Day 28

Today was my final day in Ccorao. I arrived to watch the students at the Artesan Workshop march in the independence day parade and wasn't planning on participating, but when I got there, everyone was all in a fit about how excited they were to have me lead the procession. WHAT?!

Yeah, so I arrived and Victoria says, "We want you to hold the sign for us!" I didn't think it would be a big deal, but then they pulled out this crazy outfit that they wanted me to wear. It's a native Quechuan outfit. I'm not kidding. There was a red vest with blue lining and neon colored piping. And two skirts and these black sandals that all the women wear. Can you believe my luck?! I also got to wear a hat that looked like a cookie tin, but made out of fabric.

So they dress me up and braid my hair and everyone else is wearing gray and blue suits and looking quite smart...and I look like one of Santa's happy little elves! It gets better.

So everyone has been practicing marching all week. Obviously I haven't because I didn't think I would need to. So they run me through a crash course on marching. And when I say "marching" I really mean goose-stepping. Yeah. So two hours and one picture with two alpaca later, I find myself literally goose-stepping by myself 20 feet in front of the students down a field. It was one of the more surreal moments I've had here. They even said my name over the loudspeaker. Weirdest day ever.

Besides all that, I took pictures with all the students, staff, and women I work with.

And as I sat on the bus riding away, I felt so sad I thought I would cry.

Day 27

This morning I had interviews with women at Aldea Infantil at 7:30am before work. Unfortunately I set my clock wrong and instead arrived at 6:30am completely confused as to why there weren't any people there. I ended up waiting for an hour but it was totally worth it! The women that I interviewed had so much to share about the abuses against kids in Peru, specifically in Cusco. I actually ran out of tape and battery because they kept divulging more and more info. I've planned some follow-up interviews for the next couple of days. I talked to the director and she told me the saddest stories about two sisters (4 and 6) who witnessed their mother killed by their father. I think he's in jail now.

Anyway, I ended up going to work in Ccorao starving so the women offered to make me some eggs and potatoes. We all ate together and it was really nice, except one potato I peeled had a dead maggot in it. I "accidentally" dropped it on the floor so I wouldn't have to eat it. :)

I held my final English class (which had the highest attendance yet!) We learned a very basic English conversation and key phrases in English. I think this was my favorite class because I actually could ask them questions in English and they could respond correctly instead of just repeating what I was saying. Their pronounciation is so much better too. I think it really helped to drill the alphabet a million times. I recorded my voice saying all the sentences and phrases that I've taught and left it at the workshop so that they can practice after I'm gone. What a weird thought...after I'm gone.

I had my "Exit Interview" with Lindsey today. I can't believe that I'm leaving in just four days. This month completely flew by and I just felt like I was getting started. People keep asking me when I'm going to come back and the reality is I just don't know. In a way, it's a little more sad than when I left Beijing because I know I'll be going back to China. I guess all good things have to come to an end at some point. I just wish I had one more week...

Day 26

Today I ran around trying to set up a plethora of interviews. I suddenly realized that I'm going home in a week and need to talk to a million people. And by a million, I mean 4.

I did manage to get introduced to Roseo, the art teacher at Aldea Infantil (a orphanage/school in Cusco). Some of my friends volunteer there and have been telling me horror stories about what the kids have been through. I won't go into details until I know more, but apparently there are a good number of kids who are there because they've been taken away from their parents.

I went to the orphanage today and also met Mary and Rhina (I'm not sure if that's how you spell her name). Anyway, Mary is the psychologist there and Rhina is a social worker. They both work with therapy for the kids. I'm supposed to go in tomorrow morning to interview them. From just our conversation today, they both seem extremely knowledgeable about the condition of children in Cusco, as well as women. More on this later...

Day 25

Today I went out to Urubamba to talk to Lily (the director at Kanchay Wasi). I also talked to Holly, who works closely with Lily and is working on projects to improve parasitic infections, education of alcoholism, and nutrition for children. Urubamba is pretty rural and apparently alcoholism is widespread. Despite the fact that ProPeru has tried to hold classes about alcoholism, a lot of them men are in denial about their drinking habits and are resentful that women teach the classes. There is a strong sense of machismo that is entirely too deeply rooted in the culture.

Lily and Holly both referred to Kanchay Wasi as more of a support network for the women and children who attend. Women go on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Children go on Tuesday and Thursday. The volunteers said that everyone seems really happy when they're there so it seems more like a refuge for them. A safe place to get away from whatever realities they may face at home. Kanchay Wasi just set up a room so that women can stay there if they decide to leave their husbands. They also get counseling and legal support if they choose to file for divorce (which is very uncommon and only happens in the most extreme cases). Kanchay Wasi provides different artesan crafts for the women to work on. Afterwards, the crafts are sold. Lily said that the objective is to increase the value of women in the household and give them a little more power by providing an economic aspect.

