Another Question Answered

If you were recommending places for someone to visit in Peru what would be your top 3 places you'd recommend? Why?
Choosing places to visit in Peru is much like trying to decide your favorite child, merely impossible. I would just like to say from the get-go that everyone who likes to travel and wants to see the world needs to make sure that Peru is at the top of the list. Not only can one visit the beautiful coast in places like Mancora and Hunchaco, but you also have a number of amazing ruins – both well traveled and less well known and on top of it there are these amazing cities to visit like Cajamarca and Arequipa. Not only that, but you can go on treks, hikes, climbs, kayak trips, etc. It’s a virtual paradise of experiences and adventures. With that said, my top three would have to be:

1. Ancash – I know I live here, but I really have seen other parts of Peru and still find that I like this place the best. There is just so much to do and see here. Plus, Huaraz is a small capital city and is easy to navigate and find people who are willing to help you figure out your travel adventures. In Ancash you can easily see Huascaran (the second largest mountain in the Americas), go on any number of treks, hikes, biking, etc. And on top of that there are some pretty interesting ruins and small cities with a lot of history. It’s also a pretty well kept secret. Everyone comes to Peru to see places like Cusco (where Machu Picchu can be found) and the Amazon River, but I have yet to meet the disappointed tourist in Ancash.

2. Chachapoyas – A sleepy little town near Kuelpa (Pre-Columbian ruins), Gocta (7th largest waterfall), and a number of other little things to go and do or see and still a decent night life. For historical value, Cusco is probably a better bang for your buck, but in terms of people, I have not found nicer people than the people I met in Chacha. It also could be your gateway right into a trek down the Amazon River because Chacha is on the border of the jungle. It was very beautiful there, but mostly the people were so great.
3. I know people expect Machu Picchu on this list, but I’m going to give this final spot to Zorritos, Tumbes where we stayed at this beautiful ecological lodge. Not as nice as Mancora, but less traveled which I really enjoyed. Plus, the Peruvian coast is gorgeous no matter what. Plus the mud baths there are so worth the 2 soles it costs to enter.
Well, there are my top three. I haven’t been to the Amazon yet; it’s ultimately my last big trip in Peru before I return to the States. So of course, the list might change before I leave, but for right now, if you’re coming to Peru make sure you try to hit some of these smaller, lesser known places.

And then none...for a week.

I really thought I was on some kind of a roll with the last couple of blogs, but apparently it can be just as easy to slip back into apathy.

Here, many communities have a summer vacation program called vacaciones utiles or "useful vacations". In Jangas teachers are teaching traditional dance, theatre, soccer, volleyball, math, and yours truly is teaching nine (count them - nine) computer classes. This started out as one of my favorite things to do, but as kids don't come or come on weird days, I'm starting to get a little bored with it all. Not to mention I have students that can do some of the most advance work and some students that don't know how to turn a computer on.

But one of my bigger successes has taken place. Since I arrived in Jangas, I have been trying to start a Youth (& Young Adult) Health Promoters Group. And it finally is in action. I have about 6 active young adults and adolescences that attend a weekly talk on everything from nutrition to first aid to STIs. I hope this group will grow and we can use it to go into the communities and teach others what we are learning. At the very least there are 6 more people who know how to help a burn victim. I love it when I have good things to report, and this is an even sweeter thrill because I didn't think it was going to actually happen. I was about to give up on it all.

So there is a quick update. I'll keep answering your questions in the next few posts. Keep them rolling in.

Two In One Week!

2. Is it safe for you to walk around there at night?

Ah, safety…I have heard some very wise people (even recently) talk about the fact that what most people fear is the unknown. For example, we don’t fear public speaking but rather what we fear is the unknown reaction the audience members will have to our topic, our dress, and/or our delivery. We’re not fearful of spiders, per say, but of the unknown: if they will bite us, if they are poisonous, if we’ll die, etc. I think you get my point. So a lot of people have chosen to not travel because of concern for their own personal safety. I’m not saying that is bad, but I’m saying that given the right information and safety training the fear of the unknown in terms of safety and security can be overcome. In the Peace Corps we are given a ton of training in safety and security during our first three months in the country. This has been very effective in helping us understand and try to avoid potentially dangerous or compromising situations. With that said, nothing is perfect. And every year Peace Corps volunteers are robbed, assaulted, pick pocketed and even (sadly and rarely) raped.

