Every Day I´m Shovelin´

We dug a micro-relleno at the health post!  They’re going to put all their medical waste inside.  It was extra incredible because I approached the doctors and was all, “Hey, a micro-relleno would be really great for the health post.”  And they were like, “Ok, let’s do it this week.”  Things are never ever that easy.  I didn’t have to argue or write several letters and project plans.  I just brought a pick and shovel over.

It’s also one of the specific things I’m supposed to be doing in Peace Corps.  Our three main areas are reforestation, environmental education, and solid waste management.  Reforestation doesn’t really apply to the pampa and I’m spending most of my time on environmental ed.  We’re supposed to dig 10 micro-rellenos as part of the waste management goal.  So I’m 10% there!  My family wants to dig one at our house as well. 

We also got the mamas from my healthy cooking class to help.  

It was nice to chat with them and some of them were really strong.  Notice some of the rocks we had to haul out of there.  I’d say I did 50% of the work, but it made me happy to do so.  When I was alone, I listened to old This American Life podcasts and dug away.  I really like that kind of work and haven’t had as much outside labor as I’d hoped in the Peace Corps.  Though it got tough on the old back to lift shovelfuls of rocks over my shoulders and out of the hole.  Maybe that explains my face in this photo.

Hooray for working together and getting things done!  

La Libertad

Things to be Happy About

Oftentimes, the Peace Corps is a grind.  But there are always things to be joyful and grateful about when I stop to look.

-Pomegranate season.  2 soles per kilo.

-Avocado season.  Palta veggie sandwiches every day.  

-Elka learned how to sit and go down stairs. 

-I made some progress on my thesis.  I wrote a well-received paper for my advisor, and look at these lovely pressed medicinal plants.

-And I get to go hiking with my family to find them.

-Sunshine!  In between frosty nights and hailstorms. 

-A 10 day trek for 4^th of July with my friends. 

-Finding a lady at the market who sells bags of ground coffee for 2 soles that last me over a week. 

-Someone actually said “thank you” for my work.  Usually I feel like I’m putting people out when I try to get things done.

-The continuing trend of dressing babies in hats with animal ears.  

Moving On

I was on Facebook the other day and there was an influx of updates of people who were graduating with doctorates.  It makes sense since it’s been a few years since college.  There’s a new crop of Drs. and JDs.  It made me sit back in my chair.  A bunch of folks I knew in college are now doctors.  Other folks are moving into houses they’ve bought, my childhood best friend is getting married, it makes me think about where I am.

I don’t regret the route I’ve taken.  I’m generally happy and feel lucky for how my life has been developing.  Since college, every year has been better than the one before.  But still, seeing where everyone else is makes me reflect.  I’m working really hard, but these community development shenanigans are slow going.  I organize, teach, and dig in the dirt, but I feel like I spend most of my time picking sheep turds out of the treads of my boots.  It’s going to take me years to get my master’s degree.  When I come back, I’ll be way too poor to afford a house anytime soon.  I’m single and my best prospects are the fellows that yell and stare at me on the street.  I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  But I think that’s ok.

I think I was a late bloomer.  I had a good time at Villanova and made friends I’ll keep forever, but it wasn’t a place that cultivated the best parts of me.  Going out west changed a lot for me.  It turns out I love farming!  And spending most of the day outside!  And there are other people who like the exact things I like!  It was crazy to find out.  I still can’t get over that I had friends who would forgo staying out late on Friday to get up early and go hiking or skiing with me on Saturday.  In June, I’m going to a 3 day bicycle maintenance workshop.  I really enjoy doing things with my hands, but never had much of an opportunity to learn when I was younger.  Now I’ll be able to take care of my own bike!  Little things like that feel so good to me. 

I’m mystified by and a little jealous of folks who knew what they wanted to be since they were little.  It seems so much easier.  Though it is dangerous.  What if something goes against the plan?  But all those newly minted doctors probably wanted to be that since childhood. 

It seems like I just have to keep following my windy path and try not to compare myself to folks zipping along on their highways.  I hope that it’ll lead me to meaningful work and a loving partner and family one day.  Maybe not.  Though it hasn’t led me astray so far.

Now I Ain´t Sayin He A Gold Digger...

All I Wanted

Was to get a tina to wash my dishes.  Too bad it was occupied.

