The first was for a chica named Lupe who lives with PC couple Shannon and Kail. She loves Minnie Mouse, so everything was decked out with Minnie decorations, a person in a Minnie costume, a huge cake and there were at least 50 people there. They passed around sweets and a clown ran games for the kids and made me do a dance/lip sync competition with another PC fellow. There is a video of it somewhere. I’m hoping the connections here are too slow for it to make it to youtube. Then there was the hora loca. During that, club music plays, everyone gets crazy hats, whistles, masks, and balloons and you just go nuts. The clown was really racy and humped most everybody and sprayed pink foam everywhere. It’s like a rave ran into a kid’s party. Ridiculous.
Then a bunch of us walked across town to the birthday of the Peruvian uncle of one of the other volunteers. He had a traditional band and it was mostly his family and us 16 or so gringos. Everything seemed like a normal adult party with beer and chatting until his hora loca got started. This time, there were three clowns but with the same gear, music, and foam. I can’t emphasize enough how fun it is. Everyone in silly outfits getting down with clowns and 80 year olds. It’s silly and joyful and everybody had a good time.
I made the mistake of walking alone to the first party in a green wrap dress. It was 5, so it was still light out and I was along the main road, but oh my, the catcalls. One man leaned way out of his truck to make kissy faces at me. The worst was when two busses full of soccer players went by. I’ve never heard such a ruckus and you’d think they never saw a lady before. I’m going to try extra hard to always walk in a group or with a guy. Our hypothesis is that if a girl and guy are walking together, the assumption is that they’re dating and any propios can be grounds for retaliation from the guy. It’s not my favorite, but being yelled at like that can be nerve-wracking when I’m alone.
I think I’m over my awkward phase. I had a really good time at the parties and am doing much better with talking to people like a normal human during training. Thank goodness. I’m making running buddies, figuring out who my neighbors are, and having a really good time getting to know everyone. It’s really special that so many like-minded people can be gathered in one place.
I’m much better with the food already. At first when I got a huge lunch, I’d leave most of it because I didn’t want to eat that much. Then when it was dinnertime and I got a few crackers, I was starving. Now I know I have to eat that rice at lunch because not much else is coming later. I’ve been asking for fruits and vegetables and Lilli is giving me more each day. It’s not my American diet, but that’s not the idea anyway. Here, I get delicious cherimoya, carambolas, atun, papaya, and all sorts of other fruits that are unavailable or gross in the U.S. I’m cooking lunch for my family today. We’re having salad with cheese, strawberries, and almonds and pulled chicken with tomato sauce and chapatis if I can make them. I hope they like it.
Some hours later
The meal was a success. I`m not sure that Lilli liked it because she ate really slowly. But I was really happy because Jose loved it and ate so much I thought he was going to pop. He is such a cute little man and I’m glad I can give him something really healthy. Now I`m working on their living room computer and they`re watching Titanic in Spanish. Earlier today, I washed my clothes by hand for the first time. I like that kind of manual work that you don`t have to think much about. I scrubbed and listened to Watch the Throne and danced around a bit outside. A good Sunday so far.
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