Peace Marches On

Latin America Excursion

2008-09-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

August 28th, 2008 Lima, Peru

Today starts the Latin America Excursion. My buddy Ryan and I will be traveling throughout South America and eventually north thru Central America all the way back to the States. This is something we have planned to do since training in 2006. We hope to take buses the entire way although we may be forced to take a boat or plane along the way.

Peace Corps gave us each approximately $800 cash in lieu of the plane ticket they would have bought to fly us home. We are hoping to maintain a budget of about $2,800 or less as we travel home. So, we are doing this on the cheap.

We are posting videos on http://www.youtube.com/. Search "ryanenelson" to watch videos of our trip along the way.

I will also be maintaining a blog at: www.latinamericaexcursion.blogspot.com.

I may not be posting as often as I did during Peace Corps but hope to write short summaries on each of the countries we visit as well as include any interesting anecdotes. I hope you join me vicariously.

End of Peace Corps Service

2008-09-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

August 27th, 2008 Lima, Peru

After 2 years, 2 months and 4 days as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am no longer. Today I had Close of Service duties at the Peace Corps Office. Basically, I had to take a bunch of surveys about my experience and take care of last minute stuff like health insurance.

I really enjoyed my Peace Corps experience and would recommend Peace Corps to anyone. The organization really takes care of its volunteers and as well as providing support, offers good technical training. Due to the economic crisis stateside, it may be a good time for individuals to join Peace Corps and ride out the turmoil across seas. Think about it.

I feel good about ending my service. I really do feel like I made a difference and gave hopeless people hope for the future. Furthermore, I learned alot during my two years and honestly believe the experience will continually provide wisdom as I live life. I encourage you to consider serving your country and your fellow man.

2008-09-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

August 16th - 24th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Farewell Parties

This last week I had several farewell parties or despedidas. I am going to give a short recap of them all.

Saturday - Chulucanas Basketball Team

Everyone from the team got together to bask about all the good memories over the last two seasons. I made margaritas for everyone since they had been asking me to do that for two years. They presented me with a certificate from the Team Club with their autographs and some words from each of them. It was a good last team outing.

Monday - Dried Fruit Group

For lunch, the dried fruit group put together a great despedida. One time when I was the guest of honor at an event, I ate an entire female chicken. They love how much I can eat, so the group had been talking for the past few months about how they were going to serve me a huge plate. When it was time to eat, everyone else was served a modest plate with a little bit of chicken on it and rice and other traditional sides. Finally, they brought me an entire female turkey and placed it before me. I told them to quit fooling around and bring me my actual plate. They told me to eat as much as I could. I successfully ate half the turkey and could have ate more but felt bad that no one else was getting any turkey, so I pretended to be stuffed.

The president and some other members of the group each gave some words and we spent the rest of the day drinking and recalling jokes for the last two years.

Thursday - Artisan Association

Tonight the majority of the artisans came to my despedida as well as the directors of the NGO I have been working with for the past two years, Cite Ceramica. Just like the others, some people gave little toasts and we enjoyed a good meal and some beer.

Friday - Host Family

My host family invited all the extended family from the regional capital of piura that I had got to know over the past few years. We had a really good meal and when it was time to toast, it was really hard. My host sister and brother talked a little bit, but my dad had to stop midway because he started choking up and my host mom couldn't even say a word because she was balling. I started crying halfway through my speech but finished nevertheless. It was good to cry.

I really will miss my host family because they truly treated me like family and we had a wonderful two years together. I will always remember them and plan on staying in touch.

Saturday - Lunch with Mario's Family

Mario is definitely my best Peruvian friend and we have done alot together over the last two years. Since I stay in Chulucanas after my basketball games, I have got to know his family pretty well. His mom prepared a farewell lunch for me on Saturday. It was fun hanging out with the cousins one last time.

Saturday Night - The Big Blowout

My friend Reydelinda prepared a little meal for my closest friends before the big blowout. Afterwards, everyone danced to the hired DJ and there were a few planned speeches given by the dried fruit group and a member of my youth group. I gave a little speech thanking the town for their hospitality. We danced late. It was good to have the opportunity to say goodbye to everyone.

Sunday - Leaving

I left Sunday morning. Several people saw me off and my host family started crying again but I held strong. Everyone asks me when I am coming back. Since I am now a godfather (in the Catholic sense of the term), of my host sisters child, I will probably be back in like 2 or 3 years for the baptism. I will be excited to return.

Dried Fruit Sold Here

2008-08-16T12:33:00.003-07:00

August 8th, 2008 Piura, Peru

Dried Fruit Sold Here

Last week we had sales dress rehearsals. Today was the big day. In the morning, Silvia went to Piura with me. First we visited an Art Gallery Center that also sells natural products from the local area. The owners were very kind and agreed to buy 14 bags of 100g each for the moment for personal consumption as well as to give away as gifts. They expect to buy from us the next mango season and encouraged us to continue to investigate the possibility of preparing mango jam as well.

Then we talked to the manager at a local grocery store. He told us that he carried dried mangos before and that there wasn´t very high turnover because the clientele doesn´t know the product. We offered to set up a sample stand and he said next mango season we can maybe give it a try.

Later that evening I met up with a youth named Cesar after his daily classes at the local Art Institute. We made the sales pitch at a local chocolate and candy shop. They were very excited about the product and told us they used to dry mangos themselves and that they sold well but it was just to labor intensive. So they agreed to buy the rest of our stock (44 bags of 50g each) and asked us to return once production began again.

I think this project has been a real success. In order to produce the 3.6 kg of product we just sold we used one case of fresh mangos which sells for S/. 10. We sold the value added product for S/. 125.60. Most of the cost of the product is mango which we buy from ourselves and labor which we provide. So basically the entire difference is profit we are earning. Thus the group just earned about 12 times as much per case of mangos then they used to.

Hopefully, they really take initiative and continue to expand the project. If you would still like to buy product, my mom still has some in States. Its $2 a bag plus $4 for shipping up to 5 bags. Just email me.

Sales Dress Rehearsals

2008-08-16T12:33:00.001-07:00

August 1st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Sales Dress Rehearsals

Last week I taught a lecture on the basic principles of sales. Before leaving for Lima, I left homework assignments for the potential sales candidates. They each had to prepare their sales presentation, which they would practice during a sales dress rehearsal today. It went really well. Each youth made his/her presentation and then we as a group offered constructive criticism. Afterwards, I made a presentation. Everyone commented on the difference and then was given a second chance to make their presentation. Then we elected two of the five candidates to accompany me to Piura the following week for a real sales run.

No Surgery!

2008-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

July 31st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

No Surgery

Dr. Jorge called today to inform me about my knee and the results from the MRI. Apparently the meniscus in my right knee is damaged but is not torn, so I don´t need surgery. Unfortunately, there really isn´t anything I can do to make it better. It practically has to get worse before I can then get surgery which will make it better. Got that? Alright. So no surgery, which is great and means full steam ahead with La Carrera Asombrosa (The Amazing Race) around South America.

Waterfall Trip

2008-08-06T09:53:00.001-07:00

July 25th – 29th, 2008 Department of Amazonas, Peru

Waterfall Trip

Supposedly 5 years ago a German tourist was hanging out drinking in a bar with some locals when he heard of a mystical waterfall nearby. He wondered why no one ever went there when the locals informed him that it was guarded by duendes or elves. So he told them to round up their bravest men because they were going to make a trip. When he arrived he found the supposed duendes, big monkeys the size of small humans. Ever since, the waterfall has become a bit of a tourist attraction although the number of tourist who visit it is very slim compared to most other tourist attractions in Peru.

July 28th is Peru´s Independence Day so Peace Corps gives us a couple of days off because no one does anything for several days besides sit around and drink. So we headed out to Chachapoyas to discover the waterfall for ourselves.

Kuelap

This morning we got up and did a few errands before hopping on a bus to Chiclayo. There we said good-bye to Steve and Julia because we probably won´t be seeing them again before everyone heads their separate ways. At 6:00pm we boarded the bus for Chachapoyas. Sometimes these bus rides can be like 12 hour long roller coaster rides so we popped some Dramamine for motion sickness and woke up around 5am to the darkness of Chachapoyas. After settling into our hotel rooms and catching a nap we headed to one of the largest sites of ruins in Peru: Kuelap.

These ruins are actually older than Machu Picchu and were built by a civilization older than the Incas, the Chachapoyanas. The rocks weren´t as finely cut as those in Machu Picchu but the ruins were still impressive nevertheless. In some ways it was cooler to be here instead of Machu Picchu because it wasn´t overrun by tourists. The site has a lot of work to do because they have only recently discovered these ruins and don´t know much about them. Around 4pm we made the 3 hour hike back down the mountain.

Catarata Gocta

According to National Geographic, Gocta is the third highest waterfall in the world. There are two steps to this waterfall. The first fall is 120 meters and the second is 650 meters or 2529 feet in total. So Sunday morning we headed out to a town called Cocohuayco. From there we hiked 2 hours to a small village called San Pablo where we grabbed a quick lunch and contracted a guide to take us to the waterfall. The path was pretty well marked on this side of the waterfall and the scenery was beautiful.

The guide was supposed to take us to the area between the two waterfalls and show us the path on the other side but frankly this guide was pretty bad. She abandoned us early because it was getting dark and she didn´t have a flashlight which we were told she was going to bring so she could get back. Later we would learn there were problems with this guide and the agency was thinking of dropping her.

The waterfall was absolutely beautiful and mystical. The boys set up the tents and worked on making a fire while the girls took a dip. The fire was nearly impossible to get going because we were working with wet wood because it had rained a good half hour during our hike. Eventually we got a fire going which we huddled around and roasted marshmallows. When the girls returned, they kept the fire going while we guys immersed ourselves in what had to be water very near 32º. The water is pretty much a mist by the time it reaches the base and creates a cold blanket of air surrounding the nearby area. The weird thing is that after submerging, you actually feel warm once you get out. I guess it is so cold that it shocks the body into some kind of warmness. Or maybe its just hypothermia.

We spent the rest of the night camping, although not necessarily sleeping because the tent was rather crowded.

Second Fall

There are approximately 150M between the first and second fall, so this morning we hiked over to the mouth of the second fall. Ryan and I ventured out to some boulders to get a good look of the fall. There was one rock which pretty much hung over the edge and would have proven the coolest picture ever. Although it looked feasible to get to it also seemed rather risky and we decided mom would never agree that a cool picture was worth life.

After an hour or so admiring our Creator´s beauty we started the hike from the second fall down to its base. At first there was a decently marked trail but it soon dissipated and we found ourselves blazing through the jungle, hoping we were heading the right direction. At times we were hiking through swamp. Eventually we came into a clearing and from there the hike was much more agreeable until we reached the town of Cocobamba. Originally we were supposed to get here much earlier in time for lunch but due to some unplanned deterrents we were slowed quite a bit. It was already 4pm.

The Run

From here the hike was a supposed to be a 4 hour walk round trip. Everybody was famished because we hadn´t really ate anything all day besides the random candy bar and packet of crackers. Some were proposing that we camp the night here and then do the waterfall in the morning. Others wanted to spend the night in the hostal we had already prepaid and then come back in the morning. Meanwhile Ryan was talking to a local and inquiring how long it would take if we ran.

Supposedly it would take an hour to run there and an hour and half to get back. We hadn´t ate anything all day and had already hiked 5 hours that morning. But we would save $25 in transportation and then have the next day to do nothing. So while Ryan and I were packing a light backpack of water and whatever food we had left, Casey (our resident marathon winner) ventured over to wish us luck. She had a goofy smile on her face and I could tell something was up.

Brent, “You want to go to, huh?”

Smiling, “Yeah. I think I do.”

“Grab a headlight. We might be coming back in the dark.”

And that is how the run started. We began jogging to the base of the second fall. The path was very well kept because most tourists only make this journey instead of doing the 2 day hike. It was also the most scenic run I have ever done. At one point my glasses fogged up and I tripped, falling to the ground with a thud, scraped knees and knocking my glasses to the ground. Casey and Ryan turned around.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Lets go. Don´t stop. Never Stop.”

Forty-five minutes later we were there. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen and Ryan put it the best, “I feel like we´re in the middle of Jurassic Park or something.” We took a quick dip in the frigid pool which felt utterly amazing after a day of sweaty hiking. From here we returned before dark completing the trip in quick 2 hours and 15 minutes.

While waiting for our transportation back to Chachapoyas we chatted up one of the local guides. Apparently the path had only been constructed a mere 6 months ago and just 2 months the town got electricity. The agency in San Pablo contacted the agency here in Cocobamba and apologized for the problems with the guide from the first day. Finally, some very nice people from Lima in their mid-twenties gave us a ride back to Chachapoyas in their Toyota 4Runner. What a day.

Trip Back

This morning Hana and Michael got up early at 6am to head back to Cocobamba so they could do the same hike Ryan, Casey and I did the day before. Ella headed off to see some ancient statues in another region nearby. Ryan, Casey and I got up for breakfast and then did what we had planned all throughout our run: nothing.

Later we would hop back on a bus to Chiclayo and from there to Piura.

Piura 7 Despedida

2008-08-03T15:01:00.001-07:00

July 24th, 2008 Piura, Peru

Piura 7 Despedida

A despedida is a going away party and I will probably be attending several of these over the next few weeks. Volunteers typically spend most of their time with the volunteers that live in their same department. Therefore it is tradition for the other volunteers in that region to throw a despedida for the outgoing volunteer class. We rented a retreat center in the department capital and had a bit of bbq / pool party. Everyone pretty much just hung out around the pool, playing pool games here and there. After dinner we put on a little music and started dancing a bit because it was still way to early to head to the club. Around 11pm we headed out to the club where we partied one last time as a group until around 2:30am, which is actually an early night for us. It was the last time I will probably see alot of folks. Although there are several volunteers I only see maybe once a month, everyone develops strong relationships quickly because we are going through the same things.

Close of Service Medical Exams

2008-08-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

July 19th´ - 23rd, 2008 Lima, Peru

Close of Service Medical Exams

My service is coming to a close and therefore I had to go to Lima for some final medical checks. Peace Corps wants to make sure its volunteers are healthy before they are finished. Peace Corps covers all medical conditions incurred during service, for life. The medical exams include a routine physical and any other testing the physician and/or volunteer deem necessary. The routine physical includes testing 3 stool samples for parasites or other problems. Most volunteers results come back negative.

Mine did not. I have a little friend living in me right now. It is a parasite called giardia. I haven´t actually had any real symptoms and the parasite hasn´t bothered me at all. I took a couple of pills and supposedly should be parasite free soon. I guess we will find out when I return to Lima for the final check out.

My right knee has been bothering me lately so we visited the orthopedist. He thought I might have a torn miniscus so we had a MRI. We are still waiting the results and exactly what Washington will do about it. Peace Corps will pay for everything but this might mean my trip around South America will be canceled if they make me fly home early for surgery.

Visitors

2008-07-19T10:19:00.001-07:00

July 18th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Visitors

It is always fun to have visitors because automatically have a better understanding of the life you live. In the past month I have had quite a few visitors because everyone wants to see where I have lived for the last two years before I leave. Casey came in June and then last week Lizzi came. The other day Rachel, Hana and Cheridyn all came. And yesterday Julia and her mom and brother all made the trip. It was fun to have everyone and I am glad they got to see what my life is like day in and day out.

How to Make Sales

2008-07-19T10:18:00.001-07:00

July 17th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

How to Make Sales

Each time I leave a meeting with the artisans I always wonder if there is any hope for this country. Each time I finish meeting with the dried fruit business, I know that there is. Today was a great meeting. We have practically completed the formalization process and are now ready to start applying for a health certificate. I prepared a presentation on how to make sales. Each of the members participated and upon request invited their college age kids to participate as well. Everyone actively participated in the lecture and this coming week we are going to perform practice rehearsals. After that, I and the two best salespersons will be heading into the regional capital to attempt a few sales. Wish us luck!

Artisan Association Elections

2008-07-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

July 11th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Artisan Association Elections

A year has passed since the association last elected a new president and all the other leadership positions. Tonight was the election for next year´s positions. Before the association held the election, I proposed that they did it a little different this year. I proposed that those who wanted certain positions give a little speech and then we would hold a secret ballot vote. Normally, a few people are nominated and then everyone is asked his vote personally in front of all the others. Unfortunately I was shot down because “we have always done it this way.” Talk about a lame excuse. I made this known and a couple people supported me but eventually they decided to do it “like they always have.” The problem is that it puts people on the spot to have to declare your vote in front of everyone, especially when they go down the line one by one. It becomes just a big political problem with personal friendships and pressure playing a big part. One guy stood up and said, “This is why nothing ever changes. We don´t really hold our leadership accountable to actually accomplish anything.” I really don´t know if there is much hope for this association.