Alcohol abuse was cited as a major reason for domestic violence, but that is also highly ingrained in the culture. In fact some people are paid in alcohol for the work that they do in the fields.

I really wanted to interview the women there, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. What could be more painful than forcing women to talk about something like being abused? I got a pretty good picture from Lily about their backgrounds. Once again, I find myself wishing that all my research was actually disproving what I thought and knew before arriving. So many people have told me that the problems with abuse have always existed and major education reform needs to take place before any real change can happen. Holly also said that it needs to be a campaign spearheaded by the government and that NGO's can't do it alone. I don't know how effective the Peruvian government is, but this actually doesn't seem to be a priority. And that's hard too because Peru is a developing country and obviously has a ton of economic factors to worry about. Whenever I ask what the solution is, very few people seem to be able to offer any...

Day 22-24

I spent the weekend at Lake Titicaca and Copacabana, Bolivia. It was really nice to leave Cusco and see some more of Peru. One of the girls I work with in Ccorao is actually from Puno (which is the city next to Lake Titicaca). Her family doesn't support her at all so she's learning how to weave in the Caritas school.

Lake Titicaca (which means "Grey Puma" or "Great Puma" I couldn't really understand the man's accent even though he spoke excellent English) was extremely interesting. In the bay, there are the Uros which are floating islands made out of the roots of reeds. The float like corks and seven families work together to build them. It takes about 6 months and then an additional 6 months to build the little huts on top. They survive through fishing and weaving beautiful handicrafts. It's really remarkable. The islands are also anchored down so that they don't float away or run into other islands. There are about 40 of them and they originally started when the indigenous groups were under attack by the Incans. The tribes fled literally onto the Lake and stayed safe that way. Walking on the islands is a little bit like walking on a cushy mattress. It was a really surreal experience.

The island of Taquile is about 2.5 hours out by boat and retains strict cultural customs to not lie, cheat, or steal. It's supposedly extremely safe and the people there speak Quechua. It's a really unique community where the men all knit and wear hats that denote whether they are single or married. The women wear black shawls (even the little girls) and all whisper when they talk. We're not sure why. They also have some interesting customs like co-habituation 4 years before marriage to see if it will be a good marriage. Also, the youngest child in a family (boy or girl) is responsible for taking care of the parents. When the parents die, all their land is divided equally among the kids, except the youngest child gets the house. They also greet each other by putting coca leaves in each other's bags or shawls. It's really rude not to receive the leaves in that way.

Copacabana was just really relaxing. There's an even better exchange rate in Bolivia so we tried to do as many touristy things as possible to get rid of the money we had exchanged. We took a trip to the Island of the Sun, where there were some interesting ruins, but the whole thing seemed a little more touristy. It was very beautiful though and there was a good view of Bolivia, Peru, and some snow-capped mountains in the distance in addition to the Lake. I really enjoyed sitting on top of the boats as we sailed around. Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake at 3810 meters above sea level and a lovely color. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Day 21

Today I was supposed to help translate again for the Belgium dentists but when I went to their hostel, they weren't there. It was really weird and I didn't know what to do because it was too late to go to Ccorao so instead I prepared more stuff for my alternative project investigating domestic abuse. I almost forgot that I had an alternative project because I've been running around like crazy doing stuff for my internship. I'm planning to go to Urubamba (about 1.5 hours away) which is where ProPeru has the shelter for women and children. I've planned a meeting to talk to the director and will go next week.

I'm also going to talk to the director of an orphanage here in Cusco. My friend Michele volunteers there and says that a lot of the children aren't really orphans, but have been taken away from their parents. I haven't set up a meeting yet, but I will try to do that next week as well...

Day 20

What a fun morning! I finally got to interview Maria who is SO shy, but we talked about all sorts of Peruvian problems and the condition of women in the country. It was simultaneously enlightening and sad because most of what I thought prior to coming is true. A small part of me always hopes that I'm wrong about bad news.

I spent a lot of time in the ceramics workshop practicing "conversation English" with Maria, Victoria, and Mercedes. Then I had my big English class with everyone. I bought a whiteboard last week and it was so helpful for class today. I could write up a bunch of phonetic pronounciations. It was also a nice class because I feel like the women are becoming more familiar with English so it's not as difficult. Their pronounciation was really good today.

We also went over the alphabet and then I taught them how to play Hangman to make them practice saying letters in the English pronounciation. The hardest letters are "H" which doesn't have a sound in Spanish and "J" which sounds like an "H". It was a fun time and it seemed to be pretty affective.

