Well, I realize it is nearing 5 months since my last post - my apologies to you, my avid readers. I'm not going to try and squeeze in the last 5 months in a detailed update. Let's be honest, you wouldn't want to read all that. So, here is brief update on what has been going on and what is up next.
My 27 months are coming to an end. I plan to leave my site/community/home for the last two years on the 12 of November. From there I need to spend a few days in Lima finishing up some "office stuff" - reports, banking, etc. Then its south. Fear not the northbound flight will follow shortly. However, being so close to the action a few of us are planning to head south to Chile and into Patagonia, a quick loop through Argentina and then the flight home. It looks to be a promising and exciting adventure.
So that's that. Two years come and gone. It's hard to imagine.
Here is a quick list of the projects and other shenanigans that have filled up my final stretch of service:
• An epic adventure into the Peruvian rainforest to celebrate the 4th of July.
• The completion of another round of "Healthy Homes" with the help of many of you back home.
• Dancing huayno one last time in the town festival.
• The recycling project.
• A birthday with bullfights and camping.
• One last conference in Lima.
• A few more hikes and treks.
It's not a complete list, but it sums up most of the activities. It has been a successful final leg of the adventure and the community is excited to receive a replacement volunteer to continue the work. I will be home through the holidays and into the spring before starting the Appalachian Trail, and would love to catch up over a coffee, beer or other. I leave you with a few pictures. Hope all is well back home.
Cheers,
Pete
10/31/2011
5/19/2011
treks, radio, and plastics
7:30 on a Wednesday morning in mid May and I have realized my last blog update came way to long ago. Often times, I will be talking to someone on Skype or what not and they will remind me that I haven’t posted in a while. Apparently reading my dribble is more exciting than actually talking to me in person! Hmm, anywho, I have plenty of updates for you all and hopefully a few photos. Enjoy your break from Facebook…
First up, another go at high altitude trekking in the Andes. The whole country of Peru shuts down for parties and vacations during Semana Santa or Holy Week. This means that we as volunteers also get a few days off for vacation and can aprovechar (take advantage of the opportunity) to see some more parts of this incredibly beautiful and diverse country. I joined a contingent heading out to the Cordillera Huayhuash. I won’t even attempt a lengthy description, for my words will surely fall short of the true majesty of the area. Huayhuash is a smaller mountain range that extends to the south of the main Cordillera Blanca (my area) which is home to the second highest peak in Peru (Yerupajá, 6,634 m/21,765 ft), a countless number of other jagged snow caps, gorgeously colored glacial lakes, high pampa or plateau land, rivers, and a sense of isolation that allows you to appreciate all the natural beauties without many modern distractions. We, our group of 5 including myself and Alex, headed out to the city of Chiquián, about 3 hours south of Huaraz, to catch the trail head and met up with our guide/cook. Yeah, we had a cook. He was incredible. I am confident enough to cook for myself while camping, but carrying a food supply for 8 days weighs a lot. We decided that having to hike over mountain passes between 4,700 – 5,000m every day we would hire a cook and some donkeys to carry some of the crew gear (i.e. food, cook tent, etc.). We had amazing weather thankfully, after our failed attempt at trekking a few months back. We still saw some snow at the top of the passes but the days were filled with sunshine and breezes that kept things cool and enjoyable for hiking. 8 days took us all over the mountain range: camping next to lakes and eating freshly caught trout, passing through small “villages” of 2 – 3 stone/grass houses used to watch after livestock, wild vizcacha (chinchilla type animal) scampering across the trails, Andean condors, and an overall amazing time outdoors, above 4,000m at the heart of Pachamama (Mother Earth). [Check out the Huayhuash wikipedia or google page to learn more about the area.]
After vacation on the trail, I have been fairly busy up here at site. The radio show continues to awe and inspire listeners every Thursday at 5 am. That’s what I think at least. Although, there has been some positive feedback for the AM “shout outs” we give to all the neighbors and community members. This week we have a great interview with the head of environmental education at the national park office recorded and ready for air. It’s been a fun activity and a good way to reach a lot of listeners, even if they only pick up on bits and pieces of the informative sections. All you need to start building are bits and pieces…
We just had our first recycling buy last week as well. After a few months of coordination we got our start up capital from the municipal government down the hill and put out some announcements on the radio regarding times and prices. For the first go around we (the newly formed environmental committee) bought 190 kg of recyclables (plastic bottles, scrap metal, cans, notebooks, etc.) for 75 soles. It was a great turn out. For that amount of money we were able to get nearly 200 kg of what would otherwise be garbage off of the streets and out of the fields. The kids and moms have finally seen the connection between recycling and economic gain. This is often a “make or break” type of realization for projects here. I can preach and preach about conserving the environment and applying proper waste management practices, but earning even just 1 or 2 soles can often times be the catalyst needed in forming a new habit.
I am starting to enter back into the schools as well. We have some plans to install a green house and vermiculture (worm composting) with a few sections and hopefully re-start the youth group from last year’s HIV/AIDS project. I have also been teaching English and a little computers in our newly formed “technical institute”. My counterpart Daniel has been doing an incredible job making connections and has brought 6 used desktop computers as well as internet to our small, dusty community center. The internet is part of a government project focusing on rural communications and the computers are being rented from an institute in on of the cities down the mountain. We have a few students that come every week and learn computer use, starting from the basics, and after a while can even move on to more intermediate programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. We just hired a professor from our town that has been studying IT for the last few years down the mountain and is now ready to put it in practice. It is only in the initial phase, but still interesting and inspiring to see technology attempt to weave itself into a culture and place that has never before known internet, email, Microsoft Office, etc. I feel that often times we (even down to our littlest kindergartners) take for granted such things that in the last 10-15 years have become a “normal” part of our lives. Email has becomes as instant as texting with all our new smart phones. If we need to google search something, we only wait a few seconds or grow impatient. So, it is has been fascinating to see these themes of “globalization” slowly move into our small, rural Andean community as well.
We are also planning to start up another Healthy Homes project including the improved cook stoves, tree plantings, organic gardens, and talks on nutrition, hygiene, and environmental conservation. I have a grant in progress right now and can hopefully be able to start up the project in the middle or end of June.
Everything else is going swimmingly. We have been planning a pretty amazing trip to the Amazon rainforest in July to finish up our vacation days. Then, a few short months after, I have my Close of Service Conference, which is the final Peace Corps “wrap up”. Only 6 more months and this 27-month experience will come to an end. It has been filled with so many wonderful opportunities, stories, experiences, and the like. I am sure the last stretch will prove to be just as rewarding, eye opening, and adventurous as the previous.
Hope all is going well back home and that you are enjoying the beginnings of a new summer. Keep me updated on your own adventures, wherever they may take you!
Peter
First up, another go at high altitude trekking in the Andes. The whole country of Peru shuts down for parties and vacations during Semana Santa or Holy Week. This means that we as volunteers also get a few days off for vacation and can aprovechar (take advantage of the opportunity) to see some more parts of this incredibly beautiful and diverse country. I joined a contingent heading out to the Cordillera Huayhuash. I won’t even attempt a lengthy description, for my words will surely fall short of the true majesty of the area. Huayhuash is a smaller mountain range that extends to the south of the main Cordillera Blanca (my area) which is home to the second highest peak in Peru (Yerupajá, 6,634 m/21,765 ft), a countless number of other jagged snow caps, gorgeously colored glacial lakes, high pampa or plateau land, rivers, and a sense of isolation that allows you to appreciate all the natural beauties without many modern distractions. We, our group of 5 including myself and Alex, headed out to the city of Chiquián, about 3 hours south of Huaraz, to catch the trail head and met up with our guide/cook. Yeah, we had a cook. He was incredible. I am confident enough to cook for myself while camping, but carrying a food supply for 8 days weighs a lot. We decided that having to hike over mountain passes between 4,700 – 5,000m every day we would hire a cook and some donkeys to carry some of the crew gear (i.e. food, cook tent, etc.). We had amazing weather thankfully, after our failed attempt at trekking a few months back. We still saw some snow at the top of the passes but the days were filled with sunshine and breezes that kept things cool and enjoyable for hiking. 8 days took us all over the mountain range: camping next to lakes and eating freshly caught trout, passing through small “villages” of 2 – 3 stone/grass houses used to watch after livestock, wild vizcacha (chinchilla type animal) scampering across the trails, Andean condors, and an overall amazing time outdoors, above 4,000m at the heart of Pachamama (Mother Earth). [Check out the Huayhuash wikipedia or google page to learn more about the area.]
After vacation on the trail, I have been fairly busy up here at site. The radio show continues to awe and inspire listeners every Thursday at 5 am. That’s what I think at least. Although, there has been some positive feedback for the AM “shout outs” we give to all the neighbors and community members. This week we have a great interview with the head of environmental education at the national park office recorded and ready for air. It’s been a fun activity and a good way to reach a lot of listeners, even if they only pick up on bits and pieces of the informative sections. All you need to start building are bits and pieces…
We just had our first recycling buy last week as well. After a few months of coordination we got our start up capital from the municipal government down the hill and put out some announcements on the radio regarding times and prices. For the first go around we (the newly formed environmental committee) bought 190 kg of recyclables (plastic bottles, scrap metal, cans, notebooks, etc.) for 75 soles. It was a great turn out. For that amount of money we were able to get nearly 200 kg of what would otherwise be garbage off of the streets and out of the fields. The kids and moms have finally seen the connection between recycling and economic gain. This is often a “make or break” type of realization for projects here. I can preach and preach about conserving the environment and applying proper waste management practices, but earning even just 1 or 2 soles can often times be the catalyst needed in forming a new habit.
I am starting to enter back into the schools as well. We have some plans to install a green house and vermiculture (worm composting) with a few sections and hopefully re-start the youth group from last year’s HIV/AIDS project. I have also been teaching English and a little computers in our newly formed “technical institute”. My counterpart Daniel has been doing an incredible job making connections and has brought 6 used desktop computers as well as internet to our small, dusty community center. The internet is part of a government project focusing on rural communications and the computers are being rented from an institute in on of the cities down the mountain. We have a few students that come every week and learn computer use, starting from the basics, and after a while can even move on to more intermediate programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. We just hired a professor from our town that has been studying IT for the last few years down the mountain and is now ready to put it in practice. It is only in the initial phase, but still interesting and inspiring to see technology attempt to weave itself into a culture and place that has never before known internet, email, Microsoft Office, etc. I feel that often times we (even down to our littlest kindergartners) take for granted such things that in the last 10-15 years have become a “normal” part of our lives. Email has becomes as instant as texting with all our new smart phones. If we need to google search something, we only wait a few seconds or grow impatient. So, it is has been fascinating to see these themes of “globalization” slowly move into our small, rural Andean community as well.
We are also planning to start up another Healthy Homes project including the improved cook stoves, tree plantings, organic gardens, and talks on nutrition, hygiene, and environmental conservation. I have a grant in progress right now and can hopefully be able to start up the project in the middle or end of June.
Everything else is going swimmingly. We have been planning a pretty amazing trip to the Amazon rainforest in July to finish up our vacation days. Then, a few short months after, I have my Close of Service Conference, which is the final Peace Corps “wrap up”. Only 6 more months and this 27-month experience will come to an end. It has been filled with so many wonderful opportunities, stories, experiences, and the like. I am sure the last stretch will prove to be just as rewarding, eye opening, and adventurous as the previous.
Hope all is going well back home and that you are enjoying the beginnings of a new summer. Keep me updated on your own adventures, wherever they may take you!
Peter
4/08/2011
un día
A rainy afternoon with a cup of coffee: the perfect time to write a blog entry.
Today started quite early for the pre-Peru Peter. A 4 am wake up call followed by much needed coffee has led us through a busy day to yet another cup of much needed coffee 13 hours later.
First on today’s agenda: Desayuno Ambiental, our weekly radio show hosted by yours truly and my buddy and counterpart in crime Daniel. After only starting 3 weeks ago, the program has really begun to pick up steam. Yesterday, a former resident of the community who now lives in our capital city of Huaraz and operates the radio programs for one of the largest mining companies in the department, came up to his childhood home and gave us a small workshop in radio production. When I say small I mean small. It was just me and Daniel for the better part of the day. Only later on into the evening did a few curious community members wander into our local and get suckered into recording a radio spot. It was great though. A very helpful and thought provoking workshop from a young professional of the area. He ended up spending the night and went on the air with us this morning for the program. Instead of the usual 5-6 am time slot we stayed on practicing, interviewing, and joking around until nearly 8. It was great to see that a successful, working professional who grew up and went to school in the community returned for free to help us out promoting not only his profession, but also giving a positive influence for all the youth thinking about continuing their studies down the mountain. You could see the passion for both the job and the community all in one devoted man. I doubt that our frequency carries all the way to the states, but if by chance you stumble upon an amateur Spanish/Quechua talk show at 5:30 am one Thursday morning discussing environmentally themed issues I would love some feedback. So, the radio show seems to be taking off quite well and we are now equipped with sound editing software and some great ideas. It should prove to be both a fun and promising project.
Continuing with the day, I rushed home from the “studio” and put away a fair helping of potatoes for breakfast before running off to the community meeting at 8 am. I had coordinated with the authorities the other day to acquire a time slot at the general assembly to make an announcement regarding our newly proposed recycling project and the formation of an environmental committee to oversee the progress. [We were just approved to receive a small municipal fund from down the mountain to start buying recycling and in turn selling it to a center a few hours away. It only amounts to about 50 USD but it should be plenty of capital to start up the buy/sell program.] I waited around in the foggy morning weather outside of our community center or local with the other comuneros as the secretary called roll and the president gave a few preliminary announcements. They called on me about an hour into the meeting and I gave my spiel, discussing how the recycling program will work (fingers crossed), what it means to recycle, what can be recycled, and opening up an invitation to all interested parties to join my committee. Surprisingly, it went over quite well. Two of my friends and fellow comuneros (Daniel being one) stood up and gave some eloquent words in Quechua about the importance of the theme and encouraging the community to support me in my efforts. As the crowd of rural farmers listened to their peers I began to notice that affirmative nodding – that universal sign of “oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea, let’s do that” – and realized I had the support of at least a few of them. The combination of cleaning up the “streets” and environment while simultaneously making a little bit of money seems to be a winning one at that. Elated from the positive reception on the recycling gig I ran home to change and then headed off to help cook chickens for a fundraiser.
The only “fundraiser” around my neck of the woods is called a pollada, essentially a chicken dinner. A bunch of women form the concerned party get together and prepare anywhere between 100-400 plates of chicken (1/4 chicken per plate) with sides of stewed corn, a shredded carrot/cabbage salad, and soup. The men cook the chicken in various adobe bread ovens scattered throughout the town. It’s quite a process and an exciting site to see. Cauldrons of soup and corn that could cook an 8 year old are balanced precariously on a few rocks, open fire lapping all around while women sit in circles talking and cutting up vegetables for the salad. When all is said and done you sell each plate for a marked up price (normally around 6 soles) and boom! you’ve turned a small profit with an incredible amount of labor. Pretty similar to selling Girl Scout cookies door-to door. So I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon next to a bread oven cooking chicken with the neighbors. It was fun, messy and in the end I got a free plate of food. The only downside was my free plate came with the feet and innards of our chicken friends and not the nice quartered pieces we were preparing. Sorry, you’ve got to buy those!
