Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A selfish list:

If you feel like sending me a package, here are some things that are currently on my wish-list:

Pictures of you!!
Orbit gum (any kind of mint, bubblemint, and cinnamint)
Glide comfort plus mint dental floss
Gummi candy (especially the fizzy kind)
Ginger chews
Reef flip-flops (size 9 women’s)
Chocolate
The New York Times (or at least the interesting parts)
Newsweek
The Economist
Interesting academic articles
Dried fruit/nuts
Cute tank tops! (you’ll have to guess at my size, every brand is different)
Knee length skirts or capris (size 8 or M)
A travel yoga mat
Tea- good black tea, peppermint tea, jasmine tea

I’ll try to keep this list updated on the side of my blog. A big shout out to Blair and Jeff who have set me up with tampons and peanut butter at least for awhile. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

My address:

Sarah Walker
Casilla Postal #5
Serpost Tumbes
Peru

I also love mail!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

SODIS

SODIS (Simply Outstanding Demonstration of (I)nvironmental Savvy)
SODIS (Sarah Ousts Damaging Infections from System)
SODIS (Sick Of Diarrhea In Stomach)
SODIS (Some Outsider’s DoIng Something strange (again))

Translated into Spanish:

WTGDOMR (What’s That Gringo Doing On My Roof?)
Or

INDT (I’m Not Drinking That)

What does SODIS mean really? I don’t remember (sorry Peace Corps!). However, that doesn’t matter. SODIS can still save the world. You do the math:

One of the most common causes of death in children under five is diarrhea.
+
Diarrhea comes from parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections.
+
Most of these infections come from drinking unclean water.
+
Much of the world does not have access to clean drinking water.
-
You can purify water by boiling it.
+
Boiling water is expensive and bad for the environment.
-
You can purify water by adding iodine or chlorine.
+
Iodine and chlorine are expensive, and often cities say they add it when they don’t.
=
BIG CLEAN WATER PROBLEM = SODIS.

SODIS is an easy, effective, and cheap way to purify water that uses nothing more than the sun to get rid of the harmful critters that cause diarrhea.

Steps for SODIS:

Take a 2- 3 litre clear, plastic bottle.
Fill it ALL THE WAY up with water (leave no room for air).
Screw on the top.
Put it on your (preferably metal) roof.
If it’s sunny, leave it out for a day.
If it’s cloudy, leave it out for 2-3 days.
Take it off the roof and enjoy water without diarrhea!

The other great thing about SODIS is that it works best in hot climates with plenty of sunlight. Much of the world’s poor lives in such a climate. I’ve been drinking SODIS water for three days now, and so far so good. I’ll keep you posted.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

What's in a name?

My name, in the United States, is about as common as they come: Sarah Anne Walker. I’ve never been anywhere where I’m the only Sarah. I’m one of four here in Peru 12. There are over 500 Sarah Walkers on facebook. Whose middle name isn’t Anne? And yet, here in Peru, my name seems to be a source of endless confusion.

First of all, there’s my first name. Sarah. Spanish doesn’t do silent letters. There is only one way to spell Sarah and that is Sara. It doesn’t bother me too much here, although in the States it really bothers me when people misspell my name. I don’t feel like a Sara, I feel like a Sarah. But here, when you add the whole Spanish thing, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Then there’s my last name: Walker. Yes, there’s only one. Everyone here has two last names. Your dad’s last name goes first, and then your mom’s (I think, I always get it mixed up). Your kids will inherit your dad’s last name and your spouse’s dad’s last name. So, my name would be Sarah Walker Baker. My kids’ names would be Baby Walker Weiner (kidding Andrew :P), but you get the idea. No one here can believe that I only have one last name. I even had someone tell me that it was disrespectful to my mother not to carry her name. Interesting observation, although I feel like maybe the pot is calling the kettle black on that one.

The really confusing thing though, is my middle name. The problem is not Anne, but its placement. My passport says Sarah Anne Walker. Thus, it looks like my first name is Sarah and my last name is Anne Walker. So, people would either call me Sarah Anne Walker, or Sarah Anne. Never Sarah Walker. As you’ll remember, I tried to explain this to the policeman writing my denuncia to no avail, and now in the Peruvian justice system I am Sarah AMN Walker. Sigh.

This naming confusion came to a head this morning at the bank. I had to get more money to pay for my hotel. My bank card is cancelled and in the hands of criminals. So, I had the brilliant idea to change travelers’ checks. Fine, except that when I got to the bank they refused to change them. Why? Because my checks say Sarah Walker, and my passport says Sarah Anne Walker. No amount of my pleading or explaining of the cultural differences between Peru and the USA would convince them that these two were really the same person. Only after it emerged that I was robbed and after a couple of tears slid down my cheeks did they decide it would be okay for me to take money out of my account, but I never did change those travelers’ checks.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Peru is Beautiful

Yesterday at sunset I found myself speeding down the Pan-American highway, 3 degrees south of the equator, riding shotgun in the Peace Corps mobile with our country director at the wheel. To my right I watched the large orange sun sink into the breaking waves of Peru's best surfing beaches. To my left I looked out over miles of healthy green rice fields dotted with palm trees and waterfowl. Ahead I saw a group of panicking goats trying frantically to jump over the guard rails before our vehicle barreled into their midst. In the distance was a series of desert hills and canyons that called to mind the American Southwest.

I've grown to appreciate moments such as these because a) I'm in Peru and should appreciate every moment and b) my life this past week has been so crazy that all I can do is focus on the moments themselves.

