Día de la Mujer and a funeral

March 8^th was International Woman’s Day (Dia Internacional de la Mujer)! It’s one of those holidays that no one really celebrates in the states, and here even less. Hardly anyone here in Chocta had even heard of it and it took some convincing to get them to believe that it was really a thing. The women here are really amazing and work so hard, so I thought it’d be a great excuse to celebrate them! Hence came the first event I held here with Peace Corps!

The planning started a week before with the Health Post. I brought up the idea and they all really liked it. Great!, I thought, they’ll help me out! Not so much. In addition to always being busy with work, the older staff have families and are a little unmotivated. None the less, we came up with a schedule for the morning of March 8^th. Since it was the first time this town would be celebrating woman’s day, and I wouldn’t have much help from the Health Post, I figured I’d keep it short and simple. After a week of getting things ready by myself which consisted of chasing down with the guy who has the key to the “town hall” type room (also finding him the morning of, cause god forbid he’d remember to unlock the door for me), soliciting a projector from the elementary school, making and distributing invitations, buying decorations, and making posters, the day was here. And good thing we didn’t make it a whole day celebration, because an older man in town happened to die the day before and the funeral was in the afternoon. (more details to come).

Low and behold, the staff from the health post weren’t there an hour before to set up like we agreed. I gave them the benefit of the doubt as Peruvians aren’t as punctual or anal about being on time as we are in the States. (how many of you set your clocks 5 minutes ahead so you’ll be on time if not early!? Ya- it’s different here.) But when 10:30 rolled around, a half hour after the event should have started, I assumed they wouldn’t show up. So instead of having our parade at the end, I decided to start with the women who were there and walk to the homes of the health post workers! And that’s what we did. Walked up to their doors and called them out. Gotta do what you gotta do! After that, the morning went smooth with an educational session about women’s health and a raffle after brainstorming what we like most about being a woman.

I’m proud of my little celebration. A good amount of women showed up and really seemed to appreciate that we were celebrating them. And even though it was frustration without a lot of support from my health workers, I kept a good attitude and made it work. I got some good advice from a Peace Corps staff member: Instead of getting upset at the staff when they are lazy or lack gusto, lead by example. If I do what I do with enthusiasm, they’ll hopefully see the benefit and catch on.

Then came the funeral. Here, they spend 10 days mourning  the fallen. For the first couple days the family has an open casket in their home and everyone can come and sit with the family. Guests usually bring something and the family will serve food. On the 2^nd or 3^rd day they walk the casket to the church for a ceremony, and then walk it to the cemetery, not unlike the traditions at home. I didn’t know the man, but remember passing by him last week as he was sitting in a chair with lots of blankets out-front of his home.

On that Sunday, my host mom and I joined the precession right after the mass as they were walking to the cemetery. The crowd consisted of the casket, followed by weeping (loudly) family members, some people, a band (trumpet, drums playing a depressing tune), and some more people. It seemed like everyone from Chocta filled the street as we headed to the cemetery. After walking for about 10 minutes, we turned up a hill. There was a path, but with all the rain, it was muddy and safer to walk through the grassy field. It was kind of comical seeing the mass of people trudging up a grassy hill. I wish I had my camera. Then we got to the grave spot (a concrete box where they’d insert the casket). A few people said a few words and then the band started up again as the family pushed the casket into the concrete box. Then a guy sealed it up with more concrete, and some people left but most people hung around. Family members walked around with soda or traigo (a strong alcohol they serve- not sure exactly what it is) serving those who hung around. After about 20 minutes and it started raining, we headed back down the hill and to the family’s house. They had a mass cook-out to serve at least 150 people. There wasn’t space for everyone so people waited outside and you ate and left, no dilly dallying. The poor family members with their red swollen eyes were running around like crazy trying to get all the people served. I guess it’s a good distraction.

So that was my long day with my first successful event and my first funeral...

What exactly am I going to do here?