Volleyball

2008-07-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

July 10th , 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Volleyball

After I returned from the United States I tried to organize a community recreation committee. Unfortunately it never really happened. After talking to Dad, we decided the girls still deserved such an activity nevertheless. So about 2 weeks ago I bought a volleyball net and some volleyballs with the money Dad sent me. The girls have been playing 3 to 4 times a week and really to seem to enjoy playing. They would much rather play volleyball than make jewelry. So would I. So we only make jewelry on Wednesdays and play volleyball the rest of the week instead. They have been setting up the net by themselves and playing when I can´t due to prior commitments. If you only knew how big that is!

This week they wrote a petition to the community president requesting a permanent location to play volleyball. Dad gave us some money to put the posts in cement. They gathered signatures from girls all over town and should present it to the proper authorities this week.

Casey: The Speech Pathologist

2008-07-19T10:15:00.002-07:00

July 8th, 2008 Piura, Peru

Casey: The Speech Pathologist

I think I may have mentioned that the infant in my house has trouble speaking. Pedro is now 2 years and 9 months old and still only speaks about 20 words max. The other child in our house is the same age and speaks like a 4 year old. Fortunately my friend Casey, a volunteer in the sierra, studied to be a speech pathologist in grad school and will be pursuing such a career when we returns to the States in December. So today my host sister met me and Casey in Piura with Pedro. We spent a few hours together so Casey could properly diagnose Pedro.
She said it could be aphasia which is the inability of the brain to produce or understand speech due to an injury or disease. She said he is way to young to diagnose this because some kids don´t start speaking until they are 3 ½ or 4. There are also many good signs: he understands almost everything, he uses lots of gestures and is very communicative in general, and sometimes uses 2 words together. So hopefully he is just taking a little longer to learn and will someday just explode with speech. My host family and family back home are both very thankful to Casey for being able to help us out.

Pacasmayo International Marathon

2008-07-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

July 5th – 7th, 2008 Pacasmayo, Peru

Pacasmayo International Marathon

Mario is my counterpart but also my best friend in Peru. I have always tried to arrange for him to join me and the other volunteers on vacation sometime but it never worked out until recently. A couple months ago we signed up to participate in a 10K race on the beach of Pacasmayo. Two volunteers organized an international marathon there as well as other races. It was very well run and I think the community plans on organizing the marathon again next year.

Mario and I only trained for about two weeks before the 10K (1/4 marathon) race. Thus our expectations were not too high. In fact Mario was just concerned about finishing because he had never run 10 km in his life. We didn´t do so badly. I finished fourth and Mario not too far behind me. The three men who beat us are all part of a runner´s club in Lima. Mario said he wasn´t exactly sure where he got the energy to finish the race.

I had a couple of friends who ran the entire marathon. Pete had trained pretty extensively and ended up finishing third. My friend Ryan had only trained up to 13 of the 26 miles but crossed with pride still intact. Casey was the first woman to cross the line and received a cool trophy as well as a S/. 500 prize. Way to go Casey!

The rest of the weekend everyone kind of just hung out. Mario said it was a really cool experience. I am glad he got to join me.

Regional Government Project

2008-07-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

July 1st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Regional Government Project

Originally I was assigned to the town of La Encantada to teach administration skills to a group of mothers who were going to run a restaurant. The regional government was going to build the restaurant but early in my service that project fell through. Recently the World Tourism Organization, part of the United Nations, approved a pilot project in La Encantada. It is a pilot project testing the ability to provide funds to small towns that have tourism potential. The WTO is working alongside the regional government to implement a development program and promote tourism at the same time. So for the last couple of months I have been consulting both organizations. Recently we have been giving presentations in the following themes: self-esteem and family gardens. We will also be training a mothers club in food preparation and training teenagers as tourism guides.

Trip to the Sierra

2008-07-08T10:54:00.003-07:00

June 26th, 2008 Pambarumbe, Peru

Hana´s Site

The next afternoon Rachel and hiked about an hour to the town of San Miguel where I caught a bus passing by. In Pambarumbe, I got to see Hana´s various projects. She has a quite successful school garden. Her big project as a youth volunteer has been to develop a community library. It’s really cool and now she is working on coding all the books. Hana´s host mom used to cook for a Mormon family in Lima, so she does a little more contemporary cooking. We asked to borrow her waffle iron because every time Hana and I are in Mancora we reminisce about how we used to eat waffles all the time in the college cafeteria. Unfortunately the iron wasn´t working properly and wouldn´t heat up. So we ate some really really dense pancakes. The bus passes at 5am so I got up early to head back into Piura. My trip to the sierra was fun. It´s always good to see other volunteer´s sites and get to share their successes with them.

June 25th, 2008 Santo Domingo, Peru

Rachel´s Site

Since I was already up the mountain, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit some other volunteer´s sites. Today I visited with Rachel, another Peru 7 volunteer. These towns in the sierra are quite different from where I live. Santo Domingo is actually fairly developed with internet, a couple of restaurants and asphalt roads. In the caserios or annexes, I think the people are pretty poor like the people who live in my village. Rachel primarily works with a weaving association so we visited her artisan´s workshop. We pretty much just hung most of the day and had dinner with another volunteer named Alyssa.

Chalaco Anniversary

2008-07-08T10:54:00.001-07:00

June 22nd – 24th, 2008 Chalaco, Peru

Chalaco Anniversary

My host dad is originally from a town in the sierra called Chalaco. Its about 6 hours from Piura up a mountain. The municipality invited him and my host mom to display their ceramics and give a presentation on the process. Two of my good friends, Mike and Casey, are volunteers in Chalaco so I headed up with my host family for a couple of days. Hana and Ella, other volunteers from the Piura area, were there so we had quite the time.

Bull Fight

The first day we went to the bull fight where they post two bulls against each other. When one bull eventually tires and runs away from the other bull, a winner is declared. Due to miserable rain this activity was cut short. It was kind of interesting and much more humane than the Spanish bull fights which pit a bull against a human with a sword.

The Fair

On Monday and Tuesday we attended the fair where various artisans displayed their products such as weavings, artisanal jam or candy and my host family´s ceramics. Tuesday was the national Day of the Farmer, so there was a big dance that evening. I am usually the big man on campus in site, so you can imagine what it was like having 5 gringos roaming the party.

Chulucanas Anniversary Basketball Tournament

2008-07-08T10:53:00.003-07:00

June 17th & 19th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Chulucanas Anniversary Basketball Tournament

This week is the anniversary of Chulucanas so there are all kinds of parades and other types of activities. Our team participated in the 4 team anniversary tournament. We won the first game pretty easily but the championship game was one of the most fun games I have played in here in Peru. Since there was a S/. 300 prize for the winning the team, I think the game was more intense than usual. We started the game down 12-2 and were down by as much as 14 points the first half. Our fans were quite nervous because this is not a position we usually find ourselves in.

With as little as 6 minutes left we were still down by as much as 9 points. After a good run we took our first lead of the game with a minute and a half left to play. We were up by 6 points but after a few mistakes they had cut the lead to 3 points with 30 seconds to play. A botched 3 pointer and a free throw on our end gave us a 4 point victory.

There was a mini victory presentation in front of the 400 or so fans where they presented a trophy half as tall as I. After a couple rounds of photos we headed to the president of the club´s house for a case of beer. They made me give the toast since I will be leaving soon.

Mothers Club

2008-07-08T10:53:00.001-07:00

June 10th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Jewelry with Mothers

My host mom always asks me why I don´t do the jewelry course with mothers. I had always thought she was kind of just joking but this time I told her if she found some other mothers we could start doing the jewelry club with a separate mothers club as well. So today we met for the first time. The conversations were much different than when the teenagers constantly ask me the typical kinds of questions that teenage girls ask.

Trip to Ecuador

2008-07-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

May 27th-June 3rd, 2008 Ecuador

Piura to Loja to Cuenca

My buddy Kevin has a roommate from college who was a volunteer in the jungle of Ecuador. So we decided to use our last few vacation days to visit him. Tuesday night we hopped on an overnight bus from Piura to Loja for 7 seven hours and then immediately caught an early morning bus 6 hours to Cuenca.

Cuenca

Cuenca is a colonially city set in the valley of small mountains. The surroundings were absolutely beautiful and since Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador it was fairly modern. Unfortunately the weather was somewhat miserable so were not able to enjoy our day hike in the nearby national park as much as we would have liked to. Kevin is from Boston so we watched the Celtics in a really cool sports bar. Due to stupid TV rights, I had to listen to the Spurs on the radio while they lost the next night.

Kevin and I were very impressed with Ecuador in general. It is much cleaner than Peru since people take time to properly throw their trash away. The public transportation was also much more organized. These differences are to be expected in areas like Chile and Argentina whose GDPs per capita are significantly higher but Ecuador´s GDP is relatively equal to Peru´s. That goes to show that money isn´t necessary to improve the circumstances. But the nicest thing was the absence of jerks. Instead of always getting in our faces to try to sell us something, people were chill.

Baños

The next morning we headed to Ambato en route to Baños, a small tourist town where people undertake rafting trips or take dips in the naturally heated pools. Since we were only staying the night, we grabbed some dinner while the Celtics advanced to the NBA finals. We then headed to a local night club to dance with some locals but unfortunately it was mostly just a big gringo party.

The Landslide

We wanted to get to the jungle as soon as possible this morning but ran into a bit of a delay. About 30 minutes outside of Baños the bus stopped all of sudden. As I looked out the window I wondered why there was a brown water fall in the middle of the road. As boulders the size of semi-truck tires bounded down the mountain I realized I was witnessing a landslide. It was kind of unnerving considering we were only 3 bus lengths away and two cars back from the craziness. Since the landslide appeared over, a few idiots thought they would try to cross over the boulders. Unfortunately that triggered the mountain again and more although smaller boulders came crashing down again. I had a feeling this would happen and grabbed most of the occurrence on tape. After about 3 hours, a bulldozer came and removed the obstacle and we continued on our way.

Tena

After a pretty rough bus ride we eventually found ourselves in the largest city in the jungle of Ecuador, Tena. It was much smaller and less modern than Iquitos, the largest city in the jungle of Peru. We checked into a rustic hostal and grabbed some lunch before meeting up with Kevin´s old college roommate, Jay. We headed to a little bar where Kevin and Jay caught up about the good times. Later that night we went dancing with Jay and his Ecuadorian wife.

Monkey Island

After a quick breakfast we headed out to a little tourist island that is overrun with monkeys. You have to be careful because the monkeys will be reach into your pockets and steal whatever valuables you may have. The locals love to sit and around watch the befuddled tourists when the monkeys run off with their beloved necklace or what not. The municipality has posted warning signs, so you are at your own risk. The island was pretty chill. Later, in Tena, we had dinner with another former Peace Corps Volunteer from Ecuador who had married an Ecuadorian. They had just got back from the States where they had spent the past year.

A PCV site

Jay lived where I always dreamed my Peace Corps site would be like. We took a bus for about an hour from Tena. Then we had to cross a bridge over a rather fast-flowing river. From there we walked another 20 minutes before arriving at Jay´s house. His house was a wooden cabin located on the outskirts of the really thick parts of the jungle. On one side of the house is the large river and on the backside a nice little stream flows. His family has over 100 acres of jungle land. Jay had to learn to Quichua, a derivative of the Peruvian Quechua which was spoken by the native tribes before even the times of the Inca. Almost all the people speak Spanish as a second language but in order to truly integrate into town it was necessary to learn the native language. His wife´s mother doesn´t even speak Spanish, as many women of that generation didn´t learn Spanish.

For dinner they prepared a traditional jungle meal. They cut down a palm tree and served us heart of palm, which is a tasty vegetable kind of like artichoke. Along with rice we were also served suri, large grub worms that have been roasted. In all seriousness, they were delicious. The texture was a little chewy but the flavor was exactly that of roasted peanuts. I thought I was being the cool gringo by eating worm after worm but later found out that the worms are actually quite expensive, at least in the city, because they are hard to find in abundance. Ours came straight from the backyard. You can check out pictures by clicking on the link to my photos.

Kevin and I had to start our trip back to Peru that night so we thanked the family and hopped on a bus.

Trip Back

The trip back was a mini-preview of what our road trip back to the States will probably be like. We got on a bus at 9:45 pm and then pulled into the Guayaquil terminal at 9am. Since we needed to get back to Peru as soon as possible in order to comply with Peace Corps rules and the vacation request we had made we then got on another bus at 9:45am. We took this to Tumbes on the border before taking a minivan at 6:00pm to Piura. All said and done we arrived in Piura at 9:30pm after about 24 hours of constant traveling.

The Latest in Basketball

2008-06-07T16:05:00.004-07:00

May 26th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

Basketball Games

Due to the rain the league never really organized. Instead we played a little three game tournament. Since Mario and I couldn´t be there our team lost the first game and thus we came in second place in the tournament with a 2-1 record. But last night we played a different kind of game. Every year a group of high school seniors comes from Philadelphia for a week to do mission work. Last year I played with the Americans and we won by 7 points. Everyone called me a traitor and told me this year I had to play for the Chulucanas team. Most Peruvian teams strictly play zone which makes it difficult to penetrate to the basket. Since the Americans tried playing man defense, I was able to drive to the hole quite liberally. It was a fun night as I ended up with around 20 points and at least 10 assists as well as at least a 20 point win. I can´t wait to get back into the routine of playing ball 3 times a week against good competition.

Work in Site

2008-06-07T16:05:00.003-07:00

May 13th-25th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Work in Site

These next few months I hope to wrap up all my projects and try to make sure that they are sustainable and ready to pass on to the next phase. The dried fruit business is getting close to completing the formalization process. I soon hope to go on some trips to the capital city and pitch our product to the local grocery stores. I will continue to meet with the jewelry youth group and discuss gender roles and other such topics. It sounds like the artisan consortium is handling the export order well so far.

Unfortunately the primary school never got their act together and I will not be teaching computers there. I heard that the primary school had 10 computers available but no one to teach the kids. So last January, before summer break, I told the director that I would like to teach computers to the 5th grade class when classes began again in April. He seemed excited. Since the director is from Chulucanas and never comes to La Encantada, I had to wait til the first day of classes to reconfirm with the director. He then told me that the parents association would have to approve to pay a security guard to sleep with the computers overnight. A meeting was scheduled and then postponed. And then postponed. And then postponed. I will not be teaching computers these last three months. This is Peru.

What Comes Next

2008-06-07T16:05:00.002-07:00

May 12th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Job Prospects

I guess I should start thinking about a job. After completing my service in September I will be traveling throughout Central & South America all the way up to Mexico until Thanksgiving. I plan on starting work sometime after the New Year. In the meantime I wouldn´t mind everybody keeping their ears open for the following:

I would like to work in consulting or as a financial analyst but am very flexible as to the position. Primarily I would like to work in the Chicago area but would am also interested in the following metropoliatian areas: San Francisco, Denver, DC, or even Dallas or San Antonio. Something international would be really cool too. Since probably only 3 people actually read this blog, I should probably put out some resumes but thanks to those who do.

COS Conference

2008-06-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

May 7th-10th, 2008 Lima, Peru

COS Conference

Approximately 3 months before the end of our service, Peace Corps puts on a Close of Service conference. The conference serves many purposes including: a time to reconnect with volunteers for the last time, provide job search advice, and explain all the administration details necessary for leaving.

The day before the conference we all pretty much just hung out. As usual the boys played cards while the girls chatted. The next morning we left early for a retreat center outside of Lima. It was actually pretty nice. In between sessions on resume writing and culture shock we threw around the football.

The next night we headed back to Lima. I thought it was a rite of passage for the whole group to go out to the club and dance all night but apparently our group is lame. I think only 14 of the 32 volunteers hung out that night.

The next day we enjoyed lunch at this great gourmet buffet in Lima. I seriously have never ate better. Its all the steak and seafood and gourmet pastas you can eat. Afterwards, a few of the guys headed to the horse track. We spent the next three hours betting on horses, which in my opinion is exhilarating. I came out up a dollar but my buddy won $12 on the last race. We then headed directly to the bus station.

In conclusion, COS conference was anticlimactic since we still have 3 months left. It was good to be reminded how to do a resume and great to see everyone for the last time.

GMAT and Embassy Family

2008-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

May 6th, 2008 Lima, Peru

The GMAT

Although I have no plans to attend a graduate school of business for at least 2 to 3 three years, I figured I should take advantage of the extra time I have to study. Therefore, today I took with the entrance exam to graduate business school. My buddy Mike and I took the test together. It went alright. It always feels good to get such things over with.

May 4th-6th, 2008 Lima, Peru

Embassy Family

Many families from the Embassy enjoy having volunteers stay in their houses so that they can connect with Peace Corps volunteers. Since my buddy Mike had stayed with Bob and Susan before we elected to stay with them instead of in a noisy hostel while we rested and prepared for the GMAT.

