Getting ready to leave Huancayo

I've been meaning to write a new entry all this week. I was first planning on writing an entry on Monday about my trip to La Merced, a much more jungle-y area of Perú, to visit a couple of friends last weekend. I didn't get around to that, so then I was going to write about the farewell that my host parents and Hannah's host family had for us on Monday evening, complete with a cake and everything. But, once again, I didn't get around to that either.

This week is my last week here in Huancayo, and so far it's also been the busiest. First off, early this week I was dealing with trying to figure out what classes I am going to take next school year, and then signing up for them online before all the first-years are able to. That process was made all the more difficult by the fact that my only communication with Goshen, and my advisors, has been via email. Yet, after many trips to internet cafés checking for updates from Goshen, I got my schedule all worked out.

With just a few days remaining here in Huancayo, I've also be hurriedly finishing up last-minute things that I need to get done before I head back to Lima. I had to buy a bus ticket for Saturday to get back to Lima. I've been starting to pack up my bags - a task made a little more difficult by the gifts that I have purchased here in Huancayo for people back in the states. Today I also have one new, seemingly urgent, task - get a bunch of money and change it into Nuevo Soles before the exchange rate goes down even more. Since January I've watched the rate drop from 2.92 to about 2.73...and lately it seems that it's dropping almost daily. With Bernake's recent warning of a recession, I'm hoping that the exchange rate doesn't fall too much in my final couple of weeks here in Perú.

One of my biggest projects this week has been writing my paper for my final project, and beginning to prepare my presentation for retreat this weekend. I am scheduled to give my presentation first out of all the group on Sunday, so I'd better be ready.

With these various things going on, Hannah and I have also received another new project. This week we began teaching English classes at a school in a neighborhood called Saños Chaupi, about a 10 minute walk from the comedor in San Martin. After working at the comedor in the mornings, we head over to Saños Chaupi to teach English lessons from 2-3:30. We each have our own group of kids, I'm working with 4th-6th graders, and since it is actually in a school there is a little bit more structure to our lessons than in the comedor. However, only teaching one week of lessons means that we haven't been able to do much - I'm just trying to get my students to learn numbers, days of the week, months of the year, and some basic introduction phrases. One really positive thing is that the kids have a lot of energy, sometimes too much, and really want to study English. So I've been having a good time with them in class, yesterday we played a few games which made the session a lot of fun. I just wish we could have started this teaching project at the beginning of our service time, but a little bit here at the end is better than none.

So, as you can see, I've been pretty busy here this last week. I still can't believe that I'll be back in Lima and Callao on Saturday...and with all the activity I've been up to this week I haven't quite been able to comprehend the fact that I'll be leaving so soon. I've just been trying to spend some quality time with my host family - as I said they had a little farewell get together on Monday with cake and everything, and I've also gone out to eat a couple of times this week with my host parents. Today Hannah and I are going to here host family's house for lunch, where her mom his preparing a special meal for us. And tomorrow evening, our last in Huancayo, Hannah and I are taking both of our host family's out for a thank you/farewell dinner. I'm glad that our host families are giving us such a great goodbye, I can tell they'll miss us, and I know that I'll miss them. But until I leave, I still have some other things to keep me occupied, so I better get working.

The little girl on the kombi

As many of you know, I've been visiting an English institute here in Huancayo called ICPNA for the past couple of weeks. The majority of my time there has been spent visiting various classes for half an hour at a time and answering questions that the students have for me - which have ranged from the topic that there class is currently studying to American culture to how I feel about Perú. At first I expected these class sessions to simply serve the purpose of helping the students by letting them practice forming questions in English and listening to a native English speaker. However, I found that the many of the students had such poignant questions that I was really foced to think about my place as an American here in Perú, as well as what my opinion is on many issues, from immigration in the United States to pollution problems across the globe.

Yesterday was my last day visiting classes at ICPNA, but it provided for one of the most interesting and thought-provoking questions that I experienced during all of my visits. In one class a student asked me, "How do you feel here in Huancayo as someone who is visibly different than everyone else? How does it make you feel when people look at you because you are physically different?" Needless to say, that question really took me off guard...sure, I've been aware of the fact that I stick out like a sore thumb here in this city in the central Peruvian Andes, but I really hadn't expressed my feeling about that fact yet. So, it was a little tricky for me to come up with an answer on the spot in front of 20 or so Peruvian students. I don't exactly remember what I said, but all day today I've been thinking about that question and here is a quick reflection.

First off, this morning I had one of the most common experience here in Huancayo that makes me realize that people are noticing that I'm different - I was noticed on a kombi, a small van that serves as public transportation, on the way to work. Now, a lot of times I get a few looks from people here and there on kombis, especially when I'm standing, hunched over because of the low ceiling, and it obvious that I'm taller than your average Peruvian. But today I was noticed by a young child, from whom I receive the majority of the stares that I encounter on kombis. This morning there was a young girl, probably no older than 2 or 3, in the seat in front of me, and she kept looking at me for the majority of my 15 minute ride. A lot of times kids will stare at me a bit and then lose interest, but she had her eyes locked on mine with intense interest. After a while she was smiling and laughing as well, so I guess she wasn't afraid of me or anything. But as she was looking at me, I couldn't help but wonder what thoughts were probably going through her head. "Wow, that guy has really light skin, I've never seen blue eyes like that, why does he have so much hair on his face?" I wouldn't be surprised if she were thinking those things, because at the comedor where I'm working kids often vocalize some of those same observations or questions to me.

With experiences like the girl on the kombi, or any other strange look I get, or each time someone yells "gringo!" at me as I'm walking down the sidewalk, it is very clear to me that I'm in the minority here in Huancayo. At first it was a little bit hard for me to get used to this fact...in some situations it was easy to feel somewhat uncomfortable because of the fact that I stuck out so much. At first when I started thinking last night about how I get singled out at times here in Hyo, I started thinking that I might be able to relate to what minorities in the United States feel, but then I realized that there is one a very serious flaw in that reasoning - even though I am a minority in this city, I am part of a privileged minority. In the U.S. I am a white male and part of a privileged majority, here I am a still a white male and still privileged, even though I'm in the minority. This is a country with a strong machismo culture, and also a society that values lighter skinned people, so in both of those regards I receive benefit. As I hear people shouting "gringo" in my direction, I have to remember that it is not an insult towards me, but almost more of a compliment. A white male from the U.S. is someone that is often times looked up to. Many people have curious questions for me about my country...I am not approached in a hostile way or singled out in a prujudiced way.

After thinking today, I still don't exactly know how to answer that ICPNA student's question. When people look at me in an odd way, or I feel like I'm sticking out because I'm white, I don't exactly feel uncomfortable. I've gotten used to the fact that I am different, but it has been very easier for me to get used to that fact because people around me are not prejudiced against me because of my difference. I'm not sure what to do with the fact that I'm still a privileged as a white male here in Perú, as I would be in a majority of countries around the world. Right now I feel that all I can really do is get to know the people around me...answer questions that strangers might have about my home country, but also ask them about them and their home country. I want people to realize that I am just as curious about them and their culture as they are are about me and my culture. I'm not sure at this point what else I can do, but that seems to be the best approach right now to connecting with people here in Perú in a genuine, positive way and moving past our physical differences that may be so obvious.

