A New Start…Welcome to Jangas, Ancash

Although at this point I’ve only spent about three hours at my new site, Jangas [hongus]. Jangas is a beautiful site. Nestled between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra. I have a great view of Huascaran, the second largest mountain in the Americas, and the second highest mountain range (the Andes) in the world. I am feeling a little bit more positive than I was in Cajamarca. I guess that’s just a fresh start. I’m very wary after the last eight and a half months in Catilluc of the people, the work, and of course the expectations on me. And I’m very worried that my next year will be as unsuccessful as my first. So I keep plugging away, hoping that eventually excitement will come over me that makes me love this job.

Yet, Huaraz is amazing. There are great restaurants here. And in general I like the feel. Jangas is only about 20 minutes away from Huaraz, so my local market and internet are here in Huaraz. It’s also only a sol or a sol fifty to get to and from Huaraz and Jangas. It reminds me of training when we used to have to grab a combi every morning to get to the training center. I don’t plan on being here every morning, but it will be nice to sit in a coffee shop and use the wireless internet. Can you believe I’m in Peace Corps? Some days, I can’t.

Speaking of training, Peru 11 will be arriving June 6th I believe. They will be another group of Small Business and Youth Development trainees and then volunteers. I will be heading down to Lima to give a talk with the Women in Development/Gender and Development committee. We do a quick training session on gender problems that could come up during one’s service in Peru.

But today, I’m just feeling nervous. I want this new start to be the Peace Corps service that I hoped for. And maybe my expectations are misplaced, but hopefully, I can modify those as I go. Or maybe that was my downfall in Catilluc. But live and learn, right?

Last Days in Catilluc

Surprisingly, my last day in Catilluc was much harder than I expected it to be. I expected to pack up, give a couple of hugs and run out the door into the car that would take me swiftly to Cajamarca. Instead, I realized that there were many people who I owed a personal good-bye, as well as, many people of whom I didn't yet have photos. There were a couple of times when I was near tears as I said my good-byes but held it together like Scarlett O'Hara promising myself that I could cry tomorrow. I made a personal list of the five people/families that I would miss, and I'll share it here with you (including photos).

1. My family: We started off very rocky, and my host mom tended to be absent more than she was present, but it's not how you start...it's how you end. And we ended very well. Our last few dinners together we sang songs, told jokes and funny stories, and it was just like what I wanted the whole time. So, I will definitely miss my family, but even more, I'll miss my host mom. She's such a free spirit, and I really hope that she gets her life figured out.

This is the gorgeous quilt my mom made for me, with my family.

2. The Doctor - he was a great guy. He was always very supportive, and he always had a good joke. He was there when I needed to talk about stuff, although I think he was frustrated that I didn't share enough. I really adored his wife and two young daughters as well.

Doctor Ademar and me in front of the Health Center. There's currently a campaign against Hepatitis B.

3. David and Ester and family - David's a sociologist and Ester's not from Catilluc which explains why they seemed to be the only two people at times that "got me" when I lived there. Saying good-bye to them was especially hard. I teared up a number of times. David even joked, when we took a picture together that he was going to tell all of his friends that I was his girlfriend from the US, and I told him that I was going to tell all my friends that he was my boyfriend in Peru. We always had so much fun together.

Here we are in their house with their four children.

4. Professor Edith - she is a science teacher and I met her because I sat in on a number of her English classes (just like in the states, sometimes teacher's are forced to teach things they aren't necessarily qualified for). She was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend, but I have a lot of regrets with Edith because I really wanted to get to know her better. She was gone for vacations during my hardest months.

This is a horrible picture, and we had obviously both been a little teary. My nose gets red when I cry.

5. Last, but definitely not least, Mama Casilda. You guys have seen her picture. I love this woman. She is so campo (from the country), I can't understand half of what she says, but she has adopted me and taken me in like I was her on. I feel lucky to have her in my life, and I will miss her so, so much.

Mama Casilda. I might have posted this picture already, but it's my most recent.

So there you have. I had a massage today, and I let go of all the horrible times in Catilluc. I now leave tomorrow to head to my new site in Ancash. I am so nervous, but incredibly excited.

And Finally...The Big News

So, I'm finally ready to announce that after much debate, many long months, and a lot of crying, that Peace Corps has decided to move me out of Catilluc and to a new site in a different department. This decision has come after the awful meeting a few months ago with a few of the members of my committee, plus the constant rehashing of this awful event by community members, and the inability for the people of my site to communicated with me like adults. To explain, things have been difficult at site. And then it gets better. And then another bomb will drop and things will be difficult again. And then I'll find something else to love about Catilluc again, only to hear another lie about me in the community. The amazing thing is that I'm not much of a gossip, but I keep hearing all of these things that I have said out of context, blown out of proportion, or a complete falacy.

I've actually known for about five months now that Peace Corps wanted to move me, but it was in March when they made the final decision and I stopped holding out and decided to submit to their decision. I am sad, but not that sad. There will be people I miss in Catilluc, but they're not the people I thought. Now that things are better with my family, I will miss them a lot. I will miss Mama Casilda and some of the teachers.

My little brother Fran, my host mom Yobani, and me in a milk truck on our way to Cajamarca.

But I will not miss the gossip, learning about another thing I had done wrong two months after the fact. I will not miss my counterpart who has been a huge gossip and not much of an advocate. I've also told everyone I'm going to Tumbes, rather than telling them I'm headed to the beautiful department of Ancash. I will still be living in the Andes, and I will still live in a small town, alhough this one is four time the size of Catilluc.

Let's just say I feel a huge relief, and I'm ready for my service to get started on a more positive note. I'll tell you more about my new site when I get there.

