Waiting

As I write this I sit at the carretera (the main road) that runs from Chivay to Tuti, to Sibayo, and through Callalli. It is the one road of transportation, but more like an extremely long gravel road filled with assorted large rocks and plenty of dips and bumps. I am watching 2 cows stand in the middle of it about 10 feet from me, staring at me (I’m starting to notice a consistency of cows and I staring at each other) as they wait for their owners who are loading bulky bag after bag on their donkey whose legs are actually buckling from the weight. There is an old Incan trail that one can take from Tuti, through Canocota to Chivay, but it is only walk able for people. Thus the carretera is not only filled with rocks, dips, and bumps, but with sheep, donkeys, cows, the herders of the likes, bicyclists, taxi collectivos and combis packed with people, and the local farmer.
The farmers take their livestock up and down this road to graze on their land outside of town, and then return them to the security of the city limits before nightfall. Going to Chivay is not a problem for me since it is the provincial capital. If it is a market day (Monday and Thursday) and I am out by the plaza by 7:30am, I can usually find a ride in a half hour. On non-market days it can be about 2 hours of waiting, and nearly impossible to find a ride to Chivay from 10am to 4pm, and you can forget about going to Chivay after 6pm. Today I am going to Sibayo to go celebrate a volunteer’s birthday. Sibayo is not on the way to the provincial capital and thus is much more difficult to find a ride to. So here I sit waiting at the main road for a collectivo or a mini-combi to drive by with passengers from Chivay. Since it is Friday, I have no idea how many hours I could be waiting. Now going into my fifth month in Peru, waiting has become apart of my daily routine. I wait for collectivos, combis, delayed buses from Chivay to Arequipa City, delayed flights in Lima and Arequipa City airport, I wait for meetings to start at 8pm in the municipalidad when they were scheduled at 6 pm, I wait in collectivos and combis until every possible inch of sitting space is taken up and then we wait for 2 more passengers, I wait 2 weeks until I am outside of Tuti and in a place with a cell phone signal and/or internet to be able to receive information for projects and to be able to contact family and friends, I wait 3 weeks to go to a Arequipa City and get my mail. To go from Tuti to Arequipa City I spend 5 hours sitting, and for my future bus trip to La Libertad I will spend about 45 hours on a bus round trip. Not only do I spend a lot time in buses, combis, and collectivos, but the time spent in them is in a very uncomfortable position where I reach the threshold of discomfort and I have to find a happy place in mind which is usually a wide open space with my legs stretched out.
My patience has reached new levels, and to sit anywhere waiting for hours and hours becomes a treat if my legs have room. Especially being in a different country waiting to go to Chivay, Arequipa City, or anywhere else in Peru never gives me the feeling of waiting to be somewhere else because in my reality I am already there, I am in Peru.

Dogs in Peru

The dogs in Peru are of a different culture. It is somewhat of a dogs’ heaven where they are able to run free, there are no leash laws. In Chaclacayo and the cities closer to Lima, it is common to see dogs on the roof tops, and they even run and jump from rooftop to rooftop barking at the passerby. The one thing that is not heavenly about the dogs in Chaclacayo is that they are aggressive and they will bite you. You do not go over to a dog and say “hey buddy, how’s it going there fella?” and stick your fleshy and meaty hand in the dog’s face. The real fun part is when you are going to go visit a neighbor and when you get close to their house, their dog charges at you while barking and bearing its teeth. No way do you turn around and run, or you are already doomed, you have to act like you are supposed to be going where you are going and walk casually while thinking, “I’m going to get bit!” I fortunately have not gotten bit, but have had two close calls. Several volunteers in my group were on the receiving ends of dog bites and for this is why it is Peace Corps protocol for us to receive several rabies shots throughout our stay in Peru. Dogs are everywhere; roaming the streets, digging through trash, getting shooed out of the local restaurant, pretty much going wherever they want until somebody tries to kick them. That’s the thing, as much as it is a dogs’ heaven here you would assume that the people here like dogs, but the people do not pet dogs. There is a common understanding between the two about their living together relationship and people maintain their position of dominance in the relationship by throwing rocks, and feinting a smack or kick at the dog. The dogs do serve as loyal property protectors of their owners and also fight for their property against other dogs on a continual basis.
In the mountains where I am living the dogs are not as aggressive, and are definitely different from the dogs closer to the coast. I do not feel threatened around them and I almost feel bad for them because nobody ever gives them any affection. I felt comfortable enough to pet 2 of them and the one wolf that I encountered in the plaza. Once I started petting, the muscles in their face completely slumped and they did not want me to stop, I am sure it was an experience like no other for them. When the locals saw me petting the dogs they looked at me like I was strange, and either laughed, or asked me why I was doing that. Last Wednesday I was petting one of the dogs in the plaza and even playing with him a little bit since he is about 8 months old, and the caretaker of the plaza asked me if that was my dog. I answered, “No”, and she said with a smile, “I’m going to kill that dog because he is always in my plaza”. This is not a joke, if a dog bites a local or a tourist, or roams around the plaza too much, they will poison him. In Chosica, one of the bigger cities close to Chaclacayo, I was told that the municipalidad puts poison in the park all the time to get rid of stray dogs (although owned dogs roam like stray dogs). One of the volunteers in Sibayo told me that a dog was killed two weeks ago in Sibayo for roaming around the plaza too much. Teaching a dog here to ‘Sit’, ‘Stay’, and ‘Heel’ is hard enough; I wonder if it is possible to teach ‘DON’T GO TO THE PLAZA!’

