To Lima and Back

Dear family and friends,

First of all, I just want to thank you all for all of your lovely letters, packages, emails, and kinds words. It´s been so much fun to hear from everyone and I´m so grateful for your continued support! I was thinking the other day, about the differences between Peru and the States. Strangely enough, my first thought was that there weren´t many differences. However, when I gave the matter a little more thought, it became apparent that nearly everything is different here, but that I´m just becoming accustomed to it all. For example, the other day one of the other volunteers was talking about playing with his dog on the roof. When he wrote home about it, his family was alarmed that the dog was kept on the roof! However, the roofs here are very much like a room of the house. Our roof in particular is very nice, with a great view of the city and a little garden on the side. This is just one of the many subtleties I´m learning to appreciate.

While I´m constantly finding new things to enjoy about my host village, I´m also excited to report that I finally had the opportunity to explore Lima! Two weekends ago, our language groups were assigned to research safety and the prices of transportation in Lima by interviewing store owners and officials. We also had to find our own way home, which was a little scary for me in particular, since I don´t have any experience with taxis or public transportation. However, we also had time to explore. First, we visited La Plaza de Armas, which is the plaza that appears in tourist ads and postcards. The architecture was incredible, and there were people gathering there from all over the world. We made it just in time to watch the military parade and marching band, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After, we had our first opportunity to eat out at a Pervian Restaurant. Unfortunately, this is where I had my first encounter with an attempted robbery. While we were standing in line at a semi-outdoor restaurant, a man came up to me, grabbed me by the waist, and tried to kiss me, while going for the change in my pocket. However, having recently been trained in safety techniques and holding my backpack firmly, I yelled "No me molesta!" (which translates to ¨don´t bother me, or leave me alone,") and pushed him away. Luckily, the group rallied around me and he left, no harm done. I was excited to put the safety training to test, and the rest of the day was wonderful.


This past weekend, I had the pleasure of experiencing two really fascinating cultural events. After class Saturday morning, I went with two other volunteers to Baranco, which is a subdivision of Lima. We toured the art museum there, which was full of Spanish colonial art from the 1700s. The museum itself was an old colonial mansion, which was incredibly beautiful. Most of the art centered on Catholocism, and everything was so intricately detailed. I could have studied each painting or sculpture for thirty minutes and still have missed things. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed.

After the museum, we went to our first fiesta in a neighboring community, which had invited all of the Peace Corps to celebrate the anniversary of their neighborhood. The fiesta took place in a huge soccor field, with a big stage in the middle. There were two huge groups of dancers, and I wish I had the words to describe the intensity of the dances. The first group wore canary yellow outfits, adorned in gold ropes, magenta scarves, and hundreds of buttons. The women wore top hats as tall as themselves, with hundreds of feathers in a myriad of colors. The music was a combination of traditional Andean music and modern. The dance was more like a story, depicting an intense history riddled with conflict and achievement. Unfortunately, it was too dark to take a decent picture, so do your best to imagine! Afterwards, the Peace Corps was formally welcomed into the community, and they had a big dance. Sadly, my dancing is about as good as my Spanish right now. :-)

In other news, I thought some of you might be interested in a few observations about daily life. I´ve made a brief list of the things I´ve found unique to Peru so far:

1. The Noises
The gallos (roosters) cannot tell time here. They start singing at 1AM, 3AM, and from 4AM onward. After three weeks, I´m finally adjusting to it. Also, all cars, combis, and taxis honk at every interesection to warn pedestrians, since there are no crosswalks, few traffic lights, and no observable speed limits. As a pedestrian, I have come to appreciate this. Our village, Yanacoto, has a megaphone that the alcaldes (mayors) use to make announcements. However, as we have learned, they are also used for political arguments, which are not always very friendly. These begin at 7AM. Finally, I´ve learned that in a house with concrete floors, every sound is amplified. Peru is not for light sleepers!


2.) El Mercado (The Market)
The market is one of my favorite experiences! There are so many colors and new flavors. Also, every single price is negotiable! Too bad it doesn´t work that way in the U.S, I´m starting to get pretty good at bargaining. The only downside is that there are no sanitary regulations. Thus, all food is "buy at your own risk."

3.) Rules for Women
Going into my PC experience, I knew that I would experience less freedoms than I enjoyed in the U.S. However, there are lots of things I never thought about that have come up during training. For example, we have to be careful how much time we spend with male volunteers or co-workers. In the U.S. it´s very common for women to have male friends, but no so much in Peru. Rumors start incredibly easily, and volunteers have even been removed from their sites because of them. Also, cat-calling, whistling, and marriage proposals are completely acceptable. However, it´s particularly frustrating that police officers do this as well. Here in Peru, the bomberos (firefighters) are much more trusted, since they are a voluntary organization.

4.) The Bathroom and Such
In Peru, you cannot throw toilet paper in the toilet, and if you do by accident, it is not fun trying to figure out how to fix the mistake. Also, my family believes that if you get your hair wet when you are sick, it will make you sicker. (With the water as cold as it is, I´m starting to think so too!) You also have to wear sandals, since there are microbes on the tile.

5.) The Food
Yes, it is very true that rice and potatoes are served with every meal, except for breakfast. Also, I´ve found that a lot of Peruvians believe that Americans eat WAY more than we actually do, so most plates include at least three servings. It is so delicious that I wish I COULD eat three servings, but I´m currently in the process of learning how to convince my family that I don´t need quite so much.


Okay, my internet time is up! I know I said I would send pictures this week, but I forgot to bring my cord, so I will have to post them at a later date. Again, thanks to everyone for all of your support, I love you and miss you! Feel free to write if you have any questions, I´ll do my best to respond within two weeks.

Love always,
-Sam