Staying with embassy families is great for many reasons. First of all, it´s always fun staying in a super nice house with all the amenities instead of some cheap hostel. Second of all, they treat you to all kind of nice meals and American food. The U.S. embassy has a little store with all kinds of imported food. Unfortunately, volunteers don´t have access to this treasure chest. But perhaps the most enjoyable part is sharing experiences with the embassy families. They are always so enthusiastic to hear about our experiences in the field. Susan is the director of the narcotics division of the embassy and is in charge of a program that trains Peruvian police in the management of the drug trade. So, she had a lot of fun stories to tell as well. Although the volunteers get together every so often and speak English and share our thoughts on development and everything else, it was nice to hang out with adults who were not our peers. Mike and I really enjoyed our stay.

The Circus

2008-04-30T13:15:00.004-07:00

April 26th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

The Circus

Peru is one big circus but that doesn´t stop a formal company from staking a tent in small rural towns and offering a few hours of needed amusement. I noticed that every night a couple of my favorite kids kept going to hang out in front of the circus tent. So I decided to treat a family of 4 and their cousins. We got their early to make sure we had good seats. I mean location. I don´t think my legs or but has ever been so sore after spending 4 hours on hard narrow wooden benches with my legs practically crouched up in my face. But the circus was rather amusing. The acts were what´s expected of a small town Third World circus. But the comic troupe was actually quite funny although crude. Due to my superb ability to stick out, I was fortunate to be the butt of two jokes. For one I was forced to stand in front of the crowd of 500 while the clown demonstrated the four parts of the body: the head, the trunk, the extremities, and the little trunk. Afterwards, one clown wanted to teach a younger teenage clown how to pursue a love interest. He instructed the young clown to choose a girl from the stands. He chose one of the girls from my youth group and proceeded to botch sweet nothings and sing to her. She was quite embarrassed but handled it well. Around midnight I headed home with several happy kids.

Doing Business in Peru

2008-04-30T13:15:00.003-07:00

April 17th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

Frankfurt Fair Order and Consortium

Several pottery associations sent show pieces to one of the largest handcraft fairs in the world. From this fair, an order for 2000 pieces was obtained. My association had 2 of the sample pieces chosen and therefore is responsible for an order 720 pieces. In order to pursue similar opportunities in the future, the 5 associations of Chulucanas are forming a business consortium. My counterpart NGO, Cite Cerámica, has brought in a consultant to help in the formation of said consortium. We have been meeting weekly with the presidents of each association.

The consultant´s name is Antonio. This guy understands business. Although Peruvian he spent the first few minutes chewing out all the presidents for their inexcusable tardiness, explaining how time is money and such tardiness demonstrates a lack of respect for those left waiting. From the start I knew I was going to like this guy. After spending several years between Washington, DC and Paris as a marine, he really understands what it is that keeps Peru from advancing.

Expanding the Pie, not the slice

In my opinion, one of the main reasons Peru doesn´t develop as it should is because most Peruvians refuse to work cooperatively. Everyone is always out for himself. In order for an individual to have more it isn’t necessary to take a larger slice of the pie. This would require that some other individual take a smaller slice. In general Peruvian society fails to see that if instead the pie is expanded, it’s possible for all to enjoy more. I can´t tell you how many times I have drawn 2 concentric circles in the dirt road in order to explain this concept. Some get it. They just have trouble convincing others work together with them.

Perhaps because Peru is a nation that has continually been conquered, the people lack all sense of trust in cooperation and in each other. At some point though, excuses become just that: excuses. The other day my Peruvian friend Alfredo complained to me how you can´t trust anyone because they are always trying to scam you. For instance, while buying fruit in the market the other day Alfredo picked a ripe peach. The vendor exclaimed, “Perhaps you want two?” After nodding indifferently, the vendor quickly grabbed another peach and tossed both into an opaque plastic bag and double knotted it. When Alfredo arrived home he discovered one savory peach and a rotted one. Needless to say, Alfredo will not be buying fruit from this stand again. This shortsightedness is a plague infecting all of Peru. The perfect example is a story Antonio told that he claims is the most frustrating story of his career as a Peruvian business man.

Before consulting, Antonio owned an industrial fishing company that ranked #1 in Peru. He attended an international seafood fair in Boston where he met a business man from Florida looking to buy a particular kind of shrimp. Although he wasn´t actually in the shrimp business himself, he knew someone who had this particular kind. So the American business man flew to Peru to meet with Antonio and his contact. The Floridian proceeded to check the quality of 10 different cases chosen from random. He sized up the texture, the smell, size and taste of each of the 10 cases. He was content and informed Antonio´s contact that he would send a fax within 48 hours confirming a deposit of $50,000 into his bank account for the first container. The contact would profit $8,000 a container and Antonio would profit $2000 a container as the broker. The American stated that he would need 8 containers a month.

When the fax came through, Antonio´s contact exclaimed, “Look how trusting these Americans are. Lets take the money and run.”

Antonio, “Are you stupid? You want to forego $10,000/container by 8 containers a month for only $50000. Were talking almost a million dollars a year in profit.”

“Well, since he is your contact, we´ll send the first container.”

Upon arrival, the American calls, “Peruvian scammers! Half the container is of the quality we agreed upon. The other half is practically garbage.”

“Well, fine! I´ll send another half container”

The American never ordered another container. And this is why Antonio lives a frustrating life. The most shocking part of this story is that this is just one of thousands of similar stories occurring every month all around the country.

Site Development

2008-04-30T13:15:00.002-07:00

April 15th, 2008 Yapatera, Peru

Site Development II

This time Wilfredo, Luiggi and I headed out to Yapatera to conduct a formal meeting with various townspeople. I was very impressed with Wilfredo and Peace Corps in general. Peace Corps does a really good job informing the people of the role of the volunteer as well as gauging the level of community interest in a volunteer. The town was left with a list of homework duties such as determining 3 possible host families. Wilfredo instructed these community leaders to call him when they had completed their homework in order to set up another meeting.

April 10th, 2008 Yapatera, Peru

Site Development

Peace Corps is constantly looking for new sites to place volunteers and current volunteers play a large role suggesting possible sites. Therefore, Ryan and I headed out to a town called Yapatera near Chulucanas. It is an Afro-Peruvian community, founded hundreds of years ago when slaves were imported to work in the sugar cane fields. Mario and Luiggi accompanied us and were a great help since they knew the local mayor. We set up a meeting for Tuesday with the Peace Corps regional coordinator, Wilfredo.

Grupo Cinco Concert

2008-04-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

April 7th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

Grupo Cinco Concert

Grupo Cinco is a Peruvian band that has become quite successful and well-known recently. Since they were playing in nearby Chulucanas, I headed to the concert with a few friends from town and my good friend Ryan. Ryan is a volunteer in the sierra but due to the recent rain has not been able to get back to his site because the road currently is not passable. So he has been hanging out with me the past few days.

We met up with my counterpart, Mario, and some other Peruvian friends of mine. It was a great concert. The band played 5 continuous hours without taking a break. I have been to a few concerts here before but most were disappointing. On the contrary, Grupo Cinco was quite fun.

GMAT Studying

2008-04-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

April, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

GMAT Studying

Although I do not plan on attending graduate school for at least a few years, I thought I would take of advantage of all my free time to study for the MBA entrance exam. Thus, I have been studying for a couple hours every night this month. I would appreciate any prayers during my preparation as well as for the day of the exam, the 6th of May.

Buy Dried Fruit!

2008-04-04T07:20:00.001-07:00

April 3rd, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Buy Dried Fruit!

When I went home for Christmas I carried home slightly more than a hundred bags of dried mangos produced by mango farmers. These mangos are seriously quite tasty and definitely a healthy snack alternative. The bags sell for $2 each plus shipping and handling. You can write me at brent.benner@gmail.com with your order and your mailing address. I will forward the information to my mother who will promptly send you your tasty treat. If you need to be further convinced:

Why You Should Buy Some Dried Mangos

1) They are tasty
2) They are healthy
3) They are cheaper than you could find elsewhere
4) They are fair trade product
5) You like what I am doing here

Check out the Website

2008-04-04T07:19:00.004-07:00

April 2nd, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Website is up and running

I just wanted to let everyone know that the website is up and running. You can find the link to the right. You can find electronic catalogs in pdf format as well as general information about the association. Right now the spacing is a little off, but I think most of the links work. Over the next few months, I will be working with the association to include various features and polish the overall appearance of the site.

Formalization Process

2008-04-04T07:19:00.003-07:00

March 31st, 2008 Piura, Peru

The Formalization Process

In order to sell our dried fruit in supermarkets, we have to formalize our business and obtain a health certificate. We originally planned to do this through the regional government with the help of the Program for Social Aid because they offered us a discount on the excruciatingly high fees and general consultancy. Since they have been even more bureaucratic than the average Peruvian government employee, we have elected to seek formalization without their help. Today we completed the first step by registering our business name.

In the States, I formalized a small business I had in less than a day and for the small sum of $15. To do so in Peru would take several several months and cost upwards of $300. That is a sum almost equal to the national GDP per capita. Therefore, more than 50% of the Peruvian economy is informal and underground. Hernando de Soto, coincidentally a Peruvian author, is one of the foremost experts on Third World economics and argues in his renown book, The Mystery of Capital, that the main reason developing countries take so long to catch up to their rich neighbors is because their governments are plagued with corrupt bureaucracy and do not offer their citizens property rights or the ability to establish themselves as creditworthy and thus access to capital. Although the book can be quite technical at times, I highly recommend it if you desire to understand the plight of these countries.

March Madness and Easter Weekend

2008-04-04T07:19:00.001-07:00

March 21st-23rd, 2008 Mancora, Peru

Semana Santa

Peruvians celebrate Holy Thursday through Easter with several days of holiday. Since my town doesn´t seem to celebrate anything (read the Christmas entry from 2007 for an especially disappointing holiday celebration anecdote), I took advantage of the free vacation days to head to the beach.

Originally we were headed to Chachapoyas in the higher altitude part of the jungle, where you can find the world´s third highest waterfall and 1000 year old ruins. But due to the rain, those plans were canceled.

Therefore, we hung out at the beach and literally did nothing. Besides getting destroyed by killer waves and tossing the football and discussing various issues such as universal health care, the public education system and the effectiveness of aid work. I mean we are Peace Corps Volunteers.

March 19th-20th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

March Madness

Perhaps the hardest part about living in a foreign country for a guy like me is the inability to watch the sports games I would like to. I mean Baylor actually made the tournament this year after spending decades in a drought. Of all of March Madness, I have watched about 10 minutes of one game. Although other networks might have the rights to certain games, ESPN Deportes usually is able to pick up most matches. But sometimes they fail. Hence the reason that golf was being showed most of the first two days of March Madness.

The other volunteers and I could only day dream about spending two straight days at Buffalo Wild Wings next year. If I have vacation days by then, I might consider taking two days off just to eat wings, drink wheat beer and salivate over 17 screens each featuring different games.

March Madness has not only been confined college basketball this year. Check out the NBA. In the Western Conference, nine teams are vying for 8 playoff spots and are mostly within 2 games of each other. Someone will win 50 games this year and not make the playoffs. Hopefully, I will be able to catch a least a few games as the NBA is much better known here than college basketball.

A Constantly Changing House

2008-04-04T07:18:00.003-07:00

March 17th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

A Constantly Changing House

My host brother, Edwin, moved to Iquitos in the jungle nine years ago. He married, had two daughters and recently moved back to La Encantada last December with said family. Although the weather is fairly similar to the jungle, Iquitos is a town of 100,000 while La Encantada is only home to 3,500. Lenny, Edwin´s wife, has not got used to living in La Encantada and has therefore decided to move back. Everyone is quite sad. My host mother has only known her grandkids for 3 months and now they have headed back to Iquitos. Edwin has stayed for now because Lenny claims she is just taking a trip to the jungle and will return in May. Since this appears to just be smoke blown in one´s eyes, it is assumed that Edwin will eventually have to return to the jungle as well, if he wants to live with his wife and daughters. Since my host mother has not seen her son daily for 9 years, today was a day to cry as she understood the reality of Lenny´s departure. People all around town can´t comprehend the fact that I have accustomed myself to the living conditions of La Encantada, whereas Lenny failed to do so. Its all attitude.

I will really miss the 5 year old, Jessariah. I have never met such a young kid with so much personality. I mean this girl understood the talent of sarcasm and employed it at the ripe age of 5 years old. And rumor has it, I was to be the Godfather of the 6 month old baby.

As often as the residents come and go at our house, you´d think we were running a studio hotel.

Warden Training

2008-04-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

March 10th-12th, 2008 Lima, Peru

Warden Training

Certain volunteers are chosen by the Security Coordinator, to participate in Warden Training. Basically, we learned how aid the Peace Corps staff during any emergencies. Should there be an emergency (such as the earthquakes that devastated southern Peru last August), these volunteers would help locate the whereabouts of all volunteers. Last August, the phone lines for the entire country went down for a period of time and now it is required that a plan be implemented to locate volunteers by passing notes on public transportation. Thus, I spent a couple days in Lima being trained for something that will hopefully never come to fruition.

Visting My Host Brother and Sister

2008-03-26T13:32:00.003-07:00

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.

Beekeeping

2008-03-26T13:32:00.001-07:00

March 8th, 2008 Picsi, Peru

Beekeeping with Pete

My good buddy Pete lives in a small town called Picsi about 10 minutes outside of the departmental capital of Lambayeque. Since we would both be travelling to Lima that night for training purposes, I decided to head down the Pan-American 3 hours and see what his life as a volunteer is all about.

We spent the morning visiting the NGO to which he was originally assigned. They work with a different style of pottery and also promote animal husbandry projects. We visited with some friends and family and I realized how much of an impact Pete has had on the kids there. Everywhere you walk you hear “Peter!” We had lunch with his family and then got ready to go beekeeping.

Pete´s main project has been to help some beekeepers expand their business by practicing better business habits. Along the way, Pete has learned a great deal about beekeeping. We suited up in those famous bee suits that make the user look like an infectious disease doctor. It was fun to watch the beekeepers do their work. I learned to spot the queen and quite a bit more. Hopefully, I´ll post some pictures soon.

Family Gardens: The Sequel

2008-03-26T13:31:00.001-07:00

March 3rd & 4th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Family Gardens: Attempt 2

Last year I attempted to grow family gardens with mothers in order to raise nutritional awareness and offer a economic option to the standard rice and potatoes. Unfortunately, due to bad governance we lost water for 10 weeks and most gardens perished. The first time I had mothers place their gardens behind their houses because I thought they would be more apt to work in them if they were closer in vicinity. On the contrary, the gardens that worked better were those which were further from town in the fields. These mothers were able to take advantage of the irrigation canals used to water the crops.

I tend to teach my business classes around 4pm because most prefer this time slot. Recently though no one seems to want to meet in the evening due to the rain. Well, you can only read so many hours of the day. Therefore, I have been finding individuals who want to plant family gardens. You should see the look on people´s faces when they seem me up at 6am strolling out to the fields with a shovel in my hand ready to get dirty. This week we planted tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cilantro, radishes, cucumbers and cabbage. Hopefully, a few weeks from now I will be able to write about the wonderful salads we are eating.

On the Brink of an Economic Crisis

2008-03-26T13:30:00.002-07:00

March 1st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

On the Brink of an Economic Crisis

Due to the constant downpour, I believe La Encantada is on the brink of an economic crisis. The next few paragraphs will describe the economic plight faced by those who earn a living in my site.

Artisans: The artisans are unable to produce ceramics for sale because there is no clay because the clay producers are unable to keep their pits dry enough for the two days required to produce clay. There is not enough dry wood to fire pieces. Finally, the artisans can´t smoke any pieces which would otherwise be ready for sale because all the mango leaves are soaking wet. Normally, 30 to 40 tourists visit town daily but due to the rain and the road conditions we are lucky to get one unexpecting tourist family per day. Needless to say, the artisans are in dire conditions. So are all those who work within the rest of the economic chain in support of the artisans.

Farmers: The farmers don´t have it so bad. Although some of their fields may be flooded, most are excited about the crops this year should definitely yield. Those who own their own fields are excited and can wait out these down times but those who work as day laborers are sitting idle and penniless. Everyone worries if the rain doesn´t cease soon there will be no crops at all this season.

Taxis Drivers: The dirt roads are horribly muddy. Therefore the usual 20 minute ride into town takes at least twice as long and leaves its passersby splattered with dirty water. Thus, traffic is down about 80%. Supposedly these conditions are very rough on the maintenance of the vehicles.

Others: The economy of La Encantada is not very complex but quite interlinked. The shop owners earn less due to a combination of higher prices and the fact that everyone has less disposable income. The mechanics have less work because far fewer trips are being made to town due to road conditions.

Trying to keep dry

2008-03-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

February 28th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Trying to Keep Dry

The final paragraph of my last entry describes the rain as a blessing and proceeds to list several reasons why this is popular opinion. This opinion is beginning to run dry due to the fact that the rains are quickly making life ever so more difficult. Some nights the rains are absolutely deafening. Should the rain continue relentlessly, La Encantada could enter a time of economic crisis.