Plaza in Callalli

A church in the plaza, there's one in every town no matter how big the town is

Streets of Callalli

Paha Roofs (Thatched rooves)

Sibayo is labeled a national tourist site by the government so the municipalidad has rules that the houses must be made of stone and thatched rooves to maintain a touristy look. Here is a photo of the locals redoing the roof. It is definately not the most durable roof but they figure the gain from tourism is worth more then the expense of maintaining the style.

By Hot Springs in Yanque

Colca Baskets

Due to popular request, and questions about what things are in the caves overlooking Tuti I have uploaded my photo of the baskets that are imbedded in the grounds of the caves. This type of basket in Quechua is known as Colca. It translates to something like a refrigerator, where these baskets were used as storage units for food and since the Colca baskets probably sit at an altitude of about 12,800 feet and out of the sunlight, they stay cool enough to preserve food. From these baskets derives the name of the cold, windy, and sometimes feels like a refrigerator valley that I live in, Colca Valley. Food storage was the primary use of these caves, and there is ample drinkable mineral water trickling down the cave walls. Of course some of the locals had scribbled their names on the walls, but other than that the majority of the caves looked untouched and Colca baskets worn down by the age of time sat in each cave we visited.

The Godfather of Champions

I’m in the middle of my forth week in Tuti, Arequipa, which is a small mountain town (about 800 people) which sits at about 12,450ft above sea level. That’s at least 1000ft higher then the biggest mountain in Oregon, Mt.Hood. I was a little lethargic my first few days here but I have adjusted to the altitude and I’m enjoying the crisp, clean air of the mountains. I have been asked several times by the locals why am I being punished by having to live in Tuti for 2 years. They talk about how cold it gets (10 to 20 degrees at night during fall and winter), how there is no summer (it rains the 3 months of summer, but I explain to them how we get rain in 8 months of our year in Portland), and that it’s a small town (800 people which is less then half the size of my high school) with not much to do.
For me the site is the perfect work environment for my 2 year Peace Corps service. The town is Ley Seca which means alcohol is not permitted to be sold in the stores. They had a problem with alcoholism years ago, so now they have a town of early risers and motivated people. Everything shuts down early, each night I’m in my room by 8 which gives me at least a hour to practice my Spanish and keep my project/daily journals up to date. The town gets up around 5, sometimes earlier, which gives me about a hour in the morning to exercise. Tuti is small enough that I can make a visible difference in my projects, of which I already got a list of 8 potential projects for me to do during my time here.
The culture here is much different then the cities close to the coast. I was sitting in the plaza in Tuti for over a hour sketching an outline of the plaza, and only one person (who works for the local NGO and who I know well) asked me what I was doing. It is definitely a culture much more reserved, you can pretty much pick your time for conversations, which I enjoy being able to have times to relax and look at the beautiful landscape around me. Tuti is located in the Colca Valley, which is listed by most travel guides as one the top natural sites in the world. Anytime I travel from one city to the next in Colca Valley, I get stuck staring at the terrain, the hills, and the canon that I’m living in.
If I ever get antsy to get away, I live about 40 minutes away from Chivay, the provincial capital. They have hot baths with a steam room there, and tourist restaurants to satisfy my hunger for pizza. If I need to really get out and have a wild time, I live 4 hours away from the best big city in Peru, Arequipa City. Arequipa City is the 2nd biggest city in Peru, behind Lima which has all the things you don’t like from major American cities: pollution, expensive tourist restaurants and things to buy, dirty, the potential of getting robbed which includes areas you CANNOT go into without the expectancy of something violent happening to you, and nothing much to look at except buildings. If you ask Peruvians, and Peace Corps volunteers what is the best city in all of Peru, the majority of them would say Arequipa City. Its got some Spanish influence in its design, European style streets with buildings built with no space in between them, a lot of 80s American pop music, it has more of a really big town look instead of skyscrapers, lots of good restaurants with scenic views, places to play pool and darts, a variety of shops, nice hotels at decent rates, and things to keep you entertained at night without running into a bunch of club hoppers.
