We have more Quechua classes coming up next week so I will post more picture then! For now... chao!
Abrazos,
Em
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sheep Update
So I just bajared (came down) my dirt road to Carhuaz and one of the passengers of our little car put his three sheep in the back. They were all tied up and such in order to stay calm and not move around. They hardly made any noise either. Just thought I'd share that with the world. :)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Shilla Perspectives
So here is the "epic" ish blog post I promised... earlier than promised!
A couple weeks ago I wrote an epic email to my mom in the states. The reason why it was epic was because I wrote it while in site (in Shilla) which allowed me to just come back to it whenever I was able and write about the things that were happening as they were happening. Sometimes when I go into Huaraz I’m distracted by time with other peacecordians and other chores and the overwhelming beautiful thing that is the internet. Therefore, emails I write there tend to be shorter and don’t cover how I actually feel most of the time in Shilla. So I’m going to give this stream of consciousness writing style from Shilla a try for my blog. Here goes.
10 de febrero
It is 3: 10 p.m. here in Shilla. Warm, sunny with big thunder head looking nubes (clouds) above which is pretty typical lately. It’s supposed to be rainy season, and I was all excited coming from Portand and all, but alas… the rain is letting me down some… not enough of it :). Anywho, today is a calm day. I woke up a little later than my usual time of 7:00, prepared my stuff for class, ate a typical bowl of noodle soup for desayuno (breakfast), and went across the street (literally 20 steps) to the school to teach my English class by 10:00 a.m. The attendance has been lacking for a couple weeks but today I had more alumnus (17 students) because I had promised it would be the day to celebrate Carnaval. At this point I should describe a bit of what Carnaval is:
Basically the best holiday ever! So, you know how we celebrate Mardi Gras? Or how at least New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras? (my fav memoria must be in sixth grade when we celebrated in Mrs. Martin’s class… we got to make masks!!) Well, here they celebrate by soaking everyone and anyone with water… and paint in the department of Cajamarca. Mostly the kids celebrate… I mean, boys started soaking passerbys in cars and combis in the beginning of the month! But apparently it’s a big thing this weekend and to celebrate I am going to Cajamarca mañana in order to experience the real deal of paint throwing and chaos all over the city. No puedo esperar!
Anyways, I promised my kids that we could throw water balloons and such at each other if they promised not to spray water on each other during class when I ask them not to. So. Today was the day and it was fun! We started out with me teaching them the classic water balloon pair toss and then it turned basically into a war. I was soaked, that’s for sure. The boys are little resourceful geniuses. They cut little tubes, put a bottle cap on the top, find a stick that’s the same length, and put a plastic bag over the top of the stick and basically make homemade Super Soakers. Who needs to buy a Nerf one in the stores? Afterwards we cleaned up the bits of balloons (hopefully we got all of them) and called it a day, but I think they really enjoyed themselves. Who doesn’t like soaking others? Today has basically been a day of yaku (water in Quechua) for me; I also just took a warm bucket bath shower thing (which must be my 5th one since arriving here in August… before you shout “ewwwww!!” I ALSO take showers when in Huaraz.. sheesh people) and washed all my clothes. My fingers are prunes but I smell good.
Yesterday I got my estantes (bookshelves) finally! Yay! In total they cost 110 soles for two big ones. And they make a world of difference in my room. Now I can use the walls instead of the floors as storage devices! And now my room is actually all clean and organized. Those who know (or have lived with me) don’t believe me but it’s la verdad. Now I just need to save up for a ropero (ummm… how do you say that in English? Uhhh… crap. Oh yeah. Dresser. ) I’m still living out of my suitcase.
Yesterday morning was an interesting experience. I went to a nearby caserio called Catay with a friend who knows a lot about agriculture and farm animals. About 35 minutes up, up, up, up hill. Once we arrived at the family’s house, my friend Alex proceeded to castrate a pig. Poor chancho. It looked painful. Then we gave some shots to two huge toros (bulls). I got to fill the shots… apparently I’m going to learn some random skills here. My other friend Raul, who is a rock climber/mountain guide, speaks French so my francais is getting better too… random, no?
It’s raining hard now. Yay! Gotas de agua are dripping into my room though… oh well. At least they’re not over my bed… yet. I just got back from playing with the “ovalo kids” as I call them. There’s a little plaza (ovalo they call it) area next to the Health Center a little down the hill from my casa where the kids from around this part play in the evenings. Since it was raining we gathered in the gazebo and played “nudo” or “knot”… meaning everyone makes a human knot by taking the hands of someone else in the group and untangling the knot you’ve created. Our record for the day is 14 people! Adult Shillapinos always look on with amused expressions on their rostros (faces)… hopefully in a few months it will seem normal and they’ll just glance at us no mas when I play with the kids.