After lunch I got into a semi-heated argument with my 16 year old host brother about the upcoming presidential elections this Sunday (April 10). Okay, semi-heated is a bit harsh. Maybe I just got excited about talking Latin American politics to someone who hasn’t closed off their mind entirely. It was more of an educational discussion on the pros and cons of nationalist governments. My brother got bored pretty quick when I started going off on the differences of free trade and the country’s rich/poor disparity and changed the subject to music…. Anywho, if you want to check up on things the Economist published some articles about Peru’s elections…you can read them online right after you finish this to complete what I am sure will be your most exciting hour of internet time today!
Well, that just about does it for the day’s events and my update. I hope you enjoyed the “day-to-day” approach of the blog. If not, don’t worry…it’s all over now.
Like always, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the spring weather. Feel free to send me an update of your own when you have a chance. The time is flying by and in a short 8 months I will be completing my service. That means only 8 months left to send a package! Have a good one!
Peter
Today started quite early for the pre-Peru Peter. A 4 am wake up call followed by much needed coffee has led us through a busy day to yet another cup of much needed coffee 13 hours later.
First on today’s agenda: Desayuno Ambiental, our weekly radio show hosted by yours truly and my buddy and counterpart in crime Daniel. After only starting 3 weeks ago, the program has really begun to pick up steam. Yesterday, a former resident of the community who now lives in our capital city of Huaraz and operates the radio programs for one of the largest mining companies in the department, came up to his childhood home and gave us a small workshop in radio production. When I say small I mean small. It was just me and Daniel for the better part of the day. Only later on into the evening did a few curious community members wander into our local and get suckered into recording a radio spot. It was great though. A very helpful and thought provoking workshop from a young professional of the area. He ended up spending the night and went on the air with us this morning for the program. Instead of the usual 5-6 am time slot we stayed on practicing, interviewing, and joking around until nearly 8. It was great to see that a successful, working professional who grew up and went to school in the community returned for free to help us out promoting not only his profession, but also giving a positive influence for all the youth thinking about continuing their studies down the mountain. You could see the passion for both the job and the community all in one devoted man. I doubt that our frequency carries all the way to the states, but if by chance you stumble upon an amateur Spanish/Quechua talk show at 5:30 am one Thursday morning discussing environmentally themed issues I would love some feedback. So, the radio show seems to be taking off quite well and we are now equipped with sound editing software and some great ideas. It should prove to be both a fun and promising project.
Continuing with the day, I rushed home from the “studio” and put away a fair helping of potatoes for breakfast before running off to the community meeting at 8 am. I had coordinated with the authorities the other day to acquire a time slot at the general assembly to make an announcement regarding our newly proposed recycling project and the formation of an environmental committee to oversee the progress. [We were just approved to receive a small municipal fund from down the mountain to start buying recycling and in turn selling it to a center a few hours away. It only amounts to about 50 USD but it should be plenty of capital to start up the buy/sell program.] I waited around in the foggy morning weather outside of our community center or local with the other comuneros as the secretary called roll and the president gave a few preliminary announcements. They called on me about an hour into the meeting and I gave my spiel, discussing how the recycling program will work (fingers crossed), what it means to recycle, what can be recycled, and opening up an invitation to all interested parties to join my committee. Surprisingly, it went over quite well. Two of my friends and fellow comuneros (Daniel being one) stood up and gave some eloquent words in Quechua about the importance of the theme and encouraging the community to support me in my efforts. As the crowd of rural farmers listened to their peers I began to notice that affirmative nodding – that universal sign of “oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea, let’s do that” – and realized I had the support of at least a few of them. The combination of cleaning up the “streets” and environment while simultaneously making a little bit of money seems to be a winning one at that. Elated from the positive reception on the recycling gig I ran home to change and then headed off to help cook chickens for a fundraiser.
The only “fundraiser” around my neck of the woods is called a pollada, essentially a chicken dinner. A bunch of women form the concerned party get together and prepare anywhere between 100-400 plates of chicken (1/4 chicken per plate) with sides of stewed corn, a shredded carrot/cabbage salad, and soup. The men cook the chicken in various adobe bread ovens scattered throughout the town. It’s quite a process and an exciting site to see. Cauldrons of soup and corn that could cook an 8 year old are balanced precariously on a few rocks, open fire lapping all around while women sit in circles talking and cutting up vegetables for the salad. When all is said and done you sell each plate for a marked up price (normally around 6 soles) and boom! you’ve turned a small profit with an incredible amount of labor. Pretty similar to selling Girl Scout cookies door-to door. So I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon next to a bread oven cooking chicken with the neighbors. It was fun, messy and in the end I got a free plate of food. The only downside was my free plate came with the feet and innards of our chicken friends and not the nice quartered pieces we were preparing. Sorry, you’ve got to buy those!
After lunch I got into a semi-heated argument with my 16 year old host brother about the upcoming presidential elections this Sunday (April 10). Okay, semi-heated is a bit harsh. Maybe I just got excited about talking Latin American politics to someone who hasn’t closed off their mind entirely. It was more of an educational discussion on the pros and cons of nationalist governments. My brother got bored pretty quick when I started going off on the differences of free trade and the country’s rich/poor disparity and changed the subject to music…. Anywho, if you want to check up on things the Economist published some articles about Peru’s elections…you can read them online right after you finish this to complete what I am sure will be your most exciting hour of internet time today!
Well, that just about does it for the day’s events and my update. I hope you enjoyed the “day-to-day” approach of the blog. If not, don’t worry…it’s all over now.
Like always, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the spring weather. Feel free to send me an update of your own when you have a chance. The time is flying by and in a short 8 months I will be completing my service. That means only 8 months left to send a package! Have a good one!
Peter
3/25/2011
paint and stoves.
Well, it’s about that time again when I realize I haven’t posted a blog in a long while. I figured the last epic story would either keep all of you entertained for at least a month or make you not want to read again. So, after a small absence I will attempt to fill you in on my life here over the last few weeks. It’s been full of fun, cultural experiences, cook tops, schools, and other awesome adventures. You’ll just have to read till the end to find out all about it….
Carnaval is an extremely important festival in Latin American culture. You hear stories about the crazy samba lines in Rio and elaborate parties all over the place. Here in Peru is no different. Carnaval is the celebration of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, etc. Here in Peru it lasts a month, with a few days closer to the actual Tuesday becoming a little more “intense”. The northern mountain city of Cajamarca is renowned throughout Peru as having the most exciting, extraordinary, wild Carnaval festivities. Now, if you advertise things that are “exciting, extraordinary, wild” to a bunch of volunteers, the odds are you will get a fair turnout. So with this enticing claim to the best Carnaval festivities I traveled to Cajamarca for a few days to see what all the fuss was about. We went for the main days of the party and were not let down. The entire city on Saturday shuts down and turns into a battlefield. You arm yourself with water, paint, and any other random substance like shoe polish and motor oil. Water balloons, super soakers, buckets. All full of water-based paint and water. Your mission: soak and paint anyone in the entire city who isn’t you…or the police. I mean I didn’t know what to expect. I grew up having some pretty legendary water fights in the old neighborhood. Sometimes up to 15 kids would get into with hoses and all. Yeah, now imagine close to 200,000 kids (from ages 4 – 70) marching to a constant drum and brass beat throughout a beautiful mountain colonial town throwing water balloons, spraying paint out of hoses, pouring buckets of water on strangers, having the biggest paint/water fight you have ever seen. It was awesome. Everything was fair game. Taxis were covered with paint and constantly checking their windows. Little kids of 8 would run up to us and spray us with paint and water balloons. Middle aged women were spraying hoses at us out of their second story apartment buildings. It was game on everywhere. Locals were inviting us to home brewed corn beer while simultaneously drowning us with paint water. We were dancing through the streets amongst random crowds of Peruvians laughing and accepting the crazy gringo entourage. It was amazing. When they sun went down the party shifted to the main city square with the same music beat but without the soaking wet clothes. Instead the city substituted paint and water for various libations and kept the party going all night and into the next night. The following day we saw an awesome, colorful and eccentric parade that was the day’s main event. It was incredible. Something you need to experience to fully get. A fun vacation to say the least.
On another note, the cook top/healthy homes project came to a completion with the implementation of 23 cast iron stove tops that will eliminate smoke and related problems/illnesses as well as allowing for a faster cooking time and lesser consumption of firewood. The implementation was similar to the above-mentioned paint throwing, corn beer drinking festivities…. Well maybe not, but all the participants seemed very excited to receive this final part of the project and are now cooking on the new and improved stoves. It felt like a party to me to finish the project, and I am proud of the participants for seeing it out till the end and working to change habits that have been with them their entire lives: burning garbage, hand washing, nutrition awareness, etc. If you guys are reading, thanks for participating! Apart from the completion of the healthy homes project and heading north for festivals, school started back up. This means a great deal of things. Mainly, my Monday thru Friday will be a bit busier. Not saying that I will be teaching 6 hours a day but I will at least be wandering in and out of the different schools attempting to implement various projects. This year we are looking to focus on more environmental education (science, ecology, etc.), a recycling program, and perhaps a youth group of sorts. It’s still quite early on and all the students and teachers (myself included) have a lot of ganas to start up really cool projects. We’ll have to keep this motivation up for the whole year, not just the first month, and hopefully work to create some cool projects that will be enjoyed by all. I have also started up a radio talk show with my counterpart and amigo Daniel. We have the awesome prime time slot of 5-6 am every Thursday. You would be surprised to know how many of my friends and community members are up and about at 5 in the morning. It’s called Desayuno Ambiental, which can be translated as Environmental Breakfast. We hang out with the not-so-legal radio station operator (a guy who may or may not sneak a signal without a license out of his house) and discuss various themes about the environment interspersed by the wonderful local huayno music. It has been fun so far and will hopefully continue to be so. After the radio, school and stoves, we are also looking into a community wide recycling program as well as a few more tree nurseries. So, as I look to my last year here, it seems as though there will be plenty of promising things to keep me busy and help my fellow comuneros (community members). Time to get to work…
So, the last few weeks have been a good mix of fun and hard work. That seems to be a theme down here. A great fun time and experience with some truly rewarding and sometimes taxing work. Maybe not the 9-5 type of taxing, but certainly not a breeze!
Well, that’s the update for the time being. The invitation to come visit still applies to all of you (unless you just stumbled upon this blog via the inter-web and I don’t know who you are…). Time is escaping…only 8 months left so book those tickets quick! I hope all is well and that springtime is cheering everyone up from what sounded like a pretty harsh winter. Enjoy the nice weather and don’t be afraid to send me an email update of your own! Until next time.
Cheers,
Peter
2/26/2011
an adventure with the mountains.
feb. 16, 2011
This one might get long winded, but hey, you’re probably looking for a good distraction on the Internet. After all, one can only read so much about Egypt and spend so much time on Facebook before getting bored enough to check in on the “adventures of pedro”…
Some months back, a few of us volunteers began to discuss the possibility of a trek through the mountains in order to visit a large tree forestation center (supposedly the country’s largest), implement a new monitoring system for flora and fauna within the national park, and mainly just to go on what could only be an amazing 5 day trek throughout the Andes Mountains. We began to plan and settle on some dates and other necessary items. The dates we finally selected were February 9-16 – give or take a few extra nights here and there. Sounds great right? Oh, February is during the height of the rainy season in the mountains? Psh, no problem. We’re Peace Corps volunteers…we can do just about anything. A little rain can’t hurt, bring it on nature!
Every thing was ready. Last week we started off with 6 of us volunteers and two members of the national park. Our goal was to implement a new monitoring system for the wild flora and fauna that our friend and fellow volunteer Jess has created while trekking through the park and then visit the forestation center on the other side of the mountains upon reaching the city of Pomabamba. We all met in the city of Caraz where we would hire a car to the trailhead about an hour up into the mountains.
Tents. Check. Rain coats. Check. Stove, fuel and plenty of Ramon, crackers, GORP, and tuna fish….check, check, check. Knives, cameras, socks, monitoring plan, matches, good spirits….check, check, check, check. Oh yeah, we were ready. Nothing could stop us now, and so we began our journey up into the high Andes. Our first day was only accompanied by a few small kinks. A few people had planned on using donkeys to help carry some of the heavier gear throughout the trek. At the trailhead we soon realized that no one was there with their donkeys. Furthermore, no one in the whole village was willing to drop their work in the field and accompany our ragged group to the other side of the mountains with their beasts of burden. Hmm, an oddity. That would have been a weeks worth of work guiding their donkey for an equivalent pay of a small potato harvest (7 months work). Normally a campesino would jump on an opportunity like that. Something that perhaps should have been noted, but ah, hindsight is 20/20 or so I hear.
So we decided as a group to split up. Two of us would wait back in the trailhead village and see if another arriero (donkey driver) would show up in the next few hours. The rest were to head to the first night campsite about a 5 hour hike straight up hill. So our esteemed 3rd year volunteer Rabbit and myself stayed behind to wait on the arriero. We waited for about 1.5 hours and realized that no one was coming and we needed to get moving or nighttime darkness would catch up with us. While waiting for the arriero a thick fog had rolled in and visibility was low to say the least. It looked as though the rains were going to hold off though. We got a bit lost as the darkness of night tumbled together with the existing fog. We ended up taking a “scenic” route through highland tall grasses and mountainsides during the rain and night to reunite with our friends who were already at camp. We were led by their blinking headlamps and random yells for we had “decided” to leave to trail a few hours back, opting for the previously mentioned scenic route. So the first day wasn’t too bad. Just some kinks.
Day two came with a continuation of the heavy fog allowing us to see a generous 20 to 30 feet ahead. The air was dense with precipitation and we began our hike into what seemed like a cloud. We spent a long day hiking that included going up two mountain passes both of which were around 4,800 meters (~15,500 ft). We finally arrived in a small…I mean small…“village” of 5 houses, although we only saw one due to the fog and approaching dusk. We found the owner of the house and he led us to a small field to camp in. Phew, long day but a good day. And most importantly the rain held off, just the cloud like fog that took away most of the breathtaking views of hiking over two mountain passes.
Day three. Things get interesting. We woke up fairly wet due to a moderate rain falling all around us. Good news was that the fog broke. We could see the majority of the lush green valley with the raging river cutting through it, framed by the enormous peaks. Peaks we had passed over and those we still needed to climb. It was quite the site. By now, everything was wet. Our tents, our boots, our clothes, everything. The owner of the house came over to our camp and began to warn us of the day’s hike and current weather conditions. He told us rather bluntly and with the knowledge of a man who has lived amongst these mountain peaks and passes his whole life, that the rain down where we were meant that the day’s pass would be covered with snow. Perhaps lots. Mixed with the snow, ice, and low visibility the already narrow and dangerous mountain pass (4900m) renowned for knocking down donkeys with gusts of wind was going to be something we perhaps were not prepared for. Our mountain friend told us that he wouldn’t go near the pass himself and recommended with did the same. Damn. What now? We had trekked for 2 days into the mountains and needed to go 2 more in order to come out on the other side. We were right in the middle. Ahead of was a seemingly impassable mountain trail covered with snow and ice and behind us the two passes we had already climbed leading down to the small village where we had started. We were in a tough spot. We discussed the options and agreed that attempting to climb the pass after being advised not to by a local was not our best option. Even if we managed to get to the top, it would still be a three-hour hike down in mud and snow to the campsite. Our tents were wet, the temperature was dropping and the sun was nowhere in site. Just more rain and clouds. So, stifling our pride we decided the best option would be to turn back and try to get out the following day. This still didn’t solve the snow, rain, and wetness. The trail we needed to go back on would surely be mud and snow even if it was supposedly an easier climb than the one ahead of us. But climb we did. We climbed right back up the near 16000 ft passes that we trekked over the day before. And snow it did. We were walking through snow and sleet the entire time and trudging through muddy and snow covered trails to get back. Get back to where we started to think? Back to the first night’s campsite? Pop up our wet tents and sleeping bags and climb in? It didn’t sound like a vey inviting option. The wind whistled past us and made every break a frigid and numbing experience. If you stopped for more than a few minutes your hands would start to go numb and the cold, dried sweat and snow would quickly push you to continue moving up and up and up.
