Lima, Peru

I am officially living in the house that my father grew up in! Going to spend over two months here and I am already off to an awesome start. Last night I left the house in search of food and ran into my aunt on the corner. We went out to dinner, bought a map, got ice cream, waited in holiday lines. I met a man at the mall who grew up down the street from my dad and all my uncles and aunts when they were kids! Today my cousin, his girlfriend, and I walked around Lima, got sandwiches and tattoos. I just walked to the corner store under a beautiful smog sunset, down the streets that my father did! Walked through the intersection that defined his entire childhood. Now I am helping my aunt, my cousin, and her boyfriend string up Christmas lights. Tonight we will dine on the traditional Christmas Eve midnight turkey dinner! Man it's good to be Peruvian.

living a fantasy fairy tale

I am going to start this blog post off with something Robin said to me: “monica, you could bend this world and make it get down on it's hands and knees and bark like a dog for you.”
That is exactly how I feel right now. I feel like some kind of queen after the way my life has been unfolding in such an incredible, peaceful way the past couple weeks. After Cuenca, I went to Baños which gets its name from the natural thermal baths. It was so gorgeous and I rented a bike. My first bike ride in six months and it was like 5 hours long! The bike also meant that I got to stop whenever I wanted to take pictures! I am getting pretty good at the self-timer. I met a guy who lived in a little town called Rio Verde and he showed me around the waterfalls and the city. I met so many incredible, helpful people! I feel so grateful when I can meet people to talk to in Spanish because invariably other foreigners will opt for English with me. Damn international language.
Actually, I retract. I was just thinking today that I should be really grateful I already know English, it’s extremely useful. That thought occured after a guy from Berlin approached me to talk about the Mumia Abu Jamal shirt and the Camille Rose Garcia tattoo. So awesome!
So yes… I highly suggest Baños just as it had been highly suggested to me. After Baños I took a bus to Guayaquil. Actually, first I hitchhiked to Riobamba! At this point I need to make a public apology to my parents for hitchhiking alone in South America. Sorry mom. Sorry dad. Sorry World Tourism Organization.
Immediately upon arrival in Guayaquil, I knew I was going to be so happy to leave the next morning. But don’t worry I didn’t forget to salute the four sets of glorious golden arches on the way from the bus terminal to the hotel. I left my stupid over-priced hotel briefly but it was already getting late and Guayaquil is known as the most dangerous city in Ecuador. So after enraging a man by accidentally calling him “señora” I retreated to my hotel room, sinking into a deep Seinfeld haze triggered by the level of discomfort I was feeling.
Finally I am at the beach and I went swimming in my familiar Pacific today and laid in the sun long enough to burn the parts of me that I forgot never see the sun. After being down here for so long I don’t have to wear sunscreen anymore on my face and arms so I forget about like… the back of my legs and other typically-shaded body parts. What? That wasn’t supposed to sound like I was at a nude beach. I really just mean the upper legs.
I met a lovely woman from Amsterdam and we shared a couple meals. Also, I just ordered a beer and the guy was like “no beer on Sundays. All of Ecuador doesn’t serve alcohol on Sunday” and now I feel guilty for disgracing their sacred native beer tradition. Actually there was a holiday going on in Baños when I was there and supposedly they also don’t serve alcohol on holidays but my recently acquired friends and I speak-easied long into the night anyway. Where there is a will, there is a way.

I finished my project and now I am traveling through Ecuador!

