Baptism Rituals

May 6th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Pedro´s Baptism

Pedro is the 1 ½ year old that lives in my house. Today was his baptism. Family relatives all the way from Lima made the 16 hour trip to La Encantada. It was quite the party all weekend. The first part of the ceremony is the sprinkling of water which takes place in the church after mass. Later that night is the reception. Many families don´t permit the child to have a first hair cut until the child is baptized. They put the child´s hair in ribboned locks and then you can cut one off with an economic donation to the future well-being of the child.

We ate and dance and ate and danced and drank beer until 1am. People were sleeping everywhere we could make room in our house and my brother-in-law´s house. The next day all the family from both sides hang out. I was pretty tired by the end of it all, but it was a good time.

April 29th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Cutting of the Nails

I participated in my first role as a padrino today. A padrino is a godfather but doesn´t always mean that you have care taking duties in the future. Sometimes, it just means you are the financier of the event. I was like a secondary padrino to this baptism and had to cut the child´s finger nails. Later we celebrated with a feast and the normal drinking that is customary with every reception.

Water Fights

April 26th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Chaos Brimming at the top of Empty Water Buckets

Here in this small community of approximately 3,500 we have water for 2 hours in the morning everyday except Sunday. Everyone attempts to fill as many trash can buckets of water as possible so they are able to wash clothes, cook, bathe and perform whatever other duties they may need to throughout the day. That is how it is supposed to work.

Except when the president of the water committee is a bit power hungry and also a bit mentally ill. Sometimes, we won´t have water for 3 days straight which makes the people irate. For the third week in a row this was the case and the rumor was the president would not be turning the water on until Monday. It was Wednesday.

You see, sometimes people don´t pay their water bills. The community doesn´t have the capacity to turn off the water by the individual house (like the electric company can) and thus everyone suffers because they turn it off for everyone. Now relatively, the water is cheap. Its only $1.33 per family per month. Even in a poor community like mine, that is affordable. That isn´t the problem.

So along with the town leader, we called a town meeting. Everyone decided to kick out the old water president and set-up a new committee. I will be working with the committee to develop new methods to enforce payment. I am excited to suggest one I learned in Honduras.

A team of three drummers shows up in front of your house at 5am and begins to beat bloody racket and until you pay. They then proceed to the next house. Not only do people want to shut you up, they are so embarrassed they tend to find the money real quick.

April 24th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Ducks and Gardens

The nine families who are raising gardens recently transplanted their tomatoes and cauliflower to the main garden. Other plants are starting to sprout up. We are gardening in some pretty unfavorable conditions, so we’ll see how much success we have.

It sounds like we are going to get approved for a micro credit loan for the duck raising project. Each family will then receive 4 females and a male and begin production. We hope to repay the loan within a year. I think we have found an institute to provide us technical assistance as well.

Basketball League

April 14th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Basketball League

I actually started playing in real bona fide basketball league in Chulucanas on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The games start at 8pm and the last game doesn´t get done until usually around 12:30 am. It’s pretty exciting because attendance usually numbers anywhere from 300 to 700 people. We have a 6`3 black kid who should be playing linebacker in the States. Between him, me and Mario we are pretty much unstoppable. Sometimes we make the local Sports section. It’s great to play the game I love so much. Didn’t really imagine I would ever play this much basketball as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

The Restaurant

April 9th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Picanteria

A picanteria is basically a really small restaurant. It typically hosts about 4 tables and serves a limited menu. Since the restaurant project with the government fell through, I have been looking for investors and parties potentially interested in administrating such a project. I recently found success. My host family has a daughter who lives in the regional city of Piura. She has to decided to invest an S/. 1000 and act as the main administrator of the picanteria. We have found a micro credit organization to invest another S/. 1000 and are looking for 5 members of the community to each invest S/. 200 for the final S/. 1000.

Therefore, Kelly and I have outlined a basic business plan for the restaurant. We have also created pro forma income statements and have been working a local University. A group of University students is going to write us a marketing plan. Another group from the culinary school is working with Kelly to develop a menu. Things seem to be going pretty well.