Here are some moments from my past week:

Thursday, Thanksgiving: My first bite of anticucho (beef heart). My host family took me out to dinner in Lima for our last night together. They ordered an amazing spread of food and drink, and were very excited for me to try this Peruvian delicacy. It's delicious. Their kindness and reflecting on all they've done for me since I came to Peru made this one of my best Thanksgiving's ever.

Friday: Standing in front of the American, Peruvian, and Peace Corps flags under a canopy of red, white, and blue, swearing to defend the constitution in times of peace and war. A strange oath for the Peace Corps indeed. I would have been much more unsettled had we not just elected a leader I trust to never make me uphold that promise unjustly.

Later on Friday: Looking out the bus window through a veil of tears, watching our host families chase after us as we pulled out of Chaclacayo for the last time.

Saturday: On the bus-cama, feeling horrible. Packing was rushed and messy, our night in the hostal in Lima was hectic, and the time to say goodbye to our new friends and support came all too soon. I felt sick, drained, and exhausted. Suddenly I looked out the window. We were driving along some of the most striking sand-dune cliffs falling into the ocean. I'd never seen anything quite like it. All five of us on the bus looked out the window in awe.

Sunday: What I remember most is my gaze fixed on my wallet. My wallet was in my hand, but my arm was in the hand of a thief, who was in a mototaxi that accelerated faster and faster as I ran along side it. I don't remember letting go, and I don't remember falling.

Monday: I hung up my mosquito net with dental floss because I didn't think to bring rope. I sort-of unpacked my things. I crawled into bed and felt cozy within my white mesh canopy. Finally, after 6 months of being largely transient, I was home again.

Tuesday: I was watching a new soap opera, "Bellezas Indominables" with my new host sister. During a commercial break, she asks if I have children. I'm used to this conversation. "No," I say. "Are you going to get married?" she asks. "I don't know," I say, "Are you?" "I don't know," she says, "Only if I find the right guy." What?? Only if I find the right guy? That's never the answer in this conservative country. I think I'm really going to like this girl.

Wednesday: I go on a walk around Malval and see a bunch of guys working in a field. I walk over to them. They are packaging freshly harvested organic bananas on their way to the USA. Cool!!

Thursday: At a meeting launching our Tumbes-wide HIV/AIDS education initiative sponsored by PEPFAR. A mayor stands up and says, "You know, I think it's really all about the youth. I mean, young people don't go to their parents, their teachers, or their health posts to talk about sex. They go to their peers. So, we need to reach out to their peers." Yes!! Yes!! Yes!!

This morning: Woke up with a start. I had a terrible nightmare that Huascaran was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and almost everyone was killed. I was so happy to wake up and find it wasn't true. I rolled over and switched on the TV, CNN in English. Where am I? Not Malval, that's for sure. I'm in Piura. I have a doctor's appointment today to get my leg checked out. Just want to make sure that there'll be no lasting damage before I start this Peace Corps thing for real.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Things the US could learn from Peru.

So, the more time I spend in this fabulous country, the more I realize that there are some things that Peru just really does right. I’m starting a list of them here so that you entrepreneur-types in the United States can think about starting them there as well.

1. The bus-cama. This is the two-story bus that makes the 9-20 hour trips from Lima into the various departments. First of all, the bus-cama travels at night. This means that you don’t have to waste 14 hours of your day traveling just to check into a hotel. The bus-cama is your personal, traveling hotel. Bus-cama’s have huge, padded, comfortable seats. Think about first class on an airplane. These seats recline nearly 180 degrees, and each comes with a pillow, a blanket, and a firm barrier between you and your neighbor. One boards a bus-cama a little before dinner time. A nice bus-cama attendant serves dinner, and then puts on a movie. After the movie the lights go out, and everyone goes to bed. The next morning the bus-cama wakes you up to music and serves breakfast before putting on another movie. At the end of the second movie you’ve arrived. Beats airplanes every time, let me tell you.
2. French fries inside hamburgers. Yup, inside, not on the side. It’s delicious. Try it if you don’t believe me.
3. Smothering everything in aji. Aji is made from spicy peppers, but is even more delicious than salsa. It goes with everything, except maybe ice cream.
4. Siestas. From 1pm-3pm it is too hot in Tumbes to do anything. So, people take cold showers and sleep. Makes sense to me.
5. Sharing food. Almost all meals here are ordered to share. All beers are ordered to share. If you buy a pack of cookies, you split them up so everyone can share. Everyone shares everything. It’s a nice change.
6. Kissing on the cheek as a greeting and a goodbye. This is a very personal gesture. It lets people into your bubble and shows that you care about them. It’s also a great way to make sure you personal greet everyone in a room or a group. There’s none of this waving your hand and saying “see ya!” Every time you get together you’ll be sure to kiss everyone hi and goodbye. I honestly think that this has helped me get to know even the other Peace Corps volunteers better because I’ve had to take just this small moment to personally recognize each one when we are hanging out in a large group. It’s also made me much more aware of how often each male volunteer shaves… When someone shakes my hand now it feels so cold. It actually feels like they are holding up their hand to block me out of their space and keep me away. Don’t be surprised if I come back home kissing you all.
7. Covering unexpected things in chocolate. My personal favourite here are saltine crackers covered in chocolate- called Choko- Sodas. May not sound great, but they are. Another good one is chocolate-covered graham crackers, and of course, there’s the chocolate covered Pisco.
8. “Amanecer-ing” a party. This means partying all night long until the sun comes up. It is par-for-the-course for many parties here. Parties that should be amancer-ed include, but are not limited to: baptisms, all birthdays, weddings, town anniversaries, and all holidays. Everyone amanecer-s a party, not just the under-thirties.

To be continued…

My site!