Yes, I am sitting in a “common room” at a hostel in Cuenca, Ecuador. It is day #3 of being a tourist and I have decided that I am pretty terrible at it but want to continue trying. I am in this historical city, full of gorgeous buildings and rivers and delicious restaurants, tours, I don’t know… mountain climbing, jungle treks, whatever else you are supposed to do as a tourist. And yet, I spent my day reading in a park and taking pictures of anarchist graffiti. I did attempt in the morning to visit tour places but I just stood outside and looked at the happy foreigners canoodling with happy indigenous folk and then I walked away. I started feeling a little anxious like “what am I doing here?, maybe I should consider cutting my trip shorter, etc. etc.” But then I read Eduardo Galeano in the park. You know, about the open veins of Latin America and what the conquests left behind. It was exactly what I would want to do in a historic city in Latin America! Robin said “uh, DUH” when I told her. Also, I talked with these women who run a women’s shelter for a while. I asked them about their lawyers and psychiatrists and everything and they gave me information to read.
There is so much that you find out traveling that no one could ever tell you. There are so many tour books and websites but the activity runs deeper than that. You know like what’s your bag system? Mine is a little backpack inside of a big backpack. And how do you prepare for the next city? I draw maps in my notebook! See, I just figured that one out today.
So I am getting on a bus to Baños tomorrow, which is a beautiful town operating almost solely for tourism! I know that going in but still everyone I talk to is always like “ohhh you have GOT to go to Baños” so I figure, why not? I am going to ride a bicycle which I have not done in six months. And I am going to go hiking and lay in the natural hot springs. Ok, so now I have a plan! Then from Baños I am going to go to Guayaquil and maybe meet up with a friend from Peru and then go north to Canoa. I met a couple women tonight who are going to “pick my brain” about Peru and tell me all about what to do in Ecuador.
Get it?? At the beginning of this post I complained about not understanding tourism and now I am forging my own path! Growth!

I just stopped writing this and had a really long conversation with this guy from Australia and he was surprised that I was from United States because I “have an accent.” Oops, now I feel like one of those people that goes to England for a month and speaks with an accent the rest of their lives. It wears off though. I just had it today because I have been speaking Spanish consistently for a few days. Now I am going to be hesitant to speak with my family or friends because I will embarrassed. Please don’t judge me.

none of you should see this in time

Mostly because you should all be hanging out with loved ones and eating the most delicious foods on earth.

I just now realized it is Thanksgiving! Normally I try to write blog entries ahead of time but I think I'll improv this one. I am writing this to say hi to my family on a day that they love and enjoy because it usually means being close to each other and bathing in the warmth of kind words and dangerously full stomachs. The years that I haven't been around my family, I try to call or send them a video (even though one year it was just all my friends singing tubthumping by chumbawumba) and this year I pretty much did nothing at all. Am I trying to say that this is an apologetic blog post? Yes.

When we sit at the table we do that thing where we all go "I'm thankful for blahblahblah" so here is my table-round family warmth turkey cranberry thing:

I am thankful that I potentially know more about myself than I ever have and understand that it will continue throughout my whole life. I am thankful for the constant change in roommates that I have and that my current one gave me a singing lesson while I laid on the ground about an hour ago. I am thankful to finally be able to speak properly with half of my ancestry. Throughout this experience I have talked with plenty of people who point out the total absurdity in social work and in the idea that I would continue trying to do anything for a world that is going DOWN. I am thankful that I skype-said to my mom "I have decided I am going to be a doctor" while I looked up the Social Inequality PhD Program at PSU. Why am I thankful for that? Because it means I am still dreaming way higher than any of my past has taught me is reasonable. This list could go so far right now. Every year I am thankful for my friends and my family because you know that when you say "it'll be fine" you mean that the entire world could disappear but if you had a few key people everything would always "be fine." But this year, it feels bigger. I think I have myself now and I am not sure I did before. So I am thankful that I exist and that after accepting a lot of shit about myself I still like what came out and am still willing to share it with everyone else.

I can't say "that's all" because it definitely isn't. I love you guys, have an awesome Christmas, New Years, President's Day, etc.

“I don’t wanna do a blog post”

Fine!
This all may seem a little confusing to any of my truly avid blogpost readers. Like, did I leave San Francisco yet, or what? Why am I all of a sudden around internet all the time instead of in a jungle? Actually, I will be leaving my assignment the 15th of December. Right now I am exploring other NGO’s in Peru to choose our counterpart for next year’s project! It’s really fun, I get to travel and test how long it takes different people to realize that Spanish isn’t my first language! I just spent a couple weeks working with an organization called Soluciones Prácticas in Cajamarca. Tomorrow I am going back to my beloved San Francisco for about a week before heading off again to Lima where I may get to visit my family before going to Huancayo to observe an organization called Expand Peru. Get it?