I noticed that I am really starting to integrate because the people of Shilla don’t look at me strangely when I’m just walking down the street to my next destination. Kids and adults alike know my name. It just has become second nature to not be looked at twice by my fellow Shillapinos. I noticed this because when going to a different pueblo (like I did yesterday with my Ancash coordinator boss person, Nelly, to look at a potential site for a new volunteer in August) it starts all over again, with the stares and the puzzled amused looks and me feeling… very (there’s no other way to put this)… white. It makes me feel good to go back to Shilla. That would be the really difficult thing if you had to change locations like some volunteers do. You’d get past all the awkward looks in one place and then you’d have to start it up all over again in another town. I don’t blame people. I must look so strange at first. I’m truly a giant her. Probably twice the size of my frail grandma who has been camped in our house for a month because of her ailing health. They say she is 91 years old. No se la verdad.
To be continued in site...
Abrazos fuertes,
Em
A couple weeks ago I wrote an epic email to my mom in the states. The reason why it was epic was because I wrote it while in site (in Shilla) which allowed me to just come back to it whenever I was able and write about the things that were happening as they were happening. Sometimes when I go into Huaraz I’m distracted by time with other peacecordians and other chores and the overwhelming beautiful thing that is the internet. Therefore, emails I write there tend to be shorter and don’t cover how I actually feel most of the time in Shilla. So I’m going to give this stream of consciousness writing style from Shilla a try for my blog. Here goes.
10 de febrero
It is 3: 10 p.m. here in Shilla. Warm, sunny with big thunder head looking nubes (clouds) above which is pretty typical lately. It’s supposed to be rainy season, and I was all excited coming from Portand and all, but alas… the rain is letting me down some… not enough of it :). Anywho, today is a calm day. I woke up a little later than my usual time of 7:00, prepared my stuff for class, ate a typical bowl of noodle soup for desayuno (breakfast), and went across the street (literally 20 steps) to the school to teach my English class by 10:00 a.m. The attendance has been lacking for a couple weeks but today I had more alumnus (17 students) because I had promised it would be the day to celebrate Carnaval. At this point I should describe a bit of what Carnaval is:
Basically the best holiday ever! So, you know how we celebrate Mardi Gras? Or how at least New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras? (my fav memoria must be in sixth grade when we celebrated in Mrs. Martin’s class… we got to make masks!!) Well, here they celebrate by soaking everyone and anyone with water… and paint in the department of Cajamarca. Mostly the kids celebrate… I mean, boys started soaking passerbys in cars and combis in the beginning of the month! But apparently it’s a big thing this weekend and to celebrate I am going to Cajamarca mañana in order to experience the real deal of paint throwing and chaos all over the city. No puedo esperar!
Anyways, I promised my kids that we could throw water balloons and such at each other if they promised not to spray water on each other during class when I ask them not to. So. Today was the day and it was fun! We started out with me teaching them the classic water balloon pair toss and then it turned basically into a war. I was soaked, that’s for sure. The boys are little resourceful geniuses. They cut little tubes, put a bottle cap on the top, find a stick that’s the same length, and put a plastic bag over the top of the stick and basically make homemade Super Soakers. Who needs to buy a Nerf one in the stores? Afterwards we cleaned up the bits of balloons (hopefully we got all of them) and called it a day, but I think they really enjoyed themselves. Who doesn’t like soaking others? Today has basically been a day of yaku (water in Quechua) for me; I also just took a warm bucket bath shower thing (which must be my 5th one since arriving here in August… before you shout “ewwwww!!” I ALSO take showers when in Huaraz.. sheesh people) and washed all my clothes. My fingers are prunes but I smell good.
Yesterday I got my estantes (bookshelves) finally! Yay! In total they cost 110 soles for two big ones. And they make a world of difference in my room. Now I can use the walls instead of the floors as storage devices! And now my room is actually all clean and organized. Those who know (or have lived with me) don’t believe me but it’s la verdad. Now I just need to save up for a ropero (ummm… how do you say that in English? Uhhh… crap. Oh yeah. Dresser. ) I’m still living out of my suitcase.
Yesterday morning was an interesting experience. I went to a nearby caserio called Catay with a friend who knows a lot about agriculture and farm animals. About 35 minutes up, up, up, up hill. Once we arrived at the family’s house, my friend Alex proceeded to castrate a pig. Poor chancho. It looked painful. Then we gave some shots to two huge toros (bulls). I got to fill the shots… apparently I’m going to learn some random skills here. My other friend Raul, who is a rock climber/mountain guide, speaks French so my francais is getting better too… random, no?