We finally found our campsite…at least where we were going to camp. We had passed it the day before but couldn’t really see due to the intense fog. It was a small, stone cabin and guardhouse for Duke Energy. We met the extremely friendly and jolly guard who was monitoring the surrounding glacial lakes’ water levels that fell down to a huge generator in the valley and were turned into hydroelectric power. The place was heaven. The small stone building was like a 5 star hotel for our tired, soaked bodies and crushed spirits after another long, arduous climbing trek. Our savior and new friend, Victor, didn’t think twice about opening up his doors and putting on pot after pot of hot water for tea and coffee. He cleared out his kitchen area and guest room for us to roll out our sleeping bags and hang up sopping wet clothes. It was incredible. We used his stove to prepare our feast of pasta and tuna and invited our jolly friend to dinner. We were able to spend a dry night in his cabin regaining the motivation to keep going the next day, making terms with the “failed” trip, and getting to know another amazingly friendly Peruvian. Without our little hotel suite we would have been forced to sleep in wet tents and bags in the rain and fight off hypothermia and crushed morale. Victor, you are the man.
We awoke the next morning to the first sunshine we had seen since we started out 3 days earlier. We breakfasted and said goodbye and thanks to Victor and started out on the easy downhill hike to our trailhead town. It was a leisurely and pleasant 4-hour descent compared to the arduous climbs and rain of the last few days. We finally arrived at the trailhead in mid day sun and found a car that was willing to fit all 8 of us plus gear in and take us down to the city. We wrapped up the trip with a plate of lunch in the market and relaxed. We had made it. Perhaps not to our destination, but we had made it.
It was a great adventure and we quickly realized that no matter how young, wilderness-ready, and stubborn a group of Peace Corps volunteers could be, Mother Nature can still put us in our place. Trekking in the rainy season is never really encouraged and we found out why. As I sit here, back in site with a cup of coffee and dry clothes, I realize just how nice my room in the campo really is. As much as we liked being wet and close to miserable, we all decided that June - the height of the dry season - would be a much better time to go than at the height of the rainy season. So, we will take a “rain check” (literally) and reschedule our excursion for a dryer few days. But, an adventure nonetheless filled with snow, stories, and the raw power of nature was had by all…that’s what matters.
Well, to those that have made it to the end of my long and slightly disconnected adventure story: thanks for reading! I hope all is well back home and that you are staying dry and enjoying your Ramon noodles in relative comfort. Keep in touch!
Cheers,
Peter
This one might get long winded, but hey, you’re probably looking for a good distraction on the Internet. After all, one can only read so much about Egypt and spend so much time on Facebook before getting bored enough to check in on the “adventures of pedro”…
Some months back, a few of us volunteers began to discuss the possibility of a trek through the mountains in order to visit a large tree forestation center (supposedly the country’s largest), implement a new monitoring system for flora and fauna within the national park, and mainly just to go on what could only be an amazing 5 day trek throughout the Andes Mountains. We began to plan and settle on some dates and other necessary items. The dates we finally selected were February 9-16 – give or take a few extra nights here and there. Sounds great right? Oh, February is during the height of the rainy season in the mountains? Psh, no problem. We’re Peace Corps volunteers…we can do just about anything. A little rain can’t hurt, bring it on nature!
Every thing was ready. Last week we started off with 6 of us volunteers and two members of the national park. Our goal was to implement a new monitoring system for the wild flora and fauna that our friend and fellow volunteer Jess has created while trekking through the park and then visit the forestation center on the other side of the mountains upon reaching the city of Pomabamba. We all met in the city of Caraz where we would hire a car to the trailhead about an hour up into the mountains.
Tents. Check. Rain coats. Check. Stove, fuel and plenty of Ramon, crackers, GORP, and tuna fish….check, check, check. Knives, cameras, socks, monitoring plan, matches, good spirits….check, check, check, check. Oh yeah, we were ready. Nothing could stop us now, and so we began our journey up into the high Andes. Our first day was only accompanied by a few small kinks. A few people had planned on using donkeys to help carry some of the heavier gear throughout the trek. At the trailhead we soon realized that no one was there with their donkeys. Furthermore, no one in the whole village was willing to drop their work in the field and accompany our ragged group to the other side of the mountains with their beasts of burden. Hmm, an oddity. That would have been a weeks worth of work guiding their donkey for an equivalent pay of a small potato harvest (7 months work). Normally a campesino would jump on an opportunity like that. Something that perhaps should have been noted, but ah, hindsight is 20/20 or so I hear.
So we decided as a group to split up. Two of us would wait back in the trailhead village and see if another arriero (donkey driver) would show up in the next few hours. The rest were to head to the first night campsite about a 5 hour hike straight up hill. So our esteemed 3rd year volunteer Rabbit and myself stayed behind to wait on the arriero. We waited for about 1.5 hours and realized that no one was coming and we needed to get moving or nighttime darkness would catch up with us. While waiting for the arriero a thick fog had rolled in and visibility was low to say the least. It looked as though the rains were going to hold off though. We got a bit lost as the darkness of night tumbled together with the existing fog. We ended up taking a “scenic” route through highland tall grasses and mountainsides during the rain and night to reunite with our friends who were already at camp. We were led by their blinking headlamps and random yells for we had “decided” to leave to trail a few hours back, opting for the previously mentioned scenic route. So the first day wasn’t too bad. Just some kinks.
Day two came with a continuation of the heavy fog allowing us to see a generous 20 to 30 feet ahead. The air was dense with precipitation and we began our hike into what seemed like a cloud. We spent a long day hiking that included going up two mountain passes both of which were around 4,800 meters (~15,500 ft). We finally arrived in a small…I mean small…“village” of 5 houses, although we only saw one due to the fog and approaching dusk. We found the owner of the house and he led us to a small field to camp in. Phew, long day but a good day. And most importantly the rain held off, just the cloud like fog that took away most of the breathtaking views of hiking over two mountain passes.
Day three. Things get interesting. We woke up fairly wet due to a moderate rain falling all around us. Good news was that the fog broke. We could see the majority of the lush green valley with the raging river cutting through it, framed by the enormous peaks. Peaks we had passed over and those we still needed to climb. It was quite the site. By now, everything was wet. Our tents, our boots, our clothes, everything. The owner of the house came over to our camp and began to warn us of the day’s hike and current weather conditions. He told us rather bluntly and with the knowledge of a man who has lived amongst these mountain peaks and passes his whole life, that the rain down where we were meant that the day’s pass would be covered with snow. Perhaps lots. Mixed with the snow, ice, and low visibility the already narrow and dangerous mountain pass (4900m) renowned for knocking down donkeys with gusts of wind was going to be something we perhaps were not prepared for. Our mountain friend told us that he wouldn’t go near the pass himself and recommended with did the same. Damn. What now? We had trekked for 2 days into the mountains and needed to go 2 more in order to come out on the other side. We were right in the middle. Ahead of was a seemingly impassable mountain trail covered with snow and ice and behind us the two passes we had already climbed leading down to the small village where we had started. We were in a tough spot. We discussed the options and agreed that attempting to climb the pass after being advised not to by a local was not our best option. Even if we managed to get to the top, it would still be a three-hour hike down in mud and snow to the campsite. Our tents were wet, the temperature was dropping and the sun was nowhere in site. Just more rain and clouds. So, stifling our pride we decided the best option would be to turn back and try to get out the following day. This still didn’t solve the snow, rain, and wetness. The trail we needed to go back on would surely be mud and snow even if it was supposedly an easier climb than the one ahead of us. But climb we did. We climbed right back up the near 16000 ft passes that we trekked over the day before. And snow it did. We were walking through snow and sleet the entire time and trudging through muddy and snow covered trails to get back. Get back to where we started to think? Back to the first night’s campsite? Pop up our wet tents and sleeping bags and climb in? It didn’t sound like a vey inviting option. The wind whistled past us and made every break a frigid and numbing experience. If you stopped for more than a few minutes your hands would start to go numb and the cold, dried sweat and snow would quickly push you to continue moving up and up and up.
We finally found our campsite…at least where we were going to camp. We had passed it the day before but couldn’t really see due to the intense fog. It was a small, stone cabin and guardhouse for Duke Energy. We met the extremely friendly and jolly guard who was monitoring the surrounding glacial lakes’ water levels that fell down to a huge generator in the valley and were turned into hydroelectric power. The place was heaven. The small stone building was like a 5 star hotel for our tired, soaked bodies and crushed spirits after another long, arduous climbing trek. Our savior and new friend, Victor, didn’t think twice about opening up his doors and putting on pot after pot of hot water for tea and coffee. He cleared out his kitchen area and guest room for us to roll out our sleeping bags and hang up sopping wet clothes. It was incredible. We used his stove to prepare our feast of pasta and tuna and invited our jolly friend to dinner. We were able to spend a dry night in his cabin regaining the motivation to keep going the next day, making terms with the “failed” trip, and getting to know another amazingly friendly Peruvian. Without our little hotel suite we would have been forced to sleep in wet tents and bags in the rain and fight off hypothermia and crushed morale. Victor, you are the man.
We awoke the next morning to the first sunshine we had seen since we started out 3 days earlier. We breakfasted and said goodbye and thanks to Victor and started out on the easy downhill hike to our trailhead town. It was a leisurely and pleasant 4-hour descent compared to the arduous climbs and rain of the last few days. We finally arrived at the trailhead in mid day sun and found a car that was willing to fit all 8 of us plus gear in and take us down to the city. We wrapped up the trip with a plate of lunch in the market and relaxed. We had made it. Perhaps not to our destination, but we had made it.
It was a great adventure and we quickly realized that no matter how young, wilderness-ready, and stubborn a group of Peace Corps volunteers could be, Mother Nature can still put us in our place. Trekking in the rainy season is never really encouraged and we found out why. As I sit here, back in site with a cup of coffee and dry clothes, I realize just how nice my room in the campo really is. As much as we liked being wet and close to miserable, we all decided that June - the height of the dry season - would be a much better time to go than at the height of the rainy season. So, we will take a “rain check” (literally) and reschedule our excursion for a dryer few days. But, an adventure nonetheless filled with snow, stories, and the raw power of nature was had by all…that’s what matters.
Well, to those that have made it to the end of my long and slightly disconnected adventure story: thanks for reading! I hope all is well back home and that you are staying dry and enjoying your Ramon noodles in relative comfort. Keep in touch!
Cheers,
Peter
1/21/2011
yes, i'm still here.
January 20, 2011 – 10 am
Well, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the ganas to update this. But, I will take advantage of this foggy morning to attempt to fill all of you, my faithful readers, in on the past few months.
I went home for the holidays. I assume that I spoke to or saw the majority of the people reading this so I will just saw a few words about the trip. I was home for about ten days for Christmas. It was great. I got to spend a lot of time with the family and eat amazing food and raid my parents freshly stocked beer/wine/booze collection. Hot showers became a daily part of my life again…I didn’t mind in the least. I saw snow and made fires for the sake of making fires and not simply for boiling potatoes. I drove a car and wore clean clothes. Cereal and pancakes were the norm for breakfast, not soup. Sandwiches replaced boiled potatoes for lunch. I will never underestimate the simplicity of a sandwich again. They are fantastic. I got to see a lot of my friends from both the Toledo area and elsewhere. We had some good times catching up to say the least. They were nice enough to fill me in on all the joys of American culture I had missed in the last year. So yeah, home was great. It was home and I was glad to see not too much had changed besides a new couch and an interesting type of malt liquor. Thanks to all who made the trip worthwhile. After all, it’s the people who I miss, not the trivial amenities like hot showers and good drink.
So that was my trip to the states. Before I left I spent a few days in Lima for our mid-service medical exams and a few technical training days. I won’t bore you with the details. The short of it is that I am healthy enough to continue my service and received some riveting new technical knowledge while spending 4 days with all of my fellow volunteers and friends in the capital city.
Now I’m back in Peru and my site. I came back to a new year, a new season (the rainy one), and a new routine. The school year here in Peru ends in mid December and the students have vacation until March. The normal “vacation” however just consists of working more hours in the fields with your parents. I was extremely lucky to be able to run around the neighborhood barefoot having water fights and eating ice cream during my summer vacations as a kid. So the routine has changed a bit with no school in session for me or for my host brother and sister. I spend my days going with them to the fields and helping to harvest, plough, plant and all the fun steps in between. We just harvested a small field of native potatoes yesterday and the day before. Now I know I have a cynical attitude towards potatoes in most of my blog entries and emails/calls back home but this time was different. First of all Peru has over 3000 types of potatoes. Yep, lets repeat that for emphasis: 3000 types of potatoes. I can think of maybe 5 back home and that’s if I include Lay’s potato chips. We spent the day high in the Andes pulling out 4 different types of native papa. The first few kilos we harvested went right into the pot on the small wood fire my mom and sister started in the same field. If that’s not fresh I don’t know what is. For lunch we had our papa with a spicy salad made from green onions, lemon, and rocoto the hot pepper of Peru. The papas were all sorts of colors ranging from a deep purple to yellow to red to white. Each one had a distinct taste and texture to accompany its color. We finished by loading up the burros with the full sacks of potatoes and hiking back down to the house. The afternoon rains rolled in and I spent the rest of the day sipping on coffee and reading (I’m attempting War and Peace with the rainy season down time I now enjoy…). That is a glimpse at the new schedule for the vacation months.
I am still in the midst of my healthy homes project so some parts of the day are spent coordinating with the health post or going on house visits. Once a week or so we have a charla, or session, on the various topics of the project like nutrition and organic fertilizers. The stovetop element of the project, which is the pinnacle, should be finished by the beginning of March. So when I’m not enjoying the papa harvesting and grazing the cows I am working on that project. The group seems to be enjoying the topics and my oddly eccentric way of demonstrating why nutrition is important and how to compost. Seem to would be the important phrase in that thought. I’m glad it is working out and the grant money just came back from D.C., so thanks to all of you for paying your taxes!
We (Alex and myself) just visited an informal recycling “center” (really just a plot of land with mounds of crushed plastic bottles) an hour or so away that is willing to buy our recycling and will even come up the mountain and get it. Hopefully we will be able to organize our communities and the schools when they come back in session to start a recycling project that will keep things clean and generate a small income for the participants. Thoughts for the future…
Other than that, things have been going well. I am still truly enjoying this awesome experience and can’t believe that I only have 10 months left. So, after completing well over half of my service, I have come to learn and love the culture of Peru, specifically the indigenous highlands I have made my home for the last 17 months. This life seems so normal for me now, despite the lack of showers, food diversity, constant connection to the internet (iPhones haven’t caught on quite yet) and putting English on the back burner. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Thanks to all those who continue to keep in touch, it’s always nice to receive an email/message/letter/other form of communication from all of you back home. I will try to keep the blog frequently updated during my last year of service…just don’t hold your breath in between posts - unless you’re really good at holding your breath. I’ll end my rambling here for today. Hope all is well with each and every one of you back home.