Do I feel less safe in Peru than I do in the United States? The honest answer is that it depends on the situation. Most days (or nights) walking through my relatively small town I feel fine, but if you add even one drunk man to the mix, I get a little nervous. As I believe I have written about before in my blog, there is a huge problem with alcoholism in Peru and combine that with machismo and sometimes you have a very dangerous combination. I have been grabbed by drunken men and not given the option to escape (although I did figure out how to do it eventually). I have also been chased by a drunken man back to my house in Catilluc, Cajamarca one night after a dance. In both cases, I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol. Being a white girl in the middle of Peru can make you a walking target sometimes it’s only wanted or unwanted attention, but sometimes the attention can change to comments, whistles, and undesirable actions on the part of those around you. Peruvians on the whole are great people, and the rare occasion that I don’t feel scared to walk by myself at night usually involves someone else drinking alcohol. The amazing thing about being a volunteer is that I always have a group of other volunteers around if we decide to stay out late. If I want to go home early from dancing, there is always another volunteer or two who will want to go back themselves or will at least escort me back and then return to the dancing. This is the family aspect of my time in Ancash. We try very hard to take care of each other here especially in terms of safety and security.

So to sum up, for the part I feel safe walking around alone at night in my sight, but in places that I don’t know well I choose the buddy system or a taxi (which has its own safety concerns, but I’ll leave that for another blog). I wish I could say I feel absolutely safe all the time, but that’s neither the reality in Peru nor anywhere else in the world.

In Answer to Your Questions:

Describe a typical dish. What foods are your favorites?

I think we’re always curious about how others eat. If you think about it, we schedule meetings, dates, and reunions around food. Food is a part of our national culture and we are fascinated by other types of meals around the world. Go to any major city in the States and you’ll find pages and pages in the phone book of Mexican, Thai, Chinese, etc. restaurants. Not so in Peru. Even in Lima, I have only ever heard of one Mexican food restaurant and not many more than one or two of any other restaurants with different ethnic foods. Peruvians are very proud of their food. I once heard a Peruvian say that they had read that according to an article she had read, Peru had the third best food in the world after France and Japan. I tried not to laugh when she told me she had found the random article on the internet. Plus, let’s face it; there is great Indian food and Italian food that might rank a little higher in the minds of others. The good news, for me, is that I don’t hate Peruvian food. But I do admit to coming to Peru hoping for great Mexican type foods. Spicy dishes full of flavor on sizzling plates with homemade tortillas. The reality, although still very tasty, is quite different.

Here a typical family eats foods high in starch and carbohydrate content. Most dishes come with a mound of rice AND a mound of potatoes or a mound of potatoes AND a mound of pasta. Peruvians really enjoy condiments (as they call them), but it’s not like mayo and mustard (although those are included from time to time) usually they like sauces like chili sauce examples include aji Amarillo which is generally put over potatoes which is not really that spicy but is very tasty or papa/cuy picante which is spicy potatoes and guinea pig with ground up rocotto (the chili of Peru) on top. This is one of my favorite foods. I became a vegetarian in Peru (for health reasons) but I still eat cuy (guinea pig). The way I see it is I only get two years to eat the cute little things we put in cages and call pets, so I should take advantage. Not to mention, cuy is very expensive for Peruvians so it would be impolite to not eat it if someone put it before me. For every ounce of starch I eat, I probably only eat about a ¼ of an ounce of vegetables, and I would never eat fruit if I didn’t buy it for myself.

I might have written about this before, but there are a lot of myths of health based around food. Like many in the world, many Peruvians believe that water – at room temperature or colder – will cause a cold. What we consider “old wives tales” prevail in parts of this culture as science. The worst one in my opinion is the idea that fruits are “cold” foods that will cause someone to be sick longer. I don’t know many people in the States that don’t know that Vitamin C can help prevent colds and boost the immune system, and what’s the best source of Vitamin C? Citrus fruits, of course. I get so frustrated when people ask me which vitamin they should take (actual pill-like vitamin) to heal themselves. I’ll tell them the vitamin and then I’ll say, but it’s really better to get your vitamin intake from foods like broccoli, oranges, strawberries, etc. They look at me like I’m crazy and then tell me their DOCTOR told them to not eat those things. Their DOCTOR! I don’t frustrate very easily when it comes to obvious cultural differences, but this is one that really bothers me. I can’t handle when medical professionals believe the same myths that science has proven aren’t true. Science has proven that we can drink cold beverages and not catch a cold or that “cold” foods do not give you a cold, right? Or am I crazy? That’s always a possibility.

Some Peruvian food really is good though, even if it does lack a side salad, and I appreciate my family’s recent efforts to include more vegetables in their diet. I’ve even been able to introduce such foods as macaroni and cheese, lasagna, tacos, and my family’s personal favorite: vegetable soup! My host dad calls it, sopa de colores (soup of colors) because I’m always expounding on the idea that all you need to do to have a good vegetable dish is to have a number of different colors and I tell them the key to good vegetable soup is to find as many different colored vegetables (and fruits b/c we always include tomatoes) as possible. My host sister, Yuli has now made this soup twice without me around. I’m pretty proud of her and excited if this is the one dish they will continue to eat after I leave. I’m trying to write a blog about taco night, because when I came into the Peace Corps, I strangely enough had the idea that all food in Latin America was like Mexican food, oh how wrong I was, so more on that later.