My blogging has been more infrequent lately.  I apologize.  Part of it is that I’ve recently been getting over another bout of giardia.  Parasites don’t encourage any extra effort.  It’s also a function of Peace Corps being my normal life now.  If I opened a cupboard in my house in Abington and found an alpaca head, I would’ve had some sort of hysterics.  But the other day, I just thought, “Yeah ok.  Where’s the other bucket?”  There are fewer feelings that things are really strange or exotic and I should blog about it.  It’s just my life now.  Human adaptability is incredible. 

The alpaca head is currently skinned and hanging from the clothes line to dry out.  If you come to visit me, I’ll introduce you   

Quotable

Talking with my little brother in the states:


Little Brother:  We´ve both got the same shit, different day.  Except my shit is stuff like going to work and yours is usually literal shit.  




I ran into a little fellow in his schoolyard today:


Little Fellow: Are you in the circus?

Earth Day and Cruces de Mayo

We’ve been having some festivities around here lately.  All my Earth Day ideas in Carhuamayo were rejected, so I went to a celebration that was already planned in Huayre, the next little town over.  I don’t fully see the value of pancarta parades, but Peruvian educators love them and they tend to be cute at least.  We had a nice day and even did some plantings.

Cruces de Mayo is more interesting.  It’s a 4 day party starting on May 1^st.  It has something to do with Jesus carrying the cross.  I asked about why it’s after Easter, but didn’t get any responses that made a lot of sense to me.  Anyway, like any good religious celebration, we were up at 5:30 in the morning for a traditional dance contest and substance use. 

I’ve complained about huayno before, but I enjoyed the dance contest even though all the entries were pretty same-y.  Here’s a typical huayno band.  I count 11 saxophones. 

Some of the dances were interesting.  My favorite troop was really energetic, but they came in last place, so shows what I know.  Many of the men wore sheep wool hats that made it look like there were lots of Animal from the Muppets dancing around. 

Do you see the white thing hanging from that guy´s hip?  It´s a bag made from a baby alpaca.  They cut the head off and take the insides out and viola!  The neck is the hole and you store all you necessary things for going around town inside the body cavity.  It´s ceremonial, so it´s not like everybody wanders around with baby alpaca bags.

One troop made symbolic offerings to Pachamama, the Incan Mother Earth.  It turns out she likes coca leaves, liquor, and cigarettes.  It was interesting to see in a supposedly Christian celebration.  I got some coca leaves, too.

Coca leaves are grown widely in Peru have been cultivated since the Inca Empire.  They’re still popular today with campesinos and knitting old ladies taking care of their sheep.  The leaves are chewed as a stimulant and were used for energy and hunger suppression while working in the fields.  It’s not a hit like espresso, but you’ll be chewing them and suddenly its 4 am and you’re not sleepy.  Folks also steep the leaves like a tea to use for sorroche, or altitude sickness.  The Peace Corps forbids it’s volunteers from using any form of coca, since it turns up as cocaine in drug tests, so I can’t tell you much more about it. 

There’s been a lot of controversy over coca in Peru.  It’s still legal to grow because it’s a keystone traditional crop.  But it can also be refined in to cocaine.  Very little refining goes on in Peru, but there is still a good deal of drug violence in certain areas.  The terrorism of the 80’s is mostly over, but the remaining members of MRTA and the Sendero Luminoso are now involved with drug traffickers.  It’s a tricky balance between tradition and its modern corruption.  And it’s a shame that it’s often the small farmers who suffer. 

Anyhoo, excuse the history lesson.  I offered my coca leaves to the gents around me.  The official contest was over around 8am and then it was time for everyone to dance in the plaza and get their swerve on.  I was yanked into a huayno circle and two cups of calientito were shoved into my hands.  You can’t say no to things you are offered, especially during holidays and especially by nice señoras.  Calientito is a delicious route to bad ideas and a hangover.  It’s essentially caña liquor (super strong) steeped with some tea, spices, and sugar.  It’ll get you.  I slowly sipped on and eventually finished one cup with the senoras making fun of my lack of drinking prowess and egging me on.  Thankfully, I was able to sneak away and my second cup was split between my sister Elena and my brother’s girlfriend, Jessie.  We walked home shortly after and my head was swimmy.  