The other night I went to buy chicken for my dinner. I always try to make conversation with whomever I come in contact with and this being no exception I hung around chatting. The rain began to absolutely pour. I thought I would maybe just wait it out. Half an hour later I realized it was not going to let up and trudged home. I came home to find my host father in my room with a broom trying to sweep out the half inch of water that had crept under my door to the backlogged canal. (The water runs off our roof into a canal that under normal conditions dispense the water into the street) My host dad quickly constructed a flood barrier outside my door while I swept the water out. I have several large cardboard boxes on the floor in which I store my things. In a panic, I placed them under bricks hoping to salvage them from water damage.

Ordinarily, I bathe with a bucket. I decided to take advantage of the downpour and headed to the bathing area for a genuine shower. The first and probably only shower I will ever take here. The next morning my host father constructed a canal with room for two tubes in hope that the canal wouldn´t overflow the next time.

Is El Niño coming?

2008-02-22T07:49:00.003-08:00

February 21st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Monsoons

Peru experiences what is referred to as a rainy season. Last year that was a fair description of the period from December to March. It tended to rain a few hours at night, a few times per week. This year more closely resembles a monsoon season. Every day it begins raining around 5pm and continues off and on until about 8pm where it begins pour. This continues until about 8am. The entire town is complete mud. The streets are impassable. Several times I have had to ditch my sandals for bare feet because my sandals become lodged 2 inches deep in mud and refuse to accompany my feet along the path.

From January to May, a river runs from the mountains in the sierra through town to Piura and all the way to the ocean. Last year I visited the river several times with neighborhood kids to cool off. At its widest point last year, the river spanned the width of a basketball court. This year is a different story. I think at some points the river spans more than one football field.

I went to visit the families whose houses back up to the river. Although their homes normally set about a football field or so away from the riverbanks, the overflow is approaching disaster. Several homes showed me where the water had entered their animal corrals. If it rises any higher, it will seep into their homes. I offered myself in the case of any need. These people are rightfully scared.
Although the town is a disaster, which makes visiting families difficult, the rain is actually a blessing for several reasons. The farmers are delighted because it is softening up the hard soil. The rain considerably cools the town off at night, making the task of sleeping much more comfortable. The roofs are made of tin, so the pitter patter is quite soothing. My family gets somewhat annoyed because at times the drumming is so loud they can´t even hear the television

The Grapes of Wrath

2008-02-22T07:49:00.001-08:00

February 13th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

The Grapes of Wrath

Due to the rather laidback lifestyle, many Peace Corps volunteers read more books during their service then most people read over a decade. Or in the case of a small town like mine, the sum of all the books read by the population of 3,000. I have read several good books, each which has influenced my outlook or perspective on various topics.

Several books have been enjoyable reads, but The Grapes of Wrath and The Mystery of Capital have by far had the most profound impact on my worldview. Anyone who desires to understand why underdeveloped countries struggle to catch up with their Western neighbors should read the Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto. The Peruvian author offers several insights into why capitalism doesn´t flourish in certain areas.

The Grapes of Wrath has also provided insight. Although not an academic publication, this novel about a farming family from Oklahoma during the Great Depression has offered an unique perspective into the lives of the extremely poor. Over the last year and a half I always had this hunch that the poor of the Great Depression handled their poverty differently than the people with whom I have spent the last year. This book as well as a couple conversations with my roommate from college, a current volunteer in Uganda, have confirmed that different people groups react to poverty in drastically different ways.

The thing that bothers me most about Peru is the complete lack of class. This can be observed several times throughout a typical day. From the pushing that takes place in the bus line to the petty theft that occurs everywhere, the total lack of class is obscenely ingrained in the society. I am told that in Uganda and other parts of Africa, there is rarely any petty theft because it is totally untolerated by the people. If someone legitimately screams “Thief”, the apparent convicted will surely be beaten by a gang of fellow strangers in the street. In Peru, don´t waste your time because even if you are chasing the thief, the general population will buy popcorn and watch.

Throughout the Grapes of Wrath I noticed that the people continually conducted themselves with class in all situations. I understand that it is a fictional novel, but I am every bit convinced that it is an accurate recollection of the times. There are some similarities between the two epochs, such as the fact that at times “the system” can be quite screwed up. Also when there was no work, the characters fled to the golden country of California much like the people of rural areas here flee to Lima. However, I also noticed a stark difference in the way the characters overcame their situation.

I find very few people here who have a vision. Some dream but few ponder what they need to do in order to make their dreams reality. The Joads were always sharing their dreams and how they planned to implement changes in order to realize their desires. More and more I am of the opinion that the States is an incubator for dreamers. Several people criticized my major claiming, “You can´t teach entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are born.” Although I agree that certain persons are born with innate personality characteristics that make them more likely achieve success as entrepreneurs, I disagree that entrepreneurship is not something that can be fostered and encouraged by culture.
And in defense of the Baylor University Entrepreneurship Department, the point of the program is to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools they will need to survive in such a risky atmosphere, not to make entrepreneurs out of nothing. In order to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need the entrepreneurial spirit within your soul. The spirit can´t be attained from a text book, but can be found by surrounding oneself with likeminded thinkers.

Teenage Girls Youth Group

2008-02-18T09:08:00.001-08:00

February 5th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Joyeria “Mi Colorado”

Most nights I spend about an hour or so hanging out with some teenagers down the street. The girls used to complain about how there isn´t really anything to do. I didn´t disagree. I asked them what they wanted to do. Several wanted to learn how to make jewelry. I don´t have any such experience but Angela, who learned in high school, offered to teach us.

I had the girls make a list of the necessary materials and then loaned them the $20 to buy them. Since November, the girls have been meeting twice a week to make jewelry from plastic beads. They then sell them to other girls around town or purchase them for their own adornment. With the profits we hope to eventually buy a volleyball net.

Although I teach basic accounting and business skills, I primarily use the opportunity to encourage women´s empowerment. I never enter the day with the intention to broach any particular topic; rather when the girls´ conversations leave windows of opportunity, I take advantage. We discuss gender roles, why some girls feel the need to marry at 16 years old, and whatever else comes up. I have seen a substantial improvement in the self-esteem levels of almost all those who participate.

I personally believe that the only way to change the machismo culture, that plagues Peru and most underdeveloped countries, is to work with the young women in town and encourage the development of their self-confidence. I think confident women raise respectful boys.

You can watch the Superbowl here

2008-02-18T09:07:00.003-08:00

February 3rd, 2008 Cajamarca, Peru

What a Superbowl!

We woke up around 8am and proceeded to clean the mess we had created the day before. The paint actually cleans up pretty easily. The rest of the day was spent shopping for Cajamarca´s famous dairy goods, particularly the cheese, and playing cards.

At 5:30pm we headed to a nicer hotel bar to watch the Superbowl. They sported a huge big screen TV where we planted ourselves for the big game. Since the game is broadcasted on ESPN´s Spanish version, there were no commercials. The next day I YouTubed the best ones. We reserved the two seats in front of the TV for Kevin and Steve, our resident Massachusetts volunteers. The game was fantastic. Personally, I was rooting for New England for three reasons:

1) Brady is my boy from Michigan
2) I wanted to see a perfect season
3) I do not want to see a year of Eli and Peyton Manning commercials

As you all know, the Giants came up huge the last 2 minutes of the game. I think Kevin cried. Since we had to catch an overnight bus back to Piura, we all rushed back to the hotel and headed straight to the bus terminal.

Fun in Cajamarca!

2008-02-18T09:07:00.001-08:00

February 2nd, 2008 Cajamarca, Peru

Carnaval Fun!

The real Carnaval is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is an elaborate festival known worldwide. Cajamarca is the capital of Carnaval in Peru and hosts a milder version of the Brazilian celebration. Its kind of like Mardi Gras minus the nudity plus paint. By the end of the day, several people claimed that this ranked as one of the top ten days of their lives.

Basically, for the month of February people throw water balloons at those who pass by from either balconies or behind the shelter of doors. A certain Saturday (determined by the lunar calendar) is designated as the all out war. This day people throw water balloons like crazy and even paint.

Volunteers knew from previous years to reserve a particular balcony in the Santa Rosa Hotel. Starting at around 10am, we began filling bucketfuls of water balloons. From the balcony we tossed balloons at those in street or others standing on their balconies. Perhaps our greatest weapon was The Launcher. Evan had brought back one of those super balloon launchers from the States. We could launch balloons as far as 3 blocks. Those people had no idea where the balloons were coming from.

Around noon, Ryan and I decided to venture out to the streets. Armed with a bag of water balloons each, we would soon learn we were underprepared. We were fine until a large group of 10 attacked us with buckets of paint. Ryan took some straight to the eye and fortunately a nearby bakery offered him water to flush it out. I took a passion fruit (kind of like a small apple) to the chest. That wasn´t cool. We returned to the hotel to round up the troops.

Everyone armed themselves with balloons and buckets of paint. Groups of about 10 to 15 people are formed and then march around the streets. Several groups have drums and chant as they parade the streets in search of victims. When two groups come upon each other it is all out war for about 3 minutes. Then the groups move on to find other groups.

What is really cool is that just about everyone participates. Although the groups are primarily high school and college kids, several groups included adults. Even older women participate. They might be the trickiest of all. One lady in her late 60´s asked if we would like some more water to mix with our paint. We accepted and while we were preparing our watered down paint mixture she came up from behind us and dowsed us with buckets of ice cold water and then scurried back into her house.

Around 3pm all the groups meet in the plaza (the city´s central meeting place) and unload any remaining ammo. There is lots of music and drinking and dancing. This goes on for a couple of hours before most return to their respective dwelling places to wash up. All the hot water was out, so we took freezing cold showers to remove the paint.

Baños del Inca

Since we were all shivering from cold we decided to head out to the Baños del Inca. These are natural thermal hot baths that were used by the Incas. For about a $1.50 you can rent a private hot tub like bath for 30 minutes. It was quite relaxing after the day´s festivities.

SBD Program Workshop

2008-02-18T09:06:00.002-08:00

January 30th to February 1st, 2008 Cajamarca, Peru

Small Business Development Program Workshop

Since Cajamarca is the capital of Carnaval in Peru we decided to schedule the days prior to Saturday as work days. The first day I worked with some other volunteers on my association´s webpage. Joseph and Cheridyn have previous experience with Dreamweaver and were quite helpful. I think I honestly learned more in the few hours I spent learning from them then I did during the entire conference in Chiclayo. Now that I have a better understanding of Dreamweaver, I should be able to construct the webpage in the next 2 to 3 months.
The Small Business Development Program is trying mold the Peru program into a model program for the entire Peace Corps organization. We have been developing several useful tools for those who come after us. One group is developing a manual that contains several lessons plans for how to teach marketing, group financing and organizational management – all in Spanish. Another group is putting together a project book that includes Volunteer experiences working on various projects. Volunteers include technical expertise and best practices as well as valuable contact information. A third group has been shooting film in volunteers´ sites throughout Peru. The film will be edited into a video that will be used during Training to give the new trainees a feel for Peace Corps life. Although volunteers contribute to all the above tools, each volunteer is part of a particular team. I am on the website team. We have setup a Google Group where volunteers can post on the discussion board, as well as find electronic versions of said manuals. Friday we met as a large group to share our points of progress as well as set deadlines for the completion of the projects. It was a successful two days of work

IN and OUT

2008-02-18T09:06:00.001-08:00

January 29th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

In and Out

Tonight was the championship game. We came into the game 2-0 while our opponent was 1-1. If we win we would be the champions but should we lose another game would have to be played. We were up 10 points with 4 minutes remaining. This was actually quite surprising because Juan Luis, our other star player, and I were having off nights to say the least. The only reason we were up was because Manolo, a solid role player, was shooting the lights out from behind the 3pt line.

Unfortunately, our lead dwindled over the remaining minutes and we found ourselves down 2 points with 14 seconds to play. We called timeout and I proceeded to draw up a play. Mario was to pass it in to me at the top of the key. I would drive hard to hole and then kick it out to Manolo in the left corner, his sweet spot. Since he was hot from the arc, they would surely come running out at him. All he had to do was simply fake the shot and then would have a clear path to the basket. When they collapse on him, he would dish it to Juan Luis who would be cutting to the basket for an easy uncontested layup and we would take them in overtime.

Everything went as planned. The play was executed perfectly. Except when Juan Luis went to catch the ball he fumbled it and it rolled off his knee. With 6 seconds left, it lands in the hands of Manolo who passes out of a double team to Ito. Ito passes it to me where I am standing in my second favorite spot behind the 3pt line.

With 2 seconds left I set up to shoot. They say we only use 10% of our brain. But I think while the adrenaline courses through our veins that number rises substantially. In the mere milliseconds before I shoot, several thoughts race through my brain. The first is this situation is eerily similar to a game last year. Last year, I drilled the shot in the championship and wound up having people buy me beers all night. The second was an analysis of my confidence. Although I was having problems with my runner and short game in general, my outside game had been rather steady. I had already hit one 3-pointer and 2 other deep shots.

I jumped to shoot. The release is good. Its on target and appears good. You can hear people in the crowd gasp. It settles inside the rim, rattles around and pops out as time expires. Everyone exhales. The championship game would be replayed. Both teams are now 2-1.

Recreation Committee

2008-02-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

January 21st, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Recreation Committee

My good friend Ryan, a volunteer in the sierra, gave me a great idea the other day and I am stoked by what has come of it. He is planning on constructing a sand volleyball court in his site. There are very few opportunities for recreation in La Encantada, especially for women. I believe this is one of the reasons the population resorts to drinking as often as they do. Its just like a small town in the country.

Women have practically no opportunities to exercise in my town, besides walking to their fields. On the contrary, the men have their soccer fields as well as most work labor intensively in their fields. I believe this is the main reason why the women in town are significantly heavier on average than their male counterparts. Actually, I read that Peru has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.

Volleyball is very popular in most parts of Peru and the women are quite good. The national time lost in the championship of the Olympic qualifying round for South America. A volleyball court would be a tremendous addition to the town because it would provide women and girls an opportunity to exercise. Also, I am a strong believer that sports build self-confidence and instill character in those who participate.

Therefore, I have formed a Recreation Committee. It consists of several parents who have in my opinion demonstrated interests in improving the quality of life of those who surround them, especially their kids. We will be investigating various possibilities of recreation activities to implement in town and then soliciting support of community partners such as the municipality, the local NGOs and members of the community themselves.

January 12th, 2008 Chulucanas, Peru

Basketball Tournament

Tonight the basketball league starts up again. This time it isn´t so much of a league as just a 2 week tournament. Our team consists of primarily the same players as last year. We won the first two games pretty handily. I still find it amusing that I play in a basketball league here cause I never imagined playing anything more formal than 5 on 5 on some broken concrete court outside with battered rims. Its good to exercise consistently again.

Crop Comparison and We´re on ebay

2008-02-10T09:02:00.003-08:00

January 2nd to 10th, 2008 La Encantada, Peru

Price Structuring and Crop Comparison

I´ve spent the past week working with the mango farmers. We have covered topics such as price structuring and crop comparison. We are contemplating growing the tomatoes ourselves rather than buying them from the regional capital. Most of the farmers agreed it would be more profitable but I wanted to make sure so we did a formal analysis.

We first calculated that we could grow tomatoes for S/. 0.30 per kilo; it costs S/. 0.50 per kilo to buy from the market. Therefore, we would profit from grow the tomatoes ourselves. Unless, the opportunity cost of tomatoes was higher than the current crops we grow. After a brief presentation on opportunity cost we put the theory into practice and did a comparison analysis between tomatoes and a corn (the crop we would be replacing). After crunching the numbers, we discovered that tomatoes yield a 10 to 1 profit to corn.

The farmers were ecstatic because it was the first time they put all this down on paper, which allowed them to see how great the difference really was. Some farmers even developed matrices comparing several different crops.

ebay

When I returned to the States for Christmas I carried 130 bags of dried fruit home. Mom and I set up ourselves on ebay and are selling the dried fruit in quantities of 1 kilo. You can search us on ebay: dried mangoes. Or you can email me directly and I will coordinate your order with my mom.
We put the price structuring theory to practice by comparing our prices to those of our ebay competitors´. Due to our extremely high profit margins, we were able to slightly undercut the closest competitor.

Crop Comparison and We

2008-02-10T09:02:00.001-08:00

New Years Activities

2008-02-10T09:01:00.001-08:00

January 1st, 2008 Piura, Peru

New Year´s Day

Unfortunately, the bowl games are not priority here. At night I got to catch one game on ESPN. It was so uneventful that I can´t even remember who played. Nowhere near as fun as the usual tradition my father and I undertake: a few hours at Champps Sports Bar & Grill.