Cajamarca was unbelievable. The city is gorgeous with a lot of old architectural reminiscence and friendly people that welcome me with pleasant faces instead of frowning at me when I say hello (Piura). I stayed with these two awesome women named Irene and Kathy (eerehneh and kahtee) from Spain and Trujillo, respectively. For two weeks we were roommates in an apartment complex where a lot of volunteers lived. Some from Spain, some from Peru, and one from Portland! Weird! The first week we made dinners, went out at night, and explored all the city had to offer. Then the second week I got incredibly sick and did almost nothing but lay in bed and go to the Soluciones Prácticas office.

Luckily, I did manage to pull my body together for long enough to visit a couple communities and observe some pilot projects. In one of the communities they were creating an “escuela saludable” with potable water, trash separation, and hot-water showers. It gets pretty cold in the mountains so they hope these will inspire better hygiene practices. I sat in on a tooth-brushing refresher course. It was basically like a teeth cleaning dentist checkup for 50 kids at once. The dentist lectured for a bit and then had one of the students demonstrate proper tooth-brushing technique. Apparently you are supposed to brush the 16 sections of your teeth (think about it) 20 times each! So this girl stood in front of the class and did exactly that. By the time she was drooling blood I was staring open-mouthed at the dentist with a look of “is this really necessary?” but I don’t think he got it. Then he explained the reason she “bled a little” is because she needs to brush more. Good thing I didn’t say anything… that would have been embarrassing. (does anyone get these written sarcastic tones, or am I just really confusing all the time?)

The hot-water showers they are installing will be run by solar panels. I also visited a site where the whole community runs on hydro-power from the waterfall nearby! Aaand, I visited a site where they are testing two different kinds of biodigestors to figure out which design is most efficient. It is so incredible that even though we can create energy from water, wind, the sun, and literally our own excrement we will never stop using fossil fuels.

On the personal front: things feel different when I am alone. I thought I was alone before but I actually I still had Brent. Now that we are doing our own things, this whole new exciting stage of “see what loneliness brings” has started. It’s awesome! And yes, some of my actions have led to “consequences” but they have also led to pride and even self-actualization! No one can tell me how I am going to feel, I have to make mistakes and repeat the exact same stupid scenarios that humans have been reproducing since the beginning of time. Or maybe, like, the 1920’s.

Yesterday morning I got back to my home-base city, Piura. I was standing on the roof of my home-base hostel last night completing my tradition of drinking a beer, watching the sunset, and listening to Women Year sing the part of that song that goes “this feels. riiiiiiight.” I was looking down at the now familiar street, the taxis and motorcycles almost running into each other, and the guests of the more expensive hostel across the street which I steal internet from. Whatever I used to say about wanting to “live my own life” kind of started to come together last night. It came together the same way as in the isolation chamber in Venice Beach. Except instead of 1,000 pounds of salt and a leathery beach babe named Crash, it’s just me and this world. It was me and this world and I felt like everything and nothing!
Great news.

I’ll try to post more often from now on! I have to remember I made this thing to write down my travels and not forget where I’ve been.

we say "transitional phase"

It feels really good to wake up in the morning with your hands achin'.

The ache isn't what feels good. It's the knowledge that it comes from weaving, playing volleyball, and making tortillas.

I am going to miss my jungle home but let's face it: right now is always just in time.

offers still standing to stand still

I wrote these sentences over the course of a week in no order at all. If you want to read a nice jointed account of our achievements there is always the organization blog: mejorc.wordpress.com

When we were on tour last year, Kelly and I joked that we had adopted Texas accents after being there for two days. Something I’ve always known about myself is my fondness for picking up idiosyncrasies all over the place. Whether that reveals my character’s weakness or proves its strength, I don’t know. It feels fluid to speak like a friend for a week or move my hands like an acquaintance for a month and then switch to something else. It feels like taking off my glasses and letting it all run together. It feels like sitting on a hill at sunrise listening to the birds (and insects), see what I’m saying? It just feels like connectivity. What can I say about moving around? That I feel the life around me moving in and out of my body so wholly that I become another entity watching myself live. That I can feel every muscle isolating and traveling through the breathing air.

Admittedly, I occasionally worry about livin’ the solitary life. I worry about the slow decline of communication with my loved ones. I think about the times they said “I won’t forget about you” the times I said “I’ll write you all the time.” I’ve slipped into a state of consistent independence but I couldn’t want anything more. I think about my life as a (caterpillar) like a segmented living being, you know? I’m here and I was there and I could never be there again and the longer I am here the more I forget, the more I can’t imagine ever going back. It isn’t a problem for me. The letters decline and I know everyone will be ok. We’ll all be ok if I spend my life roaming around South America in search of my heart which is apparently buried somewhere deep in the jungle.