Candy is still encouraged….
Cheers,
Peter
Well, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the ganas to update this. But, I will take advantage of this foggy morning to attempt to fill all of you, my faithful readers, in on the past few months.
I went home for the holidays. I assume that I spoke to or saw the majority of the people reading this so I will just saw a few words about the trip. I was home for about ten days for Christmas. It was great. I got to spend a lot of time with the family and eat amazing food and raid my parents freshly stocked beer/wine/booze collection. Hot showers became a daily part of my life again…I didn’t mind in the least. I saw snow and made fires for the sake of making fires and not simply for boiling potatoes. I drove a car and wore clean clothes. Cereal and pancakes were the norm for breakfast, not soup. Sandwiches replaced boiled potatoes for lunch. I will never underestimate the simplicity of a sandwich again. They are fantastic. I got to see a lot of my friends from both the Toledo area and elsewhere. We had some good times catching up to say the least. They were nice enough to fill me in on all the joys of American culture I had missed in the last year. So yeah, home was great. It was home and I was glad to see not too much had changed besides a new couch and an interesting type of malt liquor. Thanks to all who made the trip worthwhile. After all, it’s the people who I miss, not the trivial amenities like hot showers and good drink.
So that was my trip to the states. Before I left I spent a few days in Lima for our mid-service medical exams and a few technical training days. I won’t bore you with the details. The short of it is that I am healthy enough to continue my service and received some riveting new technical knowledge while spending 4 days with all of my fellow volunteers and friends in the capital city.
Now I’m back in Peru and my site. I came back to a new year, a new season (the rainy one), and a new routine. The school year here in Peru ends in mid December and the students have vacation until March. The normal “vacation” however just consists of working more hours in the fields with your parents. I was extremely lucky to be able to run around the neighborhood barefoot having water fights and eating ice cream during my summer vacations as a kid. So the routine has changed a bit with no school in session for me or for my host brother and sister. I spend my days going with them to the fields and helping to harvest, plough, plant and all the fun steps in between. We just harvested a small field of native potatoes yesterday and the day before. Now I know I have a cynical attitude towards potatoes in most of my blog entries and emails/calls back home but this time was different. First of all Peru has over 3000 types of potatoes. Yep, lets repeat that for emphasis: 3000 types of potatoes. I can think of maybe 5 back home and that’s if I include Lay’s potato chips. We spent the day high in the Andes pulling out 4 different types of native papa. The first few kilos we harvested went right into the pot on the small wood fire my mom and sister started in the same field. If that’s not fresh I don’t know what is. For lunch we had our papa with a spicy salad made from green onions, lemon, and rocoto the hot pepper of Peru. The papas were all sorts of colors ranging from a deep purple to yellow to red to white. Each one had a distinct taste and texture to accompany its color. We finished by loading up the burros with the full sacks of potatoes and hiking back down to the house. The afternoon rains rolled in and I spent the rest of the day sipping on coffee and reading (I’m attempting War and Peace with the rainy season down time I now enjoy…). That is a glimpse at the new schedule for the vacation months.
I am still in the midst of my healthy homes project so some parts of the day are spent coordinating with the health post or going on house visits. Once a week or so we have a charla, or session, on the various topics of the project like nutrition and organic fertilizers. The stovetop element of the project, which is the pinnacle, should be finished by the beginning of March. So when I’m not enjoying the papa harvesting and grazing the cows I am working on that project. The group seems to be enjoying the topics and my oddly eccentric way of demonstrating why nutrition is important and how to compost. Seem to would be the important phrase in that thought. I’m glad it is working out and the grant money just came back from D.C., so thanks to all of you for paying your taxes!
We (Alex and myself) just visited an informal recycling “center” (really just a plot of land with mounds of crushed plastic bottles) an hour or so away that is willing to buy our recycling and will even come up the mountain and get it. Hopefully we will be able to organize our communities and the schools when they come back in session to start a recycling project that will keep things clean and generate a small income for the participants. Thoughts for the future…
Other than that, things have been going well. I am still truly enjoying this awesome experience and can’t believe that I only have 10 months left. So, after completing well over half of my service, I have come to learn and love the culture of Peru, specifically the indigenous highlands I have made my home for the last 17 months. This life seems so normal for me now, despite the lack of showers, food diversity, constant connection to the internet (iPhones haven’t caught on quite yet) and putting English on the back burner. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Thanks to all those who continue to keep in touch, it’s always nice to receive an email/message/letter/other form of communication from all of you back home. I will try to keep the blog frequently updated during my last year of service…just don’t hold your breath in between posts - unless you’re really good at holding your breath. I’ll end my rambling here for today. Hope all is well with each and every one of you back home.
Candy is still encouraged….
Cheers,
Peter
11/11/2010
yep. another update.
It’s 7:42 pm and I drank a cup of coffee at 5. This means I can’t go to bed yet, despite the rapidly approaching bedtime (currently between 8:30 and 9:30), so I figured I would sit down to update all of you on my current happenings and shenanigans.
Well where to begin. This past month or more has been filled with good things all around. Treks, projects, festivals, and new people. I’ll begin with the trek.
Alex, myself, and our buddy Will from another department set out on the Santa Cruz trek a few weeks ago in the end of October. After living in Ancash and outside of Huaraz for a year you begin to hear an awful lot about this particular trek. As some of you may know due to my rambling emails and occasional phone calls, Ancash and better said, the Huascaran National Park, receive a great number of tourists and the area is full of exciting outdoor trekking, mountaineering, biking, etc. This particular trek is the Park’s and region’s most popular and is completed by a great number of tourists each year between May and September. We figured after all the good hype we would give it a shot. I mean it’s practically in our backyard. I won’t bore you with small town names and mountain valleys. Lets just say that the trek was amazing and we ran into no one save a group heading in the other direction our last night on the trail. We completed the trek in about 2.5 days passing through the Punta Union towards the end of the second day. The mountain pass sits at 4,750 m high and cuts right through the Andes. It was pretty incredible. I’ll try to post a picture or two. If you want more details I suggest grabbing the nearest Peru guide book and paging through it. All in all it was a great trek passing through native queñual forests, glacial run off rivers, and of course the incredible mountain landscape. The three of us had a great time and it was fun to welcome Will to Ancash after a few months of not seeing him.
Festivals. We had our town festival as well this past month. I made the mistake of buying a guitar (not really the mistake part) and then showing it off to my family, who if you remember from constant blog reading has their own huyano group. So, not knowing the basics of guitar let alone rocking huayno rifts I was thrust into the practice sessions for one night of the festival. I practiced and attempted to learn but after a few jam sessions realized that this might be better suited for next years party and not the one in 4 days. The band agreed, ha. In any event I followed them up as a groupie and drank some of the “delicious” warm sugar cane grain alcohol to stay warm. Campo parties like this are just hard to put into words. You dance, drink, and go buy the occasional fried fish/potato combo when hunger strikes. This plus the huayno music continues for 4 days straight. Not like 4 nights and some rest. 4 days. Straight. I only got to witness the first 2 days this time around because with left for the trek during the parties. Another great time with my community. We also celebrated Halloween this year in Ancash as volunteers. It was a bittersweet weekend as the amazing group of Peru 12 said their goodbyes amidst costumes and beers. We had a pretty epic goodbye party for them, however bittersweet it was.
Projects. “Work” has actually been picking up this last month and I might be forced to stop putting it within sarcastic quotation marks. My PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS prevention program) grant has been approved and we have been pushing forward with that. I think the kids enjoy it, if nothing else because they get to see me talk about sex. We have a few murals planned that should hopefully go up this month and then the big finish on World AIDS day December 1. On top of this I finally got around to starting up and putting in the application for the grant for our healthy homes project. Basically the healthy homes idea is going to incorporate a project focusing on trash management, organic fertilizer like worm composting, bio-gardens, nutrition, hygiene, and at the end of it all the ever coveted improved cooking stoves. You may be asking yourself “how the hell did Peter fall into this one?” Not a bad question. The improved cook tops are focused on in the Health program of Peace Corps, so I knew what they were and had the resources about them. Furthermore, like I mentioned before this type of cook top is coveted…literally…in my area. It is a relatively simple metal cook top with a chimney that is installed on top of an adobe or brick base. It has a great deal of benefits including smoke reduction, more efficient fuel usage (wood), etc. It is also a shiny metal thing that costs about 200 soles. In other words, due to their already existing presence in some home of the area and the shininess factor, people know what they are and want one. Perhaps not for the more efficient fuel usage and less smoke, but because Joe next door has one. Regardless of the motive, they are a hot topic. So, I figured I could build a project focusing on both environment and health issues that revolved around something everyone wants. Thus, the healthy homes idea. We have started the few month process of giving educational sessions on various themes like trash management and organic fertilizers. After all these sessions we will install the cook tops and wrap things up. These two projects coupled with my time at the school are actually keeping my busy and like I said before, allowing me to work. Let’s hope things keep up with minimal setbacks (often a struggle here…)
So there it is. The last few months in review. Nothing outrageous, but a great trip into the woods and the start of a cool project. I apologize if the subtle humor was lacking in today’s post – Its now pretty late into the night (8:30).
Like always, I hope things are going well for all of you back home. Send me updates when you get a chance!
Peter
Well where to begin. This past month or more has been filled with good things all around. Treks, projects, festivals, and new people. I’ll begin with the trek.
Alex, myself, and our buddy Will from another department set out on the Santa Cruz trek a few weeks ago in the end of October. After living in Ancash and outside of Huaraz for a year you begin to hear an awful lot about this particular trek. As some of you may know due to my rambling emails and occasional phone calls, Ancash and better said, the Huascaran National Park, receive a great number of tourists and the area is full of exciting outdoor trekking, mountaineering, biking, etc. This particular trek is the Park’s and region’s most popular and is completed by a great number of tourists each year between May and September. We figured after all the good hype we would give it a shot. I mean it’s practically in our backyard. I won’t bore you with small town names and mountain valleys. Lets just say that the trek was amazing and we ran into no one save a group heading in the other direction our last night on the trail. We completed the trek in about 2.5 days passing through the Punta Union towards the end of the second day. The mountain pass sits at 4,750 m high and cuts right through the Andes. It was pretty incredible. I’ll try to post a picture or two. If you want more details I suggest grabbing the nearest Peru guide book and paging through it. All in all it was a great trek passing through native queñual forests, glacial run off rivers, and of course the incredible mountain landscape. The three of us had a great time and it was fun to welcome Will to Ancash after a few months of not seeing him.
Festivals. We had our town festival as well this past month. I made the mistake of buying a guitar (not really the mistake part) and then showing it off to my family, who if you remember from constant blog reading has their own huyano group. So, not knowing the basics of guitar let alone rocking huayno rifts I was thrust into the practice sessions for one night of the festival. I practiced and attempted to learn but after a few jam sessions realized that this might be better suited for next years party and not the one in 4 days. The band agreed, ha. In any event I followed them up as a groupie and drank some of the “delicious” warm sugar cane grain alcohol to stay warm. Campo parties like this are just hard to put into words. You dance, drink, and go buy the occasional fried fish/potato combo when hunger strikes. This plus the huayno music continues for 4 days straight. Not like 4 nights and some rest. 4 days. Straight. I only got to witness the first 2 days this time around because with left for the trek during the parties. Another great time with my community. We also celebrated Halloween this year in Ancash as volunteers. It was a bittersweet weekend as the amazing group of Peru 12 said their goodbyes amidst costumes and beers. We had a pretty epic goodbye party for them, however bittersweet it was.
Projects. “Work” has actually been picking up this last month and I might be forced to stop putting it within sarcastic quotation marks. My PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS prevention program) grant has been approved and we have been pushing forward with that. I think the kids enjoy it, if nothing else because they get to see me talk about sex. We have a few murals planned that should hopefully go up this month and then the big finish on World AIDS day December 1. On top of this I finally got around to starting up and putting in the application for the grant for our healthy homes project. Basically the healthy homes idea is going to incorporate a project focusing on trash management, organic fertilizer like worm composting, bio-gardens, nutrition, hygiene, and at the end of it all the ever coveted improved cooking stoves. You may be asking yourself “how the hell did Peter fall into this one?” Not a bad question. The improved cook tops are focused on in the Health program of Peace Corps, so I knew what they were and had the resources about them. Furthermore, like I mentioned before this type of cook top is coveted…literally…in my area. It is a relatively simple metal cook top with a chimney that is installed on top of an adobe or brick base. It has a great deal of benefits including smoke reduction, more efficient fuel usage (wood), etc. It is also a shiny metal thing that costs about 200 soles. In other words, due to their already existing presence in some home of the area and the shininess factor, people know what they are and want one. Perhaps not for the more efficient fuel usage and less smoke, but because Joe next door has one. Regardless of the motive, they are a hot topic. So, I figured I could build a project focusing on both environment and health issues that revolved around something everyone wants. Thus, the healthy homes idea. We have started the few month process of giving educational sessions on various themes like trash management and organic fertilizers. After all these sessions we will install the cook tops and wrap things up. These two projects coupled with my time at the school are actually keeping my busy and like I said before, allowing me to work. Let’s hope things keep up with minimal setbacks (often a struggle here…)
So there it is. The last few months in review. Nothing outrageous, but a great trip into the woods and the start of a cool project. I apologize if the subtle humor was lacking in today’s post – Its now pretty late into the night (8:30).
Like always, I hope things are going well for all of you back home. Send me updates when you get a chance!
Peter
10/02/2010
parades and such
Well it’s the end of September and I realized that this month has been fairly blog-less. I can’t think of an interesting anecdote in particular right now [my life in general has become such an anecdote…], so I will revert to the “old school” update of the past month or so.
A few weeks ago I accompanied a delegation from the Huascaran National Park to Lima for a parade. Now here’s a funny little quip about Peru: they absolutely love parades. I mean any sort of civil, religious, or other holiday there are parades. Not just the large cities like Lima and Huaraz but even in my site they prioritize the perfection of their parades over some things like say, latrines. In other words, parades are a big deal and we got invited to be in one. In Lima. I mean that’s like when Maximus and his crew get called up from the provinces to fight in the Coliseum in Rome [that’s Gladiator for those who are still confused]. The special event that called for the parade was the “Day for Cleanup and Citizenship”. Okay, an interesting theme for this environment volunteer and since I have been trying to work more with the park services I figured helping them out with their delegation would be good “face time” and a nice gesture. Plus, it was an all-inclusive trip to Lima: food, transportation, etc.
