I have been misled, but I'm not sure by whom. Maybe myself. I came to Ollanta thinking I would be one of the only "gringas" around, one of the only young people in town, and downright lonely and bored. So far from the truth!
Saturday, after no more than an hour and a half of brick-moving relief work in the neighborhood ruined by flood, I was offered beer by locals. It was 10 am.
Sunday, at no later than 1:30 pm, festivities began at the community barbecue to raise funds for flood reconstructions, the beer began to flow. And it flowed. All. Afternoon. Bull fight. More beer. Throwing water balloons for Carnaval. More beer. Crazy dancing. More beer.
For gosh sakes, they DAY DRINK here. All the time!!! It's just like college! These people are LOCO!
And it's breaking my bank. I'm giving up drinking for Lent. Not fun. Just the paying for beers. Happy Ash Wednesday!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Chapter 2: Feeling the Motions
I am sitting in the dining/living room of my house, Alex at my left, Luis at my right, looking curiously at these English words I type. They ask me what every single word says, and I now discover how hard it is to type in English and speak in Spanish at the same time. What a strange feeling, like a brain teaser. A telenovela (soap opera) plays on the TV, and I can hear our eggs frying for dinner in the next room. Soon Alex and Luis are bored of translations and want to explore this cool computer for games. Three solitaire games later, and dinner is served. Fried egg, fried potato, and what else, rice. Always rice.
I am slowly adjusting to life here in rural Peru. I am actually starting to enjoy the bucket baths (they’re quick and easy!), and I did laundry for my first time today, also done in a bucket, by hand. I did this as one part of an effort to rid my bed of the fleas that have infested it, and left at least 12 very itchy swells on my left hand alone. These fairly common little insects have been living in my bed and biting me since I arrived. Knowing a fair amount about bugs in beds (see previous entry entitled “The Invaders”), I thought that by tucking long-sleeved shirt into sweatpants, into ski socks, that I could handle them. But when I found a bite on my chin last night, I knew the buggers had to go. My homestay mom refuses to put the toxic powder used to kill them on the blankets on my bed, so I wait doubtfully for the morning verdict.
Since my first entry, there has been quite the swarm of social activity. I quite logically, I think, assumed that I would be lonely and bored here in this small town. Far from it. I find that the hour or two I get to myself before bed I treasure, rather than dread. Last Thursday was a festival up in the mountains called Compadres. I went with my family up to this tiny little village about an hour from Ollanta. Indigenous Quechua Peruvians were abundant, dressed in their normal, but quite festive garb, which often includes an infant slung in a blanket wrapped around the mother. (Fun Fact: 50% of Peru’s population is under the age of 15. I have never seen so many babies in my whole life.) They served chunks of tough beef, beet and carrot salad, and chicha (Peruvian corn beer) to everyone in attendance. I was thankfully warned to steer clear of the chicha lest I spend the week in bed, and I was grateful when my homestay dad helped me politely refuse a very persistent old lady with a glass of the stuff. A very comedic “bull fight” topped off the afternoon, with drunken villagers taking turns getting chased down by the annoyed bulls. Without a question, the bulls won that fight.
Sunday, I went on a 5-hour hike with three new volunteers (Michelle, Keri, and Alison), Eliana my host sister, and Luis, host brother and hiking guide extraordinaire. The hike was to a mountaintop quarry where the Incas shaped and carried their stones to build from. It was difficult, but I made three new friends in the process, well worth the three hours of uphill.
Sunday night, we luckily convinced the owner of a new English pub to play the Super Bowl. All the volunteers met and I was happy to feel unabashedly American for a night. This bar will undoubted show up in the coming entries as the sight of many a social event. In fact, it reappeared only two nights later, last night, when Awamaki U.S. hosted its first Pub Quiz Night to great applause.
Rising on the social horizon: yoga tomorrow morning in the Inca ruins at sunrise, 7+ hour group hike on Friday, Olympics Opening Ceremonies at unnamed English Pub on Friday night, flood relief community clean-up day on Saturday, BBQ and bull fight to benefit those affected by the floods on Sunday afternoon, and Wine Mesh Valentine’s Day later that night. I daresay my social calendar is busier than it was in Duluth!
All is well on the job front. I have finished a volunteer handbook, arrival and departure volunteer surveys, assisted with creating a budget for 2010 (yes, Dad, you read that right. AND it included spreadsheets!), and now I am starting a project to reorganize and rewrite content for Awamaki’s new website.