A very Good Friday

I can easily say that yesterday was probably the most interesting Good Friday that I've ever experienced - rivaling the one that I spent in Albuquerque, NM. I was told that Holy Week here in Huancayo would offer some interesting experiences and so far I haven't been disappointed. Yesterday, Hannah and I had planned a morning of hiking near my house, but I was awoken by my host-dad about 40 minutes before Hannah was supposed to get there and he told me we needed to leave to go to my host-mom's sisters house for breakfast. Well, that hadn't been my plan, but I really didn't have much of a choice, as it's pretty hard to change my host dad's mind sometimes. So, once Hannah got to our house, we went to my host mom's sisters house and had a late breakfast and then spent some time near the river close to her house. It wasn't the morning of hiking we had expected, but it was relaxing nonetheless.



Our day began to get a lot more interesting around 1 in the afternoon when we went downtown to meet Duane and his family and go to Cochas for a festival in honor of Holy Week. When we got to the small town, it was a much different scene from the last time I visited, which I've already written an entry about. Gone was the quiet, small-town atmosphere that I had witnessed before, replaced my the hustle and bustle of tourists streaming in from all over the region and even from places as far away as Lima. The soccer field that I had viewed the small town justice which I had written about from my last visit was now turned into a parking lot for all of the visitors. We walked towards the municipal building from the main street and entered into the 'feria' which was in a field behind the building. At first glance it was very much like the 4-H county fair every year in Goshen, though on a much smaller scale. There were small kids rides, a stage with traditional "Wanka" music and dancing, some booths selling arts and crafts, and tons of food stands...much of it fried in traditional fair fashion. After walking around for a while, we stopped at a booth to eat a late lunch...and were faced with some tough choices on what to eat. There was pachamanca, which is a traditional dish cooked in a hole in the ground with hot stones to do the cooking, grilled trout, or cuy...which americans would more commonly know simply as guinea pig. As we were sitting there trying to decide between these typical, traditional dishes, I couldn't help but think that it was similar to being at a MCC Relief Sale. Well, seeing as I hadn't tried cuy yet, that's what I had to order, as did Hannah. It wasn't too bad, though the meat was a little hard to get to, and there wasn't much of it, and there was a little guinea pig head looking up at me and a paw hanging off my plate as well. Nonetheless I enjoyed it, and it filled me up for the next mission of our day.

After the feria, we walked across to the other side of Cochas to hike up to the cross which I'd already been to, and have already written about. And again, the scene was much different. There were lots of people coming and going up the path to reach the summit and see the view of Huancayo as well as the view of the cross. Interestingly, the cross has been all lit up at night this week, it isn't normally, so that's been a sweet sight from my roof at night. At the top of the hill there were also lots of people selling small crafts and knick-knacks and also people evangelizing...even one person promoting vegetarianism. After enjoying the view and snapping a few pictures, we headed back down to Cochas and then back to Huancayo central.

When we got to the Plaza de Armas of Huancayo, we encountered another Good Friday tradition, which was much different than what we had seen in Cochas. We stumbled upon a procession that was going on - which was happening on the two streets on each side of the cathedral. On one street a large casket with a figure of Jesus...complete with windows on the side so you could see the body...was being carried towards Calle Real, the main strett in Huancayo, and on the other street a large figure of the Virgin Mary was being carried towards Real. When each of the processions got to Calle Real they paused for a moment before turning onto Real so that they were facing each other. "They're going to meet in the center of the block," a woman in front of us informed us. Sure enough, the two processions started marching towards each other and when Jesus and the Virgin Mary were face to face, each statue bowed to one another, and then the joined forces and took the procession down Calle Real towards the municipal building.

As the procession moved on I decided to wander around downtown a bit. I walked ahead of the procession, which was moving very slowly, and admired the "alfombras," or carpets, which had been laid out on the road in the path of the procession. These alfombras were actually made of flower petals or colored sawdust, and they each formed pictures that represented the organizations that put each one together. I also walked along a side street where there have been food vendors lined up all week selling other traditional foods like "picarones," fried doughnut-esque delicasies, and "ponche de mani," a drink made of peanuts, milk and other spices and flavorings. Also all around downtown there were individuals selling "wa-wa" bread...wa-wa is Quechua for baby and the bread is a sweet bread with dried fruit and sesame seeds that is in the shape of a baby and represents the baby Jesus. I've actually eaten three of them this week, though to be honest I think they look a little more like an owl than a baby.

After a while walking around I decided to go into the cathedral, which was a very interesting experience. From the front of the cathedral all the way to the door there was a line waiting to touch a figure of Jesus set up on the stage. There were also many people sitting and praying, or standing at different figures around the side of the church praying and offering a candle. Inside the cathedral there was a very tranquil, calm feeling, especially compared to outside the cathedral. When I walked outside I was immediately struck by the difference in sound. There were kids shouting and playing with balloons, people were selling wa-wa bread or other foods, souveniers from Huancayo, and crosses and boquets of flowers made with palm leaves. Outside there was a very festive atmosphere and it also seemed to be a great opportunity for many people to make some money. Interestingly, I saw more baby carriages that night than I have in all my time in Huancayo (normally women carry their babies on their backs using a traditional large fabric as a type of sling/backpack), but they were being used to carry various things like hats, scarfs, or wa-wa bread that was to be sold.

Needless to say, the scene downtown on Friday night was very interesting and a very stark contrast to the festival in Cochas. It was interesting to see how the customs in each place celebrated the religious aspect of the holiday as well as many traditional parts of the local culture. As I said earlier, this was maybe the most interesting Good Friday that I've yet experienced...and today, Easter, was interesting as well. I won't go into much detail describing it, but just say that I went downtown early to see another procession of Jesus and the Virgin and then attended a mass before going to the evangelical church later that I've been attending here in Huancayo. Today it was interesting to see the difference between the Catholic and Evangelical traditions.

I could write a lot more about the past few days, but I think my description of Good Friday should be sufficient for now. I can't believe that I have less than two weeks left here in Huancayo, the time as really flown by. This week I have a full five days of work ahead of me, and I'll be trying to finish up my final project as well. Hannah and I are also trying to plan a trip to the jungle to visit two other GC students next weekend, so I'll keep you posted on what our plans are for that. I'll update you all again soon, and Happy Easter!

Holy Week!

Hey everybody, Sorry for the week-long, or so, delay in posting a new entry. I've been pretty busy the past little while and didn't have the time to sit down and write. But the first thing I have to tell you about a little adventure I took this past weekend.
On Sunday, Hannah and I traveled with my family to a couple of touristic sites near Huancayo.

The first place we went to, which was really interesting, was a historic convent here in the mountains called Santa Rosa de Ocopa. Unfortunately I don't remember a lot of the information that the tour guide gave us, but I can tell you a few things. The convent was opened up during the colonial days of Perú, and was influential in spreading Catholicism throughout Perú, especially in the jungle. Monks would take trips into the wilderness to meet with native peoples and evangelize, as well as "Peruvianize". In those days the borders of countries here in South America were hazy, so the monks would promote Peruvian culture to the people they met in hopes that those areas would be claimed for Perú instead of Brasil or other countries. At the convent there are a lot of interesting artifacts from those expeditions, including wild animals that the monks brought back, art from the trips, items used in the expeditions, and other artifacts. In addition to these things, and a lot of great artwork, the convent itself is a very beautiful place. There are several very nice courtyards and the cathedral itself is beautiful as well. We were fortunate enough to visit the choir loft as well, were the monk who gave us a tour let Hannah and I try out the old foot pump-powered organ.