My younger siter Ailyn and me in her classroom at school.

Getting along with the Rents

So since returning from Vacation, I have had the rare opportunity to get to spend a lot of quality time with my host mom. She really is the amazing person that I first met when I moved to Catilluc. The other day we went to a parillada (bbq) and really had a good time. I danced and she helped serve and take care of the people. I got to meet some more of her sisters, my host aunts. And mostly it just felt really chill and naturally to be with her.

My host family (ul Ailyn, me, Yobani, ll Fran, Maximo)

It's good that I'm starting to get along wtih Yobani, because Rosa left me about a month ago. I'm really feeling the lack of good, close friends. Friends that I can confide in and not hear about it the next day in the community. Gossip is an amazing thing in these small Peruvian towns. Not that I can blame them. They didn't have a written language in this country until the Spanish came, and most of their entertainment came through storytelling which caught them up on what was happening with the families in nearby villages. Gossip is just a continuation of that particular tradition. Now, of course, that doesn't make me feel any better when I hear lies about me in the community. But I'm learning I can't always control what other people think or say about me. This is one tough lesson for me, because I always want to be liked by everyone, and I don't want anyone to have a bad opinion of me. But I need to grow up and move on.

Mama Casilda and me.








Things in Catilluc have certainly been difficult since December. I feel like everytime I managed to get my foot in the door while staying planted firmly on the ground, then another big bomb will drop in my lap and completely devastate me. Of course, the current highlight, is just getting to spend quality time with my host mom and host family. It's so nice to feel like I'm a part of this family really for the first time since my early days in Catilluc.

Semana Santa a couple weeks and a few soles short

So I'm three weeks late of posting about Semana Santa. Many people emailed me to talk to me about what goes on here in Peru during the Holy Week before Easter, and the honest answer is...I have no idea.

The great thing about Semana Santa for me this year was that because it's consists of four vacation days for Peruvians, it also is four free vacation days for us volunteers. And seeing how things at site have been somewhat difficult, I had no personal qualms about getting away from the rain and dreariness of Cajamarca for bright sun, sand, and surf in Northern Peru.

My friend Bron and I went up to Mancora, Piura for a few days to "dry out". It was a good move for both of us. We had a great time. We met up with other Peru 9 volunteers, and we made a bunch more new friends from our great big Peace Corps family.

One night we all went out dancing, and for the first time in my service we were in a big PC group of Peru 7, 8,9 and 10ers all just having a good time. There truly is something that connects you to other people even if you didn't spend three months in training with them.

We also made new friends with some local fisherman. One day we (Bron and I) headed to a remote part of Piura to get away from the Semana Santa crowds with our new friend Brian (Peru 10). What we didn't realize was that we were going to a place that had no restaurant, store, or very consistent transportation. So after a couple hours of lounging around the beach we got hungry. We knew that we were pretty isolated and foreigners so we asked a family BBQ-ing on the beach next to us where we could find some food. In their awesome Peruvian generosity they invited us to eat with them. We had good food with a lot of potatoes (of course), but even more we had great conversation. Again, we were explaining what Peace Corps is and what we do, and they were teaching us about their lives. They were fishermen and so they showed us the fish they caught and how they wash their hands. They explained things to us about Peruvian culture as they knew it living on the coast. All in all, it was a great time, with great conversation. And we made new friends with more of the awesome people of this amazing country.

Brian, me, and Bron meeting the fish that our friends had caught that day.
Bron learning how to wash her hands like a fisherman with one of our friends.

The sunset in Mancora. It disappeared so fast, I didn't really have time to get a great shot.

Here I am catching up on the latest in movies, music, and television. I'm reading Entertainment Weekly. Thanks Big Sis for sending them to me.

As for the title of this blog, I did come back from vacation totally broke, but it was worth every penny.

Problems with Blogging...for the moment

I can't currently post my blog about Unsha, but I'll be headed to Cajamarca tomorrow. So I'll give a big, long update about life as of late in Catilluc.

I hope all is well. Forgive my long absence.

Unsha

A few days ago there was a big fiesta in Catilluc. The Unsha is a traditional fiesta that follows the season of Carnaval. In all honesty, I think it’s just another excuse to party. Welcome to Peru. The tradition centers on a big tree that is put up over night in the town plaza. Then a bunch of “gifts” are hung on the tree. At night there is a big partner dance where the partners work to cut down the tree. When the tree is down people take the gifts with the knowledge that they will replace it the next year two-fold. So if I take on bottle of Pepsi (or whatever), I need to provide two bottles next year. I'm not sure people really follow through with this though because the tree was a little barren. The big “winner” is the person that strikes the final blow to cut down the tree, and they have to underwrite next year’s Unsha. I didn’t take anything; I actually didn’t even get to see the ceremony as the actual dance happened way too late into the night.

The big tree with presents

I did attend the dance for a little while though. Everyone always wants to dance with the gringa. To be honest, I’m pretty sick of dances in Catilluc. You usually dance to one of three types of music: huayno, cumbia, and marinera. They’re all fairly similar except the marinera which I don’t even know how to dance. I hope that eventually I can get someone to teach me in the privacy of their own home. The hardest part about dances in Catilluc is avoiding the drunken men. Last night a guy insisted that I dance with him, even though I insisted I didn’t know how to dance marinera. Eventually a friend saved me, but I ended up having to dance the marinera – very poorly. Sometimes I just wish that I could dance salsa or meringue or even a little hip-hop. Anything else would be great!

I hope to write another entry about Semana Santa which was two weeks ago, but I do have some pictures from my time in Mancora, Piura.

What's a party without futbol?