To sum up, things are looking good. I can see how before long days will fly and weeks will blur, and all too soon, it will be over. But not yet!
P.S. My attempts to upload pictures has so far been unsuccessful on our spotty internet. Stay tuned...
I am slowly adjusting to life here in rural Peru. I am actually starting to enjoy the bucket baths (they’re quick and easy!), and I did laundry for my first time today, also done in a bucket, by hand. I did this as one part of an effort to rid my bed of the fleas that have infested it, and left at least 12 very itchy swells on my left hand alone. These fairly common little insects have been living in my bed and biting me since I arrived. Knowing a fair amount about bugs in beds (see previous entry entitled “The Invaders”), I thought that by tucking long-sleeved shirt into sweatpants, into ski socks, that I could handle them. But when I found a bite on my chin last night, I knew the buggers had to go. My homestay mom refuses to put the toxic powder used to kill them on the blankets on my bed, so I wait doubtfully for the morning verdict.
Since my first entry, there has been quite the swarm of social activity. I quite logically, I think, assumed that I would be lonely and bored here in this small town. Far from it. I find that the hour or two I get to myself before bed I treasure, rather than dread. Last Thursday was a festival up in the mountains called Compadres. I went with my family up to this tiny little village about an hour from Ollanta. Indigenous Quechua Peruvians were abundant, dressed in their normal, but quite festive garb, which often includes an infant slung in a blanket wrapped around the mother. (Fun Fact: 50% of Peru’s population is under the age of 15. I have never seen so many babies in my whole life.) They served chunks of tough beef, beet and carrot salad, and chicha (Peruvian corn beer) to everyone in attendance. I was thankfully warned to steer clear of the chicha lest I spend the week in bed, and I was grateful when my homestay dad helped me politely refuse a very persistent old lady with a glass of the stuff. A very comedic “bull fight” topped off the afternoon, with drunken villagers taking turns getting chased down by the annoyed bulls. Without a question, the bulls won that fight.
Sunday, I went on a 5-hour hike with three new volunteers (Michelle, Keri, and Alison), Eliana my host sister, and Luis, host brother and hiking guide extraordinaire. The hike was to a mountaintop quarry where the Incas shaped and carried their stones to build from. It was difficult, but I made three new friends in the process, well worth the three hours of uphill.
Sunday night, we luckily convinced the owner of a new English pub to play the Super Bowl. All the volunteers met and I was happy to feel unabashedly American for a night. This bar will undoubted show up in the coming entries as the sight of many a social event. In fact, it reappeared only two nights later, last night, when Awamaki U.S. hosted its first Pub Quiz Night to great applause.
Rising on the social horizon: yoga tomorrow morning in the Inca ruins at sunrise, 7+ hour group hike on Friday, Olympics Opening Ceremonies at unnamed English Pub on Friday night, flood relief community clean-up day on Saturday, BBQ and bull fight to benefit those affected by the floods on Sunday afternoon, and Wine Mesh Valentine’s Day later that night. I daresay my social calendar is busier than it was in Duluth!
All is well on the job front. I have finished a volunteer handbook, arrival and departure volunteer surveys, assisted with creating a budget for 2010 (yes, Dad, you read that right. AND it included spreadsheets!), and now I am starting a project to reorganize and rewrite content for Awamaki’s new website.
To sum up, things are looking good. I can see how before long days will fly and weeks will blur, and all too soon, it will be over. But not yet!
P.S. My attempts to upload pictures has so far been unsuccessful on our spotty internet. Stay tuned...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Chapter 1: Sweet Home Ollanta
I am currently sitting in my bedroom, atop a pile of four heavy alpaca blankets, which makes for very warm sleeps. Outside my door is an open-air stairway that leads to the center courtyard area of the house, complete with rabbit and cuy (guinea pig) cages. When I asked my mom, hoping for the impossible, if they were pets she giggled, “No chiquita, for eating! Birthdays and special occasions only!” Thank God my birthday was two weeks ago… Outside my windows, I have the most spectacular views of rugged Andes mountains with Inca ruins build into their steep slopes. And through these windows I hear the most unfamiliar sounds: donkeys snorting in discontent, snarls of stray dogs fighting for someone’s dinner leftovers, and of course, the up-and-down cadence of someone’s Spanish, trying to make a deal at the market no doubt.