I've really grown to like these women and respect them. It's hard to believe that I'll only have one more class with them. They're so sweet and have so many hopes and dreams, some of which are just impossible. Despite how great it felt today to work with them, I always wish that I could do more.

Day 19

Today I finally made it out to Matinga! After two weeks of failed attempts, I finally got myself in the back of a car and got out to the countryside. And when I say "the back of a car" I mean that literally. Like I was sitting in the trunk...with a dog. It was a really cute puppy and we became fast friends although I was still slightly paranoid about the possible fleas/rabies combination. I was actually more impressed that they fit 8 people in a normal sized car.

Once we arrived in Matinga, we immediately went to teach the 3rd and 4th graders ceramics. The kids are in two small rooms with a big table in the middle. The first class little clay tablets that are supposed to be hung on the wall. While Victoria explained to one class, I taught the other group "Happy Birthday" and the Alphabet Song. Then we practiced spelling our names, which proved far more difficult than I thought.

Honestly, it was a really awkward environment where the kids just laughed whenever I spoke Spanish and didn't really want to keep practicing phrases like "Hello" and "How are you?" Then I didn't eat lunch with the other teachers because I had brought my own food and just sat outside on this bench by myself watching the kids play. All they had to eat were these government-issued crackers and a cup of broth. Oh, and I think I saw a kid pee on another kid. It was about 20m away so I can't be positive but I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, I was feeling like the left-out kid at elementary school recess until some girls came and sat next to me and stared at my face for like 10 minutes. I really enjoy all the different levels of awkwardness I'm experiencing.

The second class was much better and much more enthusiastic about learning English. They were also making these little doll figurines out of clay to sell in some market. I'm not sure where, but they were pretty cute. The kids were really cute too. They kept shouting out the few words they did know in English...which consisted of "HELLO! HI!" We managed to learn a little more, but not much.

I think it's really interesting that these kids (10-12 years) have a class that teaches a life skill and that their products are already being sold, another huge difference between primary education here and in the states. It's too bad that I'm not here for very long. One of the problems of this internship has definitely been getting to a place where people feel comfortable around me. I guess one of the challenges of being in a new place is not having enough exposure and not being able to set up something sustainable in such a small amount of time. Still, I'm making a little progress and happy with what I'm doing.

Day 18

I'm tired. I'm so tired that I want to lay down on the dirty concrete and take a nap. Today I went to Ccorao planning to teach some English classes. Instead I ended up translating for some Belgium dentists who are only here for a week. I watched a whole bunch of teeth get pulled out, and even more small parts of teeth get removed (like remnants that were left over from previous removals or from the tops falling out). There were three dentists and a million people to attend to. It reminded me how lucky I am to have health and dental care in the states. Not only that, but it's so nice that we have fluoride in our water. Otherwise we would be getting rotten teeth pulled at the age of 25 too. I saw so much blood today, it was ridiculous.

My project counterpart has offered to lend me out this week as a translator for the dental team. You know that there are serious problems when I'M translating. Still, it was pretty fun to feel useful and practice my language skills. My favorite patient was an 8-year-old girl who had to have two teeth removed. She was SO patient and didn't cry at all. She had anesthetic, but a lot of the kids still cried. Maybe they were scared of all the blood pouring out of their mouths. I felt like my first aid training really came in handy although I didn't do anything except wear latex gloves and hold gauze under their mouths. Also, teeth make a really scary cracking sound when they're pulled out. I would be terrified if I were awake and heard that. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I was definitely asleep.

I'm not going to be with the dentists all week but I think I will be with them two more days. I feel bad for them because the sun is so intense here and they're standing all day behind a school on a grassy knoll. Hopefully they'll wear more sunscreen tomorrow. It's a little known fact that t-shirts are only SPF 15 so you're at risk to burn through your clothes if you're not careful. Don't worry, I told them.

Oh, another interesting thing I saw was the machismo of the men. Women and children would be standing in line for a really long time and then the men would come and just cut in front of them. I wanted to tell them to wait their turn, but I doubt other women would step up for care before them anyway. Too bad.

Day 16 & 17

Started off the weekend with a nice hike through the mountains surrounding Cuzco. Almost everyone else went to Machu Picchu this weekend, so it was just me with one other girl and some staff members. So these mountains are NOTHING like the ones in Seattle. Those are all temperate forests and big trees. Usually we just hike up one big mountain in a day. The mountains surrounding the Sacred Valley are smaller and we went up and down into ravines. Of course, there was the occasional random set of ruins in the path. I'm really enjoying how many ruins I'm seeing, but I wish I understood more of the culture that they point to. I feel like I know nothing about the Incan civilization. All I know is that they were genius at architecture. We also got some incredible views of Cuzco (which is the definition of "urban sprawl"). The city extends much further into the mountains than I thought, it's a little mind-boggling.

