I am currently in Cajamarca. The sun is shining furiously and errands were run today, making me feel nice and productive, which is a good thing.
Last week while walking home from the health post I came to the junction in the road where one has to choose between either "Pig Alley" to the right, or keep going straight on "Trash Street." I decided to take the pig route because pig noises are hilarious and this one little stretch of dirt road going up the hill has something like 20 pigs on it. The reward for such a climb is a HUGE pig, which probably rivals most hippos. It sits fat and content in a pile o’ trash at the top of the hill in dirty pig heaven. This evening, I heard some un-human pig screams and came across a group of Sorochucinos castrating a pig. I will spare the details, but with this image fresh in my mind, I went home 10 minutes later to find Fina doing away with some cuyes in the backyard, and with a morose fascination, I had to watch. This was enough blood and mess for the day.
Later that night I went to my first viewing for a local woman. Tradition holds it that the viewings take place for 2 nights, complete with singing and praying and candles and the works. The singing and praying part is carried out only by the women and children and the men sit outside to chew ridiculous amounts of coca in order to stay up all night for some reason. Generally the host of the family will walk around with this huge bag full of coca and as the men all spit out varying shades of green on the sidewalk, coffee and cigarettes are passed out. After asking around, I’ve found that the sole purpose of this tradition is to stay up night talking and chewing, which is odd. I had to decline several invitations to engage in a coca salad because as inviting as it was to stay up all night with them, I was leaving for Celendin at 4 the next morning and needed some sleep.
The week passed by well. My efforts at trying to buy a clothes closet failed and as per now, my wearables still rest on chairs in my room. What I did begin was my World Map. All Perú Peace Corps Volunteers in their first 3 months are required to do a World Map. It involves finding a blank wall which is very visible to the people of the town, and drawing the world as would appear on a stretched-out-globe. The goal is supposed to be to get us to integrate into the town and show people some geography and the actual product is actually really cool.
The first day I began, men were coming up to me and just staring. I could see the wheels turning in their head as they silently asked themselves what this crazy gringo was doing. When I’d ask them if they wanted to help, they’d either say "no, I´d mess it up" or jump at the possibility. Of course there was a group of ultra-manly men just sitting back and laughing at my efforts. So I asked them to help and when I got a "no" I told them *politely* to shove off and stop bothering me. This blatant rudeness somehow worked because nobody was doing any more un-productive criticism.
Then there were the third group of criticizers, to which I took a Tom Sawyer approach; These were the men who would come up, insult my drawing and point out how TERRIBLE Perú was drawn. So I apologized profusely and asked them to show me their Picasso-like skills and teach me to draw. The end result was me sitting in the shade relaxing while 5 full-grown men painted and drew this map, commenting to themselves how they bested the idiot gringo. Every day there were men waiting for me, since lunch, to get the work done. With the enthusiasm, it only took us 3 days out of a recommended 2 weeks to draw a fairly intricate and detailed map of the world.
People really dug this map and I’d like to do some more. Already I have talked to the doctor and planned to draw some health murals on the health post. There are already several drawings of an infant breast feeding, diarrhea, and a picture of a couple walking over the mountain to get to Sorochuco. The first two will be pictures of some foods rich in vitamin A and Iron. As many people here cannot read, big pictures are a must and it’s good to see other people taking ownership.
Mid-week I went to Salacat to help weigh children. There really wasn’t anyone there and although I did see lots of injections and learn how to take blood pressure, nobody really came in. Sorochuco just got a new mayor and the health staff changed, eliminating the full-time nurse in Salacat. So if anything was to happen, people have to walk down the mountain to the understaffed Sorochuco health post because there was nobody else. The upswing of this is that Joy and I taught the nurses how to play hangman, tic-tac-toe and that fill-in-the-box-game that everyone plays on long car rides. I made copies of Sudoku grids for everyone and that took off as well, so we have games for the future. Maybe this can be my contribution to Perú?
As “hinted” at above, me not having all that much to do right now and falling into the trap of boredom is common. People want to work, but are not really that inspired to do anything and criticism is much easier. As such, entertaining oneself often takes interesting forms. Here are 2 examples:
1.) While painting the map, we took a breather to engage in unorthodox methods of chicken-catching. I saw one person sneaking up behind a chicken with a backpack while two others tried to chase it into the bag. The other main attempt involved “fishing” with a twisted paper clip and a piece of corn. Of course the chicken in question belonged to the family behind the health post. So while boredom might be temporarily alleviated, someone else eats a tad more potatoes that night.
2.) A black crow-like bird was spotted in the plaza, only there are no crows in Peru, as I was informed. So an informal committee consisting of whatever self-proclaimed bird experts, local drunks and guys sleeping on the bench formed around the mystery black bird to offer unsolicited, un-read expertise on the subject of bird-identification. To settle the argument, the crow was captured and put in a box. I didn’t see how this helped the identification process because no books were brought out and we didn’t examine it further. But then suddenly and if using some unspoken intuition, 3 men on cue opened the box to let the crow flew away. What a night.
With the lack of concrete work, I’ve been noticing the subtle differences in the culture which are not that outright. For example, Perú´s science and math rules are quite different and I feel I should share some examples:
1.) Beer can often be purchased for 3 soles a bottle, but most places advertise signs which say "Cerveza.S/.3 or 3/10.¨ Normal price-saving techniques dictate that price breaks come with the acquisition of more of said product, but not here! Of course at the same time, store owners get annoyed if one buys beer individually because it’s cheaper.
2.) There are two types of foods: Hot and Cold. My typical breakfast consists of a mango, 2 avocado sandwiches and a banana with milk and coffee. My host parents look at me as if I am crazy because of the mango. Mangoes are “cold” foods and are not eaten in the morning. Cold foods give a variety of ailments, such as diarrhea, fever and all-purpose cold. Mangoes can be eaten in the afternoon when it’s nice and sunny. So still, when I am chowing down on my banana (also a cold food), with mango juice tangled in my beard, they look at me, shake their heads and prepare the poncho because I am going to be cold and feverish.
So I am in site 7 weeks and I am comfortable. Progress is slow and while I have lots of really abstract ideas, the reality of the situation limits me quite a bit and sometimes is frustrating. Everyone wants to be the super volunteer but I have to remind myself I am here 2 years and have time to make my mark. Until then, I have cold food to eat and plenty of drawing to do in the meantime.
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