Real quick I wanted to clarify exactly the type of work I'm doing. I've have some questions recently and realized it isn't super clear.

I am working in Chocta, Peru with the Health Post there. Our main goals are the following:

1. We will work with a group of about 30 parents (likely mothers) with children under the age of three. We will be teaching them about nutrition, disease prevention, and early stimulation. We will do this through individual house visits as well as  group chats.

2. We will be forming a group of teen "peer educators" to teach them about good decision making for the future and sexual health. The hope is for them to go on to be leaders and role models to their peers and community.

In addition to these goals, Peace Corps has the goal of intercultural exchange. I will be sharing my customs from the States and learning the culture and customs of Chocta, Peru. This will allow me and the people I interact with to grow as human beings as well as promote friendship between the two countries.

Secondary projects: In addition to these projects, I have the freedom to do my own projects of whatever I feel would benefit my community. For example I could teach English (check!). I'm excited for the possibility of starting a garden club and planting more veggies in town. I can't wait do a World Map Project and paint a big mural of the world, later teaching geography and world culture. I'm planning on working with the dentist to promote and teach dental hygiene (thanks for the idea, Mom!).

So that's a more detailed description of exactly what I'll be doing here for 27 months. Stay posted for updates on my progress!

Papa Culture

(By now I hope you all know that papa means potato!)

I was invited by my host sister, Nelly, and her husband to help harvest potatoes from their chacra (small farm). How it works here in Chocta (one of the largest potato exporting towns) is everyone practically has their own papa chacras on their private plots of land. When it’s time to plant or harvest they solicit the help of friends and family. It’s a really cool concept of the community coming together to help whoever needs it. When the potatoes sell, the owner somehow keeps track of who helped for how many days and pays them accordingly. At the beginning of a harvest day, everyone walks to the chacra together, which could be close or really far. If it’s really far, the owner of the chacra will bring pots and food to make lunch for everyone. Its custom to cook chicken when planting and fish when harvesting. (don’t ask me why, I asked and they told me that’s just how it is).

So Thursday morning the whole familyCommercial- to sell to the big potato companies (depending of the class of papa, each sac sells for about 50 soles, or 16 bucks), regulation- to bring home with us and sell to people in Chocta, and chancho- the tiny ones that go to the pigs to eat. When we got to the chacra, I was ask to help Nelly start cooking lunch instead of digging up potatoes because everyone said I would hurt my nails… I got really annoyed at them for that. Sometimes I get sick of being the outsider who no one thinks can do anything. I told them about my 15 hour hike to Half Dome in Yosemite and they hardly believed me. I just have to work a little harder at earning respect because of some stereotypes some people have developed. So after lunch, which included fresh potatoes straight from the dirt, I got into line with all the people and showed them I could dig up papas as good as anyone! I have to admit that my fingernails were quite sore for a few days from dirt and potato getting wedged under them.  However, I do feel like I gained a lot of respect that day. Even from people we walked past on the way home. They saw the gringa all muddy and sweaty from a day of their everyday work and I became accepted officially into the community, officially a Choctonian!

hiked out to Nelly and Jeramias’ chacra to harvest. The way it worked was a couple strong young men (in this case my 21 year old host brother and cousin) plow up the rows of potato plants. This usually exposes some, but then a row of people line up to dig up the rest and put them into piles. Later we go back to gather those piles into big sacs. There are three categories of papa.

This was an awesome experience and a gained a lot more than sore fingers, 20 soles, and a bit of respect. I also gained perspective. The potatoes that we eat in the United States come from farms like this. The majority of this world work hard labor jobs everyday. I never really thought about that or realized how much work goes into a sac a potatoes. Who would’ve figured I’d learn so much about the potato growing culture. I can never be grateful enough for this experience to open my eyes to different cultures that I would have never even thought about. And not only do I now get to know about them, I get to live them for two years. Pretty darn cool, man.

