what can i get you guys to drink?

August 3rd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Restaurant: Opening Week

When I returned from my trip to Ancash for the Fiestas Patrias, the mototaxi pulled up to a house slightly altered. Before Fiestas Patrias, the Peruvian Fourth of July, my host family had built the restaurant we have been planning for the past few months. In its current state it still lacks a good deal before it will truly be ready. This week I went to the capital city with my host father to investigate refrigerators and hopefully the restaurant should have one by next week. There has already been a steady stream of customers during the day and night traffic from the locals has been on par with our projections. I think the family is happy so far with our success and that the clientele base will grow as we start advertising.

drip, drip

August 2nd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Drip, Drip

That is the sound I heard from bedroom this morning right before the spicket erupted into an open spray of plain goodness. Today after more than 10 weeks without water and several months with only a very sporadic supply the water returned. The water committee finally found a private organization to loan the town the money still needed to purchase a new motor to replace the previous one. Although for now the water will only be turned on every other day for 2 hours in the morning, it was a refreshing splash in the face to be able to do so.

ALMA Camp

July 14th – July 16th, 2007 Piura, Peru

ALMA Camp

ALMA camp is a leadership camp for adolescent girls ages 14-18 years old. Each department has the opportunity to host their own camp and each volunteer within the department selects 2 or 3 girls from his or her site to participate in the camp. The camp consists of various presentations on topics such as self-esteem, speaking in public and leadership. For the past several months the 14 volunteers who chose to participate have been meeting in Piura once a month to plan the activities. We have had to request speakers to do presentations, solicit municipalities and other organizations to support us financially and arrange for all the other details to be taken care of. Most volunteers also did a fundraiser within in their site to help cover costs.

I think the girls had a great time. Between the games, the presentations and the chance to meet girls from all over the department of the Piura, most girls had an experience unlike any other they have ever had beforehand. ALMA Camp was a success.

Family Visit

July 2nd – July 13th, 2007 Lima, Peru

Family Visit

Today I saw my family for the first in 1 year and 12 days. Everyone got to come including my sister and brother and it was truly great to see and hear and touch them after such a long absence. We did many family things like play cards and Scrabble but also saw a good part of Peru. I´ll give a little bit of commentary on each site.

Machu Picchu

Across the world there has been a huge campaign to vote for the New 7 World Wonders. We were actually here the day before the grand announcement. Machu Picchu came in fourth and now I only have to visit 6 others. It was truly beautiful and lived up to all the hype. It is amazing how intact the ruins still are after over 800 years of climate change. I hiked up the Waynapicchu mountain which presents an incredible view of the ruins. I highly recommend doing the 1 hour hike as well as the trip in general.

Cusco

Cusco is where the Incans ran most of the empire. There is now a colonial feel to the city despite the fact that it is a tourist trap. The blend of Incan and Spanish architecture makes for a quaint atmosphere. We visited the most important cathedrals and a few other landmarks.

Lima

We didn´t have a whole lot of time in Lima but that was fine because well….Lima isn´t that great. The catacombs were pretty interesting and there was a changing of the guard in front of the president´s house. Like always, there is an upside to visiting Lima. The food options multiply sevenfold.

Trujillo

We stayed in the small beach town outside of Trujillo. We visited ruins of a pre-Incan civilization called Chan Chan. These ruins were more similar to those you would find in Egypt or Mayan cultures. They were vast in size and the experience was pretty cool overall. We did other beach type things there before heading in to the town of Trujillo and exploring its various cathedrals. I also ate the best calamari of my life at Picante Mar.

La Encantada

We then headed to Piura and to my site. Several people were very anxious to meet my family. My host family really enjoyed the visit and I think my biological family is very content with the care they are providing me. The artisans demonstrated the 16 step process that each piece of ceramic goes through. I think the family was impressed by the complexity and detail that goes into making each piece. The next day we bought combined 3 big cardboard boxes full of ceramics. We headed out to one of the fields to get a taste of what the farmer´s lives are like and enjoyed watermelon as the sun set. Dad got to have quite the dialogue with one of the local farmers about farming in the area. We ate the typical celebratory meal of the zone and soon settled to bed because everyone has been pretty wiped by all the traveling the trip entails.

Mancora

After getting the ceramics all packed up and saying goodbye to everyone in town we headed out to Mancora. This is a touristy beach town in northern Peru near the Ecuadorian border. Some may think it is too touristy but we Volunteers love it because it’s a little taste of the States. There is one place that serves the best breakfast in Peru. Jeannette, Josh and I all gave a go at surfing. Josh was a natural and got up several times but Jeannette and I were happy to get up the few times we did. Besides that, we mostly just did beach stuff like eat and relax. Dad didn´t want to leave but eventually we had to head back to Piura. We spent the day in Piura visiting the market which is always exciting to do in foreign country. We ate lunch with my good friend Ryan and then I put them on a bus back to Lima to catch their flight.

ALMA Camp Fundraiserç

June 24th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Overcoming Murphy´s Law

I will be participating in a leadership camp that Peace Corps volunteers put on once a year for adolescent girls. With the help of another lady in town who is very much respected we chose the 3 participants who would have the opportunity to attend the camp. It is expected that the girls will participate in a fundraiser to cover at least the cost of transportation.

We decided to host a movie night. The girls decided an action movie would work best and we chose Batman Begins. I literally had to look all over the market in Piura to find this movie even though the Spiderman movies were on every corner. I had planned to use the Peace Corps projector but it wasn´t returned in time. Instead we borrowed a projector and the screen from my counterpart agency CITE. As I start to set up everything in the Community Center I realize there is no outlet in this building. Besides that the power has been turned off do to negligence of an unpaid bill. Unfortunatley, I can´t relocate to the only other possibility, the Artisan Center, because there is a current order and the place is a mess. With the help of friend we rig up a very long extension cord to borrow electricity from the nearest neighbor who offered us the electricity free of charge. Everything is set up but the DVD doesn´t work in this player because of some regional piracy protection code or something of the sort. Another friend brings his player and we are in business. The place is bustling with people and we sell slightly over our goal. Everything is great except for the fact that you cannot hear the movie at all because well…teenagers really just want to be there to talk. But then ¾ of the way into the movie the entire town loses electricity. At least people were so helpful throughout the whole ordeal.