Alpaca Bag-1 month in!

It’s so hard to believe that I’ve been in Peru for a month! Over the course of this past month, a lot has happened! I’ve started to assimilate to the culture, although there still are a few things that bother me. When most people think of Peruvian culture, they think of Machu Picchu, rice and beans, Alpacas, salsa dancing, and the Spanish language. While they would be correct about most of those things, there are still so many other aspects of life here that embody Peruvian culture. It´s so hard to explain how the culture differs from that of my own. So, for the last few weeks, I’ve been making a list of some interesting cultural differences/observations:

• I’ve found that most restaurants open at 7 and Peruvians eat dinner around 8 at the earliest (but usually around 9 or 10).
• Yogurt is drinkable. I have yet to see anyone eat yogurt with a spoon.
• Cars do not stop for pedestrians. Being in a taxi is almost like being on a roller coaster at 6 Flags. Pretty exhilarating but certainly horrifying.
• Taxis honk at you to ask if you’d like a ride. They honk to say hello. They honk to tell a person or car to move. They honk to let everyone know of their presence. I swear they spend more time with their hands on the horn than on the steering wheel, which may explain the crazy driving.
• There is an abundant amount of sauces available at most restaurants and food joints. It makes me happy that this country cares about how much I like sauces.
• People do a lot of odd jobs here. For example the lady who lives downstairs from the CMMB office makes the CMMB staff lunch every day (which is amazing food by the way) and it only costs 8 soles (about 2.50 US dollars). Side note: you can get really great food for cheap. A roll of sushi (which is also amazing here by the way) runs around 6 dollars. Have I mentioned I’m really enjoying the food here?
• Peruvians love to dance, and they’re good at it too
• Everyone shows up to everything late. But then sometimes some people show up to events early. And sometimes they show up right on time. Oh sorry, are you confused? Yup, me too. But what I’ve been told is that showing up early may be considered rude because it seems like you don’t have anything else better to do. So what I’ve been doing has been showing up on time, and then lurking around like a creep to see if anyone else has shown up yet.
• There is an abundant amount of bakeries(bad news) and pharmacies on every corner. Literally. The bakeries seem to be so conveniently placed (right outside of my apartment and my gym). They have this inviting smell, so every time I walk into one I have this vision of myself driving into the sunset with a corvette with a piece of cake in my hand, happy as a clam. I just pray every time just that it doesn’t go to my waist (see: bullet point about the gym below)
• Peruvians are very upfront and honest. They’ll tell you like it is. At first, I felt myself being slightly offended, but then came to realize that it’s the way they are with everyone. The dialect of their Spanish seems to be very matter-of-fact.
• PDA is a real thing here. Supermarkets, on the street, wherever. There is even a sign at the park that says, “No exaggerated kissing.”
• There is no such thing as one line for the bathroom (very similar to Ecuador). You wait in line for specific stalls. It took being butted in front of about 3 times before I realized that.
• 65 degrees is freezing for Peruvians
• Peruvians eat well. And a lot. And the people seem to be generally thin. And a lot of them don’t work out. I don’t understand. Anyway, one meal hardly ever consists of just one type of food. It usually consists of at least 3 (chicken-with a great sauce, rice, and potatoes, for example). Oh and don’t forget the salad on the side. Oh yeah, and the cake that will likely follow. (Again, see: gym bullet point below). Not eating everything off of your plate isn’t necessarily rude, but most people do eat everything off of their plates. So when you don’t, you’re usually asked if you’re feeling well or it may be assumed that you didn’t like the food.
• When drinking with friends, it’s common to share one bottle of beer among friends. You won’t often see each individual person with his/her own drink when friends are together, unless you are at a restaurant or a bar.
• You always have to request a check at the end of the meal.
• A lot of public toilets do not have toilet seats and toilet paper is not flush-able
• You won’t see many people running outside. I’m not sure if it’s a matter of safety or just that not as many people like to run. At the gym ( I had no choice in joining with all the food), most people seem to be interested in lifting and taking classes. Most people spend 10–15 minutes on a treadmill.
• They say things that make me laugh like, “It’s so cold out. Give me a chocolate, it will relieve me of the cold.”
• Women breast feed in public, and I’ve seen some mothers breast feed with a 2 or 3 year old child.
• Peru is a HUGE country. And there’s a lot to see. Although it is possible to fly from one city to the other, a lot of Peruvians take night buses from one location to the next. The bus trips are usually longer than the trip would take via birds eye view because of the mountains and windy roads.