One of my host brothers, Luis, peeks in on me to see what this fancy machine with a lit up apple on its front is. I try to explain in my rusty Spanish why it’s called a laptop and he has to say it at least three times before he can get it. His family is wonderful, and I have the pleasure of living with them for the next few months. My dad, Ivan, is darling, is a farmer and artisan, and plays in an adult soccer league. My mom, Lucia, is gentle and kind, and sews these adorable dolls dressed in traditional Quechua garb. The oldest son, Javier, is 24 and has a busy social life, but is great with his younger siblings. Their only daughter, Eliana, is 21 and is a second mom to the two younger boys, both teasing them and making sure they eat their vegetables. Luis, the curious on-looker, is 11 and very mature for his age. The youngest, Alex, is 9 and has the most adorable brand-new front teeth. I wish I could have seen him before they had grown in. He has quite a personality, cheating very stealthily several times during our game of UNO last night. He also hates vegetables, and made the most hilarious face when he started chewing a carrot this afternoon at lunch.
I started work on Monday and so far I love my job. My first role is to create a more structured volunteer program. I am working on a volunteer handbook currently, as well as a volunteer manifest and calendar. The organization ended up being small officially, but to my happy surprise, there are far more volunteers and workers here than I imagined. We had a pizza party the first night and there were 13 people there! Whoo hoo!! I might have friends here! At least three others are brand new, easing my anxiety about being the newbie. We keep a nice little office in the second floor of someone’s general store. It has a slanted floor and only three outlets for at least seven computers, but the Internet mostly works and it’s filled with fun people. My boss and head of Awamaki US, Kennedy, is wonderful, and I know we will work very well together already. The other permanent members of the staff are Emma, the head of Awamaki Peru, which runs the textile project, and Miguel, our Peruvian staff member who acts as the necessary liaison between the locals and us.
Awamaki has two sides: US and Peru. The Awa Peru deals directly with about 35 women weavers who live in an even smaller village called Patacancha high in the mountains above Ollantaytambo. They develop new designs for the women, and sell their products both in a store in Ollanta and abroad. Awamaki US mostly runs the volunteer program, which is a major money producer for both sides of the organization. We place volunteers in 3 clinics, 3 schools, a community center, an after school program, and in the village of Patacancha. We also take on photographers and tech people to help with the running of the organization.
Yesterday Kennedy, a volunteer photographer Josh, Miguel, and I went around the area, talking to flood victims. In Ollantaytambo alone, we estimate there are about 35 families, or about 150-200 people displaced by the floods and landslides. Homes outside the town are usually made of adobe, which is dried mud, and when it gets wet, it turns to wet mud, washing away with the river. Sever homes right outside Ollanta are completely destroyed, fields of maiz washed away, and bridges, including the main bridge in Ollanta, collapsed. Right now, the displaced people are living in tents set up by the government or, like about 60 people, camped out in schools in town. We saw the road that leads to the start of the Inca trail end in mid-air, cut cleanly by a landslide into the river. (Pictures to come) Awamaki has decided to help in the long-term relief efforts, as right now the generous families of Ollanta are helping meet the immediate needs of these people. As school starts in about a month, we will buy the expensive school supplies for the children and also aid the reconstruction of houses once the rainy season is over. Kennedy's boyfriend, who lives here also, is a carpenter and architect. He had an idea to build concrete foundations for the homes so they won't be washed away should the river flood again.
Then, last night, my uncle Steve and aunt Lynn were miraculously in Ollantaytambo! They had signed up for this awesome tour a few years back, before Peru was ever a electrical signal in my mind, and we happened to cross paths! How lucky is that?! I met them for dinner at their very nice hotel and met several of their fellow tour-goers. They've been visiting several smaller rural towns known for their beautiful weavings. Then, the next morning we walked around the village a little, reveling in the Inca doorways still used here in Ollanta. I was sad to see them go, but it was wonderful to get some hugs and kisses from family in this new home.
Tomorrow is a festival called Compadres in a nearby village, which separates the patronism between the towns and villages. Dancing, drinking, and a bull fight are all parts of the celebration, so I'm excited to see how these people party! Surely lots of good pictures from that on the way... Also coming up: hiking to the quarry and to some smaller ruins in Ollanta this weekend.
Overall, I am adapting well, I think, and four months is seeming more and more manageable everyday.
