Fond Farwell

This blog is a little difficult to write. As you’ve been reading my posts I’ve been trying to have you all travel along with me on this crazy adventure, but I’ve also been trying to show you the absolute best of Peru, and protect you from the nitty gritty of life in the developing world, at least as much as possible. So hang on tight, because this one won’t be so sunny.

Last Sunday Jose & I went out for the afternoon, to kill time and to experience Chincha at it’s best. We went to a local soccer game, where I was the only woman for miles, had chicherones, (deep fried pork, I think. a Peruvian favorite) and went to the market for the weeks’ necessities. Jose was looking to replace his pot but finding one was a bit of a challenge. We kept asking shopkeeper after shopkeeper and they pointed us further and further into the market. Eventually after passing a ridicules amount of chicken feet we found a women who sold pots and pans and Jose picked up his replacement. We then went on to get sugar, oatmeal, some fruit & veggies. You know the usual and got a little extra on the side. While we were finding our way out of the maze that the market is, 4 Peruvian men attacked Jose & I. We were at the back of the market in a fairly isolated location when three of the four approached Jose, took his hat, bag of things and watch while the fourth pointed a pistol in my direction.

You know, when I was in Nicaragua, I was in the wrong. Walking around late at night in a foreign country, bad. This time, it was Sunday afternoon in a busy market. I stood there in shock until the fourth man with the gun went towards Jose and left me for a second. The moment he looked away I ran, you can call me a coward if you wish, but I don’t think you’ll know what you would do until the gun is pointed at your own chest. The men used the handle of the gun and hit Jose in the head while they took his things. It was all so fast, but in slow motion at the same time. Once they got Jose’s things they ran a little further into the market because I was temporarily out of sight. I heard Jose’s screams because he thought they took me along with his things and quickly we met and were escorted out by a Peruvian woman.

My time here has been interesting & difficult most of the time though complete with a few moments of magic on the side. However, staring at the end of a gun is just a little too real for me. I’ve been told a lot of things since the incident- traveling for men & women is of course different, apparently that is no different in Peru and that Chincha is a dangerous area. What really upset me was when I was talking to my Spanish teacher Yvonne about the incident and she told me that my experience was not out of the ordinary. When she walks anywhere she is scared for her safety and spends her time looking around, watching for anything out of the ordinary. Just two days ago there was a robbery in a local church where the priest was the one looking at the pistol while the man took what he wanted. Part of me knows I should stick it out, but another part is ready to come home. I can’t imagine living the next 60 days in fear, let alone my entire life like some Peruvians here. The next time I want to jet set off somewhere solo I will remember to read all my previous blogs and think back to all of the feelings and experiences I have had so far. Though my trip is much shorter than expected, it was certainly never dull.

I want to thank you for all following along with my blog, and apologize for the shortness! I hope I haven’t disappointed too many of you by throwing in the towel, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Tomorrow Jose & I will take a bus to Lima and I fly out on the next flight to Toronto. I’ll be back on Canadian soil Thursday morning and all I ask of you is to pray for a very boring – uneventful trip back because really, I think I’ve got enough stories already.

Thanks & much love

Jessica

Desert Days

Another Saturday has come & gone, and of course it was anything but uneventful. This weekend Jose & I tackled the desert to get a little variety from our time up in the mountains. Our first pit stop was in Pisco, to see the grave of Sarah Helen- a little morbid I know.As the legend goes, Sarah Helen was a witch and a relative to the well-known vampire, Dracula. (I kid you not; I couldn’t make this blog up, even if I tried) She had ties to England and unfortunately died while out at sea. Though I’m sure the Brits have big hearts now, at the time they wouldn’t touch her, even if they were responsible. Apparently people are a little finicky when it comes to dead rotting bodies, how rude! She stayed on the ship for three months until some good hearted Peruvians decided they would take pity on her unfortunate circumstances & placed what was left of her in Pisco, Peru. The locals all know where her gravesite is and call her “the witch.” After the earthquake in 2007 they rebuilt her gravesite, which had been destroyed and erected a large white tomb. People from all over come and ask for different wishes to be granted, she’s become quite the socialite in the cemetery. The Peruvian cemetery is much different than a North American one. For starters, they have developed a kind of ‘grave-condo’ system where they place graves upon graves, about six stories tall and have the name and date, as well as a picture on the front of each tomb,

a real space saver for sure. In 2007 the earthquake left quite an impression on the cemetery and those buried there because many had broken through the surface with the pressure from the ground. If you ask me, they just wanted to take a quick peak and see what all the fuss was about.

