Bullfights, wormy friends, and

We have just completed week 4 of the strike! It was a slow week again. There are a ton of rumor getting thrown around about what is going to happen in the protests. I have heard that people are planning on building homemade bombs to carry to the mine sites and they intend to blow up the mining construction equipment. Who knows if this is true, but I feel pretty confident that the Peruvian government is not going to start intervening in this protest until people are killed. The mining operations are a couple hours away from my site, but people from my town are participating.

*****I am not in danger, I will not be leaving my site, and I will be nowhere near these protests******

It was another week of lots of reading, croqueting with neighbor ladies and family, soccer and frisbee in the afternoons with neighborhood boys, and general laziness. Schools are still closed and the health post is now open, but they refuse to health promotion out in the country during the strike. Some highlights include; reading Harry Potter with Witman and Eduar, the cat had 4 new kittens, Diani and I perfected the art of banana bread in my electric bubble oven, AAAAAND I snuck away to a bullfight on Thursday!

There was a town fiesta in Chota last week. In the bigger towns like Bambamarca or Chota that means beauty paegents, artesan fairs, dances, futbol tournaments, carnival rides, so much beer, bullfights, and apparently motocross competitions. In small towns like mine I am guessing it's more beer, futbol, and dancing-not necessarily in that order. However, my town had to cancel it's annual fiesta for the strikes. So I made a quick trip to Chota to see the bullfights with the other volunteers.

Bullfights are quite violent and it didn't help that on the day that I went it seemed to be amature matador day. The matador's outfits were pretty fun, all sparkles, pink socks, tight pants, and little slippers. The other volunteers and I stayed for the first 4 bulls and then left. I really wanted to go out to the street to eat the bull meat in the evening after the fight, but we ended up eating cheap fried chicken close by the hostel.

Yesterday I went to a clinic in Chota to have myself tested for parasites. So I have dodged the parasite bullet (the worst is giardia), but I do have 2 different types of worms! Here are the links to wikipedia pages on my worms if you want to see some pictures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinworm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entamoeba_coli

It's really not a big deal to have worms and the Peace Corps doctors called me in a prescription for the meds to kill them.  However, the fact that I have worms means that my entire host family is pretty much guaranteed to have them too.  That'll be a funny conversation.  No really, we joke about how Witman's worms get hungary at dinner sometimes-no it's just a confirmed thing.

Today I am headed back to my site. Maybe classes will start again next week and I can start to get some project work going, or maybe not. Either way I'm planning on reading, croqueting, and frisbeeing up a storm in my town.

Remember I get internet on weekends if anyone wants to skype I always look forward to calls from home!  I am starved for contact with Americans and going stir crazy at my site, if you have a litte time on the weekends to get a call from Peru I would be thrilled.  I know it sounds pathetic, but I look forward to calling the states all week, every week.  Just email me barrie.km@gmail.com with your phone number in the states or your skype name and when I come into Bambamarca next weekend I'll give you a call.

chau for now,
kb

new latrine hole

new pig pens that I helped build a couple weeks ago

The final product of all the fence building and digging we did.  The plan is to keep all the pigs, ducks, and buy some chickens.  I am going to get to be a chicken lady very soon.

Witman at work.  He told me he has to dig until the hole is deeper than he is tall.

Paro 2012

The last time I posted I was on my way back to Cajamarca after my Mom's visit. When I got into Cajamarca the volunteers were under a stand fast due to a department-wide strike. There have been several small strikes and lots of protests about the mining projects in my district throughout my time here, but this one is a lot bigger scale. So I flew into Cajamarca and was told by Peace Corps head of safety and security that it was unsafe to travel during the strike. I spent a whole week waiting in Cajamarca. Luckily after the first 4 days by myself some other stranded volunteers came into Cajamarca city and waited out the rest of the time with me.