Similar celebrations continued for the next 3 days.  I showed my face at a few parties.  They´re fun at first, but it gets old quickly.  The music and food are the same and everyone is completely hammered.  Folks get really amped up about it.  One lady had a huge animal slaughter at her house.  I was repeatedly invited and just manage to sneak out from under it.  Though I did show up later and saw everybody strung up.  

I like the holidays and festivities, but I have nowhere near the partying prowess of the average Peruvian.  Maybe I’ll be more used to pre-9am drinking by the end. 

The Art of Conversation

#1

Hermano Percy:  What is googly?
Stasia: Googly?
Hermano Percy:  Yeah, you know, the search engine. 

#2

Hermano Carlos:  We need English nicknames.  What´s flaco in English?
Stasia: It means skinny.  You can be "skinny", Eber is "shorty", Percy is "curly" and since you call Elena quesa, she´ll be "cheese".
Hermano Carlos:  Great!  We´ll call you "large".

Thankfully they don´t actually call me large.  I´m a head taller than most of them, but still. 

#3

Oftentimes, people like to shout all the English they know at me at once.

Random man:  Gringa!  Hello!  My name is I love you!  I am from!  Good evening!

#4

Other times, people don´t expect me to speak Spanish because I´m white.

Stasia:  (in Spanish) Good morning sir!  Are you building a wall?  Is that adobe?
Señor: I don´t speak English. 

#5

It turns out that "ismai" is shit in Quechua.  My host mom cracks up a lot when I´m trying to teach English at home. 

Stasia:  You say, this is my soup. 
Mamita:  Wahahaha!  Ismai soup! 

#6

You know how pokemon speak by saying their name with different inflections?  I was in a car and the señora behind me did the same thing with "gringa".

Señora:  Gringa!  Gringa gringagringa griiiiiinga.  Gringa gringa?
Stasia: Um, hola.
Señora: Griiiiiiinga! 

Stood Up

I haven’t posted in a long while.  Apologies.  I’ve been having a difficult time professionally.  Working has been like trying to run through chest deep water.  A lot of effort for a little progress forward.  I have a recycling competition going in one of the colegios.  The administration said they liked the idea, then once I explained it to the students and shelled out my own money for recycling bags, they reneged and are making me feel like the project is an inconvenience to them and kinda treating me like crap.  It’s very frustrating and I’m going to try to work with the individual teachers in that school rather than the admins.  There are a few other projects coming down the line, but it’s so hard to get anything started.  Folks act interested in my help but don’t show up or call back.  I really want to do good work here, but am not feeling super wanted. 

I don’t mean to bitch.  I feel like I complain a lot on this blog.  These kinds of work experiences seem universal for PC volunteers.  Luckily, I keep pulling from my well of good cheer and motivation and the bucket hasn’t scraped bottom yet.  I’m confident I can make it through; I just hope I get something meaningful accomplished in the meantime.  I’ve also found that my temper is a lot shorter.  I used to think that it was miles long.  I think it’s a function of being constantly frustrated. 

I think I’ve been pretty ok at dealing with things.  I go on runs or do P90X.  I hang out with my family.  Listen to happy music (I highly recommend Say Hey by Michael Franti or Daylight by Matt and Kim).  I’ve been reading voraciously and it’s nice to lose myself in a book.  Tom Joad, Hazel, and Bilbo don’t stand me up for meetings. 

Hope springs eternal and there are other things coming up.  The health post seems supportive of my micro-landfill project and there’s another colegio that wants to do a bunch of environmental projects, they just need to call me back. 

I’ve also taken the puppy plunge again. 

 

Her name is Elka and she’s 7 weeks old.  She´s more cheerful than she looks here, but this was one of the few moments she wasn´t jumping up and down or trying to chew on my face.  I always liked the name Elka for a daughter, but I don´t know if I´ll have one of those and I couldn´t find anything else that suited the pup.  I love her, but she reinforces my theory that babies of whatever species are cute because they have few other redeeming characteristics.  Can’t go on adventures, control their bowels, or sleep through the night.  Need constant supervision lest they destroy all your favorite possessions or happily ingest some fatal substance.  Elka’s a handful, but she’s healthy and happy so far and I’m really grateful for that.  I think she’ll be a great companion and Montana dog once she grows up a bit.