After Pisco we jetted down to the local fish market,I can’t say I’ve ever been to one of those in past, and you know, I think I’m good after this visit. They had big fishies, little fishes, and some as big as my head and women working to separate the good bits from the bad bits. For lunch Jose tasted some of the fish, and I ‘chickened’ out and had a little shrimp. Our dishes both came with a jalapeno pepper, and of course acting before thinking both Jose & I tried just a tinsy bit of the pepper. Well you’d think I would eventually learn. This pepper was so hot our

noses were running, there were tears and I kind of wanted to cut my tongue of right then and there. Our waiter brought us some sugar to alleviate the pain, but we lived up to our gringo reputation and I think the staff got a little laugh.

You know, before I left on this adventure I thought we were going to have a leisurely Saturday afternoon, check out Pisco, have some lunch & head back. I’ve never been one to turn down a siesta- but this man I tell you has more energy than I do. He wanted to show me the Peruvian desert, and boy did I get an eye full. I think by the time we made it back to Chincha Baja I had sand in every whole in my head and the car definitely took home half of the sand in the desert. We had the oddest discovery while we somehow ended up off roading in the desert we found a flock of flamingoes! Bright pink flamingoes looking for shrimp! We got real close for some pictures; I had never seen them in a natural habitat before. They look a little different without all the bars and chains in front of

them like they have at the zoo, a little more majestic you could say! And of course, just seeing flamingoes was not enough for this trip; nope we were looking for a lagoon, in the middle of the desert. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well I hadn’t, but all I could picture was the lagoon in Peter Pan- just maybe without the mermaids. After a few wrong turns, & some back tracking we followed some locals and found the mysterious mass of water. It was so blue & green; I would never have expected to find it hiding amongst a world of sand and dust. When we arrived there were a bunch of men just about to set offfor a night of fishing and we got to see them get ready and hit the water.

It was a long dusty road, but we made it back to Chincha Baja just as the sun went down that night and I got to see a little more of life here in Peru.

"It's always an Experience"

This week has been yet another whirl wind in Peru. Each day presents itself with things I did not expect to encounter and I am always learning about myself & the area that I am now living in. On Tuesday of this week Jose and Blaise helped me move out of my family’s house in Pueblo Nuevo and into the area of Chincha Baja. Though they were very loving someone had sticky fingers & liked to use a lot of my stuff, electronics, food, money – well you get the picture. The conditions of their home were also a lot harder to deal with than I had expected. I kept trying to remind myself that if it is good enough for a family of five I should have no problem with it, however it is a lot easier said then done. The area of Pueblo Nuevo is also fairly dangerous from what I have gathered from the family and people within the school, Fe y Alegria. I wasn’t able to walk outside the house alone, and the Internet was out of question. With an independent study due for Scott Klein at SJU, I’m sure you can imagin

e the slight issue there.

I sort of feel like a gypsy here in Chincha Baja, and it is a little unsettling. I am temporarily staying at Jose’s because he has a spare room, warm water & yes you guessed it, the Internet, but his brothers from Canada will be coming soon and I will evacuate another place in Peru moving along to the next. It is supposed to be close to Jose’s & in Chincha Baja where I can walk around in the day without any problems, as long as I am aware of my surroundings. But I kind of wish I had a place, that I knew I would be in for a while and could get used to everything about it.

Wednesday of this week hit Peru with a bang. If you haven’t heard we in the Chincha Alta area experienced an earthquake, and it nearly knocked my socks off. I

t was a 5.9er on the Richter scale and it certainly got me out of bed. At first I wasn’t to sure what was going on because the rumbles did not coordinate especially with my dreams of veggie pitas & falafels but I got the picture once I heard the words outside the window. There was thankfully very little damage and everyone in the area was safe. The room I am staying in at the moment faces the street so I was able to hear the dogs barking & the people yelling. There is also conveniently a community phone located just outside the window as well and of course after the quake it rang off the hook. I got little sleep thar night, but made up for it in afternoon siestas the next day. Just another story of course, because I haven’t accumulated enough in my travels so far.

Living in Chincha Baja has posed a little difficulty for my work placement in Fe y Alegria. As I had understood it there was someone in Chincha Baja that I could travel with because it is a pretty good distance, but either between a lost in translation moment, or the deal fell through it doesn’t look like it will work out. Blaise, who is my contact person here, is also very busy with his own projects so somehow I have wound up on the doorstep of Jose, and I feel as though now I am his project. He has been wonderful to me & I can’t imagine not meeting him but I also feel like kind of a burden. He is working on many projects here in Peru & and I

don’t think he really needs anything else to occupy himself, but here I am- bags and all. Yesterday as Jose, Blaise & Ishmael brainstormed where help was needed I was able to dedicate some serious time to the ever looming independent study. I also took a big breath and walked around the plaza de aramas in Chincha solo & ventured to the market for fruit & vegetables with Jose. Mmmmm my favourite!

