Visting My Host Brother and Sister

March 9th, 2008 Lima, Peru

Visiting Porfirio and Silvia and Pedrito

In December my host brother-in-law, Porfirio, moved to Lima because every day there seemed to be less and less work in La Encantada. Since he was probably my best friend in town, it was hard to see him leave. But I couldn´t really blame him since he is earning about 4 times as much money as he did before. It was just as hard in January when upon my return from the States, my host sister, Silvia, packed up and left for Lima with her 2 year old son to join her husband in Lima.

Since I was going down to Lima for some Peace Corps training, I took advantage of the trip and went a day earlier to visit these good friends who have truly become family. It was cool to see where they live in Lima. We mostly sat around chatting about their current life and I informed them of all the recent town gossip they have missed the past few months.

I also noticed that their ideals have not changed. They truly understand the importance of family and life and know that material things do not bring consistent joy. Porfirio complained about how boring life was there because he has to work 6 days a week and sometimes arrives home so late that his son is already asleep for the night. Pofirio works for a construction company and claims that he is coming back to La Encantada as soon as his contract is up. In the meantime, they are saving money for Pedro´s education and some capital to invest in there pottery gallery.