanas). We ate popcorn, drank gin and tonics and beer, and talked about the short-comings of the Church as and Institution versus the hope brought into the Church by different people we have all been reading about. We're a pretty privileged group.

               

We are getting much more accustomed to the lifestyle and our surroundings here. We found a pizza place and a smoothie place, and are on the hunt for an ice cream place we have heard about from Pat and Ed. Mass is still a mystery; the Sign of Peace is an awkward half hug half shoulder pat, there are no lines for receiving communion, just a mass of people trying to get towards the altar, and I have yet to learn any of the songs or prayers in Spanish. I am able to find my way around most places, walking to and from my host house during the day and taking motos at night. The food has been very good. I still haven't had cuy (giunea pig), but I did have cabrito (kid goat) for lunch today. My host parents make different juices for every meal and they are all delicious. I also had calamari in a type of rice soup with vegetables and other seafood for lunch yesterday and I really liked it! Shout out to Paul because he knows how much I dislike calamari and has always wanted me to like it :)  I am still adjusting to the heat, and can't wait for the rain to come....although they say that when it rains, it POURS!

Pouring my heart into life in Chulucanas, but missing everyone back home. Oh and sorry this post is so long, there have just been a lot of changes this past week!

¡Ciao!

Eat, Nap, Sweat

So we have been living in Chulucanas for almost a full week now and are starting to get the hang of things! Shannon and Hannah returned back to the U.S. a couple days ago, so we're on our own now to figure out the rest. They came to show us where we would be working and living, and to introduce us to everyone. Small problem....almost every single person we were supposed to meet while they were here has been on vacation! So now we are waiting, which we have gotten used to by now, for them to return so we can introduce ourselves. However, there have been a few people we've met at the Obispado (the Bishop's house where we have been staying) that we didn't expect to meet but have been a huge help to us!

Bishop Dan is usually a very busy guy, so we were told he wouldn't be around too much, but he was actually here when we arrived. He is the bishop of the whole diocese of Chulucanas, and is basically a huge celebrity here. We went to mass and people of all ages surrounded him during the Sign of Peace. It was quite a scene, especially because he is about 6'4", a foot and a half taller than most Peruvians. Every house we have been in has a picture of him meeting the pope, and every time he leaves the Obispado he stops and talks to every person he sees on the way to wherever he is going.....he is late a lot. He is originally from Chicago but has been living here for 45 years! He has been so accommodating to us, and is one of the most caring and compassionate people I have ever met. While there are a lot of things I think the Catholic Church still struggles with, Bishop Dan gives me hope for how leaders of the Church can really affect people and inspire people to care for each other. There is also a couple here, Ed and Pat, who are from Chicago as well. They were originally a nun and a priest, but left their orders, met and got married. They are quite the firecrackers! Their witty banter is amusing and they have given us a lot of advice! They also hold a Happy Hour for English speakers every Sunday at 3 with beer and gin and tonics. They say it is part of their ministry to give us a time to relax and not have to be constantly translating in our heads. I agree!

Our first full day here we were supposed to walk around the city and ask people how to get to certain places like our work sites, our house, and the university. Naturally, the three of us accidentally found a "tour guide"instead. Juan is basically the night guard at the Obispado and he offered to walk with us and take us to all the places on our list...we accepted. We walked around until we were nice and sweaty  and decided we have a whole year to wander Chulucanas. Another day we went to the orphanage where we will be working during the summer since they can always use the help. Not three seconds after I walked into the building, a little girl wrapped her arms and legs around me, and my new little mono (monkey) did not let go until I had to pry her off of me when we were leaving. This morning we went with Lydia, one of the cooks at the Obispado, to the market to try to learn her expert ways of buying and bartering. She moves fast and doesn't put up with much. We saw your typical fruit and vegetable stands, and then came the meat. We watched the beef get carved, the fish get de-scaled and filleted, and the chicken get chopped up. I'll spare you the details. The meat is very fresh. The other day we walked by the dirt lot by our house where they sell live chickens and turkeys and ducks, and saw a man riding his bike carrying two live turkeys upside down, one on each side of his handle bars. We have started concocting a plan to set them free.


Another thing we've noticed is how much Peruvians like to celebrate. Not only do they have discotecas for young adults to drink and dance and party, they have "chicotecas" for kids from age 10 to 17 so they can party without alcohol. Standard. There was also a huge party in the plaza across the street the other night. They were celebrating the 77th anniversary (random?...they clearly do this every year, not just for the big ones) of the creation of the providence of Morropón, which Chulucanas is a part of....not the country, not the city.....the providence. Apparently it is a solid excuse for a huge party here. Starting around 8 pm there was a band, people cheering, make-shift restaurants set up in the plaza, and people selling carnival-like toys. Around 12:30 the three of us were about to fall asleep when we heard huge bangs, seemingly gun shots right outside our windows. That went on for about 7 or 8 minutes, and we finally realized they weren't gun shots, but actually fireworks and dynamite going off!

While it may seem like there has been a lot of action going on, we've actually really been doing a lot of nothing. It's their summer here now and it is so hot that no one does anything besides sleep between the hours of 1 and 4 pm. We've been eating breakfast, then trying to meet people (who have all been on vacation), sweating from walking around, then eating lunch, then napping, then sweating, playing some cribbage, then eating dinner, then going to bed. It's basically a cycle of eat, nap, sweat...the most exhausting week of doing practically nothing in my life.

Hope all is well back home! Today we move in with our host families so my next post will update you all on that experience!


¡Ciao!