After visiting the convent were ventured off to another interesting touristic site - Ingenio, a small village that is home to one of the largest trout hatcheries in the area. As we drove up the small road to the fish hatchery, we suddenly came upon a strip of restaurants lining both sides of the road. It was fairly difficult to pass through this area, as there were young people on both sides of our car trying to entice us to come eat the delicious fish that they were ready to prepare for us at their restaurant. Fortunately for them, we hadn't eaten lunch yet and stop at one of the first restaurants that we saw. We ate grilled trout with corn on the cob (the Peruvian version is much different than in the states, it's a different kind of corn with really big kernels) and rice. Needless to say, it was delicious, and afterwards we were all very full, and very ready to visit the fish hatchery and see where the trout that we had just eaten came from.

I had never actually visited a fish hatchery, so it was interesting to see the process. We saw everything from real small fish to some of the biggest trout I'd ever seen. Dad, you would have been drooling over these fish - they were rainbows too. Plus, this fish hatchery is nestled right in between two mountains, so the views were amazing. The weather was perfect that day too, the sky was a deep blue with those big fluffy clouds that you can't quite get anywhere else but in the mountains. After the fish hatchery, we headed back to Huancayo, but Sunday was a very relaxing day and I felt all prepared on Monday to go back to work.

This week I only had to work three days, as today and tomorrow the comedor is closed due to Holy Week. But the three days I did work were really fun, and probably the best that I've had at work so far. First off, as I travel to work each morning I feel really content in where I'm working. Once I get to the neighborhood where my job is I have to walk about five minutes or so, but usually during that walk I get at least half a dozen people who tell me good morning, some who know me, some who don't. My favorite hellos come from some of the young kids who know me from the comedor. Sometimes as I walk, not paying attention, I'll hear a little voice shout from across the road, "Hola hermano Christopher!" (Hi brother Christopher!), and that always makes for a good start to my day. It's good to know that people, especially kids, in the community recognize me and Hannah and are happy to have us there. Our work at the comedor is still going well, although it is hard to keep kids interested in our little English lessons. Nonetheless, we get a few kids to come for each lesson and have continued teaching them some basic things. What has become the most fun though is just playing with the kids - playing soccer or volleyball, swinging little three year olds in circles, or amazing kids by showing them the old I-can-pull-off-half-of-my-thumb trick. In just a week and a half I feel like I've gotten to know these kids pretty well, and hopefully in the next two weeks I'll get to know them even better.

Right now our professor Duane and his family are in Huancayo visiting me and Hannah, so today we spent some time with them. We took a short tour of a few villages surrounding Huancayo which are well known for artisan work. One had carved gourds, one textiles and the last one silver jewelry. In each town we were given a short demonstration of some of the work and then got to shop a bit and look at all of the artwork, which was really impressive. Although the tour was a little touristy, it was nice to see what some of the local artwork is like. After our trip we had a late lunch wtih Duane and his family in definitely the nicest restaurant I've been to here in Huancayo, which was a nice break. And once again, I had trout...I'm gonna take advantage to the abundance while I can.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to Cochas Chico, just outside of Huancayo (a small town I visited once before and wrote an entry about earlier), to visit a festival in honor of Holy Week. It will be fun to see what some of the local traditions are, and hopefully eat some local food, like "pachamanca," a big dish of potatoes, meat and peas that is cooked underground using hot stones. Tomorrow mornign Hannah and I are also planning on doing some hiking to a nearby touristic site called "torre torre," which means "tower tower," a cool geological site that has natural rock formations that look like, you guessed it...towers. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures there. Speaking of pictures, sorry I don't have any for this blog...it's a slow process to upload photos here at internet cafés, and sometimes I just don't want to take the time.

Well, I don't have a whole lot else to say. I hope that the rest of my Easter weekend goes well...I don't really know what plans are in store, but I've learned that sometimes it's just more fun to now know what to expect. I hope that all of you have a good holiday weekend, and I'll give you another update soon.

Finally getting busy...real busy

Today was my third day of work at the comedor in San Martin here in Huancayo. Here is a quick recap of what a day at the comedor looks like for Hannah and I. We arrive at around 9:30 am or so and teach a short English lesson to around 4 or 5 young kids. So far we've be studying really basic things - the alphabet, numbers, greetings, introductions, etc. The English teaching is going well so far, but it's pretty slow. Right now the hardest part is teaching pronunciation - it isn't until you learn another language or try to teach English that you learn how messy the pronunciation can be. At 11 am, there are around 30 kids or so that come for lunch, before they head off to school for the afternoon. During this time, Hannah and I help serve food, and also just sit and chat with the kids. Sometimes those conversations go great, sometimes they drag on a bit. At noon we have a bit of a break and eat a lunch of our own, and then at 1 pm, another 30 or so kids come for lunch, having just finished their morning session of school. These kids usually have a lot more energy than the morning kids, and have provided for some very interesting conversation. They hang out until about 2:30 pm or so, which is when Hannah and I teach, or at least try to teach, another English lesson to this second group of kids. The afternoon group has been a lot tougher to teach to, as they are all excited about having the afternoon off, and usually there are other kids outside playing, enticing them to ask their gringo professors to cut the English lesson short. Our time at the comedor definitely has lulls, between being real slow, to beaing kind of hectic, but all in all it's been really fun so far. The kids are really cute, and having work, especially the English lessons, is a nice switch from the severe lack of activity that we suffered last week.

In addition to the work at the comedor, we have set up another activity here in Huancayo. Hannah and I are going to visit ICPNA, an English learning institute where Hannah's host brother studies, to visit classes and help out with conversation exercises. Hannah and I kind of expected to just visit a couple of times, but yesterday we went to speak with an administrator about a schedule, and we commited to visiting a total of six days, with about three hours each visit. During each three hour block, we'll visit six classrooms and speak to the kids and answer questions that they present to us in English. That's quite a bit of time that we have commited, but I am excited about visiting the school, it will be a good look into what I will hopefully be doing after graduation from GC. I have also decided to profile ICPNA for my final project, so the more time I spend there the better. I'll also be conducting some interviews with teachers and students if it all gets planned out right.

With work and ICPNA visits, which start tomorrow, I will be pretty busy for the next three and a half weeks. But, I should still have time to do some other fun things. This Sunday Hannah and I are planning to take a trip to a nearby mountain with various members of our host families, an excusion that we are both really excited about. Next week our professors will also be visiting us, and the picked a good time to come - Holy Week. Apparently there are some strong traditions in Huancayo during that time, and we should get to participate, or at least watch, some festivities.

Well, right now I don't have much more to tell you all, the previous paragraphs sum up my last few days. This weekend and following week I'll try to get some more pictures taken and posted so that you can all see what a typical day in my life here in Huancayo is like. Hope that all is well wherever you are reading this from...and thanks for reading.

A week of doing nothing that provided some interesting experiences

Well, since I didn't have any work this past week, I had a lot of free time. Overall it was a little bit boring, but Hannah and I were able to do some interesting sight-seeing type things here in Huancayo. We went to the Plaza de Armas, or the main square, on Monday, as well as a pretty interesting artisan's market. On Tuesday we also went to the local zoo, which was a little depressing to be honest. I don't think the animals were too happy; they had some pretty sub-par living conditions. Wednesday and Thursday didn't offer much activity, but I did find a track that I can run on just a few blocks from my house - hopefully I can take advantage of the altitude and get in shape here.