I'm a little sad because a couple of the good friends I've made are leaving tomorrow. They were here primarily for the month of June and now they are going back to the States. I really enjoy how traveling brings people together so quickly and so intensely. We are having a farewell dinner tonight for them.

I also spent a lot of this weekend with my friend Flore (I met her in France through my friend Marie, who I met in Beijing). She brought me back my nalgene bottle, which I absent-mindedly left in Paris. It was so good to see her again and to meet her mom. She's been traveling through Peru the last two weeks and been having an incredible time. She's really quite funny so I wasn't bored at all, even though most of my friends were away. Now, I need to go book my trip to Lake Titicaca. Time is flying by so quickly here! I know that's cliche, but it's true. I barely know how I'm going to finish all the interviews I need, but I'm off to a good start and that's encouraging. I'm also recovering from my cold and regaining some energy. Good news and good times all around at the "half-way" point of my stay. :)

Day 15

I have been awake for 13 hours which, considering that it's 5pm, is WAY too long. I woke up at 4am to take a 3 hour bus ride to the middle of nowhere. I mean, really the middle of nowhere. I went on a "salidas" with the health education woman to a town called Molle Molle. Besides the fact that I was up before dawn and couldn't understand (much less speak) Spanish and didn't feel like kissing anyone on the cheek at that hour, I ended up having a great time!

So we arrive in MM at 9:00am and I had breakfast with Elizabeth (the nurse/educator) in the promoter's house. I would like to state now that there were 20 guinea pigs running around. Not outside, but around my feet as I ate. Guinea pig is a delicacy here so...Anyway, there were a ton of them. AND there was one guinea pig that was at least as big (if not bigger) than the cat. I took a picture of it. :) So besides the guinea pigs and other farm animals, I was a little worried about my food which I insisted I didn't want (but they gave to me anyway). I'm usually not paranoid about the cleanliness of food but a lot of the volunteers have been getting sick lately so I'm a little freaked...

After breakfast I got to watch Elizabeth teach the group of women in the town about early stimulacion (WHOA! Just spelt that in SPANISH!) and different health concerns. She re-iterated the dangers of drugs and alcohol, as well as the importance of vegetables and milk. They actually turned the milk into whipped cream because apparently the women don't like to drink milk but they were all about the whipped cream! Good idea, right? I videotaped a lot of it and was especially interested by the little tests that they give the kids (who are aged 0-4). It's so weird to think about how delayed these kids are because their mothers just carry them around and obviously don't have much time to play with them or teach them to talk. It was a little sad. I think the disparity between infant/toddlers in the US and in Peru has been one of the most subtle, but forceful, reminders of how different life in these two countries are.

After the group session (which was held outside and so nice!) we had "private house visits" where women brought their kids into the guinea pig room and put them on a blanket on the floor and Elizabeth tested them. The kids didn't do very well (for example couldn't find toys hidden under the corner of the blanket when they were looking, didn't take toys from the parents hands, couldn't walk at an acceptable level, etc.) so Elizabeth assigned homework to work on it. It's the promoter's job to check up on the families in between weeks when Elizabeth can't get out to the community. I have NO clue how many communities she has to go to.

Finally it was time to go home. So in true Peruvian fashion, we all piled into a van (it was probably like a 12 person van but there were no less than 22 people in it) and headed back up the treacherous, winding dirt mountain road. We almost had a head on collision with the Zorro bus (yes, the buses here are named) but just barely scraped by. I wasn't really worried because I was jammed in, unable to move among several people. At least an hour was devoted to speaking to me rapidly in Quechua, then laughing when I clearly didn't understand them. However, the word for "little Chinese girl" sounds the same. Although I shouldn't jump to conclusions because it's possible that they were talking about a DIFFERENT little Chinese girl that they know. Anyway, after 3 more hours of hanging out uncomfortably close to others, dying for a bathroom break, and sweating profusely, we finally got back to Cusco. It was a very productive day and definitely well worth the 4am wake up call.

Day 14

I'll be totally honest: this post will be short and boring. I went to market today (Thursday is always market day) and by market I mean the scenic overlooks of Ccorao. No seriously, we set up all our little wares and before long, tourist buses pull up to take pictures of the valley and we try to sell them stuff. My favorite part of the day was when someone thought I was Peruvian and was talking to me in Spanish even though I was speaking PERFECT English to them. Yeah, they were pretty blown away when I told them I'm from Seattle. (I'm sure the perfect English all clicked into place then...)

