A Peruvian X-Mas

It sure has been a while since I wrote anything here. It seems that the Christmas season is just as busy down here as it is in the States. I finally found a moment to sit down and write something, so here it is.

It's a bit strange for me to decorate a Christmas tree in 80 degree weather. But I can't say that I would want the blizzard that just dumped 30 inches of snow back in the States. Meteorological misgivings aside, my Peruvian Christmas was very fun. We decorated the house and at midnight ate a dinner of pork, mashed sweet potatoes, and unmashed regular potatoes (Did I mention that potatoes are big in Peru?). Then we went to my aunt's house and sat and talked with some visiting family for a couple of hours.

For someone who never had a big family and always downplayed Christmases, this was pretty fun. I can't think of any awfully alien Christmas traditions, but there is one that was noteworthy. It's called a chocolatada.

A chocolatada is put on by a community, school, parents group, church group, or anybody who loves chocolate and wants to do some good. Usually it takes place in a school with economically disadvantaged kids. The group will invite anywhere from 50 to a few hundred kids. Then they bring toys, food, and, of course, hot chocolate! They pass out the toys and food to the kids and then give them their own cup of hot chocolate. Usually there is some kind of show to entertain the little ones. The shows often consist of middle-aged women in skin tight spandex dancing to Christmas songs and playing games with the kids. I also formed part of the entertainment for the kids. I couldn't go more than 3 minutes without some 8 year old asking me to lift him up and spin him around.

I went to about 5 chocolatadas and I never want to see hot chocolate again. Well at least until next Christmas.

After the new year I am going to start giving English classes to the kids in the community. I didn't do this originally because I was focusing on my health classes, but now those are over and I need to start something else. I am also going to start planning my main project with my dad.

The municipality is building a new library in the central plaza of my town. It will be on the second floor of a house where Pedro Ruiz Gallo, a Peruvian pilot and war hero, was born. My dad (the librarian) and got the idea of putting a cultural/youth center in there too. This would be a place where kids could come learn instruments, join a book club, play chess, get help with homework, or just relax with their peers. It would be a central hub for the youth in the community. Once it is in place, we want to have monthly events put on by the kids. These would be poetry recitals, musical presentations, plays, art shows, sporting events, etc.

I'm really excited about the prospects of this new project. I think it will give the kids something to do and get them more involved in their community. I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.

That's all from me for now. I'll try not to let another 2 months pass without an update.

Chau,

Roberto

Weddings, Archeologists from Utah, Health Convention

Why hello there, friends! It's time for another on-the-ground report from Peru! The land of the Cuy. I have had some pretty amazing experiences over the past few weeks. I'll tell you about them:

First, I attended my first wedding ever. It was fitting that it should be a Peruvian wedding, because I don't think anything could top it. The bride was the host sister of one of the volunteers in my deparment. She became kinda pregnant one day and, well, being good Catholics and such, decided to get married. They were a really sweet couple and they looked good together.

After they signed the necessary legal documents at the municipality, we all left in the back of a pick-up truck to go the party. The party was at the house of the bride and my friend. Her house is quite different than mine. Whereas I have electricity, running water, an indoor toilet, she has neither of those things. It was good to see her situation, and although she couldn't be happier at her site, I felt lucky to have what I do at mine.

Peruvians are very convivial people. I chatted with one of the groom's relatives for a while before the party started. He told me about the crops that his family plants and how long it took him to get to the party (Peruvians love small talk). Then everything got under way. The bride and groom arrived, performed the perfunctory dances with family and friends (Myself and other volunteers were invited to dance with them, being the honorary gringos and all, but my friends declined, and I wasn't listening when the MC asked us).

Then came the food. We ate some pretty good lamb and tamal for the first course. Then the specialty of the north of Peru, goat was served for the main course. I devoured all of this food and a guest bought an Inka Cola (bubble gum flavored soda - I think I'm the only volunteer who considers it delicious) for the other 5 gringos and myself.