It wasn't really a bad place to be stuck. I had internet, television, hot water, but during the protests I felt nervous about going outside too much. I spent a lot of time alone watching American tv and feeling pretty lonely. It was a heck of a lot better than my fellow volunteers that were stranded at their sites with absolutely nothing to do with themselves. I spent a lot of time on the phone with the others in their sites. I heard about MCAT study books being opened for the first time, rooms being imaculately cleaned, painting and repainting fingernails, lots of card games with the host family, and general mind numbing boredom from my fellow volunteers. All schools and health posts were shut down and roads were blockaded. It was sort of like everything just stopped. I heard rumors that family owned businesses were being threatened by the Ronda to close their doors to show solidarity with the cause; remember those neighborhood watch type guys in the countryside where there are no police.

Last week myself and 2 other volunteers from the Bambamarca area finally made it through the road blocks into Bambamarca. We were able to get back to our sites, but with the knowledge that we didn't know when this strike would end or how long we would now be stranded in our small towns. It sounds scarier that it really was and I had mentally prepared myself for something to go wrong on the ride into Bambamarca, but it was completely calm. One of the reasons that Peace Corps was so conservative with our returning back to Cajamarca is because the mines in question are owned by an American company. The worry being that someone like me with blonde hair and white skin sticks out here. It's not like Peace Corps is widely known or recognized throughout all the rural communities. I regularly need to explain to people in my town; where there have been 2 previous volunteers, what Peace Corps is about.

That first week of being back at site with no work to do went by faster than I expected. On my first day back I spent pretty much the entire day reading. I would find a spot to sit outside and move from the sun to the shade or cement to a wooden bench. I kept alternating to keep from getting sun burnt and having my butt fall asleep. That day was pretty crappy. On tuesday and wednesday I worked in the field behind my host family's home to help my dad and brother build a new corral. It was really hard work and I felt sore for days afterwards, but it helped pass the time.

At nights I am a little embarassed to say I watched the entire first season of New Girl from my external hard drive. I know that Zooey Deschanel should annoy me, but I love her. Maybe I am just so starved for American-ness that I thought she was charming. I don't want to sound whiny, but it feels really terrible to just sit around doing nothing. I feel like such a failure. I can't get working on my projects and even before this strike started I was already feeling pressured to get things started. Now I just feel like the whole town has stopped and we are all just waiting for something to happen. I shouldn't complain, but I just get thinking about what I would be doing if I hadn't come here. Would I be doing something with myself, because right now it feels like I'm not getting anything done.

This past week was week two for me stuck in site with no hope of getting project work done. The health post opened up this past week, but they were flooded with people since they had been closed the previous 2 weeks. I helped with filing and checking patients in, but I wasn't really able to work on coordinating project plans with the health post. Witman, Eduar, and I have been reading the first Harry Potter out loud most afternoons this week. It's really exciting for me to see them becoming interested in reading. There is not much recreational reading happening out here-none that I have seen so far.

There are rumors that the paro or strike will continue for up to another month depending on what the Peruvian government does in response to the people's demands to end the mining project that threatens the water supply for my district. That means that the kids in my town will have lost almost 2 months of classes (so far they have lost around 4 weeks). I will have lost a lot of time myself for project work, but no one can be interested in working on projects with me when this big political drama is dominating every one's attention.  I feel completely safe in my town-so not to worry.  I am just bored out of my mind with nothing to do with myself.  So here's hoping that the strike ends soon!

Cajamarca have not done a very good job of publicizing their cause-I mean there have got to be some human rights violations going on if their sole water source is truly being threatened. However, if you google this paro there's not too much to read about. Here is what I found if you are interested in reading a little more about what's going on in my area:

http://www.elregionalcajamarca.com/2012/06/16/the-strike-in-cajamarca-rights-violated/

this link seemed a little intense...obviously their target audience is cajamarquinos and the people need to stay riled up to keep the protests going strong.  I would like to emphasize that I am completely safe in my small town surrounded by people who know me as the girl that teaches English, hangs out alot at the health post, and plays Frisbee with their kids.

*I forgot to take a picture of the corral that I helped build.  I'll be sure to post it as soon as I get internet again.

My Momma came to visit me!

I got to spend the last 9 days with my mom! I am so lucky she came all the way out here to see me. And she was such a good sport. First she came up to my site in rural northern Peru. First she flew into the Lima airport; which I believe is only airport that receives international flights into Peru, then she flew into the tiny Cajamarca airport. I met her in Cajamarca last week Wednesday and we immediately hopped onto a three hour partially unpaved cramped and stinky van ride back to Bambamarca.

