My Letter to the World

Inspired by a project that Sarah asked our youth group in Chosica del Norte to do last Friday, I have my own message to share with the world.  After watching “Freedom Writers” the previous week, when we were able to transform a classroom into a “theatre” for the students (many of whom had never been to a movie theatre) by projecting the movie on the wall, using speakers and taking them popcorn and lemonade, the students followed up on the topic by learning a little about Anne Frank and writing their own message to the world.  Based on experiences that I’ve had, things I have seen and heard, and several quotes that I have come across over the last few years, the following is a short message that I have for the world. 

Dear World,

   Our planet is diverse, bursting with life and mysteries.  You can choose to live as if everything is a miracle or as if nothing is one.  Explore and take interest in others.  No two people are exactly the same.  Some of us have fair complexions, while others have darker ones.  We vary in height, weight, personality, likes and dislikes, yet we are all people.  Treat one another as such.  Sit down and talk.  Communication is the only way that we can change. 

   Although travel may not prevent bigotry, it demonstrates that all people worry, laugh, cry, eat and die.  By trying to understand each other, we might become friends.   Several landmarks have won recognition as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but there are seven wonder that do not require travel.  They require heart: sight, listening, touch, taste, feeling, laughter and love. 

   Follow your dreams and your passions.  Don’t put your key to happiness in someone else’s pocket.  And if you can, use your passions and your skills to be a blessing to others.  No one has ever become poor by sharing. 

   Your past mistakes are meant to guide you, not define you.  Learn to forgive and keep moving forward.  Respect others.  The respect that you give to others is a clear reflection of the respect that you have for yourself.  There is more power in a hug than in a punch.  Some people are blind.  Others choose not to see.  People usually tell the truth if you listen hard enough.  There are only two mistakes along the road to truth.  Not going all the way and not starting. 

   Few people will be able to make history themselves but we can work together to change small portions of events.  Together our acts will write the history of our time.   

   With love,

Dreamer of Peace

..................PERÚ <=> USA..................

Perú

Colorful, Chaotic

Dancing,  Intriguing,  Changing

The Americas, Bureaucracy, Mixture of Cultures

Hurrying,  Acting,  Demanding

Organized, Individualistic

USA 

*With all that's going on in the world today, the hatred, violence, fear, love, trade, and social media, it's important for us to take a moment and reflect on the similarities and differences among us and how we can positively enrich one another's lives.  The poem above are some of my thoughts on the similarities and differences between PERÚ and the USA.  

Full of Surprises...

Like the slogan on the back of the box of my favourite breakfast cereal, "LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES," I'm constantly seeing the truth in that statement.

Take this morning for instance.  The university authorities threw a wrench in the teaching schedule to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the humanities department (which actually should have been celebrated in July), so I don't have class this morning.  I decided to sleep in late =)  After rolling out of bed around 7:15 and doing some exercise, I thought I'd shower before eating breakfast and mopping up the dust all over my floors.  For starters, I've been here nearly 7 months, and still am surprised by that first splash of cold water shooting out of the shower head.  Moments later, a lizard jumped on me!  Needless to say, after being unable to capture and remove that squirrly critter, my shower was cut short.

Sometimes I'm asked to prepare an entire course or a series of lessons or workshops for university professors, teachers at the language institute or for university students.  I put in a fair amount of time putting together the sequence, planning the activities searching for resources and materials and sometimes purchasing them, for the individuals who have requested the service to either fail to show up or to tell me just beforehand, that actually they'd rather not participate (although the idea and request had come from them).  Those moments are very frustrating, but once again, LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES, so we just have to move on.

A few weeks ago, after deciding that I really wanted to buy a blender to be able to make fresh fruit juices in my apartment and different sorts of pasta sauces and salsas, Igor accompanied me to the market to search.  We asked after several inside the market where people sell from their little cubicals, but the prices were high.  Outside the prices were cheaper, as usual, but there are also shadier characters there.  When asking one man his prices, he told us, "50 soles!  It's the original Oster!  Robbed it out of a house last week!"  Shameless.  I prodded Igor to just keep walking.  LIFE IF FULL OF SURPRISES.  Eventually, we found one for a good price from a different dealer.

After several botched attempts of backing in round tin ovens valued at $25 with the women, Sarah and I had a few theories about the problems.  They weren't preheating the ovens long enough, they weren't measuring with precision and the flour the were using was not of good quality.  Needing to improve upon our week, we got together last night and decided to try to bake a chocolate cake.  It turned out perfectly!  Let's hope that the women can replicate this cake on Thursday.  What a nice surprise!