It wasn't until Friday that I had definitely the most interesting experience so far in my time in Hyo., and one of the most interesting in all my time in Perú. My host dad informed me that he was going to take me to Cochas, a small village on the outskirts of Hyo., on Friday afternoon. Since I didn't have anything to do, I eagerly joined. I was especially enthusiastic because he told me that we might do a little hiking up in the mountains...something I haven't done enough of so far here.

So, we got on a micro-bus and headed up towards the foothills of the mountains just beyond our house. It probably took half an hour or so, but we arrived in Cochas Chicas (which means small Cochas, guess there's also a big Cochas further down the road), which is a quaint mountain community. Here's a picture of me standing in the main road of Cochas Chicas:

So, before we starting our little hike, my host dad took me to a friend's house, somebody that he knows through church. I didn't really know what to expect, I don't usually, but when I got there, I realized that this old guy has a little shop where he make guitars and other instruments. The guy was really nice, and pretty funny, and we spent a little while chatting about his guitars and what not. This is me and the guy, and one of his guitars:

This guy, I wish I remembered his name, also carves masks out of wood, which are pretty cool. My host dad took this picture of me posing with one of the masks:

So, anyway, after chatting with this guy for a while, we headed out, and went onwards with our hike. I didn't realize it, but we were actually going to hike up to a small peak that overlooks Hyo. and also has a large cross on top of it. I had seen the cross from below in the city, so I was pretty excited to go check it out. Apparently this spot is a pretty popular place for tourists to go to during Holy Week, kind of like a pilgramage. I was a little disappointed by the paved path, but the view at the top was worth it. After a short hike, we reached the top where we were greeted by this great view of Hyo.:

So, we were at the top enjoying the view, when we heard a voice on a loudspeaker from Cochas behind us. We turned and listend for a bit, but I couldn't really make out what was being said as the Spanish was a little jarbled due to the loudspeaker. But, my host dad summarized what was being said for me and it went a little something like this, ¨There was some theft taking place in the village earlier, we caught the theive, and now we're going to give him his punishment. Everyone meet in the field in the center of town.¨

¨Wait a minute, what?¨I thought. ¨What exactly are they going to do to this guy?¨ I asked my dad, and he wasn't exactly sure, but he said that they might give the guy some lashings or something. At that point, I was pretty intruiged, and as I looked down below sure enough, people were starting to gather in the field. So, my host dad and I started the trek back down so we could watch this event. Here is a picture of the crowd from above during our walk down:

When we got down to the crowd, there were several people in the circle, one guy, who I assumed to be the theif becuase he didn't look to happy, some town elders, and six police officers from Hyo. When we got there the police officers and the elders were discussing what exactly to do with the captured criminal. One police officer began talking loudly, saying that they could take him to the city and keep him there. But as he said that, there was an outrage from the crowd, obviously they didn't want that. My host dad explained that sometimes when the police take criminals from small communities, the crminals just bribe the police to let them go. So then it was a town elder's turn to talk. He began talking about how the village has their own customs, traditions and rules. At that point I saw one guy holding what looked like a wound-up whip behind his back - I guess that was the tradition that the town elder was talking about. For about 10 or 15 more minutes the police and the elders bantered back and forth, with lots of input from the 200 or so people forming a circle around them.

Finally it was decided, the thief would receive three lashings. This police looked a little bit concerned, but seemed to be mostly worried about keeping the crowd in check - ¨Take his shirt off!!¨ a few observers were shouting. So, the thief got down on his knees, and one of the town elders grabbed the whip and unwound it. I couldn't quite believe that I was going to watch this take place. But the elder didn't get right to the deed, first he began giving a lecture. He lectured the young man about the mistake he had made and how he needed to be careful with his life. He also took the opportunity to tell the children of the crowd to take this man as an example - they didn't want to end up like them, did they? After a bit of lecturing, he wound up and gave the first lashing. Then a bit more lecturing, another lashing, some final words, and the final lashing. To be honest, the lashing didn't look particularly hard, but I'm sure they still hurt. A few crowds people were shouting for them to be harder. Nonetheless, seeing this rural village take justice into their own hands was a really interesting experience. It showed me first hand how strong-willed many Peruvians really are.

By the way, if any of you are wondering why there aren't any other pictures to correspond to this story, I was the only 'gringo' in the crowd and didn't want to stick out even more by taking pictures. And I didn't know how they'd all react if I did - I surely didn't want to be the next person in the center of the circle.

So, that was my most interesting experience of last week. This weekend my host family also did a bit of hiking, and today we went to a really cool big open air market in downtown Hyo. It was kind of like the Shipshawana flea market, if any of you are familiar with that, but even bigger. And they were selling baby chickens 3 for 1 sol, a sol by the way is worth about 30 cents US.

Tomorrow is a big day for me, I'll finally be starting work. I will be working in a comedor, or community kitchen, in an area of town called San Martin. As far as I know I will be working alongside Hannah, and we'll be helping a little bit with food and what not, but our main work will be teaching some basic English classes to young kids. To be honest, I'm somewhat nervous for that - we don't have any supplies and neither of us have taught like this before. But, teaching English is my major, so I am pretty excited about it. As soon as I have some good stories from work, I'll be back with another post.

Service time...though not up to much service so far

As most of you probably knew from my last post, last Tuesday I traveled to Huancayo, Perú, where I will be spending the "service" portion of my SST experience. However, as of now, I've yet to actually do any service work. It was originally planned that Hannah, my fellow SSTer here in Hyo., and I would be working at "comedors" or community kitchens here in the city. I thought the plan was to work at preparing and serving food, or helping with kids at the comedors. But, when I got in last week, I asked my host dad what the plan was for my work, and he knew about as much as I did. We spoke with the local pastor's wife, and Hannah's host mom, and found out that we should start work this Monday. However, last night we went over to Hannah's family's house, and found out that, in fact, it would be another week, on Monday the 10th, that we would be beginning our work. I'm still not positive what we will be doing, but it is possible that we may also begin some English classes for young kids at the comedor.

So, since I haven't started my service yet, I've just had a lot of free time to hang out. I've been doing a lot of reading at home, but haven't yet been able to explore the city too much, because I still don't completely know the transportation system. I have had a couple of highlights in my first weekend here in the city.

On Saturday, I went to the nicest park in Huancayo, Parque de la Identidad Wanka (Park of the Wanka Identity, Wanka is the local pre-Hispanic culture) and took some pictures. It is a pretty cool park, that took several years to build, and it definitely a bright spot in the city. The first few pictures in the post are from that visit. After the park, we went to the house of my host mom's sister, Olga, where we had a traditional dish called "pachamanca." It was a really good mix of chicken, beef, potatoes, and green beans, but it was definitely a lot to eat. After eating, we went down to the river that Olga lives near and just sort of hung out and enjoyed the local scenery. In the evening after Olga's house I went downtown with my host parents, Kim and Ruth, and my host dad's cousin, Misial, who also lives with us. We explored the main plaza of Huancayo a little bit and also visited a local artisan's market. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery at the Parque de la Identidad, so I don't have any pictures of the rest of the day.