Once we ate, the chelas (cervezas) came out. We all danced, drank, and laughed for a good 7 hours until about 5AM. That's when the fights broke out. Some friends and I watched from the safety of a bedroom as the groom and one of his friends exchanged punches in the house, two groups of drunk guys rumbled outside, and a new mom beat down a guy with an empty beer bottle in one hand and her baby in the other. Though there was some blood, I don't think anyone got seriously hurt and I awoke a couple of hours later to find a few of the guys who had been fighting drinking champagne and playing guitar on the front porch. All-in-all, it was a great first wedding for me.

A few days later (or before; I can't really remember. The days just kinda blur together.) My dad mentioned that he had met some archeologists from the University of Utah who were digging around some ruins just outside of my site. Him and I went there to the ruins the next day to say "hi." The ruins are of a church built about 100 years ago. They sit right on the edge of the beach about 100 meters from the ocean. The church was built on top of an older structure laid down by Spanish colonists. The colonists in-turn built their structure over that of one of the Mochica people. The Mochica leaved in this area before the Inca and their language is still spoken by some native Etenanos (Ciudad Eten Native = Etenano).

It was interesting to see some gringos in my site and speak English. There are about 8 of them here for the semester and they will be returning in December. I'll probably go visit them again, because they are finding some really interesting stuff. They uncovered about 6 grave sites and still have lots more digging to do.

To top off my interesting couple of weeks, I got to attend a conference of the regional health department and help give a PowerPoint presentation (I hate PowerPoint, but that's how they do things here so I had to go along) on the work that my community partners and I are doing.

To my delight, the meeting took place at a Lebanese restaraunt! Unfortunately (predictably) we were served regular Peruvian fare, but I asked the owner, and he told me that they do indeed serve Lebanese food. I will definitely be returning to try it out.

My two partners, Rebeca, the obstetrician, and Glenny, the professora, have been working on health issues in the schools here for the past 3 years. I was really lucky to inheret such a strong project from them and the previous volunteers with whom they have been working.

We spent all day yesterday putting together the presentation. It was split into three sections. Rebeca spoke first about the past projects they have been doing over the years. They entailed an artisan class for young mothers, a group of mothers who made papa rellenas (a dumpling-like dish) to sell, and a student march to mark World AIDS Day (December 1st if you're wondering). Then Glenny took over and spoke about some of the health classes they have been giving various themes like AIDS, teen pregnancy, and mental health/self-esteem issues. I finished it off by talking about our latest project that will combine all of the past themes and try to measure the how much the kids have learned through a serious of surveys.

I actually like speaking infront of large groups of people. I find that my Spanish is better when I have to project my voice and keep the attention of an audience. There were about 50 nurses and obstetricians and I had a lot of fun speaking to them. Because some of them had worked with other volunteers, they knew about the Peace Corps and were more than welcoming to me. This experience really made me grateful for what I get to do down here in Peru. These people work everyday with health issues in often dire conditions and here I am, some 23 year old kid who studied polisci in college and has no professional public health training, let alone in a developing country. Yet, they wanted to hear what I had to say and treated me as an equal in their field.

It's so cool meeting new people and living in a completely different culture. I'm extremely lucky to get an opportunity like this and I wish everyone could do it.

Chau!

16-10-10 Fun in Cayalti

It's been going pretty well down here in Lambayeque, Peru. The other day the high school at which I worked held a big event for our health promoters who won a contest in which they presented a skit on the dangers of teen pregnancy (see earlier posts). The event was a huge success and ended with the adults drinking sangria in the school's library (any excuse to have a drink in Peru). The celebrity who was connected to the contest, the 16 year old Peruvian singing sensation Kevin, was also in attendance. He sang a nice little song about not getting pregnant and all the girls fell into hysterics and swooned. A hundred hormonal little girls literally plowed over me as they rushed Kevin for his autograph. I guess the only gringo in town just doesn't cut it for them anymore. I also met a TV producer who interviewed us and said he would like to come back to my town to document an upcoming recycling project I have in mind for the kids. The event was really fun and got me excited to do more at the school.