Anyway, I walked up and down the three scenic outlooks translating words into English. It was the same words too because all the women sell the same things. And the girl I was with (Maria) was advocating my "English lessons" like crazy. I might have some huge classes next week.

One interesting thing, one of the men selling stuff didn't want me to translate anything. He said he didn't need to know English to sell stuff and the sad part is that he's pretty much right. English really isn't useful unless you know it really well. I feel bad saying that because I want to pretend that teaching these women 20 sentences and their numbers are going to make a big difference, but I don't know if it really will.

Anyway, there were a ton of tourists from everywhere! Japan, Spain, France, Belgium, Australia, the US. And this was all within two hours or so. I've also noticed that tourists really like taking pictures of cute kids with llamas. That's the big draw...

Day 13

Okay, I know I missed a day. I was pretty much lying in bed feeling weak so that's my excuse. Anyway, today was an awesome day in the countryside! I actually sat down and talked to some of the girls about their lives, where they're from, etc.

The first girl I talked to, Judith (19), is from Puno which is near Lake Titicaca 6 hours to the south. She's the oldest of 7 siblings and is in the weaving school in Cusco. She only goes to Ccorao on Wednesdays. When I asked her if she had any plans for the future, she said she couldn't. Isn't that sad?

The second girl, Maria (20), is from Ccorao. We talked for a really long time and she told me that it's her dream to someday own a restaurant and make all types of international foods. She's learning how to make ceramics right now but she wants to go study cooking in Cusco. She told me about a 3 month program which would teach her the basics but is too expensive. The whole thing would cost 900 soles ($300). Then I asked her what were prevalent social problems in Peru and she stated the economy and mistreatment of women and children. Well, that's exactly what I wanted to know about and I didn't even have to ask straight out! She cited alcoholism and drug abuse as two of the main problems, and then continued by saying that a lot of the women in the countryside didn't even know that they had rights. She also said that the government didn't protect women and children and that sexual abuse was widespread. When I asked her if there were any solutions, she said, "No. It's always been like this."

Needless to say, I felt pretty depressed. I am glad that it's only taken a week and a half for these women to feel comfortable talking about serious issues with me. I feel like I have a lot more purpose now (not that teaching English isn't super-worthy), but I don't really know where to go from here...

First Time for Everything

*WARNING: This entry is graphic.*

So after lunch yesterday I decided to lay down because I was feeling tired. Almost as soon as I lay down, my back started convulsing. It was so weird. I finally decided that I would skip Spanish class and try to rest. Well an hour later the pain just got worse. It became unbearable to the point that I decided I needed to go to the hospital (which is extremely unusual for me). The doctor prescribed an injection of something to help the back pain...

"Relax," said the nurse as she plunged a two-inch needle into my lower back. I think I made a sound like a deer dying slowly, but I'm not sure because everything went hazy. After an interminable 5 seconds, she pulled the dagger out and said, "It's over now." To which I responded by collapsing on the bed. "It's over now. How do you feel?" 1) It wasn't over 2) I felt like crap. So I told her, "I feel really bad...Oh no...I need to throw up...I need to THROW UP!" (Be impressed because I think I said this all in Spanish!) She rushed me to the toilet and in all my good sense I think, "I better take off my scarf so I don't get it dirty." Well I pull off my scarf just in time to throw up everything in my stomach. Gross.

Afterwards I'm told that I need an urine sample. So I take care of that (like a total pro...didn't even get my hand wet!) and turn it in for analysis. I'm sitting in the waiting room watching a Peruvian gameshow that involves a lot of butt-shaking, trying to figure out the objective of the game. (I think the butt-shaking was just to keep warm--it is winter here.) Finally, I go back to the doctor and he tells me that I have a Urinary Tract Infection. Lindsey says, "Wow! You're lucky you caught that before you starting peeing blood!" Boy do I FEEL LUCKY!

So now I'm on some intense drugs that make my urine bright orange (no joke, like Gatorade Orange) and some painkillers. So this is my first UTI...and it had to happen in Peru. Good story, huh? Yeah, that's definitely one for the kids...

Day 11

Today I was supposed to teach my second English class but most of the women were helping dig the new sewage system that is being put in the town so they didn’t show up. Instead I stayed with the ceramic workers and helped them with their numbers (20-100). I have also developed a slight throat inflammation. The woman in Ccorao (middle of nowhere) insisted that I see the doctor. I was a little scared, okay a lot scared, but it turned out okay. They took my temperature and stuck a stick down my throat and almost prescribed me a medication that I’m allergic to. Luckily “amoxicillin” sounds almost the same in Spanish and I was able to avert that. :) Nevertheless, I’m supposed to take pills for the next ten days. So it cost less than $2 for my whole “hospital” visit, including drugs. I don’t really know what I’m taking but Lindsey (my project coordinator) told me to let her know if I got worse. Or if I need my stomach pumped. Hopefully that won’t be necessary.