I just got done giving the fifth graders at the Colegio (High School) in Tuti a small lecture during English class about why it is not possible for them to just sit there and learn English; that it takes hard work, writing better notes, and doing it out of the sheer appreciation of having the opportunity of receiving an education let alone learn English. I’m fitting into my new role just fine as THE professor of English at the Colegio. They haven’t had a legitimate English teacher for a year now, and the current teacher is actually a math teacher. Me being the professor just happened, I thought I was going to go sit in on class, but then when class had started is when the other teacher told me that she was the actually the math teacher and she knew very little English. So there I was teaching the whole class, and I ended up really enjoying my interactions with the students. I had already thought about the possibility of teaching in a classroom setting during my time Tuti, and after my first day I decided that this was a perfect opportunity of me to learn how to teach English. I am the best person for the job here, I will learn classroom management, I have a set schedule with the students, they already have notebooks for me to base my instruction off of yet I am still free to teach how I want, I do have the math teacher there at times to be an authority figure to keep them under control, and the students like me being there because I am a volunteer and relatively young. I still don’t know exactly what I want to when I get out of Peace Corps but I do know that if I have 2 years of teaching English experience on my resume I will have many options of what I can do and where I can go.
I’m also the Padrino (Godfather) of the second grade volleyball team of the Colegio. That kind of fell in my lap too. I was eating dinner at the local restaurant that I frequent and I noticed that the daughter of the restaurant owner was printing out something. I asked what it was and she showed me an official document that said her team was trying to find a Padrino to show support for their team in the Colegio’s intergrado championship taking place the next day. Of course since I had the document in my hands, she asked me if I would be the Padrino. I knew accepting this would be mean I would have to give some type of gift or monetary support, but I was a little flattered that she asked and I didn’t have the heart to turn her down. I explained to her how I was Doble Pelado (Doble-Double, Pelado-Bald, and I have no money which makes the inside of my wallet bald, thus I am Double Bald) and joked with her that I would buy her a cookie, but in seriousness let her know that they would have to wait until the first of October for me to buy anything. She had no problem with that so I signed on the dotted line, my future forever intertwined with the destiny of the second grade volleyball team of Tuti.
I went to the Colegio the next day to show my support, and watch MY team put on a display of determination and will to win for their Padrino. I had let every student that sat down next to me know that my team was going to win. I could see the doubt in their eyes, it was not possible for the second graders to beat the third, fourth, and fifth graders. Apparently the fourth graders always win, and that was who my team was up against first. My team lost the first set against the fourth graders, but halfway through the second set, a wind of hope and confidence cascaded down the hills of Colca and through the valley until it rested on that very volleyball court which my eyes where set on. My team had taken the lead in the second set, and I could see belief twinkling in their eyes and an extra spring in their step. Not only did they win the second set, but they rolled the former champions into a ball, and spiked them right out of the tournament. My team jumped with glee, cheered with elation, and served their Padrino a sandwich and cups of FANTA! Oh what a special moment it was to learn that the taste of victory tastes like orange pop and a ham sandwich with cheese, tomatoes, light mayo, and mini crunchy Peruvian fries. Que Rico it was (Tasted Great). With the former champs out of the tournament, nobody could stop us, NOBODY! BWAHAHAHAHA!! I then continued to sit there for the next 3 hours, nodding my head in approval as I watched my team annihilate the remaining third and fifth grade teams. That’s right, James is not just a Padrino, he’s the Padrino of the Volleyball Championship Team of Tuti. I guess there goes my idea about giving them a cookie, a championship team deserves kneepads to protect their champion knees, and a brand new volleyball.
Well that’s pretty much the gist of my current Peace Corps experience. I have a Peace Corps cellphone but of course I don’t get a signal where I’m at, and the internet is not operating in Tuti. My outside communication, email writing, and blog updating is limited to whenever I venture out of Tuti, and only Arequipa City has fast enough internet for me to upload photos. I’ll do my best to keep all of you up to date when I am somewhere with internet access.

