The other side of Peru

Coming into this experience, I had heard about the two extremes of Peru, the rich side and the poor side. But never would I have thought that the gap was as big as it is, even in the same city. I am living in one of the poorer areas, work in some of the poorest, and this past weekend, I was able to spend time in the wealthier part of town. The missionary couple that heads up Team Peru, lives in one of the nicer districts, and close to an area known as the Miami triangle. This area houses the richest people in Peru and is home to many Americans and other foreigners, many who have lived here for years and cannot speak Spanish. There is at least one American school and much of the night life and social scene is catered to Americans and English speakers. I spent the 5 days that the YAVs were together without using much Spanish at all...the most being when I ordered my Big Mac from McDonalds.

We started out our retreat with some sharing time to find out how everyone was doing, and share all the funny things that had happened to us. We also went to renew our Visas so we could stay in the country legally for a few more months. We were on our own for dinner, so we headed to Larco Mar which is a mall on the beach and had Pizza Hutt. I got a call from my cousin while we were waiting for our pizza which made the whole scene quite funny to me. Eating pizza in an ocean front mall while talking on my cell phone in English to someone in the US, not my normal Wednesday night in Peru! While the pizza was good, our next destination was the only thing in my mind. The Corner Bar is a sports bar on a corner that has American ESPN and even gets CBS and ABC. UNC and Gonzaga happened to have a game that night and we were headed there to watch it. Unfortunately, my boys played like the freshman they are, and somehow, Tyler had an off night, but they made a respectable run to close it off, and they had to lose sometime to show the freshman they aren't the greatest players in the world like they think they are. But this blog isn't to discuss UNC basketball so I'll move on.

Day 2 was Thanksgiving! We got to Ruth and Hunter's house by 10 (Peruvian time, so almost 11) to start with the cooking process. I don't think that I have ever seen so many people in one tiny kitchen, and no one lost a finger or an eye or anything! We all worked together and prepared a delicious Thanksgiving meal that almost felt like home. After lunch we played some games and worked on a puzzle. We all made calls home and were able to talk to our families, by far the hardest, but best part of the day.

Day 3 included more meetings and times for sharing. That night there was a special evening planned. All the volunteers and the people who work in the Joining Hands office (my host parents included) went to Las Brisas, a restaurant that has traditional folk dancing from different parts of Peru. The fun started at 10 and lasted til about 3. In between acts the floor was open for us to dance...or try to dance depending on the person. I am going to take this brief opportunity to give a "shout out" to the MPC dance group. Without you, I would have had no idea what I was doing. We decided to walk back to the hostel which was about 25 blocks away, stopping for a late night hamburger on the way home. It wasn't Wendy's, but it was satisfying.

We all slept late on Saturday, and then headed over to Ruth's house for some pancakes and bacon! That was a welcome breakfast! Then it was off to the beach! That was an adventure. Ruth and Hunter have a car, but its only so big, so some of us took the bus. I volunteered thinking that I might like to go some other time and it would be good for me to know how to get there. That failed miserably. We weren't really sure which bus to take, so we asked a couple people, did some walking, tried to flag down a couple buses, and then finally gave up and got a taxi. The car group had passed us at the bus stop and honked...but since everyone honks, we didn't notice. They would have had better luck getting our attention if they had not honked. Then we would have been like, that car didn't honk it must have been them! The sun was peeking in and out of the clouds but it was still a nice day. We played some volleyball. We rented a ball, and believe it or not, the ball had my name written on it. At first I noticed the Milton in big letters, but then after further examination, Jeime Milton was written on the ball. So I took it with me when we left. After the volleyball we played a little football, and then all enjoyed a dip in the cold waters of the Pacific. I got to ride in the care home, so we had some time to take showers waiting on the bus crew. Saturday night we stayed in a different hostel. This one was designed more for the young adult traveling the world. Everyone there spoke English and there were a lot of people there my age...well, younger than me...that were just traveling. It was definitely a side of Peru that I had not seen.