This list is by no means exclusive to all things Peru, but just a few observations I’ve made in the last month.

In general though, things have been going well. I was able to evaluate some of the children in the Rehabilitation program last week. And I also will get to work with this little nugget:

But more specifics on the therapy and kids in the next blog post :)

I’ve gotten to know the families of the rehabilitation program, and in only a few days, they have accepted me into their own family. On my birthday, they presented me with a homemade gift made out of all recyclable materials with a few sweets to go with it. The physical therapist, Mercy, also shares my birthday, so they presented her with one as well.

Two mother from the project, Mercy, and myself

On my actual birthday, I went to a soccer game, went to Huanchaco (the beach town 20 minutes outside of Trujillo), and then went out dancing with Mercy and friends :)

The following week, I was out of commission due to…well I have no idea why I got sick. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the details. I think this is important to share, however, because in the few hours that I was sick in the “campo,” or outskirts of Trujillo (the more impoverished area), I gained a very small understanding of what it must be like to live up there. I think that sometimes when we see poverty from an outsiders prospective, it’s easy to be sympathetic. It’s much harder to understand what living in poverty actually must be like. While I will never completely understand, my illness brought me somewhat closer to it.

It was just like any other Monday morning. I woke up, tired from not having slept much that weekend (it was my birthday after all, and the dancing here lasts until at least 3am). I had eaten sushi the night before, and felt somewhat weird, but still went to work. The entire morning, I felt exhausted, just hoping the day would slip by a little more quickly so I could rest. We had a large lunch at the office (so generously made to celebrate all of the August birthdays). After that we went to the “local,” as they call it to do music class in the afternoon. The “local,” located in el “campo,” is located in a poorer region of Trujillo called, la Esperanza. The second you cross from Trujillo into Esperanza, you can make out a slight difference in the infrastructure.

La Esperanza

Esperanza stretches up a hill, where some roads aren’t even paid. The houses are more run down and there are not as many conveniences there are in Trujillo, such as supermarkets, hospitals, running water, etc., Few buses trek up to Esperanza, and therefore, accessibility is somewhat difficult. The “local,” is not so high up, but high up enough that some taxis won’t go there. When we got there for music class, I started to feel a little queasy and feverish. The bathroom at the time had no running water and was out of commission, so as I was sitting watching the children in music class, I couldn’t help but be terrified that I may just toss my cookies all over their little instruments.

My illness turned into a fever and…well, Montezuma’s revenge, we’ll call it. Luckily, I lasted through the class, and we took a small mototaxi (literally a little taxi via motorcycle) to then get a cab home. But I couldn’t help but think about what it would be like if I lived there and was seriously ill. Do you know that feeling when something is wrong with your stomach and you have absolutely no control over what happens the moment after? It’s even worse when you’re in a place that is not accommodating to someone who is not feeling well, especially with a fever and a stomach bug. The fact that most taxis and buses don’t go that far, indicates a significant lack of accessibility to needed resources and services.

I can’t say that I’m glad I got sick, but getting sick made me think about what it must be like to be somewhere where you need even the simplest commodities such as a working toilet or running water, and can’t get it. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a mother of a child who has a very high fever and needs to immediately get to an ER. The trek is a long and difficult one.

But what I can say is that I now have a better understanding of CMMB has chosen to operate in La Esperanza.

Thanks for bearing with me on this long post. More to come :)

xoxo Megan