December 31st, 2007 Colan, Peru

New Year´s Eve

I headed out to Colan with Maria and several other volunteers from Peru 9 and 10. Unfortunately, most of the volunteers from my training class were spread all over Peru. We lunched at a little seafood restaurant and then headed down to the beach. The place was packed due to the fact that it was New Year´s Eve. We pretty much lounged around until it was time to get ready for the ball to drop. After showering up, we headed to Club Esmerelda where the night was spent dancing. And the morning. Some of us never were able to find a room, so we danced until 7am. Then we boarded the first bus back to Piura where we crashed until the afternoon.

A Long Trip Back

2008-01-29T15:44:00.003-08:00

December 29th & 30th, 2007 Chicago to Ecuador to Peru

International Travel = Adventure Travel

Even if you aren´t exploring the depths of the Amazonian Rainforest or hang gliding in Argentina, international travel is always an adventure. Getting from Chicago to Houston to Ecuador was pretty standard, although packed from holiday travelers. Ecuador to Peru was a different story. That was international travel. In a third world country.

I got off the plane around 1AM and headed to the hotel only to find out my reservation had been canceled. Alright. Since I didn´t really know of any other hotels and only a room for a few hours anyway I decided to head straight to the bus terminal and pull an all-nighter. I bought a ticket for 6:30AM and camped out in the lounge for the next 4 hours. Fortunately I made friends with a young Peruvian couple who were making the same trip. This allowed to me go to the bathroom without hauling two suitcases into the stall with me.

When I bought the ticket, I noticed the price was 25% cheaper than the bus line I used to get to Ecuador. So, I made sure to ask if the trip was direct. I was told yes and informed the duration was 11 hours. I only remembered it taking 8 to get here, so once again I inquired about the trip. The customer behind me assured me it was a direct trip.

Nope. I get on the bus at 6:30AM and we proceed to stop every 15 minutes. It’s the day before New Years Eve so everyone is traveling. All the seats are sold plus they have got people in the aisles using the bus like a combi (which is public transportation that runs a route much like city bus routes in a large American metropolis.) Eventually, we are only stopping every hour in the towns along the highway to the border.

Its impossible to sleep and I have people hanging over me pretty much the 6 hour trip to the border. Finally, we make it to the border and everyone files off the bus to go through immigrations. I was toward the back of the line and almost got left in Ecuador. Several people did.

Once we cross the border the Peruvian government makes us deboard the bus several times. Its only supposed to be a one time procedure like it was in Ecuador. But Peru´s government is exactly logical. See, if we make people get off the bus more often that creates jobs. Bureaucracy is a good thing; it creates jobs. Jobs are good. All jobs. Even drastically unproductive ones.

The standard is to serve food on bus trips this long. Not on this bus line. Therefore, my breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted of whatever I could buy through the window from a vendor. Mostly potato chips and soda. At 8PM we arrive at our destination, 13 hours after departure. I haven´t slept for 48 hours so I snagged a hamburger and crashed early.

Final Christmas Days

2008-01-29T15:44:00.002-08:00

December 28th & 29th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Final Days with the Family

We spent the last day together as a family and then the next morning we drove to Chicago were I boarded a plane to Houston and then Ecuador. Mom did a good job of not crying too much. The rest of the family held up pretty well. I can hardly wait to get back next Christmas.

I am glad I came home for Christmas. It was great to see the family and friends and remember what life is like in the States. I think over the past year and a half I have developed certain illusions about the reality of the States. Hopefully, now I will return with a different perspective and see things more clearly. All in all, I think it was good to recharge. I am returning refreshed with energy to really tackle these last few months with enthusiasm.

December 27th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Time with Chad

Chad and I met the first day of Welcome Week at Baylor. We instantly clicked and were roommates sophomore, junior and senior years of college. Chad is now a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda. Although he has only been serving for 10 months, he made the trip home to serve in his best friend from high school´s wedding. Dad took us out for Texas BBQ. We spent a couple hours sharing similar experiences and then I rode back with him to his house. I hadn´t see him for 18 months, so we had a lot to catch up on. It was great to see him and I am sure we will have several more stories to share next time we meet up.

December 26th, 2007 Cannonsberg, Michigan

We woke up from my Uncle´s and headed back to Grand Rapids. We quickly changed into our ski wardrobes and hit the slopes. I love skiing but hadn´t been since sophomore year of college. The park wasn´t overly challenging but was fun enough to curb my appetite until I can get back to Colorado.

Christmas Activities

2008-01-29T15:44:00.001-08:00

December 25th, 2007 Coldwater, Michigan

Christmas Day

We woke up early and opened family gifts. Then we ventured to my Uncle Jim and Robin´s house in Coldwater where we met my grandparents from my mother´s side. We spent hours catching up, opening gifts and eating. My Uncle Jim and Grandpa can talk nonstop for hours. It was fun to see everyone. Hopefully, next year we´ll have more time together.

December 24th, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Christmas Eve Service

It was cool to be in church again. That is one of the tougher things about living in a foreign country. Where I live there are a few churches but they tend to be extremely charismatic and I don´t really agree with their doctrine. Fortunately, there are few faithful Christian volunteers nearby. But nevertheless they still fail to replicate the fellowship and support a church body can provide.

After the candlelight service, we each opened one gift like we do every year. We played balderdash and my 12 year old brother is notorious for coming up with the craziest definitions. At one point I had to leave the room because my heart hurt from laughter. I think I ate too much red meat at dinner because I felt as if I was going to collapse from a heart attack.

December 22nd, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

Benner Family Christmas Party

Today we celebrated Christmas with my Dad´s side of the family. My Uncle Tom and his daughter Rachel were the first to arrive. Rachel apparently wasn´t home for Christmas either last winter, so everyone was excited to see my cousin. I met Tom´s new partner Jim, who impressed me with his insight into the developing world. Eventually, Uncle Todd and Aunt Racy and my cousins Katie & Kristen arrived. They apparently operate on Hora Peruana. We did typical Christmas party things like snack on vegetable trays and chat. A family tradition is Spanish BINGO. There are usually like 20 Dollar Store prizes and it works white elephant style where you can either unwrap and an unopened gift or steal an opened gift from a previous winner. After a traditional Christmas dinner we exchanged gifts.
Perhaps the nicest gift I got all Christmas was from Uncles and Grandparents. They gave a good sum of money to my host family to be used on home improvements. It was very generous. Although Uncle Jeff and my grandparents were unable to attend the family get together, it was fun nonetheless. Maybe next year we´ll have everyone.

Time at Home

2008-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

December 20th & 21st, 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan

R & R Time

I spent most of my time home doing nothing. I took advantage of free high speed internet to catch up on the world´s troubles. I lounged in front of the TV and appreciated the countless English channels at my fingertips. I played a little billiards while savoring several cans of Dr. Pepper. Mostly, I ate all day. American food may not be the best cuisine in the world but the food in America has no rival. I mean you can find everything there.

December 19th, 2007 Houston to Chicago, USA

Home at Last!

I landed in Houston and fortunately hit all the customs lines just right. Since, I only had 35 minutes before my connecting flight, I darted to the other terminal and boarded as one of the final passengers. I met my parents at the baggage carousel and we made are way to the parking lot. The cold crisp air in my lungs was a refreshing slap in the face.

We lunched at a favorite spot of mine: Chipotle. Here I would make my first of many linguistic mistakes. The Hispanic employee asked me which type of beans I wanted. Instinctively, I replied, “Los frejoles negros, por favor.” I continued down the line and then realized I have a lot to get used to. Hopefully, she doesn´t think I am some prick who assumes all Hispanics speak Spanish.

Upon arrival I was greeted by my brother and a fistful of snowballs. He has been waiting for years to get me back for whitewashing him one day two winters ago (the last winter I was home). Sis got home later from work and embraced me lovingly. Since I had only slept 3 of the previous 48 hours, I crashed early. Oh, how a comfortable a real mattress is. And blankets.

Trip Home to the States!

2008-01-15T13:02:00.002-08:00

December 17th, 2007 Piura, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador

I´m Almost Home!

Since flights out of Guayaquil, Ecuador were significantly cheaper than from Lima, I decided to fly via Ecuador. My friend Rachel was flying 8 hours after me, so we traveled to Ecuador together. The overnight bus was rather nice and crossing the border proved to be rather easy although the Peruvian side lacked formality and the process could have of course been streamlined to garner efficiency.

We arrived in Guayaquil around 9 in the morning. Immediately, I noticed a infrastructure difference in Ecuador. Instead of several different individual bus terminals, all the bus lines had to use the same terminal much like airlines. The facility was very nice and quite convenient. Rachel had reserved a hotel room since she wouldn´t be leaving until the next day, so we showered up before exploring the largest city in Ecuador.

Guayaquil is a stark difference between Lima and most Peruvian cities in general. The roads were better constructed, cleaner and the drivers saner. Most taxis were fairly new compared to the dilapidated models used in Peru. There aren´t many sights in this commercial center but we set to see that which was available. We headed down to the boardwalk and strolled alongside the river, eventually lunching on seafood in a quaint little joint overlooking the bay. Next we climbed the hundreds of stairs to the historical lighthouse set at the top of a steep hill overlooking the bay and cityscape. The views were gorgeous.

We next visited a local artisans market where I bought a fedora. This style of hat was popular in the 40´s in the US and quite often mobsters are portrayed sporting fedoras. In Ecuador, several people sport them and this style is gaining popularity throughout South America. Since high school, I have been infatuated with the look and thus bought myself an early Christmas present. Rachel bought some locally made jewelry. Afterwards, we headed to a city park where numerous iguanas walk the grounds and lounge in the trees. For dinner we ate fresh crab legs at a sidewalk café. At 11 pm, I headed to the airport to the catch the redeye to Houston.

Graduation: Advanced Computer Class

2008-01-15T13:02:00.001-08:00

December 14th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Graduation: Advanced Computer Class

The past few weeks I have continued teaching the advanced internet class. The students are great and almost everyone who began the course the first week passed the final exam. These students are now capable of creating electronic catalogs, saving them to a disk and attaching the same file to an email. This is very important because the majority of their clients prefer to conduct all business via the Internet. Hopefully, the artisans will now take more ownership of their computer related needs.

In order to celebrate graduation, I convinced my counterpart NGO, Cite Ceramica, to spring for a little graduation outing. After the final class on Friday, we headed to a restaurant that served rotisserie chicken. This was a big deal for most of the students because most only get to go out to eat once a year, if they get to dine out all. After dinner we grabbed some quick ice cream. I think everyone was pretty pleased with the night and the course overall.

Developing a Profit Sharing Plan

2008-01-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

December 6th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Secantada: Developing a Profit Sharing Plan

I have spent the past few meetings with the mango farmers discussing the different possibilities for sharing profits. Today I think we can up with something that will work pretty well. Right now there aren´t many profits to be distributed because we are reinvesting a high percentage in the growth of the business. Therefore, we need a system that will reward those who are working hard now with future profits yet remains flexible to the addition of future participants. We decided to distribute profits according to a system using the number of hours worked as the base. Rather than distribute the profits according to a monthly hour log we elected to distribute them according to an overall hours worked long. This prevents unfair distribution due to cyclical monthly profits. Instead, each worker receives the percentage of profits equal to the percentage of hours he has worked compared to all hours worked overall. Below is an explanation:

Lets say Secantada has a net profit of $1000 for the month. Assuming they choose to reinvest 90% of the profits this month, in order to promote rapid growth. The remaining $100 will be split among the members. Assume that over all the months group has worked 100 hours total. Pedro has worked 20 of the 100 hours or 20%. Juan has worked 10 hours or 10%. Therefore, Pedro would receive $20 while Juan receives $10.

This encourages participants to continue work during hard times rather than just during the good times. It is also fair to those who have initially taken the risk and invested their time before the project became super profitable. Yet this system allows for new participants to join in the future, although at first they will earn a significantly less percentage of profits. But as long as a new participant continues to work the percentages will balance out over the long run. He could eventually even earn more than an original member.

Welcome to the Jungle

2007-12-11T13:06:00.003-08:00

November 15th – 26th, 2007 The Jungle, Peru

For the next 11 days I will be exploring what the jungle has to offer. We will be camping in the Amazon Rain Forest, sleeping in hammocks while cruising down the Amazon River and playing with exotic animals. If that sounds like an interesting read, I invite you to the details:

Thursday – Piura to Chiclayo to Tarapoto

After meeting in Piura city we headed down to Chiclayo where we would catch a bus to Tarapoto. Everyone is super excited as we are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. The bus ride is about as bumpy as it gets and unfortunately upon arrival one of our party lost her breakfast. Fourteen hours after departure we arrive in the outskirts of the jungle in Tarapoto, a town of 60,000.

Friday – Tarapoto to Yurimaguas

We grab a quick breakfast and then set off in different directions to run errands. We proceed to shop for hammocks which we will make good use of shortly. Most of the group bought pretty nylon hammocks, making fun of Ryan and I for buying hammocks which more closely resemble fishing nets than they do sleeping instruments. We will soon have the last laugh as we sleep much more comfortably than the others.

Lunch is had at a little restaurant with a balcony overlooking the cityscape. We dine on patarashca which is piranha cooked in a spicy sauce and served in a banana leave. It is coupled with a tater tot type dish, except that instead of potatoes the tater tots are made from smashed bananas. Along the walk back in search for ice cream we come across a vendor selling a particular type of fruit unknown to all. We buy a bag of the peculiarity and soon deem it perhaps the only repulsive fruit on the planet. It had the after taste of cheese with none of cheese´s good qualities.

We found a car to Yurimaguas which can only be traveled to by night due the fact that there is construction by day which renders the route impassable. I wouldn´t necessarily claim that the route is passable by night either. Although we left at 4pm and raced to the entrance to the highway, we were unable to enter to closer to 7pm. You have to get in line and only so many cars get the right to pass for the day. During the down time we played “mafia”, which if you didn´t play in college I feel sorry that you missed out on what is perhaps my favorite time killer. (that is of course for some reason cards are not available).

Eventually, we started down the road. It was like driving in the worst snow storm imaginable but instead of snow the hinderance was mud. We were sliding all over the place. The funny part is that this part of the trip wasn´t even the scariest part. About an hour in, the road magically turns into the nicest stretch of highway I have experienced in Peru. I guess the construction has been worth the pain. That is unless you have a madman for a driver. We are still unsure of the motive but our driver had some dire reason to get to our destination fast. He was clocking 75 mph through stretches of highway that more closely resembled the letter S than I. About an hour into the trip we were unable to talk because all energy was being concentrated in order not to vomit. Even after introducing a fairly good size boulder to the undercarriage, our grim reaper still hadn´t learned his lesson. After a few close calls with a deer, a donkey and a cow we realized he never would. Ryan said it best when he exclaimed, “I feel like I have been on the longest rollercoaster of my life.” Well, besides the Peace Corps experience in general.

We arrived at the dock around 10 PM. The dock was out of a typical storybook. Read sketchy. Therefore, Ryan and I went down to investigate. We arranged stay with the captain. The first floor was for cargo. We could string up our hammocks either on the second floor or third. We chose the third floor because it was much more open while the second seemed to enclosed and cramped.

A group of us went to fetch some Chinese take out for dinner. The boat wasn´t departing until the next day at 1pm so we would be spending the night docked. We strung up our hammocks and then debated implementing a shift system for night guard. I don’t really remember why we decided not to post a sentry. Perhaps we should have because no one slept for very well that first night.

Saturday – At port in Yurigmaguas – Beginning of the Journey down the Amazon

The port was busy starting at 4:30 AM so sleeping past 5 AM was nearly impossible. A crew went to find us some breakfast. Today was the beginning of a very chill day. We read. We played cards. We took naps. We did nothing. Although the chalkboard advertised we would be leaving at 1pm, we of course didn´t leave until closer to 5 PM. Something about mechanical problems. Sweet. We´re about to head down the Amazon River and there is a small chance we might break down.

Technically, we aren´t on the Amazon River quite yet but rather on a tributary. Nevertheless, it was beautiful as we cruised down the 2nd largest river in the world. I think I instantly fell in love with the jungle.

Sunday – Lagunas and the beginning into the depths of the jungle

We arrived early in the town of Lagunas, home to a few thousand people. Our guide met us at the dock and led us to his house where we prepared for the trip. We consolidated to one backpack per two people, carrying only that which would be essential for the next few days. There was a guide for each canoe and we started down a small tributary into a national park reserve, Pacaya Samira. I can hardly believe we will be floating down a river for 4 days in a canoe. Into the depths of the jungle.

The first day we saw all kinds of birds, a couple two-toed sloths, and a monkey here and there. We stayed in a floating bungalow. Right now is the beginning of the rainy season, so the river is really high. Apparently the river recedes during the Peruvian winter and that is when they constructed the floating bungalow. We set up our mosquito nets and sleeping pads and then when for a refreshing dip in the water.

Monday – Pacaya Samira

We wake early and pack up. Breakfast consist of fried piranha and tea. The fish was very tasty and oh so fresh. Don´t worry, you can swim in the infested waters as long as you don´t have any open bleeding wounds. Cool.