It’s raining hard now. Yay! Gotas de agua are dripping into my room though… oh well. At least they’re not over my bed… yet. I just got back from playing with the “ovalo kids” as I call them. There’s a little plaza (ovalo they call it) area next to the Health Center a little down the hill from my casa where the kids from around this part play in the evenings. Since it was raining we gathered in the gazebo and played “nudo” or “knot”… meaning everyone makes a human knot by taking the hands of someone else in the group and untangling the knot you’ve created. Our record for the day is 14 people! Adult Shillapinos always look on with amused expressions on their rostros (faces)… hopefully in a few months it will seem normal and they’ll just glance at us no mas when I play with the kids.
I noticed that I am really starting to integrate because the people of Shilla don’t look at me strangely when I’m just walking down the street to my next destination. Kids and adults alike know my name. It just has become second nature to not be looked at twice by my fellow Shillapinos. I noticed this because when going to a different pueblo (like I did yesterday with my Ancash coordinator boss person, Nelly, to look at a potential site for a new volunteer in August) it starts all over again, with the stares and the puzzled amused looks and me feeling… very (there’s no other way to put this)… white. It makes me feel good to go back to Shilla. That would be the really difficult thing if you had to change locations like some volunteers do. You’d get past all the awkward looks in one place and then you’d have to start it up all over again in another town. I don’t blame people. I must look so strange at first. I’m truly a giant her. Probably twice the size of my frail grandma who has been camped in our house for a month because of her ailing health. They say she is 91 years old. No se la verdad.
To be continued in site...
Abrazos fuertes,
Em
Thursday, February 11, 2010
There will be an epic blog soon...
Hola a todos!
There will be an epic written in site blog coming this blog´s way soon. In a couple weeks... as of now I do not have my computadora with me and as such cannot post said blog. But.. just a shout out to the fact that the Oregonian quoted me! Chevere!
Ok. Off to Cajamarca tonight.. hasta dos semanas aproximadamente!
Chao
Abrazos,
Em
There will be an epic written in site blog coming this blog´s way soon. In a couple weeks... as of now I do not have my computadora with me and as such cannot post said blog. But.. just a shout out to the fact that the Oregonian quoted me! Chevere!
Ok. Off to Cajamarca tonight.. hasta dos semanas aproximadamente!
Chao
Abrazos,
Em
Saturday, February 6, 2010
February Happenings
Hola a todos! It is officially February. I don't even remember what I did last February. :) huh. This one though is looking to be a good one. Next weekend is Carnaval which means I'm going to Cajamarca (the party central of Carnaval for Peru). It involves throwing water and paint on ANYone who passes you by for a full weekend. Words can't describe my excitement. Yay culture! That means I'm for sure going to Cajamarca with no valuables and wearing shirts I don't mind getting paint on. No puedo esperar!
Since the Quechua classes I have been able to pick out more words at the dinner table this past week which is encouraging! The stages of learning a language are so interesting. It's like putting together a puzzle... blind. Mouth and ears groping for words that are just out of reach as they're swarming around you. I wonder if there will be any Quechua professor job openings by the time I get back.
Classes are going well (I'm a fan of vacaciones utiles!), peacecordian friends keep me sane when the goin' gets tough (I miss my "site mate" Lisette!), my host family makes me feel part of their own (for instance, I've been helping making a wool blanket and I help in some way with every meal usually by making cucumber salads or pancakes, my niece can sing the entire Happy Talk song, and my host sis has been styling my hair everyday for the past week... maybe I'll actually learn how to braid!), and now I have a plethora of peruvian friends to take me on great hikes! Poco a poco, no? Oh! And I heard the great news about the newbie John Paul! Yay! :) Congrats Amy and Dean! By the time I will see him he will be a big guy!
Espero que todo este bien en los E.E.U.U. :) Hasta pronto!
Abrazos,
Em
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Of Mountains and Freedom
Up until living here in Ancash, Peru I liked hiking, I liked the outdoors and liked outdoor activities but it wasn’t something I thought about a lot. Or thought I needed. Now, I really can’t get enough of it. It would not be an exaggeration to say that my backyard is basically hill upon hill upon mountain upon lake of naturaleza of Huascaran National Park. When I go on my morning hike, I can walk up only 30 minutes are get rewarded with views that make me want to fly. Where before I was really proud to climb Half Dome, now I’m setting my sights higher, want to test my abilities, want to climb and explore more. When teen girls in my site describe a hike up in the mountains as just a “day hike” I yearn to be like them, to be like a mountain goat and just go!
I can really say that Shilla, Ancash is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life and I take every chance I get to point that out to my host familia (who have seen it everyday their whole lives as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Shilla and thus have no idea that they are actually living in a gem). My little 3-year-old niece Itzl now points it out to me “Tia Emily! Mira! Shumaq nubes!” (Look, Aunt Emily! Beautiful clouds!) These are the moments that it so easy to feel a part of this town, so easy to feel myself becoming not just a passerby, but someone who is intricately connected to the nature and the people here.
