The Embassy Fair And Goodbye Parties

October 10th thru 16th, 2006 Lima, Peru

Fargo´s House

Today we headed down to the Fair in Lima. The bus ride is 14 hours but overnight. Usually, I sleep better. After arriving, Tom and I headed to the Fargo´s house. Mr. Fargo is a General in the Marines. His wife and daughter visited us in Encantada to buy ceramics and extended an open invitation to stay with them whenever I am in the Lima area. They have a really nice house. Most embassy family houses are.

First Visit Back to Santa Eulalia

I then headed back to the training center in SE. I stopped by my friend Ryan´s old house to see his mother and sister. They gave me lunch. I then swung by the training center to meet the new trainees and catch up with the training staff. It was nice to be able to hold full conversations with the language professors and my old host family as well.

I gave my host sister a vase with a butterfly on it. She loves butterflies. I spent the next few hours catching up with my host family and grandparents. It was interesting how the dynamic changed since I no longer live there. It was good to see them again.

Embassy Fair

Yesterday we had a workshop on how to export. It was pretty informing, the speaker really knew his stuff. When we arrived this morning, our pieces still weren´t there. They were supposed to be there yesterday. Eventually they arrived 15 minutes before the fair started and we set up quickly. We sold about 75% of our pieces which is pretty good. I learned a lot about fairs, although this one is very different since it is only for selling the pieces. There are other fairs where the objective is make contacts for the future.

Out on the Town

After we all sent our artisans back to there respective sites, all of us Volunteers went out in Lima. It was really good to see everyone again. We caught a good dinner, hit up a bar and then finished the night at a discotech.

Saturday morning, I headed to the Corner Bar with Jorge and my old language professor. We spent the whole afternoon watching College Football until my bus left that night. That was quite refreshing. I really miss watching football all Saturday and Sunday with my roommates.

October 8th thru 9th, 2006 La Encantada, Peru

Despedidas

All week Tom and I have been attending going away parties for Tommy. They usually consist of a dozen people, a meal called capuss (its basically turkey cooked in the ground, quite good), and more Peruvian beer than I would like to drink.

Have I told you about how they drink beer here? Or anything for that matter. Basically, they have one little plastic Dixie type cup and numerous beers. You pour your cup, however much you want, then pass the bottle. You drink your portion and then pass the cup. This continues in a circle for hours and hours. No one drinks from the bottle straight. Custom is to buy 3 for 10 Soles. People take turns buying all night.

The final Despedida was Monday the 9th. Everyone gathered in the Local to say one last goodbye to Thomas. It began by a few people giving words about how much Tommy has meant to them. The President asked me to give a few words as well. Normally, I can BS with the best of them on the spot, but in Spanish it tends to present a whole new ballgame. We then ate and I acted as photographer for Tom taking pictures of all the families with Tom.

Around 3am, they put on a little Peruvian hip-hop and I threw a little move. Tommy did as well, and everyone cheered. He then asked me if I would like to battle, and we spent the next 5 minutes in a crazy dance off making fools of ourselves. I attempted “the worm” for the first time, only to encounter bruises and scrapes. It was quite the party.



October 7th, 2006 La Encantada, Peru

Preparing for the Fair

Today we had the artisans bring in there pieces for the Embassy fair next Friday. Each of the 30 members brought two pieces each. Tommy and I coded them and created a price list for the fair while capacitating Juan, the artisan traveling with us. I am excited about the fair.