Ancash Money

This past weekend I went to the City of Huaraz in the department of Ancash. Huaraz is probably no more than 300 miles away from Lima, but it took me 10 hours on a bus to get there. Part of the reason it takes so long is because Huaraz sits at 12,000 feet up in the Andes mountains and it was raining for most of the steep climb

As PCV's we get 3 weekends a year that we don't have to use our own vacation days to travel: thanksgiving, Easter and the Peruvian Independence day at the end of July. So when the time came to start planning what to do with out precious free vacation, every one started suggesting different beaches up and down the Peruvian coast. I live on the Peruvian coast and as much as I bitched an moaned about the weather all winter long and how I couldn‘t wait for beach weather, after 3 months of Summer in Lima, I was ready to high tail it outta there for fresh mountain air.

Lucky for me, there were a few other PCV's who live in the desert and were ready for some cool mountain love too. There are three 9ers who live in the department of Ancash. All of them are male and, to put it simply, are crazy bitches. They call themselves "Ancash Money" and I think it is safe to say, live up to the name. One member of Ancash money, Sick Boy, decided to check out of the altitude and into the beach for the weekend. But the other two boys stuck around to entertain the ladies of the desert, so I was able to observe the boys in there natural habitat.

My trip to Ancash was exactly what I was looking for. The mornings were fresh, cool and sunny and the afternoons and nights were rainy and cozy. Since Huaraz is located at the base of Cordiera Blanca and the Cordiera Negra (white mountain range and black mountain range) it is the starting base for all major Andes trek‘s. And therefore, there is a decent tourist population. But not the kind of tourist population you would find in Cancun or even machu picchu for that matter. The tourists that come through Huaraz are hard corps explorers and mountaineers. So for a white girl who lives in Peru, it was the perfect balance of local and non-annoying tourist attractions. That being said, I spend almost no time at all hanging out with locals or at local spots.

I stayed in a hostel/lodge run by an english man. The hostel had grass and pine trees. This alone would have made my trip amazing if I had never left the hostel. There were two coffee shops that are run by ex-patriots where I literally spend half of the time I was awake. I liked them both but fell in love with one of them. It was a two story loft/cafe that felt like a ski lodge. It was wooden and rustic yet modern enough to make it seem like you weren't in Peru (this is most evident in the bathroom). It caters to an almost all tourist crowd with a great English book and magazine library and familiar menu. And it had a fire place! I spent hours every single night drinking chai tea (which is almost impossible to find in Peru) sitting by the fire and reading. This to me was a vacation. This to me was heaven. It truly may have been heaven if there was skiing around. But because the Andes are a tropical mountain range, the snow level is too high (18,000 feet) for skiing.

But we did get to hike. I was really curious to see how my lungs would hold out at such high altitude. The boys live at that height so they were well adjusted. All us girls live at sea level, but I am training for a marathon and was hoping this would somehow make the transition easier. I did indeed have less trouble than the girls, even to the point where it seemed that I was breathing less heavily than the boys, but still, I could feel the thin oxygen. We did a really cool hike to a glacial lake with the most brilliant colored water I have ever seen.

We of course hit the bars and the clubs at night where we all proved that altitude makes alcohol hit your system faster and harder. I really love how amazing all of my Peru 9ers are. Every one can party till dawn and then get up one hour later to hike at a crazy altitude. I will post more pictures as they get sent to me by the rest of my friends.

March Madness

I haven't posted much in the month of march. Normally I will let up on frequent updates when I feel like life has slowed and there's not much to report. In contrast, this whole month has been crammed with non stop action, I have found very little time to sit and write out my thoughts. Here is the list of things I have done since the beginning of this month.

• I had an in service training in Lima for a few days for center-based youth volunteers
  


• There were a bunch of other meetings in Lima in which several Peru 9ers were in town for over the course of 2 weeks. These two weeks of course, were filled with debauchery and the slogan for one of the weeks was "best spring break ever" as so named by the boys who reconfirmed the sexual benefits of being a male PCV in Peru. This is me and two of my favorite 9ers pre-gaming before a now infamous night.
  