So we embarked on a night bus Friday for Lima and got in at 5:30 am Saturday. This left us with plenty of time to have a market breakfast feast and get into our costumes. Now the delegation consisted of 5 park guards, two of the engineers [tourism and education], a youth from a volunteer’s site, and us 3 Peace Corps volunteers. The park guards dressed up as, well, park guards. The two engineers dressed up as alpine mountain climbers and boarded a sweet float of a snow-capped mountain. The youth and another park guard dressed up in a bear and deer costume, respectively. So this left the 3 gringo volunteers. What better costume than the traditional regional dress of our communities?! So we got decked out in our traditional garb: hats, colorful skirts [they vetoed my desire to wear one as well], recycled tire sandals, colorful woven belts, vests, the whole nine yards. And this got us to about 9:15 am. So we milled around the city park and watched the other participants get ready. There were floats promoting recycling, the trash collectors of the area, lots of signs, and even a Peruvian scout troop. We milled in such a fashion until we started around 10:30. Before we started, the head of our group informed the 3 of us volunteers that there would be a band following us playing music for us to dance to. “Cool, we get our own band! Oh, you want us to dance huayno music. Ah. Yes, that makes sense. Damn it.” That was a sample of what went through my head. So off we headed dancing huyano [which for me is a combination of skipping and turning in a series of uncoordinated circles] for the next hour or so. It was a blast. We even got complimented by a professional marinera dancing couple, who asked if “we had taken lessons”. Well, most of my formal huayno training [by most I mean all] consists of being dragged into a group of people after a few too many beers in the campo and just trying to keep up with the rest of the folks in my community. So yes, in a way I am “formally” trained. Anywho, we finished the parade and had some lunch to close up the ceremony. A pretty fun(ny) day in Lima. Not what I expected, but that’s what makes life fun. We spent the rest of the day jaunting around Lima before heading back on another night bus.
Nothing helps you recover from two back-to-back night buses like going on a 3-hour day hike culminating in a frigid glacial lake jump. So that’s what I did the next day before heading back up here to site. A beautiful hike and, I repeat, a frigid lake jump was the best way to wrap up a hectic day in Lima.
I guess that turned out to be at least a semi-interesting anecdote. Cool.
In other news we started our HIV/AIDS prevention project the other week with a group of youth at the school. We are aiming for a series of talks regarding sex-ed , especially HIV/AIDS, some murals, and a puppet show. Nothing to exciting but it should be helpful for the kids. This week we [Alex and I] have prepared a pretty cool environment day for our schools with the guys from the park. They are coming up to give some cool presentations about the plants and animals we have, a puppet show [we love puppet shows], and other activities to motivate the kids to appreciate and protect our environment, especially the park. So that should be fun and hopefully run smoothly…fingers crossed. OH YEAH! I can’t believe I almost forgot to add this. At the beginning of the month my host mom told me something incredible: we ran out of potatoes. Yep, that’s right – no more papas until the next harvest. I was blown away. I thought such an event could never happen expect perhaps after a nuclear war. So yeah, this month has been potato free. We have been eating instead a lot of wheat, rice, pasta, and other tubers (!!) and cereals that we harvested. But fear not, the next harvest is supposed to take place in the next week or so and my beloved tubers will be back on the menu…in full force. Well I think that about concludes the excitement that has been the month of September. A year into this. Crazy.
Anywho, like always I hope things are well with each and every one of you. If you are every in the neighborhood don’t hesitate to give me a call!
Cheers,
Peter
A few weeks ago I accompanied a delegation from the Huascaran National Park to Lima for a parade. Now here’s a funny little quip about Peru: they absolutely love parades. I mean any sort of civil, religious, or other holiday there are parades. Not just the large cities like Lima and Huaraz but even in my site they prioritize the perfection of their parades over some things like say, latrines. In other words, parades are a big deal and we got invited to be in one. In Lima. I mean that’s like when Maximus and his crew get called up from the provinces to fight in the Coliseum in Rome [that’s Gladiator for those who are still confused]. The special event that called for the parade was the “Day for Cleanup and Citizenship”. Okay, an interesting theme for this environment volunteer and since I have been trying to work more with the park services I figured helping them out with their delegation would be good “face time” and a nice gesture. Plus, it was an all-inclusive trip to Lima: food, transportation, etc.
So we embarked on a night bus Friday for Lima and got in at 5:30 am Saturday. This left us with plenty of time to have a market breakfast feast and get into our costumes. Now the delegation consisted of 5 park guards, two of the engineers [tourism and education], a youth from a volunteer’s site, and us 3 Peace Corps volunteers. The park guards dressed up as, well, park guards. The two engineers dressed up as alpine mountain climbers and boarded a sweet float of a snow-capped mountain. The youth and another park guard dressed up in a bear and deer costume, respectively. So this left the 3 gringo volunteers. What better costume than the traditional regional dress of our communities?! So we got decked out in our traditional garb: hats, colorful skirts [they vetoed my desire to wear one as well], recycled tire sandals, colorful woven belts, vests, the whole nine yards. And this got us to about 9:15 am. So we milled around the city park and watched the other participants get ready. There were floats promoting recycling, the trash collectors of the area, lots of signs, and even a Peruvian scout troop. We milled in such a fashion until we started around 10:30. Before we started, the head of our group informed the 3 of us volunteers that there would be a band following us playing music for us to dance to. “Cool, we get our own band! Oh, you want us to dance huayno music. Ah. Yes, that makes sense. Damn it.” That was a sample of what went through my head. So off we headed dancing huyano [which for me is a combination of skipping and turning in a series of uncoordinated circles] for the next hour or so. It was a blast. We even got complimented by a professional marinera dancing couple, who asked if “we had taken lessons”. Well, most of my formal huayno training [by most I mean all] consists of being dragged into a group of people after a few too many beers in the campo and just trying to keep up with the rest of the folks in my community. So yes, in a way I am “formally” trained. Anywho, we finished the parade and had some lunch to close up the ceremony. A pretty fun(ny) day in Lima. Not what I expected, but that’s what makes life fun. We spent the rest of the day jaunting around Lima before heading back on another night bus.
Nothing helps you recover from two back-to-back night buses like going on a 3-hour day hike culminating in a frigid glacial lake jump. So that’s what I did the next day before heading back up here to site. A beautiful hike and, I repeat, a frigid lake jump was the best way to wrap up a hectic day in Lima.
I guess that turned out to be at least a semi-interesting anecdote. Cool.
In other news we started our HIV/AIDS prevention project the other week with a group of youth at the school. We are aiming for a series of talks regarding sex-ed , especially HIV/AIDS, some murals, and a puppet show. Nothing to exciting but it should be helpful for the kids. This week we [Alex and I] have prepared a pretty cool environment day for our schools with the guys from the park. They are coming up to give some cool presentations about the plants and animals we have, a puppet show [we love puppet shows], and other activities to motivate the kids to appreciate and protect our environment, especially the park. So that should be fun and hopefully run smoothly…fingers crossed. OH YEAH! I can’t believe I almost forgot to add this. At the beginning of the month my host mom told me something incredible: we ran out of potatoes. Yep, that’s right – no more papas until the next harvest. I was blown away. I thought such an event could never happen expect perhaps after a nuclear war. So yeah, this month has been potato free. We have been eating instead a lot of wheat, rice, pasta, and other tubers (!!) and cereals that we harvested. But fear not, the next harvest is supposed to take place in the next week or so and my beloved tubers will be back on the menu…in full force. Well I think that about concludes the excitement that has been the month of September. A year into this. Crazy.
Anywho, like always I hope things are well with each and every one of you. If you are every in the neighborhood don’t hesitate to give me a call!
Cheers,
Peter
9/05/2010
another phlog!
A random selection of photos from the last few months. Enjoy.
Three great Peace Corps volunteers teaching about trash after a puppet show.
A view of my house and Huascaran (6,768 meters/22,205 feet) .
In the rock forest Hatunmachay in front of the campesino's houses.
The above mentioned rock forest of Hatunmachay.
Cave paintings from around 6000-8000 years old in Hatunmachay rock forest.
Taking the hair off of our freshly killed cuy.
Same as above. Note the blood tripping down the cook top.
The two volunteers and our little brothers at the start of the glacier of Huascaran. 4,800 meters high.
Me and my little host brother at the ice.
Marching with the school and the professors in the Independence Day parade in Yungay.
Harvesting wheat with the family. Donkeys, sticks, and a big black tarp are all you need.
The new baby cow. Taken only a few hours after her birth.
The trash truck right outside my house. Win.
One of the freshly painted trash cans. We have 10 of them now in the community.
Plowing to prepare for the community potato planting.
The potato harvest of the family. Bagged and ready for the market.
Yet another beautiful view of Huascaran. It just never gets old.
9/04/2010
one of the club...
I recently celebrated my birthday here in Peru. My actually birthday was spent with the rest of the environment volunteers during a training event on the coast. My birthday gifts included a really fascinating PowerPoint on northern Peruvian marine life [read with heavy sarcasm], a machete [good/bad idea while given at a bar], a sea lion canine cut out of the washed up beast [don’t worry environmentalists – we found it dead], and plenty of good wishes. However, before I left for the above mentioned training event I celebrated my birthday the good old campo way with my family: cuyes and beer. Nothing unusual, I have enjoyed plenty a guinea pig feast so far and love the little guys. This time however, I offered to step up and prepare the meal...from start to finish.
Yep, I got to kill my first cuy. Now I know this might not be exciting if you are accustomed to killing your own livestock i.e. chickens, pigs, etc. But for this guy it was an experience. I told my mom a few months ago that I needed to learn how to kill/cook cuy so that when I go home and buy them at the pet store [this is only 60% a joke] I could prepare them myself for all of my friends and family. When we planned to have the lunch for my birthday I thought to myself “what a perfect opportunity to master the art of cuy”. So we planned on me helping out with every step of the process. I awoke the morning of my birthday lunch and realized that the day had come to put my jabbering mouth to the test. I figure if I can raise and eat the little guys I should at least have the stomach to prepare one. We started preparing lunch around 9:45, giving a bit of time for breakfast to properly digest.
**I am going to keep this next part real. If you are from PETA or have a weak stomach tough luck, you’re reading this voluntarily**
Some people choose to kill cuy with a very dull rusting knife. I was glad when this option was thrown out for the easier snapping-of-the-neck approach. I hope to attempt the knife version at some point but if can get a little graphic when the “clean cut” ideal turns into a 3 minute struggle. So, we snapped the necks. My mom, as a professional, was able to hold the neck in one hand and use the other to forcefully snap the neck and quickly/painlessly kill our lunch. I’m still an amateur. My mom showed this amateur that the hard adobe ledge of our cook top could double as a cuy smashing station. You simply press the head down really hard until you hear a “snap”. Okay, I was up to bat. My mom killed two in a matter of seconds. I started without the ledge method but quickly moved to it when my strength was only enough to draw blood and whimpering from the cuy. The ledge method wasn’t immediately successful either. I was pressing pretty hard and heard a few “snaps” but the little dude kept squirming about. Finally, with my mom’s guiding hand I was able to find the right spot and complete step one of preparing the cuy. Not as bad as I had thought.
Next, you need to de-hair the critters. This is a pretty simple procedure that includes hot water and lots of plucking. We dipped the freshly killed cuyes into a pot of hot water and began ripping the hair out. It worked surprisingly well. Now, you had to clean and shave the naked cuy. We washed them in our sink/shower/faucet/generic water source and shaved the rest of the hair off with a knife. Next, you had to really clean them…all of them. Meat is such a rare commodity at the dinner table that every scrap is put to use. That means instead of just cutting open and tossing out all the inside goodness you need to spend a half hour cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the intestines and internal organs. After washing out all the feces from the innards we seasoned the meat. We used freshly ground garlic and salt. That’s it. We let them marinate for an hour or so and then threw all the meat into a frying pan until it turned crispy and golden brown.
Alex climbed up the hill for lunch and together with my family we sat down and enjoyed the delicious Andean treat. It turned out superb and now I can transform a PetSmart purchase into a tasty meal. I hope you are all ready for that when I return.
After lunch, my parents, Alex and I shared some beers and I even pulled out the Glenlivet scotch my dad brought from the states for a round of shots. A good campo birthday and a great learning/cultural experience in the preparation of our dear friend: the guinea pig.
I hope all is well with everyone, and that you enjoyed the above. Thanks for reading and feel free to shoot me an email whenever you want.
Cheers,
Peter
Yep, I got to kill my first cuy. Now I know this might not be exciting if you are accustomed to killing your own livestock i.e. chickens, pigs, etc. But for this guy it was an experience. I told my mom a few months ago that I needed to learn how to kill/cook cuy so that when I go home and buy them at the pet store [this is only 60% a joke] I could prepare them myself for all of my friends and family. When we planned to have the lunch for my birthday I thought to myself “what a perfect opportunity to master the art of cuy”. So we planned on me helping out with every step of the process. I awoke the morning of my birthday lunch and realized that the day had come to put my jabbering mouth to the test. I figure if I can raise and eat the little guys I should at least have the stomach to prepare one. We started preparing lunch around 9:45, giving a bit of time for breakfast to properly digest.
**I am going to keep this next part real. If you are from PETA or have a weak stomach tough luck, you’re reading this voluntarily**
Some people choose to kill cuy with a very dull rusting knife. I was glad when this option was thrown out for the easier snapping-of-the-neck approach. I hope to attempt the knife version at some point but if can get a little graphic when the “clean cut” ideal turns into a 3 minute struggle. So, we snapped the necks. My mom, as a professional, was able to hold the neck in one hand and use the other to forcefully snap the neck and quickly/painlessly kill our lunch. I’m still an amateur. My mom showed this amateur that the hard adobe ledge of our cook top could double as a cuy smashing station. You simply press the head down really hard until you hear a “snap”. Okay, I was up to bat. My mom killed two in a matter of seconds. I started without the ledge method but quickly moved to it when my strength was only enough to draw blood and whimpering from the cuy. The ledge method wasn’t immediately successful either. I was pressing pretty hard and heard a few “snaps” but the little dude kept squirming about. Finally, with my mom’s guiding hand I was able to find the right spot and complete step one of preparing the cuy. Not as bad as I had thought.
Next, you need to de-hair the critters. This is a pretty simple procedure that includes hot water and lots of plucking. We dipped the freshly killed cuyes into a pot of hot water and began ripping the hair out. It worked surprisingly well. Now, you had to clean and shave the naked cuy. We washed them in our sink/shower/faucet/generic water source and shaved the rest of the hair off with a knife. Next, you had to really clean them…all of them. Meat is such a rare commodity at the dinner table that every scrap is put to use. That means instead of just cutting open and tossing out all the inside goodness you need to spend a half hour cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the intestines and internal organs. After washing out all the feces from the innards we seasoned the meat. We used freshly ground garlic and salt. That’s it. We let them marinate for an hour or so and then threw all the meat into a frying pan until it turned crispy and golden brown.
Alex climbed up the hill for lunch and together with my family we sat down and enjoyed the delicious Andean treat. It turned out superb and now I can transform a PetSmart purchase into a tasty meal. I hope you are all ready for that when I return.
After lunch, my parents, Alex and I shared some beers and I even pulled out the Glenlivet scotch my dad brought from the states for a round of shots. A good campo birthday and a great learning/cultural experience in the preparation of our dear friend: the guinea pig.
I hope all is well with everyone, and that you enjoyed the above. Thanks for reading and feel free to shoot me an email whenever you want.
Cheers,
Peter
8/16/2010
mas obras!
08-10-2010
Everyone wants to be the mayor. Everyone wants to talk about the mayor’s failures. Everyone wants to paint the side of houses with their preferred mayoral candidate. Election time is upon us here in Peru.
October 3 marks the local elections all over the country and the buzz of who will take the throne come the new year is ragging through all areas. Here in Ancash is no exception. For my small district of Mancos we have 11 mayoral candidates. 11. For an estimated population of about 20,000 people. The political system differs from the DNP/GOP dominated US politics. Each candidate or platform (district, provincial, regional, etc.) usually creates their own party with creative slogans. However, the 11 candidates for our small district in the Andes seem to be campaigning on one of my favorite slogans in Peru: MAS OBRAS, or “more works”.