Last week some fellow Peacecordians hiked over to Shilla from the other side of the hill where their pueblos are to visit and to get some delicious menu in the nearby Carhuaz. When I returned back up my dirt road to Shilla (a 30 minute trip no mas) I got to ride back in the back of a small truck! (finally!) Which just basically means standing up holding on to the bars and absorbing the shock of the bumps in your bent knees so as not to get jolted out. It was slightly raining and I was the only gringa in the back (so of course there were lots of stares and smiles) and I felt the most free I have ever felt in my life. I realized I didn’t know what freedom was before. Sure, I am part of a government program and therefore have certain goals and meetings to uphold to, however I am pretty much left to my own creations and ideas when it comes to projects and what I want to do on a daily basis. When I need to put a bookshelf in my room, I get to measure it; when I want to start projects, I make the contacts; when I want to explore, I just go! This experience is simply the most liberating one I have ever had. Maybe it’s just my age or the first time not having to answer or tell someone where I am or what I’m doing… but it tastes good.
This weekend we have Quechua classes in Huaraz, which I’m very excited about. One of my goals (besides hiking everyday J) is to be able to speak this language that I never even knew existed before last April (when I found out I was going to Peru). I now even get text messages in this language!
Hasta pronto, (can you believe January has already passed with lightning speed?) cuidate!
Abrazos Fuertes,
Em
Friday, January 22, 2010
Peacecordian Duties
Hola a todos! Just writing a little note to let everyone know I'm still alive, well, and kickin' it in Shila. :) January and February are the summer vacation months here so I've been teaching summer school! (vacaciones utiles they call it) I teach bracelet making and "English" (I embed other things in my "English" class.. it's mostly named that just to get kids to come) and now everyday I have about 30 students (who are mostly around the age of 10). I also have been teaching a Vocational Orientation class in which I have five alumnas (female students).. to focus on how to get a job, how to get into the universities/institutes around here in Ancash. Manana I'm going to take a field trip with them and go to the neighboring town to interview some professionals. I hope it goes well! Other than that, I've been hiking, playing cards with my familia, learning more Quechua and thinking of projects to do when the school year starts up again in March. Here are some fotos of recent happenings:
Playin' Spoons! My Mountain (or so I feel when I look at it :)
The pulseras (bracelet) estudiantes On a hike with the host bro!
Helping out the Fish Farm... in short, Peacecordian duties are never what you expect!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Feliz New Year!
For New Years in Peru the thing to do is wear yellow underwear. Apparently it brings good luck if you wear some especially while the clock is ticking down to midnight. Everything is yellow, not just underwear.. there were yellow balloons, yellow stuffed animals, yellow food, (this is where the Peruvian Inca Kola... the soda pop of Peru... is handy because of it's trademark bright yellow shade) yellow TODO. :) Another Peruvian tradition is to eat 12 grapes at midnight.. thinking of a wish as you eat each one.. that's 12 wishes people. I couldn't even think of that many so I just basically said the same couple of wishes over and over again. For our Peruvian Peacecordian New Years we had the company of some of our fellow 13ers who live in different departments.. and it was simply amazing, spectacular and fun! We had some hiking adventuras, made some delicious dinners, saw some beautiful Ancash lakes and even got to go.. horseback riding! That's right! :) That must have been the highlight of our couple of days ringin' in 2010.. for me anyways. It reminded me of Riverside.. except with greenery and stunning views of huge snowcapped mountains... pretty much the same, no? :)
It's recently the start of vacaciones for the jovenes (youth) here in Peru. (They get January and February off for their summer vacation)... we'll be doing an art class and some jewelry making and I'm planning on planning for the library projects I'd love to do, some Vocational orientation classes for the high school kids and planning an Environment Club with one of the primary school profesoras. Since things are flexible in terms of my time now and the craziness of December has come to a close I'll have more time to go hiking around my town and explore mas as well... we Ancashinos voluntarios also get to have some Quechua classes during these months which will be.. EXTREMELY helpful in my learning of this idioma that I never even knew existed 8 months ago... we shall see if I even get to become at least to a conversational level knowledge. That's my goal anyway.
In other noticias, I'd just like to say that I can't believe it's already been 7 months in Peru and every day I'm learning something new about this country, Spanish, Americans, how to cook, culture... the list keeps going. I look forward to this new year knowing that by the end of 2010 I will have learned so many more things that I can't even fathom right now even if I tried. So, happy new years to todos! I hope it's going to be a great one.
abrazos fuertes,
Em
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