End of the Year Wrap-up

Yeah, yeah, yeah, my last post was December. Several reasons for that, but I’ve been busy. Sheesh! I am thrilled that my time is passing so quickly. I have taken to emailing the majority of my blog followers. While I enjoy writing, I find these blogs so impersonal, which is just not my style. However, I like to share my going-ons with you U.S. folk, so here’s a breakdown of my November and December (except the Ancash trip which you already know about):

“La Puntilla:” Two other teachers, the groundskeeper, eight students, and I went to the local popular swimming hole. I say “swimming hole” because I am a southerner, but it is really more like a non-ocean beach in front of a water treatment facility. Apparently this is where all the locals go to cool off, fish, picnic, play volleyball, and just hang out. There is sandy beach, flowing river water, a run-off fountain, walls for jump-offs, and one deep place for actual swimming.

I totally blend right in

This is it

Check it out! I'm doing the peace sign that all the kids do

And the long walk back

My companions and I traveled there by moto-taxi, spent a couple of hours taking photos, swimming, and playing volley (nobody here finishes the word with “ball”), then WALKED back to La Cria. I’m not 100% certain of the exact length, but we walked for almost three hours before getting back home. Exhausting! Especially after swimming. Things I learned from this excursion: 1.) Peruvians do not wear swimsuits. They wear shorts and t-shirts or sleeveless shirts. 2.) Peruvians all say that they cannot swim, but then when they get in the water, they swim. Sure, just your basic paddling and kicking, but it is swimming as far as I’m concerned, which leads me to wonder, what do they consider swimming? 3.) Peruvians don’t say “swimming”, they call it “bathing.” Again, so just exactly what is swimming, then?

“El Circo:” I got to go to my first Peruvian circus. My town being such a small site, I figured that this was a really big deal. Mind you, I was not expecting elephants and tigers, but just the fact that the circus was coming to a town of less than 4,000 people, I thought that was something. It really wasn’t bad.

The height of clown and puppet collaboration

Getting a shave (And yes, that's a child
working in a circus, not a little person)

More 8-year-old entertainers

Terrible scarecrow-lookin version of a funny Chuckie

There was a lot of time with the clowns, and the feats that the entertainers (juggling, tight-rope walking, etc.) performed, the average person certainly cannot do. The headliner was “Chucky.” Yes, the killer doll from the 1987 classic horror flick, Child’s Play. He is a big deal here. People call mischievous little kids, “Chuckies.” This “Chucky” turned out to be a large puppet operated by a terrible ventriloquist. I could see this guy’s lips moving from the 8^th row of the bleachers. Anyway, my Spanish is still so bad that I can’t understand when people speak in falsetto or speak rapidly, and this guy was doing both, but apparently her was funny. I was just so amped because there was something to do in my town! Since then (November), I have been to three more circuses. Nothing like the first time, huh?

“Chocolatadas:” I don’t remember if I have told us this or not, but every Peruvian birthday party is pretty much the same, depending on the age and the sex of the birthday boy/girl. The order of events is the same, the decorations are the same, the songs are the same, the food is the same, the seating arrangements are the same, everything is the same from house to house, from location to location (at least on the coast), from family to family. This has

My chocolates

The gift sacks of candy 

Each kid got a personal paneton (fruit cake) in
addition to the piece of fruitcake supplied to
each person during the party (below)

Local engineer supplied toys

All the kiddos with their gifts from "Papa Noel" (Santa Claus)

More gifts!

costs and benefits – you definitely know what to expect, but by now (11 months in country), they are starting to be a little boring. Well, the Christmas parties lack variety as well. A “chocolatada” is a Christmas party that goes down like this: Words are given by a person in charge, usually thanking God for the successes of the last year and praying for protection and success in the next year. Then, if there are gifts, gifts are given to the kiddies. Then, maybe there is singing and/or dancing. Then the food is served. In my experience, it is always chicken, potato, rice, maybe a sweet potato, a hollow empanada coated in sugar, fruit cake (Of course! Can’t forget the paneton!), and hot chocolate. Remember, I’m in the southern hemisphere. It was over 90̊ F. Hot chocolate is not the ideal beverage, but it is yummy. I got to help with several chocolatadas at the high school, one of the elementary schools, the head start, and with my host mom in the house. My host mom is the president of a type of nutrition supplement program, called “Vaso de Leche,” Glass of Milk. The municipality gives her oatmeal and canned milk to distribute to the mothers in our neighborhood (which is every mother) that has children and lives in poverty. It’s a really good program, and I enjoyed helping her very much. With the help of my dearest mother and some friends, I was able to purchase some ingredients to make chocolates (oreo balls dipped in chocolate and the ever-delicious Ritz crackers peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate). I made hundreds and was literally mobbed by 32 children for more after they had their first helping and realized that there were more on the platter.

“Circo:”I went to another circus. See above. The highlight of this was “El Hombre Electronico,” a dude in boxes covered in aluminum foil that walked like a robot while the lights flashed and the music turned scary. I must admit, it was really funny watching all the kids climb up to the top bleachers, screaming in fright.

“Graduacion:” My little host-sister of 5 years graduated head start. This is another typical Peruvian party, but the little kids dress up like little princes and princesses (not literally, but they are decked out to the nines), and they get a framed photograph of themselves in cap and gown regalia and their class picture. They do not receive a certificate or diploma.