Brent and I sat in the soccer field, looking at the stars, as we sometimes do after particularly long days. We talked again about what our plans are after we leave and I said “more than anything else, I want to travel through Central America.” Then I said do you ever say things and then realize they’re true? (I actually said that a totally separate occasion, what fabrication!) I may or may not be able to get a job in Lima, I may run out of money and come flying back to my parent’s house fueled by credit cards and shame. But, if things do somehow work out, I will find a fountain of money and travel through these 6 or 7 or 8 countries and be sublimely happy. I came to this conclusion mostly as Jaime and I were trekking through a jungle to magically get to a town with internet access. We were led by a baby attached to a woman for a little while and then followed some cows up a hill, doesn’t that sounds like it feels right?

I want to work with kids. Teenagers, even. I had an interview once with an at-risk youth organization in Portland and it felt like the most intimidating 50 minutes of my life (group interview). When I finally wake up from this dream, bleary eyed in a bed in Portland, I want to try again. As I have mentioned, I daydream while I run in the mornings. I’ve been (sub)consciously daydreaming about working with teenagers in the United States for maybe a couple months now and it didn’t even register. Some things are so obvious, they really shouldn’t be epiphanies.

People say that working with kids “shapes the future.” Since my last post, we’ve been working with younger kids in addition to our girls from last year. They are so rosy cheeked and brimming with enthusiasm that I find my own cheeks glowing red and my own fervor ready to overflow! It’s cute. Our new and old kids helped us paint a mural reminding the community to care for the environment. Look at it!



As you may or may not have deducted, I felt frustration with the lack of enthusiasm or interest displayed by the kids from last year. I don’t feel this way at all with these younger kids. They fight over who gets to use the camera, are eager to try anything we suggest, and actually act like they are enjoying my company. These younger kids have an innocent kind of confidence. It’s always the ones that aren’t self-conscious that seem to be having the most fun. It sounds hard to enhance self-esteem in youth and it’s infinitely more difficult than it sounds. I know we’re trying. I know I have been taking any opportunity to strengthen these kids’ opinions of themselves. But our efforts are nothing in comparison to the social dynamics and verbal beat downs they get every day. It’s not just the culture. Every culture has its own way of rewarding talent and good looks and rejecting the opposite. Look! Somehow we’re back to me wanting to work with teenagers.

We have completed almost all the objectives of this year’s assignment here in San Francisco. The only things left are the evaluations of the completed kitchens which are moving at a sludgy sleep-cover-band sort of pace since we are having difficulty actually getting people to install them. It’s totally understandable since most families are working on constructing bathrooms or other parts of their houses. Several of them want to redo the whole stove area which will take more time. So now I am trying to figure out how to spend the next couple months. We were given such clear objectives, put on a path. Now we have free range to do whatever the hell we want here.

Katie and Roberto visited us last week! Katie is the Executive Director of MEJOR and Roberto is her husband and one of the board members. They actually had never seen San Francisco before, so it was cool seeing their reactions and introducing their miniature gringo to everyone in town. (The fact that I didn’t mention their son earlier makes that statement odd, right?) They’ve been down in Peru meeting with organizations to partner with next year. The best thing for MEJOR right now would be to send Jaime and/or me to work with prospective organizations while we are down here. There is a chance that come November we are going to be shipping off to other parts of Peru to observe pilot projects. The idea is awesome but a little part of me is going to be sad to spend less time in San Francisco than I had originally thought. I’m attached to the people here. After three months maybe you feel like you are just getting there. You feel like your friends are friends and your students trust you. Like in Point Break when he says “I could never hold a knife to Tyler's throat, she was my woman. We shared time together.” It’s just like that.

I need to stop trying to write these blog posts while listening to music. Especially Jackson 5. Who can write when they’re dancing?


Birthday party






Testing the water above San Francisco and after (to see the contamination from trash)


Installing the kitchen in the kindergarten





More from painting day:






Look! Buds!