Sunday concluded my 5 day tour of the "other side" of Lima. We went to an English speaking church where the people had no idea where Caraballyo was (the district of Lima I live in). We went to McDonalds for lunch, and then caught a movie in English. The movie theater was in a mall, next to a Chilis and a TGI Friday's. After a dinner of Chicken enchiladas at Ruth's we each headed back to our little nooks in Peru. As I climbed on the bus with my hour and a half ride across the city, I thought again about how different the lives of people are here in Lima. It is just so amazing to me how people in the Miami triangle don't know anything about other districts, and how much they don't want to know. The church I went to was in the middle of its stewardship campaign and it made me think about how an affluent church has to press its members for money to pay the bills, while the people in the churches I work with give so freely of what they don't have, in hopes that one day they will be able to buy the building that they worship in, or be able to move out of the room in someones house to a building they can call their own. But even with these hopes in their minds, they never forget that the church is not a building to worship in, but that the church is with each one of them, and the church IS them.

It was nice to get back to my little house in Caraballyo, and my host parents that have become so close to my heart. Even more so, it was nice to get back to being surrounded with Spanish. I know that to accompany God in His work here that I have to work harder that I have been at learning it so that maybe I have something to offer the people here that have already taught me so much.

Pictures for Grigno weekend:
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2088233&l=9d455&id=2717014


Pictures from Huacho:
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2088263&l=96584&id=2717014

3 months

Yesterday marked 3 months since I got on a plane in Raleigh, NC headed for orientation. I haven't seen a person that I've know for longer than a few months since then, and am now living in a country where I can "get by" with the language. But, it is all a part of my life now, something I accept anew everyday and am making the most of this wonderful opportunity that God has given me.

It has been tough to not see my family that I am so close with, but I am forming new friendships that will last for the rest of my life, and being embraced by a family that treats me like one of their own. Sunday was election day here, and since it is obligatory, everything is closed...even most churches. I went with Eduardo and Flor to their voting site and them we went to one of his aunt's houses for lunch. It was another aunt's birthday so over the course of the afternoon, his entire family ended up coming over for a party that night. At first I was a little intimidated by all that was going on around me, but after a while, I didn't seem to stick out that badly. His family would come and talk to me. There was even a couple of rousing games of Jenga which had everyone on the edge of their seats. They even included my in the family photo that they took before everyone left.

As Thanksgiving approaches in 2 short days, I am wondering what it will be like to not be with my family for the first time during the holidays. I am thankful that the YAVs have a retreat and we will at least be able to spend it together since no one here knows what Thanksgiving is. I'll get back to you all sometime next week with details of our time together and lots and lots of pictures! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

UNC basketball 0 - Venezuelan baseball 1

So I don't have a lot of time today, so I thought I would share a little bit about my frustrations from yesterday and another link to some pictures.

Yesterday was a great day for me. In my work at the Compassion project at Collique I helped bake some cookies, chatted with some of the kids and taught some English to the kids. All in all a very eventful day for me. But all day long, in the back of my head was...UNC basketball. Our season started on Tuesday and I knew that we had a game on Wednesday night as well. In fact, I had checked the local ESPN listings here and saw that our game would be televised here. Imagine my excitement! I had made plans to go to my host grandparents house to watch the game. After work, I swung by my humble abode to put on my UNC gear, and headed over to their house. I even had a conversation with a neighbor about what I was doing, and where I was going. She was selling hamburgers at the bus stop, but there was no time for that!

On the bus ride, I just had this feeling of excitement. The kind I usually get about this time of year in anticipation of going to a game at the Dean Dome. I arrive at their house and catch the last bit of a talk show from Spain with Eduardo's mom, and then start flipping channels impatiently waiting for 7pm. As I flipped to the channel, I got a bad feeling. There was a baseball game on...and it was only the second inning! I flipped to the TV guide channel (yeah, they have that here!) and saw that there was no basketball game. I checked the printed listings again to make sure I had the right time, and there it was, University basketball. Apparently, in Peru, a Venezuelan baseball tournament is more important than UNC basketball...who would have thought it! Maybe I'll have better luck next time! It was probably a good thing too, because from what I read, it was much closer than it should have been...I might have lost a place to live!