The day after that, I traveled up to Zaña and Cayalti to help to fellow volunteers with a job/college fair they held for the kids up their way. I had been to these two towns before on an earlier visit while I was still in training and it was nice to go back and see the volunteers up there and their host families. I had to take a 20 minute car ride to Chiclayo and then take a combi (which is like a little van that they pack to the brim with people. I got a nice seat up front so I was relatively comfortable.) for the hour-long ride up to Cayalti.

Something funny happened when I first got on the combi. As I approached it a nice older lady welcomed me and helped me with some of my things. For some reason I thought she was the cobrador (which is the person who stands in the van with the passengers and collects their money and calls the stops) even though I have never seen a elderly female cobrador. So I wasn't thinking and after we had a conversation about where I was from and what I was doing in Peru, I went to sit up front. After a couple of minutes I noticed that some people had given her money. For some reason, although they never ask for the money up front, I thought she was the cobrador and that she was collecting our money. The trip cost S./3.50 (about $1.25) so I thought I would give her S./5.50 and get a nice shiney S./2.00 piece back. Well as most of you have probably figured out, she wasn't the cobrador and was actually just asking for money. After I gave her my money I realized that I made a mistake and had to awkwardly ask her for the 5 soles that I had just given her. I figured I should let her keep the 50 cents. She understood and gave it back and wished me luck on my trip.

I finally got to Cayalti and Zaña and the fair that my friends put on was a huge success. They really worked hard to get it down and it showed. A ton of universities and institutes came in to present the 500 kids or show who showed up with their options for the future. After talking with some of the kids I think this was the first time some of them had actually thought about what to do after high school. It was nice talking to them because I could relate to that overwhelming feeling of cluelessness that just about all high school seniors face.

This week coming up I have my host mom's birthday and a visit from some of the office personnel from Lima. I'll also be planning a series of classes about sexual and mental health for the young ones. I'll keep everyone updated on how all of that goes.

Teen Pregnancy Play

I have already written a bit about the teen pregnancy classes we have been giving. I also wrote about the competition that our high school health promoters won a couple of weeks ago. Well this past weekend they had another competition. The NGO Prenatal, which works to combat teen pregnancy in Peru, held a competition in which high school students would act out skits about teen pregnancy.

Our students decided to do a skit about a teenage girl who gets pregnant and the drama that ensues. It was a really great skit and the kids had a lot of fun. Four other high schools participated and they all did great. Well one was kind of weird, it ended with a clown on stilts and a balloon-dance party. But the others were really on point.

There was an intermission in which this 16 year old kid named Kevin sang a song about teen pregnancy. Kevin's some kind of national celebrity. Apparently he was on the Peruvian Micky Mouse Club and all the high school chicks went crazy when he sang. It was pretty funny.

Our kids ended up winning and now they get to go on a retreat to a resort-type place with a pool and everything. I think I even get to tag along which should be fun.

Chau!

Sex, Sex, and more SEX

When I first applied to the Peace Corps, I said I would do anything and go anywhere. Well that was a bit of a fib. I knew that I didn't want to teach kids about sex. It's not that I have anything against little kids or sex, I just always hated sitting through those health classes back in middle school. I always felt like we were taking part in some politically mandated class that forced the teachers to talk about something they didn't want to get into.

Well as luck would have it, one of the first projects I get to do is a series of sex-ed classes! I actually chose to do this. My two best community partners are a teacher and an obstetrician and it seemed like a natural fit to do these talks. And the kids sure do need it.

Our first step was to find out how much the kids knew about basic sexual health. I made a one page survey with questions about STI's, pregnancy, and a couple of very detailed anatomical drawings. Then I passed out the surveys to 9th and 10th graders. The results were pretty bad. Most of the boys thought the anus was the vagina and the girls couldn't identify a scrotum to save their lives. They also thought that diabetes was an STI and that a condom can protect against infection 100% of the time.

As reluctant as I was to get into sexual education back in the States, I have really enjoyed working on this project so far. It is obviously something the kids need desperately and I have awesome resources in my two community partners so there is no excuse not to do it. Our next step is to take the information we gained from the surveys and make some lesson plans to teach these kids a thing or two about their bodies. Wish me luck!