A few other mundane experiences that may strike a newcomer as surprising and that on occasion continue to seem bizarre to me include the following:
*In order to exit most homes, one must have a keep to open the lock (from the inside too)!
*Toilet paper is a precious commodity and is almost never found in a public place.  Understandably so, when you watch many Peruvians unwinding and unwinding the roll to take half of it with them to do their business and stuffing the rest in their purse!
*Nearly every taxi driver seems to think you'd like to get into his vehicle, and if he honks enough, you will.
*Many people whistle to attract the attention of family members and have a different whistle to call waiters or  hail taxis.
*Men seem to have no qualms about peeing openly anywhere in this city rather than finding themselves a restroom.
*Toilet paper cannot be thrown in a toilet as that will clog up the sewage system; but rather must be placed in a garbage can.
*Trash can only be placed in a pile outside in the street at night to be collected.
*Despite ignoring many people in the market or not buying their product, most are helpful and point you in the direction of whatever you ask for.

Let the Little Things In Life Surprise You!  .... A little lizard I captured in my home the other day...

Bosque de Pomac

As a weekend escape, 3 friends and I visited the nearby Bosque de Pomac, on of the world's largest dry forests.  Despite the desertish conditions in which it lies, the forest is suprisingly green and inhabited by numerous critters:  snakes, mountain lions, many species of birds and insects and supposedly Peruvian kangaroos.  Besides for bees and a few birds and other insects, we weren't fortunate enough to see other wildlife.  A local told us that the forest is in bloom in late November and December.  Below are a few pictures of the forest taken from high up on a rocky mountain protruding from the sand where we enjoyed a picnic lunch that we had packed as well as the four of us admiring an algaroba tree said to be more than 1500 years old.  Gorgeous and very sturdy.

Little Letters

Dear Dust,
Please do not enter my home.  I find it rather abnoxious to have to mop you up once or twice a day.  I would love it if you stayed outside (and preferably off of my shoes).

Dear Women in Sanborja,
You bring a smile to my face when we get together, laugh, bake and learn hand in hand.  You are extremely resilient and bursting with skills and great qualities.  Please work together to achieve your goals.

Dear Taxis,
Please do not honk your horns.  No, I do not want to take a taxi everytime I step out of my door.  I have two good legs and prefer to walk.  And I certainly won't ride with you if you try to overcharge me.

Dear Chiclayo,
Thank you for welcoming me for this year.  I appreciate the friendly souls you've shared with me, but please learn to keep your garbage off of the streets and not have your sewage systems leak.  The stench and wet streets are unpleasant.

Dear Nebraska,
I miss your lovely sunsets, your varied climate, big sky, peaceful silence, cool breeze, fireflies, my family and friends, your long traffic-free gravel roads for running, your corn and bean fields, flowers and safety.  Keep all of those things waiting for me.

Dear youth in Chosica del Norte,
You are full of creativity, energy and potential.  You brighten my day when I see you cooperating and enjoying yourselves, but you make me suffer when you misbehave.  Please respect one another.

Dear Chiclayanos devoted to Santa Rosa de Lima,
I know today is the day of the patron saint of Peru's police force, that today is a national holiday celebrating one of your own saints.  I also realize that my apartment is over looking Parque Santa Rosa, but is it really necessary to have a huge fiesta for more than 24 hours, to intoxicate yourselves with alcohol, pound on base drums, blare trumpets, sing, set off fireworks (throughout the day and night) to celebrate her?

Dear Schoolchildren,
You fill me with joy when I hear you laughing, see you playing, and make me smile as I watch you struggle along the broken side-walks with your schoolsbags that look like carry-on suitcases, when in reality it would probably be much simpler to use backpacks.  Work hard and help move your country forward.

Dear Rude Englishman,
Sometimes when you ask people to do you a favor, they take time out of their routine to offer you voluntarily, giving you teaching techniques.  Please don't criticize American English.  Also, it would be wise for you not to say rude and offensive things to the director and coordinator of the language center, especially not to tell them to speak English in the meetings for the teachers.  You're in Peru and working on a tourist visa.  Watch out and learn Spanish.

Dear Sarah,
Thank you for all the help and support you give me.  You've taught me a ton about organizing projects, working with people, facilitating workshops and are always a great listener.

Dear Profesors and Students,
Please don't think of a million and one excuses for why you couldn't make it to class.  Also blame others and say their absence prevented you from going to class.  Learn to be honest and efficient.

Dear Kimori,
I miss the green tea plantations, the short daily rains, the banter of Kipsigis and Kiswahili, the way you always wash your shoes, the discipline respect and pure joy of the children, the simplicity of life and your attitude of "Karibu".

Dear World,
You could be beautiful and in some ways you are.  You have so much diversity.   People have so much to learn from one another.  Why do some desire war?  Please teach them peace.

Dear Flowers,
You are lovely.  I don't see enough of you.  You are very tempting to buy in the markets, but I don't think you can survive very long.  Someday I'll purchase you.

Dear Peru,
Thank you for welcoming me back as a Fulbrighter.  You are a country of immense beauty and diversity.  Please reduce corruption and violence.  Please improve your schools so children may have brighter futures.  I enjoy exploring you and look forward to continuing to learn through my experiences with you throughout my final 4 months.

