My treat...

I prefer shopping at the markets where I can buy fresh produce and grains at fair prices in a lively environment much more quickly that in a supermarket where it is always necessary to wait (sometimes up to a half hour) in line.  Thus, I seldom go to the large supermarkets here in Chiclayo, with Tottus and Metro being the most well-known.  I get used to eating typical Peruvian dishes which includes rice often with lentils or beans.  Additionally I eat salads, bread from the bakery with an avocado or olives and cheese, typical pastas or papa a la huancaina.  Despite the huge variety in Peruvian gastronomy, sometimes I get tired of the food here.  This last week, as I was telling Igor how I miss certain foods from home, he suggested we go to a supermarket for un gusto.  It was a great idea and we even got through the checkout line in 15 minutes!  Even though I think some of the prices are outlandish and I'd prefer to support small businesses, I must admit that my $8 box of cereal, $7 jar of peanut butter, and other over-priced foods taste great.  Making stir-fry, french toast and pancakes have been a great touch as well.  I long to have an oven again, but at least, this week my palate has had a treat!  :)

Peruvians Love to Party

If there is any special date be it a birthday, anniversary, the16th year since the language center began, the week of medicine, Women's day, a wedding, day of the volunteer, an engagement ceremony, holidays or whatever it may be, you can be sure that their will be a celebration full of food, pictures, a toast and dancing.  This last month has been full of celebrations at the university, at the language center, with friends, and a small ceremony for those with birthdays at the NGO and at our work sites.  Below is a glimpse:

My Interpreting Adventure

The opportunity to practice Spanish <---> English interpretation arose this week to translate for a visiting opthamologist from the US.  He was here with members of his charity organization who come from countries around the globe.  Conducting eye surgeries for free on people with great needs and living below the poverty line, his organization has also selected the community of Mórrope (about 40 minutes by Combi from Chiclayo) as their partner community in Peru.  There they are constructing a soccer complex as well as implementing healthy livestyle programs into the school for the youth.  Thanks to Igor and his hospital ratation group from the university, I was invited to interpret for his presentation at the city hall.  I was nervous and it was nothing like I had expected.  There were a ton of people and it was packed.  

Dr. Assil gave a motivational speech for the community explaining his past and why his team is in Mòrrope to do what they are doing.  He explained much of it through his own experiences of belonging to one of Iran's wealthiest families, but having his father lose the entire family fortune while he was a very small child.  He told of how they sold everything and moved to the USA and his father took ill and passed away.  Dr. Assil shared his tough jobs with the community and asked them to try to motivate their youth.  Afterwards there were questions and answers that included both good questions and offensive comments.  I felt embarassed at times interpreting their comments, but that was my job, simply to convert the words of one person into understandable words for another.

I enjoyed visiting with people from the community and the doctor's circle of friends afterwards.  They seem like people living life to the fullest with all kinds of interesting adventures as they work to serve others.  I was interupted by a man who thought that I, the gringa, could solve his land dispute problem as he thrust his documents into my hands.  He did not want to accept that I couldn't solve his problems when I directed him to a community leader.  "No, no señorita.  He already told me he can't help!"  he told me in earnest.  Inwardly I shook my head, feeling sorry for him, but also shocked at his ignorance and lack of understanding about how to go about finding a solution.  

Concluding with a walk around the main square, some photos and lunch, we returned to Chiclayo.  Despite being nervous, the experience was a good one.  It allowed me to practice thinking on my feel and converting languages, while also strengthening my desire to take a course in translation and interpretation in the future.  

In the main square in Mórrope

In Mórrope with Igor

Combi ride with Vanessa and Ginette

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.