We switched guides around, since some are better than others. Steve and I went with Raul (the head guide) and took lead. Raul can spot anything. We saw iguanas, a jungle squirrel and best of all a boa constrictor. When the other groups were coming up behind us they accidentally scared the boa into the water. Raul jumps into the water and goes searching for his toy. He scares it across the river and Carlos goes chasing it in his canoe. All of a sudden, he thrusts his arm into the river and jerks out the boa by the neck. We proceeded to pass around said friend and snap photos while carefully applying pressure to the neck. Boas are not venomous but are quite strong and are known to crush the bones of their prey by wrapping tightly around the victim and applying extreme pressure. Hence the name boa constrictor.

Later that day we paddled into a very remote cove where we spent an hour or so admiring monkeys in their natural habitat. At one particular part the monkeys needed to cross the river. They would sit on the outermost edge of the tree branch and then spring across the river to other side landing in scrub brush, using the branch like your neighborhood diving board.

That night there would be no bungalow to sleep in. We found a small dry patch of land to set up camp. Our “tents” consisted of a tarp propped up by tree branches. We crawled into our mosquito nets which were stifling hot because due to limited dry space we were more than uncomfortably close. This was real camping.

Before settling down for the night, we paddled out to a small laguna where the river dolphins play. I wasn´t aware that fresh water dolphins existed. They were very similar to their ocean cousins, except of a pinkish tint. It is said that if a women is menstruating, they will ram the boat hoping to cast her overboard. We unfortunately were not so lucky.

Tuesday – Pacaya Samira

This morning we got up and prepared to set out for a hike. Most were able to wear galoshes to trek around in the swamp. Unfortunately, they did not have my size and thus I had to endure the hike in my running shoes. It was actually somewhat refreshing, although my shoes stunk like jungle swamp until my return to site where I could properly wash them.

The hike was pretty cool. We trudged through puddles and fallen trees in the heart of the jungle. Along the way we encountered tarantulas, tree frogs and several insects. Our guide introduced us to several types of medicinal plants. He taught us which trees were used for what kinds of furniture. Then we ate worms. He opened a coconut and then convinced us to try the squishy little things. The taste actually wasn´t that bad, it tasted kind of like sweet milk, but the texture wasn´t exactly appetizing. Back at camp we roasted up a bunch of the guys. They tasted very similar to roasted pumpkin seeds. I don´t know how we ever got back to camp because we had been wandering around in the jungle for hours, but Raul knew what he was doing.

We took a nice quick cool dip in the river before heading out. For some reason the water had different floating qualities. It was quite difficult to stay afloat and made treading water rather exhausting. After much debate, we decided the water was thinner. We do not know why.

Now was the trip back. We headed back for the first bungalow, searching for animals along the way. We got to witness a jungle squirrel in conflict with some sort of venomous green snake. It reminded me of that childhood story where the cobra battles it out with the ferret. We also sat under a canopy of trees and watched a troop of monkeys as they passed overhead.

That night we asked Raul if we could go searching for crocodiles. He said since the waters are so high, the crocs have receded into the depths of the jungle and that finding one would be nearly impossible. We were slightly disappointed but came up with an activity just as fun. We decided to go swimming one last time. I mean how many people have swum in the Amazon, yet alone after dark.

Wednesday – Pacaya Samira to Lagunas

After packing up we made the short journey back to the entrance of the national park reserve. This was the hardest part for the guides because there were stretches that required paddling upstream against a decent current. Shortly after lunch we arrived at the entrance were we properly thanked our guides and headed back to the agency´s office.

After a week without a shower, it felt good to be clean again. It ranks in the top ten all-time best showers of my life. We treated our guides to a few cold beers before dining in Lagunas. We were told the boat was supposed to arrive at 8:30 PM but of course it was closer to midnight when it did. We quickly set up hammocks and crashed until the morning sun glittering on the river was intolerably bright.

Thursday – Lagunas to Iquitos

Most of the day consisted of playing cards and reading and napping. Along the river we passed several little jungle villages. They were quite charming. Before service, I always fantasized my Peace Corps experience as living in a small little village in the Central American jungle. Maybe next time.

The boat serves dinner which consisted of white rice, a boiled green banana, and a small portion of chicken. Not exactly your typical Thanksgiving Feast. But we made the best of it, sharing the memories of the last year and what we were thankful for while passing around a bottle of wine I had brought along for just the occasion. Spirits were surprisingly high considering the circumstances.

Friday – Iquitos

Iquitos is the largest city in the world not accesable by road. It is built around the rivers that form the Amazon River running north through Colombia. Back in the day it was home to the rubber industry and was fairly affluent during the rubber boom. The culture of the city was quite unique. It was kind of like visiting a beach town. The city has really utilized its access to water effectively.

Upon arrival, we headed to the hostal and showered. We stayed in the back part of the hostal which highly resembled the strucutures of the Swiss Family Robinson. Lunch might have been the best of I have had in the last year. The Lonely Planet guide book raves about a Texas BBQ joint located in Iquitos called the Yellow Rose of Texas. I have been patiently waiting to dine here since I read such wonderful news. Gerald is an expat from Houston, Texas who is married to a Peruvian and since retirement calls Iquitos his home. The BBQ is for real. The first meal was smoked chicken smothered in homemade Texas barbeque sauce, coupled with homemade onion rings, mashed potatoes with white gravy and Texas beans. It was amazing. The meals were so large you only had to eat twice a day. The restaurant also serves some typical cultural food so Ryan, Steve and I ate every meal there. We ate fried alligator nuggets, ½ lb. hamburgers, bbq pork sandwiches, and smoked venison from jungle deer. Unfortunately the night we ordered brisket they were out. Gerald also has NFL Ticket so we joined him for a game or two in the TV lounge.

Saturday – Iquitos

After breakfast at YRT where we dined on huevos rancheros and the richest French toast you have ever seen, we headed out for the day. We first visited a butterfly farm and rescue center. An expat from Austria has been breeding butterflies and taking in animals in need of rescue. We got to play with monkeys as well as get up close and personal with a jaguar, an anteater and a couple alligators.

We also visited a self-claimed rescue center but were pretty upset because it quickly became obvious that these were just some folks capturing animals from the wild and charging a fee. It was like a petting zoo. We got to wear a boa around our necks and hold a sloth and other jungle animals. There was a tiny little alligator you could hold but while Ryan and I were trying to exchange the little guy, he snapped my thumb drawing blood. I was slightly disappointed because I don´t think it is going to scar.

Later that night we headed out to the discotech to get our groove on with the locals. It was your typical night out.

Sunday – Iquitos

We headed out to a golf course with an Irish fellow named Hugh we met on the boat to Iquitos. An expat from Britain has constructed a nine hole course but apparently is in a legal dispute over land rights. The first hole is in debate and legally “Mad Mick” can´t charge green fees. Therefore, we got to play the course for free. Considering we had nine people and only one bag of clubs, best ball was our only option. Even that was taking considerable time, so we called it a day after 4 holes due to the impending rain.

After escaping the rain into an ice cream parlor, the rest of the night was spent watching football with Gerald and lamenting about the upcoming return to reality.

Monday – Iquitos to Lima
We rose early and caught a flight to Lima where we would later catch buses back to site. It was an amazing trip. I don´t think I have ever traveled with a group of nine people and witnessed absolutely no drama. It was so chill yet we did so much. All we can dream about is going back

Fair in Lima

2007-12-11T13:06:00.001-08:00

November 14th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Preparation for Fair

Since I will be departing to the jungle tomorrow, I have been working feverishly the last two days to prepare my groups for a fair in Lima. Both the artisans and the dried fruit company will be participating in a fair in Lima. I am really proud of both groups because they are participating on their own dime. Furthermore, I will not be accompanying either group and thus they have had to make all the necessary arrangements for their stay.

Advanced Computer Classes

2007-12-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

November 5th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Advanced Computer Classes

Over the last year I have come to the realization that I do way to much to keep the artisans association afloat. In order to breach the dependency and bring the artisans one step closer to sustainability, I have undertaken an advanced computer class. We do not have internet here in La Encantada, but the neighboring town of Chulucanas does. Therefore, we have been shuttling to Chulucanas three times per week.

In total 13 students of my basic computer skills class signed up for the advanced course. Over the next few weeks we will be learning several new skills. On the agenda we are planning to:

Open gmail accounts
Use search engines to find design ideas to incorporate in the pottery
Design catalogs for each person’s personal workshop
Use Excel to manage inventory
Attach files
Use the internet to send free text messages
Burn CD´s
Design business cards using Publisher

Due to the incredibly high costs of phone communications (it typically cost $0.33 per minute), internet skills are quite necessary. Hopefully, I will be able to teach the necessary skills to a handful of people that they will be able to administer their computer needs after my departure.

Peru 6 Takes Off & Peace Corps Fair

2007-12-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

October 28th, 2007 Colan, Peru

Peru 6 Despedida

Peace Corps Peru gets two new training classes a year. Two training classes also depart after their two years of service. It is tradition to throw a going away party for the departing class. We headed up to Colan and stayed in some cheap but quaint beach bungalows. (They rent for only $3 a head). We tossed around the football. Played several hands of Spades and downed a rum and coke or two. A couple of volunteers assembled a mini bonfire where we roasted sausages and recalled the good times of the last year together.

I was sad to see them go. There a few people in particular who really helped me get through the last year. Anna, a native Minnesota gal, was always there to salivate over Minnesota State Fair memories but more importantly to offer wisdom when wisdom was needed. Jimmy might be the most fun loving guy this side of the equator. Laura always makes you feel good about yourself. Lenah makes you never want to stop dancing. Carolyn gives great intercultural dating advice. Zandi will inevitably make you smile.

Now that they are gone, that leaves us Peru 7 folks in charge. Hopefully, we can offer advice when advice be needed. I feel like I am losing a couple of big sisters. May happiness find you in the next chapter of life.

October 12th, 2007 Lima, Peru

Embassy Peace Corps Fair

The past few days have been crazy trying to prepare my groups for the Peace Corps fair that is held in the embassy every year. I was really proud of my artisans because they are starting to understand the importance of quality. The pieces as a whole were of much better quality than they had been in the past. They sold like crazy in the morning when the traffic was great. Unfortunately, the overall traffic throughout the day was less this year and therefore only just surpassed last years sales total.

Since the dried fruit project has only been in production for a month or so, we were only able to carry about 60 bags of dried fruit. This group was very successful and sold out before lunch. Everyone in the embassy was very impressed with the professionalism of the packaging and congratulated us on the project. We are of the opinion that this project has serious potential. Its needless to say that I am stoked about working on this project throughout the close of my service. I plan on bringing some dried fruit to the States when I come home for Christmas. Feel free to contact me if would like me to ship you some.

Trip to the Sierra

2007-10-24T13:28:00.001-07:00

September 30th thru October 3rd, 2007 Pacaipampa, Peru

Chicken Charlas

One of favorite things about Peace Corps is when you get to collaborate on projects. Jimmy and Lenah are a married couple that live 8 hours from the regional capital of Piura in a small mining town called Pacaipampa. Jimmy is a health volunteer and Lenah is an environmental volunteer. Jimmy has been working with a group of 20 year old guys who have decided to build a giant chicken coop to raise chickens for sale for the nearby region. Hoping to prevent a future catastrophe, Jimmy invited Mike and I to Pacaipampa to teach a couple basic business classes to his chicken coop guys.

So Sunday morning, I hopped on the 7am bus to Pacaipampa for the ensuing 8 hour ride to Pacaipampa. The bus ride wouldn´t take nearly as long if they didn´t stop every 1 ½ hours to grab a snack or dilly dawdle. The sierra is quite a bit different then the tropical desert where I am located. The twisty road up the mountain is worth the annoyance because upon arrival the view is quite a bit more enjoyable then the all day dust devil marathons I´ve grown accustomed to. About 6 hours in we stopped in Chalaco where Mike and Casey live. Mike is another Peru 7 volunteer and Casey is a Peru 8 health volunteer. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then hopped back on the bus to finish the journey to Pacaipampa.

When we arrived Jimmy greeted us with several kids who had made little posters welcoming us to the place they call home. We had to take a few precautions that weekend because there have been some recent protests there against the mining companies who want to start exploiting the region. It wasn´t exactly perfect timing for a bunch of white people to show up.

The first day we visited the chicken coop to get a feel for the business and pretty much just hung out. The second day Mike and I taught business lessons all morning covering topics such as marketing, accounting and transparency, reinvestment planning and internal controls. It was a pretty motivated group and I think things went well.

Perhaps the most fun part of the trip were the aerobic classes. For the past two months, Casey has been teaching aerobics in Chalaco. So we held two aerobic classes with some of the mothers, although mostly kids attended. It was quite fun because the classes end with dance aerobics. You should have been there for the freestyle hip-hop dance off. It was a riot. Fortunately it was the only one.

Web Page Design

2007-10-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

September 26th thru 28th, 2007 Lambayeque City, Peru

Business IST

I spent the past two days learning how to create web pages. That statement is quite different from this one: I spent the past two days being taught how to create a web page.

The Peru 7 business group all met in Lambayeque City in the department of Chiclayo to learn how to create web pages for our artisan associations. We each brought a counterpart from our village to learn alongside with us. Juan and I were pretty excited because our association is at the point where a webpage is actually necessary. Our excitement soon dissipated the second day of the conference. The first day Ivan gave a great presentation on e-commerce and how to apply the tools of the internet to grow your business.

The second day was the webpage designer´s turn to instruct us on how to build a simple webpage. He tried to teach by individually instructing each person what to do. After talking to Ivan, we were able to convince him to teach from the instructor computer with the aid of the projector. Unfortunately, he kept abandoning the instructor´s computer to work with people individually, thus leaving the other 35 individuals in the room to fend for themselves.

And fend for ourselves we did. Since we only had 4 more hours to learn this webpage stuff, a few of the other computer savvy volunteers and I abandoned our computers and huddled around one. Together we taught ourselves the basics and I believe we will each be able to explore from this base when we get back to site.

Right now our webpage is a joke. I hope to have the first basic version up and running by the 15th of December. You can find us at www.ceramica-encantada.com

One Year in Site

2007-09-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

September 4th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

One Year in Site

Today I completed one year in the small town of La Encantada. In order to celebrate, my family killed a turkey and roasted it up traditional style. I had a few friends over and we celebrated with some rum and coke and a few cigars I´d bought in Lima just for the occasion. It was good time reminiscing about memories we´d created the past year.

After living here for a year, I can say I know this place pretty well. I have made some really good friends and am realizing more and more each day that it will be difficult when I leave here a year from now. The families have really reached out to me and tried to make me a part of the community. I´ll miss the kids the most.

August 28th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

SPA Grant Approved

I have been working with mango farmers planning a dried fruit project. In June we finished writing an 18 page report detailing the project details and how the business would operate. We recently learned that USAID approved our project and would be sending a check our way promptly. Therefore, the mango farmers and I will be purchasing materials to build solar driers and dehydrating fruit for sale rather soon.

Med Checks

2007-09-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

August 17th – 24th, 2007 Lima, Peru

Hey Mom, No Cavities

After serving a year in site, Volunteers are required to have a thorough medical check to ensure us that we aren´t carrying any parasites or other unwanted hosts. Doc says I am healthy. Healthy is a very relative term. I never felt so unhealthy in my life. Due to the stifling climate and that the roads are made of dust, I hardly ever exercise. I don´t even run although once in a while I do get to play basketball in Chulucanas. My diet has also never consisted of so little vegetables and so much rice. I may be down 17 pounds but hey I am not going to get too frustrated. It could be worse. Much, much worse.

I have never had a cavity. Volunteers told me they could claim the same until their first year as a volunteer and the during med checks: BAM! They got like 3 cavities. A couple other volunteers and I therefore started taking care of our dental hygiene in an almost paranoiac state. I have never flossed so consistently in my life. I can also still claim 15 knockouts and counting with plaque in the ring.

1 Year Reunion

Med checks is also a time to reunite with the volunteers you bonded with during training and share stories and successes and frustrations. It was fun to hang out with the crew again. We ran in the mornings, played some tennis. Played a lot of cards. Mostly spades although I did win 3 poker tournaments. Had a few drinks and best of all: enjoyed some delicious food at various eateries. It was a good time.

what can i get you guys to drink?

2007-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-09T15:17:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-09T15:15:00.001-07:00

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.

El Primer Año

2007-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

June 23rd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

One Year Anniversary

As of today, I have awakened every morning for exactly a whole year in this foreign country called Peru. Yet everyday it seems to grow less foreign. That is not to say that I do not have strange new encounters daily. They just have become such a familiar part of the weekly routine that their shock value has dwindled.

I´d say it is safe to say that I have learned more in the past year than any other year of my life. I have learned a tremendous amount about myself and life in general. Learning another language has taught me more about communication than any college communications course ever could. Immersing myself in a third world culture has taught me more about recognizing cultural differences than any high school sociology class ever did. Nothing will teach you that patience is a virtue better than struggling through a society that demonstrates its lack of organization and efficiency with practically every daily transaction.