I’m really tired right now and I think that’s probably a combination of a lot of things. I am going to teach English to kids tomorrow and I’m going to go look for an English alphabet poster to put on the walls. I also have this weird urge to buy multivitamins in bulk and hand them out everywhere I go. Anyway, we’ll see what happens…

Day 9 & 10

So I spent a good weekend exploring various Incan ruins around Cusco. Of the three we visited, my favorite was Pisac. The structures there are original, well-preserved, and beautiful. I also found them more interesting than Ollantaytambo or Sacsayhauman. Pisac has two very distinct zones: urban and agricultural. It is pretty amazing that the Incans dragged such huge stones from the mountain on the opposite side of the valley to build their towns. The architecture is also quite ingenious. Not only are the stones made to fit together perfectly (seriously the joints are flawless), but the structures were made to withstand earthquakes as well. I can’t even imagine that precision.

When I think about the works of ancient civilizations, I can’t help but be amazed at the size, scale, and thought that went into planning. From the Acropolis in Greece, to pyramids in Egypt and Latin America, Incan cities in Peru, the Great Wall of China…it’s mind-blowing to see what human nature accomplished without the use of machines. These ancient people sacrificed great time, effort, and even life to create things that have lasted centuries. I guess that’s a type of immortality within itself. When I think of modern society, I realize how good the human race has become at breaking things down into parts and destroying things. A sad comparison.

Day 8

Today I got to help set up for the promoters orientation. About twelve people traveled from the surrounding countryside to attend orientation. Some traveled as long as four hours! I arrived at the office early and helped draw all the different pictures to show Downs Syndrome and other forms of intellectual disabilities. I also wrote all of the symptoms on big pieces of paper. Apparently there’s a huge problem with women in the countryside not understanding the causes of intellectual disability. While they’re pregnant, many women drink alcohol and use cocaine. It’s pretty sad because that means a lot of the problems with their kids are totally preventable.

The job of these promoters is to go and educate the women in the countryside. We also worked on stereotypes with the physically and intellectually disabled people. The program is trying hard to reintegrate these people into the community but there is a great deal of discrimination. In the countryside, a lot of kids also become disabled after being severely beaten as infants or toddlers. Next Friday I’ll actually get to go out with the Caritas staff and see the promoters in action. I am, however, slightly concerned about this. We started the orientation with a little true or false quiz which most of the people failed. So even among the educators, there needs to be more education. Still, this is way more progress than they’ve seen…ever.

It’s also ingenious to use people from the respective communities so 1) it doesn’t appear like condescending people coming in from outside dictating everything 2) the promoters can keep an eye on things all-year round. This is definitely the solution for rural communities.

Day 7

Today was actually a bit of a disappointment. No tourists showed up at the marketplace so I ended up teaching more English. Only I wasn’t very well prepared because I didn’t think I was teaching so I didn’t have any printouts. I listened to a lot of kechua though, and still have no idea what they’re saying.

Oh! Something exciting did happen today! I found myself thinking in Spanish which is incredible because I’ve only been here a week. Plus, Rachel and I just had the funniest Spanish class ever. Let’s just say we talked a lot about cats and ice cream…and our teacher randomly went to the pharmacy for 15 minutes. I also learned what to say when people won’t stop heckling you. Unfortunately, I think it’s quite a bad word so I don’t know how often I’ll use it.

Tomorrow I will be in the Caritas office with promoters (the people from the rural community who promote early stimulation, health education, and integration of the disabled). They are being trained and I will get to help out/document it. I’m really looking forward to this since it has a lot of relevance to public health…which isn’t entirely out of the picture for a master’s degree yet.

I’ll end on this note: today, I got chased by a llama.

Day 6

Today I rode the bus all by myself! I woke up early to get to Ccorao by 8:30am to teach my English class. Well it turns out that I was the only one actually in time for my class, but I got to start at 10:00am instead and still taught for an hour and a half. I had about 10-12 “students” and we managed to learn six sentences. It was a painstakingly slow process that consisted of me repeating words, then sentences, then walking around to each person individually and repeating the words and sentences with them. On the upside, we got to hold class outside on the sunny lawn, which kept me from freezing. I also got to videotape a lot of the women’s activities as well as do some of my own testimonials. I don’t really like doing them, but it will help me remember the context of my situation a month from now. And no, they’re not dramatic. They’re just informative.