We (my site mate and fellow volunteer Alex) have gotten into the habit of exhibiting the well-perfected cynical smirk/chuckle when we see every sign and banner promising more public works. (That coupled with an outstanding picture of ever candidate giving an awkward “thumbs up”). Nothing speaks success like a big new water reservoir or a cement soccer field. Now I understand that infrastructure is an important topic especially in developing countries like Peru, and I am not saying we shouldn’t focus on necessary public works like latrines, electricity, and potable water systems. I myself would possibly run a campaign promising more essential public infrastructure. I recently had an enlightening talk with my host-dad however about why candidates might want “more works”. **As a disclaimer I am not implying every politician in the zone is corrupt or focuses on the following process….only a few are.**
So why more works? Why does every alcalde (mayor) want to run on the same agenda? Well for one I do feel that here the people get more excited over a big cement project than a talk about hand washing or new text books for the school. [side note: this theory is furthering my rationalization for a giant cement statue in my likeness for the town square.] So the “MAS OBRAS” slogan will theoretically help you win votes. Okay, I feel you Peruvian mayor, votes are definitely a must for winning. Here’s the good part. My host-dad and I were discussing the whole “mayor thing” after we found out our beloved alcalde was being charged with embezzlement charges. Big shocker right? It’s always the politicians. Anywho, I asked my pops what for, and he told me it was about a scandalous “obra”. How can building stuff for the public be scandalous? Isn’t that a generous act of public service? Well apparently here in Peru when an obra is carried out the mayor receives 10% of the total budget for him and his crew. So lets say the mayor builds a new water system under his term for 30,000 USD. That means he gets 3,000 USD for his own good work to share among his regiadores, cabinet type underlings. Aha! So you mean to tell me that the more obras you do the more money you get. So the mayoral position is paid largely on commission. Well that explains it. But then why isn’t my district scattered with shiny new bridges and such? Now, I don’t want to launch into an anti-corruption tangent so I will let you smart folks think out the rest from here. One legitimate reason is that our district is also fairly small and the yearly budget is not enough to support the “shiny new bridge” theory. Anywho, bottom line is that I now understand why everyone – mayor and people – want MAS OBRAS!
So, with the electoral buzz making its way all over the mountain things have been pretty exciting. You can at least turn all the “weather” and “what’s the US like?” conversations into a heated political debate, and just step back and enjoy. Or you can wander around and make small talk with all the crews of people painting the sides of houses with candidates’ names (no yard signs here). Who knows who will win? My only hope is that they care passionately about the environment and want to help me pick up garbage.
Everyone wants to be the mayor. Everyone wants to talk about the mayor’s failures. Everyone wants to paint the side of houses with their preferred mayoral candidate. Election time is upon us here in Peru.
October 3 marks the local elections all over the country and the buzz of who will take the throne come the new year is ragging through all areas. Here in Ancash is no exception. For my small district of Mancos we have 11 mayoral candidates. 11. For an estimated population of about 20,000 people. The political system differs from the DNP/GOP dominated US politics. Each candidate or platform (district, provincial, regional, etc.) usually creates their own party with creative slogans. However, the 11 candidates for our small district in the Andes seem to be campaigning on one of my favorite slogans in Peru: MAS OBRAS, or “more works”.
We (my site mate and fellow volunteer Alex) have gotten into the habit of exhibiting the well-perfected cynical smirk/chuckle when we see every sign and banner promising more public works. (That coupled with an outstanding picture of ever candidate giving an awkward “thumbs up”). Nothing speaks success like a big new water reservoir or a cement soccer field. Now I understand that infrastructure is an important topic especially in developing countries like Peru, and I am not saying we shouldn’t focus on necessary public works like latrines, electricity, and potable water systems. I myself would possibly run a campaign promising more essential public infrastructure. I recently had an enlightening talk with my host-dad however about why candidates might want “more works”. **As a disclaimer I am not implying every politician in the zone is corrupt or focuses on the following process….only a few are.**
So why more works? Why does every alcalde (mayor) want to run on the same agenda? Well for one I do feel that here the people get more excited over a big cement project than a talk about hand washing or new text books for the school. [side note: this theory is furthering my rationalization for a giant cement statue in my likeness for the town square.] So the “MAS OBRAS” slogan will theoretically help you win votes. Okay, I feel you Peruvian mayor, votes are definitely a must for winning. Here’s the good part. My host-dad and I were discussing the whole “mayor thing” after we found out our beloved alcalde was being charged with embezzlement charges. Big shocker right? It’s always the politicians. Anywho, I asked my pops what for, and he told me it was about a scandalous “obra”. How can building stuff for the public be scandalous? Isn’t that a generous act of public service? Well apparently here in Peru when an obra is carried out the mayor receives 10% of the total budget for him and his crew. So lets say the mayor builds a new water system under his term for 30,000 USD. That means he gets 3,000 USD for his own good work to share among his regiadores, cabinet type underlings. Aha! So you mean to tell me that the more obras you do the more money you get. So the mayoral position is paid largely on commission. Well that explains it. But then why isn’t my district scattered with shiny new bridges and such? Now, I don’t want to launch into an anti-corruption tangent so I will let you smart folks think out the rest from here. One legitimate reason is that our district is also fairly small and the yearly budget is not enough to support the “shiny new bridge” theory. Anywho, bottom line is that I now understand why everyone – mayor and people – want MAS OBRAS!
So, with the electoral buzz making its way all over the mountain things have been pretty exciting. You can at least turn all the “weather” and “what’s the US like?” conversations into a heated political debate, and just step back and enjoy. Or you can wander around and make small talk with all the crews of people painting the sides of houses with candidates’ names (no yard signs here). Who knows who will win? My only hope is that they care passionately about the environment and want to help me pick up garbage.
7/24/2010
Autographs and stamps…
Well it’s 6 am and I have some time to kill while I drink my coffee before work. No better way to kill time than to describe/rant/elaborate about a Peruvian process seen by those of us here on a regular basis. I am referring to the the great and mighty Peruvian paper trail and the steps behind it. Everything here in Peru, be it a document asking for millions of dollars of international aid or the simple work plan you propose for teaching a 6 week environmental class in the primary school, has to come with the right paper work. This includes solicitudes used for the asking of some thing, oficios for the declaration of some thing, invitations, work plans, etc. Every step of the way comes with an official form to document the process. Nothing unusual, I understand.
The next formality lies within my personal favorite, the sello or stamp/seal. Everyone in Peru has a sello. If you don’t have a personalized stamp with at least your name and title most of this paper work is laughed at or treated with minimal importance. The sello. I for one love them. Everyone has their own unique (well, as unique as copying your friends and fellow peers can be) style and design. At the end of meetings, the formation of such documents, or an other “official” business everyone takes turns stamping their approval. [As a side note I am in the market for a new sello, mine currently has my name and Peace Corps only….clearly not formal enough to hang with the big guys]. Nothing too crazy either, just part of the process.
To continue, the next logical step is that all of these documents need to be “signed, sealed, and delivered” to seek proper approval. A document normally appears more “professional” with an array of stamps, colors, and signatures. So naturally when I take it upon myself to write these documents I like to include the authorities whenever possible, specifically when it is something for the district or provincial municipal governments. As you can imagine, the municipal governments are the entity I work with most that simply love and need the sello/document combo to get anything done.
A quick recap: you need to create an official form document for any and everything and this document best include at least one sello if not more for the government.
Now a personal anecdote relating to the process in general…
I have recently been working to get the provincial municipal government of the nearby city Yungay to amplify their trash collection service, reaching my town. The process was complete: Alex (site mate) and I had written the soliciting document, ran around getting the necessary signature/sello combinations, asked for an authorization document from the district municipality, and finally (!) been approved for the trash collection service. Fantastic. We were both ecstatic as new environment volunteers looking for that first big project. The truck finally came for its first run through last week, passing through Alex’s town and then climbing the hill to make its rounds in mine. A few problems emerged however. Being Peru and the Peace Corps this was to be expected. The engineer who tagged along to pick out the most efficient route informed me that we had only but the name of Huashcao on the document and not the 5 surrounding caseríos, or neighborhoods, where the majority of the population, myself included, live. Ah, the fine details. Where was my lawyer father when I needed a proofread? So problem number one is that until we turn in a new document specifically asking for the service in these areas as well they will continue the trash collection only in the “city center” of Huashcao: a booming metropolis with about 40 houses and the school. Problem number two is that the bridge connecting the two towns and their new trash service is broken. The engineer told me we need to fix said bridge before the next go around of collection. Right now the only route from Alex’s town to mine is by driving up the mountain another 15 minutes, passing through a neighboring town, and then driving back down the mountain 15 minutes. This is a waste of time and gas. So two new problems that will need the proper documentation and stamps have arisen.
This was last week. As an individual with my own schedule I was able to draft up the documents the same day and arrange with the mayor to go down to the municipalities the following day to print, sign, stamp, and turn in the documents in a hope to expedite the process. Now, like the process calls for you need at least one authorities stamp/John Hancock to be approved. This being a matter of the legal reaches of Huashcao; the mayor is the one I need. A brief tangent to bring you to speed with our current mayoral administration: despite his friendly attitude our mayor has acquired the nickname of “machete” by some due to the amount of times he has cut meetings or skipped out on important dates. Now this is not the end of the world when you are working on the hora peruana, which calls for things to happen when the happen and not on any sort of deadline. I can normally afford to meander down to his house a few times, passing off notes, attempting the phone call that won’t go through, before getting the stamp. However, the engineer told us we need to fix this bridge within a week’s time in order to continue with the service. What the [expletive]!!! Not the best time to go all “time matters” on me. Whether or not this an exaggeration I do not want to take any chances losing the new trash pick up…that would suck.
So I have been attempting to corner the mayor on short notice to get these documents ready and the bridge fixed. I feel like that nature photographer from “Planet Earth” that staked out a rare bird species for weeks before catching him in his mating ritual. [Apologizes for those not savvy to the “Planet Earth” series…it’s fantastic; you should pick that one up.] The other day he pulled a normal stunt of not showing down the mountain to assist in the printing and more importantly the signing of the documents. So we try again. Yesterday was market day and the time was spent selling and buying bulls until late in the evening out of site. Another failed attempt. So we decided on an early morning meet today before we missed the deadline. I found myself walking the 30 minutes down to his house at 4:30 am guided by the stars in search of the mayor’s coveted sello. Now I don’t mind getting up and leaving early but it is during these wee hours of the morn that the people open up the irrigation canals and channel water to their fields, this being the dry season and all. “Channeling” water to their fields mostly entails flooding the footpaths that one would take to reach a certain mayor’s house. So I found myself stumbling and traipsing through the dark and muddy paths carrying the documents, attempting not to fall. The mayor has a pair of vicious dogs that have still not recognized me as a friend that “welcomed” me as I arrived at the house with barred teeth, plenty of barking, and the occasional sneak attack. After a 5-minute standoff between the dogs and this crazy stick wielding gringo the mayor woke up and realized we had planned an early morning rendezvous. He invited me in and asked me to help him with his stamps. So, I ended up stamping the papers myself after the 4 days of back and forth coordination. Now, with the proper stamps in order I can go down once again to the municipalities and hope for a quick approval. Ah, the process. I do enjoy it; keeps things interesting.
If you want a piece of paper with my stamp let me know, I can get it mailed out in no time…
Hope all is well and that you enjoyed Bastille day.
Best,
Pete
Well it’s 6 am and I have some time to kill while I drink my coffee before work. No better way to kill time than to describe/rant/elaborate about a Peruvian process seen by those of us here on a regular basis. I am referring to the the great and mighty Peruvian paper trail and the steps behind it. Everything here in Peru, be it a document asking for millions of dollars of international aid or the simple work plan you propose for teaching a 6 week environmental class in the primary school, has to come with the right paper work. This includes solicitudes used for the asking of some thing, oficios for the declaration of some thing, invitations, work plans, etc. Every step of the way comes with an official form to document the process. Nothing unusual, I understand.
The next formality lies within my personal favorite, the sello or stamp/seal. Everyone in Peru has a sello. If you don’t have a personalized stamp with at least your name and title most of this paper work is laughed at or treated with minimal importance. The sello. I for one love them. Everyone has their own unique (well, as unique as copying your friends and fellow peers can be) style and design. At the end of meetings, the formation of such documents, or an other “official” business everyone takes turns stamping their approval. [As a side note I am in the market for a new sello, mine currently has my name and Peace Corps only….clearly not formal enough to hang with the big guys]. Nothing too crazy either, just part of the process.
To continue, the next logical step is that all of these documents need to be “signed, sealed, and delivered” to seek proper approval. A document normally appears more “professional” with an array of stamps, colors, and signatures. So naturally when I take it upon myself to write these documents I like to include the authorities whenever possible, specifically when it is something for the district or provincial municipal governments. As you can imagine, the municipal governments are the entity I work with most that simply love and need the sello/document combo to get anything done.
A quick recap: you need to create an official form document for any and everything and this document best include at least one sello if not more for the government.
Now a personal anecdote relating to the process in general…
I have recently been working to get the provincial municipal government of the nearby city Yungay to amplify their trash collection service, reaching my town. The process was complete: Alex (site mate) and I had written the soliciting document, ran around getting the necessary signature/sello combinations, asked for an authorization document from the district municipality, and finally (!) been approved for the trash collection service. Fantastic. We were both ecstatic as new environment volunteers looking for that first big project. The truck finally came for its first run through last week, passing through Alex’s town and then climbing the hill to make its rounds in mine. A few problems emerged however. Being Peru and the Peace Corps this was to be expected. The engineer who tagged along to pick out the most efficient route informed me that we had only but the name of Huashcao on the document and not the 5 surrounding caseríos, or neighborhoods, where the majority of the population, myself included, live. Ah, the fine details. Where was my lawyer father when I needed a proofread? So problem number one is that until we turn in a new document specifically asking for the service in these areas as well they will continue the trash collection only in the “city center” of Huashcao: a booming metropolis with about 40 houses and the school. Problem number two is that the bridge connecting the two towns and their new trash service is broken. The engineer told me we need to fix said bridge before the next go around of collection. Right now the only route from Alex’s town to mine is by driving up the mountain another 15 minutes, passing through a neighboring town, and then driving back down the mountain 15 minutes. This is a waste of time and gas. So two new problems that will need the proper documentation and stamps have arisen.
This was last week. As an individual with my own schedule I was able to draft up the documents the same day and arrange with the mayor to go down to the municipalities the following day to print, sign, stamp, and turn in the documents in a hope to expedite the process. Now, like the process calls for you need at least one authorities stamp/John Hancock to be approved. This being a matter of the legal reaches of Huashcao; the mayor is the one I need. A brief tangent to bring you to speed with our current mayoral administration: despite his friendly attitude our mayor has acquired the nickname of “machete” by some due to the amount of times he has cut meetings or skipped out on important dates. Now this is not the end of the world when you are working on the hora peruana, which calls for things to happen when the happen and not on any sort of deadline. I can normally afford to meander down to his house a few times, passing off notes, attempting the phone call that won’t go through, before getting the stamp. However, the engineer told us we need to fix this bridge within a week’s time in order to continue with the service. What the [expletive]!!! Not the best time to go all “time matters” on me. Whether or not this an exaggeration I do not want to take any chances losing the new trash pick up…that would suck.