It was so amazing to see her in the airport in Cajamarca. It almost felt like home had come to me in Cajamarca. I didn't realize how much I had missed her and everyone I love back in Michigan until I was crying in the airport hugging her. Yep, we made a scene, but as a gringa I pretty much make scenes wherever I go-so it was old hat for me. After the uncomfortable ride to Bamba I took mom to the market. I had promised my host mom I would buy ingredients for dinner.

Money and food are the two most uncomfortable topics I have to deal with in Peru. My family was so excited about having a visitor and I was worrying about money. I offered to buy some food ingredients instead of straight out paying for her meals-now in retrospect that may have been an easier way of handling the situation. So fresh off the bus I took my mom into the Bambamarca mercado. We bought some crazy fruit for her to try and the dinner ingredients my host mom and I had agreed on.

We went up to my site San Juan Wednesday afternoon. My friend Hayden came up with us to meet my mom and attend the celebration at the elementary school. When we finally got all of our luggage up to my site it was a big relief to just be able to put our bags down and our guard down. I gave my host mom the ingredients we bought at the market, but she had decided to cook something else for dinner and acted confused when I handed them over. Also mom had brought a lot of great loot from the states; new underwear, a super soft sweatshirt, cards from family members, as well as some presents for my host family. The host family present was a tricky situation. After presenting my family with the assorted candies, a bracelet that Jessie made for my host mom, and a Michigan oven mitt, it became clear that my host family had expected more things or maybe different things.

It is all together possible that I am just being a worrier in this case, but I wonder if I should have asked her to bring more. I didn't know what was customary and I was worried about setting a gift giving standard too high that I would have to maintain when I visited the States for Christmas. My host family was incredibly welcoming and genuinely happy to see my mom as well as my volunteer friends that visited. I am so lucky to have such a great Peruvian family. Each night at dinner my whole extended family was in attendance to maximize their time with my Mom. It was the first time I have seen my grandparents eat at my house, usually we all go and eat at their house since they have a bigger kitchen. That was really sweet.

On Thursday morning the elementary school had put together a special welcome ceremony for my mom. We showed up about an hour later than the director and I had agreed upon, but the teachers and kids weren't ready for another hour after that. The ceremony was so adorable. Each class did a small performance; dances, poetry, songs. My host family came to the event too, as well as two more volunteers; Jennifer and Diamond. It was a really fun ceremony. Everyone kept dedicating songs and dances to my mom. After the ceremony we had a Peru vs. U.S.A. volleyball game. The teachers played against us volunteers and we filled out our team with a couple of tall sixth graders.

Later we ate a lunch with the staff of the elementary school. My favorite teacher profesora Silvia organized it all. At lunch we took turns translating between teachers and my mom. After lunch the other volunteers headed out for a Peace Corps event in Cajamarca. So it was just mom and I Thursday night. We had a big family dinner again. Mom was so relieved that we didn't eat guinea pig, instead we had fish and humas.

On Friday we went back to Bamba to leave for Cajamarca. My host dad Joel insisted on going into to Bamba to see us off. At the time he was driving me crazy. I hated feeling like he was thought I couldn't take care of myself, I hated that it felt like he was starting to impede on my time with my mom-I had shared her with them for 2 days now. In the end he saw us off and gave my mom a box of Peruvian chocolate bars. My mom said she thought he was just being fatherly and that he just wanted to be a part of our trip for a little longer. I know he was just being thoughtful, but sometimes I just feel like I need a break from them. They are wonderful, but I need space at times-more space than I ever have needed before. I feel embarrassed sometimes at how I get so easily frustrated and angry here, but I like to tell myself that it is a part of adapting to a new culture.

I was also really upset when my host family told us on Friday morning before my mom and I were leaving for Bambamarca to go on to Cajamarca, that they were all going to come into Cajamarca on Saturday so we could spend the weekend together. I was so frustrated. I felt like they were taking away my time with my mom-my escape from my campo reality. I just felt so angry with them and I spent the rest of Friday and all day Saturday worrying about it all.