These are the papas I got to take home after a day of work, all cleaned and laying out to dry! Aren't they pretty? delicious too!

Vacaciones Utiles (Summer School)

Peace Corps recommends that volunteers teach a class during summer school for a couple reasons. It helps us get to know the people in the community, it helps with learning Spanish, and it gives us something to do during these sometimes slow first months. Because I didn’t feel my vocabulary was sufficient for teaching really anything other than English, an English class it was. So here I am, jumping into facilitating a class, which I’ve never done alone before, and in a foreign language no less!

It’s been a relatively good experience so far! This week I completed my third week. I’m teaching elementary school kids Monday and Tuesday mornings and high school age kids in the afternoons on those days. I take role every day and so far I’ve had a great turnout: in both age groups combined, I’ve had a total of 46 students come. Some have come to every class, others just once or twice. It’s been fun but I have to say choosing healthcare was a good choice; I don’t think I could be a teacher. I have so much respect and admiration for teachers especially at the elementary level. Kids are tough. I do understand that it’s even tougher because of my Spanish level. I can’t image I’m very intimidating when I’m reprimanding them with broken Spanish and a gringa accent. I did send a few students out of class for being disruptive and one has yet to come back, I feel kinda bad… oh well.

But despite the challenges it’s been pretty fun and rewarding. The kids are quick learners, I’m very impressed with their retention. I've been doing a lot of interactive activities instead of straight lectures, so that helps with the attention span issues. And some of those guys will just warm your heart with their questions or when they rush to show me the notes they took in their notebooks or when I get to class early and there’s already a big group of students waiting by the door. One day when I was walking back home after class, I saw a little girl showing her dad her notebook and he put his arm around her giving her a little squeeze. So cute! And yesterday they wrote “Mi maestra Mis Alexis” with chalk on the sidewalk in front of the school and decorated it with flowers for me. Those little moments make it really fun.

It’s also been really beneficial for my integration into the community. Lots of people on the street now ask me how the classes are going or if I’m on my way to my classes, etc. I still have parents asking me if their son or daughter can come. I just say yeah of course bring them Monday! The most student’s I’ve had was 25 and that was a lot for me. Hopefully it doesn’t get too much bigger! I had a meeting the other day with a group of mothers and my PC Coordinator. He asked if they knew why I was here and a few shouted out “to teach English!” So I gotta work on that a bit and make sure people know I’m there for more than that! Once my work with the Health Center takes off, I’m sure everyone will catch on that I’m here to promote and educate about healthy living as well J

Seis de Enero

Apparently the 6 of January is a huge holiday in the Catholic community here. From what I understand they celebrate the Three Kings on this day. I had started my English classes the day before, which I´ll be doing while the kids have a break from school until March. But my host sister told me I have to cancel class for the day because we´ll be dancing all day long. So the dance is pretty much the same as the once they do for Christmas. Only this time they somehow convinced me to join in. I tried to get out of it by saying it`s for the kids. But they found a teenager to do it so I wasn´t the only big kid. I was still the tallest (and oldest) by far and it was quite embarrassing. But it made my host family and everyone so happy that it was worth it. So January 6^th I put on the hat and skirt that was made for me and headed to church.

We started with a mass at 9am. Then we did some dancing and singing in Church. Afterwards we marched out of the church and up the street to the Health Post, singing the whole time. I embraced the laughs of the people we passed as we marched. After the Health Post we marched in line to the other side of town where someone had prepared a delicious lunch for us.

I was happy to get out of the outfit and even happier that we won´t have to go to church at night anymore to practice. But I´m really happy I did it. My regional coordinator, Miguel Angel came to visit yesterday and told me doing stuff like that is a key part of the Peace Corps Mission of promoting friendship between Peruvians and the United States, because it shows that we, as people from the US, are open and willing to integrate into the culture here. Because I embarrassed myself all over town, the people of Chocta now have the idea that people of the United States are open-minded and willing to try new things!