Chau!

Upcoming Projects

I've been at site for just over three weeks now. I haven't been really busy or anything, but somehow the time has gone by fast. The first three months at site are meant as an adjustment period in which we learn about our community and start to get some ideas about projects we would like to complete. We are also supposed to do smaller projects that should be pretty easy. That is where I am now.

Although I initially thought living with a host family would be annoying, I have come to see how beneficial it really is. I sometimes feel like a teenager again - like being told when and what to eat - their utility has really shown itself. Most recently, as I begin working on these smaller projects. I have just come back from the library that my dad runs. Him and I brainstormed for about a half hour and came up with some very exciting projects.

First, we will be holding a weekly movie night at the library. It will start next Friday with The Pianist. I thought this movie might be a little too mature for a younger audience (though I admit I haven't seen it), but my dad thought it would be fine for them. Since I haven't seen it and he knows the kids better than I, I trust him. My dad works for the municipality so he can borrow a projector from the municipality that we can use.

Another project will be a chess club. This was my dad's idea. I don't know much about chess, but he says the kids will love it. Apparently they had one last year, but it kind of fell off. He already has the chess boards and everything.

We are also going to start a book club. Some complain that kids in the States don't read enough, well they should see Peru. Practically nobody here reads for fun. To exacerbate the problem, books are very expensive and libraries are few (that's why I'm so lucky to have a librarian as a host dad). I'll start this project a few weeks after the movie night so that I can get to know the kids and gauge their interest. I'm really excited about this one. I myself love to read and I think it's immensely important that kids start this habit early.

The final project we came up with will require a bit more work. We want to hold a womens marathon. They held a mens marathon here a few years ago, but never one for the ladies. Because there exists a lot of machismo culture here in Peru, it would be great to hold an event just for women in which they can display their physical talent and discipline.

So all this has got me very excited. I've already bought supplies to make signs for the movie night to post around town.

Later today, I have a meeting with a group of high school students who are going to perform a play about teen pregnancy as part of a department wide competition with other schools. Our group won the first part of the competition which was to make a poster for the prevention of teen pregnancy, so hopefully we can carry the momentum over into this play.

I'll let you all know how everything goes!

Chau,
Roberto

Getting to Know the Town

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my host dad is very well-respected and known in the town. He literally knows everybody. I have met lots of people by just walking around town with him. So today when he asked me if I wanted to go meet some of his friends, of course I said yes. We started out at the house of one of his oldest friends. We picked him up and then walked over to the house of another friend who has cancer but has been getting better. We talked with him for a bit and then moved on to my dad's brother's house. On the way, we bought a bottle of wine and some cerveza (mind you it was 11AM). We got to his brother's house, but he wasn't home. Apparently he was visiting his son in the nearest big city.
Without a place to drink our wine and beer, we decided to return to the first house. We relaxed there for a bit and discussed the differences between cultures and politics in the US and Peru. For instance, they find it fascinating that people move out at 18 and start their own lives. In Peru, children usually stay in their parents' house until they are married or even then they may just move their family into their parents' house. It's not unusual for people in their 40's or 50's to live with their parents.
We talked and finished the wine (which is very sweet in Peru. It's almost like a port.). Then my dad and I walked over to his sister's house. She has a very nice house and we talked and played with her grandchildren for a little while.
After that, we walked over to the town center. It is election season and all of the different campaigns have headquarters around the main plaza. My dad is well connected with the current administration and is good friends with the mayor, so we went into his campaign headquarters. Now this is more or less against Peace Corps policy. As non-political volunteers, we shouldn't be seen to be aligned with any particular political party. With this in-mind, I planned to only stay for a little while, but I had to walk a fine line. I want to integrate within the community and spend time with my host dad, but I didn't want to appear to be supporting the mayor's reelection campaign.
I stayed in the headquarters for a bit and passed the vaso with my dad and the mayor and the campaign staff. "Passing the vaso" is the manner in which Peruvians drink. It involves passing around a bottle of beer and a vaso (glass) in a circle. After the bottle of wine and a few beers and not very much food, I was starting to feel the alcohol so I excused myself and returned home; where I started to write this blog entry. I ate some graham crackes and I'm not feeling the booze so much anymore.
We were supposed to have a pollada (a community chicken feast) so I'm going to go find that now because I'm starving.
Chau, amigos!