I didn´t realize it was the one year anniversary until now, so I don´t really have anything prepared. I´ll try to write a "what I learned the first year in Peace Corps" article soon. Or at least something just as cheesy but insightful nevertheless.

Water Update

2007-06-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

June 20th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

I Forgot We Used to Have Water

We haven´t had water for over 6 weeks now. I have become so accustomed to life without water, that I forgot what it was like when we had. Its just one more example that with the right attitude you can pretty must adapt to just about anything. Now let me explain what I mean by the fact that we don´t have water because you are probably thinking, "Brent, man can´t live 3 days without water."

About 25 years ago, La Encantada had water pipes installed. This means that each house has a, as in one, spicket that gets water for 2 hours every morning. About 6 weeks ago, the motor, that pumps the water throughout the town to every house, broke. Therefore, there is still water, you just have to truck out to the source to have it. Thus, everyone morning donkey carts sell buckets of water for about the equivalent of $.07. There is also an unwritten rule that you don´t ask to buy more than a half tank. That isn´t very many buckets, so the family is on super conservation mode.

The new motor costs something like S/. 10,000 to replace. The municipality offered to pay for half. That means the town has to come up with the other S/. 5,000. So far we have raised half of that. That means we need approximately another sole per person to buy the new motor. Everyone is arguing about how they have paid such and such and so and so hasn´t paid at all. Before the motor broke, people were paying S/. 4 per month for water service. Now they are backing about a sole every other day. That is S/. 15 per month. If each family would just pony up S/. 10 that would get the motor running and everyone would save the first month. Plus, think the convenience. The electric company has the ability to cut off people´s electricity by the individual basis. People don´t seem to have a problem paying that bill. Nor do they seem to have a problem buying at least 1 round of beer every weekend. Some things I just never seem able to comprehend. By the way, the cost of that round of beer…….S/. 10.

Enosa: Spanish for Enron

2007-06-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

June 13th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Enosa: Spanish for Enron

So the energy bills came two days ago, and mysteriously everyone’s bill had doubled or tripled. After a short analysis, I noticed that Enosa (the electric company) had doubled the rate charged per kilowatt hour. I also noticed that nearly everyone had consumed between 1.5 to double the amount of power they normally consumed in a month. Needless to say, people were outraged.
I walked by the Local Communal on my way to the Local Artesenal to do some work on the computer. It was bustling with angry people. I wandered in to see what all the commotion was about. The Town Leader was sitting at a table with someone from the nearby municipality. Everyone was trying to convince everyone else that their bill was more of an outrage than their fellow mans although, the bills were almost uniformly double across the board. Now I’m thinking there must be some kind of mistake and that perhaps someone should contact Enosa and see what the deal is. The Town Leader is having everyone leave their John Hancock and DNI number in order to state a reclaim. People are getting chaotic though. Some are talking about strapping the next energy technician to the top of the lamppost. When I asked "dead or alive?" they calmly replied, "Alive! Were not that cruel." That is when I realized they were serious.
I curiously inquired to the Town Leader, "What did Enosa say when you talked to them?"
"Oh we haven’t talked to them."
"Well, don’t you think all this could be a simple error and that maybe we should talk to them?"
"Well, I called them once this morning and the manager was in a meeting."
Ok, sweet. Back to the witch hunt. I am starting to get scared that I might be considered part of the bourgeois and decide to get the heck away from here before I am burned at the stake. I sit down at the computer to do some work when an elderly woman comes in asking for a copy. I smile while I copy her DNI and last 6 months receipts from Enosa. Minutes later my smile turns to a frown as a line develops behind me. It’s over 50 people long. The glorious Town Leader is having everyone copy the former.
Although I have had people form a peaceful line, every time I turn around for the next persons receipts, the line extends about 6 wide and everyone shoves their items in my face. I am thinking of announcing to the group the next person who sticks something in my face is going to get a rude awakening. I am using the paper cutter when a woman sticks her hand across to get her DNI, "Señora, if you like your stubby little fingers I wouldn’t recommend doing that again."
Now, this is no industrial copier but rather a 3-in-1 designed for personal use. It’s overheating and stops working. "Señor, can’t you fix it." Well, it’s kind of like a car, when it overheats you have just leave it for a few minutes. Wait, what I am thinking. People start asking me questions that could only be answered by the power company. Sorry folks, I know the owners of Enosa are probably a bunch of WASPs who have been oppressing you for years, but I don’t actually work for the power company.
After the whole ordeal is over, I realized only 2 out of 50 people even said thank you.

International Game

2007-06-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

May 26th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Chulucanas vs. USA

A group of students from a prep school in Pennsylvania is in Chulucanas doing a service project before graduating from high school next week. They came to watch the basketball games the night before and told me they were playing in a game Sunday afternoon sponsored by the local church as a fund raiser. They asked me to play with their team as it was being advertised as a States vs. Chulucanas game. I soon found out why they were so desperate to have me play with them. I didn’t think you could find a group of 15 American seniors in high school this bad. They had one guy who played for their high school team. The Peruvians thought they were going to smoke us. I thought so too.

Until this guy named Mack went unconscious. He ended up shooting 9 for 14 from the 3 point line. His 31 points coupled with my 15 allowed us to squeak by with a 6 point win.

Cajamarca Trip

2007-06-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

May 25th, 2007 Cajamarca, Peru

PDM Conference

Wednesday through Friday we attended the conference from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM. It was pretty well done and I think everyone’s counterparts really learned a good deal. Porfirio and I were able to plan the bulk of the dried mango project. We are planning to meet with the local mango farmers when we return and finish the planning phase of the project.

Time Likes These

Stories like the following are what make enduring the hardships so worthwhile. Understanding that the volunteers really wanted to catch up and talk English, our Peruvian counterparts offered to head back to the hostel and watch cable while we stayed and talked after dinner the first night. Later, I came back to the hostel to find Porfirio surfing the internet searching for design ideas for his pottery. He is a former computer student of mine and I taught him how to use Google to search for designs. It made me real proud to see him utilizing his new skills without me having to prompt him to do so.

Dairy Products

In Piura we have almost no dairy projects. I never get cheese and the only milk I drink is canned. The ice cream in La Encantada is well….alright. Cajamarca on the other hand is the dairy capital of Peru. All the fields raise dairy cows. Therefore, we ate some pretty decent cheese. We also ate some great ice cream. It was a lot smoother than the kind we have in Piura. I was happy. We brought back some Swiss cheese and something called manjar blanco which is like a smoother caramel spread to share with the family.

May 22nd, 2007 Cajamarca, Peru

Exploring Cajamarca

We arrived this morning in Cajamarca. This department is one of the more historical because it was one of the main stations of the great Inca civilization. The conquistadors were also fond of the scenery it offered and set up camp as well. Therefore, many beautiful cathedrals were constructed hundreds of years ago. The city has a very colonial and historical feel and by far the most beautiful city I have visited in Peru to this day. It is set in the mountains and reminds me of parts of New Mexico.

We visited several cathedrals including Santa Apolonia which hosts the Chair of the Inca which is a natural rock formation in the shape of a king’s throne. The last day we visited the Baños del Inca which is an area used by the Incas. They are natural hot spring baths. You can enter a private tub for only $1.50. The water is naturally so hot that you have to add cold water to your tub or you wouldn’t last more than 2 minutes. It was very relaxing especially in the 60 degree cold weather.

May 21st, 2007 Chiclayo, Peru

A First Time Experience

This week I am going to a Project Design and Management conference in the beautiful department of Cajamarca. The objective is to learn how to write goal and vision statements and design successful projects. Although it was a slightly repetitive for me, it was great for my counterpart who had never really learned how to organize a project. I brought my host brother who is going to be my right hand man during the upcoming dried mango project this coming mango season.

Porfirio lived in Lima during high school but has never made more than $3 to $6 a day and therefore has never had the chance to really vacation or anything like that. My goal was to spoil him this week. Sometimes Pizza Hut commercials are on and he comments that he really liked the $.66 a slice pizza in Lima. I made him a pizza for his birthday but it was pretty sketch.

When we arrived in Chiclayo we headed to the mall. When we walked into Pizza Hut, his eyes lit up. The whole time he was smiling profusely, exclaiming the incredible flavors partying in his mouth. This was only the second time I have ate real pizza in 11 months now, and I was very satisfied myself.

We later went to see a movie and although it only cost $1.50, it was his first time. He really enjoyed it. All in all for the week, it was his first time eating Chinese food, Mexican food, and Italian food. Unfortunately, we are returning to La Encantada soon and it will be rice and chicken again. At least he had a week of indulgence.

Sports Updates

2007-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

May 20th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Sport Liberal reaches Copal Peru

La Encantada has a soccer team which plays in the league in Chulucanas. Peru has a competition called Copal Peru (Peru Cup). The teams begin as little town teams and keep playing until the championship which takes the winner into the national professional league. Our team beat out 7 other teams in from Chulucanas to advance to the next round. This is a big deal because La Encantada is a poor village of 3,500 people while Chulucanas is mostly a middle income town of 40,000.

Today we played the first game of the round robin and won 3-2. Everyone is pretty excited but we still have to win one or two more to advance to the next round robin.

May 19th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Host Family Attends the Big Game

I have been playing in a basketball league in Chulucanas on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A couple of Saturdays my host sister and her husband attended my game and had a good time, although we won 104 to 24. This time I promised them a more competitive game because we lost the first time by 6 points. This time around, my host parents, sister and her husband and 3 other friends came to watch. This is slightly a big deal for them because they have to pay to get to La Encantada and contract a mototaxi because we wouldn’t be returning until 1 AM.

The intensity was fierce because there is a huge rival between us and our opponents. We have a new post player, which is great because it means I get to play guard like I did in high school. Although I only scored 8 points after 40 minutes of straight playing time, I ended up with 11 assists and we won by more than 30 points. Everyone from La Encantada had a really good time and we all traveled back to town after midnight.

Baptism Rituals

2007-05-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Easter Vacation

2007-04-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

April 8th, 2007 Ica, Peru

Catch Me if You Can

Anticipating long lines for the buses back to Lima we decided to buy our bus tickets early for Sunday morning. The buses leave every six minutes and ours was to leave at 10:54 am. Our service at breakfast was a little slow and some were a little late leaving the hostel. Two of our party had boarded the bus while about six were waiting in the lobby and another four were still arriving. All of sudden, we heard the call for the 11:00 am bus and were wondering what happened to the 10:54 call. We got a call from one of our friends on the bus that they were pulling out and we saw it through the window in front of us. We all jetted out the terminal and started chasing the bus. Our friends were pleading with the driver but he refused to stop although he had a bus only at 30% occupancy. Finally, we see the bus pull over. The other 10 of us continue to sprint 3 blocks towards the bus with full baggage and all. It was quite the sight but 5 hours we arrived in Lima.

April 7th, 2007 Pisco and Paracas, Peru

The Poor Man’s Galapagos Islands

Today we headed to Pisco where the famous liquor is made. It pretty much tastes like tequila. We then headed to the coast to Paracas. Here we took a boat tour around the islands “Islas Ballestas”. We saw a hieroglyphic etched in the mountain spanning 60 feet. The main attraction was the thousands of birds who have deposited guano on these islands for centuries, which were once used to extract fertilizer for years. There were also seals, sea lions and even penguins. It interesting but I am hoping the rich man’s Galapagos Islands live up to the expectations a bit more.

We also visited some other cool sites along the coast with picturesque scenes. We then returned to Huacachina to go dune bugging.

Dune bugs and Sand boarding

We made it back in time to take the last trip in the dune bugs. We climbed the several sand dunes with these and the point is to drive crazy as if you were spinning doughnuts in a snowy parking lot. After an hour of this, the drivers would drop us off at the top of the dune and let us sand board down where they would pick us up. It was good times.

April 6th, 2007 Huacachina, Peru

Sand boarding in an Oasis

Huacachina is an oasis outside of the departmental capital of Ica. It is surrounded by enormous sand dunes which seem to span forever. We climbed to the top of the highest sand dune and watched the sunset. It must have taken us an hour to climb to the top. From here we could see the laguna and the oasis on which this little tourist town is built. We then proceeded to glide down the mountains just like we would on snow. Well, some of us glided, others tumbled. It was exhilarating, except for I still have sand in my ears from a bad wipe out.

Which bus to take

2007-04-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

April 5th, 2007 Lima, Peru

A Lesson In Opportunity Cost and Sunk Cost

We arrived in Lima in the morning and headed to the next terminal that would take us south to the department of Ica where we would be spending Easter weekend vacation. When we arrived at the terminal, we found the line to buy tickets wrapped around 2 blocks. We waited an hour and a half to buy to tickets and found out there was still an hour wait to get on a bus. We made a quick phone call to some friends who just arrived in Lima and had them check out the other terminal that goes to Ica. They called back and told us they just bought tickets (no line) and could board the bus in the next half hour.

But we were only ten minutes from getting our tickets. There were six of us. Two environmental volunteers and three business volunteers. We started hashing it out and the three business volunteers decided the costs incurred so far were sunk. We headed to the other terminal. When we arrived we learned this terminal was also charging $5 less. The environmental volunteers stayed with the other line. They paid $5 more to arrive at the hotel an hour after us. They also never took Economics 101.

Don´t You Even Try to Rob Me

2007-04-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

April 4th, 2007 Chiclayo, Peru

Nice Try Buddy

I headed down to Chiclayo (the regional city know as the capital of Amistad which means Friendship) to meet with a NGO about providing technical assistance to the duck raising project. Later I dropped off my suitcase at the bus station, which I would take to Lima later that night. I was walking on the street with my backpack when suddenly I felt it opened. I swung it off one shoulder to find that the little pocket had been opened.

Now that I was more vulnerable, the guy next to me attempted to jerk it off the remaining shoulder. I jerked it back with my left arm while simultaneously punching him in the arm with my right hand. I proceeded to close the zipper and dashed off. I still didn’t know if he had stolen something from the little pocked so I began chasing him. The first thing I yelled was, “Stop that man.” Then I realized no one speaks English. I continued to chase him for 3 blocks and heard things like help that gentleman.

Eventually after 3 blocks I realized I would never catch him with this 20 pound bag and Sketchers on. At one point, I began to hand my bag to an old woman but decided to trust no one. So I stopped and took off my bag to examine what was missing. Just as I decided nothing was missing, a woman came around the corner and was motioning me to come fast. I turned the corner to find the police with the perpetrator on the ground. They asked me to identify him and started to put me in the back of the truck with him until I made a face of utter confusion and they placed me in the front of the truck.

“What happened?”

“Well, I was walking when this friend, no, this asshole tried…….”

“You hear that. That’s right. You are an asshole.” The police begin to beat him in the stomach.

“Where you from?”

“I am from the States but I work in Piura”

“And you are here in Chiclayo visiting friends?”

“Yeah. My friends tell me supposedly this is the Capital of Amistad.”

“You´re right. This is the Capital of Amistad. You have no respect.” As they once again begin to punch him in the side and the stomach and rough around with his hair and neck.

Finally, we get to the police station and they ask me to fill out a denunciation. I have a bus at 8pm and its 6pm. For the next hour and a half I sit around and fill out a couple of denunciations. I felt like I was getting punished because it meant I was going to have to skip dinner and a much needed stiff drink. Finally, they tell me I can go and bring the perpetrator out of the closet and sit him down. They ask me if there is anything I would like to say or perhaps if I would like to hit him. This scrawny little 18 year old begins to beg for mercy. I meant to reply, “I’ll let God have his vengeance.” But lost in translation was “I’ll let God have his revenge.”

I just hope next time I am wearing my sneakers and my bag weighs 2 pounds because I’ll beat the crap out of some little scrawny 18 year old kid if he even tries to steal a piece of gum out of my bag.

Computer Class Graduation and the Epidemic

2007-04-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

April 3rd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Computer Class Graduation

My computer students completed the basic computer class this week and I thought it might be fun to have a little party to celebrate. I bought some soda and the students made popcorn, and Jell-O and I helped my host sister make a cake. From scratch. It was a little dense.

I was a little disappointed though because one third of the class didn’t show up. They send a message or anything. I thought for sure they would show up for a party. I just don’t understand why the teenagers are so unreliable here. I mean teenagers are pretty unreliable, who I am kidding. But they normally show up for parties.

March 28th thru April 1st, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Being Sick is no Fun

These past few days, I got pretty sick. I mean lets not lie, us volunteers are slightly sick all the time. But some kind of bug was going around my zone and a lot of people got really sick. My counterpart’s sister had to go to the hospital. Fortunately, I only had a fever and lost 9 pounds in a span of 3 days. But I am better now. Just feeling a little weak.