Tuti Cave/Photo of Climbing Group

Sasquatch!

Fashionably Fashionable Fashion Wear For The Mountains Of Peru

View into the other part of the valley

After venturing around in several different caves, we hiked around a bend in the hill where we could see the valley of Tuti to the southeast and the next part of the valley that opened up to Chivay to the northwest. The view was just a tiny chunk of the Colca Valley but nevertheless seemed enormous.

Hike to the caves

Cow's eye view of the valley

Cave View overlooking Tuti and into part of the Valle del Colca

In the hills of Tuti to the north, are a set of large caves at the top that overlook the town. Many of the locals had pointed them out to me, and told me they were ancient Incan caves. The people here really want to me to work for tourism, so I figured a trip to the caves could give me an idea if this was an actual selling point. Originally I was not big on the idea of flooding the town with North American and European tourists, but then I realized that tourism was one of the few ways of bringing in an outside source of income.
I had started my resistance bands workout routine again, but went too overboard on it, and managed to get a very uncomfortable pain in my neck the night before the hike. I woke up at 10:30 at night in pain, was unable to breath in comfort nor find any possible position in bed that was comfortable for my neck. I tossed and turned the whole night, and managed probably 4 hours of sleep. When I woke up, my hands had the shakes, and to say the least, I just did not feel right. I went to one of the little stores in the plaza and bought a pain killer, which helped with the pain but then made me feel lethargic and my legs feel like Jell-o. I knew this hike was going to be an mental experience, but there was no way I was not going to try to get to those caves especially when 2 other volunteers had made the trip to Tuti with the plans of me going with them to the caves, and 2 locals had changed their morning plans to show us the way.
At about 6:30am our group of 6 people headed off to the caves. Alonzo, one of my counterparts, led the way along with the Narcisa, an owner of one of the local restaurants and who has quickly become one of my favorite people in Tuti. I pretty much gasped the whole way, which was a combination of my collarbone hurting when I breathed deeply and being over 12,800 feet above sea level, and focused on just putting one foot in front of the other. Obviously out of all days this one of the worst days to feel like you just wanted to lie down. At several points through the steady climb, the traditional hat of Narcisa and the yellow shirt of Alonzo started glowing, and the tan hillside turned to a bright haze. I managed to avoid asking the other volunteers the rhetorical question of if everything was glowing in their vision too.
After two miles of hiking up hill, and only 200 meters from the caves, we encountered 3 cows hanging out and grazing away on the trail. The cows and us shared looks of, “what are you guys doing up here?” I wondered if they were escapees, and imagined that the owner had been looking everywhere low and not 400 feet above him on the side of hill/cliff.When we got to the caves I was finally able to rest and not worry about making sure my camera was in my uphill hand so if I passed out during the trek it would not fall to its demise. Here I was rewarded with one of the most spectacular views I had ever seen. Of course the valley is vast, but only from a birds eye view could I see all the contours of what surrounds Tuti. One of the volunteers exclaimed to me, “This is where you live!” It was like a dream where I was floating over this unbelievable terrain, and I was able to pause my dream and look at everything with vivid clarity. We all sat there in silence, feeling and listening to the wind rush up the hillside. The silence was broke when I and another volunteer watched a circling hawk, which was at about our eye level, break into a freefalling dive and dropped out of our sight. “That was awesome!!” we stated in unison. Earlier I had just been talking to this volunteer about how I heard the “whoosh” of a diving bird of prey in

Plaza in Yanque

Site of another volunteer. The old lady in the pic asked me to take a picture of her after I had already taken it. They ask for photos and then when you take it, they ask for money.

Sibayo and Callalli

Sibayo in the forefront, Callalli in the background

When it pays off to not pay attention

A week and a half ago I was walking down this road with two other volunteers, going from Sibayo to Callalli. I was not paying attention to the other volunteers’ conversation because I was zoning out like I usually do when I look at the seemingly never-ending valley of vast hills and canon walls. My trance was broken when I heard a quick repetitive screech from a bird of prey. I looked up above me and to the right from where I heard the noise and I saw a falcon 20 feet above us. Literally within that second that I saw the falcon, I caught sight of another but smaller bird of prey (not sure what kind it was because it was moving so fast) diving down at the falcon. The falcon barrel rolled upside down and stretched its claws up into the sky towards the oncoming bird. I could hear the “whoosh” from the diving bird’s velocity as it cut through the air over the falcon, just inches from the talons.
To this I exclaimed to my fellow volunteers, “OH SH*#!” while I watched the falcon spin back over with its prized rodent still clasped firmly in beak. The falcon flew off with what was obviously the reason for the air strike, and I asked the other volunteers, “Did you see that?!” Unfortunately for them they did not which was probably the closest we will ever physically get to such a scene, but one volunteer did say that they heard the “whoosh” too of the bird of prey diving by. I hurriedly explained, “It was freaking amazing, the falcon had a rodent in its beak, and like, this other bird…”
The air battle transpired in just a second, but I still get goose bumps every time I play it over again in my head. I guess there are sometimes when it pays to not pay attention.

Church in Arequipa City

Wolf in the Plaza

On the last day of my future site visit in Tuti, i was sitting on a bench in the plaza waiting for a colectivo taxi (a taxi you wait for 6 other people to take with you to the same destination) when a wolf strolled on over to me. I already knew that it was a misconception that wolves are aggresive, people from the States think they are because in the states we have Husky/Wolf mixes and it is actually the Husky that it is aggressive. So there I was petting a wolf on a Sunday morning, and even had to push him off my lap a couple times because he wanted to get too friendly with me. I felt it was a nice way to wrap up my site visit.

Tuti

Tuti right before sunset.

The ninth week of our training all the volunteers were scheduled to go on future site visits. 1 or 2 days before leaving (depending on the site) was when we actually found out where we were going. In my last interview with my director of micro-business I got to see a list of potential sites. None of the names meant anything to me except Arequipa. I did not have an initial response as he read off the list, because how could I give an opinion when I did not know anything about the different departments of Peru. I only had knowledge about Ancash because our Field Based Training was there, and knowledge about Arequipa because another volunteer at length had explained its beauty and the diversity of activities to do in Arequipa, and that from what he knew he thought Arequipa would be a perfect fit for me. Having respect for the other volunteer’s opinions, who has become a good friend, I told my director that I would of have liked to be placed in Arequipa, but that either way I knew he by far had more knowledge than I do about the sites, and that I trusted his decision.
Following the interview though, I heard everyday prior to our site selection that 2 other business volunteers had already been selected to go to Arequipa, and I knew there were only 2 available spots for business volunteers. The morning of the day we were to find out about site placement, a Spanish professor even told me the names of the 2 volunteers who were supposedly going to Arequipa. To this, I had absolutely no clue about where I was going, I just guessed Ancash because it was a mountain region, and the mountains have more Machismo so it was less likely for a woman volunteer to go there.
For finding out about where we were placed, the staff had put the names of future sites on foam fish and placed them in the training center pool. The volunteers then had to fish out the site names one by one, and then the directors would announce who is going to that sight. I was actually a little down going into our site placement. I was certain that when Ancash came up, it would be me, but I really did not want to go there only because I had already been there for Field Based Training and I wanted to see a new part of Peru. If any of the other names came up, I would probably have had to fake a reaction because I did not know any anything about the site, like faking that you are happy about a Christmas present after opening it and yet you are not sure what it is. So when Tuti, Arequipa was fished out and my director announced my name, I was stunned and elated. I had completely ruled out the possibility, which had me grinning ear to ear about getting placed there. Not only did that have me happy, but when I saw what 3 other volunteers we going to Arequipa with me (a married couple: 1 business, 1 youth development, and another youth volunteer), I was completely satisfied to know that I would get to share my 2 year experience with people I enjoyed being around during training, and whose personalities seemed to mesh together.