All Kinds of Tranquilo

I am loving life down here in Peru. I really have the perfect set-up. My site rocks, my family rocks, my community partner rocks, and all the other volunteers rock. Everything's just pretty much rockin' right now. So here are some of the rockin' things I've been doing since my last update.

I helped give some more charlas (classes) on teen pregnancy. Then on Friday I didn't have anything to do so I went for a long walk along the beach. The beach is about a 10 minute walk from my house and it is one of the most stunning, wild beaches I have ever seen. It's totally untamed and practically deserted. During the winter, which we are in down here in the good ol' SoHe (that's my cool abbreviation for Souther Hemisphere), no one goes there except for a few fisherman. So my beach starts out as a pretty normal sandy beach (that is once I pass the gnarly sand dunes and ruins of 200 year old church). Then I come across a bunch of colorful, wooden fishing boats scattered along the sand. These sit in front of Puerto Eten, the smaller town by my city and where lives another volunteer. After the boats, the beach turns into these giant cliffs. I walked along the edge of the cliffs and stared out into the vast ocean. From the top of the cliffs I could see for miles and miles. If Sarah Palin where with me should could have probably pointed out Russia.

After walking along the cliffs for a while, I came to a secluded section of beach walled-off by the cliffs. I found a little trail down to the beach and sat there and read for about an hour. Then I got hungry and returned home. I can't remember what I ate for lunch, but I'm sure it was delicious seeing as how my mom is a fantastic cook. Peruvian food is actually really good. They have just about every ingredient imaginable. Potatoes and Tomatoes were actually first grown in Peru in the Andes near the border with Ecuador.

So that was a fun day. Today I had a really productive meeting with my counterparts. I met with my counterpart the obstetrician, her staff of two nurses who are about my age, and a woman from an organization that supports abused mothers and children. We planned out a meeting that we are going to have with about 50 parents from the community. We are going to use it as a way to introduce a myself and a broader series of classes on parenting that we will be hosting. My dad, the librarian, is going to let us hold it in the town library and we are going to borrow a projector from the municipality to show a movie on family values. I'm really excited about it.

Not being a parent myself, I'm a bit worried that the parents won't listen to me, but I know if I present myself professionally and sound like I know what I'm talking about, it will work. So I'm going to study up on what I want to say to them and prepare myself well. I even bought some business cards to further my professional image.

Well that's all I have for now. Suerte a todo.

Chau!

Teen Pregnancy and the Bed Bath and Beyond of Peru

Hello there:

Feeling bloated? If that's the case, and you're a 13 year old Peruvian, you're probably pregnant. The average age at which women have children here is 16. It's really terrible because many of these girls begin having sex at a very early age and don't use protection. Many times they get pregnant on their first go.

Because teen pregnancy is such a big problem here, my community counterpart has taken the initiative to start teaching classes at the local high school on teen pregnancy and how to avoid it. My counterpart is an obstetrician and she is really on top of things. I am very lucky to have her. (A counterpart by the way is a local professional who Peace Corps finds to work with the volunteers. They can be librarians, teachers, doctors, or municipal workers, or just about anyone who is active in the community.)

When I first got to my site I was worried that I wouldn't be able to think of any meaningful projects, but thanks to my counterpart, I already have one. These classes about teen pregnancy definitely aren't something I would have started on my own, but I have helped with 3 so far and I really enjoy them. The kids also seem to be interested in the issue; perhaps because so many of them have already had experience with it.

Although the kids can be a little rowdy, they are sweet. I'm quite the novelty to them. It's very strange being so different from all of them. Sometimes they will laugh at me when I speak Spanish or even when I'm not really doing anything at all. Sometimes they treat me like a celebrity. At the end of one of the classes I had to sign a bunch of autographs for a horde of little girls. That was really weird. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the kids are really strange.

