The Gringos Are Coming… The Gringos Are Coming…

Things that are going wrong before eight PCVs come over to my site to perform a skit / play at the local high school:

• I turned in a letter to the high school in plenty of time in advance to ask permission for the play. However, well, in that two week time period the high school changed directors so now it’s quite possible no one knows what’s going on.
  
• On top of that, I have to change the time from the afternoon to the morning. Might be a big deal, might not… Guess I’ll find out tomorrow!

Gender Roles

I'm in Huaraz again. It hasn't been that long for those of you keeping track but this is a business trip. All the Ancash Peace Corps volunteers are meeting in Huaraz to work on a play about Gender Roles that we are going to perform in each of our sites! I would tell you more about it but, I haven't been very good at learning my lines and hence, I don't know much about it... :)But I will by the end of today.

This week I learned that the radio no longer has an interest in working with me on my radio show. I'm not sure what happened but various excuses have appeared with remarkable consistency to inhibit transmission of my show.. Sad times.

View from Lake Llaca

This is a view of the mountains and glaciers seen from the Lake Llaca.

Easter Hike

Ok, the hike wasn't technically on Easter, it was yesterday but it was fun! I'm in Huaraz at the moment visiting my friend Domi and she invited me to go on a hike to the Quebrada Llaca. This valley is a right off the city of Huaraz and only takes about 75 minutes by car to get to the trailhead.

We left early to avoid the heat and other tourists and to get to the inn in time to eat lunch. The transportation that we hired left Huaraz around 5:30am. We got out at the trailhead (which would have charged us if the man had realized that one of the group members was a foreigner but I had my hat on and a hood and baggy clothing so I was overlooked.) Made a couple shortcuts as directed by a map made for us by Domi's friend who is also a trail guide in Huaraz, and arrived at the lake to breakfast around 8am. Then we made an arduous climb over precariously placed rocks to get a better look at the glacier but luckily they got tired and we turned around. :) Those glaciers always look closer than they are so over time I've stopped trying to get closer. Just sit back and revel in the beauty, it saves time too. :)

So this is small but maybe you can make it bigger on your computer.. :) Anyway, the big dark rectangle is Huaraz and up and to the left of Huaraz is the valley (Quebrada) of Llaca with a lake at the end of it and the snow covered mountain at the end called Ocshapalca and one to the right called Vallunaraju (Raju means snow covered mountain in Quechua).

A view looking out (towards Huaraz and the Cordillera Negra) from the Quebrada Llaca.

Mt. Ocshapalca as seen from somebody that went mountain climbing (found the picture online... didn't take it!)

After we got down from the lake, we took a different way down and passed by an inn called "The Lazy Dog Inn" (Qela Allgupa Waiyin). For lunch we had a wonderful meal of chicken parmesan and it was delicious. The inn is an ecological bed and breakfast located 8KM from the city of Huaraz.

Pictures from Cochao

The mothers and kids that participated in the workshop about Complementary Nutrition for babies from six months to one year.

The different dishes that the mothers made with foods grown in the zone.

Awww.

Make sure you wash up before cooking or eating!!

Here I am in my campo garb in the beautiful town of Cochao!

Ruth relaxing in the plaza in Cochao, we relaxed a lot up there, seeing as the mother's showed up TWO AND A HALF HOURS late!!!

Blog Updates

Check out these dates for new blog entries:

December 21
December 22

March 6
March 10
March 15

The Ides of March

So, I’ve officially been at my site for 11 days now and I’ve:

* Gotten covered in mud by a passing bus
* Experienced collectively 21 hours of power outages
* Attended 3 all Quechua meetings
* Thought about escaping to Huaraz twice.
* Had 2 nights of no water
* Made 2 radio shows
* Eaten all care package items I brought back to site
* Cleaned my room and messed it up again 3 times

Among other assorted adventures… :)

Back in the swing of things

Well, I’ve been in site four days now. It’s been great so far, lots of hopeful beginnings and not a lot of empty promises. (Some, but not nearly as many as usual!) :)
This morning I went to the health center to look for the obstetrician to pick up some papers. I was told what room she was in and that she wasn’t too busy so I walked in and waited… and got to witness the birth of a beautiful baby girl! I’d never seen a birth before so it was an amazing experience (and it went smoothly so I’m not scarred for life or anything!) :) In the plaza I also met up with an old friend who also had some exciting news. Since my first months at site, I have heard a few of my woman friends talk about how they would like to form a woman’s association. I got really excited about it at first, and then as time passed and I tried to help in initiating the first steps and failing, I thought maybe this was just another one of those campo myths (you know, like an urban myth but in the campo. Haha.) BUT, during my two month hiatus, they went ahead and started it! AND two of my close friends are in it and one of them is the woman who started it. YAY! She was telling me all of her wonderful plans and I’m so excited to help and be a part of this. Truly a Peace Corps volunteer’s dream: an idea from the community by the community helped and made stronger by a PCV but the responsibility and owned by the community. Yay!

Direct from San Marcos!

Yay! I made it back to my site today! Even though the strange not quite El Niño not so much La Niña phenomenon that is ravaging the coast, making the department of Tumbes (on the border of Ecuador and Peru) in a state of emergency and limiting transportation to Cajamarca by destroying 900 mts. of highway is in full throttle, apparently in Ancash, everything is fine. We even made the trek from Huaraz to San Marcos in three hours. That, by the way, is record dry season the road is in tip top shape time. I just don’t know what this world is coming to..

So, when I arrived today my family was actually home and I received an enthusiastic hello, which is so much more fun than an empty house, and got a good old fashion lunch of beans, rice, and potatoes (with fideo soup, aka-lots of pasta). I was in my room before lunch when I heard my host-sister call me to come to the kitchen. My host-mom didn’t know what to do with some food but they were sure that I would know. As I follow Jessi to the kitchen I think, “Has my Spanish gotten that bad? My host-mom knows how to take a pig from the trough to the Christmas dinner table I can’t think of any food that I would know more about than her.. And if there was… why would she buy it?” When I walk into the kitchen, I spot the culprit: a can of beans. I look to my host-mom and she asks, “So, do I just put it in the pot?” Well, they got me there. If there’s one thing I may have the upper hand with, it’s the microwave dinner, top ramen, and canned bean world. So, I show her what any health conscious canned bean eater would do, we wash away the bean juice to get rid of the extra sodium and, um, yes, throw them in the pot. (It’s a rough life, using canned goods.)

Turns out she got them from some Italian nuns that live in a town a few hours down the road (lots of them around here, actually) and this progressed to a lively discussion on what she could possibly do with her two new cans of peeled tomatoes. :)

Going back to San Marcos

Washington has decided that I can continue my physical therapy at my site so I'm going back! Get ready, San Marcos, here I come!! :) So, by default, I'll probably be updating my blog in big chunks like before so get ready for that... :) Anyway, just wanted everyone to know where I'll be! Off being a Peace Corps volunteer! Finally....

Islas Ballestas, Pisco, Ica

Getting ready to go see the islands!

One of the islands that we passed on our way to Islas Ballestas (Ballestas Islands).

The Candelabra formation. They don't know exactly when this was made. There are many theories about who made this formation including that the indigenous people of the area made the symbol to recognize various aspects of their culture, or that the Spaniards made it during the colonization.

A cave in the Islas Ballestas. Can you see how it looks like a person's nose, open mouth, and chin?

These islands are populated by large numbers of sea lions and different kinds of birds including PENGUINS!!!! Yay! (In this picture they are in front of the other birds in the center.)