Hi guys. Sorry that I haven’t written in awhile. Two weeks ago I finally got to go to the place where I’ll be spending the next two years. My site is Malval, Tumbes, and it’s going to be a great time.

Tumbes is the smallest department in Peru, and also the farthest North on the coast. We joke that it’s really Peace Corps Ecuador, but apparently we should be careful about that because much of Tumbes was once disputed territory, and it’s still a sore subject. I found that out the hard way when I asked my host dad, “Tumbes was part of Ecuador until the 1940s- right?” He gave me an impassioned lecture about how Tumbes has always been part of Peru, but the Ecuadorans didn’t think so and so we had to have a war to sort it out, but it had ALWAYS been part of Peru. Okay, okay.

Tumbes is famous for its beaches and its seafood. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Just during the five or so days I was in Tumbes I had amazing ceviche twice, shrimp chowder, a shrimp aji curry, some sort of white fish, and fried seafood. The main jobs in Tumbes are fishing and growing rice, bananas, and mangoes. Right now is the beginning of mango season, so you can think of me gorging on mangoes too once I get back to site.

Malval is a community of 1200 people about 20 minutes south-east of Tumbes the city. (The capital of Tumbes is Tumbes). I will be working with the health post there, which serves Malval and the surrounding casarillos, for a total of 4000 people. Malval is also about 20 minutes from the beach. It’s about 1.5 hours from Mancora, which is one of the most famous beaches in Peru.

I got a great reception from the health post staff in Malval. They all seem very nice and motivated to work, and they seem excited to work with me for the next two years. Unfortunately, my host family was not there during my site visit, so although I’ve been to my house, I still don’t know my family.

Tumbes is very hot and tropical. My site is flat and hot. Did I mention that it’s hot? That’s pretty much what I know so far. Obviously I will gather more and more information as I live there for two years. I’ll keep you updated.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Election Reflections

You can not imagine how proud I feel of our country today. For the first time in my politically active career I got behind a cause I believed in, and so did the United States. It’s been different though, to witness this historic moment from far away. I felt both more connected to and more distanced from the election, and in ways I never would have imagined.

We missed out on a lot of election buildup here in Peru. I haven’t seen a McCain ad since August, I missed Michelle Obama coming to Colorado, and I’ve never seen Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live (the computers here aren’t fast enough to stream it). I think I’ve read less than five New York Times editorials urging people to vote.

On the other hand, I experienced a different kind of election buildup. The first night with my host family my host dad eagerly asked if I was voting for Obama. He asked, with true puzzlement, how the American people had managed to elect Bush in 2004. I felt a constant need to make excuses for my country and to distance myself from it. This is especially difficult in Peru because Peruvians are very proud of where they are from. If a Peruvian is born in Piura, for example, and moves to Lima at age two- he is a Piuran forever. Even sometimes if his parents are Piuran this would apply. Here you can never shake your identity- for better or for worse.

It was fun to share the election with my Peruvian friends too. My language class spent hours explaining the difference between Democrats and Republicans to my language teacher. When I got my absentee ballot, I poured over it with my host brother, who couldn’t believe that there were actually 16 people on the ballot for president. My host family probably became more politically informed than your average American as I gave a daily countdown to and explanation of the election. Yesterday our Peruvian facilitators and trainers were just as excited as we were, and my APCD offered words and hope that the American people come to their senses and make good decisions (basically).

The buildup wasn’t all pro-Obama, however. There was one store in downtown Chaclacayo that posted a hand made sign outside the door that said, “Jhon McCain (not a type-o, that’s how it was spelled) is very, very good. Vote for McCain” in English. Several volunteers talked to them. They couldn’t believe that a white person would vote for a black person, and expressed regret that we didn’t believe the KKK would kill Obama. Yesterday the sign changed to read simply, “McCain, President.” Today is said, “Congratulations to Hussein, the president of America.” I’m never shopping there again.

Yesterday here was tense. The day seemed to go on eternally, and we weren’t getting ANY news. Back in the States I would have probably been volunteering all day, and I would have had the opportunity to read the mood all day. I did check my e-mail in the morning here (I COULDN’T stay away), but it was early, and it only made the contrast with the eerie lack of information later in the day greater. I must say, I was homesick. I kept having flashbacks to 2004- especially to the night before the election and the electricity I felt. Tommy, I missed you most of all, and I was dying to hear how you were doing.

Peru 12 had big plans for election night. We have a restaurant in Chaclacayo that we often frequent, mostly because it is big enough and usually empty enough to hold us all. We made a deal with them for election night: if they stayed open and showed CNN in English, we would bring 48 customers. The deal was done.

Of the 48 Peace Corps aspirantes, I believe all but three voted blue. We had a great time watching the results come in. We watched CNN international, which I imagine only had one difference from the coverage you all watched- our commercials were in Spanish and Portuguese. If I’ve counted correctly, between the 48 of us we are from or went to college in 28 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. We’re pretty geographically diverse. So, we had a good time holding people accountable for their states. If “your” state went blue, expect high fives and hugs all around. If “your” state went red, expect to be pelted with trash (in a loving way). I thought that this was neat because it’s not often that one watches the election with such a geographically diverse crowd. I mean, in pretty much any other situation you at least have in common the state in which you are watching the results- right? This also led to great discussions about the nuances of the elections in many states that I normally would have known very little about throughout the night. I was surprised by how connected I felt to Colorado. It wasn’t called until after the election was called for Obama, and yet I still watched it eagerly. I think I’ve come to idolize Colorado a bit here because it is “my home.” Even most of my American friends here don’t know how diverse my living background actually is. Here, I am Coloradan. Maybe it was because of this that I had such a yearning to watch it turn blue. As it turns out, of the 7 states I’ve called home, 6 went blue. I’ve never especially warmed to Texas…