After a full of on Saturday, we got up bright and early on Sunday and went to the local market downtown. We left at about 6:30 am and went to buy rice, fruit, and some other necessary foods. It was amazing how the market is set up - there are small stalls all over the place selling various things, or specialized products like fruit. The market went on for several streets and was pretty packed with people, but my host dad told me that later in the day it would be about five times as busy. When we got home from the market, I made breakfast for my host family - American style pancakes - which they seemed to enjoy. After eating we went to church and then met some of my host dad's family for "parilladas" which is kind of like a Peruvian barbecue. After eating we also played some volleyball, which is a pretty popular local pastime. As I mentioned before, we also went to Hannah's host family's house for a little bit last night as well.

All in all, it was a pretty busy weekend, though my weekdays haven't been quite so eventful. I've been spending most of my time kind of lounging around our small apartment, but I think this week I'll be trying to get most of my work done on my final project, since I don't have to work all week. I'm sure I'll also be doing lots of reading, I just started Catcher in the Rye, and I'll probably get through that pretty quick. Anyway, I'll keep you updated on what I'm up to and I'll let you know what exactly my service work is, just as soon as I start it.

The Incans made some really cool stuff!

In my post yesterday about the protesting near Cusco, I said that I would tell you a little bit more about what we did during our trip...and include pictures as well. Here's a brief recap:

We traveled to Cusco on Tuesday, and the first day visited a few sights in the City. One was a place called Saqsaywaman, ancient ruins built by Andean people just outside of Cusco. Cusco, by the way, was also the capital of the Incan empire. Saqsaywaman was our first glimpse at the impressive construction skills of Andean cultures, especially the Incas. We also visited other ruins in Cusco proper, at a place called Qoricancha. These ruins actually sit inside the cloister of a Catholic monastary that was built on top of the ruins. A close up picture of the impressive work is to the left. As you can see, the Incas used no mortar in their brick construction...they simply perfectly carved out bricks that they stacked upon one another.

On Wednesday, we started off our day with a really interesting experience. We had the privelege to receive a traditional Andean blessing by a elder who lives just outside of Cusco. He made a sacrifice of various foods, coca leaves, candies, and other things that would make Pachamama, Mother Earth in Quechua, happy and that would bless our group. He then wrapped up all of these offerings in a packet, blessed us one-by-one with the packet, and proceeded to burn the packet as an offering to Pachamama. Prior to this experience, we had read a decent amount about the religious beliefs and traditions of historical Andean cultures, so it was a great experience to witness a common custom first hand. While this tradition was much different than any other religious experience I had been a part of, I can still say that I experienced something significantly spiritual in this tradition. It also helped my try to get more of a grasp on the copmplex identity of the people of Perú.

We also left Cusco on Wednesday, and took a tour through the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which was an area very important to the Incan peoples (as the name makes very clear) for its good agricultural properties, climate, and central location within the Incan empire. We stopped in the valley at a place called Pisaq, to view more ruins. Some of these were somewhat rough, and others more advanced, as you can see in the picture to the left. The rougher construction represents pre-Incan cultures and the more finished wall is a product of the Incas. While at Pisaq, we walked around with our tour guide for about an hour and visited several small neighborhoods that are connected by trails carved into the mountains. The Incas had a very intricate series of trails that connected villages and served messengers very well. It is said that Incan messengers could deliver important information from one side of the Incan empire to the other as quickly as modern mail service could do now over the same distance.

After Pisaq, we traveled to Ollantaytambo, which is a historical Incan village that is still occupied today. Many of the houses and buildings in the village still have foundations that are remnants of Incan construction. There are also very insteresting, and intact, ruins on the mountainsides surrounding the village. We visited the most concentrated area of these ruins, and after looking at the ruins a little bit, my friend Matt and I decided to hike a bit on the mountainside beyond the ruins. We came across our leader, Duane, who told us we ought to summit the small peak, because there was a great view of the village below and also a pretty impressive cross placed at the peak. Our tour guide (named Elvis, his picture is to the right) had told us to only explore for about 30 minutes or so, but we figured that if our professor had given us the O.K., then we'd better keep on hiking. Sure enough, the hike, which was made difficult by the high altitude, was very rewarding. We found the cross at the top and could see all across Ollantaytambo. However, on our way down, we stumbled across to young local boys, who had apparently been sent up to check on us, as the park was closing, and we were the last people out exploring. There were only 6 or 7, and running up and down the mountain, so needless to say Matt and I were a little bit humbled by their ease in dealing with the altitude. As we descended the boys told us that Pachamama would be upset with us because we were up on the mountain nearly after the sun had set (not a safe practice), however our tour guide told us that the guard at the park had a soccer game to go to and wanted to lock up so he could leave, so we couldn't help but wonder if maybe we weren't really in trouble with Pachamama.

Another highlight Wednesday night was back at the hostel we were staying at in Ollantaytambo. A few friends were hangning out, and we decided to head up to the roof of the hostel to sit and relax in the cool air for a while. As we reached the top of the ladder and stepped up on the roof, I looked upwards and saw that the full moon I had seen earlier in the evening was now nearly fully eclipsed. "Whoa! I forgot, today is a total lunar eclipse!" I said as I dropped the water bottle I was holding. My friends and I sat and whatched the spectacle for about half an hour or so...it was a beautiful sight, especially given our setting for observing it, and I hope that some of you back in the states were able to see it as well.

Thursday was the highlight of our sightseeing during our trip, as we made our way to Machu Picchu...the highlight of Incan ruins which was recently named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The ruins were just as spectacular as I had seen in pictures, and I tried to capture some of their beauty in a few pictures. However, what struck me most about the place was the surrounding mountains, which are stunningly beautiful. As you can see in the picture to the right, there is a peak just above the ruins themselves that were we able to climb up to, via a very steep path and staircase made of stone by the Incas. In addition to this trek, some friends and I also hiked along two other small trails near the Machu Picchu complex. As much as we walked around and admired the amazing construction and ingenuity of the Incas, we were just happy to do some hiking and admire the Andes...a very different and refreshing sight from what we would be seeing in Goshen at this time.

These were the basic highlights of our trip to Cusco...in addition to the experience that took place on Friday that I wrote about in my last entry. On Saturday we were also in Cusco, waiting for our flight, but basically just hung out and took it easy after all the high-altitude walking and hiking we had done. Right now I am back in Lima, however I will be leaving in the morning to go back to the high altitude.My bus leaves at 7:45am, so I should get into Huancayo, where I will be doing my service, sometime in the evening. Right now I know very little about what life in Huancayo will be like, but I did find out today that I will be staying with a young couple in their 30s. Once I get settled in Huancayo I will be able to tell you a little more about what life there is like. But right now I have to get back to finishing packing my bags and get some sleep for my traveling tomorrow. Until I write next from the mountains...

Travel made difficult by protesters

Earlier today I returned to Lima from Cusco...two days later than planned. We were originally scheduled to fly out of Cusco on Friday morning, however our plans quickly changed due to labor strikes going on in the area. Because news of these strikes, and the status of our group, made it's way back to the states already, I figure I should give my description of the events that we experienced due to the strike (for another perspective, click on the link to the left to Rachel's blog).