• I went to 3 going away parties
  
• My host mom had her birthday and we had a big party that lasted till 5 in the morning in our house. There were a bunch of relatives from out of town visiting and staying and I'm pretty sure my host moms brother (roughly 65 in age) hit on me relentlessly.
  
• I went to a wedding shower and a wedding. Bianca, my PCV predecessor just married her Peruvian boyfriend of 2 1/2 years. It was my first wedding in Peru and really fun
  
• The kids went back to school so once again I've had to figure out a new schedule
  
• I went on vacation for semana Santa (or holy week or spring break) up to the mountains in Ancash for 4 days. It was amazing and I'll post pictures and stories soon.
  
• I started training for a marathon. Last Wednesday I ran 9 miles! I have an 18 week training program and the race is scheduled for 4th of July weekend
  
• I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with an old friend from Spain/UC Davis. We went to an English pub which only had Peruvian beer on tap. We searched all of Lima for an Irish car bomb but were sadly let down.


• I've been going to the beach every free second (which unfortunately there aren't too many of) trying to soak up the last of the sun before the gray comes back. The weather's already starting to change and I'm scared....... That's me and Dennis Lee. He's a third year and lived in the town next to mine. He just closed his service on wednesday and he'll be flying out soon. Lima just won't be the same without him.
  

So this is just an overview of a few very hectic weeks. And there is still a full week left in march! I remember when my biggest fear about Peace Corps was too much down time. Now, I'm so busy I need to take a vacation from all the vacations I've been having. This past weekend in Huaraz, one of my male PCV's said that joining Peace Corps was the best decision he ever made. Then he paused and said "wow, I've never said that before, I must really mean it". This past weekend amongst mountains and friends I too realized how incredibly happy I am and that joining Peace Corps was the best decision I ever made as well.

I am the Queen of Sexuality

Today we had a going away lunch for two of the 3rd year volunteers dropping the total number of volunteers in Lima go from 7 to 5. At this lunch in Lima, I was seated by my country director Michael Hirsh. He said to me at some point during our meal that he's been keeping on my blog. This is a very scary concept to me. I still live under the delusion that only close friends, family and maybe strangers read this thing. And then I thought maybe he just says that to all volunteers to scare them, until he said "for the record, Jesus was circumcised". Proof that he actually has read it. But then he confessed that he doesn't normally follow it. He couldn't sleep one night and so he read all the blogs of all the Peru volunteers he could find. I thought maybe as a Jewish man, Michael would know that Jesus had been circumcised, but he told me that after he read about me girls question, he was curious so he goggled it. Apparently it says in the bible "on the 8th day, he was circumcised". Well, that takes care of that.

When the orphanage got wind that I was doing sexuality workshops in the girls home, and asked if I would do them for the kids there. So basically half of my work will sexuality. Which is really ironic to me. I remember all of the people that came in through out my scholastic career to teach us about "human development" and thinking they had the worst jobs every. The subject was always very uncomfortable for me and I hated the idea when first posed, of me teaching sexuality. Turns out, I have actually learned and grown even more than probably most of the girls I have been teaching. My workshops have kind of been my coming of age/coming to terms with my insecurities about the subject. So much so, that I have been carting my materials around Lima giving impromptu lectures to my friends and even complete strangers by demonstrating on a cut-out, felt vagina and penis.

Being a Peace Corps volunteer, or any gringo in Peru, gives you a certain amount of notoriety. I feel like there is no better place in this time in our lives to be single and in the Peace Corps. Both men and women have the option of being a playboy. Even the people who may not have gotten the most attention back in the states and would not be considered a "player", find the opposite sex throwing themselves at them. Because of this, any group gathering turns into a boys/girls night out on the town. These nights out produce some of the craziest sexual escapades stories that rival even the craziest stories from college. I often feel that socially, peace corps is just an extension of college and the older we get, the more the ante is upped. But it probably has something to do with the fact that 95% of our time is spent as mature, hard-working young adults in small communities, so when we do get together in the modern big cities with close American friends, it's naturally pretty intense. I really wish I could share some of my favorite stories, but even if I left out names and genders, I still feel they would be inappropriate to share.