By 10:45pm (Peru is on East Coast time now) we knew that the election would be called at 11pm. By 10:59pm we were all on our feet and had a countdown (I think the restaurant owner thought we had lost it…) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… and sure enough, the screen flashed “BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATED OF AMERICA.” We jumped up and down, we screamed, we cried, we hugged, and hugged, and hugged, and laughed, and cried. Seriously, I wish you all could have seen our jubilation (es palabra? Ya no se. Siempre invento palabras castellanas.). I can safely say that I have never seen a group of people so happy about anything. This made making state finals in marching band look like a somber event. Now, I will grant you that Peace Corps volunteers are by no means a representative population of the US (unfortunately) and that we are probably primed to be more politically active, but I mean EVERYONE was ecstatic. We (okay, I) were so happy we burst out into patriotic songs. When’s the last time you heard me burst into a patriotic song that didn’t involve a Frisbee event or the 4th of July? There is something special about Obama. Maybe he’ll bring the US some magic J. We watched McCain’s concession speech and Obama’s acceptance speech (omg- I get to listen to that man LEAD OUR COUNTRY for at least the NEXT FOUR YEARS!) through a veil of tears. I got a headache from smiling too much. We skipped home. Literally. I walked into my house all smiles- OBAMA GANÓ! I said. My host family was happy.

Today was the first day I’ve spent outside of the United States during my adult life that I felt proud of my country. I know that sounds cliché, but I actually wasn’t even expecting it. It just happened. On our way to the center this morning Peruvians we had never seen before CHEERED us from across the street. Our facilitators embraced us with congratulations. Those of us who hadn’t seen each other the night before ran across the center to jump into each other’s arms. When I came home my host family wanted to know all about Obama. They’d seen his daughters in the newspaper. “They’re blacker than he is!” they said. “Yes,” I said, “but finally, to America, it doesn’t matter.”

Sunday, October 19, 2008

World Book, Perú

The Peace Corps has three goals. The first goal is to provide technical assistance to those who ask for it. I am more interested in goals two and three. Goal #2 centers around creating a more positive image of Americans abroad, and goal #3 is to inform those in the US (i.e. me and my friends and family) about Perú. It is with this last goal in mind that I’ve decided to back up with my blog, and talk a little bit about Perú, the country I now call home. I’ve only been here a month, so clearly I’m no expert, but I have learned a fair amount. Plus, this will be an interesting baseline for me to compare my knowledge in 26 months when I leave. So, if I were to write a World Book Encyclopedia entry on Perú, it would look like this:

Geography and Climate

Perú lies in South America, its northern border just beneath the equator. Its neighbors to the North are Ecuador and Colombia, to the East is Brazil, to the South are Bolivia and Chile, and to the West is the Pacific Ocean. Perú is divided into 24 departments, which are like our states. Each has a capital, and a not-too-autonomous government. More importantly, Perú is divided into 3 distinct geographic regions: the coast (la costa), the mountains (la sierra), and the jungle (la selva). The coast is really only a fairly thin sliver of land that runs the length of Perú’s border with the Pacific. The mountains come next, and they are not just any mountains, but in fact, the Andes. Most of Perú’s territory, however, is jungle, or the Amazon. Despite the geographic distribution, the overwhelming majority of Peru’s population lives on the coast. In fact, 1/3 of the population lives in the Lima-metro area alone. Very few people live in the jungle, but those who do have the least access to resources of anyone in Perú. One’s socioeconomic class is often closely associated with region. The people on the coast are the most well off, followed by those in the mountains, followed by those in the jungle.

Perú’s climate varies substantially by region. The coast actually contains the driest desert in the world. That’s where I live. It doesn’t rain here, ever. It is extremely dusty, and there is no such thing as natural foliage. That’s why they have to dust the trees that do exist. Lima is often covered in a thick fog for much of the day, but it never rains there either. Chaclacayo is just high enough above Lima that it’s only foggy in the morning, and it burns off by about 10am. When the sun is out it is hot, but probably never gets much above 75 or 80 degrees. When the sun goes away it gets cold. Pretty straight forward.

The mountains have a wet season and a dry season. The wet season is the summer, or roughly October- March. The dry season is the winter, or roughly April-September. It can get very cold in the mountains, especially at night. When you see those really cute pictures of Peruvian children all bundled up with bright pink cheeks- it’s really not that cute because their cheeks are pink principally from chapping and over-exposure to the cold.

The jungle, well, is a jungle. It’s hot and humid almost always.

History

Oh boy, where to begin? Well, Perú is home to the ruins of one of the oldest civilizations in the world- Caral. It was discovered about five years ago a couple hours North of Lima. The ruins there date back to 3000 BC. After Caral came a whole slue of rather interesting indigenous cultures that excelled at everything from architecture to pottery to fishing to dying wool. These cultures came and went and fought with each other until 1450 AD, when the Incas rose to power and started uniting everyone. Peruvians claim that the Incas where peaceful people- unless you tried to resist them. Uh-huh. The Incas made Machu Picchu and most of the other cool ruins in Perú, they spoke Quechua (all though they weren’t the first), and they are considered the basis for Peruvian indigenous culture today. In 1525 AD the Inca Huayna Capac died. He had two sons. Atahualpa was older, but Huascar was born in Cusco, the Inca capital. So, the throne passed to Huascar, and a Civil War broke out, dividing the Inca empire. In 1532 Atahualpa murdered his brother, assumed the throne, and tried to bring his divided empire back together. Enter the Spanish.