Now this is where the story gets a little funny: because I’m not really sure where I’ll be working or what I’ll be doing so as of now I’m trying to get involved with anything & everything Jose suggests because I’ve learned that being busy is an important part for me while I’m away. So yesterday I went to the adult education centre in Chincha Baja and met with all the professors and I ended up going door to door with some of them raising awareness for the opening

& trying to sign up students from the area. I go all the way to South America and end up doing the exact same thing I did this summer in Canada- I thought it was pretty hilarious when I realized what exactly I would be doing for the evening, but just like in Ca

nada most of the people are fairly nice & even a few offered us a little break, which just like in Canada I greatly accepted. Today is yet another day, and I’m not exactly sure what it will bring or what I’ll be doing but there is never a dull moment down here & something will always bring about a surprise.

Everyday is a Winding Road

About a week ago I was lucky enough to cross paths with two Canadians here in Chincha Alta. Pat & Jose stopped by the house and brought me and my temporary siblings along on a tour of the area, and that my friends is when things started looking up! This week Pat flew off to Cusco for a few days to see all he could see before returning home. Jose lives and works in a near by area called Chincha Baja. Here he is working on a

project to provide education to women in Peru and once the weekend got a little close was when the adventures really began!

Bright & early Saturday morning Jose pulls up and off we go for a road trip to remember. Just Jose & I ready to drive up into the mountains to a small village called Yauyos. As you can imagine, there were very few dull moments along the way. The first pit stop of many landed us in Canete, where they’re famous for making cat soup. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time or appetite to try such a feast, but maybe next time. Here we saw many many street bbqs where every person had a job and no one was left dangling by the sidelines. I saw women prepare a duck for lunch. It was an experience & one I’m alright without repeating.

Our second little excursion from the road was not far from LunaHauna. Here Jose & I wanted to see a small but deteriorating Inca site. It could have been accidental or on purpose but somehow we thought it was a good idea to crawl through the hole in the fence so that we could get up close and personal with history itself. It was ironic because as we were investigating the site I looked up & realized there was a tour in progress. One that we were supposed to have been on, paid for and kept a great distance from the ruins- but that would have been way to easy, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry though we didn’t end up in jail or anything like that.

After our break & enter we had lunch at Casa Hacienda. The trout was bigger than my face, but I put a pretty good dent into it, as my appetite is starting to reappear. This road trip introduced me to many Peruvian secrets. I saw donkey’s carrying water, cacti as far as the eye could see, fresh water rapids, multiple bridge constructions & met a lot of people along the way.

As Jose drove the car, I was in charge of the map and directions. Now, anyone who really knows me would know that directions & map reading are not really strong points on my resume; however, I was a co-pilot and was determined to succeed. Well, let me tell you this about that; do not ever depend on signs. They lie, or go missing and then you may or may not go an hour and a half further than need be! Though we may have ended up a little further than necessary we ended up driving a nurse up the mountain to be of aid to someone in Yauyos, because this little village in the sky is without a doctor so of course in my eyes it was all meant to be.

Now let me describe to you this Yauyos place. First of all is up, far far up into a bloody mountain. It’s so far up when you look down the cars look like little specks and the river is similar to a blue line. Yes, I was a little afraid. But I think you would too if you were driving 10 km up on a winding road that was constructed out of a mountain and only meant for ONE car, when very often it is needed to be TWO lanes!!

Once we made is up the winding road, the adventures only got more interesting. When I opened the door to my hotel room I realized I had two roomies, two black fury roomies that meow. As you can imagine I was far from impressed and they both got the boot. After getting the cold shoulder both spent the night in the hall guarding my door from any trespassers. Being up in the mountains was a great experience. We were able to explore at night and go to mass in the morning. The people of Yauyos are very friendly and ready to help at whatever cost. The women there dress differently than in Chincha with sombreros, ponchos, skirts and pants. Yauyos is also different in the sense that they don’t have a griffo, or gas station. On our way down the mountain we wanted to fill up, to prevent us from getting stuck which I thought was a fabulous idea and what ended up happening was an experience in itself. The man in the store prepared five gallons in different bottles and poured each bottle into Jose’s car, one at a time. Though the method was a little foreign we made it back alive and with a little gas to spare. Unfortunately the altitude did get the best of me and I was a little green in the face and experienced some instant dashes to the bathroom but all in all the trip was a great break from Chincha and one I will never forget.