The typical truck rides to and from town


Oh! Hey! I learned how to weave!

intermittency

Does this feeling warrant examination? What standards are being met or falling short during this expatriation process? The instinct to live in the now, that the cube of experience is ever repeating from this moment backward and forward. The strings that I feel between myself and other living beings, do they stretch, fortify, or break? I know where I move. I know where I feel. What once was part of a carefully structured existence, molded from an unknown gel is now oozing out of every hole in this place we call home. And I’m lost I’m lost I’m lost? Or I’m found? You have to understand that either of these descriptions lose meaning through the process. And I would say that here I am as a conclusion but here I am not, because here I never was and what does it mean anyway? At once we feel and exist to not explain.

I can think of at least six phrases to express uncertainty

When people say to “live in the present” I always just assumed they meant “while you are thinking about the future and past, make sure your clock is set to the right date and time.” The month of August made it clear that there is no better way of learning about yourself than to denounce past ignorance. As my time moves forward here in the southern hemisphere, my memories and future plans are losing significance. The village of San Francisco and its inhabitants have established themselves as my world, as my time frame, and there is no other choice but to live here in the mountainous, sunny present. Because of this, typing on this keyboard feels silly. How can you sum up a book if you have only just started it? How can I tell you what I have learned if I am in the process of learning it? But as things go, coming to the city is my unavoidable check point. Communication and awareness of outside happenings make me feel the need to contribute to the big pond of introspection called the internet. So, let’s talk premature certainties!

The past month was set into a really nice routine of holding meetings four times a week. Our youth promoters from last year were split into three overlapping groups: one to create a video about first aid, one a video about nutrition, and one to commit to the entire project of installing cocinas mejoradas. Our fourth weekly meeting was designated for younger-kid classes about the same topics that last year’s youth were educated on. So far we’ve done classes on integral health, self-esteem, and hygiene. I have learned not to be assuming when it comes to creating games for the kids. For the first class, Jaime and I created a puzzle that we were familiar with from our childhoods (childrenhoods?) that we so cleverly tied into the theme of the class. As I turned out, even with the answers drawn in front of them, many couldn’t figure it out. I made an unconscious assumption that they had a frame of reference for such puzzles and I was wrong!

Teaching the girls how to use the video cameras and a computer has been encouraging and entertaining. When they first started, they were nervous in front of the camera and wouldn’t keep it still while filming. Now they are giving each other direction, getting interesting angles, and asserting themselves when they think they need another take. They help edit and do voiceovers and search for resources in the community! It’s fantastic!

The cocinas mejoradas group started with Jaime, myself, and our coordinator Rolando going to all the girls’ house and speaking with them and their parents about getting a commitment to the project. Out of the five girls that committed, we have three remaining. I am so proud to be working with these three girls on a project that is bigger than any they have ever been responsible for. They are learning how to work with budgets, keep track of progress, manage contracts, receive payment… these jobs are huge! I can see the look of awe in their eyes when faced with so much responsibility and it gives me chills. I know the intended outcome has been youth empowerment all along but when it really happens, it makes me all emotional.

A big part of this month was transitioning from a guest to a town resident. I don’t know where one would technically draw the line but how people treat me has definitely shifted into the latter. There are a couple girls here that seem to have rival gangs going on. They are both about 22 and clearly don’t like each other. Luckily they can rely on alienating one another’s friends to reinforce this mutual dislike. At first I thought this rivalry only pertained to their volleyball teams but the allegiances seem to continue into the every day. I feel like I am being recruited. Whenever I talk to either of them they make snide comments about one another and probe me for anything negative I may have to contribute. Again, things that seem so much easier in English become confusing when I can’t communicate them as rapidly as other 22 year olds expect me to. I feel like I am in middle school when around these girls. If I am hanging out with girl A and girl B walks by she looks shocked that I would say hi to her at such an allegiance compromising time. Some more proof of residency, people have stopped being quite as tender about how hard I suck at volleyball. I like that now they yell at me just like they yell at each other. It makes me feel like part of the buds. I am learning lessons about jealousy and anger and how they translate into a small community. I guess deep down inside I had hoped that a small town would eliminate much of the social trash that large communities inspire. But, of course, coveting and self-interest are just as relevant anywhere. This is a lesson I learned moving from Southern California to Portland and one that I will probably keep being shocked by. It beats the alternative of deciding that everyone sucks everywhere. I have been practicing my people-relating skills lately. Not the phony stuff they teach you in social work school but the real, honest interaction that all humans are capable of if they push aside insecurity. When people make snide comments, I try to confront them head on rather than letting them get swept into a little side pocket of human decency. Or, instead of trying to laugh it off, I tell drunk men that I think the things they are saying to me are really quite terrible and not the least bit funny. It’s going well but I still have a lot of buckling down to do.