You´re welcome, Amurica.

New Years in Huanchaco

What better to cure the “Holidays Away from Home Blues” than a trip to the beach?? That´s right, nothing!

About 30 Volunteers headed down their little mountain towns to spend New Years together on the beaches of Trujillo. It was a great get-a-way, we all had an amazing time. Hauanchaco is a town famous for its surfing. It was very touristy, and more importantly-hot! We got to wear our shorts and skirts that were collecting dust in our rooms. The short two days consisted of lounging on the beaches, swimming in the ocean, eating ceviche (heavenly), and chatting/gossiping/storytelling with each other until many of us lost our voices.

We brought in 2015 inside of a beachside discoteca where Gillian and I got to yell the countdown (in Spanish thank you very much) into the DJ`s microphone, followed by lots of hugs and Champaign. A few minutes after, a group of about 15 of us jumped into the ocean for a midnight swim. It was pretty insane, and the thought of walking around in the middle of the night in sopping wet clothes gives me goose bumps now that I´m back in site. But it was just the refresher I, and many of us needed after the holidays.

The support group we have here with the other Volunteers is so great. It´s important for our experience and crucial for our sanity. I usually will call and talk to someone every other day as calls between volunteers is free, thank goodness. Love ya`ll!

Navidad in Chocta

Festivities started a week before Christmas. Every night the week of Christmas, my extended host family went to the church with all the other Catholics in Chocta (most, to be honest are my extended family as I seem to be related to everyone in Chocta). We didn´t go there to have mass but to watch the Little kids dance a dance they call Baile Pastoras. There´s a Singer and the kids repeat what she sings and then my host dad plays the violin and someone beats the drum as the Little kids do a simple dance. It was very cute! After we practiced in Chocta, some of us walked up to the neighboring town, Cruzpata, to practice some more with the kids there. Each night someone brought coffee and rolls of bread that we enjoyed after the dancing. On Christmas Eve the kids put on their skirts and hats to do the dance. Afterwards, around 11pm, we had a mass that ended with my host mom squeezing a doll to produce a crying sound: baby Jesus is born!

Christmas day I went to Luya and was able to spend some time with Austin, TJ, and Hilary who live there. It was nice to talk in English and watch a Christmas movie together. Not the festive Christmas we´re all used to, but it was a nice afternoon with good company.

So it was quite a different Christmas and, I´m not going to lie, it wasn´t easy being away from home. In my family, Christmas is about our whole big crazy family being together. It´s about traditions of watching The Grinch and getting presents from “Santa” (who was it this year guys?). It´s about eating lots of food and even more dessert. It´s about being too loud and laughing all afternoon.

This year for Christmas Eve I ate the same potatoe soup I eat every night with just my host mom and me. It went without The Grinch and without dessert. It went without my family. But if this experience of being away from family has taught me anything, it´s how freaking lucky I am to have the family I do. I honestly can feel the love from them all the time. I think about them everyday as I know they think of me. I could not imagine being here without that support. I´m so lucky to have Christmases like the ones I´ve had. And guess what? I`ll get to have plenty more. For that I´m extremely fortunate and grateful. Many people have no family to celebrate with at all. Most don´t get to enjoy Jim Carey in an obnoxious Green suit. Most people don´t have the pleasure of feeling sick from the amount of “Sheeshee cookies” they indulged in. Many are completely content with a quiet dinner, watching children dance, and celbrating the birth of Christ in mass.

Sorry if this post was depressing, and I´m really sorry if I made you cry, Mom. But I decided I wanted to be honest and true to my Peace Corps experience on this blog. And that means writing about the good and bad. Peace Corps life is not all fun and games. It´s not all easy. It´s actually often really hard and many of us go through lots of struggles all the time. But we are completely willing to do so, because all the great days, the learning, and the growth we get to experience are worth those struggles ten times over.