So I have been attempting to corner the mayor on short notice to get these documents ready and the bridge fixed. I feel like that nature photographer from “Planet Earth” that staked out a rare bird species for weeks before catching him in his mating ritual. [Apologizes for those not savvy to the “Planet Earth” series…it’s fantastic; you should pick that one up.] The other day he pulled a normal stunt of not showing down the mountain to assist in the printing and more importantly the signing of the documents. So we try again. Yesterday was market day and the time was spent selling and buying bulls until late in the evening out of site. Another failed attempt. So we decided on an early morning meet today before we missed the deadline. I found myself walking the 30 minutes down to his house at 4:30 am guided by the stars in search of the mayor’s coveted sello. Now I don’t mind getting up and leaving early but it is during these wee hours of the morn that the people open up the irrigation canals and channel water to their fields, this being the dry season and all. “Channeling” water to their fields mostly entails flooding the footpaths that one would take to reach a certain mayor’s house. So I found myself stumbling and traipsing through the dark and muddy paths carrying the documents, attempting not to fall. The mayor has a pair of vicious dogs that have still not recognized me as a friend that “welcomed” me as I arrived at the house with barred teeth, plenty of barking, and the occasional sneak attack. After a 5-minute standoff between the dogs and this crazy stick wielding gringo the mayor woke up and realized we had planned an early morning rendezvous. He invited me in and asked me to help him with his stamps. So, I ended up stamping the papers myself after the 4 days of back and forth coordination. Now, with the proper stamps in order I can go down once again to the municipalities and hope for a quick approval. Ah, the process. I do enjoy it; keeps things interesting.
If you want a piece of paper with my stamp let me know, I can get it mailed out in no time…
Hope all is well and that you enjoyed Bastille day.
Best,
Pete
7/03/2010
distract yourself for 10 minutes...
Did I miss all of June? I apologize on behalf of the dedicated readers.
Now it’s July. Another month has drifted by and before long the one year mark will be upon us. So how was June you ask? June was great. June was busy. June was fun.
Why was June great? Well a lot of productive work actually came out of the month as well as some seminars and workshops that may or may not have generated some future ideas for projects. The last month or so I have been working to get a trash collection service in my sight. The current municipal government on the bottom of the hill doesn’t come up and after a few meetings decided they also didn’t have the budget to expand the collection program and climb up the mountain twice a month. Not to worry, we took our request to the provincial municipality (county vs. city kind of thing) and they have agreed to come up to the top of the mountain and pick up trash. Damn, that’s a win I think. Along with the service the two municipalities have pitched in and donated some old metal petroleum cylinders to act as communal garbage cans…yeah those didn’t exist either. This coming week the trash truck is going to make its first trip through the community to check out a route and start picking up trash. Awesome. We are going to paint the cylinders and place a few out for the test run of the service. Now what do you need? Ah that’s right the organization of 1000 Peruvian farmers who understand the risks and benefits of trash management. It’s a good thing the tax dollars are paying me to do just that. We have already spoken with most of the local authorities about the new trash day and have programmed a meeting to discuss the general basics of trash management such as the harms that contaminating the rivers and burning plastic bottles can cause to the environment and us. So, a bit of work is on the plate for this upcoming week and probably into the future with more meetings, trash talks, and the hopeful formation of a trash committee. I am going to keep my fingers crossed for now that the whole thing works out semi-smoothly. You can never have a perfect first run at things but I’m hoping for good results. June was also great because we attended a workshop on designing and managing projects. Now the workshop itself was a bit grueling and long but the result and overall message was positive and helpful. I was able to sit down with my counterpart and think over some future project ideas in the context of writing up project plans and budgets and applying for funding. So all in all a good workshop that will hopefully lead to some bigger things.
Why was June fun? Well every month in Peace Corps is fun in its own interesting and often times odd ways, but June was lots of fun. We (the environment volunteers from Ancash) were able to host and then visit another group of environment folks from the highland region of the department of Lima. They first came to Ancash to see some of our sights and have meetings with local park services and sustainable tourism companies along with other events. The tech exchange then moved to Yauyos (the mountain region south of us in Lima) and we were able to see alpaca farming, lake trout nurseries, go horse back riding, and view some great artesian work. More than anything we were able to see Yauyos, which is an unbelievable part of Peru. It is made up of small mountain towns dropped in the narrow valleys of the central Andes, continuously intersected by waterfalls, raging rivers, and forests. A very cool place with lots of interesting work being done by volunteers. So we were able to relax with our friends and travel a different part of Peru. These weeks of tech exchanges coupled with the “regular” life of a PCV made June fun.
Why was June busy? I just explained 3 different trips out of my site in one month, the constant hassle of going back and forth to municipal governments, and finally starting a large-scale project. That’s why June was busy.
So that was June. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed living it. As we move on into July things should calm down…maybe? …a little bit. The end of the month brings about a two-week vacation in the schools due to the Peruvian Independence Day. A 4-day trek is also on the horizon for the month of July, which will be amazing, but perhaps not relaxing. Other than that I hope to start a world map mural in the school this week as well as a biogas science experiment with the kids. The work is starting to pick up and things are falling into place. Peru 15, the newest group to PC Peru, has arrived and is in training in Lima. They should be out to their sites by the end of August. Alas, I am no longer the n00b. It is crazy to think I was in their shoes last September and now sit here writing a blog 10 months later in my site. Boy the time does fly. Anywho, that is the June update/July forecast. I hoped you enjoyed reading and that life finds you all smiling with good health. Keep sending me updates on your whereabouts. If I don’t respond right away fear not, I will get to it when I have a free minute. Okay guys, thanks again for the support and keep in touch.
Best,
Pete
Now it’s July. Another month has drifted by and before long the one year mark will be upon us. So how was June you ask? June was great. June was busy. June was fun.
Why was June great? Well a lot of productive work actually came out of the month as well as some seminars and workshops that may or may not have generated some future ideas for projects. The last month or so I have been working to get a trash collection service in my sight. The current municipal government on the bottom of the hill doesn’t come up and after a few meetings decided they also didn’t have the budget to expand the collection program and climb up the mountain twice a month. Not to worry, we took our request to the provincial municipality (county vs. city kind of thing) and they have agreed to come up to the top of the mountain and pick up trash. Damn, that’s a win I think. Along with the service the two municipalities have pitched in and donated some old metal petroleum cylinders to act as communal garbage cans…yeah those didn’t exist either. This coming week the trash truck is going to make its first trip through the community to check out a route and start picking up trash. Awesome. We are going to paint the cylinders and place a few out for the test run of the service. Now what do you need? Ah that’s right the organization of 1000 Peruvian farmers who understand the risks and benefits of trash management. It’s a good thing the tax dollars are paying me to do just that. We have already spoken with most of the local authorities about the new trash day and have programmed a meeting to discuss the general basics of trash management such as the harms that contaminating the rivers and burning plastic bottles can cause to the environment and us. So, a bit of work is on the plate for this upcoming week and probably into the future with more meetings, trash talks, and the hopeful formation of a trash committee. I am going to keep my fingers crossed for now that the whole thing works out semi-smoothly. You can never have a perfect first run at things but I’m hoping for good results. June was also great because we attended a workshop on designing and managing projects. Now the workshop itself was a bit grueling and long but the result and overall message was positive and helpful. I was able to sit down with my counterpart and think over some future project ideas in the context of writing up project plans and budgets and applying for funding. So all in all a good workshop that will hopefully lead to some bigger things.
Why was June fun? Well every month in Peace Corps is fun in its own interesting and often times odd ways, but June was lots of fun. We (the environment volunteers from Ancash) were able to host and then visit another group of environment folks from the highland region of the department of Lima. They first came to Ancash to see some of our sights and have meetings with local park services and sustainable tourism companies along with other events. The tech exchange then moved to Yauyos (the mountain region south of us in Lima) and we were able to see alpaca farming, lake trout nurseries, go horse back riding, and view some great artesian work. More than anything we were able to see Yauyos, which is an unbelievable part of Peru. It is made up of small mountain towns dropped in the narrow valleys of the central Andes, continuously intersected by waterfalls, raging rivers, and forests. A very cool place with lots of interesting work being done by volunteers. So we were able to relax with our friends and travel a different part of Peru. These weeks of tech exchanges coupled with the “regular” life of a PCV made June fun.
Why was June busy? I just explained 3 different trips out of my site in one month, the constant hassle of going back and forth to municipal governments, and finally starting a large-scale project. That’s why June was busy.
So that was June. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed living it. As we move on into July things should calm down…maybe? …a little bit. The end of the month brings about a two-week vacation in the schools due to the Peruvian Independence Day. A 4-day trek is also on the horizon for the month of July, which will be amazing, but perhaps not relaxing. Other than that I hope to start a world map mural in the school this week as well as a biogas science experiment with the kids. The work is starting to pick up and things are falling into place. Peru 15, the newest group to PC Peru, has arrived and is in training in Lima. They should be out to their sites by the end of August. Alas, I am no longer the n00b. It is crazy to think I was in their shoes last September and now sit here writing a blog 10 months later in my site. Boy the time does fly. Anywho, that is the June update/July forecast. I hoped you enjoyed reading and that life finds you all smiling with good health. Keep sending me updates on your whereabouts. If I don’t respond right away fear not, I will get to it when I have a free minute. Okay guys, thanks again for the support and keep in touch.
Best,
Pete
6/02/2010
the blank's tackle peru
05/29/10
The rains are gone….at least for now. The sun is shining and the nights are cold. A good time to be in Huashcao. So what’s new you ask? Well just hold on a tick, I am going to explain everything.
The biggest news since my last blog (which was put up about two weeks late….yikes) is the Blank family vacation that took place a little over a week ago here in Peru. It was a success. Everyone tried cuy and no one got too sick. We started off at the Lima airport…where all great things begin. We held up one night in the airport hotel and the family was able to decompress after a long trip and enjoy their first of about 43 free, complimentary pisco sours, the national cocktail of Peru. The next day we flew to the jungle city of Puerto Maldonaldo, the capital of the southern Madre de Dios department. We were greeted at the airport by the friendly staff from the lodge we stayed at. After a brief check in and some time in a butterfly house we were herded onto a river boat and started the one hour journey down river to the beautiful and secluded Reserva Amazonica. It was gorgeous. Little screened in bungalows with little to no electricity surrounding a bigger lodge/dining area of the same design all in the middle of the Peruvian rainforest. Not a bad set up. We spent our time here taking various day excursions into the jungle such as a canopy walk at 90 ft on rope bridges, a night walk looking for tarantulas (I would say my brother’s favorite), and a hike/canoe excursion to a huge jungle lake in the Tarampota National Reserve. While we weren’t sweating and hiking through the impressive rainforest we were again enjoying free pisco sours and amazing food at the lodge. A great few days were spent here in la selva (rainforest).
The next leg of the journey took us back to Cuzco and into the Sacred Valley of the Inca. We spent a few nights in a city outside of Cuzco in the Sacred Valley and had an awesome, and a bit strenuous, mountain bike tour of some surrounding Inca sights and the beautiful Andes of Cuzco. By the end our energetic guide had to watch or help as the tired and beaten Blank family walked their bikes down the last section, which to our defense was pretty much a mountain. We enjoyed some great meals here in Urubamba and then started bright an early the next morning on our section of the Inca trail. We did a one day section of the Inca trail that passed through some impressive Inca sites and lead to the Sun Gate, the end of the trail overlooking Machu Picchu. The hike was beautiful and we had a perfectly clear and sunny day with which to appreciate the surrounding beauty. We arrived at the Sun Gate around mid-day and took our lunch overlooking one of the Wonder’s of the World. It was incredible to finally see Machu Picchu in person and not just google images. We were able to hike into and around the Incan city thank to the quick thinking and anti-rule attitude of our guide Elkin. We found ourselves exploring the city and enjoying the amazing beauty and history that lies there. We also had time to sneak in the inevitable family Christmas picture…sorry to spoil it for you all. We spent that night in the small pueblo (or should I say the once small pueblo and now the large tourist hub with nothing but restaurants, an artesian market, and hotels…and one out-of-order ATM) of Aguas Calientes. We found another beautiful hotel tucked away on the outskirts and set into the natural surroundings of trees and rivers. We enjoyed a good session of artesian shopping and bargaining for all the necessities like linen pants and alpaca hats. The next day we took the bus back up to Machu Picchu and had an extraordinarily thorough tour of the city. Our guide really helped us understand what went on there during the Incan time, after the Spanish conquest, and the eventual “discovery” by Bingham in 1911. A good day. We then took the train/bus back to Cuzco and spent one last night there. The following day we had a city tour of the same caliber with Elkin and then it was off to Lima and the night bus to Huaraz…my turn.
We got on the bus after an hour delay or so and arrived in Huaraz at 8 the next morning. We left most of our things (or the family did at least) at our hotel for the following night and after a breakfast started the “day in the life” part of the trip. We took public transport all the way to my site. I think my dad enjoyed the small Peruvian bus with people constantly climbing over you so much that he decided to take a taxi back instead. We got to my house around 11am. Don Julio was waiting with open arms to show us around the house and make us (or them rather) feel at home. We had some awesomely awkward introductions with the language barrier and then lunch was served. After a quick nap we hit the town with Julio. We hiked around and saw the fields, the place where we keep the cows, more fields, the mountains, the forest, and all the other goodies that Huashcao has to offer. We came back from the walk around and settled in for the live huayno show. It was a little late to start so in the mean time we watched some on DVD and my two moms attempted to converse about the cooking of the dinner. It looked like a very profound conversation. Finally the band arrived: Julio on violin, my brother on harp, and some other neighborhood folk on guitars and accordion. We bought a few beers and taught the family how to pass the vaso. We also brought out some of the scotch my dad brought down…just enough for a taste though. So with that the night wound down and the music came to an end. We were in bed by 9 in true campo fashion. The next morning we awoke and went out with my brother-in-law to meet up with my dad in the field. We got the taste of farming life and harvested some potatoes in the morning light underneath Huascaran. My two families loved the fact that everyone was harvesting papa. We came back to a mid-morning feast of potatoes, rice and the famed cuy. My mom wasn’t going to try the little guy but in the end she had a good amount and really enjoyed it…or at least that is what she claims. After the great and filling lunch we waited for our car that didn’t come. So we decided to walk down to the town an hour away and get a car there. From there we made it back to Huaraz and enjoyed a good meal and a drink with some other volunteers and then headed for bed. The next day the family got on a plane bright and early after a round of goodbyes and the trip was over, at least for me. They arrived in Lima that morning and had to spend the day there until their 12am flight back home.
It was an amazing trip overall. We got to see some truly amazing parts of this amazing country. More importantly we were able to spend 10 days together for the first time in 8.5 months. That was the best part of the trip. And like I said before, we all made it through alive and ate guinea pig, so in my mind the trip was a success. Now my family understands a little more of the Peruvian culture, how I live, what I eat, and what life is really like apart from emails and phone calls. I wish I could upload some pictures but my camera seems to have lost itself. It’s a shame but I am glad that was the only fall back to the trip. So for now no pictures but if you know my mom, or even if you don’t, I’m sure she will send you all of hers in a lengthy email. If you want anymore stories or updates on the trip don’t hesitate to ask.
Due to the length of this post I won’t bore you with the usually “work” update. Just know for now that things are going well and I recently received 4 big trash cans for my site from the district municipality. Yeah you might not think that’s a lot but these are going to be the first 4 trash cans in the whole town and they were free. You have to start somewhere! So for now that is about the only really cool and exciting thing in besides the family visit.