The Spanish killed most of the Inca either through fighting or disease, and subdued the rest, with the important exception of Tupac Amaru and many of his followers who fled to the jungle and held out a strong resistance. Eventually Tupac Amaru was captured by the Spanish and brutally executed, and he became a martyr.

In the mid-1800s Perú had had enough of Spanish rule, and joined with most of the rest of South America in kicking the Spanish out. Perú was part of Simon Bolívar’s republic, which encompassed present-day Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Panamá, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and part of Chile. This is what Hugo Chávez wants to bring back, by the way. That broke apart pretty fast, and Perú became its own country.

Okay, my history gets sticky here; I’m doing this all without notes. I know that in 1879 Perú went to war with Chile. Really Chile went to war with Bolivia, but Perú and Bolivia had a mutual defense pact. Chile kicked Perú and Bolivia’s butts. They took Bolivia’s coast and briefly controlled Perú via a puppet government in Lima. The Chileans eventually retreated, but took with them Perú’s natural resource rich most southern province. Perú is still upset about it, but probably not as upset as now landlocked Bolivia. Oh, and what natural resource did Perú lose? Mountains of guano. I’m not kidding.

Okay, fast forward about 100 years, I have no idea what happened in Perú during that time, but hopefully I will before I finish my language and culture class. We’ve only gotten as far as the Inca.

In 1980 there was a professor at the University of Ayacucho, Guzmán. He was obsessed with socialism, and traveled to China to study it. He decided that the solution to Perú’s problems was to violently oust its capitalist government and bring in socialism. So, he created the terrorist organization called the Shining Path. The Shining Path created a reign of terror that lasted in Perú for 20 years. They started by taking over small towns and villages in the mountains. They would kill anyone who they suspected of cooperating with the government. Meanwhile the government would come in and kill anyone they suspected of cooperating with the Shining Path. It was not pretty. Nonetheless, no one in Lima really cared because the terrorism was mostly confined to the countryside. Meanwhile, the population of Lima doubled as people fled the terror in the mountains. In the early 1990s, Guzmán decided that his tactics were not working, and that he needed to move the fight to Lima. He did, and when rich people started dying everyone started listening. Alan García was elected in 1985. Under García the Peruvian economy went haywire, inflation got to be so bad that you would have to take a huge box of soles just to ride a combi, and everyone lost their life savings. The currency changed from the sol to the inti (1000 sol = 1 inti) and then from the inti to the Nuevo sol (1000 inti = 1 nuevo sol) all in five years. As you can imagine, most Peruvians lost their life savings. On the plus side, García did a lot to fight terrorism. After García, the Peruvians elected Alberto Fujimori as president. In 1993 he suspended Congress to crack down on the Shining Path. He was re-elected in 1995 and again in 2000. He caught Guzmán, which was the beginning of the end of the Shining Path, but his government continued to massacre, imprison without trial, and torture those that where suspected Shining Path sympathizers. This is less than 10 years ago!! Shortly after Fujimori was elected the second time, a huge corruption scandal broke, Fujimori’s right hand man ended up in jail, and Fujimori fled to Japan and resigned. (He actually came back to Chile last year, and is now on trial in Lima for many things, including human right’s violations.) There was an interim president, and then Toledo was elected. Toledo is important to the history of Perú because as a child he had a Peace Corps volunteer living in his town who recognized his brilliance and personally tutored him and helped him out of poverty. He went on to get a degree from Harvard, and the Peace Corps volunteer was at his swearing in ceremony for president. Toledo invited the Peace Corps back to Perú in 2002 after a 27 year absence. Other than that, Peruvians pretty much hated Toledo. I’m not sure why. The last election was in 2006. The candidates were Alan García (we’ve already discussed his stellar resume), and Ollanta Humala. Humala is an extreme leftist who would have led Perú down the same path as Venezuela and Bolivia. Faced with two not-so-attractive choices, Peruvians re-elected García. It’s now 2008 and the Nuevo sol is still a functioning currency, so let’s hope this term is better than his last…


Politics

Well, I already went over a lot of this. There are some other things though… Just last week a big scandal was discovered with the petroleum company- PetroPerú. They were discovered illegally selling off land rich in oil without using the open market. The prime minister of Perú (Perú has a president, two vice-presidents, and a prime minister) was implicated and had to resign, along with his entire cabinet. This week has been spent running around to find new ministers, and to re-approve some of the ones who resigned. Alan García appointed Simón to be the new prime minister. This is very controversial because he spent a decade in jail for actions associated with the terrorist group MRTA (movimiento revolucionario de Tupac Amaru- this is going to be a kind of long aside… Remember how I told you that Tupac Amaru became a martyr back right at the end of the Inca? Well, this group went by the name Tupac Amaru II, and also had the intention of taking over Perú during the same time as the Shining Path. They were a smaller group, but caused plenty of damage in Lima, and are most famous for taking 406 hostages at a party at the Japanese ambassador’s house. They held about 80 of the hostages for three months until Fujimori’s troops finally broke in and killed every single captor.). So yes, the new prime minister of Perú previously spent 10 years in prison for terrorism. However, this might be a good political move for García because Simón is a member of the ultra-left, and his presence in the government may help to appease the 47% of the country that voted for Humala and have strong left-leaning tendencies. Last I checked García had an approval rate of 14% and falling, so he could use a boost. So you see, Perú’s not that unlike the US after all.