On Friday morning, we knew that some labor stikes were ocurring in the Cusco area, and our tour guide decided we should leave Ollantaytambo (our base camp of sorts for the sight-seeing we did at various ancient Incan sights) early...real early, at about 3 am, in case we might encounter any roadblocks on the way back to the Cusco airport. Sure enough, after about an hour or so of driving, our bus came to a stop due to a large tree that protesters had placed across the road. A few of the guys in our group helped some others on the road with removing it, and we were on our way pretty quickly. However, about five minutes later, our bus came to a stop again at another roadblock. It was unclear what exactly would be happening next, so our group just kind of hung out on the bus and to wait it out.

Various students on the bus were doing their best to stay warm, pass the time, or in my case sleep...but all of our activities were interrupted by some commotion that we heard outside. We started to hear some voices in spanish shouting and getting louder and louder. Then all of the sudden, there were 20 or so drunk Peruvian guys (who had apparently stayed up all night drinking and preparing for the strike) who surrounded our bus. There was quite a bit of shouting and at one point there was a loud thud as one guy hit the side of the bus with a large stone. It also appeared like some of the guys outside were attempting to let the air out of our tires. Needless to say, we were all pretty stunned by this, and unfortunately we couldn't understand all of the rapid shouting by the protesters or our guides who were at the front of the bus talking to them at the door. One of the few things I did catch was our tour guide shouting in Spanish, "They're just tourists! They're students, they support you!" As I heard that, I naturally felt a bit of panic, and there were definitely others on the bus who expressed outright fear. However, after a minute or two of shouting, the protesters moved on down the road, apparently no longer interested in the bus full of tourist/students.

Once they moved on and everyone calmed down a bit, our tour guide informed us that it wouldn't be safe for us to travel by bus any longer (though after that experience, we wondered how safe it would be to be getting out of the bus). Instead, we were going to leave the bus, grab the things we felt like carrying with us, and walk the remaining nine miles back to Cusco. No one was particularly excited about walking that distance, especially as it was cold out, the sun still hadn't risen fully, and there was a light drizzle of rain coming down to top things off. But, we went on our way...and saw some very interesting sights along the way.

As we walked we saw many more trees and large rocks set up as roadblocks, which prevented travel into Cusco by autos. As we passed through small towns, there were also very few stores open, as everyone was participating (or being forced to participate) in the strike. I guess I should probably say what exactly this strike was all about: in a nutshell, the government of Perú, in Lima, has begun the process of allowing private investment near historical sights such as Machu Picchu. The only step left in passing the law is for it to be signed by the President, Alan Garcia. As many people oppose private investment in these locations, a 48-hour labor strike was held in Cusco, with transportation in the city suspended as well, to express concern towards Garcia over the law.

When we finally got to Cusco, the city had a very strange feeling. There were no cars driving around, only people walking around in the streets. At one point, in the main square, our group rounded a corner and saw a large group of people marching towards us chanting, on their way to protest in front of city hall. There were also tires in various intersections that had been set on fire to prevent traffic from using the streets. However, from what we saw, the protesting was very peaceful, as there were police in the streets monitoring things, but I did read online that there was some violence and eve a couple of deaths in the Cusco area. The only somewhat violent thing that we saw were a couple of glass storefronts that had been smashed (one of which was an office of LAN Airlines, which is Chilean, and Peruvians have historically had conflicts with Chile and their companies). Finally after an hour and a half or so, we made it to our hostel where we could rest and nap after our long, drawn-out return.

As it turned out, there were no flights on Friday, so we had to reschedule our return to Lima. And with a group of students as big as ours, we weren't able to get space until today, Sunday. So, today we returned to Lima, and are now safely back with our host families. Tomorrow we will meet as a group to discuss our final plans for going to other parts of Perú for service, and on Tuesday I'll head to Huancayo where I will stay for six weeks. For now, I won't saw more about our trip to Cusco, now that I've got the most important story out of the way. Some more stories and pictures of the real reason for our trip, Machu Picchu and other ancient Andean sights that we visited, will have to wait for tomorrow.

On to Cusco

Well, tomorrow our SST group leaves for Cusco and Machu Picchu. Naturally I'm really excited about that, but as I sit here in Lima, I realize that I'm pretty sad to be leaving my host family here in Callao that has treated me so well over the past five weeks. They have opened their home to me, always going out of the way to make me comfortable. I don't know how many times they let me have the front seat when we got a cab, walked to the bus stop with me in our potentially unfriendly-towards-Americans neighborhood, sent a few pieces of fruit to school with me, or any number of other things to make my stay in Lima enjoyable. This past Friday we had a going away party for all of our host families which was a great way to say good bye. We sang some songs for them, had some words of farewell and thanks, and spend time mingling and talking to everyone.

This past Saturday I also said thank you as well as good-bye to my family in the best way I knew how - by getting up early and making them breakfast. After a discussion with my sisters and host mom, I realized that here in Perú, they don't have pancakes like the ones we are used to in the States. So, thanks to my mom for sending a recipe to me, I made my family some American-style pancakes. They weren't quite like in the states, but they were pretty close. Afterwards I went to Lima zoo with my mom, sisters, and a couple of friends of the family. That was a great way to spend a little time with them here on the last weekend. My family also took me out to eat on Sunday night and then we walked around a bit in an area of Callao called La Punta, which, as the name suggests, is a peninsula that sticks out into the Pacific. What really struck me during our time at the good-bye party, making breakfast, at the zoo, and at La Punta, was my family's desire to take pictures of us together. It really makes me happy that they want those memories of me, because it shows that they've enjoyed having me around and want to remember. And I know that I'll remember them, pictures or not.

This week, we'll be leaving Lima for Cusco, where we'll spend one day. We'll head to Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo (a historic village of sorts close to Machu Picchu), and spend two days in that neighborhood. On Friday we'll return to Lima, and then everyone will head out into rural Perú for their service assignments. So, in about a week or so I'll have a whole new host family, surroundings and daily routine to tell you all about. Until then I'm going to enjoy Cusco and Machu Picchu, which I know I'll have a lot to write about when we get back.

A few new pictures

Guess it's been a while since I posted, sorry about the delay. I actually was preparing a post about a week ago with various new pictures, but the internet connection I have is pretty slow, so the pictures were uploading very slowly, and I ended up just quitting. Now a week later, I've finally gotten around to putting up that post.

Obviously, with the delay that I've had in posting, I've been very busy the past while. This past week we spent a lot of time looking at religion and arts in Perú. We had a great lecture about the history of the Catholic church in this country, which is fascinating, as the Catholic church has had a lot of influence on Perú, as in many other Latin American countries. Another highlight this past week was going to the Museum of Art in Lima, where unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures. But the artwork there is amazing, from the pre-columbian artwork of native Peruvian cultures, to current artwork that depicts Perú very diverse culture.

Probably the most enjoyable times this past week were spent at the Pacific Ocean, where I got to swim three consecutive days. Thursday and Friday several people from our SST group went down to the beach to enjoy the view, and take a dip in the water. Spending time near the ocean is an awesome activity that we don't get to enjoy much in Goshen, so we're really trying to live it up. The first picture of this post of the sunset was taken on Friday as we walked back from the beach. Our experience in the ocean yesterday was pretty exciting, as our group got to go on a boat tour and swim with 'lobos marinos,' or sea lions in English. That was a pretty awesome experience, I've never swam that close to any marine life of that sort before. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that, but I'm sure there will be some photos up on the Goshen blog. The picture to the right is of me and Rachel enjoying the sun in the boat.