I left Ccorao around 12:00am and was lucky enough to get a seat on the bus back to Cusco, so I was able to read for about 30 minutes. I found “Wild Swans” in the Casa ProPeru library and am hoping to finish it before I leave. It’s a pretty big book so I’ll probably stop doing social activities at night. Not that I really did any before anyway.

I have a lot more new sentences to translate to English. Tomorrow I am going to the tourist marketplace to see how Caritas can improve interaction and marketing. I’m looking forward to actually interviewing tourists because that will help us decide what direction to go in.

I’ve made some new friends—ProPeru volunteers from last month who are still here. Every time I introduce myself, they say, “Oh! We’ve heard about you!” Apparently I’m known as “that girl with the crazy schedule”. Isn’t that funny? Off to my second Spanish class!

Day 6

Today I rode the bus all by myself! I woke up early to get to Ccorao by 8:30am to teach my English class. Well it turns out that I was the only one actually in time for my class, but I got to start at 10:00am instead and still taught for an hour and a half. I had about 10-12 “students” and we managed to learn six sentences. It was a painstakingly slow process that consisted of me repeating words, then sentences, then walking around to each person individually and repeating the words and sentences with them. On the upside, we got to hold class outside on the sunny lawn, which kept me from freezing. I also got to videotape a lot of the women’s activities as well as do some of my own testimonials. I don’t really like doing them, but it will help me remember the context of my situation a month from now. And no, they’re not dramatic. They’re just informative.

I left Ccorao around 12:00am and was lucky enough to get a seat on the bus back to Cusco, so I was able to read for about 30 minutes. I found “Wild Swans” in the Casa ProPeru library and am hoping to finish it before I leave. It’s a pretty big book so I’ll probably stop doing social activities at night. Not that I really did any before anyway.

I have a lot more new sentences to translate to English. Tomorrow I am going to the tourist marketplace to see how Caritas can improve interaction and marketing. I’m looking forward to actually interviewing tourists because that will help us decide what direction to go in.

I’ve made some new friends—ProPeru volunteers from last month who are still here. Every time I introduce myself, they say, “Oh! We’ve heard about you!” Apparently I’m known as “that girl with the crazy schedule”. Isn’t that funny? Off to my second Spanish class!

Day 5

I think I've encountered my first problem. Wait, first was the language. So I've encountered my second.

Today I waited to meet my counterpart at the bus stop. It was 7:20am and I waited for an hour and a half. We were warned about "Peruvian Time" and so I decided to be generous. After 1.5 hours of reading "Mere Christianity" on the street and somewhat freezing, I decided that she wasn't coming. I went back to the ProPeru office (beating the employees to work) and let myself in to wait.

It turns out that a transportation strike caused all sorts of problems so I ended up working in the Caritas office instead. I ripped a bunch of pictures out of a notebook (they were glued in) and put them in a real photo album. Then I copied all the captions into the album which took awhile. This was awesome because I got to see pictures of what the health section of Caritas does. Plus, I learned the Spanish word for disabled people: personas con discapacidad (PCD for short). Afterwards I made flashcards for mute children. I can honestly say that it's the first time I've ever drawn a llama. Not to brag, but it was pretty good.

Anyway, to reiterate, the three problems I've encountered: 1) language barrier 2) culture of Peruvian time 3) basic infrastructure problems. Things are still good though!

I had my first Spanish class today...in a word: awesome. One-on-one attention AND I found the location of a good Chifa (Peru/Chinese fusion) restaurant. Also, I've decided that speaking foreign languages is not only useful, but just straight hot!

Day 4

Woke up at 7am to go to my first day of internship. After meeting with Victoria (my project counterpart) and the rest of the staff at Caritas (including el Padre) we left for the countryside. After two buses and forty minutes, we arrived at the artesian workshop in Ccorao. I stayed mostly in the ceramics workshop and translated sentences from Spanish to English. I then repeated the sentences a couple hundred times so that the women in the workshop could practice. Today I made worksheets because I'll be teaching English on Wednesday.

It turns out that an inability to speak Spanish isn't working against me because most of the women in the workshop speak Kechua, the indigenous language. So I'm learning to speak Kechua completely phonetically. Don't be jealous...okay, go ahead and be jealous!

I have a ton of ideas for advertising and different products that they can make so I'm excited to share that in a week or so. Even though I'm in a different place almost every day of the week, I am excited to learn and see everything. It's a lot of travelling, but that's what I love!

Some problems that I've encountered so far: Spanish doesn't have the "th" sound so they can't say "thirty" very well...which happens to be how much they sell their little clay houses for. I'm trying to think of a phonetic tool to help them, but haven't come up with anything. Email me if you think of something...