Food

So far the food in Perú is delicious. Any guidebook can tell you about ceviche (raw fish prepared with lime), cuy (guinea pig), or anticucho (beef heart kebabs), but I haven’t actually tried any of that yet. (I do want to- I’ve heard it’s all delicious!). So what do I eat? Every morning for breakfast I have corn flakes with yogurt instead of milk. I also have a sandwich of some kind made on a French bread roll. It’s usually hardboiled egg, avocado, or Greek olives. I highly recommend the Greek olive and French bread roll sandwich; it is delectable, even at 7 in the morning. For lunch and dinner I almost always have the same meal, but it is different each day. All meals start with a healthy portion of white rice, and a heaping pile of potatoes (yes “and,” never “or”). Then there is some kind of meat- fried chicken, boiled chicken, fried beef, or white fish of some kind. There is usually a sauce- I eat a lot of this sauce that looks like pesto and tastes similar, but isn’t quite right. If I’m lucky I can smother the whole thing in ají, which is amazing hot sauce. It is usually yellow, and does not taste like salsa, but many does it have a bite! It’s my favourite part of Peruvian food by far.

Potatoes are probably the most important part of the Peruvian diet. Peruvians are very proud of the fact that the potato originated in the Peruvian Andes, and they are quick to point out that the potato has saved millions of lives around the world and lifted people from poverty (think Ireland). More than 3,000 types of potatoes are grown in Perú. I’ve probably only had about 6 since I’ve been here. Good thing I have another 26 months!

The fruit here is amazing as well. My favourite new fruit is the granadilla, which I recently learned might be a passion fruit. In any case its insides look like fish eggs, but taste like a piece of heaven. There are also a bunch of types of bananas that we eat a lot of. My favourite are these little mini-bananas that are about 3-4 inches long, and nice and sweet. The weirdest look and taste like a banana, but are orange inside. Many of my colleagues would kill for a chirimoya, which is white, slimy, and super sweet on the inside, but I don’t really care for it. Other popular fruits are mandarins (not at all seedless), apples, and mangoes, which are just coming into season :).

What do we drink? My madre often packs Sporade for me, which is a hilarious Gatorade rip-off. Other than that I’ve have fresh-squeezed lemonade, peach juice, orange juice, and lots and lots of Inca Kola. Inca Kola is a bright yellow soft drink that tastes like chewing gum. Not my favourite. I got super-lucky because my host family here doesn’t drink coffee (everyone else drinks instant- there is no “café pasado” or real coffee, as they call it here). So instead, I drink te puro (black tea) for breakfast and dinner. My host family thinks I’m very weird because I don’t add sugar. I also drink a black tea made with cinnamon and cloves, which is delicious.

So, that’s my encyclopedia entry about Perú. I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface, but hopefully if you’re still awake and reading you’ll now have a little more context in which to fit my stories.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I might be the luckiest girl in the world

Wednesday was a holiday here in Peru. It was the anniversary of some battle, but I couldn’t get much more than that out of anyone I asked about it. In any case, we didn’t have training. So, Brian, Robyn, Douglas, and I decided to go on an adventure. We heard that there are some “mystical ruins” about a 3km hike away from San Pedro. San Pedro is at 10,000 feet above sea level, and is 33km from Chosica. Our guidebook said it would take an hour and a half to get there. It sounded like fun, and so we met at the plaza in Chosica at 10:30am to begin our journey.

We had a bit of a time finding the place in Chosica where the combi was supposed to leave for San Pedro, but thanks to our first bit of luck we found it about 5 minutes before the combi left. I’m not sure how many combis left from Chosica for San Pedro yesterday, but I don’t think they were very frequent. The 33km drive took 3 hours. Yes, I realize that some of you can run faster than that. I believe that my pictures of the drive up there will explain our slow pace. Chosica is 2,000 feet above sea level, which meant that we had to climb 8,000 feet in a van. The road was dirt and snaked perilously close the edge of the mountain as we climbed. We had to stop and back up in the middle of several of the hairpin turns because the combi couldn’t make it around in one try. One time the doorman had to get out and put rocks behind our wheels. At another point we forded a river, and twice we had to stop and wait for livestock (donkeys and then cows) to make their way around our combi.

When we finally made it to San Pedro it was beautiful. It is a small town perched near the top of a mountain (although the people here still call these hills… can’t wait for the Andes…) with breathtaking views on all sides. It was very misty, which added to the mystery, but was hard to capture on film. First we stopped for lunch. I had a large plate of chaufa (Chinese fried rice Peruvian style) that was possibly the most delicious meal I’ve had in Peru thus far. Then we set out to find the path to the ruins. We found some other tourists who looked like they might have been there and asked them. “Well,” they said, “you’ll have to be especially careful of the horses. Also, it’s a five hour round-trip hike.” Horses? Five hours? Well, the hike was out because it was already 2 in the afternoon, and we all had to be home for dinner, but we inquired about the horses. As it turned out, yesterday was the day of the annual horse race in San Pedro. The jockeys all had raced up in the morning, and in about half and hour would all be barreling down to the finish line at the beginning of the main plaza in San Pedro. So the hike was definitely out because none of us felt the need to dodge racing horses as we trudged our way up to the ruins. We decided to stay for the race.

The race was amazing. The entire town turned out and perched everywhere from the surrounding hills to the top of the chapel to the wall on either side of the race road to watch the horses come in. We were certainly the only Americans there, and aside from those two other tourists, were probably the only non-Peruvians there. San Pedro is at the beginning of the sierra, and so we got to experience for the first time the more traditional outfits and attitudes of the people there. Everyone was very friendly, and they were amazed that we had come all of the way from the USA to see their horse race (umm, kinda). The race itself was brutal. About one in every three horses crossed the finish line without a rider. We personally saw three people fall. There were dogs and people running up and down the race track who often had to make quick dashes for the sidelines as more horses came through. At one point a donkey came trotting along the race track just like a horse and everyone cheered. It was an amazing day.