I hope you are all well and safe wherever life finds you. Feel free to send my candy and books whenever you like. Until next time…
Cheers,
Peter
The rains are gone….at least for now. The sun is shining and the nights are cold. A good time to be in Huashcao. So what’s new you ask? Well just hold on a tick, I am going to explain everything.
The biggest news since my last blog (which was put up about two weeks late….yikes) is the Blank family vacation that took place a little over a week ago here in Peru. It was a success. Everyone tried cuy and no one got too sick. We started off at the Lima airport…where all great things begin. We held up one night in the airport hotel and the family was able to decompress after a long trip and enjoy their first of about 43 free, complimentary pisco sours, the national cocktail of Peru. The next day we flew to the jungle city of Puerto Maldonaldo, the capital of the southern Madre de Dios department. We were greeted at the airport by the friendly staff from the lodge we stayed at. After a brief check in and some time in a butterfly house we were herded onto a river boat and started the one hour journey down river to the beautiful and secluded Reserva Amazonica. It was gorgeous. Little screened in bungalows with little to no electricity surrounding a bigger lodge/dining area of the same design all in the middle of the Peruvian rainforest. Not a bad set up. We spent our time here taking various day excursions into the jungle such as a canopy walk at 90 ft on rope bridges, a night walk looking for tarantulas (I would say my brother’s favorite), and a hike/canoe excursion to a huge jungle lake in the Tarampota National Reserve. While we weren’t sweating and hiking through the impressive rainforest we were again enjoying free pisco sours and amazing food at the lodge. A great few days were spent here in la selva (rainforest).
The next leg of the journey took us back to Cuzco and into the Sacred Valley of the Inca. We spent a few nights in a city outside of Cuzco in the Sacred Valley and had an awesome, and a bit strenuous, mountain bike tour of some surrounding Inca sights and the beautiful Andes of Cuzco. By the end our energetic guide had to watch or help as the tired and beaten Blank family walked their bikes down the last section, which to our defense was pretty much a mountain. We enjoyed some great meals here in Urubamba and then started bright an early the next morning on our section of the Inca trail. We did a one day section of the Inca trail that passed through some impressive Inca sites and lead to the Sun Gate, the end of the trail overlooking Machu Picchu. The hike was beautiful and we had a perfectly clear and sunny day with which to appreciate the surrounding beauty. We arrived at the Sun Gate around mid-day and took our lunch overlooking one of the Wonder’s of the World. It was incredible to finally see Machu Picchu in person and not just google images. We were able to hike into and around the Incan city thank to the quick thinking and anti-rule attitude of our guide Elkin. We found ourselves exploring the city and enjoying the amazing beauty and history that lies there. We also had time to sneak in the inevitable family Christmas picture…sorry to spoil it for you all. We spent that night in the small pueblo (or should I say the once small pueblo and now the large tourist hub with nothing but restaurants, an artesian market, and hotels…and one out-of-order ATM) of Aguas Calientes. We found another beautiful hotel tucked away on the outskirts and set into the natural surroundings of trees and rivers. We enjoyed a good session of artesian shopping and bargaining for all the necessities like linen pants and alpaca hats. The next day we took the bus back up to Machu Picchu and had an extraordinarily thorough tour of the city. Our guide really helped us understand what went on there during the Incan time, after the Spanish conquest, and the eventual “discovery” by Bingham in 1911. A good day. We then took the train/bus back to Cuzco and spent one last night there. The following day we had a city tour of the same caliber with Elkin and then it was off to Lima and the night bus to Huaraz…my turn.
We got on the bus after an hour delay or so and arrived in Huaraz at 8 the next morning. We left most of our things (or the family did at least) at our hotel for the following night and after a breakfast started the “day in the life” part of the trip. We took public transport all the way to my site. I think my dad enjoyed the small Peruvian bus with people constantly climbing over you so much that he decided to take a taxi back instead. We got to my house around 11am. Don Julio was waiting with open arms to show us around the house and make us (or them rather) feel at home. We had some awesomely awkward introductions with the language barrier and then lunch was served. After a quick nap we hit the town with Julio. We hiked around and saw the fields, the place where we keep the cows, more fields, the mountains, the forest, and all the other goodies that Huashcao has to offer. We came back from the walk around and settled in for the live huayno show. It was a little late to start so in the mean time we watched some on DVD and my two moms attempted to converse about the cooking of the dinner. It looked like a very profound conversation. Finally the band arrived: Julio on violin, my brother on harp, and some other neighborhood folk on guitars and accordion. We bought a few beers and taught the family how to pass the vaso. We also brought out some of the scotch my dad brought down…just enough for a taste though. So with that the night wound down and the music came to an end. We were in bed by 9 in true campo fashion. The next morning we awoke and went out with my brother-in-law to meet up with my dad in the field. We got the taste of farming life and harvested some potatoes in the morning light underneath Huascaran. My two families loved the fact that everyone was harvesting papa. We came back to a mid-morning feast of potatoes, rice and the famed cuy. My mom wasn’t going to try the little guy but in the end she had a good amount and really enjoyed it…or at least that is what she claims. After the great and filling lunch we waited for our car that didn’t come. So we decided to walk down to the town an hour away and get a car there. From there we made it back to Huaraz and enjoyed a good meal and a drink with some other volunteers and then headed for bed. The next day the family got on a plane bright and early after a round of goodbyes and the trip was over, at least for me. They arrived in Lima that morning and had to spend the day there until their 12am flight back home.
It was an amazing trip overall. We got to see some truly amazing parts of this amazing country. More importantly we were able to spend 10 days together for the first time in 8.5 months. That was the best part of the trip. And like I said before, we all made it through alive and ate guinea pig, so in my mind the trip was a success. Now my family understands a little more of the Peruvian culture, how I live, what I eat, and what life is really like apart from emails and phone calls. I wish I could upload some pictures but my camera seems to have lost itself. It’s a shame but I am glad that was the only fall back to the trip. So for now no pictures but if you know my mom, or even if you don’t, I’m sure she will send you all of hers in a lengthy email. If you want anymore stories or updates on the trip don’t hesitate to ask.
Due to the length of this post I won’t bore you with the usually “work” update. Just know for now that things are going well and I recently received 4 big trash cans for my site from the district municipality. Yeah you might not think that’s a lot but these are going to be the first 4 trash cans in the whole town and they were free. You have to start somewhere! So for now that is about the only really cool and exciting thing in besides the family visit.
I hope you are all well and safe wherever life finds you. Feel free to send my candy and books whenever you like. Until next time…
Cheers,
Peter
5/23/2010
another one...
Hello friends.
Sorry I have fallen back into my sporadic and rare blog posts. You’ll just have to deal with it. Plus I am sure you all have other things to keep you occupied during the gaps between updates. If this is not the case please find some kind of hobby soon.
I once again find myself sitting in my room with a little time to kill before the mid day potato feast. Things have been going well the last month or so with some promising “leads” on work projects, some cool travel time, and illnesses.
The entire environment crew from Peru 14 traveled to the northern coast in the department of Lambayeque for a week long in service training. It was a great trip, experience, and all that jazz. We were with our community counterparts for the first few days of the excursion, which made for a fun and slightly awkward mingling and sharing of ideas. We traveled to an amazing private ecological reserve known as Chaparri and got a personalized tour, discussion of how eco-tourism works, and see how various groups benefit from the tourism brought in by the reserve. If you have a spare minute (which I know you do because you are reading this blog) google search Chaparri reserve in Peru. It is a truly beautiful place inhabited by speckled bears, a number of bird species, snakes, foxes, and a ton of other exciting Peruvian wildlife. Check it out. The rest of our time was spent in the near by town of Chongoyape in various meetings and presentations form ourselves and the rest of the Peace Corps staff. All in all a great week with regards to training, seeing a new part of Peru, and more importantly hanging out with my other Peru 14 environment buddies. I returned to site a little over a week ago and hopped back into the routine of teaching, thinking, talking, and all that good stuff.
I’ve have been investigating the idea of bringing the municipal trash pick up service up the mountain to help eliminate to rampant burning and throwing of garbage. We are still in the initial phase of this (by that I mean thinking about it), but if it all works out if would be an awesome step in the right direction. We are also trying to coordinate to get some trash cans donated (yeah that would be a good first step right?) and some workshops on why burning plastic bottles in an enclose space isn’t the best method for disposal. Anywho, that’s the work situation. Pretty much a status quo if you will. The next few months however will keep me busy, both in and out of site. To start things off the Blank’s arrive in Peru in two short days (wed.) and we start that hilarious adventure. I am really excited for them to get down here, show them around the new homeland, and watch them watch me slaughter guinea pigs for lunch. So that should make for an exciting and uplifting week or so. It will be great to see the family and experience a different part of Peru with them. After the family trip I will be intertwined with some technical exchanges between the enviro crew here in Ancash and those in the highlands of Lima. That should be another fun few days to bounce ideas off each other, and see one another’s sites. Then to wrap things up we have tentatively planned a trek to research a new tourist trail system here in Ancash. We would be going with the Park Services and doing some work and trail maintenance along the way. Not a bad few weeks lined up eh?
And now to leave you all with a chuckle. This past week I went down to the town of Yungay to drop off some paper work with the municipality and pick up a few things. My host sister asked me to pick up a chicken for her to prepare and sell up here in the hills. Of course I agreed, I have brought back many a chicken, rabbit, etc on public transport before. Now here in Peru you don’t buy boneless, skinless chicken breast for 3.99 a lb. You can buy pieces already butchered or go with the whole deal. Most people opt for the whole deal; I mean you get all the bits and pieces that way…liver, feet, head, etc. So I picked up about a 3 kg hen in the market and instantly knew this bird was trouble. As the woman tried to weigh out the bird on the scale it proceeded to projectile defecate (that’s the cleanest I can put it) all over her. Then it hopped off the scale and we had to jam it into my little market bag. Trouble. So in the bumpy, crowded, hot old station wagon on the way back up the hill the damn bird decides to squawk its way out of the bag and start fluttering around and “making a mess” , if you will, in the trunk of this car. For those of you who have seen Borat….think of that subway seen. It was hilarious after the fact. However I had to awkwardly turn around and basically climb over an old Quechua woman and wrangle this stupid chicken back into its bag. Of course an escaped doomed piece of poultry doesn’t want to go anywhere without putting up a fight, so it was Peter vs. the chicken for a few minutes on the way up the hill. I finally got it all tied down and “safely” home (I think I intentionally tried to break its wing). The reaction from the rest of the car: nothing, just another normal trip up from the market. I can’t wait until my sister puts this little guy under the knife and fries up some chicken. I’m sorry but he deserves it. Anywho, that might not have been interesting or humorous for you, but I got a little chuckle out of it and I figured it was a good day-to-day story that could help illustrate my life down here. Well, that’s all I have for now. I need to go prepare a class and then anxiously await the arrival of the family.
I hope all is well wherever you may be and that this blog has successfully distracted you from a few minutes of work, studies, or just the day-to-day grind! Send me an update when you have a chance! Until next time…
Best,
Pete
Sorry I have fallen back into my sporadic and rare blog posts. You’ll just have to deal with it. Plus I am sure you all have other things to keep you occupied during the gaps between updates. If this is not the case please find some kind of hobby soon.
I once again find myself sitting in my room with a little time to kill before the mid day potato feast. Things have been going well the last month or so with some promising “leads” on work projects, some cool travel time, and illnesses.
The entire environment crew from Peru 14 traveled to the northern coast in the department of Lambayeque for a week long in service training. It was a great trip, experience, and all that jazz. We were with our community counterparts for the first few days of the excursion, which made for a fun and slightly awkward mingling and sharing of ideas. We traveled to an amazing private ecological reserve known as Chaparri and got a personalized tour, discussion of how eco-tourism works, and see how various groups benefit from the tourism brought in by the reserve. If you have a spare minute (which I know you do because you are reading this blog) google search Chaparri reserve in Peru. It is a truly beautiful place inhabited by speckled bears, a number of bird species, snakes, foxes, and a ton of other exciting Peruvian wildlife. Check it out. The rest of our time was spent in the near by town of Chongoyape in various meetings and presentations form ourselves and the rest of the Peace Corps staff. All in all a great week with regards to training, seeing a new part of Peru, and more importantly hanging out with my other Peru 14 environment buddies. I returned to site a little over a week ago and hopped back into the routine of teaching, thinking, talking, and all that good stuff.
I’ve have been investigating the idea of bringing the municipal trash pick up service up the mountain to help eliminate to rampant burning and throwing of garbage. We are still in the initial phase of this (by that I mean thinking about it), but if it all works out if would be an awesome step in the right direction. We are also trying to coordinate to get some trash cans donated (yeah that would be a good first step right?) and some workshops on why burning plastic bottles in an enclose space isn’t the best method for disposal. Anywho, that’s the work situation. Pretty much a status quo if you will. The next few months however will keep me busy, both in and out of site. To start things off the Blank’s arrive in Peru in two short days (wed.) and we start that hilarious adventure. I am really excited for them to get down here, show them around the new homeland, and watch them watch me slaughter guinea pigs for lunch. So that should make for an exciting and uplifting week or so. It will be great to see the family and experience a different part of Peru with them. After the family trip I will be intertwined with some technical exchanges between the enviro crew here in Ancash and those in the highlands of Lima. That should be another fun few days to bounce ideas off each other, and see one another’s sites. Then to wrap things up we have tentatively planned a trek to research a new tourist trail system here in Ancash. We would be going with the Park Services and doing some work and trail maintenance along the way. Not a bad few weeks lined up eh?
And now to leave you all with a chuckle. This past week I went down to the town of Yungay to drop off some paper work with the municipality and pick up a few things. My host sister asked me to pick up a chicken for her to prepare and sell up here in the hills. Of course I agreed, I have brought back many a chicken, rabbit, etc on public transport before. Now here in Peru you don’t buy boneless, skinless chicken breast for 3.99 a lb. You can buy pieces already butchered or go with the whole deal. Most people opt for the whole deal; I mean you get all the bits and pieces that way…liver, feet, head, etc. So I picked up about a 3 kg hen in the market and instantly knew this bird was trouble. As the woman tried to weigh out the bird on the scale it proceeded to projectile defecate (that’s the cleanest I can put it) all over her. Then it hopped off the scale and we had to jam it into my little market bag. Trouble. So in the bumpy, crowded, hot old station wagon on the way back up the hill the damn bird decides to squawk its way out of the bag and start fluttering around and “making a mess” , if you will, in the trunk of this car. For those of you who have seen Borat….think of that subway seen. It was hilarious after the fact. However I had to awkwardly turn around and basically climb over an old Quechua woman and wrangle this stupid chicken back into its bag. Of course an escaped doomed piece of poultry doesn’t want to go anywhere without putting up a fight, so it was Peter vs. the chicken for a few minutes on the way up the hill. I finally got it all tied down and “safely” home (I think I intentionally tried to break its wing). The reaction from the rest of the car: nothing, just another normal trip up from the market. I can’t wait until my sister puts this little guy under the knife and fries up some chicken. I’m sorry but he deserves it. Anywho, that might not have been interesting or humorous for you, but I got a little chuckle out of it and I figured it was a good day-to-day story that could help illustrate my life down here. Well, that’s all I have for now. I need to go prepare a class and then anxiously await the arrival of the family.
I hope all is well wherever you may be and that this blog has successfully distracted you from a few minutes of work, studies, or just the day-to-day grind! Send me an update when you have a chance! Until next time…
Best,
Pete
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