After my class today, I took a taxi into the departmental capital, Chiclayo. The taxis aren't like taxis back in the states. It's just some guy who has an old Toyota who tries to make an extra buck by cramming 5 or 6 people into 4 seats. It's pretty uncomfortable for a tall gringo like me, but it's cheap (about $1 for a 20 mile trip) and I enjoy the convenience of being able to go right into town anytime I wish.

So when I arrived in Chiclayo, I went to the large shopping center called Real Plaza. This place really is ridiculous. It caters to about the top 10% of Peruvians because most things here are just insanely priced by their standards. It has a Starbucks, a KFC, a Pizza Hut, and a Long Horn Steak House. It's kind of like being in America again. I am actually writing this using the Free WiFi in Starbucks.

I went to a place called Casa & Ideas. It's a home store that resembles Bed Bath and Beyond. It's pretty pricey, but today most of the stuff was between 30 and 50% off. I bought a really comfortable blanket, some sheets, curtains, and a bunch of rugs. My room is pretty bare (those with Facebook can refer to the photos of my room for a better idea). The floor is pretty much rocks covered in cement and the walls are uncovered bricks. Lots of little critters crawl through the walls. I spider bit me in my bed the first night I was here and I found a black widow yesterday. I used to hate spiders, but now I just see them as roommates. So I bought all of the rugs to lay on the ground and I hope to use a few of them to cover the walls.

Well that's all I have for today. I'm probably going to finish up here and go back home to do some reading. I'm really lucky because my dad is a librarian and yesterday he brought me this Spanish book on the French Revolution. I'm looking forward to reading it. I think I might even take it and walk down to the beach tomorrow to read it. Take care all!

Chau!

Swearing-in

It's been a few since I last updated the blog. In that time, I have sworn-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and have moved to my site. I am now sitting in a hostel in Chiclayo, the capital city of my department - Lambayeque. I arrived in Chiclayo this morning (well technically yesterday morning sense it is after 12:00AM) with the other 3 volunteers from my group who will be working and living in my department. We are staying the night here and then tomorrow we will all go to our respective sites.

My site is fabulous. It is exactly where I wanted to go. It is named Ciudad Eten and I visited it on for Field-Based Training a few weeks ago. At that time I did not know where I was going to go, but after visiting Eten, I knew I wanted to go there. I made it clear to my bosses that I wanted Ciudad and I was lucky enough to get it. It is literally right on the beach and it is such a tranquila city. Everyone is really chill and my host family is fantastic.

My community partner is an obstetrician who is totally on her game. She is fantastic and already has some health classes with which I will be helping her lined-up this week at the high school.

I am a bit intimidated, because I have so much freedom in what I can do. I can literally do any project that I want for the next two years as long as it involves youth development. In some respects that is liberating, but in others it is daunting. I visited Eten two weeks ago and met the mayor and lots of other important people. They all spoke of such grand expectations for me. I am worried that I won't live up to their expectations, but I am going to do my best.

The first three months at site are meant to be an integration period. We are supposed to work on a community diagnostic in which we assess the community's needs, resources, strengths, weakness, and threats. During this time we are not expected to do much in the way of actual projects, but should be focusing on the diagnostic while accomplishing early-wins. Early-wins are little projects that we can do with little preparation and training. They involve teaching English, drawing a world map on a wall with children, or teaching a few classes on simple health topics like brushing teeth or washing hands.

It's weird to think that I will be at Eten for the next two years and I don't even know what I will be doing exactly. However, I'm super excited to get out there and figure it out. I'll have internet in my new house, so I'll try to keep this thing updated so you can all know how things are proceeding.

Chau!