Earthquake

I'm good, I was on my way to our Business Director's house on a combi (mini-public bus) in Lima when the earthquake hit, and I was practicing Quechua with another volunteer in the back of the combi. We were busy reading our notebooks, and we just thought we were on a bad gravel road and didn't even bother looking up. It wasn't until we stopped on the side of the road that we asked what was going on and at that point all the people were out of their houses and in the street. We went into our Director's house and we could see how some of the pool water had jumped out of the pool. The epicenter was south of Lima close to Chincha, Ica, and Pisco. I had actually visited Chincha the weekend of July 29th, which is a beach town with a diverse population of peruvians, afro-peruvians, and tourists. The living room in the house we were staying at collapsed during the earthquake and the people there have no water or electricty, but thankfully the family we stayed with is okay. About 30% of the Chincha is leveled, the town of Pisco is pretty much gone with half the hospital collapsed, and 25% of the buildings have collapsed in Ica, which has about 120,000 people. The richter scale of the earthquake was upgraded to 8.1, and there was about a dozen tremors over 3 days. The power went out for a hour in my barrio and a couple others the day after the earthquake, but the volunteers and I were pretty much unaffected by the earthquake and fortunately the majority of volunteers happened to be in Lima at the time at the Peace Corps Center for a variety of meetings. I had my future site visit last week, I'm going to be living in Tuti, Arequipa which is 3,790 meters above sea level (12,343 feet) which is over 1,000 feet higher than Mount Hood. I need to take two more weeks of Quechua before I head out, which is the language of the Incas. I don't need to know it, and I'll be using plenty of Spanish in my site but it is going to help with me intergrating into my site because the older people use at times and the people will have alot of respect for a gringo who can speak Quechua. There a few different types of Quechua but my group of 4 volunteers going to Arequipa are fortunate to have a Peace Corps professor of Quecha who is of Arequipa and knows the correct Quechua for us to learn. It's optional but I figured why not take advantage of getting to learn an indigenous language for free and maybe I'll have come home with 2 new languages. My primary project will be me working with the cheese company in Tuti. They want me to help look for new markets but first they need to standardize their product. I talked to them about changing their packaging since they only use ceranwrap for their product. I also connected up with 3 different youth associations about doing future projects with them, all the people want me to teach english, and there's a couple projects I want to do with tourism like helping them develop web pages and repairing the guardrails and chairs at sightseeing site and making a tablet with information about the Valle del Colca in Spanish and English. If your curious about exactly where will I be, look up Valley of Colca (Valle del Colca). I will be living in it, and it is spectacular and one of the must see sights of the world, there should be plenty of info about it in the internet.

Seesaw

This was definately one of the more creatively made seesaws I have ever seen. Picture taken in the lot of a church located in the plaza of Chiquian.

Plaza of Chiquian

Stream in Chiquian

Mountain Ridge In Chiquian

Bingo Night in The Plaza

A group of my students did a Bingo night in the plaza in Chiquian for their business simulation. It was a smashing success, the group profited 200 soles and the town was enthralled with the game. The group had to get a permit for authorization to use the plaza but definately proved it was worth the work.