One may wonder where I fit into all this sexual tomfoolery. After 9 months of being Peru one would find it natural, especially with the frequency in which I go out, that I myself may have a crazy story or two. Well, me and my friends have been watching a lot of Sex and the City. Every girl tries to pick which character they are most like. This past week I had a sexual epiphany of sorts (brace yourself, these don't come around everyday). I never felt I fit the mold of any of the 4 leading ladies exactly. I supposed I was more like Carrie than any other. But, she was too neurotic and nothing about her interests or life really matched mine. All the sudden it hit me. I'm Samantha! For those of you who do not follow the show, Samantha is most commonly referred to as the slut. She is someone who as a lot of unattached, unemotional sex and doesn't feel bad about it and doesn't care what anyone says. Now I am very very far from a slut. For this reason, it never crossed my mind that I would we fall into the "Samantha" category. But I was basing that solely on the number of romantic partners the two of us have had. When it comes down to it, Samantha and I have a lot in common. We are both strong, self confident women. Neither of us feel we need a man or a relationship to make us whole or happy. Samantha is not afraid to take what she wants out of life. For her, that means having a lot of sex and not caring what people think. For me, it's not having a lot of sex and not caring what people think.

Believe it or not, I feel there is actually a stigma now, about women who don't frequently engage in sexual endeavors. Because of sexual role models like Samantha, women aren't supposed to be afraid to be sexual and unihibited or be branded as sluts. Apparently I am not a modern woman if my sexuality isn't out there for every one to see. But that's the thing. I am like Samantha because I am not afraid to be a prude and I don't care if I am labeled as one. I find it strange that I feel the people who judge me and tease me the most about not sleeping around, are women not men. However, I do get my fair share of ball busting from the boys. I think this dynamic is really interesting and that the idea of sex for women in American culture has completely changed in the past 10 years, thanks in large part to Sex and the City.

So here I am. An American girl in Peru, teaching sexuality. Sex is all around me so it's hard to ignore and I feel like I'm not telling the whole truth if I never discuss it on my blog as part of the whole experience. Maybe this is all too much information. But if it is, maybe it will scare my country director out of reading my blog.

Peruvian Humor

My new host family finds me hilarious. I’m quite used to having Peruvians laugh at me, but for once it’s not because I am making a mockery of their language ie instead of saying what I shame! I say what a penis! Highly amusing mistake, I know. But these errors had the locals saying ’what is this gringo doing here?’ and unfortunately at times, had me thinking the same thing.
But now with my new found comic audience, I am celebrating my master over the Spanish language (in the simplest way possible). I will give you a few examples now of my new found comic genius.

My host mom is very concerned as to whether or not I will like the food she has prepared. Despite my constant reassurance that not only is she a great cook, but that I am not a picky eater and very easy to please, she asks me after every meal if it pleased me. Yesterday she asked me if I liked the meal she had prepared. I told her it was terrible and I didn’t like any of it. The whole family saw that my plate was licked clean of even a grain of rice, and exploded with laughter. Have you ever heard anything so funny in all your life? The gringo said she didn’t like the food, but clearly she did because she ate everything!

Another side splitting example of my new knack for whit was when I came home from the beach today. I have been trying to soak up every last bit of sun before Lima reverts back to desolate months of endless gray. My host mom commented on how tan I looked. I agreed that I am quite tan for my naturally pasty self. But I told her to wait until July, where I will be white like a ghost. My host brothers started a minute strait of knee slapping, belly jiggling laughter, stopping only to breathlessly repeat the punch line “blanca como una fantasma!” I had no idea nursery rhyme metaphors translated into standup comedy.