Host mom and sisters

Dayhanna dancing with her "escort" Jordon (our neighbor)

Host mom dancing with the bouncy clown

Clown on bouncy stilts! Super fun! Yeah!

This is not a ceremony; it’s a party. At least, this party’s “hora loca” (crazy hour, where everyone dances around in a circle, concluded with the breaking of the piñata) had an awesome clown with bouncy stilts and a pretty costume.

“Clasura:” I attended my first end of the school year celebration, a “clasura.” Considering all the other events that I have attended thus far, this was more ceremony and less party than I expected. Kids from each grade were awarded with certificates for highest grades and best attendance and things like this. One student that was graduating received a scholarship for his first year at a university in Chiclayo to study engineering, so that was awesome.

The high school principal awarding Cintia her
2nd place certificate for highest grades

This is the science teacher and my neighbor, Evelyn.
She is an amazingly awesome student all-around.

This young man was awarded a full-ride scholarship to
study engineering in Chiclayo. ¡Suerte, mi amgo!

The seniors gifted a huge banner to
comemorate the 25th anniversary of the school

It ain't a party until there's dancing!

My Christmas was…well, not what I hoped. This is 80% due to the fact that I was sick. Most of you who know me, know that when I say I am sick, there is something pretty wrong with me. I suffered through a  103 ̊ fever for two days, body aches, and 0% energy.

Mine and Yessica's decorations

Christmas dinner

Jealous?

I think that any virus that goes around here affects me twice as bad as the Peruvians who get it. Anyway, luckily, I had done a little Christmas shopping about a week before, so I was covered there. However, I did not feel like taking part in any of the festivities the day before or the day of. I helped my sister decorate, which was the first time that that happened in this household in numerous years, I am told. I had planned on making popcorn chains and making a tree out of coat hangers and shiny garland, but that didn’t happen. I had taken my sister to eat in Chiclayo the week before, and she fell in love with Popeye’s fried chicken. (Yes, there is a Popeye’s, McDonalds, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut, KFC, and a Chili’s in my mall. Trust me though, on a Peace Corps salary, I ain’t eating there with great frequency. A regular meal deal at Mc-E-Dees is S/.20, but I can go down the street and eat a Peruvian meal for S/.6 or 7.) So, my family had asked me to cook fried chicken for the Christmas meal, but that didn’t happen either. In Peru, the families eat a traditional Christmas meal, basically like we think of, but with rice and an empanada… and they do it at midnight on Christmas Eve. I guess they want to celebrate lil baby Jesus’ birthday as soon as the date rolls over. I never got a straight answer from anyone. Just one of those cultural things that people do just because. I gathered up all my strength and made it to Christmas dinner and the gift exchange, also something that had not occurred in my host family for years. I got everyone in my family a new pillow (you can’t imagine what their sleeping arrangements are like here), the boys of the family multi-tools, the girls of the family loufas (sp?) and big bottle of body wash, and my little sister a little musical keyboard. They got me a snowman doll, a shirt, and a hat. I found this to be a little awkward. I had already learned from my birthday and just looking in stores that Peruvians give the same gifts, whatever is available behind the gift counter at the store. This typically includes stuffed animals that say “I love you,” or “You’re special” in English, small jewelry boxes, picture frames, piggy banks, clothes, and hygiene products. So, from seeing the gifts that I got from my Peruvian friends and family for my birthday and seeing the gifts that my family gives and gets from their Peruvian friends and family, I should have lowered my expectations somewhat. I guess it is just because Christmas in my family was always a waaaaay bigger event than birthdays. Not that birthdays aren’t special, but I always looked forward to Christmas so much when I was a kid and still do to this day. Everyone gets together and eats great food and plays games and talks and I always made out like a bandit. I mean, come on – only child and the only grandchild on one side of the family. You can say it – ROTTEN! I’ll admit it. But today, I still really enjoy taking time to think and search for that perfect gift for that special person, and then seeing their faces light up when they open the package and it is a gift that the person always wanted, or really needed, or it is the funniest practical joke, or it’s the piece that completes her set, etc., etc. I seriously put thought in my gifts because at this point in my life, I like giving more than I like receiving. And I was soooo disappointed in my host family’s reactions. I’m sure that it was just a cultural thing, but not everybody even thanked me. Most of them gave the stuff a once over, and said a quick thanks. They all needed pillows, or so I thought, but I guess when all you know is a 10-year-old lump of hard cotton, that’s what you are accustomed to and like. I guess when you have bathed you whole life with a bar of soap, its better in your eyes than thousands of bubbles brought on by a soft sponge. I mean, I didn’t love, love my hat. So gift-giving and showing appreciation are a different processes here. Not bad or worse, just one of the many things that seem weird to this foreigner.

Other December stuff:

I got a Tommy Hilfiger purse in the gift exchange with the other high school teachers. It was from one of the local restraunt owners and PTA members. We are now good friends and I help his daughter with ther English homework from the university where she studies.

Lassie four puppies got bigger. All four were given good homes to live in. 

Three black/brown and one black/brown/white

Started reading the Game of Thrones series. Five books, over 8,000 pages, and oh so much excitement. Yup, I'm a nerd.

Anyway, that was my ending to the year 2013. Overall, more good than bad. I’m so proud of myself that I just made it through my first blog entry in months!