Business Simulation in Chiquian

We had our field based training in week 6 (July 14th-July 22nd). My group, the business volunteers, left from Lima at about 11pm on a Saturday night, switched from bus to combi on an overpass just outside of Huaraz at 5am and at 16,000 feet above sea level, and then we serpentined down a mountain side on a road about 1 ½ the width of our combi until we reached the town of Chiquian. Chiquian has about a population of 5,000 and rests at 13,000 feet, and sits in bowl of mountains. When I got there and the sun finally rose up and exposed the surroundings of Chiquian my initial thoughts were that this is what I was waiting to see. I had only ventured around Chaclacayo and Lima prior to this, but both of these cities were urban and did not give me a taste of the geographical beauty of Peru. Green hills and valleys, snow capped mountains, and a couple waterfalls hidden from the common tourist. A group of us volunteers went on a 2 hour hike to one of these waterfalls, which included shimmying across a ledge that had only enough surface area for your feet and a drop off that would result in a severe injury or death :-D . One volunteer did not make it to some of the more severe parts of the hike due to altitude sickness. I had felt the shortness of breath due the elevation when I had first gotten off the combi and a couple hours following that, but it was not overwhelming to me but I’m sure it would have been a struggle if I had decided to go for a jog.
Also in Chiquian was the local technical and computation institute. Our assignment at the institute was to conduct a business simulation workshop, we separated into 5 groups of about 4 volunteers and each group taught a 3 day class of 15 to 20 students about basic business principles (intro to microbusiness, market studies, accounting, feasibility studies, customer service, etc.) and then we had the students separate into 13 groups out of a total of 85 students, create a business plan explaining an idea they had for a 2 day business and the costs and projected profits that it entailed, and then we had them present it to receive a loan of up to 100 soles with a 2% interest rate. They then setup their small businesses throughout Chiquian and sold off their products and services to the people of Chiquian. There was a variety of food businesses (papas rellenos, tamales, cuye, picarones which is like a cinnamon ring dipped in honey, yogurt, and more), programs for the computer, a breakfast delivery service, and our biggest hit which was Bingo in the plaza. All of the businesses earned a profit, the classes went better than I think any of us expected, some already motivated students probably gained a little know how in starting a business, and some of the timid students gained a little confidence in themselves and came out of their shells. Although we had a few struggles with classroom management after lunchtime, the well-detailed groups’ presentations wrapping up their results and the positive response and many thanks given by the students showed that the business simulation was a complete success. You obviously have to be realistic in your expectations of what a 3 day class can teach but I feel confident that we all got something valuable out of it. Actually the breakfast delivery group had already received future orders for the next week right before we left. There was a strong interest from the public and definately seemed liked it was gonna keep going. The yogurt group had actually won a contest a year before for best yogurt, and they sold out of their yogurt in 45 minutes during our simulation. They planned on to keep selling yogurt. The simulation wasn't about getting them to start a career business right there but to teach them basic concepts in running a business, and showing them how its not a business, its a culmination of simplifying and perfecting all the little components that make up a business. Some of the students I felt had the charisma and motivation to be successful entrepreneurs, they just needed some knowledge. While others might not end up being business owners but at least gained some confidence in themselves to focus on something and accomplish it. Discussing trading with other towns was not something we had time for and would not be pertinent in terms of logistics since Chiquian is fairly isolated and not easy to get to from the outside. I'm not sure if they will have another Bingo night, but two other volunteers and I are having a bingo night in my community in Chaclacayo in a couple weekends to raise funds for the community and have gotten the approval of the community leaders for the event and they are all excited.

South Horizon of Honkopampa

most of the pics below are of the mountains to the north of where i stood in Honkopampa, this is a pic of my view to the south/southwest. I was pretty much surrounded by huge mountains and valleys.

Rain moving in over Honkopampa

Cactus and Snow

We took a combi from Huaraz to Cuaraz to visit another volunteer’s site, and while we were bouncing back and forth between the two cities for a couple days I kept telling my fellow volunteers that I wanted to get at least one shot of a cactus with a snow peak mountain in the background. I felt that at least this pic could somewhat visually describe the ecological diversity of Peru. I do not know how many places on earth have snow covered mountain peaks and cacti within a few miles of each other but I think it is safe for me to guess not many. I finally got my shot in Honkopampa, laying admidst stone rubble of old ruins and what looked to be some type of rabbit droppings which was unavoidable since they covered the ground everywhere. Honkopampa is somewhat of a secluded tourist site, complete with ruins and a spectacular view surrounding you at all angles. One half of your view sits on the other side of an enormous valley, which appears to be an infinite horizon of hills pressing against blue sky and clouds, the other half of your view is filled with 6 to 7 snow covered mountain peaks and one snow covered mountain ridge whose height stretches into the clouds and length reaches farther then your eyes can see. We climbed atop of a hill above the ruins, and we were able to see a valley that dipped between us and the mountain ridge. I couldn’t pick one thing to look at, I just gazed trying to absorb everything in my sight. I wish I could have spent at least one day atop that hill from sunrise to sunset, and then I could say that I spent the day watching the earth breath and move. The wind currents are the opposite from back home, with the clouds moving from east to west. Everything was warm and clear at first and then around mid afternoon rain clouds started to brush across the top of the mountains. It was satisfying to see the different contrasts of weather, and how the mountains can catch the rain clouds before they get to you. This is one of the most rural sites you will find in Peru, with the locales being sparsely spread out across the hill sides.

Triplet Peaks in Honkopampa

Honkopampa

I have plenty to write about in regards to my 5 day trip in Chiquian, and my visits to Huaraz, Cuaraz, and Honkopampa. I’m running short on time tonite but I figured I’d try to do the hard part of choosing a few of the pics out the hundred photos I took and get them on the net so they can do some of the talking for themselves. I have been extremely anxious to share them with everyone and have spent 3 hours today converting them onto my laptop. I promise to give all you some thorough details about the adventure, but it is my first day back and I need to get prepared for the week. I hope these little computer sized pics can possibly give you a mere glimpse into the vast beauty that surrounded me. Walking away from it, and trying to put my camera down was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

