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!