Moments that make you ask yourself, "What is going on here?"

People travel for all sorts of reasons.  Some might say I travelled to Peru because I received a Fulbright grant.  Others might say it was because I've got the travelling bug.  What I can tell you though is I didn't come to Chiclayo to see piles of trash, garbage trucks with men hanging onto the back of it and ringing an obnoxious bell, or ritzy multi-story glass hotels.  But then, that's the point of travelling, isn't it?  To see things you didn't expect to see?

Although I've become accustomed to life here, there are many things that continually take me by surprise.  A few of them in the last week or two are as follows:

Unlike the dirty city with trashlined streets that I call "home" for this year, Chachapoyas is a calm and clean city.  Free of mototaxis, it is also free of the loud dinging sound of bells calling its residents to place their trash in the streets.  Instead, I encountered a smaller truck playing soft, tranquil melodies.  "What's that?" I asked myself.  The answer: The trash truck :)

Upon seeing the horrors of an accident when a drunk driver of a large car crashed into a mototaxi, rather than trying to help or calling the equivelant of 911, many people came out of their homes even venturing a few blocks to stare.

Walking down one of the main streets in Chiclayo, I saw numerous people gathered round something.  When I stepped closer to get a better look, they were fascinated by a furry magnetic toy!

This last week, while returning from a pueblo joven to the city of Chiclayo with my friend Sarah, we had a very awkward ride in a combi.  Some men do not know how to flirt.  Sarah, who had just purchased natural yogurt from one of the women with whom we work there, had her yogurt in a glass pitcher that she had borrowed.  In order to prevent it from spilling or breaking she kept it in her hand.  Shortly after entering the vehicle, the cobrador (money collector) took her yogurt from her and put it underneath of the jacket he was wearing and claimed he was going to drink it.  Thinking he was funny and would get a rise out of us, he kept up his antics throughout the rest of the ride, while we did our best to ignore him.  Finally, grudgingly, he returned the pitcher of yogurt when we alighted from the combi.  Flirtatious or creepy?  I'm sticking with the latter.  

Oh, the crazy things that happen everyday.  That's life.  Wait!  What is going on?

/

A History Lost in Ruins

…But a Story Born Exploring Ancient Sites.  Home to many great cultures and civilizations, Perú is full of archeological sites with gems hiding in ruins scattered across the land.  The last week and a half were an opportunity for me to travel to visit a few of the ruins, learn more about the country’s rich history and relax before this next semester gets back into full swing. 

Cajamarca, a city surrounded by mountains and the site where the last Incan king, Atahualpa, lost his life to the Spaniards in 1532, was my first destination.  From a high point on one side of the city, Santa Palonia, the city looks tiny, but when down below, it seems to sprawl throughout the valley and up the mountains that surround its population of 250,000. I was able to see the “Seat of the Inca,” to wake up very early…4:45a.m. to go to the Baños del Inca (natural thermal baths), to see a botanical garden, visit several artisan shops, see the niches known as the Ventanas de Otuzco and to hike a Cumbemayo. 

Although there are a ton of things to see and enjoy in Cajamarca including numerous ornate cathedrals, Cumbemayo was by far my favourite site.   Outside the city and several hundred feet higher in elevation, Cumbemayo is like a real live version of the stone garden out of the Chronicles of Narnia.  The rock formations bear shapes of animals including a fish, elephants and an enormous rat as well as include a giant face and a giant pirate’s face.  Incredible and peaceful!  We saw many women and children spinning wool or weaving in the grass as we hiked along.  Unfortunately, Cajamarca is impoverished and to help some children or women out, I shared some food or gave them a tip for doing a small favor for me. 

Chachapoyas was my other destination.  As a city in the ceja de selva (aka literally translated as the “eyebrow of the jungle”) it has jungle-like conditions at high altitudes.  Tranquil and clean the city seems orderly and unlike the abnoxious bell that is rung when a truck comes to collect garbage in Chiclayo, the trucks of Chachapoyas play calm lovely melodies when they pass by. 

This visit allowed me to see Kuelap (a huge historical site of ruins) that was originally built by the Chachapoya, later conquered by the Inca and eventually destroyed when many refused to bend to the will of the Spanish missionaries. 

The Chachapoya are said to have valued the after life perhaps more than life itself.  They buried their dead in sarcophaguses built high up into stone cliffs where no one would be able to reach them as well as in villages of the dead on rock faces.  It remains a mystery today as to how the sarcophaguses got to where they are.

The following day was filled by a long and gorgeous hike that wound its way up some mountains to one of the world’s 5 tallest waterfalls, Gocta!  The effort to get there was well worth the view and the spray of mist blowing off of the Fall.  Unfortunately it rained terribly on us, but afterwards we were able to see an amazing rainbow. 

Our world is full of mysteries, waiting for us to follow our curiosity and sharing some of its stories with us, while leaving others up to our imaginations that we might create our own stories.