Honkopampa

Chiquian in the forefront

Sunset in Chiquian

Beekeeping

We’ve been taking classes of agriculture every Saturday. We go to the local agriculture institute and are taught by the professors and students there from 8 am until about 1 pm. The first few times we covered different types of soil, basic details of some of the common vegetables and fruits found in farming sites across Peru, how to recycle some of the unneeded organics into compost piles, and pretty much a general overview of the dynamics that the Peruvian ecological system has to offer. Our last trip we got an introduction to cuye raising (overgrown guinea pigs known as a good source of protein) and to beekeeping, which is the number one business ran by Peace Corps volunteers in Peru. One of the professors gave us an up close demonstration of how to remove parts of the bee box and we were able to enjoy the taste of honey directly from the hive. Peru has a lot to offer in terms of beekeeping due to the weather and fauna here. China is actually the biggest exporter of honey, and sells it at an extremely low price, but Peru can still compete within the country due to the logistics of getting honey to some of the rural areas here. The US has lost about 60% of its bee population, and the number one reason that scientists have come up with is that cell phone signals are throwing off the bees communication signals.

Bee Boxes

Peru and the Training Center

Right now it is winter here, but it feels like summer during the day, and probably gets down to the high 50s at night. Peru, South Africa, Southern parts of China, and the islands around Indonesia and New Guinea have the most varieties of plant species in the world. The high amount of sun, with the tropical rains these places experience, especially Peru, where in one region alone, Ancash, has nine mountain peaks bigger than any mountain in the continental US, only one peak in Canada, and one in Alaska compete. In Ancash, they will have about 100 inches of rain a year, you couple that with being closer to the sun and more time in the sun then most other places of the world, it is a biological extravaganza. Peru has the coast, the sierra, and an unparalleled mountain range. The culture is rich here, but I’ve been to Jockey Plaza, a top of the line mall that has the feel, and prices of any upscale mall in the states, and then traveled a few minutes away from there and seen poverty, dirt covered babies, a naked woman walking down the street with just her purse, and crumbling buildings.
I compare the economical problems here with those of South Africa, where there are plentiful natural resources and yet the people of these countries are being exploited. What used to be Great Britain exploiting India and Africa for their resources has been replaced by corporations enabled by globalization. How is it possible for such a resource rich place like Peru to have extreme poverty in certain areas? The farmers can’t compete with companies like Dole who buy out chunks of land, undersell the competition, and have direct links to the market eliminating their need for a middle man. Peru is also a large producer of textiles, and yet cannot compete with the cheap synthetics of China where things are produced at such low quality, high quantities, and done so with no environmental regulation, that it impossible for any country to compete unless they do so with no ethical responsibility. Is there any hope? I believe so, one thing that can be done is the implementation of ICT in Peru, Information Communication Technology. As part of my job here, I could make a difference if I could help the artisans, farmers, beekeepers, and any other small business with international potential connect directly to the market. This would raise their potential earning per unit, and eliminate them being exploited by a middle man company who uses the leverage of having direct connections to the market. Peru in terms of ICT is first world right now, only about 10% of the people have internet access. The owners of these quality businesses here do not know how to use computers, let alone the internet, to their advantage. There is no guarantee that helping implement ICT is what I’m going to be doing, but this is one of the potential developmental projects that I might be doing to help the people of Peru.
The training center I take my classes in looks like a vacation getaway, complete with pool, and the biggest species of palm trees I have seen. We have secured entry, and barbwire on the walls. We all feel spoiled by our training site. It is here I spend most of my time, in a mix of Spanish, business, health, personal security, politics, and culture classes. We got a cat, and newfound stray puppy which I’m not sure is going to stay there after training is over, it might go with one of the married couple/volunteers. Half of the volunteers are Micro Business, and the other half is Youth Development. We are split up into 7, or 8 separate levels of Spanish classes taught by all native Peruvians. I have about 15 hours a week of Spanish with only 3 other people in my group, and is by far the best teaching of Spanish I have ever experienced. I have about 3 to 5 projects of business or community projects going at a time. Even though it seems like a lot, I feel lucky to have learning new things as my job. I have no complaints whatsoever. Here are some pics of the training site now, and the one we temporarily lived in for 2 nights and 3 days before we got sent to our host families.

Conference room

The highly used conference room complete with almost all of the Peru 9 volunteers

3 of my favorite people

From left: Sunni, one of the Peace Corps doctors and Medical Staff and always a sight for sore eyes, Drew one of my neighbors in Tres de Octubre, and Javier, one of the first volunteers I connected with and who is constantly harrassed by other volunteers due to him having a leg up on us in Spanish because of his growing up in a Mexican household