And here are some pictures going all the way back to my first few days here. Enjoy!
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078346&l=83947&id=2717014

Day Tripper

With my limited access to the internet I feel like I am not able to do an adequate job of filling you guys in on my life down here. I have to pick the most exciting, or interesting thing that has happened in the last week or two and try to put it into words that can describe it. Trying to describe feelings and sights is hard enough, but then having to pick one thing makes it even harder! I am trying to keep up a personal journal so I don’t forget things and can fill you all in better when I return in a short 9 months or so.

This week I was able to take a day trip to a nearby fishing village called Huacho. It is about a 2 hour bus ride north and goes right up the coastline. Eduardo, my host dad had to go there for his job and took me and his wife along since it was my day off. He said we would leave at 9, but since this is Peru, we left shortly after 10, and by shortly, I mean like 10:30. We flag down a bus on a very busy “interstate” and are on our way. It costs about 2 dollars for the bus ride which did include a bad 80’s movie in Spanish.

About 30 minutes outside of Lima we met up with the coastline and followed it pretty much the rest of the way. The coastline here is not like what I am used to in the great state of North Carolina where everything is flat and then you get to the ocean. Here there are mountains, and then the ocean. Our highway ran alongside the ocean, but there was quite a bit of a drop off between the road and the water. It was a beautiful ride. All along the way there were small fishing boats dotting the coast. We stopped in a small town about half way to drop some people off and there lots of street vendors would come up beside the bus and sell drinks and snacks through the windows.

We arrived in Huacho at about the lunchtime, but first had time to go and take a stroll along the beach. We took a taxi from the bus station to the beach and then walked along the sidewalk overlooking the beach. It was a bit chilly with the wind blowing, but it was again, a beautiful site. There were kids playing soccer, women doing laundry, a man bathing, and even cows grazing. Not quite what I expected to see at the beach, but great none the less.

I will now pause to describe my lunch. It is something that has become one of my favorite meals here, but there is a story behind it for me as well. The name, pollo a la brasa, which basically is a rotisserie style chicken with French fries. When we first got to Peru on August 28th at about 11pm, we were quickly greeted by our site coordinator and then sent off with our host families straight from the airport. Having limited knowledge of the Spanish language I was, to put it lightly…scared out of my mind. Knowing some food names…basically pizza and chicken, I was asked if I was hungry and what I wanted to eat, so I said pollo (chicken). We stopped at a little place on the way home…which was about a 30 minute drive. Anyway, I sit down at the house with my chicken and french fries at about midnight with 3 Peruvians watching me eat. Being a bit scared of the chicken, I concentrated mainly on the fries and said I was full…well, I said no mas (no more). They have 2 dogs so it didn’t go to waste, but that was my first experience in Peru, and now, I eat it whenever I get the chance and pretty much laugh at myself!

So back to Huacho. After lunch we visited the market and bought some cheese and butter which is better there than in Lima…which from what I am finding out…most things are. A man tried to sell me a cowboy hat, but I felt that 10 dollars was a lot to pay (I’ve become quite cheap) so we moved on.

Flor and I accompanied Eduardo in his afternoon work which included visiting two groups of artisans and giving them a lesson in pricing their products and how to become more efficient in making their products. It was all quite interesting and I even was able to help with some of the math calculations on figuring out a decent price.

We took another stroll near the beach about sunset and I was able to get a nice picture which I will upload the next time I make a visit to the office, since I didn’t bring the chord for my camera…I know, how smart am I.

We stayed with the family of a friend of Eduardo for the night. I slept on bed that was probably more uncomfortable than sleeping on the floor. We planned on leaving at about 7 the next morning to make it back in time for work, but of course that turned into about 9:30 when all was said and done.

It was quite an enjoyable trip and it is always good to get out of Lima and the smog to a place where there is fresher air…even if there is a strong odor of fish. They tell me that to the south of Lima the beaches are much prettier, so I hope to be able to make it there one day as well.

Photos:
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2088263&l=96584&id=2717014