One fun, and very interesting, event that I was able to attend recently, guess it's been two weeks now, was a church youth retreat with my host sisters. The event was located in Chancay, about two hours north of Lima, also on the coast. It was quite a bit smaller than the Mennonite conventions I'm used to from my high school years, only about 150 people or so, but it was a great way to see into a very unique part of Peruvian life. My host family's church is Evengelical, which represents a small percentage of the Christian community in Perú, so it was very interesting to get a look at their traditions. It was also nice just to get out of the city of Lima, see another place. While in Chancay we also visited a really interesting castle, called the Castillo de Chancay. The pictures here are from our visit to that castle. In the second picture with me is Phil, a fellow SSTer, who lives with my host dad's brother, and went along to Chancay.

Well, those are a few of the things that I've been up to recently. Sorry it's taken me a while to update you. Finally, here are a couple of pictures from my home life. The one on the right is me in my room, and on the left is me with my host parents, Segundo and Mervy. Well, I'm off to do some school work...gotta finish up a project as this is our last week of Spanish classes. Then I'm going to head to downtown Lima with my family for some sightseeing and dinner. I'll be sure to get an update with some pictures of that posted a little faster next time.

Can I take a picture with you please?

This past weekend I traveled to Chancay, Perú, a coastal city about 2 hours north of Lima, with my host sisters for a church convention. So far in my time here, this experience definitely ranks as the most striking chance that I've had to really take a look into a distict slice of Peruvian culture. The convention consisted of three days of worship and activities, and around 100 to 150 youth and young adults attended. This event was not only much smaller than the large Mennonite conventions I attended growing up, but the traditions were also much different, as this church is rooted in Evangelical tradition, much different than my Mennonite background. I could easily write at length about the religious aspects of the weekend, and my thoughts on the experience from that perspective. However, I came away from the weekend thinking a lot more about one question that I heard many times throughout the weekend, "Can I take a picture with you?"

As I start my fourth week here in Perú, I've become increasingly aware of the obvious fact that I am a white American living in this diverse Latin country. And, after this past weekend, I've been thinking more and more about what exactly that means. At the church convention, I found people from various church groups asking to take a picture with me, or with the two other white American males from my SST group who were also there. Yet, we had not actually met these people who asked for pictures, or talked much with them, if at all; they just wanted to take a picture with the Americans. At first it was a little funny, but after about a dozen times, it began to feel a very awkward. Why should they be wanting a picture with me simply because of the color of my skin and where I come from? I'm not famous, what makes me that special? And, what kind of responsibility does that kind of attention put on me?

I thought about this more on Sunday, the last day of our trip to Chancay. After the church event, I visited the Castle of Chancay, with my host sisters and their youth group. While there, myself and a fellow SSTer, Phil, were asked, by a completely random stranger, if we would pose for a picture with her daughter. We obliged, though the interesting fact was that the daughter didn't particularly seem to want to. In fact, she was pretty shy and turned away as she approached us, it was her mother her pushed her into position for the picture. I can't explain how I felt about that experience. It was a little bit awkwardness, a little bit confusion about my role in this culture, and a little bit frustration that Americans are looked up to in this way.

After our visit to the castle, I talked with one of my sisters, Consuelo, a little bit about the meaning of the word gringo, or white person in Spanish. She asked me what my interpretation of that word was, and I explained that for me, it kind of felt like an insult. Growing up in Goshen, some fellow Hispanic students used to call white classmates gringos, and the term usually didn't carry with it a positive connotation. Consuelo explained that some of the SST students she had met in the past expressed the same feeling about the term. However, for her, and other Peruvians, gringo is not necessarily an insult. In fact, it is a compliment, as a gringo is someone to look up to, someone successful from America.

I really don't know what to think about this looking up to Americans in Perú. But having people ask to take a picture with me has shown me first hand that America really is a powerful cultural influence here in Perú, as in many other countries across the world. What does that mean for me? Well I've definitely had to remind myself on this trip that, as an American, I might represent much of a person's view about what Americans are like. So, I've been trying to act responsibly, treat people with respect, and keep an open mind. And as for pictures, I have to remember that I can do more than just pose and smile. I can shake that other person's hand, introduce myself in Spanish, and hopefully show them that I appreciate their way of life as much as they look up to American culture.

An evening out, and a quick look at the informal economy of Lima

The pictures here at the beginning of this post are from a park in Lima. As I'm told, the park, called Parque de la Reserva, is actually quite old. However, within the past year, the government gave the park quite a facelift, by adding some incredible art in the form of water fountains. In fact these incredible fountains, named the Circuito Mágico del Agua, now hold a place in the Guiness Book of World Records.

I had the privilege of visiting this park this past Sunday with my host family, pictured below. Sunday evening we went out the park then came back to Callao for dinner at a common Limeño restaurant called Norky's, where you can get pollo a la brasa (which was surprisingly similar to port-a-pit chicken for all you Goshenites out there). Anyway, it was a great evening and I really felt like I connected with my family in a positive way. It was really the first time we had gone out like that as a family.

While at the park, though, I observed some very interesting activities just outside of the entrance. As you walked along the exterior perimeter, and especially at the entrance, you couldn't help but meet up with a street vendor, as is the case much of the time on Lima's sidewalks. Here, as you got ready to pass through the gates, were offerings of popcorn, candy, soda, and other snacks that you could enjoy while inside the park. Or, maybe you need a pick-me-up when after you exit. I couldn't help but think that this just wouldn't happen in the states (in fact, in the US, the government who developed the park would probably have their own snack vendors within the gates to create more revenue). But, then again, I am in Perú, and the economy is much much different than in the states, particularly in the informal sector.

During my first two weeks here, the informal economy of Lima has been very striking. And rightfully so, as there are more people involved in Lima's informal economy than the formal economy. Let me describe some of the informal economy I have seen in my first two weeks.

First, I have to tell you about the vendors which regularly appear on or near the kombis that I recently described in previous post. Every so often as you are riding public transportation, someone will jump on board the bus to quickly tout a product and hopefully make a couple of soles. More often than not, it seems, these salesmen are children, usually selling candy of some kind. But there are also many adult salespeople, walking in between traffic, selling items to passengers through windows. They may be selling anything from ice cream sandwiches to newspapers, or pirated DVDs to sodas. Nonetheless, they are selling something very simple, trying to get the quickest buck they can. But I think I saw the most interesting vendor I saw was on board a bus today when a man wearing a professional-looking suit got on board. He began to rattle off his well-memorized sales pitch and reached inside his briefcase for a sample...of those paperclips with the black V-shaped base and two chrome metal hinged pieces on each side. He was on the bus telling us all how we could use these great items and what a great price we could get them for. It was the ultimate when it comes to the informal market in Lima.

Another common sight within the informal Limeño economy is the small, storefront vendors, selling all kinds of goods. Again they might be selling food, such as produce, beverages, a menú for lunch, or some other product such as children's toys, household necessities, or, again, pirated DVDs. Many times a collection of these types of vendors will be formed in a mercado that offers even more selection, such as clothing and shoes. As I see these small vendors I feel compelled to buy from them, as I can see who is controlling the operation, and who will get the profits from the purchase I make.