Front yard of training site

Sunrise

My first morning in Peru

Flower at current training center

At the first site

guards, and horses on the left

First site

Our rooms on the left and right, our first training site

Lima

We went to Lima the weekend of June 23rd for a cultural experience. We got split into two groups, my group going to Miraflores. Miraflores is very close to the center of Lima and has the feel of any real touristy big city you’ve been to, complete with big buildings, fancy restaurants, and a lot of taxis. Our professor gave us assignments while we were there, such as find a particular market and report back with directions in Spanish, and find how much it costs to take a taxi to X and how long does it take. Before and during our trip we were given several speeches about safety and how usually the first incident of a volunteer getting robbed takes place in Lima. The girls stayed close to the guys, and all the guys probably went a little overboard with the “I’ll watch your back, you watch mine” mentality but I do know that nobody got robbed during our trip. I definitely held off taking a lot of pictures to show anybody interested the nice brand new expensive camera that I had. We ended up meeting with the other group in the center of Lima, at the park in front of the President’s building and the Municipal. This place definitely had a safer feel to it, unlike the Chinatown district, thus the accompanying photos to this entry (the building with the Peruvian flag over it is the President’s building). The town I live in and the adjacent cities have a second world feel to them. The center of Lima is first world, but on the outskirts of Lima, which we passed through on our way in and out of town, was undoubtedly third world. Trash everywhere, buildings falling apart, and people getting on the bus at every stop singing, playing a wooden flute, or handing out candy for money. On our way out two other volunteers and I took the bus back and we happen to go through a red zone (areas that are off limits to volunteers due to high crime/risk) by accident. While we were on the bus we saw a group of teenage kids run in front of the bus, the one in back carrying a snatched purse. Our bus turned down the same street they ran onto and I caught a glimpse of them cutting down an alley way and the one with the purse tossing it in into a cubby hole.
The traffic was insane on the way home through this area. There is no such thing as traffic laws, every car/bus for themselves. Lines are not obeyed, people might as well have their hands glued to the horn. I would never drive here no matter how good of driver I think I am, I have never seen vehicles packed so tight together like this and I have been too the New York City many times and it looks like a carousel ride in comparison to this. The bus drivers slam on the brakes, and the accelerator, and every half minute you think you are going to get into an accident or hit a pedestrian. In Chaclacayo it isn’t as extreme, but still the bus drivers have a lead foot and cars pass each other in the oncoming lanes. The Combi, which is a mini bus, doesn’t wait for you to be completely on before it starts moving again with the door being wide open. The bus system is privatized, so ever bus is competing to get as many people as possible on the bus at a time. I suspect they have a quota to meet, and that at times the driver and employee working the door cut a deal with each other to take a little money off the top since there is no way for the company to know how many people were actually on the Combi. A number of us volunteers, including me, have been lied to a couple times about the rate to take the Combi by the employee working the door, and of course since I refused to pay more they passed up my stop. I managed to resist the urge to chuck the employee off the Combi in the name of Cuerpa de Paz (Body of Peace aka Peace Corps).

Peace Corps in Plaza de Armas

Municipalidad in Plaza de Armas in Lima

Miami Airport

We had two days of training in Philadelphia. A lot of it involved discussing all of our individual concerns and questions about the Peace Corps experience. If there was one phrase to sum it all up, it would be, “it depends”. All of us are going to have our own individual experience, so what is going to happen just depends on what happens. The main thing I think we all got out of our two days in Philadelphia was that all of us have been going through the same stresses and concerns for the last few months and it was nice for all of us to feel that we are not alone in what we are feeling and to have people to discuss these feelings with. We are a fairly diverse group, a mix of personalities, I was actually the only volunteer to have a room to themselves in Philadelphia which I had no complaint about being able to spread my stuff out all over the place. That’s the American way, if there is space try to use it all up! Although I’m writing this almost a month after my Philadelphia experience, I remember that we all meshed pretty well, and now a month later, we all are still getting along. It’s different for me to be around the same group of people 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I know I can only usually take about 2 days in a row hanging out with my friends back home, so when I start getting a little agitated here, I do my best not to correlate it to the individuals here and remind myself that it is me that needs to make the adjustment. The photo with this entry was taken in Miami Airport, during our layover on our way to Lima. I was one of the few volunteers who was not exhausted from the lack of sleep during our time in Philly and traveling. I remember being WIDE awake the whole time. I was on an adrenaline rush the whole time which continued to be anticlimactic because we spent hours on buses, planes, and in airports, and eventually I just wanted to get there.

Airplane over Chicago

Mis Profesores

One of the hard things to do is to try to balance my time between Spanish homework, business homework, developing community contacts, and spending time practicing my Spanish with the family. So I found the best way two kill two birds with one stone is to sit down at the kitchen table and to do my Spanish homework with the kids. They love to help and definately supply the energy to keep me going, and some other volunteers have grown envious of the home environment I have and have requested for me to let them know when I'm doing my Spanish homework so they can be assisted by mis profesores also.
This photo was taken on my first day. I had been sitting at the table for hours getting to know my family and trying to decipher what 3 voices at a time were saying to me. One of the kids had rushed in and let me know that mis amigos were outside. I was definately surprised at how elated I felt to see them when I stepped outside, I definately wanted to share with somebody what it was like to be culturally, and linguistically bombarded for hours straight.
From Left: cousins Yamelet and Danitza, volunteer Elijah, cousins Ronaldo & Marcio, Gabriel, volunteer John, and the always charismatic Cesar in front of course

Cumpleanos de Charlie aka Papito

From left: One good lookin dude, Gabriel, Marcio, Cesar (slowly sneaking off Charlie's cap), Sandi (w/baby, Susana's brother) Charlie, Joanna (w/baby, Susana's sister), Adrian, Elena (Susana's sister), cousin Danitza, Susana, some girl i don't know, and Mario