Discovery

September 17, 20010

I’ve been in Chincha just over a week, and nothing here has been easy. At any given moment of the day I am a combination of tired, cold, hungry & on the verge of tears. I never realized how lucky I was to have other Canadians with me during my Nicaraguan adventures. Without them here I feel just that more lonesome. I look forward to the daily calls from Hollis because without those I think I would lose my sanity. I question myself everyday on my reasons for being here, my motives for pushing myself yet again because I find myself right back to where I was before. The time goes by so slowly and all I can think of is coming home and I often wonder if it will get better. I can’t even put my finger on it because nothing it extremely terrible. The family I live with is nice and they take me wherever I need to go because they won’t let me go solo. The school is huge and run by sisters from the Philippines and I am learning more Spanish. The bucket baths are all right, the barking dogs tolerable, and the food, well it’s food and they have their own cuisine down here but there is something that is making me absolutely miserable. I keep thinking I should have re-read my last blog, there were so many points in time when I wanted to throw in the towel, why would I do that to myself for a second time. I will keep you posted as I try to find some answers to this looming question.

Then the lights went out in Chincha

Tuesday was a difficult day. Some days I wake up and can distract myself enough that I don’t think of all the things that are bouncing around in my head. Some days it’s easier to just smile, even if I know it’s fake because eventually it changes my mood for a little while. Other days it’s impossible, everything is grey and I want to spend it curled up in bed, with Shilo, in Mitchell, nowhere close to Pueblo Nuevo, and Tuesday was one of those days.

I can’t even remember why I was upset, but it’s usually the same. ‘ I miss home, I am lonely, it’s always friggen cold.’ In the afternoon I had a minor breakdown, okay a bit more than that, went to the Internet, wrote sob stories home and went to class. When I made it home at the end of the day all I wanted to do was having a shower, or bucket bath, whatever. I’d had headband hair for like, four days and was going slightly crazy. Just as the buns were all eaten up the power went out, all over. For a few minutes I sat there thinking there is NOTHING worse that could happen at this very minute. All I wanted was a shower, to listen to music and wait for Hollis to call. Hernando the father here is really good at making the best of any situation and didn’t let the family go without entertainment. By headlamp, candlelight and glow in the dark dinosaur Hernando cut out pieces of paper to play on a makeshift checkerboard and I helped Celeste with her English homework with the headlamp strapped to my forehead. (I knew it would be useful.) Eventually the lights came back on, but we were to engaged with each other to notice. We exchanged Spanish games for English games and English songs for Spanish songs. Everyone was entertained for a few hours together and I experienced another magical moment in Chincha that easily took over my dark and cloudy mind at least for a little while.

Dance Party

September 16, 2010

Just the other night I was all bundled up in my bed because FY: the desert is FREEZING complete with my new shadow Celeste trying to blog away. Even though she couldn’t understand what I was typing there was just something strange about me blogging about her & her family while she sat beside me and watched so I introduced her to the photo booth on the Mac, boy was she surprised. Soon enough everyone was surrounded around my computer trying to get in on the action, I have so many pictures of Hernando & Lita with their faces all squished in one way or another it was hilarious. As my eyes were extremely heavy they were just getting started. Before long they were playing music videos on my computer and having a dance party right in the little space I like to call my room. There are great moments of magic here in between the many dark clouds.

My new schedule is going to keep me fairly busy which I find comfort in because I have been missing home a lot while trying to get used to the way of life here, & I will share with you, that is hasn’t been easy. Not at all.
From 9- 12:30 I work at Fe Y Alegria with the secretary. As my time here progresses my responsibilities will grow to working with the children but with my limited Spanish I have been put here organizing different things and working with a few of the women. From 12:30-3 I have lunch back at home with Lita and the family and from 3-5 I’m taking Spanish classes with a women named Yvonne. After 5 I either go home or go to Church with Lita. At this point in the game I’m looking for any answer I can get so I’ve taken a liking to being involved in the church community. Once I’m home in the night, I’m home for good. There is little time to actually get on the Internet because I can’t leave the house alone, ever and especially not after dark. Going from having the ability to go where I want to go & do what I want to do is very different from now asking if I can have a shower, have water to drink, go to the Internet etc. It’s a transition; one that is taking longer than expected to get used to.