Friday, October 3, 2008

A comment on magical realism:

She died from washing her hair. It was the year after the students disappeared from the University in Chosica, and after the mothers screamed when Fujimori came to christen the roads, during tree-dusting season.

If you pardon my very rough diction and lack of stylistic grace, this could be a sentence in a magical realist novel. Through Western eyes it seems fantastic- you can’t die from washing your hair, the roads in Huascaran were christened before the massacre in Chosica, and you don’t dust trees. However, through Peruvian eyes, it doesn’t seem fantastic at all. My host mom firmly believes (as do many in the US) that wet hair causes “cholera” (it is worth noting here that all upper respiratory maladies, from a one-day mild common cold to the worst flu/ bronchitis/pneumonia you’ve ever had in your life can all be described using the same word in Spanish). She hasn’t let me shower in three days because I have a slight cough (don’t worry- I snuck in a sink hair-washing tonight after she left). There also was a massacre at the University of Chosica, back sometime in the mid-nineties, where the government came in and “disappeared” nine students and two teachers. This may be the stuff of nightmares in America, but it actually happens here, and everyone over the age of 8 in Peru right now lived it him or herself. It also so happens that Fujimori, the then president of Peru, did come to christen the roads in Huascaran, a small settlement of almost no national importance. I don’t know why, but it happened. As for the timing of things, it’s just not an issue here. My very own language and culture professor swore up and down the Chosica massacre was in 2006. I pointed out that Fujimori fled the country in 2000, and only then did she concede that the massacre must have been before that. The point is though, that if enough people think things happened in a different way than they did, and it becomes the collective memory, then it becomes true. I believe this happens a lot here, and accounts for many of the more fantastic moments of Latin American history. It doesn’t matter, however, what actually happened because the memories that people have, and the stories that they tell are the history that they continue to live, regardless of what “really” happened. And, as a final point, they actually do dust the trees in Huascaran. They need to because the trees are covered in dust and would die from lack of access to sunlight otherwise. (The air quality here is awesome- let me tell you.)

So, when I say that reading a magical realist novel is really like living in Latin America- that is what I mean. Perhaps it is true that they didn’t cut up the lake in Colombia and sell it various American businesses (as happens in One Hundred Years of Solitude), but in a country where things that were once considered basic human rights (like access to water) were sold to foreign countries, this concept suddenly seems much less fantastic. I’m sure that these observations will only become more apparent when I move to my site, which will most likely be dominated by more traditional thinking, and I am fascinated to learn more about how this creating of a collective fantastic memory affects every day life in the towns of Latin America.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

El Mercado

This morning I went to the market with my madre to do some shopping. We left the house and walked for awhile until we encountered a moto-taxi. I have no idea who was ever sitting around and thought, “Ah yes, a moto-taxi will be a good way to transport people and goods around a country.” These things are terrifying. They have three wheels (one in front and two in back). The driver sits up front on a motorcycle-esk seat, and the passengers sit in back under a canopy of sorts on a bench that is open to the air on the sides. They are smaller than a Smart Car. Every single one looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’ve seen several go up on two wheels while attempting even the most benign corners. They are all red or blue. They have the acceleration capacity of your average bicycle (or maybe tricycle…), and yet this does not prevent them from pulling out in front of giant buses on the main highway or blatantly cutting off cars as they turn. I’ve seen more than one with its back “window” shaped like Batman’s call sign. So, my madre and I got up into the moto-taxi and I hoped for the best as we zoomed to the market. The market of Chaclacayo is just like any other run-of-the-mill Latin American market. There are large slabs of meat hanging from hooks, most of which are still very recognizable as animals, many of which still have tails/fur, and some of which are bleeding onto the floor. There are stalls of fresh fruit and vegetables as far as the eye can see in every direction, and you’re as likely as not to have ever seen the fruit before in your life. They even have pitaya!!! Hooray!!! (I discovered them yesterday and have already personally consumed three.) The aisles are jam-packed with women (and some men) with a baby in their arms and several kids in tow. Other vendors push their way through the crowds selling sandals, soap, and dish towels to anyone who will stop to hear their schpeel. Today my madre headed straight towards the chickens, and ordered four chicken breasts. Then we stood around as the chicken-vendor-woman prepared them. Call me naïve, but I thought this was very chevere (cool), as they say here. She took what looked exactly like a rubber chicken, only bigger, cut off the bottom part with the legs, cut off the head, scooped out the innards and the heart, and then cut the breast from the bone. Lo and behold, what was left on her counter looked exactly like what I buy at the super-market in the States! I mean, I knew this was the process, but I had never seen it done before, and I was surprised at how exactly the breast from the giant “rubber” chicken resembled the stuff in the Styrofoam container back home. Who woulda guessed? I also now know that if there is a market at my site I can have them prepare the chicken for me there instead of attempting to take it home and do it myself- disaster. I ate the aforementioned breast for lunch today, and it was delicious.