Also, I got off the bus after my internship today only to realize that I didn't know the name of my apartment complex. So I got in a taxi and said something along the lines of, "I live by a park." Then I let him list off all the names of places in the area until I recognized one. It was sweet. Oh! I almost forgot, there is no stopping for pedestrians here and on my worksite there is no bathroom, just a hole. This is all just to say that nothing could have prepared me for Peru better than China. I keep wanting to say, "You think THIS is bad traffic? You think THIS is a gross hole of a bathroom? You haven't seen anything!"

I like it here.

Day 3

So now it begins. Orientation is officially over, 15 of the volunteers have left for Urumbamba, and I am all set up with my home stay family. The family is warm and affectionate. The mother, Glenys, greeted me with a huge hug and the comfortable familiarity that only Latin Americans have. I have my own room and have already unpacked all my belongings. The condo actually feels much warmer than the perpetual ice box that the hostal was.

Casa ProPeru is very close to my apartment and all of the volunteers get keys. It’s pretty much a house where the employees have set up office. There’s a comfy living room and wireless internet which I will take FULL advantage of. It will be a nice common place where I’ll be able to meet up with the other volunteers and just chill out. They also have water, fruit, books, and helpful city info. It’s a pretty neat set-up.

Throughout the day I’ve been talking to Lindsey (my project coordinator) about my internship. It looks like I’ll literally be traveling all over the city, and even outside of the city. My travel stipend is going to be way bigger than everyone else because I’ll be 30 minutes to two hours outside of the city depending on the day. So far my schedule looks like this:
Monday & Wednesday, 7:50am-1:30pm. Go to the women’s artesian workshops (ceramic, weaving, and sewing) to help with tourist English and product creation.
Tuesday, 7:15am-1:30pm. Go to the children’s ceramic workshop and coordinate activities for half the group, then switch.
Thursday, 7:15am-1:30pm. Go to the actual marketplace to help the women communicate to tourists, look for more effective ways to advertise, ask tourists what other products they would like to buy, etc.
Friday, 5:00am-12:00am. Help with health care and health education for women in rural areas.

I’m pretty sure that I start earlier and end later than every other intern so…sweet. I’m excited about everything but can only imagine how exhausting this is going to be. I also have Spanish classes Monday thru Friday for 2 hours in the afternoon. In the night I’ll have to do additional work for this proposal. So far I have some good ideas for interviews and it looks like I’ll have access to a lot of resources.

It’s 10:30pm now and I’m going to go to sleep because I have to wake up early tomorrow and I want to be fresh for the day. Wish me luck! Or better yet, just pray.

Day 2

As with most tourist centers Cusco has a plethora of little children trying to simultaneously sell useless products and pickpocket you. Today I came across two such children in front of the market. In almost perfect English two seven-year-old girls asked where I was from. I responded by asking them where THEY were from in Spanish. They responded, “Peru” so I told them “Los Estados Unidos.” At this, they sprung straight into a well-rehearsed speech, “United States. Capital Washington, DC. President George Bush.” They then proceeded to name off every state and its capital city. They can do the same for Canada, and I suspect Europe as well.

I’m fairly certain that there are people in high school, college, and beyond who can’t name as many state capitals as these two girls.

I alternate between being irritated by the number of people who try to cheat money off of me each day, and the feeling of pity for the situations that force these actions. I wonder what the best solution and have yet to come up with any.

Day 1

First impressions: I can’t breathe. I’m 3399 meters above sea level and definitely feeling it every time I walk up the stairs. Besides that small factor, Cusco is a lovely Spanish colonial city that used to be the capital of the Incan civilization. I was disappointed to find that the Inca Trail is booked until September which leaves me with no possibility of trekking it. I will, however, be able to experience Machu Picchu and am planning an excursion further south to Lake Titicaca in a few weeks.

The people in the program are extremely friendly and I am looking forward to getting to know them better. This group of volunteers is quite diverse. Some haven’t entered college yet and others have already graduated. We have been placed in various internships so I’m not quite sure if I will be working with any of them during the mornings. I think I will have Spanish classes with them in the afternoon though. Cusco is very touristy and, as a result, we are being heckled constantly. I expect this to diminish slightly when I familiarize myself with less touristy areas.

Within this next week I hope to get the “fresh” perspective of the volunteers regarding domestic violence in the area. I am also planning on interviewing them after a few weeks of exposure to see if their impressions have changed. I have been assigned to a summer intern named Lindsey and I’ve heard that the people who run CARITAS are absolutely phenomenal. I’m quite excited to be here and looking forward to the next month.