Any road of self-exploration that I have taken myself down has left me feeling unresolved. I shouldn’t even say “left me feeling” as that would confuse the whole nature of the word “unresolved.” I run in the morning, did I tell you that? I run about two miles uphill then walk it back to pamper my 60 year old knees. I go at 7am and it’s gorgeous and the sun peaks over the mountains and makes me totally forget how much I detest running. The relevance of this information is the time is allows me everyday to vent frustrations, examine my decisions, practice Spanish verbs, and come to deep existential conclusions. That last one is a joke, weren’t you paying attention? I said I haven’t concluded anything yet. But I know where my weaknesses lie and what I need to do in order to be super pumped to hang out with myself all the time. My future plans include this continent for as long as money will allow and feelings of self-reliance are giving force to those plans. I miss my friends and family like crazy but I can see how necessary it is for me to remain lonely right now. While I was in California my mom told me that it’s good to take a couple legs off a tripod and see if it can stand with only one. Ok, that’s not even close to the beautiful metaphor she used but I can’t remember what it was anymore. The point is that I need to learn to be an omnipod.

Perhaps in the future I will create more resolute, conclusive blog entries, but right now it doesn’t feel like the truth. I don’t feel right about trying to communicate the constant motion and fluidity of my thoughts here. Something that doesn’t change is my love for those back home, you know who you are. Ya’ll give me strength just by the knowledge that you exist and I really hope everyone’s lives are swimming along with passion.

Some pictures:


My host family!!!


Working on a personal garden to provide us with vegetables


The Santa Rosa Festival


Truck trips to other towns


Filming the nutrition video


Presenting the materials for the cocinas!


Constructing


The final product


Our three cocinas mejoradas girls


Our secretary working hard at the meeting

Ciao!

july

So… it has been four weeks since my last internet connection! Trying to sum up a month of my life is hard enough as it is but now let’s throw in my waning competence of the English language and see what happens, shall we?

Ok, I experienced a few campesino fiestas of the purest kind this month. The first one I learned how drunk a human can actually be at noon as well as how to say “don’t bother me” in Spanish. I found myself not being incredibly eager to dance with older men that had achieved that caliber of intoxication so instead, I went on a few walks to ponder alcohol and that dark place that people go through the use of excessive substance consumption. Not really a cheerful party-time subject to be thinking about but I eventually found sanctuary in the bell tower of a church where I had a pep talk with myself to the extent of a Nike slogan. The second party turned out to be mainly for the purpose of cock-fighting. Well, I had never experienced a cock-fight so I tuned in for the first round. It was actually less aggressive than I thought it would be and nothing wound up dead! Jaime and I mused on the fact that we still haven’t gotten used to hundreds of eyes staring at us all at once (I guess we look a bit different than what people are used to). The third party was more of a campesino rights meeting, which was really exciting to witness. I played a role in a couple comedy skits with the women from my town. Once you get used to all the eyes on you, it makes more sense to intentionally stand out. The trip back was a fairly gruesome uphill three hours so for a little while I rode the burro, giving me a chance to gaze at the beauty all around me. The sun was setting which cast pink on all the banana trees and hills below me. Upon its final descent, the sun gave way to a path lit only by the moon and stars, accented by little fireflies all around me. Through any uncertainty I may feel in an unfamiliar country, I have always been familiar with my desire to be in a jungle. You know what I mean by jungle? Somewhere that tourism has never existed, that grows unashamedly and forces you to conform to it rather than cowering under your humanly advances. A strong presence around me, I got back to my host family’s house and lay under the stars, enjoying the product of new and inconsistent electricity (a black-out).

