Visitor

Hello Everyone! Things are going well down here in Perù. April bearly existed for me I was so busy! I just got back to Cajabamba after a nice break/meeting time in Cajamarca and a fantastic visit from Mom. We had a great time! It was amazidng (and reassuring) to have someone from my old life see what my new life is like (and to think I`m doing well). But more importantly, it was great to spend the time with Mom before she starts her Peace Corps adventure in June. It was bittersweet, though. At times, it felt like we were just traveling together again like in Costa Rica and that I would be going home when she did. Not the case, however.

In puppy news, I have decided to keep Kìon. The stress of trying to find him a new home was proving to be just as, if not more, stressful than keeping him. Unfortunately, we now have to start from close to ground zero with his training as I backed off it thinking I was going to give him up. He has, to my horror, fallen in with the "wrong crowd" of dogs in Jocos and doesn´t like to listen to me much any more. Some serious leash time and lots of treats should help with that. So will getting him neurtered in a few months.

There really isn`t too much else going on. The gardens in the elementry school and in the high school are coming right along and I will be starting English classes with the high schoolers in May. I also have my first Latrine Project meeting in a few days. Scary! But not as scary as the English classes! I`ve never been particualarly good with kids and high schoolers are the scariest of all! Mom tells me the teaching will be good for me - teach me patients or something like that. I just hope it doesn`t make me kick some poor kid in the shins!

Having been out of Jocos for a fair amount of time this month, I will be staying put (excluding the occassional trip to Cajab) for a couple of months. In fact, I`m not looking to head back to Cajam until mid June or so. Lots of time to work on my projects!

Moving Right Along

Between meetings and trips, March flew by. The depression of February has lifted (mostly) and I´m looking forward to starting some projects, an influx of people in Jocos now that school has started, Mom´s visit in April and just generally having some things to do. I recently started a school garden in the elementary school and the director of the high school has asked me to help with their garden as well. I have also been approached by one of my outlying communities about doing a latrine project with them as they are still without. I will start English classes as well in the high school in May (though that may not be long-term if I don´t like it) and have thought about trying an English class for adults.

The latrine project is a bit scary, to be honest. Even scarier than teaching a room full of 4th graders how to wash their hands properly! It is a big undertaking, though my role will be mostly Facilitator and Educator. I´m still not absolutely comfortable speaking in Spanish to groups and strangers and I will have to do that a lot for this project. No better way to practice, I guess!

Despite a rosier work outlook, I´m still on an emotional rollercoaster, and probably will be until I settle back into life in the States. While the ups and downs aren´t as moment-to-moment as before, the highs are high, the lows low and each lasts longer - hours rather than minutes. There are days when I sit and stare at the calendar, counting how much longer I have until my Close of Service and deciding which way sounds shortest (months, weeks, holidays, etc.). The best way I have found so far is to have things to look forward to each month. Small bites are best! Then there are the days I can´t believe I´ve been in Perú for 6 months and in Jocos for 3. I wonder how I´m going to get everything done in what time I have left.

March is the rainiest month and I´m sure that didn´t help my emotional matters. Every afternoon I sought refuge from the wet in the Health Post, under the eave of a house with some friends, or in my room. Coming from Colorado where its sunny 330 days a year (or something like that), not seeing the sun for a week straight is hard. Not to mention it makes washing, and more importantly, drying clothes next to impossible. And I´m not the only one feeling the grayness of the rain. All of Jocos seems quiet and forlorn. Except, of course, for the first graders heading to school for the first time. They are all excited and happy.

Not that the rain doesn´t have its benefits. Even overcast, the valley is vibrant green - the grey filter on everything giving it its own beauty. And the afternoons spent hiding from the rain have given me time to make significant progress on my afghan and a couple other knitting projects. Yes, I´m still knitting and crocheting like crazy. At last count, I had 3 different projects going and several more waiting in the wings (I just have to finish one project to free up the needles I need for the next). The knitting and crochet has given me the opportunity to learn how to take criticisim in stride. Peruvian culture is not a complimentary one - compliments on one´s work are rare and compliments about one´s self are even rarer. I´m often told what is wrong with a project - the squares for my afghan aren´t exactly the same size and so don´t "vale" (won´t work), I should have used a different color for a scarf (red is absolutely scandalous), I´m holding my crochet hook wrong and No! I still haven´t started a sweater! This is why I like hanging out with Natalie´s host mom (and my friend) Doña Paulina. Not only is she an amazing knitter/crocheter and a great teacher, but she is very encouraging and always says something nice about my projects.

The criticism used to bother me quite a bit, until I realized that it is part of the culture, not a personal insult. They just don´t compliment each other much. I see it in their faces when I compliment someone on the sweater they are wearing/making, their hair or for remembering an English work I taught them that morning. They turn red, look at the ground and (men and women) giggle nervously. These just aren´t the things they are proud of. They are proud of their families, their crops, their stores, their livestock.

Some of you may be wondering if I have been able to purchase my blender yet. The answer is no, but the electricity project progresses. Nearly all the light posts are up and they began stringing the cables from post to post. The protective cases for the meter are in and everywhere holes are being punched in adobe walls and the cases cemented in. Rumors aboud as to when electric light will actually shine from Jocino windos, most of them settling on mid to late April. I have my doubts about that. I´m still betting on late June to early July.

I´m continuing to work on my relationship with my host family. We seem to be settling into a friendly border/landlord type relationship. We are friendly to each other and spend the occassional afternoon together, but do not go much beyond that. The good news is they have, for the most part, stopped asking me to buy/give them things. Now they ask me to sell them things - mostly fancy yarn. By "fancy" I mean any type of yarn that is not the super thin, rather cheap stuff they use. Rather than actually sell it to them, I try to work trades. The going rate is 2 skeins of fancy yarn for washing my 3 blankets.

I´m still listening to the BBC as often as possible and enjoying the largest CD collection I´ve ever owned (which is constantly growing with amazing contributions from friends here and at Home). I´m also working on some short stories which may or may not be available for limited reading at a later date. Much of my writing is in snipittes here and there of thoughts, images and feelings I have during the day.

I´m still feel unsettled at times, but I´m beginning to get my head and heart around this place and this life. Slowly but surely, slowly but surely!