Some things I love about Peru so far:

1. The llama chiclets commercial: This commercial has llama close-up after llama close-up of llamas “saying” chevere. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a llama close-up, but the things are butt-ugly. The idea of them saying chevere is hysterical. The commercial closes by saying simply, “Chilets son chevere.” I think I’ll go buy some this afternoon.
2. Anti-idol: This is a show of people attempting to sing karaoke in English, who do not speak English. Believe me, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a 20-something Peruvian male who’s never attempted English before in his life belting out “We go together like shamamala, badingidy diggidong.” Or whatever it is.
3. Lima! We went yesterday as a group, and it’s great!! There is so much to do and see there, and it is so alive. Don’t believe people who tell you that Lima is a dirty thieving dump. I mean, it is unbelievably dirty (when I blew my nose last night it was black), and there are un monton de thieves, but it’s so much more than that!
4. Alan Garcia- the president. Right now he has a 19% approval rating, and so he makes me feel right at home! ;)
5. El Comercio, the national paper. Today they had an article from the Economist! The ECONOMIST!! Oh, Economist, te quiero.
6. Internet for 33 cents an hour.
7. Argentina. Why? I was walking through Lima yesterday speaking Spanish, and a guy stopped me and said (in Spanish), “Are you Argentinean?” “No,” I said, “I’m from los Estados.” “But you speak Spanish so well!” was his reply. Yay for Latinoamericanos who are actually pale, blue-eyed, and tall like me so guys like that can stroke my Spanish ego :).

I can’t wait to get to know more of the “real” Peru, but for now we are mostly stuck in classes at the training center from 8am-5pm six days a week. Sigh. Pues, today is Sunday, and I’m off to Lima with the fam. Miss you all!

Besos,
Sarita (not one single Peruvian has called me Sara yet, it is always Sarita, including in my classes)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

In Peru!

Hi everyone,

Well, after over a year of applying and waiting, I am finally in Peru. So far it is wonderful. We arrived in Lima on Friday night (well, Saturday morning) at around 2am. From there we went to a retreat center for a quick one-day orientation before meeting with our host families on Sunday.

My host family is wonderful. I live in a nice house in Huascaran, a neighborhood very close to Chaclacayo, where the Peace Corps training center is. It´s a 15 minute walk for me to get there in the mornings. I have a host mom, a host dad, two host brothers (24 and 19) and a host sister (14). They are all extremely nice and like to chat with me. They have had four Peace Corps volunteers previously, so they are very accostomed to our schedule and to the ¨weird¨ things that we americanos sometimes do. They are also amazed that I speak Spanish as well as I do, which is nice. My Spanish has actually been holding up very well, and I can feel it improving every day. Sometimes I speak so quickly now that I startle even myself!

Six days a week we have training at the Peace Corps training center. Generally, we receive language and culture training the mornings, and technical training the afternoons. I placed into the highest language class, and so my language class is mostly culture and research, which I enjoy. Training is fairly taxing because we are in class from 8am-5pm and then we have homework at night when we are with our host families. It is difficult to make time for excersize, maintaining contacts back home, or generally keeping sane. In the end it´ll be worth it though because we are learning so much.

So, so far so good from Peru. I hope you all are doing well, and I´d love to hear from you. Oh! And I have a new address. The old one will still work, but this one goes directly to the training center:

Sarah Walker
Cuerpo de Paz
Calle los Cedros 647
Chaclacayo
Lima 8, Peru, S.A.

Chau!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Greetings from Staging

Well, I've officially survived the first small part of the Peace Corps- staging in Washington D.C.. We checked in to the hotel in Georgetown by 3pm yesterday, and spent yesterday afternoon and all day today going over basic expectations, cross cultural communication strategies, safety concerns, and logistics for Peru, and generally get to know one another.

So far I am pleased with our group. There are 47 of us, all going to Peru, who will work as Community Health Promoters, Water Sanitation Volunteers, and Agribusiness/ Forestry Volunteers. There is one retired volunteer (see- it's never too late! :)), one married couple, and a handful of us who are over 21/22 and fresh out of college. It's about evenly split male/female, although there are probably a few more girls. I've met a guy from Grand Junction, CO, a gal who went to CU Boulder, and there are a full THREE of us who attended college in Northfield, MN (the other two are Oles). Two people have never left the country. Wow. I've found one other person who has a master's degree, but hers is in Tropical Medicine (cool!!!). The best part is that despite our diverse backgrounds and life experiences, we are all scared, excited, optimistic, and have roughly the same fears. I feel so much calmer knowing that in no way will I be alone in this experience. We may all be crazy, but at least we can be crazy together.

So, I leave for Peru tomorrow. I'll be at a two-night, one day orientation just outside of Lima this weekend, and then on Sunday we go to Chaclacayo to meet our host families. I have no idea what kind of internet access I'll have or how I'll communicate, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to say after my first few days. I am unbelievably nervous, but I think I've made the right decision. As they told us in training today, "You are officially not that person who always wanted to do the Peace Corps, or that person who almost did the Peace Corps, but rather, you have joined the ranks of people who said, 'yes, it's time to do the Peace Corps' and acted on that decision."

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

One Month from Today I'll be on a Plane...

Hi all. I'm creating this blog as a way for friends and family to keep tabs on me while I'm in the Peace Corps. I'll be serving as a Community Health Promoter in Peru from September 2008- December 2010. So far, this is what I know:

1. I have a two day staging in Washington DC from Sept. 10th- Sept. 12th where I will meet my other Peru trainees, fill out lots of paperwork, and receive more information about what my life's going to be like for the next 27 months.

2. I leave from DC at 1:05pm on September 12th for a 3 month training in Lima, Peru. During this time I'll live with a host family and attend job, language, and safety training.

3. Sometime in those first three months I'll get my site placement, where I will spend two years. Peru is a big country, so right now I'm trying to pack for the coastal desert, the Amazon, the Andes, and the beach all in two 50 pound suitcases. Wish me luck.

My address while I'm in Lima will be:

Sarah Walker, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
Calle Via Lactea 132 (accents on the i in Via and the first a in Lactea)
Urb. Los Granados, Surco
Lima 33, Peru

Looking forward to sharing lots of adventures!