Ok, I have had the chance to help my host family pick bananas and lemons and to help some other men sort coffee! I rubbed all the beans through a sieve to get the peels off. So the next time you’re kicking back enjoying that hot cup of Folger’s Select just remember I’ve had my grubby little hands all over it. The uncomfortable part of my journey to accepting animal products into my body is over and I actually quite like eggs and cheese. I declared veganism when I was fifteen so I feel some kind of obligation to at least mention this… Oh! But I did have a particularly terrible experience with pig meat that I could still see the hairs growing out of. I guess I didn’t need to mention that part.

Ok, I just deleted my section on what books I am reading/just finished. After writing so much I realized I was doing no justice to any of them. But guess what I did on my birthday? Cleaned a graveyard! I was so excited to hear the announcement saying that July 15th would be the annual graveyard cleaning. It seemed like an appropriate celebration this year. Looking down into the dirt and subsequent growth I thought about my life, my end, and felt assurance in the contribution my energy makes to this world, and will continue making long after my body is gone.

Ok, ok, enough of this crap. We need to talk about the actual project. Upon signing up for this a few months ago I was aware that the community was looking forward to setting up a waste management system. A month ago I was very excited that I was going to be part of an organization that focused on empowerment and self-esteem and not as much on actual physical development of an “undeveloped” community. My thoughts on the matter have changed quite a bit, causing a shift in the intended outcome of the project. Jaime and I started to realize what the trash project would mean for the next six months and our contribution to the community. Due to community opinion and resources available, we realized that the community was very interested in building a landfill somewhere closer to the town and not interested at all in the concept of recycling. I was definitely not excited about being part of a landfill construction project and it in no way addresses the core problem of waste. By building a convenient trash disposal area, people stop thinking about how much they are using. It is not sustainable or efficient for our emerging global problems. So anyway, we had a community meeting and explained that if we went with the trash project, it would pretty much just be education about proper trash disposal rather than the whole new system. Then we presented the other option of cocinas mejoradas (or more efficient stoves) which would help with a variety of everyday problems such as respiratory illness. It is strange to me that I am now seeing the value in going into a village, helping them construct something useful, and then feeling secure that your help will last after you are gone. Of course along with that, education and awareness need to exist. So now this leads us back to the goals of MEJORC, giving me security that the outcome will be favorable to my time here and to the organization.

Pictures:


Right outside my house






The Independence Day parade


mango


Me and my buds, Angie and Brian

Who I really like taking pictures of:





Kids dancing for Independence Day


When they call people "Don Pancho" it makes me really want a burrito. Only Portland could understand this.


Rosa picking lemons


My host mom, Zoila, weaving





Illustrating the weird way that men treat their roosters before the fights



The march at the rights meeting







Cleaning the graveyard


Malu and Yessica made me popcorn!


Being instructional

what does "bastante" even mean anymore?

I got to visit Lima for a short time where I learned how to play the cajón. Better know to you as the aforementioned “box drum.”



After I learned, Omar and the lady at the store played the cajones, Joel played the charanga, and I played a violin! No kidding! I jam slightly better on the violin when it's Peruvian music. I don’t know why. Es en mi sangre. This is a picture of a charanga in case you don’t know what one is:



I’m in Piura for the time being. That’s northern Peru, about three hours from the border of Ecuador. Frontera! Haha, I was trying to remember the word for border all day. My hostel and the home of our two project coordinators:











We went to Catacaos today because Joel said “it’s where tourists go.” Whenever I go to other countries, people assume I want to go to the souvenir shops and picture spots. Anyway, I like being lead around sometimes. I have been to so many of these artisan shop places in my life that I found myself focusing on the souvenir anomalies:







I still have no idea why souvenirs in South America are so similar to those of Asia. I need to get to the bottom of this handicraft monopoly. Elections are in October and everywhere I look, painted on buildings and houses, are huge campaign propaganda murals. Is propaganda the right word? Write word? Does this sentence make sentence?


An eight year old took this!

Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco finally! I am so excited to meet my host family and the youth. Rolando showed me some videos of the community last night. It’s so beautiful! It’s got a river (which will be less trash-ridden by the end of this) and a ton of pathways into the jungle and the community is all wide-spread and endearing. So... I'll talk to you in a month! Ciao!

p.s. My Castellano is definitely getting better. That’s “Spanish” for all you gringos out there.