ocupada

Wow, I’ve had a busy few days. . . I’ll start with December 29th. I’m hanging out with my friend Hilaria, who owns basically a bar and when I go to talk to her, I run the risk of having to run into inebriated men so that’s no fun. Anyway, this day I happened to have a run-in with the (tipsy) director of the high school who I’ve been trying to get a hold of for a week. So, when he said hi I said, “Hi, how are you, when are we going to have that meeting?” (For the record, more small talk is usually appropriate). He told me Sunday at nine in the morning. So, that was an unexpectedly positive outcome and I appeared at the school at nine. As I was walking to the high school I realized students walking in their uniforms in the same direction I was. This is odd because school ended a week and a half ago. Oh, yes, folks, I was going to the graduation. I also definitely sat up front facing the crowd with professors, the chief of police, and other presidents of various associations. It also lasted four hours. Now for those of you who know me well, you can imagine how attempting to stay attentive and, um, awake for a four hour ceremony, was, well, trying. I didn’t get much networking done as I was hoping to, but upon talking with my Huaripampa amiga, Tsutsuy, I found out that this isn’t an uncommon occurrence so I felt better. With further reflection I realized that just being there was a big step because that gets more people wondering who the heck I am and why I was at the high school graduation ceremony. This is too large of a town for everyone to just automatically know who I am and even when I tell them, they think I’m just going to be at the health post all day. Oh no, I’m going to be EVERYWHERE… muahaha. (No really, I’m supposed to be an integrated member of the community not only to gain validity in my projects but also to facilitate information about resources to other community members… Sometimes two associations are working with the same goals and don’t realize it so part of my job is to help community members realize that they can look within their town for resources [sustainability! Woohoo!], not always to outside sources.)