Fiestas Patrias

Perú gained its Independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. The general San Martín fought to help Perú gain its independence and is now remembered every July 28 on Fiestas Patrias. In this day, Peruvians show their national pride by raising the red and white striped Peruvian flag (red for war and white for peace) and getting together with family to show their reverence for those who have made this country so great. It is a very important day of honor for Peruvians. It is a day full of reminiscing, family, friends, oh . . . and of course cerveza! Peruvians love passing the vaso (glass) and a bottle of Cristal (the most widespread national beer) in a big drinking circle with friends, old and new.

Of course my fellow volunteers and I, being the cultural junkies that we are and trying our best to integrate into Peruvian life, took this opportunity to visit a Fiestas Patrias party that one of the host families threw. I showed up at 11 AM to find the beers flowing, the food cooking, the music blaring and dancing in full swing. My friend Adam, whose family threw the party, and a couple of the other volunteers and I helped prepare food and get everything organized. Adam’s mom, Gloria, is an amazing cook and one of the nicest people I’ve met. I’ve been to his house about 10 times and every time she makes sure I am well fed. It was also her birthday so we all wanted to make this day extra special for her by helping out with the cooking and just generally showing her a good time.

While we were all in the kitchen, Adam’s dad, Lucho, called me over for a secret mission. He was going to pick up Gloria’s birthday cakes from a bakery in the next town and asked if I wanted to help. His dad’s awesome and I love spending one-on-one time with Peruvians speaking Spanish so I took him up on the offer and we hopped into his 1987 Camry and sped off.

Because it was a holiday, there was mucha congestión on the road. But luckily, Lucho knew a short cut. He pulled off down a narrow side street, almost collided with a mototaxi (like a rickshaw tricycle thing), and before I knew it we were flying at a breakneck 40 MPH down a dirt road. A few more near collisions later we arrived at the bakery and collected the cakes.

When we got back to the party more volunteers and family members had arrived. I quickly grabbed a plate of food: ceviche (raw fish that is “cooked” in lemon with onions and garlic – it’s REALLY GOOD), a delicious potato dish, chicken and rice (which is like the Peruvian equivalent to pizza or cheeseburgers in the States because they eat it so much here), and yucca. I had just sat down when I saw Lucho walking over to me with a huge grin on his face and two pitchers of some mysterious liquid in his hands. I didn’t need an explanation of what was in the pitchers, Lucho’s grin said it all – he loves getting drunk with the gringos (that’s what they call us white people by the way). He poured me a big glass of the mysterious liquid and explained to me what it was. It was Chicha de Jorra, a drink made with corn and fermented barley that they drink in the mountains. It was delicious and I can’t think of a comparison to it back in the states.

After some eating and a bit more Chicha de Jorras, some of us guys decided that we needed to integrate our group of gringos with the group of Peruvians that was sitting on the other side of the yard. We got up and invited some of the moms and grandmas to dance. I’m a terrible dancer, but so are most Peruvians so I felt right in my element. We danced for a while and then decided to work on some superlatives for our class of volunteers. These consisted of some pretty innocuous ones like, “most likely to learn Quecha,” and “most likely to kiss a Peruvian,” but there were some other more risqué ones like, “most likely to knock up a host sister.” We tried explaining the idea to our Peruvian friends, but they didn’t get the idea at all. I guess we just sucked at translating.

After the superlatives, a couple of people and I decided to share some American culture with our Peruvian hosts. I had shown some of my friends how to make pizza at Adam’s house a few weeks ago and his parents really loved it so we thought we would do it again. We commandeered the kitchen from Gloria, put on our aprons and got to work. We made about six or seven pizzas all from scratch: dough and sauce and all the accoutrements. Vegetables and fruits are really cheap in Perú so we bought lots of avocados (which you can get for about a dollar here), mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and anything else we thought would go good on a pizza. We even made a BBQ chicken pizza and a spicy pineapple pizza which were big hits.

After the pizza we sang Happy Birthday and Cumpleaños Feliz to Gloria and devoured the cake. I think Gloria had a really good time which made me really happy because she is always very nice to us and never thinks twice before opening her home to us and filling our bellies. It was a really swell time and a right proper way to celebrate my first Fiestas Patrias. I hope the next two I have here are just as good.

Chau!