Visiting Orphanages and Jouleen Visits

2007-03-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

March 19th thru 22nd, 2007 Lima, Peru

Visiting Orphanages

This week was a very exciting week because two friends from college visited me in Peru. Jouleen, a great friend for 4 years of college, and Julie, a good neighbor for 3 years, and work for an institution called Buckner which owns orphanages around the world. They plan trips for volunteers who want to work for a week in various homes and just love on these kids. So I journeyed down to Lima to join them.

The homes were pretty standard. About 20 boys might share a room with 10 bunk beds and a bathroom with 5 toilets and equal amount of showers. We visited all ages but most were about 8 to 11 years old. These kids just need love and attention. Some of the homes which hosted teenagers included workshops where the kids could learn technical skills to utilize in the job market.

The home that struck me most was the young mothers home. These are teenage mothers. Each had a baby or child or twins and was under the age of 16. One mother was only 12 years old and had a baby of 6 months.

At each home we passed out shoes that had been donated by individuals around the States. It’s a program called Shoes for Orphan Souls. Each kid gets a brand new pair of shoes. The joy on the faces of these kids is wonderful.

Jouleen Visits

It was really good to see a friend from college. Although I have been here for over 10 months now, it was like we had just seen each other a week ago. She brought lots of good stuff from the States, like Krunchers Jalapeño chips and home baked cookies from another good friend, Nathalie. It was great to see her and catch up but I was sad to see her go. She might get to come back in November with Buckner.

It was slightly overwhelming at first to be surrounded by 31 other Americans. A few who sat nearby me on the bus bombarded me with questions about Peru and my experience in general.

There were 4 groups and each group was supposed to have 2 translators but there were only 7 translators so I ended being the eighth. It was cool because then I didn´t feel guilty having my meals paid for. The other translators were mostly college students who had learned English here and there. They were pretty cool and the last night I went out with them for a drink.

Fair for the Denomination of Origin

2007-03-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

March 17th & 18th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Fair for the Denomination of Origin

The ceramics that are made in the zone where I live are receiving a denomination of origin. Basically, it signifies that this particular product is made in the region it claims to be from and such. For example, champagne being from Champagne. This way other artisans in Peru or the rest of the world for that matter, can´t make a style of pottery similar to ours and claim that is Chulucanas style. Now each workshop will undergo a system of quality control and must maintain this level of quality. Each workshop will receive the stamp proving that their product is a part of the committee.

To celebrate reaching this milestone, the city of Chulucanas hosted a fair. Many of my artisans set up stands in the Plaza de Armas. Tourists bought from the stands while bands played music and professional dancers did demonstrations of traditional dances. There were also demonstrations of the process involved in making a piece of pottery. There were also contests for different age groups. Although Chulucanas is a town of about 40,000 people and La Encantada only inhabits about 3,500, La Encantada won 7 out of the 8 possible prizes. My host mom won in the women´s category and my host dad won the best overall piece.

Fighting Racism via the Cumbia

2007-03-16T14:51:00.001-07:00

March 9th, 2007 Piura, Peru

Graduation

My host dad´s side of the family is from the regional city. My cousin attends the public university there and invited me to attend her graduation. It was pretty much the same as any other college graduation although much shorter with fewer speeches. I am not complaining. After the ceremony, which takes place at night, we attended a very formal and nice reception dinner. Each department (accounting, nursing, etc.) has its own reception dinner. It was quite nice and I was very impressed with the class the place had been decorated. My host uncle was present which leads me to my next entry.

Fighting Racism via the Cumbia

My host uncle had been in attendance in La Encantada for the birthday for my host father. At one point during the night he told me that it made him very happy to see me dancing the “Cumbia” and the “Huayno”. At first I thought, “Yeah, I have accustomed myself and can dance a couple Peruvian traditional dances.” But this wasn´t his point. You see, many of the elite in Peru will not dance these two particular styles because in their opinion they believe that they are at a level above these two styles, and therefore would never dance like so. He proceeded to tell me that when I danced just like everyone else it demonstrated to the elite Peruvians that we are equal. Sometimes I forget that I am a role model at all times in this country, whether I am playing with the kids, eating vegetables, cooking despite that my chromosomes read XY, or dancing the “Cumbia”.

Birthdays and Rapids

2007-03-03T16:43:00.001-08:00

February 26th, 2007 Yapatera, Peru

The Pilca

Today I headed out to a little town called Yapatera with some youth from town. There are some rapids about an hour and a half from La Encantada. It was really refreshing as the water was a lot clearer and quite a bit colder than the river we normally use to swim in. We packed lunches and ate on rocks with water rushing by. I wouldn’t mind going here monthly to escape the heat.

February 25th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Host Dad’s Birthday

Today was my host Dad’s birthday. This morning we slaughtered a lamb, skinned, gutted and butchered it for later. It wasn’t too much different from doing the same to a deer, only smaller. We would later cook it a style called capus. This is basically cooking it a big pot in the ground. It’s tender as if it were straight out of a crock-pot.

Around 3 o’clock the extended family came. We sat around and passed the cup and the beer bottle. After this party and they one for my host grandma, I am starting to get to know my extended host family pretty well. Later the dancing began and we partied until 3am. Then we had to find places for 10 people to sleep. I pitched my tent and slept with my cousin while my other cousin and her mom slept in my bed.

Community Integration

2007-03-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

February 24th, 2007 Chulucanas, Peru

Peruvian National Team

There is an upcoming basketball tournament in Chulucanas and in Piura. There have been all these rumors that I have told such and such teams that I will be playing with them. I have only agreed to play with my counterpart, Mario. There is also a tournament in the regional city about an hour and a half away every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had to explain them I couldn’t play in that tournament because actually it’s not my job to play basketball. Some of the guys were telling me that if I got hitched to a Peruvian national, I’d be eligible for the Peruvian National Team. I am nowhere near good enough to play for the National Team, but I figure I should at least check the validity of the statement.

February 11th to 23rd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Community Integration

I feel a lot more integrated into my community the last two months. Teaching computers has introduced me to many of the teenagers in town and they are fun to hang out with. Playing with the kids is refreshing. And the garden project is going well. We planted some seeds in half-cut plastic 2-liter bottles. Later we’ll transplant the infantile plants to the main garden. These first 6 months in site have just flown by. It’s crazy to think I have been here almost 9 months total. It’s going to be an exciting 2 years.

Games of Tag

2007-03-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

February 10th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Games of Tag

I have started playing different games of tag with the kids at night. We have to play at night due to the sweltering heat during the day. We tried to play during the day one time but that shortly resulted in us sitting on a log in the shade eating popsicles. They like playing new games, so I taught them partners tag, stoplight, and sharks and minnows but on land. It’s been fun. And the parents love me for it, especially the mothers. Not to mention its good exercise because they all team up to get the big crazy gringo.

A river runs through it

2007-02-22T08:44:00.001-08:00

February 9th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

The River

When it rains real hard in the mountains, La Encantada has a river that runs through it. And although neither the words crystal nor clear can be used to describe it, it is quite refreshing to take a dip when the temperature is topping 105 ºF every day. So Friday, I gathered a couple of 5 to 11 year olds in my town and another teenager to help me supervise and we headed to the river. The river was only waist deep for me and the kids took turns having me dunk them and launch them through the air. Kids are so refreshing. But still kids, as they took twice as long to walk back to town as they did to get there when they were excited causing me to nearly be late for my computer class.

February 7th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Compost Capacitation

I had a presentation on how to construct a compost pile using materials found around the home and from the farm fields. We will use these piles as natural fertilizer for the gardens we have started recently. I didn´t think that many people would have started their gardens already but over half the group started preparing their soil after the first presentation only a week ago. It is great to work with such a motivated group.

Superbowl and Grandmas Birthday

2007-02-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

February 5th & 6th, 2007 Piura, Peru

Sunday Meetings and the Superbowl

This weekend marked the first time I saw the other volunteers of the department of Piura since New Year’s. That meant 5 weeks. That’s a long time considering its custom for us to meet every 2 to 3 weeks. It was really fun to see everyone. We went to the pool one day, made the market trip, danced it up one night and then Sunday held many a meeting before the Superbowl.

First, I met with Wilfredo to discuss his experience raising ducks which I will begin with some families in my site quite soon. Then all the volunteers met because we are starting a theater group to give health presentations drama style. We will then travel from site to site performing health dramas. Finally, we met to discuss an ALMA camp we will be hosting in June. This camp is for teenage girls and is a camp to capacitate them as leaders within in their community. It’s a good project.

After the marathon of meetings, we all settled down to watch the Superbowl. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to watch the commercials because the station was in Spanish and therefore didn’t have the rights to the game. It was a pretty good game though.

February 4th, 2007 Piura, Peru

Grandma’s Birthday

Today I traveled to Piura with my host family to celebrate the 81st birthday of the mother of my host dad. It was a fun time. Almost all of the siblings of my host dad live in Piura and they all gathered at my host grandma’s home to celebrate. We ate a nice dinner of lamb that my family killed just hours earlier in La Encantada. Talk about fresh.

Around 9pm grandmas was growing quite tired and asked her kids to dance. A Peruvian isn’t considered successful unless multiple people dance for an extended period of time. We danced until 1am more or less before retiring for the night. It was a good time.

Site Visit and New Projects

2007-02-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

January 16th to 30th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Animal Husbandry and Family Gardens

The past couple of weeks I have been talking to families in the area about starting both an animal husbandry project along with a family garden. I am pretty excited about this project, mostly because the families I am working with are very enthusiastic and the projects complement each other so well.

Basically we are going to raise small batches of animals to sell in the community, eat in the homes and sell in the larger city markets. We are going to start with turkeys and ducks. Next week I have a meeting with the regional director of Peace Corps from Piura to discuss the possibility of attaining a loan to pay for the initial capital required. What´s great is that we can mix the animal excrement in with our compost piles for the family gardens. The nutrition level isn´t very good here and hopefully family gardens will at least induce some families to start eating vegetables.

January 15th, 2007

Site Visit

The APCD (Associate Program Country Director), Alfredo, for the business program made a site visit today. The first half hour or so we just chilled out in my house and chatted with my host family. Then Wilfredo, the regional director for Piura, checked out my room to make sure it complied with Peace Corps regulations. My doctor, Sunni, loaded me up with any medicines I made need.

We then met with some of the leaders in my town to discuss Peace Corps and the role of a volunteer in the community. This meeting went quite well. After checking on the progress of some of my projects, we headed to Chulucanas to meet with my counterpart. We then ate a decent lunch in town before they all departed to the next site to visit in the sierra. It was a good site visit and felt good to get the first one over with.

Mangos and Computers

2007-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

January 13th, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

Mangos (dried)

The price of mangos here is an atrocity. One of the major ways to earn income here is to farm mangos. They sell for about $3 a case which holds about 25 mangos. Mangos in the States sell for about $1 a piece minimum. I decided we have to find an alternative. So we have begun drying them.

Solar power is a very economical way to dry fruit, if you have frequent access to it. Considering it tops 100º F here just about every day, this is not a problem. About 3 weeks ago we built a dryer out of plywood and began drying mangos. We plan on selling them in supermarkets and some other specialty shops that have nuts and other dried fruit. Other Volunteers are already lined up to purchase any leftovers we have. That is for this season. The season lasts from November to February. If we have success we will try to export next season and find some profit margin for the farmers. So far so well. I´ll give you an update when we make our first venture to sell. We are still waiting for enough bulk. Currently, we can only dry a kilo every two days.

Computer Classes

I started teaching computer classes this week. I have twelve students in two different classes that last two hours each from Monday to Friday. It has been interesting experience. All the kids want to do is draw since I taught them Paint. Next course I will teach that last. The teenagers have been learning Excel and it is rewarding to see their faces when I teach them shortcuts and tricks like Autofill. I think soon I am going to teach a course on how to design a catalog. The kids are excited everyday for class and that makes it worth it when they drive me up the wall.

New Years Festivities

2007-01-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

January 1st, 2007 Piura, Peru

New Year´s Day

We pretty much didn´t do anything day. Pretty much just watched some football and played cards and used the pool in the neighboring hotel. They let us use the pool if we buy a $1 lemonade. It’s a pretty good deal.

December 31st, 2006 Piura, Peru

New Year´s Eve

We had planned on going to the beach for New Year´s Eve but it turned out everyone in Piura had the same day. Apparently you need reservations like 3 weeks in advance and all the prices pretty much triple. So instead we decided to just hang out in Piura. It was pretty fun. Some of the volunteers from Lambeyacue came up and together with the volunteers from Piura we rolled about 15 deep. We didn´t get into the club until about 10 minutes til midnight only to find out there was no countdown. That makes two years in a row I have missed it. But we didn´t let this get us down and proceeded to have our own countdown for each time zone we are originally from in the States.

And then the dancing began. I danced mostly with some volunteer friends and then with a Peruvian friend of ours until around 4am. I thought I was done at this time and was about to lean against a wall for a short break, when out of nowhere a beautiful Peruvian girl comes out of nowhere and asks me to twirl her around like I was doing with Ottilia. Of course I couldn´t decline. My friend Ryan noticed some of her friends snapping photos and corralled Steve into dancing with her friends. Finally at 6am and after numbers had been exchanged we left the club. We headed to a little burger joint and then sat in the plaza to watch the sunrise. At 7am we retired to the hostel for a comfortable 2 hours sleep. For one of the worst Christmas day celebrations I have ever experienced, this was one of the better New Years Eves.

La Navidad

2006-12-31T08:29:00.000-08:00

December 25th, 2006 La Encantada, Peru

La Navidad

I am not celebrating Christmas this year. I am celebrating Navidad. I decided it would be harder if I tried to half celebrate Christmas and therefore decided to celebrate Navidad however they celebrate here instead. It doesn´t really feel like Christmas anyways. There aren´t any Christmas trees. No lights or decorations. And definitely no snow. I mean its 103 degrees out today. Plus, we didn´t even go to church either day. I don´t know if anyone in town did.

Its definitely been a different Christmas…..Navidad. We just sat around and passed the cup. And danced a little. And wrapped up the party at 9pm. It wasnt a bad holiday season, just a nonexistent one. Who knows, maybe next year I will celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Happenings

2006-12-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

December 24th, 2006 La Encantada, Peru

Buena Noche (Christmas Eve)

Christmas Eve is the bigger day here. Actually, in hindsight, neither day appears to be a very big day. We pretty much just sat around til midnight watching not Christmas movies but just regular programmed television, which didn´t differ from previous nights. But anyways…

At midnight we ate capus, which is chicken and lamb cooked in for hours in the ground and comes out real tender. This was accompanied with champagne and paneton and wine. The champagne was decent but the wine tasted like cough syrup. Most Peruvian wine is like this, way too sweet. Which is funny, because Chilean wine is normally quite appeasing. We then exchanged gifts.

Perhaps the Best Gift I have ever given

A week prior we drew names to exchange gifts. Yes, each person in my family is going to receive one gift valued at between $3 to $5. It kind of worked out perfectly because my host dad drew for my host mom and vice versa, as well as for my sister and her husband and my nephew of one year, Pedrito, and I. I bought some cool little sneakers for him. He got me a stuffed monkey. Its nice. The rest got clothes.

I bought the family a gift also. About 8 months ago, the family´s blender broke. And they have been dejected about this fact ever since. I don´t think two days go by without someone mentioning the blender. Last week I bought an Oster 12 speed blender. I wanted to get something that would hopefully last for years. My sister earlier this week asked me what babies eat in the states, since she is a little concerned about the nutrition of her baby since we only tend to eat rice and potatoes. I described her as best as I could how we have baby food vegetables. She stated she could do that if she only had a blender.

On Friday, I noticed her feeding the baby liquidated broccoli and cauliflower. I asked her how she made that and she replied, “With the blender.” (This is before Christmas). “With what blender?” I ask.
“Porfirio brought one.”
“Where did you get a blender?”
“I borrowed it from Mom.” His family lives on the other side of town.

I wipe my forehead in exasperation. I can still give the best gift I have ever given. Its not that I have never given a good gift before, its just that never has a gift been so desired and needed. After opening the box, the family probably mentioned how beautiful the blender was at least 7 times before we called it a night at 3am.

December 23rd, 2006 Mogote, Peru

Chocolatadas

A common Christmas tradition in Peru is a chocolatada. The kids in the community come with their mugs and smiling faces. Each kid is given a fruit cake like snack called paneton and a mug of hot chocolate made from real cocoa. Sometimes they are also given a little gift valued at $1 to $2. These kids are happy. We organized it for the association and had each member bring there kids. There were not extra toys, but we had plenty of hot chocolate and paneton left and thus informed the children to inform their neighbor friends. With half an hour kids were racing up the street from all directions with their mugs in hand. These kids were genuinely excited.

One of our members lives in a caserio of La Encantada. A caserio is a little village of about 200 people or so that rests about an hours walk more or less from the town it is associated with. He informed us that no one has anything like a chocolatada for the kids in his village. The association organized a chocolatada and later Saturday afternoon about 12 of us headed out to the caserio of Mogote. These kids were beaming as we called each of their names and presented them with our humble gifts. It was a good experience.