I think I am just now understanding the full magnitude for Peru’s meek sense of humor. I don’t think I have ever laughed more in my life than I did my 3 months of training. I do remember feeling my first month at site that I missed laughing (and basically any sense of relaxed happiness) terribly. But I never made the simple jump to conclusion that, from my cultural perspective, Peruvians aren’t as funny as Americans. One thing us white people from the north agree is on, is that Latinos in general, don’t do sarcasm. And since Americans are arguably some of the most sarcastic people on the planet, there have been many a story-worthy misunderstanding between PCV’s and Peruvian associates.

And since these silly miscommunications are the anecdotes that make my blog worth reading and my Peace Corps service worth serving, I continue to roll with the punches. I may not understand why my family thinks the things I say are so funny (maybe they just think I have a silly accent) but I’m sure happy they get a kick out of me. That means that they like when I’m around. And feeling like I am wanted in the house is worth every embarrassing language slip up I have ever had.

Canadian Softwood

Anyone who gets the title reference (Kristen Schroer, Gus Caravalho and possibly Eric and Amber) hang tight, I will get back to that....

I don't have a terrible amount of stuff in common with my friends in Lima. Sure, we all work for international development agencies and went to school in the US, but apart from that, our backgrounds and experiences are very different. But the reason we get along so well I think, is because we share a love of people and being together. Clearly, my friends are very open and generous with their house, as they gave me my own set of keys and let me stay over whenever I want. They not only extend their warm welcome to me but to any one passing through Lima. This past weekend, the small ocean view apartment which usually houses just Tania and Candice and the occasional peace corps refugee (me), played home to 7 people. It went from being a cozy home to a busy home base where people were constantly coming any going. Tania described it managed madness I call it organized chaos, but we all agree it was a lot of fun.



So with all of these out of town visitors, I tried to help my friends by taking the tour guide burden off their hands for a few hours and took 3 people to my girls home Saturday evening. I brought along a fellow youth PCVer, and the girls couldn't get enough of his goofy, lovable infectious personality. I brought the other out of towners who had never seen a Peace Corps site so I was further fulfilling my job as mini ambassadors. My friends even helped me and my counterpart out with the community meeting, which not only reflected well on me but allowed for lot's of cross cultural exchanges.



Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the group at a club on a beach 10 minuets away from my site. It was such a neat club I can't believe it took me so long to discover it. I spotted my friends across the way and noticed a tall, white boy I had never seen before with them. I made my way over and went to meet the new face but before I could even say hi he said "you went to UC Davis didn't you?" I immediately replied I did and he said he was an international something or other grad student there. I thought for a moment that perhaps he had been one of my TA's or maybe I had met him through all the other grad students I was hanging out with before I left for Peru. I didn't even get a chance to ask when he said "I recognize you from the bars". I was shocked. There are 30,000 students at UC Davis, how the heck did he remember my face, especially considering I haven't been there for 9 months. I interpreted this as me going to the bars way too much. But if this was true, if he recognized me from the bars, that means he must have gone out a lot too.

The next day I couldn't quite get over the fact that I was that big a party girl in college. It's true I did go out a lot, but I didn't recognize him at all. Then I let myself play with the idea that maybe I was so dang cute, he picked me out of the crowds and has remembered me since. To my surprise, the next night when we were organizing a dinner with the same crowd we normally hand out with, Tania had invited the UC Davis guy. I was excited, cause I had a couple a questions for him. I wanted to know exactly why and how he remembered me. I started out by asking if he recognized me, would he recognize any of my friends? If he could pick my face out of a crowd, than he could surely do the same with Steph and Sandra. He asked if I went to Sophia's a lot. I said, sort of. I played trivia there every tuesday. And there we found our answer. He said he was a regular, that he was on the team Canadian Softwood. Canadian Softwood?! I screamed at him with way too much enthusiasm. Of course I remember Canadian Softwood! They won all the time. I even went up to them at one point and told them how good they were.

This may be one of the weirdest coincidences I have had to date. I cannot believe that in some crazy beach bar right by my little site in Peru, I ran into a trivia tuesday regular. After dinner we ended up playing poker and we decided we needed to get a hold of some sort of trivia game in English and have a trivia night. Or maybe i should challenge him to a game in Spanish. He was on the best team back in davis, but maybe he's not so tough in Peru.