One of my host brothers, Luis, peeks in on me to see what this fancy machine with a lit up apple on its front is. I try to explain in my rusty Spanish why it’s called a laptop and he has to say it at least three times before he can get it. His family is wonderful, and I have the pleasure of living with them for the next few months. My dad, Ivan, is darling, is a farmer and artisan, and plays in an adult soccer league. My mom, Lucia, is gentle and kind, and sews these adorable dolls dressed in traditional Quechua garb. The oldest son, Javier, is 24 and has a busy social life, but is great with his younger siblings. Their only daughter, Eliana, is 21 and is a second mom to the two younger boys, both teasing them and making sure they eat their vegetables. Luis, the curious on-looker, is 11 and very mature for his age. The youngest, Alex, is 9 and has the most adorable brand-new front teeth. I wish I could have seen him before they had grown in. He has quite a personality, cheating very stealthily several times during our game of UNO last night. He also hates vegetables, and made the most hilarious face when he started chewing a carrot this afternoon at lunch.
I started work on Monday and so far I love my job. My first role is to create a more structured volunteer program. I am working on a volunteer handbook currently, as well as a volunteer manifest and calendar. The organization ended up being small officially, but to my happy surprise, there are far more volunteers and workers here than I imagined. We had a pizza party the first night and there were 13 people there! Whoo hoo!! I might have friends here! At least three others are brand new, easing my anxiety about being the newbie. We keep a nice little office in the second floor of someone’s general store. It has a slanted floor and only three outlets for at least seven computers, but the Internet mostly works and it’s filled with fun people. My boss and head of Awamaki US, Kennedy, is wonderful, and I know we will work very well together already. The other permanent members of the staff are Emma, the head of Awamaki Peru, which runs the textile project, and Miguel, our Peruvian staff member who acts as the necessary liaison between the locals and us.
Awamaki has two sides: US and Peru. The Awa Peru deals directly with about 35 women weavers who live in an even smaller village called Patacancha high in the mountains above Ollantaytambo. They develop new designs for the women, and sell their products both in a store in Ollanta and abroad. Awamaki US mostly runs the volunteer program, which is a major money producer for both sides of the organization. We place volunteers in 3 clinics, 3 schools, a community center, an after school program, and in the village of Patacancha. We also take on photographers and tech people to help with the running of the organization.
Yesterday Kennedy, a volunteer photographer Josh, Miguel, and I went around the area, talking to flood victims. In Ollantaytambo alone, we estimate there are about 35 families, or about 150-200 people displaced by the floods and landslides. Homes outside the town are usually made of adobe, which is dried mud, and when it gets wet, it turns to wet mud, washing away with the river. Sever homes right outside Ollanta are completely destroyed, fields of maiz washed away, and bridges, including the main bridge in Ollanta, collapsed. Right now, the displaced people are living in tents set up by the government or, like about 60 people, camped out in schools in town. We saw the road that leads to the start of the Inca trail end in mid-air, cut cleanly by a landslide into the river. (Pictures to come) Awamaki has decided to help in the long-term relief efforts, as right now the generous families of Ollanta are helping meet the immediate needs of these people. As school starts in about a month, we will buy the expensive school supplies for the children and also aid the reconstruction of houses once the rainy season is over. Kennedy's boyfriend, who lives here also, is a carpenter and architect. He had an idea to build concrete foundations for the homes so they won't be washed away should the river flood again.
Then, last night, my uncle Steve and aunt Lynn were miraculously in Ollantaytambo! They had signed up for this awesome tour a few years back, before Peru was ever a electrical signal in my mind, and we happened to cross paths! How lucky is that?! I met them for dinner at their very nice hotel and met several of their fellow tour-goers. They've been visiting several smaller rural towns known for their beautiful weavings. Then, the next morning we walked around the village a little, reveling in the Inca doorways still used here in Ollanta. I was sad to see them go, but it was wonderful to get some hugs and kisses from family in this new home.
Tomorrow is a festival called Compadres in a nearby village, which separates the patronism between the towns and villages. Dancing, drinking, and a bull fight are all parts of the celebration, so I'm excited to see how these people party! Surely lots of good pictures from that on the way... Also coming up: hiking to the quarry and to some smaller ruins in Ollanta this weekend.
Overall, I am adapting well, I think, and four months is seeming more and more manageable everyday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)