What ended up happening was that my host family didn't call all day on Saturday. Mom and I went on a tour of San Francisco church. We walked to the market to people watch and wander. We drank fizzy waters and got ice cream for lunch-a trend throughout our time in Peru. Later we walked to the mall to try to go see a movie. I asked the girl behind the counter if they had the Avengers in English and she assured me it was. We bought our tickets and the movie was most definitely dubbed in Spanish. We walked out and I was ready for a fight. I demanded a refund and was totally surprised when the manager easily agreed. I had worked myself up to be ready for when they tried to rip me off and was happily surprised when there was no problem. I think it was fun for my mom to see me be so sassy in Spanish though.

After the movie flop mom convinced me to call my family to see if they still wanted to meet up. My aunt Esperanza confirmed that she and Witman had stayed in San Juan, but that Dalila and my host grandma Niceda should be in Cajamarca. She also told me I should call them. It kind of pissed me off when she said that, because they had very clearly told me only the day before that they would call me when they got into Cajamarca. However, if they called me it would use their phone credit, so maybe they were waiting for me to call them so it wouldn't cost them anything. We scheduled to meet in the plaza, mom and I waited for about 40 minutes for them to show up. Mom and I had already checked out the mass schedule at the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas, which was a good excuse to get out of hanging out with the host family if they wanted to go hang out at my host sister's apartment.

What ended up happening was that my host mom, grandma, and sisters went to mass at the cathedral with my mom and I. Afterward my mom treated everyone to dinner at a pizza restaurant. It was the first time my host family had tried pizza. Well, the first time besides the disastrous one I made for Mother's Day dinner. It was really nice to see them and my mom was happy to show them her gratitude for taking such good care of me. All around it was a success and I realized how silly it had been for me to worry so much about the whole thing.

We made it to Arequipa Monday night after a couple of hiccups in the travel plans. Arequipa is a pretty big city south of Lima. It is famous for the beautiful Plaza de Armas, lots of colonial architecture, baby alpaca products, and for the 3 volcanoes that surround the city. Mom and I spent 3 days in Arequipa. We ate good food, saw a lot of churches, and searched for the perfect baby alpaca sweater. One of my favorite things we did was visit a museum with a mummified child sacrifice. Her name is Juanita and she was found frozen solid, very well preserved. Scientists were able to test what was in her stomach at the time of death, her hair was still in a braid, and except for some sun damage on her face (she lost her nose and eyes) her skin was all intact.

Here's a google map of the distance between Cajamarca and Arequipa:

http://maps.google.com.pe/maps?hl=es&tab=wl

Also in Arequipa Mom and I toured a monastery. It was so beautiful. We were surprised to learn that in the 1600's the nuns had slaves and maids! There is a part of the monastery Santa Catalina that is still in use today. One of the nuns from Santa Catalina was canonized (became a saint) by Pope John Paul II in the 90's. There wasn't a whole lot of detail on what she did to become a saint except that she converted a lot of people to the Catholic religion and apparently she cured a case of cancer.

Baby alpaca wool products were everywhere in Arequipa. Baby alpaca is very soft and expensive. Also way more expensive as a foreign tourist, but luckily I am a good haggler. Anyhow, we spent a lot of time looking at artisan products. By the third day all I wanted to know was where was all the cheap adult alpaca stuff. As it turns out the adult alpacas also get turned into very delicious burgers. And I did find some cheaper crappier sweaters in the artisan market in Lima.

On the way back to Cajamarca I got to spend a night with my host family from training. I was reunited with Sting, Lesly, and Mama Vicki. Sting's front teeth have grown in and he seemed a lot taller. Lesly baked cookies and Mama Vicki had just as much energy as ever. When I arrived no one had told Mama Vicki I was coming to visit and she was completely surprised. I had been dreading the visit, because I thought it might be weird after not seeing them for 6 months. It was actually really nice to see them all.

I'm writing from Cajamarca right now, because there are currently a lot of protests going on in my department. The people are protesting gold mining projects that are contaminating the water. The whole thing is very political, because these gold mines are a big money maker for the Peruvian government. The roads are blocked right now and people are protesting. There are tons of military police here throughout the entire department of Cajamarca right now, but Peace Corps wants me to stay in Cajamarca city for a while longer.

chau for now,

kb

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