On the flip-side is PlazaVea, or the Limeño equivalent of Wal-Mart. I visited PlazaVea a couple of times this weekend, almost more for the novelty of visiting a new Peruvian store. But as I was inside it really did feel like being in a large American store, where you can buy basically whatever you want. And, much different from the vendors in the mercado, I didn't know who my money was going to. After having a discussion with my host sister today, I realized that these concerns were somewhat valid. PlazaVea, it turns out, is a Chilean owned company. Much like Wal-Mart in America, PlazaVea and other large corporately-owned companies do not always treat their workers fairly when it comes to hours and wages.

Lima has an extremely interesting economic system, which I have just begun to see in-depth. But one thing to be sure, the informal economy of Lima is much more expanisive than anything in the States. In my mind, that is a good thing, as it gives more people to creatively find a way to make some money for themselve. The economy is something I'll keep looking at and thinking about as I continue with my studies here in Lima.

This has only been 10 days?

Well, my last post was a little bit specific...well, really specific I guess. I'm guessing that many of you who are reading this blog would like to know a little bit more about the specifics of what I'm up to here in Perú other than just how I get around on public transportation. So, now that we've finished the first week of classes, this is probably a good time to share a little bit about my daily routine.

So, as I said in an earlier post, I live in the port district of Lima named Callao. I live in the same building as another student, Phil, or Felipe here in Perú, which has made travelling to and from home a little easier. Here in Lima we attend language schools at a local seminary and also do lots of group stuff as well. A typical day might be as follows:

- Wake up at about 6:45, get ready and have a quick bite to eat for break fast with my host dad, Segundo, and mom, Mervy. During breakfast we usually talk about plans for the day. What new busses I may or may not need to take that day. What I'm going to be doing at school. Basically things I'd talk about with my real mom and dad. Though, I've found that making plans and travels arrangements is one of the more difficult challenges when communicating in a foreign language.

- At 7:30 Felipe and I meet up and walk two blocks to the bus stop. From there we catch a colectivo that takes us to the seminary where classes begin at 8:30. Our commute is usually about 40 minutes or so, and during that time we face the inevitable fumes of automobiles and the bouncing around of the bus. Some days the pollution in Lima is worse than others, but it is definitely one aspect of life that I'm really getting used to.

- We have class from 8:30 to 11:00. Though usually we don't start until 8:45 and have a half our break sometime during the class session, so all in all it's about an hour and 45 minutes or so of class time. Nonetheless, I've been learning a lot in class. Our group is split into two classes, the smaller of which I am in. There are just 8 students in our class, so I've really enjoyed the conversational style of our class. I always seem to learn a few new words or new grammatical rules that I can take back home for conversation with my family. I can't wait to see how conversational I am in 5 more weeks here in Lima.

- After class the days vary, but we usually do something as a group during the afternoon. For example this week on Monday we visited some ancient native ruins, Tuesday we went to the Peruvian Congress building, Thursday we had a guest lecturer, and yesterday we visited an archealogical museum. Every Wednesday we also go to Duane and Karen's house for Goshen Tambo, which is just an afternoon of relaxing and reflecting upon what we've been up to.

- The activities we do as a group are very fun, bust sometimes somewhat lengthy, so we're all usually ready to go home and relax. More and more this week I've found that I look forward to going "home," as it really is starting to feel like that for me. Often times when I get back I will chat for a while with my host sisters and maybe have them help me with my homework. Then later I might do some reading for class before getting some sleep. Our house is very relaxed, which I like a lot.

That's basically what a daily routine might be like for me during the week. It might seem a little general, and maybe boring, but after this weekend I will definitely have some more specific stories for you and some more pictures as well. As for now I better get going, as my time here at the internet café is going to expire pretty soon.

Getting around the biggest city I've ever lived in

At some point in during SST in Perú, and probably in most of countries that Goshen College has SST units, every group member will most likely write home about, get frustrated with, or not understand the transportation system. For me, it has been no different. At first glace, the bus system of Lima seems a little bit...how should I put this...ridículo. Before coming to Lima, I figured I’d be able to survive well living in a big city. I lived in Albuquerque for a year and had the bus system down pat; I traveled to Europe and could easily decipher the bus and subway maps.
However, here in Lima there’s just one problem – there are no transportation system maps! Basically it’s a bit of a free-for-all; the local government does not control the bus system as we would expect in an American city. Rather, private companies convert vans and buses of all sizes into working public transportation vehicles, locally called kombis. Because of the competing companies, and differing bus routes operated by each outfit, it would be impossible to produce a map of all the possible bus routes in Lima. Well, I guess you could, but it would just be a wild mess of multi-colored lines over the already chaotic roads that make up the various areas of the city.
So, how do you figure out what bus to take? Well, fortunately you can simply recognize specific buses by their appearance, in fact, by four aspects of their appearance – the color, the numbers, the letters, and the street names. Various buses have differing colors based on what company they are owned by, but the color will also sometimes represent what route the bus runs. I guess that’s not particularly specific, so let’s move on to the numbers.
The problem is that there will be more than one number. First is the route number – the one you want to look for. But watch out because each kombi will also have numbers that distinguish it from the rest of the fleet of that company, as well as registration numbers that are given by the state. So, you really have to look hard sometimes to find the route number that you are looking for.
In addition, you have to be aware of the third aspect of the appearance, the letters. Oftentimes routes will have variations, which will be represented by letters, A, B, C, etc. For example, I take the 45B bus to school in the morning, and I have to make sure I don’t grab the 45A, because I really have no idea where that would take me. One note though, sometimes the number and letter will be together in one place on the front of the bus, or the 45 might be one place, and the B will be in another corner of the windshield, so watch carefully!
Finally, the names of some of the major streets that a bus travels on will usually be written on the side of the bus. So, it’s often a good idea to check those out before you get on. The front of the bus will also have two names, usually of neighborhoods, written above the windshield, that represent where the bus goes to or from. I did mention that it’s easy to pick out a bus based on its appearance, right? One thing about the names written on a kombi – they’re not always necessarily correct. The vehicle might be old and be traveling a different route that what the outside specifies. So, it’s a good idea to ask as you get on the kombi if it will be going to the place where you want to go. And be specific! Ask for the intersection you want, or the block number of the street you want.
In the states you’d just assume ask the driver of the bus, right? Well, don’t even attempt that in Lima – the kombi drivers have some pretty insane traffic to deal with and have to keep their attention on the road. Instead there is a second guy on each kombi, the cobrador, who is like the doorman of the vehicle – he’s who you want to ask. The cobrador is probably my favorite part of the Peruvian transportation system. They usually sort of half hang out the bus and shout at people like an auctioneer selling a quilt at a Mennonite relief sale. “Toda la Marina! Toda la Marina!” they might shout as they point at various people on the sidewalk trying to get them to board the kombi. All the while they are responsible for walking around the kombi asking for pasajes, or fares.
And walking up and down the isle of a kombi is not an easy task, as they are usually packed to the brim with people. I haven’t decided what I like less, sitting in an isle seat with people standing in the isle crowded up next to me, or standing in the isle, crowding the poor guy in the seat beside me and hanging on tight as the kombi rapidly speeds up and slows down between stops.
Lima’s public transpo is obviously a bit confusing and exciting and I’m could easily keep writing about experiences on kombis. I know I don’t nearly have this system figured out yet, and no doubt there are mistakes in what I just wrote, so I’ll probably have to write another post on this same topic. For now I’ll just leave you with one final word of advice, make sure you shout out to the cobrador when you want to get off, because it’s a fast paced world on a kombi and it’s not going to slow down just for you.