These pictures are of California Cafe where I spend my internet time. Pretty cool place, huh?

I know, I know more posts!

Okay, well today I'm really just posting to post. I don't mean to go days without putting something up, but I don't really have a lot to report right now. I'm currently in the planning stages of summer vacation activities for youth. So please forgive me. Also, let's take a survey. In the post section of this page, post your questions about my time in Peru, and I'll try to devote an entire blog post to your questions.

Take care, until then.

Trip with the Family

So my silence is based purely on the fact that I've barely seen a computer in the past couple of weeks. I took a couple of weeks vacation to unwind and of course, hang out with my parents and my sister. It was so great to introduce my family to this beautiful country. Here are some of the pictures.

My whole family in front of Machu Picchu.

Lake Titicaca...beautiful view.

In front of a beautiful church in Arequipa. I don't remember the name now.

More pictures to come!

Opinions and the Recommendation Game

For I love to play the recommendation game. You know when you are sitting in a restaurant and you’re not exactly sure what you want, you ask the waiter or waitress, “what do you recommend?” Now the answer in the States usually includes an answer. “Well, I’m particularly fond of the blue cheese chicken or if you’re into salads, I’d try the cob.” I like this game. It gives me an opportunity to try something new AND not make a decision. The game is only fun if the other party will play it with you, and I have a hard time finding participants in Peru. The other day I was at the fruit stand and I knew I only wanted to buy a small quantity of fruit, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I should get. So I asked the woman working at the tienda what she recommended and her response was, “it’s all good.” I believe her, but that wasn’t the question. The question is what she would get if she were in my place. So being the former journalist I phrase the question a different way, “what’s good during this season?” The senora again responds, “It’s all good.” I still believe her, but I’m growing increasingly frustrated that she won’t play one of my favorite games. Finally, after a long silence where I’m not sure how to get my new friend to play my game she finally says, “It’s mango season.” So thankful that she has at least tried to play along I buy two mangoes for my host sisters (I’m already sick of them and it’s only the beginning of mango season).

I encounter this problem a lot. I’ll be sitting in a restaurant here in Peru and again I’ll be unsure of what to order and so I’ll ask for a recommendation. I’m usually lucky to get an answer, but if I do, you can bet that I order that particular item because I want to give Peruvians the idea that their opinions and ideas have value. The underlying problem here is twofold. First, it’s a matter of self-esteem. Peruvians (as a generalization) are not taught that their opinion matters. But when you’re playing the recommendation game with me, your opinion always counts. I rarely ever turn down a recommendation. One of the things we do in the youth development program is not only teach about self-esteem, emotions, and self-knowledge but recently I went to several classes and put signs on three different walls in the class room. The first reads, “I agree.” The second, “I don’t agree.” And the third states, “I’m not sure.” Then I read different phrases (the older the group, the more controversial) and the students then have to walk to the sign where their opinion is stated. One of the phrases says, “You can get good work even if you don’t finish high school.” The students then have to defend their answer – not all of them, but I call on different ones to see why they think what they are thinking. I’m amazed with how little these students think about their own opinions. Many students thanked me for the activity after class saying it was the first time they had thought about the topics I had brought up (everything from education to abortion) and they appreciate that I don’t judge their opinions which is key to teaching these types of classes. I absolutely have to put my opinions and ideas out the back door, but I do get to play devil’s advocate and it is fun to get people to think about their answers. Now that I think about it, I would love to get more activities like this – so if you have any, feel free to send them to me.

The second fold in the twofold underlying problem is that this is a culture of people who don’t want to offend other people. They are a very polite culture. For example, sometimes people are invited to a party in which they know they cannot attend, but regardless they will accept the invitation and then just not show up. Because it is better to save the face of the person who is inviting you to their face, if you don’t show up the inviter can always say they never invited the invitee. So while playing the recommendation game people don’t want to offend nor be offended. They don’t offer up their opinions readily in case it’s contrary to yours and then you would be offended. I like aspects of the polite culture, but it is frustrating when you set up a meeting or invite people to event and they never show.

I have had minor success playing the recommendation game with younger children. Often times they will be helping out their parents and somehow they’ll catch my eye, and so I’ll ask them what do you recommend. After some hesitation, and maybe a little prodding on my part, they will quite frequently give me a response. And no matter how good or bad the recommendation I always take it to show the child that their ideas are valued and valuable. I guess it’s one of the little things I try to do on a daily basis to improve the lives of those I encounter.